The Woodshed Network

Why couldn't we live in this world?

2007-12-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

Pulled from a newspaper in my head

Despite the "tragic" loss of the New England Patriots to an outbreak of Syphillis linked directly to star quarterback Tom Brady, the sports' world moves on. First and foremost, the Division I-A (Formerly Bowl Subdivision) playoffs and Division I-AA(Formerly Non BCS schools) get underway this Saturday, and as usual selection Sunday brought out the usual amount of frustration amongst coaches and players as teams who had good but not great seasons argued their case for inclusion in the Sweet Sixteen field. But in the end, the pairings were very fair and no one sitting on the outside lost fewer then three games in the I-A field, and no one in the field lost to a I-AA squad. All games will be televised nationally by ABC, CBS, and ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU,CSTV & Versus. FOX forfieted their right to televise the games when no one at the network could properly identify more then four mascots of any major conference. The possiblity exists that the championship game participants will be playing in 17 games, or one more then the Texas High School State Champions. The pairings are as follows:

All First Round Games Saturday, December 8th
All games televised by CBS
Atlanta Region(Games to be played at the Georgia Dome, hosted by the Peach Bowl Comittee)
5:00 MST, #2 National Seed LSU(11-2) vs #15 Clemson(9-3)

11:30 MST, #7 National Seed Kansas(11-1) vs #10 Arizona State(10-2)

San Diego Region(Games to be played at Jack Murphy Stadium, hosted by the Holiday Bowl Comittee, with special appearance by National League MVP Matt Holliday.)
All games televsied by ESPN2/ESPN(late game)
3:00 MST, #3 National Seed Virginia Tech(10-2) vs #14 Texas(9-3)

8:00 PM MST, #6 National Seed USC(10-2) vs #11 Florida(9-3)

San Antonio Region(Games to be played at the Alamo Bowl, hosted by the Alamo Bowl Comittee)
Both games televised by ESPN
10:00 MST, #1 National Seed Ohio State(11-1) vs #16 Cincinnati(9-3)

3:00 MST, #8 National Seed West Virginia(10-2) vs #9 Missouri(11-2)

Orlando Region(Games to be played at Orlando, hosted by the Outback Bowl Comittee)
Both games televised by ABC
12:00 MST, #5 National Seed Georgia(10-2) vs #13 Illinois(9-3)

5:00 MST, #4 National Seed Oklahoma(11-2) vs #12 Boston College(10-3)

Quarterfinals, All Games Saturday December 15th
ABC 10:00 MST, Atlanta Regional Winners, at Jacksonville(Hosted by the Gator Bowl Comittee)

CBS 1:30 MST, Orlando Regional Winners, at Dallas (Hosted by the Cotton Bowl Comittee)

ABC 6:00 MST, San Antonio Regional Winners, at Tampa(Hosted by the Citrus Bowl Comittee)

CBS 6:00 MST, San Diego Regional Winners, at Tempe(Hosted by the Fiesta Bowl Comittee)

Semifinals, All Games Saturday December 22nd
CBS 2:30 MST, Tampa winner vs Dallas winner, at Miami(Hosted by the Orange Bowl Comittee)

ABC 6:00 MST, Tempe winner vs Jacksonville winner, at Pasadena(Hosted by the Rose Bowl Comittee)

Championship, January 1
ABC 4:00 MST, Semifinal winners, at New Orlenas(Hosted by the Sugar Bowl Comitttee)

Certainly there will be some controversy surrounding the selections from 13 thru 16, as Virginia, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Connecticut, South Florida and Michigan were all hoping to secure one of those bids. However, unlike his basketball counterpart, Selection comittee czar Jarvis Redwine was more then happy to address those schools feeling snubbed directly.

"With Virginia, it's very simple, they lost to #&%#ing Wyoming. Had they been able to beat Virginia Tech and take their division championship we may have been, well I may have been, willing to overlook that. They weren't, so I didn't."

"Tennessee and Michigan were more then talented enough to be there, but Michigan lost their last two games and got beat by Appalachian State and Tennessee seemed to just squeak by Vandy and Kentucky when they had so much on the line and then they let LSU off the hook in the conference championship game. I just didn't see any reason to let them into the field with four losses."

"There were only going to be two Big East teams in the tournament. That's just the only fair way to do it based on relative strength at this point. And neither South Florida, nor UConn did enough to overcome the fact that Cincinnati beat both of them head to head. And then it came down to Wisconsin and Cincinnati and I didn't think Wisconsin had done enough to justify denying the Big East a second bid. But I'll accept any criticism that comes of that, if any Wisconsin fan can look me in the eye and say they thik the Badgers could have won four straight in this tournament. I didn't think so."

The I-AA playoffs are spiced up a bit this year, by the inclusion of four 1-A teams at the request of the I-AA schools to bring more interest, and let's face it ratings, to their playoffs. The one concession the big schools made was that in 2008, the #1 team in I-AA will be allowed to play in the I-A playoffs. In perhaps the most interesting move of the day, lame duck Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr declined a bid to play in the I-AA playoffs, "I did not go to Michigan to travel around playing the Hawaiis and Troys of the world. Screw'em."

1st Round, Saturday December 8th
Memphis Regional, at the Liberty Bowl(Hosted by the Liberty Bowl Comittee)
ESPN2 10:00 MST #2 Seed Wisconsin(9-3) vs #15 Houston(8-4)

Versus 3:00 MST #7 Seed BYU(10-2) vs #10 Navy(8-4)

Shreveport Regional, (Hosted by the Independece Bowl Comittee)
ESPNU 3:00 MST #3 Seed Tennessee(9-4) vs #14 Tulsa(8-4)

ESPNU 10:00 MST #6 Seed Connecticut(9-3) vs #11 Troy(8-4)

El Paso Regional, at Sun Bowl(Hosted by the Sun Bowl Comittee)
CSTV 12:00 MST #5 Virginia(9-3) vs #12 Fresno(8-4)

CSTV 5:00 MST #4 Boise St(10-2) vs #13 Air Force(9-3)

Detroit Regional, at Ford Field (Hosted by the Motor City Comittee)
ESPN2 7:00 MST #8 Central Florida vs #9 Central Michigan

ESPN2 11:00 MST(At Hawaii) #1 Hawaii vs #16 Bowling Green(8-4)

Quarterfinals, Saturday December 15
10:00 MST CBS Shreveport winners, at Nashville, (Hosted by Music City Bowl Comittee)

10:00 MST ESPN El Paso winners, at Reliant Stadium, Houston(Hosted by Texas Bowl Comittee)

1:30 MST ABC Memphis Regional winners, at Charlotte(Hosted by Meineke Bowl Comittee)

8:00 MST ESPN Detroit Regional winners, at San Franciso(Hosted by the Emerald Bowl Comittee)

Semifinals, Saturday December 22
1:30 MST ESPN San Francisco winner vs Houston winner, at Tempe(Hosted by Fiesta Bowl Comittee)

8:00 MST ESPN Charlotte winner vs Nashville winner, at Tempe(Hosted by Fiesta Bowl comittee)

Championship, December 31
7:00 MST ABC Semifinal winners, at New Orleans(Hosted by Sugar Bowl Comittee)

If only...

Bill Callahan & Bo Pellini

2007-12-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

And so here were are, nearly full circle.

After 35 years with only two head coaches, 16 conference and Five National Championships, the Huskers will enter the 2008 season with their 3rd head coach in 10 seasons and only one conference title to show for a decade of football. The standard of the past simply hasn't been even close to met, and almost shockingly, Husker Nation turns its desperate eyes to Bo Pellini.

But first a few words about the departed Coach Callahan, and the strangest four year period in Nebraska history. It pains me to write that conventional wisdom was correct almost immediately with respect to Bill, but certainly not in the way anyone predicted. When he brought the "West Coast Offense" to Nebraska in 2004, that was supposed to be his downfall, the arrogance of changing a system of offense that worked so well for "forty years"(Which is utter bullshit, Nebraska was not even a triple option team until 1980. But you know, the truth is difficult for some people.). And in point of fact, the 2004 season was a miserable offensive football team with sad ass Joe Dailey "leading" the Huskers to a 5-6 record. But even in that debacle, there were moments where the offense provided a glimpse of what was possible and after a struggle to start the 2005 season, Zac Taylor started pointing the way to the kind of offense it would take to win conference and national honors against Kansas State, Colorado and Michigan. The 2006 season, clearly Callahan's best, showcased the offense at times as the well oiled machine it was capable of being. But it also showed Callahan at his very worst, when a hungry for victory Husker nation piled into USC, and quite simply tried to run out the clock for four quarters. The 28-10 loss was emblematic of the Husker football program in many ways, not trying to win but trying to salvage some dignity. One other, probably more impactful, issue continued to crop up on the other side of the ball. An awful performance against a "spread" offense on the road in Stillwater produced a big time beating. The failure to win close games against Texas, Auburn and Oklahoma was a clear case of lowered expectations in Lincoln (For all the talk of the demanding fan base.). I was even sucked into this. The bottom line is, those games were all winnable, and they didn't win them. A program like Nebraska can not afford to be satisfied with that many missed opportunities.

But then the one constant "positive" theme of the Callahan administration, false hope, blared loudly in the aftermath of the 2006 season. "Look how close we were", "And now we add Sam Keller", "And the recruiting just keeps getting better" were the common themes coming out of Lincoln from a regime that acted less like football coaches, in retrospect, and more like a congressional candidate trying to spin for re-election. Never were the players taken to task, never was their play openly criticized or scrutinized and ultimately that may have been what destroyed them and their coaches along with it. 2007 was a season of big expectations for three valid, but sketcky reasons:

-2006 had been the best Husker team in five years
-Sam Keller was a terrific QB who had a year to grasp the Husker system
-The expectations couldn't be delayed any further so the staff went along with them

More then any game in the post-Osborne era there was an expectation, a feeling really, before the USC game on Sept 15. I was in Lincoln that day and it was palpable. The town was ready for the old days, they didn't know if it was possible, so there was a very obvious sense of apprehension in Lincoln, but they knew that if it was going to happen it would happen that day. Not even necessarily that they won the game, it was possible that USC was just THAT good(They weren't, as it turned out, but that was certainly possible on 9/15), but that Nebraska would meet USC's intensity and play them on an even keel, give as good as they got against a truly outstanding football team and take their shot at getting back to their rightful place in college football. And USC gored them. Running essentially the same four or five counter and power leads they ran the ball right up Nebraska's ass then entire game and completely stomped the life out of the Callahan Cornhuskers. It was over at that very moment. Amazingly, the staff had no ability to change, no ability to stem the tide or make any sort of impact on the game at all. The simple fact of the matter is that if the Nebraska coaches had stayed in the locker room, it would have had little impact on the outcome of the game. Especially on defense. Callahan's close friend Kevin Cosgrove, overmatched at times in his first three years, simply lost all hope of handling the role of defensive coordinator that night. He may as well have tendered his resignation Sept 16, because that was all she wrote for Cosgrove. Leaving Lincoln and driving home the next day, I was upset, but I had no idea that the defeat would prove to be more total and complete then any defeat I've witnessed since Super Bowl XXIV. (Where the Broncos, clearly the best team in the AFC in 1989, went 5-11 in 1990 and looked as though they could have cared less.)

The rest of the 2007 season was a shot football team, that never again showed any signs of life, save for a bizzarro 73-31 domination of Kansas State, and a terrific first half in Boulder. And Callahan and co went out with a whimper, 5-7. At Nebraska. Perhaps nothing tells the story of Bill Callahan's career at Nebraska more then this. Harrison Beck, Josh Freeman, Blaine Gabbert and Sam Keller all agreed to play quarterback for him at Nebraska at one point. They will have combined to win 4 games for him as starting quarterback. Nothing can sum up the wasted hope and the "Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground" feeling I have right now more then that.

The numbers tell the entire story

Callahan vs the Big XII North: 12-8
Nebraska vs Big XII North 1980-2003: 107-12-1

Callahan Huskers allowed 30+ pts: 18 times(3-15)
Post McBride Huskers(00-03) allowed 30+ pts: 12 times(3-9)
1980-1999 Nebraska allowed 30+ pts: 17 times(7-10)

The defense has been in decline since Charlie McBride retired following the 1999 season, and really has never been able to stunt that decline for any longer then half of a season. And at the same time, the intensity and focus of the other Big XII North schools has tripled, and quite frankly it would not matter how many times they beat us, that won't dissipate because that's how much they hate Nebraska for being so much better then they were for so long. So the new coach had to understand two things; Intensity & Defense. Enter Bo Pellini.

Bo Pellini was passed over in favor of Bill Callahan in 2004, so Pellini simply went and learned as much as he could about big time football from two fo the best programs in the business.

While I would like to make bold pronouncements of greatness or at least jump up and down about the hire and beat my chest as a Husker fan, that's just simply not where I am with this hire. I think if anyone on the planet had made this hire, except the man that did, I would be criticizing the hell out of it, because it was the easiest hire out there. Now that doesn't change the fact that Pellini could be a terrific head coach with just the right amount of intensity and desire to augment the superior recruiting done in the past three seasons. But it also doesn't ignore the fact that Bo Pellini has won one football game as a head coach, and it was an Alamo Bowl against a crappy Michigan State team.

There are as many questions, far more actually, as answers today. The one thing that is certain is that there are no doubts as to what's at stake for Bo Pellini. Everything. He can bring Nebraska back and be an instant legend, or he can absolutely bury this program at the bottom of a deep well and leave Turner Gill to the biggest salvage job in history in 2012.

10 Things I Would Do if I were Bo

1) Retain Shawn Watson as Offensive Coordinatory, with one caveat. The terminology and sheer amount of verbiage and motion and shifting and shit needs to be cut in half. We can't have 6-4 220lb WRs who take three years to get the playbook sititng on the bench while the Nate Swifts and Todd Petersons of the world are out there averaging up the place.
2) Spend every waking moment from now until signing day offerring a scholarship to every single front seven defensive player on the planet and making a show out of it to the guys on campus to let them know they're all more then expendable. They still have a place on the team, but if they want it to be permanent they better play 300% tougher then what they played in 07. (I can't imagine Pellini throwing on the film of this defense, I...I just don't what kind of explosion that would be for someone as intense as him to watch these pussies tap dance through a 65 or 76 point disaster.)
3) Bring in the baddest, most intimidating monster in the world to coach defensive line. I don't give a shit if he even knows what a zone blitz is. I mean like, Leroy Selmon intimidating, Steve Entman intimidating. Crazy, insane. These guys have been coddled by two straight sets of "Players" coaches. They need a mentally insane wack job who scares them so fucking bad they'll go through brick walls and eat glass before they'll go back to the sideline after fucking up. Jason Peter would be my pick.
4) Find a defensive coordinator that is older and savy. (Monte Kiffin? Make Oz guilt him into it!) Someone who's been around in the SEC or Big XII and seen a ton of different kinds of offenses and gives you a dissenting voice that you will listen to in meetings.
5) Resist the temptation to please the media and a segment of the fan base by overly recruiting the state of Nebraska. The salvation of the program, and your career, does not lie in in-state recruiting. It just doesn't. If an Eric Crouch or Ahman Green comes along, so be it.
6) Raid the Oklahoma staff or Texas staff for at least one coach. Just to piss them off, and to use it in recruiting.
7) Spend time locked in a room every day analyzing the spread offenses at Texas Tech, Missouri and Kansas. Stopping them is the key to ressurgance.
8) Don't talk about "reclaiming the Big XII North". Don't dignify their existence, don't do it in the media, don't do it in recruiting. You have a better program, you have more money, you have better facilities and you have a better AD. Any time you mention their name, even if it's to wack them, it's good for them. They don't have anything you want, and they never will. I wouldn't even mention their name during the week you play them. You watch how fast they'll go away if you start just tending to your own business and ignoring them. On the flip side, when you have them down at the end of a game, you must be ruthless. Especially in your first 3-4 years. There is nothing wrong with running up the score for the next four years, because some people need a reminder of who they are and what you are. There were two seperate teams that tried to kick field goals late in games they led by 35 and 37 points this season against NU. I'd file that away.
9) Blackshirts are not awarded until a player has earned it. They've all lost that right by the way they played in 2007. If a guy has 4 sacks against San Jose St in the opener, then he can have it. But it has to be earned. Today's players have just simply lost the right to be given anything that special.
10) Spring and Fall camp should both be about developing an attitude to run the ball and stop the run. It only works at Nebraska if we're the most physical team we can possibly be, if teams hate coming to Lincoln because win or lose they're going to get beat the fuck up. I would consider it a failure if you didn't have at least three kids quit during spring ball because the camp is just that tough.

So good luck, Bo. Any differences I've had with you in the past are hereby absolved. You have absolutely no time, and a lot of work to do...go get'em.

Happy Slapsgiving

2007-11-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

College Football thoughts and whatnot...

2007-11-21T00:28:00.001-07:00

I've attempted to make some earthly sense of this nonsensical mutation and haven't really come to anything. But some of this might be mildly cogent.

-I keep hearing people say things, definitively, like "LSU would destroy Kansas" or "Missouri's going to beat the crap out of Kansas". Really? You really have that much faith in your own eyes after this abortion of a season? Stanford 24 USC 23. Appalachian State 34 Michigan 32. Kansas 76 Nebraska 39. South Florida ranked #2. Ron Zook 28 Jim Tressel 21. Colorado 27 Oklahoma 24. Kansas State 41 Texas 21(In fucking Austin). Navy 46 Notre Dame 44. Boston College ranked #2. Arizona 34 Oregon 24. Louisiana Monroe 21 Alabama 14(At Bryant-fucking-Denny Stadium). Mississippi State beat Auburn AND Alabama. Virginia 48 Miami 0(In the last game fucking ever at the Orange Bowl.). Wyoming 32 the same Virginia 13. Troy 41 Oklahoma State 23. Western Michigan 28 Iowa 19. I could go on. Really? You still have that much faith in how much you know about who's gonna win these games? Well, I don't. And I don't feel lesser for admitting that.

-And for everyone in the Connecticut sports & entertainment network who just doesn't get it. THis is BAD for college football. A couple upsets in a season, sure that's good. But we're sitting here two days to Thanksgiving and I can't definitively tell you that there's one legitimately GOOD football team. Forget greatness. So way to go 85 scholarship limit, you're just as shitty as the salary cap in the craptastic NFL. (Okay, you're not that bad.) You could very easily have a one loss West Virginia team (from the awful big east, no disrespect to WVA, just the big east sucks and if this West Virginia team was special, they'd have won out.) playing a two loss team from a legit BCS league. Hell, Georgia got their ass beat by Tennessee, they'll probably lose the SEC East to the Vols and they're NOT OUT OF IT! This is bad. Unless Kansas beats Missouri, Oklahoma and then LSU(Or whomever) in the title game, I can't really award anyone a National Championship out of this mess. Maybe you can get a purple "Field day" ribbon or something.

-Same goes for the Heisman. You're either voting for the best player(Darren McFadden) who plays on a 4-loss team that's gonna git it's coach fired. Or you're voting for the winner of the showdown Saturday between KU and Mizzou. And 2 grand says less then 10% of the voters had seen both guys play before Nov 1. Or you're a fucking retard and you're voting for Colt Brennan. Which brings me to...

-Everyone not rooting for Boise State on Friday night is dead to me. Forever. There are no excuses for rooting for Hawaii, there are no excuses for rooting for them against Boise. None. However, Boise(And Washington the following week if the Broncos should fail.) aappears to need some added motivation. Here it is, this blog will be a "Boise State" themed blog should they go to sucktown and beat the Rainbows on Friday. (And a Purple Husky themed blog should Washington do it the next weekend.)That's right you heard it here, the Woodshed goes Boise on Saturday if they beat the Rainbows, (Yeah, here...you're still Rainbows, queers) and thankfully deliver us from the hands of the Banana Republic Rainbow Queers going to the Sugar Bowl. (PS. Fuck you, Hawaii. Just in case your wonderlic scores were a little too low to follow that one. You can use that to buy some more blonde hair extensions.)

So a top 10, cuz after about 13 it would be ridiculous to try and sort, anyway, and some picks for the week.

1. Kansas. Embrace the suck, people. (TM Matt Saracen) KU's a damn good football team and I fully expect, not that any expectation I've had since 9/1 has come true, the Red'n'Blue chickins to blow up Gary Pinkel's defenseless Tigers. Also, make mine Reesing for Heisman. He's the most valuable player in the nation, he's got the numbers, he's lifted a .500 type football team to at least an 11-1 season. He's the guy.
2. LSU. Why is Les Miles the favorite for the Michigan job? What happened from the middle of last season when his dumb ass essentially gave away two games with a made hand of a team and now that he's only given away one(So far)? Somewhere in the last twelve months, he became a genius and a slam dunk choice to get his ass Tressell'd for the next decade. Jeff Tedford is still a better coach, Michiganders. Trust me, when he arrives on campus, he ain't bringin' Nick Saban's hard ass recruits, nor will his connections in the Bayou help the Wolverines recruit head to head in the crucial Ohio recruits Michigan needs to get back to beating Ohio State regularly. (And as for game day acumen, didn't they blow a 13 point lead to Kentucky?) (This had nothing to do with LSU's rank, but hey they're loaded and fast and huge, what more do you need to know. Stop McFadden, root for Tennessee to beat Kentucky for the 1132nd time in a row and they'll cruise to New Orleans.)
3. Missouri. I'll say it again, that wasn't a championship defense that played K-State on Saturday. Daniel's a good player, Macklin's scary good and those tight ends are like Mike Shanahan's wet dream. But eventually they will have to stop Reesing and co.
4. West Virginia. Had to be some couches'a'fire in them thar hills when OU went down on Saturday night. Now all they need is for OU to bow up and win the Big XII title game and they're likely home. (Oh and they have to beat the University of Bristol or Hartford or whatever then the Wanstaches.) But what an example of how the standards are not where they should be for a National Title shot. West Virginia's played well, to be sure, but they aren't killin' folks the way you would have expected a National Champion West Virginia team in this Rich Rodriguez era to kill folks. Ultimately I'm hoping they get Virginia Tech in a BCS game, Bud Foster's D vs that spread is a game I'd pay to watch.
5. Ohio State. That Illinois game is going to be with sweatervest for a long, long time. And that gameplan, as it were, against Michigan was the most disrespect I've ever seen any coach show another coach in a big game in my memory. They threw the ball twice in the second half, with a four and eleven point lead. It was essentially the Waterboy offense, where they just downed it because Bobby Boucher couldn't beat them if his team had the ball. All those platitudes after the game can't replace the fact that Tressell essentially said, "You can't score a touchdown on us, loser." for the final 3 quarters.
6. Arizona State. Another team that, incredibly, still has a chance to go to the big one. Of course, beating USC on Thursday night(And suddenly scary Arizona Dec-1) looks to be a bit much.
7. Georgia. Were they even ranked after Tennessee throttled them? And now you wouldn't be able to get an opponent to volunteer to play them for all the money in the world. Praying for a Georgia-Texas Sugar Bowl.
8. Oregon. But they're not gonna finish here, Leaf's little brother looked as shaky in a Pac Ten game as big bro looked in San Diego. UCLA and Oregon State have to be seriously excited about getting the Ducks sans Dixon.
9. Oklahoma. I'd hate to be like anybody near Bob Stoops this week. He looked more red assed then someone who stopped short in front of Rudolph in Lubbock Saturday night. All they had to do was beat EITHER a crappy CU team or a standard Texas Tech team and they'd be right in the middle of this thing. Beat both and they'd be in the driver's seat. For a coach who's that competitive, giving away a chance like this in a year where there is no 2004 USC or 2005 Texas has to just piss him off.
10. USC. And suddenly they're an Oregon loss, which looks fairly likely, away from another Rose Bowl birth. (Which is okay, because USC-Ohio State is a lot better for my traditional eyes after this f'd up year.)

Picks
Nebraska 144 Colorado 144(Game called due to darkness, despite a 10am local kickoff.)
Kansas 42 Missouri 31
LSU 34 Arkansas 21
West Virginia 41 UConn 10
USC 27 Arizona State 10
Georgia 31 Georgia Tech 17
UCLA 27 Oregon 24
Oklahoma 34 Oklahoma St 24
Texas 24 Texas A&M 14
Boise State 76 Hawaii 49
Kentucky 38 Tennessee 27
CSU 23 Wyoming 17
Mississippi State 27 Ole Miss 17
Virginia Tech 27 Virginia 23
Florida 55 Florida State 24
Auburn 45 Alabama 14

And that will leave us with the following Championship games
ACC: Boston College vs Virginia Tech
Big XII: Oklahoma vs Kansas
SEC: Georgia vs LSU

USC will need to beat UCLA to lock up the Pac 10 title
Ohio State has won the Big 10
West Virginia will have locked up the Big East

So the BCS/Big January Bowl games should look like this...
National Title: LSU vs Kansas
Rose: Ohio State vs USC
Sugar: Georgia vs Shit, I don't know
Fiesta: Texas vs Arizona State
Orange: Virginia Tech vs West Virginia
Cotton: Oklahoma vs Florida
Citrus: Tennessee vs Illinois
Outback: Auburn vs Wisconsin

The Nuggets First Salvo of 07-08

2007-11-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Superman's back...

It's 11 games, and they're 8-3. The magic number for the season is 52, in my eyes. Win 52 and they'll win the Northwest and assure themselves a top 4 seed. Win 57 and they'll get a #3 or #2 seed. That means a 44-27 finish or a 49-22 finish depending on the objective. There are definitely ways that this team can do that. If you look at the way they're playing right now, the balance(There's that word again) and the movement on offense is ALMOST where it needs to be for this team to be a real, live contender.

What's working...

-Melo and AI, both players look invigorated and both players have to acknowledge that they haven't forced a goddamn thing during this six game winning streak and it's a big factor in that winning streak. There will still be nights when one or both of them have to drop 35 for the Nuggets to win. But to be the kind of consistently dominant team that the Nuggets should aspire to be, they need to remember how much more effective they are when they get the other players involved, and create easy looks for themselves. For Iverson, I am seriously leaning towards the Nuggets shutting him down for a few games every month or so to keep his legs for the playoffs. If you look at #3 in blue and yellow out there on the floor right now, he doesn't look like the scuffling, struggling warrior who left 25 layups and free throws short in the playoffs last year. He looks like the quick handed, energized warrior that can lead this team all the way. They need the second guy in May and June, no matter if it costs them a few games along the way. A 50 win number 5 seed with a completely healthy and energized Allen Iverson is better then a 60 win number 1 seed with a dead legged AI. And forget scoring numbers, if Melo can maintain his 5 assists/game number and slightly reduce his 3.3 TO/game number, then he is TRULY a first team all star. He could score 17 pts/game for all I care if he's learned how to distribute the basketball. (And he wouldn't, because if he can dish the ball like that, he'll get so many easy baskets it's ridiculous. Why it took five years to sink in...no idea.)

-Never has the arrogance, stupidity and downright short-sightedness of George Karl been more on display then to behold the play of one JR Smith the past six games. If you think the Nuggets were right to not pick up the option on Smith, you're fucking stupid. There's no way around it. He's flat out the most physically gifted athlete on the team. If George Karl can't teach JR Smith how to play baskteball, then George Karl needs to go to Carolina help Dean Smith roll backy. Once again, he's shooting 45% from the 3-pt line on a team that shoots poorly(35%) outside of him. And that's with the flash in the pan that is Diawara and Bobby Jones both shooting nearly 50%. That won't hold up, folks. And the most obvious and glaring attrocity about the poor mouthing of JR is that his defense has gone from borderline invisible to something he can take pride in. Yeah, he commits some dumb fouls, and he makes some silly passes...but he also makes some terrific plays in the passing lanes and finds people out on the break. And he's going to leave Denver at the end of the season for jack shit. Way to go, George. You're an idiot.

-The emerging floor game of Linas Kleiza and the all out speed with which he plays the game, combined with the fact that his inside-out ability to finish is better then anyone San Antonio or Utah will be able to throw at the Nuggets makes him maybe the most important player on the team. Is there a big guy on the Spurs that can run the floor with LK? Is there a more explosive player coming off the bench at the 3-4 spot with his kind of size? I don't think so. And the guy hasn't been on the mark from 3-pt land so far in 07-08(33.3%).

What has me worried...

-K-Mart has played pretty good basketball and is, as always, a physical deterrent to hacking away at Iverson and Anthony. But once again, we're left with a frail and fragile body at the #4 spot, and Nene's 12 million dollar candy ass luxuriating on the bench with some form of pussitus. I have no doubt that if K-Mart is healthy, he's better for the team in the playoffs this season. I have very little doubt that he won't be healthy when the playoffs start, and that Nene's growth, so evident in San Antonio last summer, will suffer.

-There still is no, or very little, recognition in the half court defense. It's a bad defensive team overall, with Najera and Bobby Jones the only legit on-ball defenders in the regular rotation. But the simple things this team doesn't do could drive a mediocre high school basketball coach insane. Right now, with the way they're playing up-tempo and flying up and down the floor it doesn't really matter. But they aren't going to beat San Antonio 122-103 in playoff games. And you don't think they will either so stop shaking your head. This one is on Melo, AI and Camby more then anyone else. I believe that this basketball team has good chemistry, or as good as you can have in 2007 NBA-land, and if the three of them would start making the simple plays, and start holding everyone else accountable for said simple plays, this could be an average defensive basketball team. And with the other talents they have, that might be enough.

-I am always worried when I read or hear people talking about Melo getting to be the 1st team all-star. Who gives a shit? Well, what worries me, is that Melo does. And the last thing this team needs is any incentive to take bad or forced shots. It's like a viral infection with this team, it rears it's ugly head and next thing you know, Boston's up 63-34 at the half. If Melo wants so desperately to be a first team all star, then he has to win playoff series(PLURAL). And if he does that, I think he'll find he'll either no longer care if he gets 1st team all star and that he will be one. But this also goes to coaching, and how little influence George Karl seems to have on his still very young, very impressionable, young star. Melo's not, for all my complaints, Stephon Marbury, he's not a bitch and he should be able to understand that for him to get what he wants and for the Nuggets to get what they want, both things lie down the same path. And none of them involve shooting 25 times a game. Doesn't mean you won't have games where you shoot 25 times, you will. Hell there should be games where Melo has 15 layups if this team is playing the way they can. This is a dangerous time for Melo, the temptation to answer LeBron's finals appearance and Wade's championship with a ton of 40 point explosions has to be great. But it's not the answer to that problem or to winning a championship.

-Marcus Camby is still an overrated douche. Stop dribbling the ball up the court, Marcus. Oh, and mix in a few possessions where you actually guard your man. I could go for a few less "20 rebound, 5 block performances"(With 10 layups given up by lunging at shots 10 feet away and leaving your man under the rim to take a bad angle at a rebound.) and a few more "Marcus had a solid game 10pts, 10 boards, couple blocks and didn't get burned like Terrell Buckley five times."

Keep the Faith...

Jarvis Out...

An Open Letter to George Karl

2007-11-10T00:05:00.002-07:00

Mr. Karl,

I respect you. You have overcome effing cancer. Your son overcame cancer, and we all root for him like crazy. If he blows up huge in the NBA at some point, I think all of us will take off our cynical robes and get behind little Karl. You've had success at this level, just not in the playoffs which we know are a little finicky. (Cuz, I kinda think if you could've traded Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton for MJ, you probably would have won the 96 Finals. )

So now that you know it's not personal, may Jarvis please give you some advise? You have two titans, two giants of basketball wizardry. But you can't win in the 2008 Western Conference playoffs, with just AI and Melo. And at your heart, you know that. You know that AI is not the ridiculous player he was to get Philly to the finals against the Lakers and scare their ass by winning the first game in LA. You know that Melo is a scoring juggernaut, but he doesn't have the overall game to LEAD.

That means your chances for a championship, in Denver, fall to JR Smith and Linus Kleiza. Which I know scares the shit out of you, but there it is. JR is the most talented 2-guard we've had since David effing Thompson. Kleiza is WAY more talented then any euro on the San Antonio Spurs' roster.

You lecture us, all the time really, about "teaching", well here's your fucking chance to teach. If you can't teach JR and Kleiza to be championship players, then seriously, fuck you.

Put your, and Melo's, giant ass ego aside for a day....just a day, and think about how good those two can be as your fourth and fifth or fifth and sixth, best players. Think about why you decided to be a coach. If you can't coach them...then step aside, right NOW, and let us get a coach who CAN work with them.

The Denver Nuggets are better suited, talent wise, to go deep in the playoffs then the Colorado Rockies were, and George Karl is smarter on his dumbest day then Clint Hurdle is on his Most Smartest. C'mon GK, recognize the talent. Be the coach we know you can be. Get JR back in the fold, teach Kleiza how to play. They have too much talent for it to be this hard. Stop bitching about how today's players are different. Be a man, George. Be a fucking man, and this town will love you forever. Just ask fucking Shanahan how long their love lasts.

Fresh from Hell: Top 25

2007-11-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

Woodshed Rankings

1. Ohio State(10-0), Quite simply this Buckeye team is better then the one that overwhelmed teams in 2006 because they're based on a foundation that works a helluva lot better with Tressel-vest's essential defense-first philosophy. Todd Boeckman takes care of the football, and because he's not a once in a generation type talent at QB Tressel doesn't feel the need to throw the ball too much. Chris Wells has developed into a legit Heisman contender, if he can stay healthy, he's got a heavy dose of prima-donna in him as far as nicks and little injuries go. This week: Ohio State hosts Ron Zook's improved Illini. Ohio State wins that game 31-14 or somewhere thereabouts and sets up another "winner takes the Big Ten" bout with Michigan. He gets more shit then any successful coach in the country, but you cannot deny Jim Tressel is just an incredible coach.

2. LSU(8-1), wow really took LSU a long time to get back to the top 2 after their loss, didn't it? Once again they let a team with less talent hang in (This time due to an horrific second quarter by Matt Flynn), but in an electric stadium with a riled up fan base pleading for a landmark win the Tigers came up huge in the second half. You still get the sense that Les Miles is a checker player in a chess world, but the 85 scholarship athletes he rolls out every week are simply the best in the country. The tightrope act will probably go away the next two weeks with La Tech and Ole Miss next up, and only Darren McFadden and Felix Jones stand between LSU going to the SEC title game in the #2 spot(Maybe #1 if Michigan mans up against the Buckeyes.). This Week: A nuclear level beating of instate buddy La Tech, followed by the castration of The Orgeron.

3. Kansas(9-0), they scored touchdowns on 10 straight possessions on Saturday(Granted it was against the worst defense in any sport, anywhere in the world right now), and are feeling the positive vibes all over the place right now. Mangino's offense is as disciplined and hard to diagnose as Mike Leach's and KU has more explosive athletes in skill positions then Texas Tech ever has. Reesing is the player of the year in the Big XII in my eyes. He elevates Kansas and has better feet and poise inside and outside the pocket then any quarterback in the country. Quite simply he's a superstar who has elevated a good football team to a team that can legitimately contend for championships. This Week: DANGER, DANGER!! Oklahoma State's offense will give KU all kinds of hell down in Stillwater and there were some holes that were exposed by the poor Husker offense(Imagine throwing for 400 yards and five touchdowns in your first start as a quarterback and losing by 37 points, Joe Ganz, I am sorry my friend.) and they did not respond very well to a quarterback who could run as well as Ganz did. Now Oklahoma State is about as stable and consistent as Michigan State, so I don't believe they'll upset the Jayhawks, but this will be a four quarter shootout. And Reesing wins that kind of game. With Iowa State next, that means it's down to the KU-Mizzou rivalry game to actually decide a FOOTBALL championship.

4. Oklahoma(8-1), is just a weird football team. The two horrible performances against Iowa State and Colorado(the only loss) make you somewhat skeptical that OU can win a championship, but there are just so many big, fast, pissed off Sooners flying around the field every play, I just can't believe the Oregon team I watched on Saturday is better then they are. Texas A&M had no shot on Saturday, they just took it and took it and had no answer until it was over. They'll be plenty of stories as this goes on about Sam Bradford and he's played much better then anyone could have expected, but lord the gigantic targets that can run like bastards after the catch and the full house in the backfield make his job pretty effing easy. I mean Duke Robinson the right tackle, looked like an NFL tight end rumbling up the field with that deflected pass he caught. The one and only question mark as I see it is focus. OU should be 9-0 right now and sitting at #1, but they lapsed away a 17 point lead in Boulder and slept through a 17-7 win over Iowa State, so they could certainly drop one to Texas Tech, Oklahoma State or KU/Mizzou in the Big XII Title game. This Week: Baylor. Yeah.

5. West Virginia(7-1), they've just been quietly(As quietly as you can with Pat White and Steve Slaton) winning games since the South Florida debacle and now they get to the meat of their schedule and it doesn't look as meaty as it did two months ago. Everyone can shift their focus to the nice litte story in Storrs,CT, this is still the best team in the Big East and they will be 11-1 when the BCS bids are handed out. White's averaging 8.2 yds/pass and 6.8 yds/rush. He doesn't have enough attempts to really consider him for the Heisman at this point, but he's got four games to blow up huge with a lot of spotlight. When they wreck UConn's neat little season he'll have the national klieg lights and maybe the potential to take the trophy, along with a shot at the one he really wants. This Week: The still warm carcass of Louisville comes to Morgantown and WVA will be looking for payback. The Ville's defense, nearly Nebraska-awful through the first half of the season, has been better the past month, but I don't see them stopping this Rodriguez whup-ass machine more then a couple times all game.

6. Oregon(8-1), does not really look as great as the platitudes I've been hearing over the ASU game. I really felt like Arizona State took themselves out of the game by not handling the crowd early (And Rudy Carpenter was not making hot reads very well against the blitz, hence the 9 sacks), and hey all credit to the Oregon fans for that, but will be shocked if Oregon finishes this thing out at 11-1 despite the ease of their schedule. This defense can be had and Dennis Dixon will have to be terrific over the next two road games to get it done. The running game, which I thought would carry them over ASU was not all that effective, Stewart ripped off one 33 yard TD run an other then that was 20-66. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but it hardly dominated the game, which was what I was expecting. People have to remember that Arizona State, while a good football team, certainly didn't expect to be 8-0 in year 1 of Dennis Erickson, they're not that talented. This Week: A suddenly mega-explosive Arizona offense in Tucson, when Oregon's coming off two of the biggest wins in school history. Sound like a recipe for yet another monumental upset in the season of the monumental upsets? Maybe. Cats QB Willie Tuitama's thrown for 851 yards(at 9.8 yds/pass!) and eight tds in the past two weeks. And the Ducks gave up 10 yds/pass to Carpenter at home on Saturday. Expect at least 90 points combined in this one.

7. Missouri(8-1), the maturity of this football team was proven once and for all with the performance in Boulder, in my eyes. CU's a pretty good football team, with a pretty good defense, and they were obliterated. Holding CU to 4.0 yds/pass on the road and 2.8 yds/rush, that's not the Missouri defense we're used to seeing when the games count. And as for the offense, yeah. Daniel was another QB who put up just a shade under 10yds/pass on Saturday. The two tight ends are probably the best weapons they've had at Mizzou since James Wilder and Kellen Winslow, and it allows them to be a good ball control team in addition to the explosion-type offense they get from the wideouts and running back in the passing game. This Week: Texas A&M limps in after the beating they took in Norman, and on Senior day in Columbia, they're getting ass hammered again. One thing to look for, though, is how Missouri deals with the physical running game from A&M. The Tigers won't be in any danger of losing the game, at any point really, but if they can completely shut down Lane, Goodson and McGee that's a good sign with the Kansas showdown looming.

8(3 way tie). Boston College (8-1), admit it, you're as thrilled as I am that BC went down Saturday. The spectre of Boston College soiling the National stage with their east coast nonsense would have been too much. Bad enough we have to live with the Patriots stealling the game yesterday, and the Red Sox sweeping the Rockies...BC playing for the National Championship would have been too much. There's a gathering cloud of "smug" over the greater Boston area and it would have reached South Park-ian levels had BC won that one. The offense continues to struggle against better defenses(Like, say, UMASS!). This week: Maryland is circling the drain, so I expect a fairly easy win for BC. BUT, if they do not get say a 34-14 win on cruise control and have to struggle to get this one, there's no way anyone can expect them to go to Clemson and beat the Tigers with the division title on the line. And I don't anyway, but they could get their chowd asses whupped down by Howard's Rock.

8, also, Arizona State(8-1), another team that ran into a little bit of reality revealing itself on Saturday. ASU had lots of opportunities in Eugene, and they have to be kicking themselves about the horrific start. In only their third road game of the season, the Sun Devils looked ill-equipped to handle crowd noise at all. Defensively, I was mildly impressed by the performance even though they gave up 400 yards and 35 points. Dennis Dixon's creativity and athleticism was their biggest problem, and they certainly gave the offense chances to get back in and win a game that everyone knew would be a shootout. This week: Now they have to go back on the road and play a desperate UCLA team that, incredibly, still controls their own destiny in the Pac-10. Definite upset alert, but it's also a good chance for Arizona State to demonstrate the same maturity that Missouri did in Boulder against a similarly dangerous team on the road. I don't think they'll get the 55-10 definitive mandate in their favor like Mizzou, but they'll pass the test.

8, finally, Connecticut(8-1), another year, another least coast team jumps up from nowhere and beomes a big 'ole obnoxious story with their best season in school history. In the last three weeks they've nailed Louisville, South Florida and Rutgers so you have to at least take them semi-seriously, an let's face it they're 1 play against Virginia from being undefeated. UConn is also extremely consistent, no one has scored 20 points on them this season. Pretty amazing stuff from a team that went life and death with Temple back in September. This week: Things stay serious as the Huskies go to the Nati to brawl with Brian Kelly's Bearcats. Cincinnati saved their season last week by hanging on by their very fingernails after taking a 38-17 halftime lead in a 38-33 win over South Florida. Should be a defensive struggle(But that's what I thought South Florida v the Nati was going to be, as well, WTF do I know?), and it's certainly a winable game for UConn. I just don't think they will. But really the main thing is, UConn can win the conference title and the BCS bid in Morgantown in three weeks. I know, fucking crazy. We could still end up with a disgusting UConn-BC Orange Bowl, folks.

11. Georgia(7-2), Knowshawn Moreno. He's, uh, pretty good. But If there's anyway to explain how completely idiotic this season is, and how completely full of shit you are if you profess to have any clue as to what's gonna happen on a week to week basis in this manic and awful season...I present you with the past two weeks of Georgia Bulldog football. Week 1, Georgia 42 Florida 30 at Jacksonville. Week 2, Georgia 44 TROY 34 in ATHENS! So essentially Troy gave Georgia more problems then a team quarterbacked by Timmy, timmy, timmy, timmy TEEEEEEEEEE-BOW! And how the hell did Moreno not get all the carries starting immediately this season? The guy has about 540 yards in the past three games after about 460 yards in the first six combined. Hello? Mark Richt? Whatcha doin' there big guy? This week: Another hate-fest with ancient rival Auburn. So it's Will Muschamp's brutal whup-ass defense versus the most physical running back in college football right now. The collisions should be better then anything Nascar's ever had to offer.

12. Clemson(7-2), think team psychotic would like to have that two week brainfart against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech back, yeah me, too. Cullen Harper now has 23 tds to 4 ints on the season, must be nice to have Davis and Spiller taking up all of the defense's attention. They scored 47 points against Duke and DavisSpiller had 16 total carries, Harper averaged all of 7.1 yds/att passing. But how do you trust Clemson and Tommy Bowden coming down the stretch? We've literally been here before. Win two home games and in spite of their awful play in two conference games earlier in the season Clemson can take the division title and play for a BCS bid. This week: Clemson tries to stomp out the hopes and dreams of a repeat ACC title for Wake Forest. There is no logical reason that Clemson shouldn't wipe the turf with Wake, but there was no logical reason for them to score 3 points in Atlanta against the Ramblin' Wreck, either.

13. USC(7-2), playing in BCS bowls has just been a formality for Carrol's Trojans since '02. If they want to get one this year, it's time to start playing like the 85 high school all-americans they have on the roster. Their lack of production on offense is mind-numbing. Throw out the two games against awful Nebraska and putrid Notre Dame, and USC's averaging 28 points per game. That's fine if you're an average football team, but USC's got hand picked players at every single position and should overmatch every single team they stepped on the field with. This week: The march to an at-large BCS bid must begin this week at Strawberry Hill against the Cal Bears. In a game that looked for all the world like a top 5 showdown in September, both teams are now playing just to salvage seasons that had sky high hopes. I wonder about USC's motivation now that the National title is a pipe dream and the Pac-10 title is probably gone, too. These kids didn't come to USC to try and take 2nd place and get to the Fiesta Bowl. However, Cal's been awful since they left Eugene sky high and ranked #2 in the country, so USC will still be playing for big stakes when they go to Tempe Thanksgiving night.

14. Virginia Tech(7-2), this is a testament to great coaching. Because Va Tech is not a very good football team, in my opinion. They're certainly not much of a threat when they have the ball. But here they sit, 7-2,(And a ridiculous gag job against BC away from being 8-1 and in the driver's seat in the Coastal) and just three wins away from the ACC title game. They have a total of nine touchdown passes and 13 rushing touchdowns through 9 games. (Steve Slaton has 13 rushing touchdowns by himself. Hell, Kansas nearly threw for nine touchdowns in 60 minutes on Saturday.) And the schedule gets nasty from here on in, so they'll have to find some way to be more effective on offense. This week: They probably catch Florida State at a really good time, since the entire world is patting them on the back for ridding us of the harrrar that was Boston College. But with these two teams, I fully expect a game that only a masochistic defensive guy would even remotely enjoy. It is crucial, though, because VT must win at least one of the two home games against the Noles and Canes in the next two weeks to play for the division title at Virginia in the finale. I have no prediction for this game, save for Beamer-ball making a big kick block or int return to win the game at some point.

15. Florida(6-3), Gator hopes for an SEC title and BCS bid depend on both Georgia and Tennessee losing a game down the stretch and then Florida winning a tiebreaker for the East. And that's certainly possible.And Florida has only one conference game left, so they'll be in the clubhouse at 5-3 should they win. Another example of how crazy this season is, Florida lost three of four games and didn't eliminate themselves from contention. This week: Some guy named Spurrier and a road game against a desperate bunch of Cocks. (I'm sorry, I'm better then that...nah, I'm not.)

16(Tie). Texas (8-2), Once again the Horns spotted an inferior opponent a double digit lead and swooped in like Errol Flynn to save the season. Both comebacks highlight everything that's wrong and right about Texas' football team right now. Big ups to them for getting it together in time to rally from 17-3 down to beat NU and 35-14 down to beat Okie St, but how the hell does a team with all that talent fall behind like that, to those teams? I don't know, and neither do you. This week: With plenty of money still on the table, including an outside shot at a BCS bid, the Horns host Mike Leach's roving band of Red Raiders. Just a suggestion, Horn players and coaches...don't spot Leach 21 points.

16(Tie). Michigan(8-2), Michigan State is like the gift that keeps on giving all year round. I was so shocked to see them blow a 10 pt 4th quarter lead against their biggest rival, just so out of character for the Spartans. And so now a team that got ass mastered by Oregon at home, and lost to Appalachian State will definitely play for the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl bid in two weeks against Ohio State. Lloyd Carr deserves a lot of credit for stopping the bleeding, and a lot of blame for the fact that they were bleeding that bad to start with. But this season could've gotten completely away from them and turned into something like what we're seeing in Lincoln and South Bend. This Week: A trip to Madison to lay the Baaaadgers feels like a complete setup. Michigan's really not playing for anything, since win or lose they'll still play Ohio State for the conference title. And Wisconsin should be very motivated given their disasterous 4th quarter in Columbus. Michigan goes down this week, but that might not be the worst thing for them with Buckeye looming.

18. Auburn(7-3), perhaps the Tigers would like to play South Florida and Mississippi State, again. If they were sitting at 9-1 with their only loss at LSU, well they'd have a lot of money still on the table and a dangerous, physical football team. Throw out the LSU game and they're giving up less then 13pts/game. Consistency and explosiveness are still not there for the offense, and with only a 10-9 td/int ratio, the passing game has not come around like they would have hoped. But with their two biggest rivals left on the schedule the Tigers can still have a monster season. This week: They step between the hedges for a showdown with the surging Dawgs. Georgia's got more to play for then Auburn, but it won't be motivation that loses the game for the Tigers. It'll be the dual threat of a running and passing attack from Stafford/Moreno.

19. Virginia(8-2), I still am skeptical of Virginia's actual ability, they did get soundly beaten by Wyoming, y'all. But they continue finding ways to win close games and sit in excellent position to play in their first ACC title game. A home win versus rival Va Tech in two weeks will cement the division title. Virginia is 6-1 in games decided by a TD or less, 5-0 in games decided by a field goal or less. This week: Virginia travels to the Orange Bowl to play the barely conscious Canes in a game where strangely Miami may have more motivation with their bowl eligibility at stake, where Virginia's division title hopes will likely be decided against Va Tech on 11/24 win or lose.

20. Cincinnati(7-2), the Bearcats won a big game for a struggling team down in Tampa last weekend, stopping a two game slide and keeping their fading Big East title/BCS game hopes alive. They merely need UConn to lose one game to West Virginia or Syracuse to control their own destiny. The losses to Louisville and Pittsburgh are going to really sting for Cincinnati if they don't get it done. This week: They can start UConn's inevitable backslide by beating the Huskies at home. I also expect a close, low scoring defensive brawl in this one.

21. Alabama(6-3), the way the Tide lost that game on Saturday is going to sit with them for a long time. John Parker Wilson's fumble was as painful a way to lose as anything since Clint Stoerner tripped and fumbled against Tennessee in 1998. Bama has two big "grudge match" type of games with "Alabama guy" Sylvester Crooms and his resurgent Mississippi State Bulldogs up next and a trip to Auburn which should be outstanding in two weeks. This week: Mississippi State should be sky high and jacked up with a chance to get bowl eligible at home. And Bama is coming off an uber-disappointment against LSU.

22. Penn State(7-3), the Lions are just a couple plays away from a really big season. The Michigan and Illinois games will stick in their craw at the end, as this is a team that could've been BCS eligible if they win those games. (Not that they are good enough to be in a BCS game or that they should be there, but they would have had the record.) This week: Temple and an their 8th win.

23. Tennessee(6-3), almost incredibly with three blowout losses, the Vols stand three wins away from the SEC title game. It seems hard to believe that Tennessee will win out with three fairly rough games on the way. The Vol offense has used ball control and a careful(I know) Erik Ainge to win five out of their last six games. The defense hasn't been very good at any point and disintegrated in the three blowout losses. This week: Freak-like D-mac, Felix Jones and the Arkansas Razorbacks come to Knoxville. Tennessee really needs a statement type game to angle for the SEC title game.

24. Kentucky(6-3), the Cats feel like they're backsliding quickly. The bye week could not have come at a better time for a team that got run over by Mississippi State. With three tough games to close the season, Kentucky's in danger of losing six out of seven to close the season and ruining all the momentum they had after the LSU upset. This week: They go to Vandy to face a Commodore football team that needs a win to get bowl eligible. With Georgia and Tennessee on the horizon, Kentucky must take care of bidness if they're going to get a good bowl slot. And they will, fairly easily.

25. Cal(6-3), the Bears' chances of salvaging a once-promising season hinge entirely on this week's USC game. Four straight subpar performances, keyed by a struggling offense averaging less then 22 points per game has seen Cal go from 5-0 & #2 to facing a potential Las Vegas Bowl bid. Nate Longshore's numbers are simply not very good (11td/8int, 6.8 yds/att) and the running game hasn't been much of a threat. This week: The Bears host USC in a "what might have been" type showdown. Cal wasn't able to beat USC with mature, professional teams the pat three years, I have no idea why they would beat them now. Cal should be able to stop USC's offense, somewhat, but their own offense is likely to be choked out by the Trojans' killer D.

Fight night: Calzaghe vs Kessler

2007-11-03T15:01:00.000-06:00

See the full size poster @ Livefight.com

Taking a break from the torture to watch the fight of the fall, assuming my directv doesn't go down due to goddamn satan.

I am about 10 times less confident in making this pick as I was the Pavlik-Taylor fight. Calzaghe is on the back end of his championship career, but he hasn't shown a whole lot of wear and tear in his last few fights. I don't think either fighter is a big enough puncher to keep the other guy moving backwards. So I see a lot of punches being traded at center ring, I am very wary of headbutts in this one.

Kessler's hand speed and foot speed will likely carry him to an early lead. Calzaghe's experience and toughness will spur a second half run and I really believe the scorecards will be very close and disputed. And in that instance, you always go with the guy fighting in front of 30,000 of his home country fans.

Calzaghe by razor thin UD

Another one of the top 5 pound for pound guys fights on Showtime as Juan Manuel Marquez butts heads with American Rocky Juarez. Juarez has regressed, in my eyes, since his first fight with Barrera, which I thought he won. Marquez has so much money on the horizon in a rematch with Manny Pac, that I just don't see him being anything but sharp in dominating Juarez over 12 fairly easy, but brutal rounds.

Marquez by dominant UD

Postcard from Hell

2007-11-03T14:06:00.001-06:00

Really doesn't look so bad anymore...

A Tour of Hell

Greetings, bitches. I must apologize for the lack of posting, however, Comcast gives very little coverage in my new residence, which as you know is the third ring of hell. How else can you explain the events of the past month? I defy you. The Colorado Rockies win 13 of 14 to win a spot in a Wild Card playoff game, win in the 13th inning off of Trevor Hoffman and the entire nation talks about how lucky the Rockies were and what a joke it is that they're in the post-season. Meanwhile the Nebraska Cornhuskers could not stop a gang of one-legged dwarfs, or Ball State. They still beat Iowa State because hey, even the Devil knows there's limits. Everytime they play "Back in Black" on the scoreboard and throw up the "Blackshirts" logo, it mocks the entire program better then anything anyone in Boulder or Manhattan has tried to do in the nearly two decades they've actually attempted to be rivals. ANYTHING. The Denver Broncos continue to field a team coached by a man so frustratingly arrogant and stupid that he'd run a five tight end set on 3rd and 17 and glare at anyone with the audacity to suggest it didn't have a chance of working. And yet everyone around me continues to look at me with shock and awe when I suggest maybe it's time for him to seek employment elsewhere. The Rockies then sweep both the NLDS and NLCS in front of tens of viewers outside the greater Denver Metro area, and while we all enjoy our little team here the entire world around us yawns and laughs about Coors Field and the beating we're going to receive in the World Series. Then we get swept 4-0 in the World Series. Then Kansas scores 227 points in a football game against the Huskers. Hell. With Chowds and Cheeseheads. And Kevin Cosgrove. I've attempted to throw myself off of a cliff 750 times, and it never works, I'm right back in front of the TV and Kansas always has the ball.

I do not know what it was that sent me here, there is no explanation so be prepared for that, and I do not even remember the precise moment when I died. (If I did anything to wrong you while I was alive...Good, fuck you, at least I earned my trip.) I suspect it was on the road to Lincoln for the USC game in mid-September. I must've fallen asleep and smashed into a rabid badger or gigantic mosquito of some sort and died peacefully. (If so, dying peacefully is highly overrated and very confusing.)

There is some good news, it's not a 1000 degrees and the torment is not unyielding. Plus, there is beer. Perhaps it's the degree of hell that I'm in, or perhaps the devil knows that constant mercilous torture is really pointless after the first few days. I mean, seriously, after the first 5 or 6 hundred times you've been buried alive, dragged underwater by a giant shark or forced to watch 700 hours of Ryan Seacrest's "best" work, I would think the terror fades into "can we just move onto the next thing?".

No it's much worse to provide constant and everlasting hope to someone and then smash their face into a jelly at the very moment they expect to recieve pleasure. Also, if you are able to view and review the greatest moments of your life while you're in hell, it makes living in hell much, much worse. F'rinstance, being able to turn on the 1996 Fiesta Bowl and watch Tommie Frazier kick the high holy shit out of a spectacular Steve Spurrier Florida team while you're being obliterated by the Kansas Fucking Jayhawks, is not the comfort that one would think. In fact it makes the current butt-fucking all the more painful when it's put into perspective. Watching the Denver Nuggets rally from behind and score a victory in their first two wins is only more painful when you realize that Kenyon Martin's return is going to stunt the development of Nene and JR Smith's relegated to the bench so when the Nuggets inevitably run into the San Antonio Spurs this Summer, they have no answer other then to hope Allen Iverson shoots 60% and Carmelo Anthony becomes a defensive stopper. (Can't wait for the next 80 games.) And don't even get me started on the Avalanche goatender situation or the fact that Friday Night Lights actually lost viewers through the first five episodes and the best television show I've ever seen is destined to be cancelled to make way for extra "Deal of No Deal" and "Biggest Loser" episodes. (If you watch those shows, fuck you.)

And as such, while you might think that seeing joy and reward in your fellow man would make losing and loss in general seem temporary and would help you deal. It does not. A sea of Red Sox and Packer fans reveling in their team's conquest in your ballpark is like getting a piece of duct tape ripped off of a 3rd degree rug burn on your junk over and over again.

Maybe the most disappointing part of hell is the television announcers are the same maddening assholes that you wanted to throw urine bombs at in real life. They don't grow horns and start rattling off hateful shit about your teams, they just keep repeating the same cliches over and over again. Dave Lapham is very high up in Beezlebub's food chain, let me tell you.

I will try to press on, college basketball season's around the corner and I have no team for the Devil to either befoul completely or tantalize into the playoffs and then sucker punch in the rectum... maybe it's starting to turn around. (Shit, he's done it again.)

(PS keep your Itunes fully stocked. In hell you can only download Country, Western and Celine Dion.)

Dayman

2007-10-14T13:15:00.001-06:00

Gold

NLCS GAME 1 Links/Notes "TEA-BAG THE D-BAGS!"

2007-10-11T10:45:00.000-06:00

Matt Holliday accidentally KO's Kaz

Game 1, Tonight, you may have heard about it...

Tons of links and more coverage today then the first 15 years of Rockies' baseball combined.

-The Todd Helton story gets national attention; Arizona paper spotlights Matt Holliday's decision to spurn Okie State football.
-No Aaron Cook, but Willie Tavares adds some speed to a lineup that ain't exactly struggling.
-Apparently there are "faceless" stars in this series. And that is really the headline, nationally, for this series as the Rox and D-Bags are unknown quantities around the country.
-Series Previews roll in, Yahoo!; Yahoo2; ESPN Series' Page
-Simulations are uber-lame. Wait, they picked the Rockies? Simulations rule. And Tim Kurkjian picked the D-Bags, so we're halfway home already! And while we're talking about horrible writers, here's Jim Armstrong.
-D-Bag fans will probably show up, at their players are hoping.
-Arizona relishing the underdog status, again.
-The Rockies are saying all the right things about wanting more then this incredible run so far.
-D-Bag Stephen Drew comes into his own. He is impressive, he's definitely the 2nd best shortstop in this series.
-Our national obsession with creating rivalries from the ether continues. It's like "HEY, THAT COULD BE A RIVALRY!!" Which is why there really aren't any new rivalries because no one lets them develop.

And the last word goes to me...

Colorado is simply playing far too well to anticipate anything other then a Rockie win in this series. Tonight's game will go a long way towards determining how long the series goes, in my mind. If the Rockies beat Webb tonight then this series will not go back to Arizona for games 6 or 7. Hawpe, Holliday, Atkins, Helton and Tulo didn't even have the greatest numbers in the world last series and the Rox swept a better team from Philly. I think Webb probably gets it done tonight and the Rockies end up splitting in Arizona, taking 2 of 3 in Colorado and clinching the series in the desert. Either way the final out of the NLCS will look at lot like this...

Rockies in six

This just keeps getting weirder

2007-10-08T22:33:00.000-06:00

You got the wool cap on? Got a lot, uh, goin' on under there? Thinkin' bout your sideburns?

Let me see if I can get all this straight in my head...

The Denver Broncos are an awful football team, and only the people at Mile High on Sunday seemed to care(As they should have sitting through that game on TV was quite enough.). Because the Colorado Rockies are such a ridiculous shot of adrenaline right now that it's impossible to be all that mad about anything else.

Nebraska lost to Missouri(Gary F-ING PINKEL MISSOURI) 41-6, the Broncos lost to the Fugly ass uniforms from Whale's Vagina, 41-3, and I'm in a pretty good mood overall.

The Trees from Stanford beat USC at home. The TREES! Harbaugh should retire right now, like Mike Eruzione, "I can't tawp 'dis". Absolutely awesome, in a year full of head scratching nonsensical results, that tops the Appalachian State-Michigan game. Because I would have been good money Appy St beats Stanford. And I know USC beats Michigan.

The Yankees are out. The Rockies are not. Chew on that one for a while mister 5 trillion dollar budget Yankee superfan. If the Rox win the World Series I bet 500 bucks Stein-buhler tries to buy the entire state.

Brandon Marshall, a Bronco, complained about how much attention the Rockies are getting, in October.

A Houston Texan D-Lineman went postal complaining about a cheap shot from a QB, Trent Green no less. Hey tough guy, Trent Green's 114 years old and couldn't hurt himself with a butcher knife you VAG.

Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera fought and I couldn't squeeze it into my Saturday. (Though it sounds like MAB made a decision to NOT get knocked out and lost a boring tactical fight.)

The Cal Bears are the #2 team in the country. The Colorado State Rams have the nation's longest losing streak. Cal only beat CSU by six points. Seriously.

Texas has lost four straight games in the Big XII. Kansas and Missouri are the only undefeated teams in the Big XII. And it's not February and we're not talking about basketball.

South Florida survived an upset bid from Florida Atlantic on Saturday and moved INTO the top 5. Rutgers, West Virginia and Louisville have all lost conference games in the Big East and are looking up at Cincinnati and UConn.

Illinois and Indiana have already combined to win 10 football games.

Boston College is the 4th ranked team in the country. Notre Dame had to upset UCLA to win their first football game. Roles, you have been reversed.

Steve Spurrier owns the lead in the SEC East...at South Carolina.

Virginia is 3-0 in the ACC, and lost to Wyoming

And I won't even get to Clemson and Michigan State, figure them out smart guy.

Top 25 and Notes

2007-10-04T01:06:00.000-06:00

This was far and away the most difficult top 25 I've ever done, there are a minimum of 21 teams in this top 25 that could easily lose to teams outside of it and it would not surprise me very much. There are teams in the top 10 that I'm sure have less talent then some teams not even on the list, but they've performed this season and deserve to be recognized.

1. LSU; The Tigers claim to #1 will finally receive a test on Saturday night. The Florida loss to Auburn may have been the worst thing that could happen to LSU from a "need a blowout to impress pollsters" standpoint. Florida will play their "A+" game on Saturday night, I don't think that'll beat LSU, but it could be very close.

2. USC; Listen, did they crush Washington like I thought or like we all thought they should? No. But they did outgain them 3:1, so it's not like they were in all that much trouble, overall. John David Booty continues to look very ordinary despite so much talent around him it's busting out the sides. I'd just like to remind everyone that I said this months ago.

3. Cal; The #3 team in my poll beat CSU by six points. Six. Despite that, Cal has beaten up Tennessee and won at Oregon. They must avoid more of the inconsistent performances they gave in Ft Collins(And last year in Tucson) if they're going to remain at this spot and in serious National Contention.

4. Ohio State; The team that trailed Akron 2-0 for the better part of the first half of their game is suddenly #4 in the country and looking like, by far, the best Big Ten team. They're giving up 7.2 ppg and suddenly looking a lot like a more explosive version of the 2002 Buckeyes. They will get all they want this weekend in West Lafayette.

5. South Florida; Who has two more impressive wins then at Auburn and vs West Virginia? No, I don't think the Bulls are the fifth best team in the country, but I do think they've accomplished more then all but 4 teams and so they deserve to be ranked there. The looming showdowns with Rutgers and Louisville certainly don't look as scary as they once did. It's certainly all in front of Jim Leavitt and USF in 07.

6. Kentucky; The crazy continues with a Kentucky team that finds itself in the media spotlight as never before, facing the three most important back to back games in Kentucky football since Bear Bryant left. At South Carolina(Tonight), LSU and Florida is the next three for UK. If they can find a way to win two, they're in pretty goo shape for a division title.

7. Boston College; Incredibly, they don't suffer for a piss-poor performance against UMass because of the free falling going on around them. With a suddenly lonely perch at the top of the Atlantic Division, the Eagles still have road games with Va Tech & Clemson and home games with Miami & FSU to determine how realistic this ranking is.

8. Wisconsin; If ever there was a year where winning ugly was beautiful, it's 2007. Tell me Florida and Oklahoma wouldn't have loved to win ugly on Saturday. With three wins by a touchdown or less already and a come from behind win against I-AA school already under their belts, the Badgers remain contenders but not serious ones at this point. The road trip to Illinois and Penn State should sort them out in the next two weeks.

9. Purdue; As always the Purdue defense is not very strong and gives you pause to ranking them so high. And as always the games against Ohio State and Michigan will be a key litmus test for the Boilers. But this year it's not that cut and dried that Purdue won't win both of them and become the Big Ten frontrunner down the stretch.

10. Cincinnati; You look around the country and no one is dominating outside of LSU. Well, look at the Nati. Yeah, their non-conf is pretty easy, but the scores(59-3, 34-3, 47-10, 40-14, 52-23) show a consistent level of dominance that not many teams appear capable of, let alone are actually producing. Things get fairly serious Saturday at Rutgers, but that Bearcat defense should be ready.

11. Florida; Seriously WTF? That was a stunningly bad performance from a team that just two weeks earlier looked like an even more vicious version of the 06 champs. But the fact that it came right on the heels of another bad performance against Ole Miss makes you wonder. Is this the wrong time for a trip to Baton Rouge or the perfect time to get well?

12. Oklahoma; Again, WTF? OU was badly outplayed by Colorado all day long, but still managed to snake a 24-7 lead in the 4th quarter thanks to a few great plays by their big time athletes and Colorado's inexperience and lack of finishing plays. And then they took the gun, pointed it at their foot and fired repeatedly. What the hell was Sam Bradford doing throwing the football after the day he'd had with 6 minutes left on first down? And now they play Texas, ordinarily that would be cause for alarm, now it may just be a way to get well.

13. West Virginia; And the WTF Hat Trick concludes with a Mountaineer team that just plain can't do shit against South Florida's defense over eight quarters of sample. The good news for West Virginia is that they can regroup, with the Big East getting better South Florida is less likely to run the table. The bad news is everyone else saw South Florida's DL get up the field and swamp the speed option before it got going. Pat White's health and turnovers continue to be the kryptonite for WVA.

14. South Carolina; The more I watched the LSU game from two weeks ago, the more impressed I was with South Carolina, athletically. Tonight is a gigantic game for South Carolina as the next four games are all winnable and Spurrier could be 9-1 with Florida coming to Columbia on 11/10.

15. Missouri; The last two Big XII undefeateds? Kansas, who played no one, and Missouri, who played Illinois & Ole Miss. As usual, the litmus test for Pinkel's Tigers will come in the next two weeks with Nebraska at home and a trip to Norman. Win both and it's hard to see Mizzou not playing for the Big XII title.

16. Georgia; The Dawgs took a rough looking performance against Ole Miss and made it look beautiful with 3 4th quarter touchdowns last weekend. The desperation level will never be higher for a Tennessee-Georgia game then it will be in Knoxville on Saturday with Tennessee having lost to Florida and Georgia having lost to South Carolina, and Kentucky suddenly deciding to field a football team. It's a true SEC East elimination game.

17. Arizona State; Aside from two poor first quarters (Falling down 14-0 vs CU and 19-0 vs Oregon State) the Devils have been rollicking through an easy first quarter of the season. Things get a touch more serious against Washington St and Washington, but I doubt we'll find out anything about ASU until 10/27 when they will host Cal. But getting to 5-0 and looking very strong for 7-0 is a decided change from the inconsistent Sun Devil teams of the past.

18. Oregon; You have to be on alert for Oregon, it's a good time for their bye week because losing the way they lost to Cal can put a hole in your entire team that never heals. They have two "should win" games before USC and ASU come calling in back to back weeks starting 10/27. That gives Oregon 3 weeks and 2 games to right the ship.

19. Kansas State; Honestly, if they don't fumble away their opportunity at Auburn, this is the most impressive opening season run in K-State history. Texas surely has issues, but for a North Division team to go into Austin and open them up and slow blead them so easily is astonishing. We'll find out how real Kansas' big scores from the non-conf are when the intrastate rivals go at it.

20. Illinois; The win over Indiana and the loss to Missouri look much better then they did when they happened and now they've got a win over Penn State, as well. Zook's doing what he couldn't do at Florida, elevating a program. There are serious opportunities for the Illini, starting with Saturday against Wisconsin.

21. Clemson; What a horrible, HORRIBLE loss, what a "Tommy Bowden" loss for Clemson last Saturday. All you had to do was score two touchdowns and you win, with Davis/Spiller leading your offense. That's ridiculous. Clemson goes back to being Clemson. Saturday night's game with Va Tech offers some chance for contrition, but in a lot of ways the damage is done. Does anyone think Clemson will play consistently enough to catch and pass BC down the stretch and hold off Florida State?

22. Texas; I have no idea what to do with Texas, because right now they're a bad football team. But I suppose things will get easier on Saturday when they are clearly dropped from the top 25 by OU, unless they figure out answers to the gaping questions on both sides of the ball.

23. Florida State; Suddenly Florida State is staring a 7-1 start in the face(If they can take care of business at Wake and at home vs Miami.) before tripping to Boston for a showdown type game. And with Xavier Lee starting to look comfortable as the Noles #1 guy, who knows where this team is going.

24. Nebraska; Simply the biggest game of the season Saturday night. The time sucks, the timing of the game sucks, the bye for Mizzou sucks...bullshit. Nebraska football teams go win that game against a team with no defense and a soon to be lame duck coaching them. Sam Keller should throw for as many yards as he wants Saturday night. (It's just, will it be enough?)

25. Rutgers; Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaa! I only put them in my top 25 to publicly laugh at them for their horrific loss to MARYLAND AT HOME!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Fuck you, Rutgers!

As for Tonight...

Kentucky at South Carolina, 5:30 ESPN, South Carolina -4

I have no good feel for this game at all, except to say that in overall talent South Carolina is deeper then UK and Kentucky hasn't had to win consistently against SEC teams during this season opening run. I like, but certainly don't love, South Carolina to win this football game and slow down Kentucky's offense.

The reason I don't love this game is that Kentucky's offense is so much more explosive then South Carolina's right now and should UK solve the Cock defense early, they could put up enough points in a bunch to put SC away early.

But I will go with Spurrier's game management, the SC-Nix defense and the home field in Columbia.

South Carolina 26 Kentucky 21

The Colorado Rockies

2007-10-02T19:56:00.000-06:00

It was so wild in LoDo Sunday and Monday, I bet the Denver Police had to call in the reserves.

So the Rockies open post-season play, I just talked about baseball in October wow, Wednesday afternoon against the Phillies. But instead of previewing what should be an explosive series between two high powered, star heavy lineups, it's time to give some love to the guys that made it happen.

1. Matt Holliday; Never in my wildest dreams did I think Holliday was going to be this type of club-carrying superstar this season. The kind of player that can botch a ball in the outfield in the 8th inning and find a way to come thru with a game-tying triple in the 13th inning.
2. Todd Helton; There will never be a more clear moment when a team goes from being a wannabe to a contender then Todd Helton's 9th inning bomb off of Takashi Saito against the Dodgers in the night game of the Sept 18th doubleheader. It changed the course of the season and united this city behind a team that suddenly didn't look too young to win with their veteran leader steaming around the bases pumping his fists.
3. Troy Tulowitzki; The "can't miss" shortstop prospect was even better then advertised, almost from day one, but the biggest thing about Tulo is he got better in every single area of his game the entire season. Instead of tailing off in his first 162 game season, he was a leader and helped drive this incredible run.
4. Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe; Almost by sheer lack of coverage these two guys are anonymous even to most Denver sports' fans. But how's 54 HR's and 227 RBI's do ya? On June 1st, Garrett Atkins was hitting .223. He finished at .301 after another big-time productive play-in game against the Padres. And Hawpe's just a terrific right fielder who continues to drive in runs and go deep far more often then the skinny kid from LSU looks like he should be able to.
5. Jeff Francis; When the team was struggling to stay in this thing it was Francis' emergence as a legitimate #1 that kept the Rox afloat after the 1-9 disaster at mid-season. The team went 22-12 in Francis' 34 starts, 68-61 in the other 129 games.
6. Brian Fuentes & Manny Corpas; You get to the 8th inning now and you don't feel terrified, you feel confident. Two legit all-star quality arms at the back end of every close game is a luxury the Rockies have never had.

And there's a whole host of role players like Josh Fogg, Yorvitt Torrealba, LaTroy Hawkins, Jeremy Affeldt, Ryan Spillborgs, Kaz Matsui and young players like Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales, Ian Stewart, and Joe Koshansky that will get opportunities in the next couple of weeks to make this run more then something to just look back and smile about.

And that brings me to point #1. Everything that happens from here on out is NOT gravy. The Colorado Rockies have a legit shot at winning a World Series, as bizarre and wrong as that just sounds, it's 100% true. And they need to be thinking about nothing else but winning the whole fuckin' thing. If you doubt me, the 1994 Denver Nuggets would certainly back me up. It's been 13 years, and the Nuggets still haven't won another playoff series. Maybe it's the start of several playoff runs, maybe it's not. But they need to treat this like it's the only shot they'll ever get.

Weekend Preview/Pick Sheet

2007-09-28T11:54:00.001-06:00

Previous Week's Update

Totals Recommended Plays(Overall)
NCAA 33-25-1(60-45-1)
NFL 12-11-4(26-17-5)

Saturday College Football Schedule, Spread, Bet or Pick, Prediction

10:00 AM ESPN, Notre Dame at Purdue, Pur -22, Pick, Purdue 34 Notre Dame 10
10:00 AM ESPN2, LSU at Tulane, LSU -40, Pick, LSU 52 Tulane 7
10:00 AM BTen, Indiana at Iowa, Iowa -11, Bet, Iowa 31 Indiana 10
10:00 AM BTen, Michigan at NWestern, Mich -17, Pick, Mich 38 NW 17
10:00 AM BTen, Penn State at Illinois, PSt -3, Bet, Penn St 21 Illinois 14
10:00 AM PPV, North Carolina at Va Tech, VT -18 1/2, Pick, VT 20 NC 3
10:30 AM VS, Baylor at Texas A&M, A&M -17, Pick, A&M 33 Baylor 13
10:30 AM PPV, Mississippi State at South Carolina, SC -13 1/2, Pick, SC 27 MSU 13
11:00 AM CSTV, Air Force at Navy, Navy -2 1/2, Bet, Navy 31 AFA 21
11:30 AM FSN, Oklahoma at Colorado, OU -22 1/2, Pick, OU 41 CU 17
1:30 ABC, Kansas State at Texas, UT -14 1/2, Pick, Texas 30 K-State 14
1:30 PPV, Cal at Oregon, Ore -5 1/2, Bet, Cal 42 Oregon 38
1:30 PPV, Clemson at Georgia Tech, Clem -3, Pick, GT 27 Clemson 24
1:30 PPV/ESPN, Michigan State at Wisconsin, Wisc -7 1/2, Pick, Wisc 31 MSU 17
1:30 PPV, Maryland at Rutgers, Rut -17, Pick, Rutgers 38 Maryland 14
1:30 ESPNU, Louisville at NC State, Lou -9, Bet, Lou 55 NC State 34
2:30 CSTV, UTEP at SMU, SMU -1 1/2, Bet, UTEP 23 SMU 17
3:00 CBS, Florida State vs Bama(at J'ville), FSU -2, Bet, FSU 27 Bama 20
4:30 FSN, UCLA at Oregon State, NL, Pick, Ore St 44 UCLA 34
5:00 MTN, CSU at TCU, TCU -10 1/2, Bet, TCU 31 CSU 14
6:00 ABC, USC at Washington, USC -21, Bet, USC 52 Washington 21
6:00 ESPN, Auburn at Florida, Florida -19, Bet, Florida 44 Auburn 10
6:00 ESPN2, Ohio State at Minnesota, OSU -25, Pick, Ohio State 51 Minn 24
6:30 CSTV, BYU at New Mexico, BYU -5 1/2, Pick, BYU 27 New Mexico 17
8:00 VS, Cincinnati at San Diego St, Cin -15, Bet, Cincinnati 31 SDSU 7
8:00 FSN-NW, Washington St at Arizona, Zona -2 1/2, Pick, Wazzu 21 Arizona 13
8:00 FSN-AZ, Arizona St at Stanford, ASU -14 1/2, Pick, ASU 44 Stanford 17

NFL
11:00 Raiders at Dolphins, Mia -4, Bet, Dolphins 20 Raiders 10
11:00 Texans at Falcons, Hou -2 1/2, Pick, Texans 23 Falcons 13
11:00 Ravens at Browns, Balt -4 1/2, Bet, Ravens 17 Browns 7
11:00 Bears at Lions, Chi -3, Pick, Lions 21 Bears 17
11:00 Packers at Vikings, GB -2, Bet, Packers 27 Vikings 13
11:00 Rams at Cowboys, Dall -13, Pick, Cowboys 31 Rams 14
11:00 Jets at Bills, Jets -3 1/2, Pick, Jets 22 Bills 14
2:00 Buccaneers at Panthers, Panthers -3, Bet, Panthers 21 Bucs 13
2:00 Seahawks at 49ers, Sea -2, Bet, Seahawks 24 49ers 14
2:00 Steelers at Cardinals, Pitt -6, Bet, Steelers 30 Cardinals 21
2:00 Chiefs at Chargers, SD -12, Pick, Chargers 34 Chiefs 17
2:00 Broncos at Colts, Colts -9 1/2, Bet, Colts 42 Broncos 24
6:00 Eagles at Giants, Phi -3, Pick, Eagles 31 Giants 24
Mon Patriots at Bengals, NE -7 1/2, Bet, Patriots 42 Bengals 21

Big Game Friday

2007-09-28T09:39:00.000-06:00

Substance or flash for Slaton and co?

Two big fat, hairy games on a Friday night.

6:00 ESPN2 West Virginia at South Florida, WVA -7
6:00 FSN Diamondbacks at Rockies, Rox -123

We'll start in Tampa where South Florida's suddenly the hot team in the Big East (Unless it's Cincinnati) and it's time for West Virginia to either be an exciting novelty act, or legitimate National Championship contender. If they're the latter, they stomp the same Bull team that went into Morgantown and beat them a year ago. They figure out a way to use the pass to open up running lanes for Slaton, Scmitt, White and Devine or they're just so good on the ground it doesn't matter. (I remember a team in red that didn't really need much threat of the pass to beat good defenses handily not so long ago.) I think it'll be somewhere in the middle and we won't get a true definition tonight. But we will see White and Slaton stake WVA out to a fairly good sized lead and South Florida's limitations on offense will probably prevent them from mounting a serious rally. One severe caveat...South Florida turned over Auburn on FIVE STRAIGHT POSSESSIONS! In all of West Virginia's losses and near misses over the past few seasons turnovers have been a major issue. Pat White must take care of the football and this must not be one of those nights where Slaton gets his occasional "dropsies".

West Virginia 34 South Florida 24

As for the Rockies, you can't even begin to talk about this baseball team in a few paragraphs, so I won't try. But betting against Helton, Holiday, Hawpe, Atkins, Tulo, Francis and the pen at this point is insanity.

And keep this in mind because no one has really gone out of their way to talk about it, yet. If Colorado wins all three games against Arizona, the worst they could be on Sunday evening is a tie for the Wild Card. They would leapfrog Arizona, San Diego would win the NL West(Because worst case-scenario means the Padres win out) and they would still be tied with Philly and/or the free falling Mets. So all they have to do is worry about what's in front of them, help would be nice, but it is finally in the Rockies' hands. And for the first time in their history, that's a good thing.

Colorado 13 Arizona 4

Jermain Taylor vs Kelly Pavlik: What's it gonna be?

2007-09-27T15:49:00.000-06:00

Belts are neat, but Saturday's about a lot more then accessories

For the Middleweight Championship of the World
Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor, 27-0(17 KO) vs Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik, 31-0(28 KO)
12 Rounds, Saturday Night, HBO, Card Starts at 8:15 with potential star Andre Berto vs veteran trial horse, David Estrada.

In the spring of 2001, way back when Nebraska was a legitimate National Championship contender on the gridiron(Takes a shot at himself, who does that?), a really well put together kid from Arkansas started belting out nobodies and part time boxers on the undercards of many of the season's biggest PPVs. Jermain Taylor cruised thru the early part of his career with an ease that gave you hope for a legit American middleweight to take the reigns for the soon to retire, or so we thought, Bernard Hopkins. And all the way up thru his first showdown with Bernard in 2005, the only question marks about Jermain Taylor's game was why he was occasionally unable to finish off some of the over the hill contenders and trial horses(Like William Joppy and Alfredo Cuevas.) when he was clearly dominating the fight. Many people, including myself, did not think it was time for Jermain to climb in the ring with someone like Hopkins. Hopkins had quite simply destroyed Tito Trinidad's career in 2001, and though he clearly was no longer a 12 round, 3 minute per round fighter, Bernard when riled could still bring a bigger stick then Jermain had ever seen.

Now Jermain "won" the fight with Bernard, and the rematch five months later, but in retrospect it may have been the worst thing that ever happened to his development. Quite simply Jermain has not moved forward as a fighter, not one bit, since what could have been career building victories over Hopkins. He's regressed, he became a safety-first fighter. The saddest thing I've seen in recent boxing was Jermain Taylor BACKING UP when Cory Spinks put "pressure" on him in his most recent controversial decision win.

And now, he faces the best fighter he's ever been in the ring with, not the best boxer, the best fighter. Kelly Pavlik hits like a truck. His demolition of Edison Miranda in what began as a two-way slugfest and ended as a one-way trip to the woodshed for Miranda set off all kinds of speculation about this fight. If Taylor can't back up blown up JR Middleweights like Winky, Spinks and Kassim Ouma...how is he going to back up a guy who's just as strong and just as big as he is? And with Jermain struggling with his "craft"(his ability to place and defense and use his feet to set himself up), how is he ever going to use his physical advantages in this fight(Handspeed, overall athleticism.)?

I don't know the answers to those questions, the only thing I'm sure of is that Kelly Pavlik is going to attack Jermain Taylor Saturday night, it may be more methodically then I expect, but it will come. And there is not one single thing in Jermain's last five fights that leads me to believe he will have the answers for Pavlik. But that may be a good thing, Jermain Taylor is struggling for an identity as a fighter other then that of "Champion". Is he a boxer? No. Is he a brawler? No. Does he have a lot of heart? We suspect he might, but we don't know. But maybe fighting someone who won't let him coast, someone who won't let him peck away at the jab and who will make him pay when he's not busy or falls into the ropes, maybe that's the answer to find out about Jermain Taylor.

One way or another we get answers on Saturday night. I just don't have anything concrete to base a prediction on other then the consistent and concussive power of Kelly Pavlik and the fact that Pavlik knows how he's going to attack Taylor and he knows what he needs to do to beat Taylor. I don't know that Jermain has those answers.

There are questions on Pavlik's side, to be sure. He gets hit a lot, he got cracked hard by Edison Miranda early in that fight(He took it like a fucking animal, but he did get hit cleanly.). And there's also the wild card of Manny Steward, maybe the best offensive trainer in the sport. Has working with Emmanuel paid off for Jermain?

I believe Pavlik wins this fight either by late stoppage or by unanimous(And completely justified) decision. But I don't necessarily believe it's the worst thing that can happen to Taylor, either. Losing will take a lot of the pressure of the "Undefeated Middleweight Champion of the World" label that's been on Jermain Taylor for 3 years now. He can go back to work with some smaller fights and work on his skills as he comes back from the defeat. Pavlik can go on to face the winner of Calzaghe-Kessler in an ultra/uber/mega fight down the road. And then maybe they see each other again when both of them are complete fighters. Maybe.

Prediction: Pavlik by 11th Round TKO

Note: Andre Berto's undercard fight against David Estrada is extremely interesting, given that Berto was nearly knocked unconscious by Cosme Rivera in his last fight before getting off the mat to KO Rivera. Estrada has fought well in his step up fights, but is too limited to beat championship-caliber fighters. Is Berto there? Dunno, we'll be a lot closer to finding out Saturday night.

Huskers-Iowa State

2007-09-27T15:44:00.000-06:00

Part I of our Huskers vs Big XII videos begins with the "mighty" Cyclones

NFL, Week Three

2007-09-21T16:42:00.000-06:00

Colts (-6) 31 Texans 10
Chargers(-5 1/2) 27 Packers 10
Vikings(+2 1/2) 23 Chiefs 17
Eagles(-6) 27 Lions 20
Patriots (-16 1/2) 31 Bills 14
Jets(-3) 20 Dolphins 13
Steelers(-9) 24 49ers 10
Ravens(-7 1/2) 21 Cardinals 16
Bucs (-3 1/2) 23 Rams 14
Broncos(-3) 27 Jaguars 17
Bengals(+3) 31 Seahawks 27
Browns (+3) 17 Raiders 14
Panthers(-4 1/2) 33 Falcons 17
Bears(-3) 27 Cowboys 10
Titans(+4) 24 Saints 17

Bets
Colts -6
Chargers -5 1/2
Jets -3
Steelers -9
Broncos -3
Bengals +3
Panthers -4 1/2
Bears -3
Titans +4

Weekend Preview, Parts ALL

2007-09-21T16:36:00.000-06:00

Not a lot of time, but here it is..

Weekend Preview in One Whole Shot

Saturday AM

10:00 ESPN North Carolina at South Florida(-13)
10:00 ESPN2 East Carolina at West Virginia(-24)
10:00 ESPNU Georgia Tech(-3 1/2) at Virginia
10:00 PPV Clemson(-7) at NC State
10:00 PPV Syracuse at Louisville(-36.5)
10:00 BTen Illinois(-3) at Indiana
10:30 PPV Florida (-23) at Ole Miss
10:30 PPV Ball State at Nebraska (-23)
11:00 ESPNC Army at Boston College(-27)

Predictions
South Florida 21 North Carolina 10
West Virginia 42 East Carolina 17
Georgia Tech 24 Virginia 7
Clemson 31 NC State 17
Louisville 52 Syracuse 14
Illinois 31 Indiana 14
Florida 38 Ole Miss 14
Nebraska 52 Ball State 27
Boston College 38 Army 3

Bets
Georgia Tech -3 1/2
Clemson -7
Illinois -3
Nebraska/Ball State, Over 61 1/2

Saturday AFTN
1:00 MTN Air Force at BYU(-11 1/2)
1:00 PPV Wyoming(-4) at Ohio U
1:30 CBS South Carolina at LSU(-18)
1:30 CBS Penn State(-3) at Michigan
1:30 NBC Michigan State(-11) at Notre Dame
1:30 ESPN Northwestern at Ohio State(-23 1/2)
1:30 FSN Texas Tech(-6) at Oklahoma St
1:30 ESPNU Maryland at Wake Forest(-3)
2:30 CSTV Colorado State at Houston(-7)

Predictions
BYU 31 Air Force 10
Wyoming 20 Ohio U 17
LSU 31 South Carolina 7
Penn State 27 Michigan 26
Michigan State 38 Notre Dame 17
Ohio State 35 Northwestern 10
Texas Tech 49 Oklahoma State 35
Wake Forest 27 Maryland 21
Houston 33 CSU 17

Bets
BYU -11 1/2
LSU -18
Michigan St -11
Texas Tech -6
Houston -7

Saturday Evening
4:00 ESPN2 Kentucky at Arkansas(-7)
4:00 Versus Arizona at Cal(-13 1/2)
5:00 FSN Rice at Texas(-37 1/2)
5:30 PPV Marshall at Cincinnati(-24)
5:45 ESPN Georgia at Bama(-3 1/2)
6:00 ABC/PPV Washington State at USC(-25)
6:00 ABC/PPV Iowa at Wisconsin(-7 1/2)
7:00 ESPN2 Purdue(-13 1/2) at Minnesota
8:15 FSN Washington at UCLA(-6)

Predictions
Arkansas 42 Kentucky 38
Cal 41 Arizona 10
Texas 38 Rice 0
Cincinnati 27 Marshall 7
Bama 20 Georgia 17
USC 41 Washington State 21
Wisconsin 28 Iowa 14
Purdue 51 Minnesota 28
Washington 24 UCLA 21

Bets
Cal -13 1/2
Wisconsin -7 1/2
Purdue -13 1/2
Washington +6

Top 25, Week four

2007-09-21T16:07:00.000-06:00

Late, but it's in.

Top 25

1. LSU, Have allowed 7 points in three games. Mild test Saturday at home against the Spurriers, They get serious 10/6 vs Florida.(Which should be part 1 of a 2 game set.)
2. USC, Much more impressive up front on both sides of the ball in person then any team I've seen live since 1995(Do I have to tell you who that was?)
3. Oklahoma, All they've done is throw up a 184-26 score so far. Looking like Texas is in big trouble on 10/6.
4. Florida, Never have blasted Tennessee quite like that before. Tebow is now a legit frontrunner for the Heisman trophy.
5. West Virginia, Can they stay sharp with only mild resistence? South Florida will be formidable on a Friday Night Lights game 9/28. Hey, good thing they got Noel Devine, I mean it's not like WVA had any running backs, right?
6. California, From what I saw Saturday night, Cal's defense is not good enough to beat USC unless they get a lot of help from Booty. Trip to Eugene in two weeks should be gigantor
7. Oregon, Taking apart Fresno one week after the big win in Ann Arbor shows a lot more focus and intensity then your average Oregon team. If they can beat up Cal their confidence will be sky high when SC comes in on 10/27
8. Boston College, Would be shocked if they weren't 7-0 going to Va Tech and the Hookies' offense has to improve 10 fold by then to be anything but a big dog in that one.
9. Ohio State, That defense is nasty. There is something more "Tressel-like" about their team in 07 then the last two years. I get the feeling that teams like 02 and 07 are more in line with his personality then the high-tech up tempo Troy Smith teams. Trip to Purdue in two weeks is going to really test this defense, but the trip to Washington was very good for this team.
10.Penn State, I believe that their defense is BCS-worthy, but Michigan getting things together and having very little to lose makes Saturday a whole lot more interesting. PS Turner Gill's Buffalo Bison team outgained them on Saturday. Play at Michigan, at Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, at Indiana, Ohio State, Purdue in the next seven games, I have a tough time seeing them come thru that at better then 5-2(8-2 overall).
11. Wisconsin, the Badgers will drop 2 of the next four games (Iowa, Mich St, at Illinois, at Penn State) if they don't play better then they have the past two. The offense was terrible in Vegas and the defense was charred by the Citadel, so it's not any one thing. With the Big Ten wide open, they're still good enough to win the thing, but major cracks are starting to show.
12. South Carolina, If Spurrier is going to legitimately challenge for the SEC title this year, they will throw a massive scare into LSU on Saturday(Or win the game, but I don't see that at all), they must avoid a confidence shattering blowout at all costs.
13. Kentucky, Didn't get to watch them beat Louisville, but it's not at all shocking(Since I picked it) and while this rating is a little high for now, Kentucky's offense won a shootout with what I believed to be the most explosive one in the country, so realistically, Kentucky could probably beat anyone. But to do it consistently, the defense will have to keep improving. The SEC is awesome, Auburn goes into the tank, so Kentucky steps up to take their place as a potentially elite team. Trip to Arkansas this weekend is "Must-see" TV.
14. Texas, honestly this is probably too high at this point, but they're just so talented this is baffling. Arkansas State and Central Florida are certainly not as bad as you would have thought in the pre-season, but they don't have one player that Texas recruited(Or would have even tried to recruit) on those two rosters. Have steadily regressed since Vince Young's graduation. Mack Brown must come up with answers quickly with OU three weeks away.
15. Alabama, what a huge win over Arkansas. The explosive nature of the Tide offense is downright shocking. Saban seems to have completely energized a dormant program. And as Fowler pointed out on Gameday, beating Arkansas has become a harbinger of the season to come for the Tide in the past five/six years. Perhaps most impressive is the way they regrouped after blowing a 21 point lead. That's coaching, folks. Saban's team was "legally deed" at the 8 minute mark and rebounded like champs. The schedule affords little break with Georgia, Florida State and dangerous Houston in the next three.
16. Clemson, The next seven games are all winnable. And four of them are losable. For a team who's had so many problems with consistency that is the test. There is no reason Clemson should not be 9-1/10-0 when Boston College comes to Howard's Rock on Nov 17. Beating Georgia Tech is the biggest game on the schedule. Either way, the division title should be at stake with they play BC. And for Bowden, there must be an ACC title appearance(And with the soft opponent likely to come from the Coastal, an ACC title to the winner of the Clemson/BC game).
17. Rutgers, Schedule is very compressed for Rutgers. They get this week off, then 4 out of 5 games, all big home games, against Maryland, Cincinnati, South Florida & West Virginia. The only road test is to end the season at Louisville on 11/29. How they handle Cincinnati & South Florida's defense will be interesting and the West Virginia game should be a pinball scoreboard affair.
18. Cincinnati, After trampling their first three opponents 140-16, the Bearcats now must take care of business against Marshall and at San Diego St, two games they should win but must show some maturity to win comfortably. Then it's at Rutgers, Louisville, at Pitt, at South Florida, UConn, West Virginia and at Syracuse. Cincinnati's breakthru season is certainly within reach. The Cincinnati-South Florida game could be a seriously violent collision-type game. (Who would have ever thought anyone would care about that game?)
19. South Florida, Da Bulls have the most spread out of any of the Big East schedule among the contenders. On 9/28 they get West Virginia at home in a chance to show they're legit. Obviously, the entire resume of Auburn so far makes that win a lot less impressive then it normally would be, however South Florida's defense is bad ass and they did the best job of anyone at actually shutting down the Slaton/White freight train last year.
20. Purdue, With the Big Ten completely up for grabs, Purdue's rollicking romp thru the non-conference is suddenly very impressive. A shitty Minnesota team and shittier Notre Dame team await, which should make Purdue 5-0 when Ohio State comes to town, followed by a trip to Michigan and a visit from Iowa. They should be no worse then 7-2 when they go to Happy Valley to play Penn State. And 6-2 could win the Big Ten this year, suddenly Tiller's Boilermakers are a viable Rose Bowl threat. With an offense that no one in the Big Ten can match for explosiveness(At least against inferior competition) you have to think they're a real threat.
21. Georgia, Three trips in the next four weeks (At Bama, at Tenn and at Vandy) will either provide Georgia with the opportunity to improve and get some confidence before they take on the Tebow threshing machine against Fla. Georgia's got a tall order to stay ranked.
22. Arkansas, If it's possible, I actually think Arkansas' better after losing to an untested Bama team then I thought they were before. There is no better 1-2 punch at HB then McFadden/Felix Jones, but the defense couldn't stop Alabama and let JP Wilson go crazy on them. Getting thru the SEC schedule with fewer then 4 losses would be extremely impressive at this point. Cannot wait to see them play Kentucky this weekend.
23. Arizona St, Haven't really been tested to this point. The next four games are all winnable before they get Cal & Oregon back to back, if ASU gets TO those games undefeated, that would represent a huge step in terms of maturity for a program notorious for inconsistency.
24. Louisville, it didn't take long for the lack of defense to catch up with them. Nobody who plays such poor run defense is going to contend for a National title(I saw that up close and personal in Lincoln, believe me.), and right now Louisville got run over by Middle Tennessee St & Kentucky, hardly the greatest running attacks in the world. Syracuse, NC State and Utah should provide the right tonic to regroup, but Louisville won't beat West Virginia & Rutgers without getting a Colts' like sudden change in the run defense.
25. Nebraska, The really terrible thing about testing yourselves against the best is that sometimes you don't want to. The absolute failure to stop USC's run game sets the Huskers down the second tier of teams, again. The bright side was Sam Keller's toughness, which was on display, what could have been an eye roll at him throwing two fourth quarter cosmetic touchdowns has turned to a real positive as he's not going to see a defense anywhere near as fast and well coached as the USC defense he saw on Saturday. Fortunately a team who's confidence had to be wrecked on Saturday gets Ball State and Iowa State before getting serious in the Big XII against Mizzou on 10/6. (Also they don't play USC again, another bonus.)
Tie. Missouri, Probably the best outing for Mizzou so far, they were efficient on defense, holding the Broncos of W Michigan under 4.0 yds/carry and under 7.0 yds/pass. They still allowed WMU back into the game after jumping to a 31-3 lead and have to be concerned about their defense. One more tuneup against I-AA Illinois State and then it's Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas Tech in the three games that should define the Tigers' season.

Current BCS Projections
National Title Game: LSU vs USC
Sugar Bowl: Florida(At Large) vs Penn State(At Large)
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma vs Clemson(At Large)
Rose Bowl: Ohio St vs Cal(At Large)
Orange Bowl: Boston College vs West Virginia

Heisman Trophy Ballot, Week Three
1. Tim Tebow, Fla-QB
2. Steve Slaton, WVA-HB
3. Darren McFadden, Ark-HB
4. Dennis Dixon, Ore-QB
5. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma-QB
6. Andre Woodson, KY-QB
7. Brian Brohm, Louisville-QB
8. Justin Forsett, Cal-HB
9. Curtis Painter, Purdue-QB
10. Mike Hart, Michigan-RB

By Conference
Big XII

Prohibitive Favorite: Oklahoma
Shocking Disappointment(s): Oklahoma State & Texas
Dark Horse/Surprise Contender: Kansas
Conference Heisman Candidate(s) to this Point(Key Stats): Sam Bradford, OU-QB (79.7 Comp %, 11-1 TD/INT ratio, 11.1 yds/att); Malcolm Kelly, OU-WR (14catches-301 yds, 21.5 yds/catch, 7tds)
Biggest Game(s) of the Week: Thursday, Texas A&M at Miami,Fl; Saturday, Texas Tech at Okie St

1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Missouri
4. Nebraska
5. Texas A&M
6. Texas Tech
7. Kansas
8. Kansas State
9. Colorado
10. Oklahoma St
11. Iowa St
12. Baylor

SEC
Prohibitive Favorite(s): LSU & Florida
Shocking Disappointment(s): Auburn & Tennessee
Dark Horse/Surprise Contender(s): Alabama, Kentucky & South Carolina
Conference Heisman Candidate(s) to this Point(Key Stats):Tim Tebow, QB-Fla(73.8 Comp%, 8-1Td/Int; 13.7 yds/att, 192 yds, 5td rushing; Darren McFadden, HB-Ark(392 yds from scrimmage, 6tds-2 games); Andre Woodson, KY-QB(68.4 comp%, 9-0 td/int, 7.8 yds/att, 1 rush td); Rafael Little, KY-RB(428 yds from scrimmage, 2tds)
Biggest Game(s) of the Week: South Carolina at LSU, Kentucky at Arkansas, Georgia at Alabama

1. LSU
2. Florida
3. South Carolina
4. Kentucky
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Arkansas
8. Tennessee
9. Vanderbilt
10.Mississippi St
11.Auburn
12.Ole Miss

Pac 10
Prohibitive Favorite(s): USC & Cal
Shocking Disappointment(s): UCLA & Arizona
Dark Horse/Surprise Contender(s): Oregon & Arizona State
Conference Heisman Candidate(s) to this Point(Key Stats):Dennis Dixon, Ore-QB(65.0 comp%, 7tds/0int, 9.4 yds/att, 276 yds rushing, 3tds); John Booty, USC-QB(64.5 comp%, 5-1 td/int, 5.6 yds/att)
Biggest Game(s) of the Week: Washington State at USC, Washington at UCLA, Oregon St at Arizona State

1. USC
2. Cal
3. Oregon
4. Arizona St
5. Washington
6. Washington St
7. UCLA
8. Oregon St
9. Arizona
10. Stanford

Big East
Prohibitive Favorite: West Virginia
Shocking Disappointment: Louisville's Defense, Syracuse still fielding a team
Dark Horse/Surprise Contender(s): Cincinnati & South Florida
Conference Heisman Candidate(s) to this Point(Key Stats): Steve Slaton, WVA-RB(465 yds from scrimmage, 9tds); Pat White, WVA-QB(63.3 comp%, 4-0 Td/Int; 8.9 yds/att, 244 yds rushing, 4tds); Brian Brohm, Lou-QB(67.0 comp%, 11-1 td/int, 11.1 yds/att); Ray Rice, Rut-HB(492 yds from scrimmage, 9 tds);
Biggest Game of the week: North Carolina at South Florida; East Carolina at West Virginia

1. West Virginia
2. Cincinnati
3. South Florida
4. Rutgers
5. Louisville
6. Pittsburgh
7. Connecticut
8. Syracuse

Big Ten
Prohibitive Favorite(s); None, Ohio State/Penn State/Wisconsin best bets
Shocking Disappointment(s): Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern
Dark Horse/Surprise Contender: Purude
Conference Heisman Candidate(s) to this Point(Key Stats): Anthony Morelli, PSt-QB(63.2 Comp%, 8-1 Td/Int, 7.2 yds/att), Curtis Painter, Pur-QB(68.6 comp%, 13-0 td/int, 8.2 yds/att); PJ Hill, Wisc-HB(429 yds from scrimmage, 7tds); Mike Hart(516 yds from scrimmage, 5 tds)
Biggest Game of the week: Penn State at Michigan; Iowa at Wisconsin; Michigan State at Notre Dame(The "Remember the Dingy" game)

1. Ohio St
2. Penn St
3. Wisconsin
4. Purdue
5. Michigan St
6. Illinois
7. Iowa
8. Michigan
9. Indiana
10. Northwestern
11. Minnesota

ACC
Prohibitive Favorite(s); None, Boston College & Clemson
Shocking Disappointment(s): Virginia Tech & Maryland
Dark Horse/Surprise Contender: None
Conference Heisman Candidate(s) to this Point(Key Stats): James Davis, Clem-HB(228 rush yds, 6.7 yds/rush, 3 tds); Cullen Harper, Clem-QB(72.5 comp%, 10-0 td/int, 10.1 yds/att);
Biggest Game of the week: Thursday, Texas A&M at Miami,Fl; Maryland at Wake Forest

1. Boston College
2. Clemson
3. Georgia Tech
4. Florida St
5. Virginia Tech
6. Miami
7. Maryland
8. Wake
9. Virginia
10. North Carolina
11. North Carolina St
12. Duke

And the Bottom 10

10. Duke, beating Northwestern gets them off the hook.
9. Auburn, quite possibly the worst three game homestand in Auburn history
8. Arizona, 1-2 and haven't played a BCS conference team, yet. Ouch.
7. Ole Miss, took a beating from Vandy, never a good sign
6. Iowa State, Beating Iowa gets them off the deck, but still lost to N Iowa & Kent St
5. Northwestern, Lose to Duke? really?
4. Oklahoma State, Made Troy look like USC
3. Notre Dame, and falling. The damage through 3 games is 102-13.
2. Minnesota, Lost to fucking Florida Atlantic
1. Syracuse, so bad it's not even funny, no...no it still is.

NON BCS TOP 10(Since I've been accused of hating them soooo much, which I do.)
1. Hawaii, I'm so impressed.
2. Air Force, CAN NOT believe they beat TCU.
3. Tulsa, Beating BYU was a stunner after how bad they looked at times against ULM
4. Houston, Loss to Oregon looks pretty good now, they scared the Ducks pretty good
5. Boise St, Still the best hope to beat Hawaii
6. UCF, yes Texas is struggling, but that was impressive
7. Troy, 98 points in 3 games vs BCS competition, beat the crap out of Okie St
8. Wyoming, kicked Virginia's ass and hung right with Boise
9. Kent St, beating Iowa St isn't that big of a deal, but Iowa couldn't do it
10. Southern Miss, Looks like your typical Southern Miss team, very solid

WTF WEEKEND

2007-09-17T15:17:00.000-06:00

I actually felt sorry for the kid this weekend.

Or maybe it's WTF Season...

Of course I'll start in Lincoln.

-It's never fun when you measure yourself against one of the best teams in the country and find yourself coming up severely lacking in the two most important areas, running the ball and rush defense. But the game was about as simple as you can possibly get, Nebraska does not have the athletes in the defensive front seven to play against USC. They got their asses whipped up front and the linebackers were just bloody awful all night long. The sheer number of whiffs(Not missed tackles, WHIFFS) withing the first five yards of the line of scrimmage had to be a record, or at least challenge the Burrow/Shanle/Booker performance against CU in 2001.
-Personnel-wise, I was impressed that Nebraska's DBs and WRs were clearly more competitive with USC's WRs & DBs then I would have thought. But Coach Callahan has got to get out of this Shannahan-like obsession with slow, less talented receivers both of the tight end and WR variety. You can't beat USC with Terrance Nunn, Todd Peterson, Nate Swift, Sean Hill and JB Phillips on the field for the majority of snaps. They're great kids and it hurts to say that, but JB Phillips can't get open or make plays against Nevada, Sean Hill's a walkon for a reason, Nate Swift would be a very solid #4/5 receiver and Todd Peterson runs like a slow tight end. With all of the FR/SO WR's & TE's they've brought in the last 2-3 classes, I just don't understand the obsession with these receivers(And I see it with Shanahan here in Denver all the time) that have no speed. Particularly playing in situations where you know you have to throw the ball, or playing AT ALL when you simply cannot run the football. There were at least 3 different times where Nebraska had 3rd down and 8 and both Phillips and Hill(Slow, cracker tight ends, Phillips is 270 and runs like he's 300 and Hill was a walkon for a reason.) in the football game. Which means in such an obvious pass situation, you're trying to put pressure on the fastest football team in America with the slowest possible lineup down the football field. And I don't understand that, I don't understand it when it's the Broncos and its Steven Alexander and Tony Scheffler. If you've progressed to the point where you're willing to play guys who give you no shot at making a play over guys with supreme physical ability(Niles Paul, Chris Brooks, Will Henry, Currenski Gilleylen and Meno Holt) because they know the offense better? Then you've got to back off the installation and work these guys in with a simpler package. (And Maurice Purify played MAYBE 33% of the offensive snaps in that game, at least for the first 3 quarters. WTF?)
-But I'm not getting too ridiculous about one game. USC's still better then Nebraska is, that's not the cataclysmic development that some people are making it out to be. And what really pisses me off is the same guys who were condescending all week before the game about how Nebraska had no shot are the ones killing them for losing the game decisively. I mean, listen asshole, if you thought Nebraska was going to get beat easily, then you can't jump all over them for getting beat easily. I'm amazed that it's so easy for media members to be such a bunch of fucking hypocrites.
-I will say this, I have serious doubts about Nebraska ever playing championship football with Kevin Cosgrove coordinating the defense. They've been lingering for some time, but the inability to make any sort of adjustment to that motion-counter iso action play that USC ran nearly 70% of their snaps from scrimmage(And probably gained about 12 yds/carry on), was baffling. I just don't understand anything he's dong as a coordinator. And probably the worst thing is the lack of admission when there's something wrong. Tierre Green had to get hurt to get pulled from that game, and he played such a bloody awful game that Tony Lilly was sitting somewhere going, "Wow, that is some bad safety play." And then after the game, for Cosgrove to sit there and say "We gotta tackle better." First of all, as defensive coordinator, your team's tackling is sorta your responsibility. Second, and more distressing, you have to acknowledge when you got abused as a coach. If you sit there and say "We gotta tackle better" it throws your kids under the bus when USC clearly took advantage of poorly timed stunts and slants all night long, and instead of adjusting you just kept on doing the same thing all night long.
-I'm really glad no one was able to tell me before the game that Nebraska would score 31 points, I would have really been crushed to know that ahead of time and find out they still lost. The amazing thing about this football game is all the things I was worried about didn't come true. John David Booty is a very average quarterback, Nebraska was not overmatched in the secondary, and Sam Keller made one bad throw, when they were already down 28-10. If you had told me they would get beaten badly because USC would just run the ball right at them, I'd have been very skeptical of that. At one point in this game, USC had 42 points and Booty had like 67 yards passing. Surreal.
-But enough of that, it was a fun trip, Lincoln is still the greatest place to see a big football game and that crowd was insane. (USC had to call timeout in the 4th quarter, up 25, due to crowd noise!!!)

But you go from there back to the world. There were WTFs all over the world.

-WTF, Tennessee! I mean shit, people were quick to point out that Nebraska's last two touchdowns came after the game was decided, but at least they didn't fucking quit like Tennessee did. I finally got to watch most of that last night, I don't know how Fullmer keeps his job at the end of the season, that was a wretched effort. Lot of credit to Florida, Tebow is for sure the Heisman front-runner in my eyes, but gallons of disrespect to Fullmer and the entire Tennessee program.
-WTF, Notre Dame! I kept hearing Alice in Chains in the background and Michigan did, indeed, come to snuff the Rooster(EMU). Notre Dame is the worst offensive football team I've seen among the legitimate D-I programs in the past 20 years, at least. Wrap your heads around these passing numbers: 30 passing attempts, 8 sacks, 13 completions, 85 gross yards, 37 NET yards and two picks. That's 1.23 net yards/pass, against a truly awful defensive football team to this point(Oregon had 10.77 nyds/pass & Appalachian State had 7.81 by comparison). I don't care how much you hate Notre Dame, if you don't feel for those Irish defensive players, you need to show some heart, Silent Bob.
-WTF, UCLA! I don't know how to comprehend what happened in Salt Lake City. Utah lost badly to Oregon State, got handled, at home, by Air Force and then...you know, of course, they beat the shit out of UCLA, 44-6. I kept thinking as USC was so impressive in person, "You know, how the hell did UCLA beat this team?" As Utah kept piling on UCLA like it was a gang initiation or something. I mean, I've now seen UCLA and Oregon State, the last two teams to beat USC, pole-axed by Utah and Cincinnati, respectively. Pete Carrol should have been whatever the opposite of Coach of the Year is, last season.
-WTF, Minnesota! They lost to Florida....ATLANTIC! And they were getting drilled, 35-14, when they finally rallied, before coming up short. They are certainly worst exciting team in the country. Playing OT thrillers with Miami(OH) and Bowling Green(Both at home, no less) before dropping a 42-39 decision to the Owls.
-WTF, Texas! I would say that Texas' season opening slump has gone from "mildly concerned" to "feels like a trend" to "Holy shit, they have to play OU in three weeks." The good news is they finally got their running game going to some extent, but they're still not throwing the ball with anywhere near the efficiency they should with McCoy back and all experienced receivers(McCoy had a 5.5 yds/att number this weekend!). And defensively, UCF was right around 200 yards and 5.0 yds/rush. Of all the things I don't understand this may be national question #1 right now. There's no reason, at all, that Texas should be struggling this much, this far.
-WTF, Oklahoma State! I think we all get that we may have misjudged Troy a bit, they're certainly coming on offensively at a very high level. But how the hell does Troy's inferior group of defensive athletes hold the Cowboys' explosive offense to 23 points? Okie State commits five turnovers and allowed FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY TWO YARDS! Troy ran 97 plays from scrimmage.
-WTF, TCU! That was the most startling collapse you could have ever imagined. I mean Air Force does NOT have the athletes to play with TCU's defense, at all. A 14 point lead in that game should be like 42 point lead in a normal game with the matchup of the two teams. And the sheer number of blown assignments on Ollis' 71 yard game-tying touchdown was staggering. This is a team that in six quarters has gone from BCS talk and a potential upset of Texas, to a 1-2 football team in desperate straights in the MWC.
-WTF, BYU! Sometimes WTF's are funny. They lost to Tulsa, 55-47, and I gotta tell ya, there's nothing funnier then putting up six hundred and ninety four yards, 36 first downs and 47 regulation points...and LOSING! Paul Smith's 450 yard night and four second half turnovers by BYU are just hilarious. (But also, if they gave up 694 to BYU, what might OU do Friday night?)
-WTF, Arizona! Yeah, I'm thinking all that hype in the pre-season, not so much. Arizona's now lost to BYU(Because they only scored 7 points, well after the game was decided against a defense that Tulsa destroyed) and New Mexico. Despeite a brilliant effort from Willie Tuitama(30-53-446-3-1), Arizona's inability to run the ball(Sixty one real rushing yards) and play pass defense against a very weak passing attack from New Mexico have to have boosters questioning their support for Mike Stoops.
-WTF, Auburn! They just had a three game homestand against Kansas State, South Florida and Mississippi State...and went 1-2. 24 passing attempts, 86 net yards(3.6 nyds/att) and FIVE turnovers. Just to give you some perspective on how shitty Auburn's offense is right now(They could give Notre Dame a serious run for their money, they run the ball a lot better then the Irish, but Notre Dame doesn't have quite the commitment to turning the thing over, either.), Mississippi State won the football game despite these numbers: 5-18 passing attempts, 37 net passing yards on 19 attempts(1.95 nyds/att). In hindsight, it's a miracle that Auburn only turned the ball over twice in their opening win over K-State, as they have ten the last two weeks.
-WTF, Iowa! Iowa State got beat by Kent State. Iowa State got beat by NORTHERN IOWA! The thing I hate about teams that lose like this is it gives every whitebread/non-fan/conventional wisdom guy the opportunity to trot out his old faithful cliche, "That's rivalries, Iowa State could be 1-10, but as long as the 1 was against Iowa, they'd be happy." or even more maddening, "the so-called experts gave the Cyclones no chance". Thanks, Hawkeyes, really appreciate it. By the way, NO ONE gave the Cyclones a chance, that's what happens when you lose to a I-AA team. And spare me the "Well those kids from Northern Iowa grew up wanting to play for Iowa State" shit. First of all, NO ONE grew up wanting to play at Iowa State, no one. Second, There's a fucking reason Iowa State didn't offer any of those slow, white boys a scholarship. There's no excuse for Iowa State losing to Northern Iowa or Iowa losing to Iowa State. None. But this does fit the Kirk Ferentz profile. They have lost some serious stunners while trying to build a legit top of the Big Ten program.
-WTF, Northwestern! How the hell do you lose that game against a team that has a legitimate shot at breaking your school's record for consecutive losses? How do you not have more pride then that? I mean forget the fact that you should never, ever lose to Duke on a football field, ever, How does Northwestern, with the chance to get off the worst record in college football not sell out completely for that game? Northwestern gained 506 yards and scored 14 points. That's Shanahan-esque right there.

Thank god there are soothing and predictable things, like Syracuse sucking so bad Madonna called and asked for pointers.

Nebraska USC Friday Night Lights, it's all good

2007-09-13T23:21:00.000-06:00

Huskers, Trojans and Panthers.

Weekend Preview, Part III

2007-09-13T19:57:00.000-06:00

Time for you bastards to go get Coach Cal a big win

Now we're in primetime, but honestly I won't watch a second of any game because I'll be in LINCOLN!

Schedule/Spreads
4:45 ESPN, Arkansas at Alabama(-3)
5:00 PPV, Fresno State at Oregon(-16 1/2)
5:30 ESPNClassic Louisville(-5 1/2) at Kentucky
6:00 ABC Southern Cal(-9 1/2) at THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
6:00 ESPN2 Boston College at Georgia Tech(-6 1/2)
6:00 BigTen Duke at Northwestern(-16 1/2), in a spelling contest
6:00 PPV, Wyoming at Boise St(-12 1/2)
6:00 PPV, Middle Tennessee St at LSU(-40)
7:00 PPV, BYU(-6 1/2) at Tulsa
7:30 MTN, Hawaii(-17) at UNLV(Predictably, UNLV shot their wad last weekend. Way to go Wisconsin, you douches just gave Hawaii enough ammo to run their mouths again despite essentially tying Louisiana Tech.)
8:00 ESPN, Florida State(-4 1/2) at Colorado
8:00 FSNAZ, San Diego St at Arizona St(-28)
8:00 FSNNW, Idaho at Washington St(-25)
11:00 FSNAZ(Tape), New Mexico at Arizona(-10)

Predictions of the Non-Husker Type
Alabama 23 Arkansas 21
Oregon 35 Fresno St 31
Kentucky 42 Louisville 38
Boston College 24 Georgia Tech 21
Northwestern 55 Duke 0
Boise State 31 Wyoming 21
LSU 67 MTSU 0
BYU 38 Tulsa 14
Hawaii 99 UNLV 21
Florida State 27 Colorado 3
Arizona St 38 San Diego St 14
Washington St 34 Idaho 10
Arizona 17 New Mexico 14

Bets
Fresno St +16 1/2
Kentucky +5 1/2
Boston College +6 1/2
BYU -6 1/2
Hawaii -17 1/2
Florida State -4 1/2

As for the Main Event from Lincoln.

Here are the five keys to the Husker victory

1. Nebraska's defensive line must not be invisible in the pass rush as they were at times in 2006. The Husker DBs are much better equipped to match up with the Trojan receivers, sans Jarrett and Smith, then they were a year ago. Armando Murillo is the real deal at CB and Zack Bowman is getting back to form at just the right time. (Remember, neither corner played at USC last year and Andre Jones/Courtney Grixby got abus-edd on 3rd downs to keep Trojan drives alive and especially in the red zone.) However, if Booty has way too much time to throw, the USC receivers are still far too athletic to cover. Barry Turner, Zach Potter and Ndamukong Suh must play like the star recruits they all were. Suh, in particular, has a chance to announce his gargantuan presence to the world on Saturday Night.

2. Nebraska's got to be able to hit some big pass plays down the field. With Josh Pinkard out at CB for USC, Maurice Purify simply MUST be the big play, dominant WR he can be. The single most disappointing part of the Husker team over the first 8 quarters is they've dropped at least 12 balls. Nebraska's young, more athletic, backup wide receivers must be given a shot on Sunday night, because Terrance Nunn, Todd Peterson and Nate Swift have not done the job thus far. Mike McNeil and Hunter Teafatiller are crucial at tight end. And more then that, someone has to take the heat off of Keller by coming up with more then a few tough catches.

3. No big plays in the special teams. Nebraska's just got to stalemate USC in the kicking game, and maybe gain some points via Adi Kunalic's giant leg and Rickey Thenarse's monster coverage skills. Which brings us to #4.

4. Rickey Thenarse MUST see action on the defensive side of the ball. With Tierre Green ailing(And quite frankly, not good enough to play USC all night.), and Larry Asante looking more then a bit perplexed in his second D-I start, Rickey T has a chance to get on the field and shine. This kid is the real deal, a truly gifted player with the ability to change the game. I don't care if he doesn't know all the defenses, call the ones he knows and put his arse in the game, Cosgrove.

5. Marlon Lucky has to be the player he's almost grown into on Saturday. Lucky has a chance to be a really special running back. And he has a legit shot at hurling himself into the Heisman race Saturday night. If Lucky can pick up 120+ yards from scrimmage, I like Nebraska's chances, even if the Y/Carry numbers aren't that great. But mostly, Marlon needs to get in space and make a big, big run and finish it early in the football game, because that will be the confidence he and the team need to know they can win this football game.

So, it's an uphill climb, and I'm thankful this USC team isn't as good as the 02-05 teams that we just would not have had the horses or experience to match up with. I think USC will have a shot at putting the game away in the 3rd quarter, getting separation, but I think the Memorial Stadium crowd and a big play or two from the Blackshirts, STEVE OCTAVIEN this is yo' game bra, they'll hang in there. And Adi Kunalic will nail a 45+ yard field goal as time expires.

Nebraska 27 USC 26

I'll see y'all on the goal posts, bitch.

Weekend Preview, Part II

2007-09-13T19:37:00.001-06:00

Sammy, settle down, dude

I'm more confused then I was last week at this time, but at least I'm not on staff at Michigan or Notre Dame.

Schedule/Spreads for the afternoon
1:30 CBS Tennessee at Florida(-8)
1:30 ABC Notre Dame at Michigan(-7 1/2) (Seriously, they lost to a I-AA team and Oregon at home by 32 points and they're more then a TD favorite, OUCH Notre Dame, OUCH.)
1:30 ESPN Ohio State(-4) at Washington
1:30 ESPN2 Texas (-17 1/2) at Central Florida
1:30 ESPNU Florida International at Miami, Fl(-33)(WTF? Are they hoping for another kung fu fighting video to break out? FIU was fast as lighting, for the record.)
3:00 Versus UCLA(-15 1/2) at Utah
(Other game of note, La Tech(+33) at Cal, if Cal wins that game by 40, Hawaii should be permanently barred from anyone's top 25.)

Predictions
Florida 33 Tennessee 31
Michigan 24 Notre Dame 17
Ohio State 17 Washington 14
Texas 41 Central Florida 3
Miami KO 3 Florida International
UCLA 44 Utah 14
Cal 55 La Tech 10

Bets(I like NONE of them)
Texas -17 1/2
Tennessee +8
UCLA -15 1/2

Notes
Florida loves to torment Tennessee with last second heartbreak, and Florida's porous defense will keep the Vols in the game. I think Erik Ainge drops a big game on Florida, but Tebow leads the Gators down the field in the closing seconds to further grow his legend. There is the potential for a Gator destruction of Tennessee, obviously, but I didn't like what I saw from the Gator D against Troy, at all.

Michigan vs Notre Dame...hahahahahaha. Wow. If you're saying you're not completely fixated on the Notre Dame "O" (The completely resistible force) vs the Michigan "D" (The Totally Movable object), then I just don't know if we can be friends. And if you honestly think you know what will happen in this one, you're one of those assholes that has to have an opinion on everything, Mr Know-it-all. The amazing thing is they played four games between the two of them, and Michigan's "performance" against Appalachian State might be the best game either one has played. Seriously. It's either that or Notre Dame getting dropped like Roy Jones by Penn State.

If it wasn't for that little gathering in Lincoln Saturday night, I'd be totally fixated on the Ohio State-Washington game. The Huskies have been very impressive, and the Buckeye Offense has been very not. And that's a long road trip for the Buckeyes. After watching bits of the OSU-Akron game on replay, I just really wonder if Ohio State can score more then 20 points without a ton of turnovers in this one. I don't think they can, but the Buckeye D did look very frothy and it's Locker's first big game, there's bound to be a learning curve for the future superstar.

Texas is absolutely due to bust out, and I think they'll look very good in this one. With OU just three weeks hence, they have to shake some of the cobwebs off of that offense...or you know, get 63-14/65-13'd again.

If Florida International can pick a fight with Miami this weekend, I'm buying FIU gear.

Utah's got to be just awful. Especially now that their good first half against Oregon State was given a little perspective from Cincinnati. And UCLA needs to beat the high holy shit out of someone after the stain of nearly blowing a 20 point lead to BYU. If that's a close game, UCLA is garbage.

NFL Week Two

2007-09-13T19:34:00.000-06:00

Walker looks like a goddamn DE

Try not to steal any of my signs, asshats.

The Broncos

That was the most shocking result I could have imagined for the Broncos in week 1. They played 10 times better then they played at any point in the pre-season, defensively. They ran right thru the Bills' defense, and they got some big plays in the passing game. Complete domination is too much of a stretch, but they completely handled Buffalo on the road(All the more impressive when you consider how inept they were in 05 against Miami and 06 against St Louis in the same time slot on opening day.), and barely won on a freaky field goal as time expired.

The defensive line was either the biggest sandbaggers in the world, or Buffalo's O-line is garbage. (Given what the Bills spent in the off season, you have to figure they're pissed as hell right now.) But also, JP Losman just sucks. But overall, that's a shockingly good performance from the Denver defense.

Offensively, it's the same old shit. Horrific play calling, featuring my favorite play, the chicken ass run on 3rd down from the five yard line. But mostly the inability to convert touchdowns when you move the ball well over 400 yards and can dominate on the ground like Denver did, stems from a poor offensive plan of attack.

And oh, those "special" teams. Of course they got the neat little play at the end that won the game, but they were completely outplayed all day in the kicking game. Elam always manages to kick himself out of little slumps, but the inability to cover kicks, or produce any return game at all continues to baffle. (If you're losing in the 4th quarter, how the hell do you not run Champ Bailey out there to give you a lift? Unless it's because you know your punt return team is just THAT bad, there is no good reason.)

But all in all, after feeling pretty shaky about picking them to go 10-6 and hit the playoffs a week ago, I'll take it. I sense a bit of an ugly game with Oakland this weekend, but the Raiders are far too shitastic to think the Broncos actually lose.

Week Two Picks
Steelers(-9 1/2) 24 Bills 10
Bengals (-7) 23 Browns 7
Colts(-7) 31 Titans 17
Panthers (-6 1/2) 27 Texans 17
Rams (-3) 21 49ers 17
Giants (-1 1/2) 26 Packers 17
Jaguars (-10) 33 Falcons 14
Bucanears (+3) 20 Saints 17
Vikings (+3) 27 Lions 24
Seahawks (-2 1/2) 31 Cardinals 24
Broncos (-9 1/2) 24 Raiders 20
Chargers (+3) 31 Cheaters from Boston 28
Eagles(-7) 24 Redskins 14

Bets
Giants -1 1/2
Seahawks -2 1/2
Bengals -7
Colts -7
Panthers -6 1/2
Vikings +3

Weekend Preview, Part I

2007-09-12T22:56:00.000-06:00

Yeah, Nebraska's not playing here, but it's all NU all the time this week, yo.

Tonight
5:30 ESPN West Virginia(-16 1/2) at Maryland
6:00 CSTV TCU (-8) at Air Force

Predictions
West Virginia 44 Maryland 24
TCU 31 Air Force 7

Picks
TCU -8(I ain't buyin' Air Force, yet. But if they even stay close tonight, I'm on board.)

Friday
5:30 ESPN2 Oklahoma State(-10) at Troy

Predictions
Oklahoma State 52 Troy 34

Picks
Okie State -10

Saturday AM
10:00 ESPN Pittsburgh at Michigan State(-11)
10:00 ESPN2 C Michigan at Purdue(-21)
10:00 ESPNU Illinois(-12) at Syracuse
10:00 PPV Virginia at North Carolina(-3)
10:00 PPV Cincinnati(-9) at Miami,Oh
10:30 PPV Mississippi State at Auburn(-13)
11:30 Versus Iowa(-17 1/2) at Iowa State

Predictions
Michigan State 38 Pittsburgh 28
Purdue 44 C Michigan 17
Illinois 33 Syracuse 14
North Carolina 24 Virginia 20
Cincinnati 26 Miami,OH 10
Auburn 23 Mississippi St 3
Iowa 34 Iowa St 10

Picks
Cincinnati -9
Auburn -13
Iowa -17 1/2
Illinois -12 1/2

Pick scoreboard, Week Two(CFB & NFL)

2007-09-12T22:51:00.000-06:00

Weird, weird week.

College Football

Week Two: Bets, 7-7; picks 11-12

Season: Bets 19-10-1; Picks 31-21-1

NFL
Predictions(10-4-2 for week 1)
Indianapolis 35 New Orleans 10-W
Kansas City 27 Houston 17-L
Buffalo 28 Denver 21-W
Pittsburgh 26 Cleveland 0-W
Tennessee 27 Jacksonville 23-W
Carolina 31 St Louis 17-W
Green Bay 23 Philadelphia(-3) 20-W
Minnesota(-3) 27 Atlanta 14-W
Washington(-3) 20 Miami 10-P
New England 35 Jets 10-W
Seattle(-4) 24 Tampa Bay 16-W
Chicago 17 San Diego 14-L
Oakland 28 Detroit 10-L
Dallas(-6) 27 Giants 24-L
Cincinnati 24 Ravens 17-W
San Francisco(-3) 31 Arizona 23-P

Bets(7-3 for week 1)
Indianapolis -5-W
Kansas City +3-L
Buffalo +3-W
Pittsburgh -6 1/2-W
Tennessee +6 1/2-W
Carolina +1-W
New England -6 1/2-W
Oakland -1 1/2-L
Chicago +5-L
Cincinnati -2 1/2-W

Top 25, Week Three

2007-09-12T22:42:00.000-06:00

There are so many shaky teams in this poll(And, to be fair, teams with a ton of potential).

1. LSU (2-0); Beat Va Tech by 41, have allowed 7 points in 8 quarters. Nuff said.
2. Oklahoma(2-0); Maybe the most impressive win of the year over Miami. Sam Bradford looked fantastic
3. USC(1-0); Get a chance to state their case in Lincoln, but honestly what do we really know about them at this point other then they're really talented?
4. West Virginia(2-0); Too much leakage against Marshall, the trip to Maryland tonight got a lot more interesting.
5. Florida(2-0); But their defense was bloody awful against Troy. Tebow remains a freakish delight.
6. Texas(2-0); I'll put the damn good defense and shaky as hell offense one spot over...
7. Louisville(2-0); The damn good offense and leaky as hell defense. (But both of those two teams are suspect)
8. Cal(2-0); Shaky follow-up in Ft Collins, but the win over Tennessee is still top ten worthy
9. South Carolina(2-0); Maybe the biggest win of the season so far down in Athens erases suspect opener.
10. Nebraska (2-0); Yeah, they struggled in Winston-Salem, but they're a better football team then the next few. (And hey, if I'm wrong, we'll know in about 72 hours.)
11. Penn State(2-0); Two easy blowouts(Ouch, ND) didn't really tell us much we didn't know. But I put them Big Ten frontrunner #1 now.
12. Wisconsin(2-0); Because Wisconsin comfirmed my skepticism and really almost ruined their season in Vegas.
13. Georgia Tech(2-0); Another two blowout, untested team. But losing Reggie Ball seems to have helped even more then I thought.
14. Ohio State(2-0); Struggled to a ridiculous level to get going against Akron. But the schedule does allow this team time to develop and the Big Ten is wide ass open.
15. UCLA (2-0); BAD BRUINS! Nearly blowing a 20-0 lead against BYU will win you no cool points here.
16. Clemson(2-0); The Tigers were sluggish, predictably, after the big win over FSU.
17. Boston College(2-0); BC hasn't skipped a beat in two relatively easy conference wins.
18. Rutgers(2-0); Taunting NAVY? Seriously? You liberal douches.
19. Oregon(2-0); Yeah it was only Michigan, but we know they're better the Appalachian State.
20. Georgia(1-1); Can't drop them too far, but Matt Stafford had better make some progress pronto.
21. Tennessee(1-1); Good rebound win, after some early hangover, against Southern Miss; But Tebow, er, Florida looms.
22. South Florida(2-0); Maybe Auburn's no good, but they don't lose home games, USF's defense...fast.
23. Washington(2-0); Huge opening couple of weeks for the Huskies. Defense was great against Boise.
24. Missouri(2-0); Defense still has major question marks, but that's two pretty solid wins for Mizzou
25. Arkansas(1-0); Lots of question marks, just like this week's opponent...
Tie. Alabama(2-0); We'll get more answers from both.

By Conference(How I would rate from top to bottom off of what I've seen)
Big XII
1. OU 2. UT, 3. NU, 4. Mizzou, 5. Tech, 6. Kansas, 7. A&M, 8.K-State, 9.OK State, 10. CU, 11.Baylor, 12. Iowa State
SEC
1.LSU, 2 Florida, 3. So Car, 4. Georgia, 5. Tennessee, 6. Arkansas, 7. Bama, 8. Kentucky, 9. Auburn, 10. Vandy, 11. Ole Miss, 12. Miss State
Big Ten
1.Penn St; 2. Wisconsin, 3. Ohio St, 4. Purdue, 5. Mich St, 6. Iowa, 7. Illinois, 8. Michigan, 9. Northwestern, 10. Indiana, 11.Minnesota
Pac Ten
1.USC; 2. Cal, 3. UCLA, 4. Oregon, 5. Washington, 6. Arizona St, 7. Washington St, 8. Oregon St, 9. Arizona, 10. Stanford
ACC
1. Georgia Tech, 2.Clemson, 3. Boston College, 4. FSU, 5. Miami, 6. Maryland, 7. Wake Forest, 8. Virginia Tech, 9. North Carolina, 10. Virginia, 11. NC State, 12. Duke

Big East
1.West Virginia, 2. Louisville, 3. Rutgers, 4. So Florida, 5. Cincinnati, 6. Pittsburgh, 7. UConn, 8. Syracuse

And the ever popular bottom 10

10.Mississippi State. Win over Tulane will push them towards getting off the list
9. Virginia. Lost to Wyoming, struggled with Duke
8. Baylor. Relatively high for Baylor
7. Minnesota. Essentially playing a round robin of Home OT games with the MAC
6. UConn.
5. NC State. Long year for Tom O'Brien if last week was any indication
4. Stanford. Played well against UCLA(And lost by more then 3 tds)
3. Iowa State. Gene Chizik suddenly re-reading his contract looking for outs
2. Syracuse. Which is awesome
1. Duke. Always Duke, forever Duke

Marlon Lucky Video

2007-09-07T09:04:00.000-06:00

The Guy's been through the wringer in his two + years on campus and now it's finally payin off. Plus now we can take the taint of that awful final scene of the Sopranos off of Journey.

College Football Preview Primetime, Week 2

2007-09-07T01:10:00.000-06:00

NOOK SU COW!!! Or Something...

It all gets serious in Baton Rouge.

Weekend Preview Part III, Prime Time

5:00 FSN TCU at Texas(-9 1/2)
5:00 Big Ten Network Western Illinois at Illinois(NL)
5:00 PPV Hawaii(-27 1/2) at Louisiana Tech
5:00 PPV Southern Miss at Tennessee(-10 1/2)
6:00 ESPNU Indiana at Western Michigan(PK)
6:00 Big Ten Network Syracuse at Iowa(-22)
7:00 ESPN2 South Florida at Auburn(-7)
7:15 ESPN Virginia Tech at LSU(-12 1/2)
8:00 Versus Wisconsin(-25) at UNLV
8:15 FSN Colorado at Arizona State(-14 1/2)

Predictions
Texas 33 TCU 10
Illinois 55 Western Illinois 21
Hawaii 62 Louisiana Tech 34
Tennessee 34 Southern Miss 17
Indiana 27 Western Michigan 21
Iowa 35 Syracuse 10
Auburn 21 South Florida 7
LSU 23 Virginia Tech 13
Wisconsin 56 UNLV 24
Arizona State 41 Colorado 21

Bets
Texas -9 1/2
Tennessee -10 1/2
Indiana PK
Virginia Tech +12 1/2
Arizona State -14 1/2

Headliner Games

TCU at Texas
The suddenly vulnerable looking Horns host BCS-wannabe TCU in a game with all kinds of motivation for both sides. Texas has to run the football better then they did against Arkansas State, it's simply ridiculous that Texas isn't a dominant run team with their offensive line and running backs. Colt McCoy can help by getting some big passes early against the gambling defense of Gary Patterson, which should back them off considerably. The Horn defense is why I'm picking them, they'll throttle TCU's offense. In a lot of way, Texas laying such an egg opening day probably hurts TCU because they'll get a pissed off Texas team with a lot to prove and let's face it, there aren't five guys on TCU's team that Texas even showed a mild interest in when they came out of high school and there's a reason why.

Southern Miss at Tennessee
The traditional sandwich type of game for Tennessee the week after a big opener and before Florida sees the always difficult Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles come to Knoxville. But the loss to Cal will provide a huge emotional chip on the shoulders of everyone in orange. But one caveat to my prediction is that Tennessee MUST find some sort of deep threat at WR(Never thought I'd ever write those words) to open up the running game and take some pressure off of Erik Ainge being perfect in the short to medium passing game.

South Florida at Auburn
There isn't a lot of time for Auburn to work on rectifying the mistakes and weakness on offense in week 1, and Lester will not be returning to play RB, so Al Borges has to come up with a way for Auburn to consistently move the football against a really tough, fast Bull defense. South Florida also was bad in week one, squeezing past I-AA Elon, 28-13.And they get to go into a pit on the plans of Auburn. I don't see any way theere's much offense in this game, turnovers and field position will decide the game. Auburn will find a way to win the game with their defense at home.

Virginia Tech at LSU
Not much to say about this one. Two fast, physical football teams going head up in an early national title eliminator. LSU's offense, though not exactly perfect, was much, much better against Mississippi State then Tech was against ECU. But Frank Beamer will have this team ready to play and they will hand in the game. More then likely by forcing LSU to kick field goals on several drives into the red zone. LSU will win the game, but it will be very, very close.

Colorado at Arizona State
CU takes a huge step up in competition after CSU last weekend against ASU in a rough night time atmosphere. Cody Hawkins will be under a lot more pressure, and CU's defense looked surprisingly weaker then they did in 2006. These are not good signs.

College Football Preview, Week Two, Part II

2007-09-07T01:08:00.000-06:00

Now, go ahead and pretend you know what's going to happen in Ann Arbor...tough guy.

Weekend Preview Part II, Afternoon Games

TV Schedule
1:30 ABC Oregon at Michigan(-8)
1:30 FSN Fresno State at Texas A&M((-17 1/2)
1:30 FSN-Northwest Boise State(-3) at Washington
3:00 ESPNU UAB at Florida State(NL)
3:45 ESPN2 South Carolina at Georgia(-5 1/2)
4:00 ESPN Notre Dame at Penn State(-17)
4:00 CSTV North Carolina at East Carolina(-4 1/2)
4:00 MTN Air Force at Utah(-8)
4:00 PPV Kent at Kentucky(-13)
4:30 Versus BYU at UCLA(-7)

Predictions
Michigan 38 Oregon 27
Texas A&M 42 Fresno State 21
Washington 38 Boise St 31
Florida State 49 UAB 14
Georgia 24 South Carolina 10
Penn State 26 Notre Dame 7
North Carolina 21 East Carolina 17
Utah 45 Air Force 17
Kentucky 52 Kent 17
UCLA 41 BYU 37

Bets
Washington +3
Georgia -5 1/2
Utah -8
Kentucky -13

Headliner Games

Oregon at Michigan
Say, did you happen to catch the Michigan game last weekend? Who won? All eyes will be on Ann Arbor and how Michigan responds to the loss last weekend. I'm surprised Vegas has shown the confidence to list them as more then a TD favorite. But I do think Michigan will play very, very well and I think they'll play well on the offensive side of the ball. The pass protection will be better, it has to be, and they'll pound Oregon between the tacklse with Hart enough to control the game for the most part. However, their defensive issues right now are not a fluke, and Oregon will have plenty of scoring opportunitites. But in the end, I think Michigan's motivation will be the difference. They'll respond positively and play very well.

Boise State at Washington
The Broncos, everyone's darlings a year ago, will play one of their two big road games against a Washington team brimming with confidence off of their beating of Syracuse last weekend. Ian Johnson will provide much more of a test for the Husky deefense. Jake Locker should do plenty of business against the Bronco defense and I just was so impressed with Washington overall, I'm going with them in week two.

South Carolina at Georgia
While Georgia was beating the crap out of the Cowboys in Athens last weekend, Spurrier's Cocks(I'm sorry) were struggling to squeak past UL-Lafayette. This does not bode well for South Carolina, and neither does the consistency that Matt Stafford showed. I still think athletically the Dawg defense is too good for the Gamecock offense. If Georgia can run the football, at alll, they'll control the game.

Notre Dame at Penn State
How do the Irish respond to yet another beating? Going on the road to a team with a terrific defense like Penn State is probably the worst thing that could happen to the Irish right now. Really the only question to me is can the Irish score a touchdown this week? I think they will, but they'll be dominated again and the amount they lose by will be determined by the amount of turnovers they commit. It could potentially get very, very ugly.

BYU at UCLA
Such a gigantic game for both teams. BYU could plant a flag by beating back to back Pac Ten schools and setup a run for the MWC title. UCLA could build off of their win over Stanford and show that they're focused enough to play every single week for the first time in years. BYU's defense was terrific against Arizona, and UCLA's wasn't against Stanford. I think it will end up being a shootout, though, as UCLA's offense is that good. At the end of the day, UCLA's overall athletic ability will make one more play then the Cougars.

NFL Week One. Woo. F-ing Hoo!

2007-09-07T01:06:00.000-06:00

DISCLAIMER. I missed the Cotls-Saints game by a point. That isn't bullshit, I really picked that on Tuesday. I just didn't get around to the pickin'. I just don't really care about the fuckin' NFL.

NFL Week One Preview, Part I (Morning Games)

Thursday
6:00 NBC New Orleans at Indianapolis(-5)
Sunday
11:00 CBS Kansas City at Houston(-3)
11:00 CBS Denver(-3) at Buffalo
11:00 CBS Pittsburgh(-6 1/2) at Cleveland
11:00 CBS Tennessee at Jacksonville(-6 1/2)
11:00 FOX Carolina at St Louis(-1)
11:00 FOX Philadelphia(-3) at Green Bay
11:00 FOX Atlanta at Minnesota(-3)
11:00 CBS Miami at Washington(-3)
11:00 CBS New England(-6 1/2) at Jets
2:00 FOX Tampa Bay at Seattle(-5)
2:00 FOX Chicago at San Diego(-5)
2:00 FOX Detroit at Oakland(-1 1/2)
6:00 NBC Giants at Dallas (-6)

Monday
5:00 ESPN Baltimore at Cincinnati(-2 1/2)
8:30 ESPN Arizona at San Francisco(-3)

Predictions
Indianapolis 35 New Orleans 10
Kansas City 27 Houston 17
Buffalo 28 Denver 21
Pittsburgh 26 Cleveland 0
Tennessee 27 Jacksonville 23
Carolina 31 St Louis 17
Green Bay 23 Philadelphia 20
Minnesota 27 Atlanta 14
Washington 20 Miami 10
New England 35 Jets 10
Seattle 24 Tampa Bay 16
Chicago 17 San Diego 14
Oakland 28 Detroit 10
Dallas 27 Giants 24
Cincinnati 24 Ravens 17
San Francisco 31 Arizona 23

Bets
Indianapolis -5
Kansas City +3
Buffalo +3
Pittsburgh -6 1/2
Tennessee +6 1/2
Carolina +1
New England -6 1/2
Oakland -1 1/2
Chicago +5
Cincinnati -2 1/2

THE WOODSHED NFL PREVIEW!!!

2007-09-07T01:04:00.000-06:00

My "Hard Research" NFL Picks for this season.

Make your vaguely hetero fantasy selections accordingly.

NFL Preview

AFC East
New England 11-5
Bills 8-8
Jets 6-10
Miami 6-10

AFC North
Pittsburgh 11-5
Cincinnati 9-7
Baltimore 8-8
Cleveland 4-12

AFC South
Indianapolis 12-4
Tennessee 10-6
Jacksonville 7-9
Houston 4-12

AFC West
San Diego 11-5
Denver 10-6
Kansas City 7-9
Oakland 4-12

NFC East
Dallas 10-6
Philadelphia 10-6
Washington 8-8
Giants 7-9

NFC North
Chicago 13-3
Green Bay 9-7
Minnesota 6-10
Detroit 4-12

NFC South
Carolina 10-6
New Orleans 8-8
Tampa Bay 7-9
Atlanta 6-10

NFC West
Seattle 10-6
San Francisco 7-9
Rams 7-9
Arizona 6-10

Playoff Projections
Wild Card Round
(6) Denver over (3) Pittsburgh
(5) Tennessee over (4) New England
(6) Green Bay over (3) Seattle
(4) Dallas over (5) Philadelphia

Divisional Round
(1) Indianapolis over (6) Denver
(2) San Diego over (5) Tennessee
(1) Chicago over (6) Green Bay
(2) Carolina over (4) Dallas

Championship Round
(2) San Diego over (1) Indianapolis
(1) Chicago over (2) Carolina

Super Bowl
Chicago over San Diego

Week Two Preview Part I, But Mostly The Huskers

2007-09-06T11:12:00.000-06:00

The new Big Red star points the way

Thursday/Friday games and early Saturday games

TV Games
Thursday
5:00 ESPN2 Middle Tennessee State at Louisville(-38 1/2)
5:30 ESPN Oregon State(-3 1/2) at Cincinnati
Friday
5:00 ESPN Navy at Rutgers (-16)

Predictions
Louisville 55 MTSU 10
Oregon State 23 Cincinnati 14
Rutgers 42 Navy 21

Bets
Oregon State -3 1/2

Headliner game
Oregon State at Cincinnati

The Beaver defense was terrific against Utah, and I suspect they will need to carry the game against the Bearcats. Yvenson Bernarnd's running is the best thing Oregon State has going for it on offense and I think it'll be enough against a good, but untested Cincinnati team. The Nati rolled up 59 points against SE Missouri State so there is some pause on my part, but the level of speed on defnese for Oregon State should give them big problems.

Saturday AM games
9:00 ESPN2 West Virginia(-24) at Marshall
10:00 ESPN Nebraska(-7 1/2) at Wake Forest
10:00 ABC Miami at Oklahoma(-10 1/2)
10:00 Big Ten Network Akron at Ohio State(-25 1/2)
10:00 Big Ten Network Bowling Green at Michigan State(-18)
10:30 PPV Alabama(-3 1/2) at Vanderbilt
12:00 CSTV California(-14) at Colorado State
12:30 ESPN2 NC State at Boston College(-13 1/2)

Predictions
West Viriginia 49 Marshall 21
Nebraska 24 Wake Forest 7
Oklahoma 24 Miami 21
Ohio State 34 Akron 7
Michigan State 35 Bowling Green 21
Alabama 27 Vandy 10
Cal 41 Colorado State 17
Boston College 31 NC State 14

Bets
Nebraska -7
Miami +10 1/2
Bama -3 1/2
Cal -14

Headliner Games

Miami at Oklahoma
It's like something out of an "80s" weekend, back when OU-Miami games were an event. Miami won three consecutive years from 85 to 87, including a win in the 1988 Orange Bowl in a 1 vs 2 matchup. The 1986 September matchup in Miami was the most adrenaline fueled and electricly intense football games I've ever seen. But now, it's a Miami team trying to rediscover its identity as a national power against an Oklahoma team looking to make a National Title run. The spread seems high to me, I think both teams will have problems offensively with the speed on the defenses. This is a helluva test for Sooner FR QB Sam Bradford in only his second start. As good as OU's running game is, I doubt they'll be able to control the game on the ground. But on the flip side, I don't see Miami having much success driving the football against OU at any point, either. So it comes down to turnovers and field position and I like OU here at home to win the game, but getting 10 1/2 points is a gift for a team that can win the game outright.

Nebraska at Wake Forest
Wake's dream season in 2006 has given way to a nightmare start with the loss in Boston last weekend, but more importantly the loss of QB Riley Skinner to a seperated shoulder. After rushing for only two yards against BC, they play a better defense this weekend without their starting QB. This is a much bigger test for Sam Keller, as Wake's best shot at winning this one is to turn Nebvraska over and create short fields for their offense. Nebraska will likely not get the 400 yards rushing they got this weekend, and will need big play passing they didn't have to have against Nevada. Maurice Purify's return will help, and I believe that without Skinner Wake Forest is succeptible to the turnovers, themselves. If Marlon Lucky can run for 100 yards this week, then Nebraska will cruise,if Sam Keller avoids a multilple interception game.

Week One Post-Mortum

2007-09-04T00:32:00.000-06:00

Smooth as Armanti

Was there anything interesting that happened this weekend?

It was an insane week, but let's face it you can only start in one place...

Appalachian State 35 Michigan 34

That wasn't a football game, it was Shakespearean. The 28 point first half explosion from App St. Michigan looked like they had never seen a spread offense before. Armanti Edwards was spectacular, at times in building a 28-14 lead. But the first of many huge sequences that made the upset was the final drive of the half when Michigan could not punch the ball in to make it 28-21 and instead trailed by 11 at the half. Then Edwards threw an awful pass and got picked off deep in App St territory. But once again the Mountaineer defense came up huge and held them to a field goal and kept a 28-20 lead.

At that point Appalachian State drove right back down the field, but blew a touchdown when a wideout dropped the easiest touchdown ever, settling for a field goal and a 31-20 lead. Then Mike Hart takes over the football game, showing why he's such a great fucking running back. Hart led the team back twice, concluding with a 50 yard Heisman-type run to put Michigan up 32-31. But again, App State kept Michigan out on the two point conversion. Michigan again could NOT put the ball in the end zone on their next drive, settling for a field goal attempt and App State got a block to keep the game where a field goal would win it.

Now to that point it was enough to be a friggin classic, but there was so much more left. App State after struggling for most of the second half on offense takes over with 1:17 left and drives right down the field. But with 30 seconds, and a timeout, left they elect to kick the field goal right there, when they could have run the clock down to nothing before they kicked the field goal. And of course, Michigan gets a deep hail mary type catch by the amazingly, stupifyingly single covered Mario Manningham and the entire world feels the air of the most massive upset in history sucked right out of the Big House. And just when you're ready to move on and say or write your platitudes about the Mountaineers and their efforts in such a tough venue...THEY BLOCK ANOTHER GODDAMN FG! And then the kid picks it up with one hand almost behind his back and starts tearing off towards the goal line.

Two things immediately come to mind.

1) I couldn't help but think of the irony of Michigan losing the biggest upset game in the history of the game the year after Bo Schembechler passes.
2) But most of all, we have to stop talking about Michigan. This should be about Appalachian State. They were terrific, they were courageous, and they deserve to bask in the glow of this win without having stories about Michigan and Lloyd Carr and firings.

Nebraska 52 Nevada 10

There's a lot to talk about in this one, Keller's inconsistent first half, the defense destroying Nevada's Pistol offense, Kunalic's six touchbacks, etc...But the big story is Marlon Lucky. The kid's been nothing but wonderful since he came to Lincoln in the face of ridiculously high expectations. Finally, he was able to showcase his skills inside and out, his physicality was impressive. We always knew he could run in open space, but between the tackles he was a star as well. His receiving skills make him a guy that will be a star on the next level. I'm not sure he's ready for 30 carries a game, but maybe he's ready to be the "guy". With Purify back this week, Marlon should have even more room to run with the added deep threat. The most exciting thing that could have happened for Nebraska this weekend was Lucky developing as he has. This is the best Nebraska team, talent-wise, since at least 2000 and Lucky's a big part of that.

California 45 Tennessee 31

Cal had the biggest win of the weekend. Running the football right at an SEC team and containing Tennessee's passing game under 6 yds/attempt was absolutely the opposite of the drubbing they took in Knoxville in 2006. Erik Ainge was good, but Tennessee's receivers do not look good enough to get down the field and the Vols couldn't continue running the football when they fell behind.

And, of course, Desean Jackson made one of the two big plays that ultimately decided things. But maybe the best news for Cal is that they put up 31 points on offense with only 5 touches by Jackson. If Cal can do that consistently, they're going to be Pac Ten contenders.

Colorado 31 Colorado State 28(OT)

This was the same game I've seen at least five times now from these two teams. CU jumps out in front early, looks completely unstoppable and like CSU can't possibly compete with them. But CSU steadily moves the ball on their own with a not-so effective, but efficient running game. Then CU makes one mistake(This time it was a botched shotgun snap), letting CSU's defense get settled. CSU then uses their one star offensive player(Like BVP in the past, but this time it was Kory Sperry) to take a lead, 28-17. CSU then can't put Colorado away and Colorado ties or wins the game in the final minutes. The pick Hanie threw in OT was awful, but so predictable, it was just like the failed running play down by the end zone in 04 when they were down only three and a fielg goal would have tied it. And the trend has survived three CU coaching staffs and CSU teams that aren't as good as they used to be.

I will say both teams look a bit better then they were in 2006, but I don't belive either looked much better then .500 overall. And both are in tough next weekend, with CSU hosting Cal(ouch) and CU traveling to Arizona State.

Bets & Picks

Overall Picks & Bets (20-9-1)

Week 1
Bets 12-3-1
LSU -18 1/2 over Miss St, W 44-0
Oregon St -7 1/2 over Utah, W 24-7
Tulsa -3 over Lou-Monroe, W 35-17
Washington -3 over Syracuse, W 42-12
Colorado -3 over Colorado St, T 31-28
Miami -16 over Marshall, W 31-3
Virginia -6 over Wyoming, L 13-32
Nebraska -21 over Nevada, W 42-17
Georgia Tech +2 1/2 over Notre Dame, W 33-3
Boston College -5 over Wake Forest, W 38-28
Missouri -4 over Illinois, W 40-34
Auburn -13 1/2 over K-State, L 22-13
Tennessee +5 over Cal, L 31-45
UTEP +3 over New Mexico, W 10-6
Texas Tech -9 1/2 over SMU, W 49-9
Clemson +3 over Florida St, W 24-18

Picks (8-6)
Navy -21 over Temple, L 30-19
Rutgers -32 over Buffalo, W 38-3
Va Tech -25 over ECU, L 17-7
UAB +21 over Mich St, L 55-18
Oregon -14 1/2 over Houston, W 48-27
Iowa -12 over Northern Illinois, W 16-3
UCLA -17 over Stanford, W 45-17
Washington St +14 1/2 over Wisconsin, L 21-42
West Virginia -23 over W Michigan, W 62-24
BYU -4 1/2 over Arizona, W 20-7
TCU -21 over Baylor, W 27-0
Georgia -6 1/2 over Oklahoma St, W 35-14
North Texas +40 1/2 over OU, L 10-79
USC -45 over Idaho, L 38-10

Week One Top 25

2007-09-04T00:19:00.001-06:00

Obviously Slaton was working OT this weekend

Much crazier opening week then anyone could have expected. Obviously Michigan drops out and I'm still not ranking Hawaii or Boise until they beat someone.

Top 25 9/4
1. LSU; In a week where all teams looked vulnerable, LSU's offensive concerns somehow don't make me as squeamish as I Friday morning. However, despite Va Tech's struggles against East Carolina. LSU will get every single thing they could possibly want and more from the Hookies on Saturday. Next: Sat 7:15 ESPN vs Virginia Tech

2. USC; The Trojans were very workmanlike in dismantling Idaho. Honestly did not watch a lick of the game, so I can't really comment on whether they were sloppy or just steady. The numbers were very workmanlike on offense (5.0 yds/carry, 6.1 yds/pass), and Idaho's offense did very little. Next: Idle (Play Sept 15, @ Nebraska, 6:00 ABC)

3. West Virginia, Guess what? Their offense is good. Pat White had more then 10 yds/pass and Noel Devine got in his first game action scoring a touchdown. Slaton only carried the ball 16 times. The defense was terrific, allowing less then 4 yds/play. Next: Sat, 9:00 AM vs Marshall, ESPN12)

4. Oklahoma, The Sooners bitch slapped North Texas in the biggest wipeout of the weekend. DeMarco Murray had five touchdowns and Sam Bradford went 21 for 23. We find out how real those numbers were when the Canes come to Norman on Saturday. Next, Sat, 10:00 AM, vs Miami, ABC)

5. Texas, Not a good sign struggling the entire night against Arkansas State. The offensive numbers were awful. No way around that. The Horns averaged only 3.1 yds/rush, and 6.8 yds/pass and somehow Arkansas State got over 300 yards of total offense. Hard to write this off as just a blip, but I'm giving Texas a mulligan on this one and keeping them in the top 5. Next: Saturday, 5:00 vs TCU(FSN)

6. Wisconsin; Mea Culpa. Wisconsin's performance against Washington State after falling behind 14-7 clearly puts them at the top of the Big Ten at this point. The efficient passing game had to be a surprise(10 yds/pass), and even without anything special from PJ Hill (21-84), they put up 42 points. Next: Saturday, at UNLV, 8:00 Versus

7. Cal; There will be no toughness question for Cal this season. 37 rushes for 230 yards against an SEC defense. Desean Jackson got the key return, and Cal's defense forced the big turnover/big play early. They also forced Tennessee to throw underneath most of the night (5.8 yds/pass). Next: at Colorado State, 12:00 CSTV

8. Florida; The Gators destroyed Western Kentucky. We didn't really learn anything about them and I'd be lying if I said I watched more then a few plays and highlights. But Tebow was terrific from what I saw, the question marks on defense will remain until the Tennessee game. Nest: Saturday vs Troy, 5:00 PPV

9. Georgia; The Dawgs destroyed Oklahoma State. Speed on defense and a much more consistent passing game from Stafford were the keys. Georgia certainly looks like a legitimate top ten team at this point. Holding a very explosive Okie State team under 300 yards and to 14 points is damn impressive. Next: Saturday, vs South Carolina, 3:45 ESPN2

10. Nebraska; The 400 yards rushing and overall defensive domination of a gimmick offense like Nevada's was much more then even I expected. If Marlon Lucky continues to be the go to back he looked like Saturday, then Nebraska will have a seriously scary offense when Maurice Purify returns this weekend. Also, special teams was a weakness in 06, but was spectacular on Saturday. FR K Adi Kunalic was terrific with six toucbacks and a 47 yard field goal(Nebraska didn't kick a 40 yard fg in all of 2006.). Next: Saturday, at Wake Forest, 10:00 ESPN

11. Louisville; Didn't learn anything from Murray State, but the Cardinals looked every bit as explosive without Bobby Petrino as they did with him. Another Thursday night blowout leads Louisville into an interesting showdown with rival Kentucky on 9/15. Next: Thursday, Middle Tennessee State, 5:00 ESPN2

12. Miami; It was an easy win over an opponent that shouldn't be on the same field with them, but Miami showed a lot of progress over the unfocused, sloppy efforts of a year ago. Next; Saturday, at Oklahoma, 10:00 ABC

13. Virginia Tech; Yes, they were awful on offense this weekend, but their defense and special teams showed why you must continue to stay on Va Tech. The trip to Death Valley to play the Tigers this weekend will be brutal, but I definitely expect a better effort from the Hookies. I just don't think Sean Glennon's good enough to beat a team like LSU because he won't avoid the turnovers. Next: Saturday, at LSU, 7:15 ESPN

14. Penn State; Of all the Big Ten teams, Penn State was the most dominating. The offense had some big play ability with Norwood and Butler that was missing in 06, and the defense just humiliated Florida International. With Michigan and Notre Dame laying big fat fucking eggs this weekend, Penn State fans have a lot to be excited about. Next: Notre Dame, 4:00 ESPN

15. Georgia Tech; Tough to tell if they really are a top 20 team or if Notre Dame is just that god awful at this point, but going on the road and dismantling Notre Dame like that demands this ranking right now. Next: Saturday; Samford, 11:30 ESPNU

16. Washington; So it was only Syracuse, I get that, but Jake Locker was spectacular. 302 rushing yards and a dominating defensive performance make inclusion in the top 20 mandatory. The competition will improve, but Washington looks like the genuine article. They play maybe the most intriguing game of the week on Saturday Next: Saturday, vs Boise St, 1:30 FSN

17. Rutgers; The Scarlet Knights destroyed Buffalo relatively easily. I still don't buy Teel as a legit championship quarterback. Sciano's defense gets a somewhat bigger test with Navy this weekend, but you look at Rutgers' schedule and they have really only 3 rough games this season, with the possible exception of a visit from Maryland on 9/22, they should be 7-0 when South Florida and West Virginia come to town in late October. Next: Friday, Navy, 5:00 ESPN

18. Ohio State; Talk about off the grid. Seldom has a team this talented been able to slip under the radar like they are right now. The Buckeye defense could be good enough to give this offense time to find an identity. Boeckman's debut at QB was pretty solid, but Ohio State should run the ball better then they did against a I-AA foe.

19. Clemson; Big win for the Tigers to start things off, the 1-2 combo of James Davis and CJ Spiller is still about as good as it gets at RB in the entire country(29-150 against a fast, physical defense.). However, a lot of questions have to be raised by the way they nearly let Florida State come back and steal this one. Defensively, I think Clemson may be better even without Gaines Adams. it remains to be seen if the passing game is strong enough to wint he division/ACC. Next: Saturday, Louisiana-Monroe, 11:00 AM

20. UCLA; Good start for the Bruins. 600+ yards of offense with over 300 rushing and over 280 passing is about as good as it can get. I'm still not 100% on the defense(383 yards vs Stanford). They get a HUGE, HUGE test this weekend, if they're a real, live top 15-20 team and Pac Ten contender, then they kick BYU's ass. If they're another teaser UCLA team, they struggle mightily.The schedule gets very interesting the next few weeks(Notre Dame might be the easiest game now), so beating BYU could be a springboard. Next: Saturday, vs BYU, 4:30 Versus

21. Auburn; Bad, bad Auburn. The Tigers simply could not move the football against a good, but certainly not great, defensive football team. once again the Tiger defense had to rise up and make the plays to win the football game but it's a huge warning sign heading into SEC play. It's a real good thing for Auburn they don't play LSU right away like the last few seasons. They are in TOUGH this weekend. Next: Saturday, vs South Florida, 7:00 ESPN2

22. Texas A&M; The Aggies gave up 400+ yards to Big XII killer Montana State and didn't get going on offense like you would have thought. Montana State ran 85 plays to A&M's 58. That's not a good sign. I'll give them the same mulligan I gave Texas, but that wasn;t the win they expected. Next: Saturday, vs Fresno State, 1:30 FSN

23. Missouri; In a lot of ways it was same old Mizzou, nearly blowing a 37-13 lead to the Zooks. 435 yards of offense for Illinois is not a good sign for a team that has had trouble stopping teams the past few years. They certainly didn't look like a legit Big XII contender on that side of the ball. Next: Saturday, at Ole Miss, 4:00 PPV(I think)

24. Kentucky; The Wildcats dropped 50 on Eastern Kentucky, and I'm going to go ahead and buy into the buzz. At least until they play Louisville. Next: Saturday, vs Kent, 4:00 PPV

25. Texas Tech; 9 1/2 point favorites against SMU? yeah, should have bet the goddamn house on that one. Tech's defense was impressive, too. And Leach's coaching gives them the nod over 5-10 other teams that could be in this spot. I'll put it this way, If Boise or Hawaii played Texas Tech's schedule they'd be a mid-level Big XII team, too, but neither of them have Catptain Crazy Mike Leach coaching them. Next: Saturday vs UTEP, 5:00 PPV

College Football Kickoff Video 2007

2007-08-31T00:24:00.000-06:00

Should have uploaded earlier today, but still in time for the weekend, this should get'cha goin. It will also be the featured video this week, so it will be on top of the page all week long. Go Big Red!

Thursday Post-Mortem

2007-08-30T23:39:00.000-06:00

Hey, Keiland Williams did dress!

Fairly predictable, entertaining night. Kudos to Rece "All Night Bender" Davis for his 28 hours of tolerating Mark May. That's like taking a plane ride around the world with four screaming infants, two crackheads and Michael Moore.

Off the Field
-If the NCAA doesn't find a way to grant a wavier to let Oklahoma pay for the funeral of the recruit who was murdered, then they are less credible then the WBC. Reggie Bush still has a Heisman and two national championship rings and his family got a fucking house. This kid dies and the NCAA is worried about a "recruiting advantage" for OU with his brother. It's surreal.

-If I have to listen to Flutie and Craig James every Thursday this season, I'm going to need a keg of Jack Daniels delivered every Thursday morning. Quote Craig James, "It isn't like we didn't double team a buch of guys, Doug." Yeah, I bet, "Pony"

-Mark May apparently believes that Missouri is clearly more talented then Nebraska. Living proof that you don't have to follow football to cover it, just be a wispy voiced former player with a chip on your shoulder and you're in. They may beat Nebraska, because the game's in Columbia, but I'll take Nebraska's roster every single day of the year.

On the Field

Picks (4-0 overall, 3-0 on "Bets; That's how we like to start. I now retire undefeated for the season!)
LSU(-18) 41 Miss St 7-W by 45
Tulsa(-3) 31 Lou-Monroe 17-W by 18
Rutgers(-33) 45 Buffalo 7-W by 35
Oregoon St(-7) 34 Utah 17-W by 17

LSU Mississippi State

LSU's Offense
Run Game
-I have no idea why Gary Crowton has decided that with all of those star-type running backs in the backfield(TRUE RBs!) that he's decided to feature a freakishly fast midget, a fullback and his moderately skilled running quarterback in the running game. Of all the question marks that were raised on Saturday, and for a blowout there were some, the #1 question I have about LSU right now is offensive philosophy.
-The gimmicky nature of what LSU was doing in the run game really limited what I was able to see from the OL, but it did not seem like they got a consistent push against Mississippi St
Pass Game
-Flynn didn't play all that well for much of the game, but again philosophy was a much bigger question then execution for this observer. Tell me Early Ducett did not have 8 catches for only 72 yards at one point? Why the hell would you take one of the most explosive WRs in America and try to make him into a possession receiver?
-I knew Brandon LaFell would make an impact this year, I just didn't know it would be a literal impact. That hit on Flynn's run was actually scary. That word gets bandied about a lot but the way the Mississippi St DB's head snapped around that thing could have been much worse.
-Pass protection has to go into the question mark category right now. Mississippi State got a fairly consistent push all night long.
LSU's Defense
Run Game
-Mississippi State's early success in the power, one-cut downhill type running game was not all that surprising. And neither was LSU's very quick adjustment to said success. The fact that Mississippi State's passing game was not even a mild threat definitely aided LSU, but the speed of the Tiger defense seemed to ratchet up a couple notches as the game went on. Their front seven has National Championship speed.
Pass Game
-It's tough to really tell with the Mississippi State passing game, which isn't a D-I passing attack right now. But they hit Hennig about 30 times, and intercepted him six times, so I'd say that's an A+ game. Looking ahead Sean Glennon better be ready to move in the pocket and throw the ball away when necessary.
-I honestly don't think I saw an open Bulldog receiver all night. I'm sure there was one, but the LSU coverage was seriously impressive.

Special Teams
-Other then a couple of punts that were poorly placed and went into the end zone, LSU was dominant on special teams, with team speed showing up on nearly every coverage situation. There weren't many good opportunities to run back kicks, so that's an incomplete area at this point and there were some short kickoffs. (Probably because they kicked off 8 times).

Really we learned that if you're going to beat LSU, you need to have a two(and possibly three, with a mobile quarterback) pronged offensive attack. If you're one dimensional, their speed will quite simply bust you open and destroy you. You must run the football, you must stick with the run even if it's not working and you must have big-bodied receivers who can make a play when they are covered.

The offense needs a ton of work, and they will get a gigantic test next week from the Hookie defense and Bud Foster. If I was playing LSU right now, I'd have both outside backers key Flynn and slant in every DL and MLB every time they get in the shotgun/pistol/flex type sets, especially when Keiland Williams is not in the game. But as the season goes along, LSU must be able to throw down the field more often then they did tonight. If you can press their receivers, this is an offense you can stop right now. Some of that is certainly confusion and adjustment with a new scheme. But there are enough parts of the game plan/play calling that I would be wary of if I were LSU fan. That did not look like the #2 team in the country on the offensive side of the football. But, you know, it's August 30th and there is freakish talent everywhere.

Louisville 73 Murray State 10
-Didn't really watch much except the constant scoring plays, it was a glorified sparring session and Louisville's explosion on offense made short work of the overmatched Racers. We didn't learn a damn thing.

Tulsa 35 Lou-Monroe 17
-Tulsa was awful in the first half, especially on defense. But they seemed to start to control the line of scrimmage, finally, in the 3rd quarter and eventually put Monroe away. I don't know if Tulsa's as good as they were a year ago, this may have been a case of just "first game/new coach" issues. But I wasn't overly impressed, and they did not look like a bowl team tonight.

Rutgers 38 Buffalo 3
-Another utter mismatch with a team that doesn't have D-I athletes. Rice got some big numbers, but the holes he was running through looked comical.
-Turner Gill is either insane, a masochist or he's going to look like a genius five years from now. (I love him, so I'll hold comment)

Oregon State 24 Utah 7
-One of the worst first halves of football I've seen in a long time. Poor offensive execution and just awful timing. First game jitters or sloppiness, but it was bad. Utah should not have been on the same field with Oregon State.
-That having been said, Oregon State's team speed was very impressive. Yvenson Bernard is one of the more exciting players in the country, the little scatback dominated the second half of that game.

I'm guessing the pants didn't help, either. (Gene, what did you get yourself into?)

Kent St 23 Iowa State 14
-Wow. Iowa State manages only 14 points against the Golden Flashes. Bret Meyer only puts up 149 yards(6.2 yds/att??) and the Cyclones lose a game where they were +1 in the TO battle against a MAC team AT HOME!! It's going to be a long, long year for Chizik in Ames.

Boise State 56 Weber St 7
-Only real interesting thing in this one was how slim Ian Johnson looked, and how fast, tearing down the sideline on his long touchdown run. (49-0 Boise in the first half, btw.)
-Taylor Tharp's first start was 14-19-184, 1 td/0 int; 9.7 yds/att, no sacks. Has to be encouraging, albeit against a glorified practice opponent.

Overall Impressions
-LSU will probably check in, baring major upsets or impressive performances, at #3 in my first week poll (I don't actually rank teams until they play). For all the criticism I had of their offensive game plan, that defense would keep them in against anyone from what I saw. They certainly looked like the kind of speed that Florida used to rout Ohio State last January.
-Boise, Louisville, & Rutgers handled their routs the way top 25 teams should. I would probably have to rank Boise around 25, Rutgers looked like a late teens/early 20s type of team and Louisville certainly did nothing to keep them off of my top ten.
-I would certainly count Oregon State near the bottom of the top 25 at this point, but I am hesitant because the passing game looked suspect and Bernard, while tremendous, would seem to be less of a threat against the better teams on their schedule.
-You have to put Iowa State near the very bottom of the Big XII at this point. My expectations or projected power rating of the Big XII to start the season would look something like this (Missouri/Texas Tech is dicey, and Colorado/Kansas/Kansas State is something that's a guess at this point, too. But I'm fairly comfortable about the top 5.)

1. Texas
2. Oklahoma
3. Nebraska
4. Texas A&M
5. Oklahoma State
6. Missouri
7. Texas Tech
8. Kansas State
9. Colorado
10. Kansas
11. Baylor
12. Iowa State

Week One, Part IV: Primetime

2007-08-30T20:58:00.000-06:00

Desmond Howard 1991? Could be.

The rest of week one.

Saturday Night

4:45 ESPN2 Oklahoma State at Georgia(UGA-6 1/2)
5:00 FSN North Texas at Oklahoma(OU-40 1/2)
5:00 ESPNU Purdue at Toledo(Pur-6 1/2)
5:45 ESPN Kansas State at Auburn(Aub-13 1/2)
6:00 ABC Tennessee at Cal(Cal-5)
8:00 CSTV New Mexico at UTEP(NM -3)
8:15 FSN Idaho at USC(USC-45 1/2)

& Monday
2:00 ESPN Texas Tech at SMU(TT-9 1/2)
6:00 ESPN Florida State at Clemson(FSU -3)

Headliners: Georgia, Oklahoma, Auburn, Tennessee, Cal & USC

With most of the headliners playing big games and USC playing the crapiest opponent, it'll probably be only late, late when you even try to watch USC.

Game of the Night: Cal-Tennessee

But do not sleep on Oklahoma State-Georgia. Cal and Tennessee both have so much weight on this game, though, that it's the most important game of the night.

Predictions:

Georgia 27 Oklahoma State 17

I think this is the most intriguing matchup of the entire weekend. Oklahoma State is explosive as hell on offense, and Georgia did not show in 2006 that they could get into an up and down the field kind of game. They struggled with a bad, bad Colorado team at home last season and Oklahoma State can put 3-4 touchdowns on the board if Stafford turns the football over. I'm basing this pick on my respect for Mark Richt, and the expectation that an exceptionally talented kid like Stafford will have made gigantor improvements into his second season. I also do believe that Georgia's athletic defense will be able to force as many, or more, turnovers then they give up big plays. This first 15 minutes are critical, if Oklahoma State can survive the wild environment early or even hit the Dawgs up for a couple of quick big plays, then Georgia's in an outright brawl. But there's also the chance that Okie State doesn't handle the road environment very well and makes mistakes of their own. Great football game and I'm going with Georgia just on gut feel.

Oklahoma 52 North Texas 14
Purdue 38 Toledo 31

Auburn 44 Kansas State 13

On the flip side of the Big XII/SEC coin, I don't think Kansas State is ready for the type of athletic defense and overall speed they'll see from Auburn. This game will look at lot like the Texas Bowl, where Rutgers pole-axed K-State with big plays and swarmed Josh Freeman. The magic number in this one is 100 yards, if K-State rushes for that in net rushing, then this pick will be dead wrong and it will be a game. But I think the number will be closer to 0 net rush yards.

Cal 27 Tennessee 24

Erik Ainge's broken finger adds another layer of total f-ing mystery to the game of the weekend. EDSBS said it best, if you think you really know what's going to happen in this game, you're full of shit. I'm going with Cal on the gut feeling that Desean Jackson's going to have one of those seasons we talk about years from now and gets himself into the Heisman with a couple of plays that decide the game. But Cal better not forget the running game, and they better be at least efficient in that run game. I have no idea the full on hell that will break loose down in Knoxville if Ainge can't go and Jonathan Crompton starts and wins this football game. None. It'll be like a feeding frenzy of fan freakout because Crompton's already got an unsilent minority that's clamoring for him to play right now.

UTEP 38 New Mexico 33

USC 88 Idaho 7

Will give Hawaii a run for who can get to 100 points faster.

Texas Tech 44 SMU 24

I have no idea why this line is only 9 1/2. Tech is clearly 3 touchdowns better, at least, then the Mustangs. Leach's offense gets a national audience to impress very early in the season.

Clemson 23 FSU 20

This is sheer feel. I don't know that Florida State won't come out and run a better, more effective offense under Jimbo Fisher right away. I just sorta think it will take them a few weeks and that Clemson's talented backfield will make enough big plays to win the thing.

Bets
Auburn -13 1/2
Tennessee +5
UTEP +3
Texas Tech -9 1/2
Clemson +3

Loverboy + Nebraska = Gold

2007-08-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

Found this "classic" on the 85 Sugar Bowl pregame. Unreal.

Highlights
-Duh, Loverboy extended remix. You can almost see "The Todd" dancing along at home
-Lou Holtz with Minnesota.
-Lame Nebraska joke from the 2 Colorado fans surrounded by Husker fans at the NU-CU game in Boulder. (Some things never change.)
-80s hair and sunglasses everywhere. There may even be a popped collar on an izod.

This Weekend, Part III, But mostly The Huskers

2007-08-29T23:52:00.000-06:00

Sammy K finally gets his shot

The Afternoon, where things finally pick up...

Saturday Afternoon
1:30 ABC Nevada at Nebraska(NU-21)
1:30 NBC Georgia Tech at Notre Dame(ND-2 1/2)
1:30 PPV Washington State at Wisconsin(Wisc-14)
1:30 PPV Wake Forest at Boston College (BC-5)
1:30 ESPN2 Missouri-Illinois at St Louis(Mizz-4)
1:30 FSN UCLA at Stanford(UCLA-17)
1:30 ESPNU Iowa at Northern Illinois(Iowa-12)
1:30 PPV Western Michigan at West Virginia(WVA-23)
1:30 PPV Houston at Oregon(Ore-14 1/2)
3:30 Versus Arizona at BYU(BYU-4 1/2)
4:00 CSTV Baylor at TCU(TCU-21)
4:00 PPV E Kentucky at Kentucky(NL)

Headliners: Nebraska, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Wake Forest, UCLA, West Virginia & TCU

Things start to actually get interesting with a few decent intersectional battles. The Irish and Deacons are both in very tough early in the season. Cannot figure out the Missouri spread, if they don't beat Illinois by more then 4, they're THE overrated team in the Big XII. And Steve Slaton and co get started.

Game of the Afternoon: Notre Dame-Georgia Tech

It's very close, Wake-BC and Wazzu-Wisconsin are huge also, but Notre Dame's schedule early does not lend itself to many easy wins. So getting one early against a Georgia Tech team they CAN beat, changes their entire season in my eyes.

Predictions:

Georgia Tech 24 Notre Dame 21
Wisconsin 35 Washington State 24
Boston College 31 Wake Forest 10
Missouri 38 Illinois 24
UCLA 38 Stanford 17
Iowa 31 N Illinois 17
West Virginia 52 W Michigan 17
Oregon 37 Houston 17
BYU 31 Arizona 24
TCU 45 Baylor 20
Kentucky 55 E Kentucky 13

Bets
Georgia Tech +2 1/2
BC -5
Missouri -4

But let's get to the important part, the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska kicks off against Nevada. The Wolfpack are coming off of an 8-5 season that ended in a 21-20 loss to Miami. The other four losses were to Boise St(38-7), Arizona St(52-21), Fresno St(28-19) and Hawaii(41-34). There were no real significant wins. They lost their starting quarterback. The defense is a gambling defense, and the Huskers spent all week drilling on blitz pickups. The gimmick offense that Nevada, and no one else, runs will put a premium on quick pass rush and underneath pass coverage and it's a good primer for the spread offenses NU will see later in conference play.

But really the game comes down to talent, Nebraska's offense should be able to hit big plays against Nevada and run the ball well enough to control possession. Sam Keller's first start in Lincoln will be without Maurice Purify, so it's a good opportunity for Terrance Nunn and some of the young receivers to get in the mix, and hopefully someone begins to emerge as a tight end(Mike McNeil). The running back rotation is going to be very interesting, with Cody Glenn likely sitting out and Marlon Lucky having some injury problems in camp. True FR Quentin Castille, Marcus Mendoza and Roy Helu will all likely play and possibly two-way future star Prince Amukamara.

Defensively, all eyes are on the defensive line. Barry Turner, Zach Potter, Ty Steinkuhler and especially Ndamukong Suh will be counted on to replace all four outgoing SR studs up front. Pierre Allen, Kevin Dixon, Shukree Barfield and Clayton Sievers will all see time as they try to find a good rotation. The LB corp is deep and experienced, with the most exciting prospect being a healthy Steve Octavien playing some DE in pass rush situations. Zack Bowman made it back to play at corner, so Nebraska has at least a four deep rotation with newcomer Armando Murillo having a lot of buzz in fall camp. But the two names to really watch for are Rickey Thenarse and Larry Asante who will actually make plays at safety. They'll come up and stick in the run game and Thenarse is going to be terrific in coverage, also. True FR Anthony Blue may get a look at CB, also.

Special Teams is a bit of a concern, at least early. Have to wait and see about the return game, Amukamara and Thenarse are the two I'd like to see back there. And the kicking duties won't be divided up completely until game time, but the smart money's on true FR Adi Kunalic to handle them all.

Nebraska will play well, and the talent level will definitely show early. Keller should get plenty of opportunities to show his big play ability.

Nebraska 42 Nevada 17

Weekend Preview Part II

2007-08-28T22:16:00.000-06:00

The "clash of titans"

The giddy begins with crazy Corso

Saturday AM Games

Television Listings/Spreads
10:00 ESPN East Carolina at Virginia Tech (VT-25)
10:00 FSN Colorado-Colorado St @ Denver (CU-3)
10:00 ESPNU Marshall at Miami,FL(Mia-16 1/2)
10:00 ESPN2 UAB at Michigan State(Mich St-21)
10:30 PPV W Kentucky at Florida (NL)
12:00 Versus Virginia at Wyoming(Virginia-6)
12:00 MTN So Carolina St at Air Force(NL)

Headliners-Virginia Tech and Florida

Florida and Tebow will obviously require channel flipping, but all eyes should be on Blacksburg in what should be the most emotional setting for a college football opener. And maybe it's just me, but you have be psychotic to take Michigan State and lay 21 points against anyone, anytime. Don't you?

Game of the morning: Colorado-Colorado St

The one good thing for local football fans about the 10AM kickoff is that they're not getting much competition in the way of good games. By about the mid-second quarter most eyes should turn over to FSN(And then immediately start drinking to deal with FOX's ar-tard coverage.), and a compelling matchup between two teams looking for some sort of identity.

Predictions
Virginia Tech 45 East Carolina 10
Colorado 24 Colorado State 17
Miami 33 Marshall 3
Michigan State 34 UAB 21
Florida 55 W Kentucky 14
Virginia 32 Wyoming 13
Air Force 38 SC State 14

Bets
Colorado -3
Miami -16 1/2
Virginia -6

Week One is here, bitches...

2007-08-27T22:36:00.001-06:00

It's finally here...

Part I of the weekend preview

Thursday & Friday Night Preview

TV Schedule
Thursday Night

5:00 ESPN2 Tulsa at Louisiana-Monroe (Tulsa-3)
5:00 FSE-Regional Buffalo at Rutgers (Rutgers -32)
5:30 ESPNU Murray St at Louisville (NL)
6:00 ESPN LSU at Mississippi St (LSU -18 1/2)
8:00 FSN-Northwest Utah at Oregon State(Oregon St-7)

Friday Night
5:00 ESPN2 Navy at Temple (Navy -21)
6:00 ESPN Washington at Syracuse(Washington -3)

The Headliners: LSU, Louisville & Rutgers

The presumptive favorite in the SEC and two of the best Big East teams kickoff against sub par competition. But LSU is obviously where all eyes will be down in Cowbell land. Looking at the spread on that one it makes no sense, so you should probably stay away.

Game of the Night(s): Oregon State-Utah

The Beavers need to show everybody where they're at after the bizarre situation involving star WR Sammie Stroughter. And Utah is the right opponent for that, because the Utes have somewhat of a name that will give notice around the nation if Oregon State really puts one on them. Similarly Utah would like to show everyone they're going to compete with TCU & BYU this year in the Mountain West.

Predictions:

LSU 41 Mississippi State 7
Louisville 63 Murray St 14
Oregon State 34 Utah 17
Rutgers 45 Buffalo 7
Tulsa 31 Lou-Monroe 17
Navy 34 Temple 10
Washington 17 Syracuse 7

Bets
LSU -18 1/2
Oregon St -7
Tulsa -3
Washington -3

2007 Heisman Trophy Race

2007-08-23T23:35:00.000-06:00

The next Heisman Winner?

In a lot of ways the Heisman is a silly award, and it takes up far too much of our time, but at the same time there are so many incredible memories I have of both guys locking up the Heisman with a big moment or game and somebody getting completely screwed because the mainstream media had made up their mind way too early or was concentrating way too hard on numbers. So we'll get into it here.

I've tried to cut through most of the media filtered opinions on the major candidates, the frauds, and the longshots that I would throw a couple bucks down on if I was in Vegas this weekend. But let's start by looking back at a little historical info.

-These are the past 30 Heisman Trophy winners, their positions and their schools. In () is the man that I would have voted for the Heisman Trophy, if it's different.

-06 Troy Smith, QB, Ohio State
-05 Matt Leinart, QB, USC (Vince Young, QB, Texas)
-04 Reggie Bush, RB, USC
-03 Jason White, QB, Oklahoma
-02 Carson Palmer, QB, USC
-01 Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska
-00 Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State (Drew Brees, QB, Purdue)
-99 Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin (Joey Hamilton, QB, Georgia Tech)
-98 Ricky Williams, RB, Texas
-97 Charles Woodson, DB, Michigan (Peyton Manning, QB, Tennessee)
-96 Danny Weurffel, QB, Florida
-95 Eddie Georgia, RB, Ohio State (Tommie Frazier, QB, Nebraska)
-94 Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado
-93 Charlie Ward, QB, Florida State
-92 Gino Torretta, QB, Miami (Marshall Faulk, RB, San Diego State)
-91 Desmond Howard, WR, Michigan
-90 Ty Detmer, QB, BYU (Rocket Ismail, WR/RB, Notre Dame)
-89 Andre Ware, QB, Houston (Major Harris, QB, West Virginia)
-88 Barry Sanders, RB, Oklahoma State (Rodney Peete, QB, USC)
-87 Tim Brown, WR, Notre Dame
-86 Vinny Testaverde, QB, Miami
-85 Bo Jackson, RB, Auburn (Chuck Long, QB, Iowa)
-84 Doug Flutie, QB, Boston College
-83 Mike Rozier, RB, Nebraska (Turner Gill, QB, Nebraska)
-82 Hershel Walker, RB, Georgia (John Elway, QB, Stanford)
-81 Marcus Allen, RB, USC
-80 George Rogers, RB, South Carolina (Herschel Walker, RB, Georgia)
-79 Charles White, RB, USC (Billy Sims, RB, Oklahoma)
-78 Billy Sims, RB, Oklahoma
-77 Earl Carmpbell, RB, Texas

That's 13 QBs(Including six of the last seven), 14 RBs, 2 WRs and 1 DB in 30 years. All 3 non-QB/RBs were from Michigan and Notre Dame(Tim Brown, Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson. Also Rocket Ismail came as close as any other non QB/RB another Irish WR.). By Conference(And School): Big XII-8 (OU,NU,UT-2, CU & OKST-1) Big Ten 5(Mich, OSU-2 & Wisc-1), Pac Ten-5(All USC), ACC-5(FSU & Miami-2, BC-1), SEC-4(Fla, Aub, Geor, So Car-1), Non-BCS-2(Hou, BYU-1), IND-1(ND), Big East-0.

So essentially, there is no shot for any WR or defensive player unless he plays at a gigantic traditional power and even then he must be a dual threat superstar who has several key returns in big games(Which is why it's a crime that Rocket didn't win in 1990 because Ty Detmer threw for like a billion yards in the WAC, yes I'm looking at you Colt Brennan.).

And it's been rough going for the SEC, with only 1 Heisman in 21 years. But that's not that shocking, since it's largely an offensive award and you're not going to put up numbers every week in the SEC. The defenses are just too good. Especially if you're a great running back, sorry Darren McFadden. Most great SEC teams are built on depth of speed and talent and that doesn't lend itself to making one guy into the "Face" of the team. Also, there just aren't that many big media markets in the SEC, which is a shitty thing to care about, but it's a factor in a popularity contest like this.

In the new century, six of the past seven winners have been about to play in the National Championship game when they won. Which is a sympton of the BCS-focused media we now live with, and that's not good but it's not going anywhere either. And I do believe the award should be about the best player that matters, I don't believe you should be able to win the award playing no one of consequence. If Desean Jackson returns punts for touchdown in big wins over Tennessee and USC, catches 70 balls for 1200 yards and 16 tds that's more impressive to me then Colt Brennan throwing for 7500 yards and 140tds against Northern Colorado and New Mexico State, to me anyway.

So here is your 2007 Heisman Race...

Heavy Pre Season Favorites

- Steve Slaton, RB, West Virginia; Set up for success more then any other candidate, Slaton should rush for nearly 2000 yards and as many touchdowns as he damn well pleases. While he does not play a difficult slate of games, there will be two late season showdowns that get national attention against Louisville and Rutgers. I do not believe he can win the Heisman if West Virginia loses a game unless no other front-runner emerges.

- Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas; Yes, yes, I just got done saying SEC backs don't win the Heisman (The last one was BO, and he barely edged out Chuck Long.), however McFadden may be the best SEC back since Bo and he will get every opportunity to shine even in games I expect Arkansas to get beat.

Frauds Who Should Not Win the Award:

- Colt Brennan, QB, Hawaii; First of all, shut up ESPN. June Jones' offense and mixture of soft schedule combined with natural home field advantage make Colt Brennan the ultimate "Gimmick" candidate. Like Andre Ware, David Klingler and Ty Detmer before him, he'll try to win a Heisman without playing for anything. And that's crap. Put him in your top 5, maybe even let him go to New York, but if you vote him #1, you suck.

- Ray Rice, RB, Rutgers; When Rutgers comes back to Earth, and they will, it's going to be funny that we had him on any list at all to start the year.

Carson Palmer/Chris Weinke/Jason White "Redemption" Candidates
- Erik Ainge, QB, Tennessee; After two years of benchings and almosts, Ainge has a big chance this year. If they're able to go to Strawberry Hill and beat up Cal again, and then to Gainesville and beat a Florida team breaking in a new QB; Then Ainge moves to the top of a lot fo lists. Of course, lose them both and Crompton probably gets a start at mid-season.

- Sam Keller, QB, Nebraska; Most neutal people remember two things about Sam Keller; 1) The controversy at ASU which seems to have covered everyone it touched with shit; 2) The five interceptions he threw against USC. He can't do anything about the ASU thing except win a ton of games and nobody will even remember that. But he gets USC in Lincoln, September 15 with most of the nation watching. He also gets an experienced receiving corp and balanced attack that produced 25 TD passes and only 7 interceptions last season with a game, but probably less talented, Zac Taylor.

-Chad Henne, QB, Michigan; Henne's got a big opprotunity with Michigan's schedule this year. If they can find a couple more WR targets and one of the young TE's becomes a consistent possession recceiver, Henne will have the numbers and the pub to stay in the race.

Rocket Ismail/Ted Ginn "Probably Won't Win" But Could Be the Best Player in the Country
- Desean Jackson, WR, Cal; The most exciting player in the country. Must absolutely take advante of the two games where he'll have the "National Stage" against Tennessee and USC. Both games are at home, and big games will be magnified.
-Mario Manningham, WR, Michigan; Will have plenty of opportunities on the national stage. Will need to put up huge numbers against Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Ohio State to be a factor, but Michigan WRs have been in the race before and he's got the big play potential to get in there.
-Early Doucet, WR, LSU; The buzz on Doucet has warmed since Kiper put him in his 08 Draft top 10. LSU's offense has been balanced to the point where no receivers have had the sick numbers needed for All-America-type respect, so he's a major longshot.

Big Timers That I Feel Good About
-Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville; The Cardinals should cruise into the homestretch undefeated and put up huge numbers behind the likely 1st round draft pick. If he can stay healthy this year, he'll be on the list of candidates heading into November and with huge games against Rutgers and in Morgantown could really get a late push if some of the leaders falter at any point.
. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas; The numbers were impressive last year, and if McCoy stays healthy the Longhorn offense is tailored for a dual threat QB to be the star. It would seem like a crime for him to win when Vince Young didn't, but hey Ty Detmer has a Heisman Trophy, so McCoy would have nothing to apologize for should he win.

Big Timeres That I Don't Think Have a Shot
-John David Booty, QB, USC; He's a USC QB, and the past two USC QBs have won Heisman Trophies. But, uh, oh yeah, they were both better then Booty. There's a difference between Matt Leinart and Ken Dorsey, and I just think Booty's much closer to Dorsey.
-Ian Johnson, RB, Boise State; The second act for everybody's favorite cheerleader marrying, Statue of Liberty scoring badass will probably get lost in the fact that Boise won't be on TV very often.

Uber Longshots
-Mike Goodson, RB, Texas A&M; Could put up gigantic numbers in a more featured role this season. His speed produces the kind of big plays that will pop off the screen on sportscenter type shows. Don't know if he'll get enough touches to win the award, or if A&M will be good enough to be in the spotlight late in the season.
-Tim Tebow, QB, Florida; Obviously has the undercurrent of hype from his various cameos in 06, and will make the kind of highlight reel type plays needed to jump start Heisman talk. But can he be accurate enough in his first season as a starter?
-Matt Stafford, QB, Georgia; Will have the chance to truly carry a big program if he improves his accuracy(And to be fair if they have less drops as well.). Also has the mobility to make plays with his legs. Georgia's schedule will give him plenty of big time opportunities.

And the winner will be....

Steve Slaton. The star of the most exciting offense in football will get near the magic 2000 yard mark and roll up 20-25 touchdowns and hold off Darren McFadden and irritating media pull for Colt Brennan to win a very close vote.

Top 25 Part II

2007-08-23T22:53:00.000-06:00

The rest of the list...

6. Oklahoma(Open Season, Sept 1, vs North Texas, 5:00 FSN)
The Sooners have settled on their starting QB and it will be RS FR Sam Bradford. Typically you would downgrade a team a bit when they lose one of the best RBs in school history and they're starting a FR QB, but Bob Stoops' team has the overall talent to compensate. The visit from Miami(Sept 8) will tell us a lot about OU, if they're able to beat Miami and Texas in the first half of their schedule this is a championship contender. Even if they lose one of them, they'll have every opportunity to win 11 games and get a BCS at-large. This defense should be fast as hell and brutal by the end of the season.

7. Louisville (Open Season Aug 30, vs Murray State, 5:30 ESPNU)
The loss of Bobby Petrino will certainly affect the program, I just don't know that we'll see it that much in 07. With a legit #1 draft pick at QB and a mess of talented wideouts, this is a team that can drop 35 on anyone. They non-conference is not that daunting, Kentucky will present a challenge, at least for the Cardinal D and NC State is not that easy of a trip. But it's the three game closing stretch that will define Louisville in 07. At West Virginia, at South Florida and home with Rutgers. I just don't see them winning in Morgantown.

8. Florida (Open Season Sept 1 vs Western Kentucky, 10:30)
The Tebow era kicks off on the heels of the shockingly easy win in the National Championship game and in spite of several key losses, the Gators have so many playmakers they could easily win the SEC again. Trips to LSU, Kentucky, and South Carolina are daunting. Florida State and Tennessee are in Gainesville this year and until Georgia begins winning the Cocktail Party again, you have to count that as a win in the pre season. So really you're looking at a 10-2 type schedule for Florida and if a few things break right in those key games, they could be right back where they were last year. The one loss I just don't see Florida overcoming is THE Reggie Nelson. They guy only made like 20 big plays last year, and many of them were decisive plays in big games.

9. Virginia Tech (Open Season Sept 1 East Carolina, 10:00 ESPN)
There are obviously no positives to what happened in Blacksburg, but the one thing you can say is in a time where everyone needs something to rally around at Va Tech, Frank Beamer is one of the best coaches you could possibly have to rally a team and a town around. I expect Virginia Tech to play every week with a focus and emotional resonance that will make them one of the toughest outs in the country as far as the national race is concerned and I absolutely expect them to win the ACC. Sept 8 sees Tech travel to Baton Rouge to play LSU, if they win that game, I'm tellin' you right now, Virginia Tech wins the National Championship I just don't think they'll win that game. But they will be in a BCS bowl and will be the team everyone is talking about all year long.

10. Wisconsin (Open Season Sept 1 Washington State, 1:30 ABC/PPV)
Every pre season rag, every online poll, every column that I've read in the off season is touting Wisconsin as a legit national contender and maybe even the favorite in the Big Ten. And I don't think they're dead wrong, obviously by the #10 rank, but I don't see a National Championship type team here. I think they'll get everything they could possibly want from Washington State in the opener and the back to back road games with improving Illinois and Penn State just look like one of those situations where they'll drop a game. Now even if they do, I think that Michigan game on Nov 10 will decide the Big Ten.

11. Nebraska (Open Season Sept 1, Nevada, 1:30 ABC)
The suspense is finally over, Sam Keller will be the starting QB opening day. Maurice Purify will be in uniform Sept 8 when they play Wake Forest and Zack Bowman is already back at practice following his pre-spring patella tendon tear. Absolutely everything any Husker fan wanted has happened in terms of personel and availability. The entire roster is deeper and more experienced (Save for the defensive line, end in particular is a concern at this point until proven otherwise.), there are plenty of leaders and Coach Callahan's group has been quietly very excited about their chances in 2007. The schedule is not easy by any stretch. There are two 2006 BCS teams in the non-conference (Wake and USC), they travel to Austin to play Texas and to Columbia to play Missouri. And the next step for this team is to find a way to finish the games they had a chance to last season (Texas, Okie State, OU and Auburn) and put themselves in position to challenge OU or Texas again in December(Or if things break a certain way, A&M.). But this will be the best Husker team, top to bottom, since 1999's Fiesta Bowl champions.

12. Georgia (Open Season, Sept 1, Oklahoma State, 4:45 ESPN)
Of all the teams on this list, there is no team that has the wide variance of possibilities as Georgia. The offensive line is still a glaring concern, and Matt Stafford still has a lot to prove (And maybe not the best WRs to prove it.). But Mark Richt's team came a long way down the stretch in 06. And with early home games against fringe-type contenders that they will get huge tests from (Okie State and South Carolina), Georgia can either run with that momentum or go the other way in a big hurry. They travel to Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Bama while hosting Auburn and Kentucky. But more then anything else, Georgia has to start beating Florida on a regular basis again. If anything else is the focus, then it's misguided.

13. Auburn (Open Season, Sept 1, Kansas State, 5:45 ESPN2)
I really didn't know what to do with Auburn. I'm mostly going on the way Tuberville has elevated the program since 2004 (33-5), and expecting them to continue that dominance behind a fast, fast defense and a solid offense. The schedule has tough spots all over the place. They open with two possible bowl teams in K-State and South Florida (And they'll beat the crap out of both of them, but they aren't chip shots.), They play AT Florida, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia which is why even at #13 they make me a little nervous. Tennessee and Bama come to the Plains so Auburn is in tough all year long.

14. Texas A&M (Open Seeason, Sept 1, Montana St, 5:00)
The Aggies are one of two giant wild cards in the Big XII. The schedule, just flat out sucks. They travel to Miami, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri. They host Okie State and Texas. So essentially they have to win three of those four brutal conference road games against four of the six best teams in the confernce and beat Okie State at home to set up a showdown with Texas where they could have a shot at the Big XII South title. Which is why I don't mark their chances very high. I do think they'll be very good, especially on offense and that the defense is getting better (Forget the Holiday Bowl, they were awful and Cal was terrific that night.). Goodson, Lane and McGee form the most explosive spread option unit in the country outside Morgantown,WV and they'll be dangerous in every single one of those big games. I just haven't seen enough consistency and ability to finish games under Francione to pick them any higher then this.

15. Tennessee (Open Season, Sept 1, at Cal, 6:00 ABC)
Perhaps no one is as enigmatic as the Vols. Erik Ainge is back to try and secure an SEC title and fulfill some of that massive promise he showed very early in his career. At the same time there's another superstar-looking quarterback behind him who'll push him every step of the way. The running game hasn't been anywhere near as productive(Or featured) as it should be in a program like Tennessee. This is a team that consistently gets the OL and RB recruits on the "A" list and yet they're still not very productive, certainly not against the top opponents. The game with Cal is obviously huge nationally, but the game at Florida on Sept 15 is the one that Tennessee must win. It just saps the wind right out of the program if they lose, especially when it's in heartbreaking fashin like last season. With a new starting QB at Florida and some holes in the Gator defense it's certainly possible.

16. Cal (Open Season, Sept 1, Tennessee, 6:00 ABC)
Now the game Sept 1 is certainly still important to Tennessee, but it is monumental to Cal. Losing the way they did last season in Knoxville tainted everything Cal did prior to their meeting with USC in nearly everyone's eyes. (Hell, it labeled the entire Pac-10 outside SC as soft-ass to the rest of the nation.) Cal should have the same intensity they had in attacking Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl. And as much as anything winning that game, particularly if it's convincing, may give them the confidence to take down USC at home later in the season. Desean Jackson remains on the list with Steve Slaton and Darren McFadden as the most exciting players in the country. But generating a running game against teams like Tennessee and USC is the question mark. The top RBs got only 17 carries against the Vols and 22 carries against the Trojans. And that was WITH Marshawn Lynch. I don't think Cal can beat those teams without more balance.

17. Florida State (Open Season Mon, Sept 3, at Clemson, 6:00 ESPN)
Another difficult team to place, Bowden finally off'd his kid and brought in some outside help on offense. The schedule isn't that great, (At Clemson, Colorado, Wake, BC, Va Tech and Florida; Alabama(in Jacksonville), Miami and Maryland at home) So I really don't know what to expect from Florida State except to say there's no way I see them running the table or coming all that close, but I think they'll win 9-10 games somehow and have a decent sized bounce back season and maybe even take down Va Tech in the ACC Title game.

18. Hawaii (Open Season, Sept 1, Northern Colorado, 6:00)
Obviously this is a schedule pick. I don't think Hawaii's anywhere near one of the best 18 teams in the country and if they were in the Pac-10, I'd have them about .500. There is almost no way in hell Hawaii won't be 9-0 when they travel to Nevada. Then they host Boise State and Washington. Boise State has lost some, but I think that will still be a fairly even matchup. But when it's all said and done, we'll be rooting hard for Washington to bust the "BCS Buster" on December 1st. The Banana Republic cannot be allowed to go to a BCS game, it just can't happen.

19. UCLA (Open Season, Sept 1, at Stanford, 1:30 FSN)
The Bruins win over USC at the end of the season certainly showed they have improved the athleticism of the team enough to compete on the highest level and the loss to Florida State in the bowl game showed just how far they still are from being consistent. If you look at their schedule, it's litered with teams that COULD beat UCLA, but shouldn't. BYU, Utah and Washington fall into that category. Their trip to Oregon State will be rough and then they host Notre Dame, who they almost beat last year wtih Brady Quinn and co. They host Cal, travel to Wazzu and Arizona and host ASU and Oregon before what they hope is a showdown with USC and not another chance to play spoiler. I don't think there's any basis to believe this team will win enough of those games leading up to it to be any better then 8-3/9-2 when they go to USC. And that may even be reaching.

20. Missouri (Open Season Sept 1, Illinois(At St Louis), 1:30)
I do not believe the Tigers will ever get a better opportunity in the near future at a division title and spot in the Big XII title game then the 2007 season. They get Nebraska at home, breaking in a new QB, the first week in October. The only really rough trip is the one to Norman on Oct 13. If they get a split in those games, they'll be at home in their roughest tests the rest of the way (Tech and A&M). But Missouri's consistency has not been their strong point and I don't think they'll have much in the way of margin coming down the stretch. If they can get to 6-2 in th conference, while winning against NU, they'll probably take it. And if they don't, they won't win a North Division title under Pinkel. Chase Daniel and the offense have to be better then they were last year in the key three game losing streak (OU,NU, Iowa St) where they only put up 45 points. This team was built around an explosive offense and they'll have to be to get to 9/10 wins this year. I would say this is the biggest "Make or break" season of any team in college football.

21. Oklahoma State (Open Season Sept 1, at Georgia, 4:45 ESPN)
I don't have any particular bias for or against Okie State, they've always just kinda been there as a Nebraska fan, but this is the one team I would throw down some money on and take a chance with. They're gonna be fun, they're gonna score a lot of points on a lot of big plays and scare a lot of really good teams. There are not any better WRs in the conference then Adalius Bowman and there probably isn't a more exciting return man then Parrish Cox. But like Missouri and A&M consistency is the buzzword for OSU. This is still a team that lost to Houston and Kansas State, and they weren't very competitive with Texas last year either. But I think the smartest thing anyone in the Big XII did, schedule-wise, is Okie State taking a shot at Georgia opening week. There is absolutely no pressure on the Cowboys in that one. None. And if they win? A young team suddenly has a mountain of confience going into the Big XII Schedule. They play at Nebraska, A&M and Oklahoma and host the Longhorns and Texas Tech. Of the three wild cards in the Big XII deck (With A&M and Mizzou), Okie State might have the biggest upside. And you can see it in the inroads they've made in recruiting. They're competing with programs they weren't competing with even four years ago.

22. Oregon State (Opens Season Aug 30, Utah, 8:00 FSN-Northwest)
The loss of Sammie Stroughter changes everything in Corvalis. The Beavers were counted on as something of a dark horse n the Pac-10, pushing Cal and maybe challenging USC off of their upset of the Trojans in 06. But I just don't see it now, I think Mike Riley's built a good, solid program, and I think they'll find a way to 8 wins or so in the regular season. But even #22 might be a bit high expectations-wise. Games with Utah and Cincinnati in the non-conf will tell a lot about the Beavers, if they handle the two mid-major programs easily then it could set up a run in the Pac-10 (Although they get Cal, USC, Wazzu and Oregon on the road, yipe!), but if they lose one or struggle to win them I think it's okay to look elsewhere (Maybe Tucson?) for the up and coming Pac-10 program.

23. Penn State (Opens Season Sept 1, Fla Internationa, 10:00, PPV)
On a smaller level then Erik Ainge, I think, Anthony Morelli gets one more shot at being the QB he was touted to be at the beginning of his career. For all the athletes at WR, the production has been disappointing. I expect Penn State, led by a great secondary to have a top 10 type defense, but I just don't see where they're going to score enough points to beat the best teams. They get Wisconsin, Ohio State and Notre Dame at home this year and only travel to Michigan of the Big Ten contenders. So really, if Penn State could find a way to get by Notre Dame and Michigan in September, then everything changes and I certainly think they'll beat the Irish. But I expect them to drop games to Michigan and Wisconsin and maybe one other along the way that maybe they shouldn't.

24. Wake Forest (Open Season, Sept 1, at Boston College, 1:30 PPV)
The Deacs were obviously the most shocking story of the 2006 season. Winning the ACC and playing in a BCS game probably even tops Boise State winning the Fiesta Bowl in terms of the odds against it. And quite often the second act is the more difficult one, when your talent level probably wasn't all that high, it was more scheme and just a team that came together perfectly last year. (They certainly didn't match up talent-wise with Louisville in the Orange Bowl, though they didn't get KTFO'D.). But we'll know where Wake Forest is as a program in the first two weeks of 2007. They travel to Boston to play BC in week one and they host Nebraska in week two. Win them both and 2006 was the start of something, be competitive in both and I think they can feel good about where they are as a program. And I think that's the more likely answer. I don't believe they'll get blown out in either game. Virginia Tech is off the schedule; While Florida State, Maryland and NC State are home games. The most daunting road trip comes in November when the go to Virginia and Clemson back to back.

25. Arkansas (Open Season, Sept 1, Troy, 5:00)
The injury to Marcus Monk certainly clouds any sort of optimism for the Hogs following the....I don't know, what's worse then a soap opera...Jerry Springer episode, maybe? That was the Hogs' off season. But they still have Darren McFadden, and that's enough for a certain amount of optimism. The three big keys to the season are at Bama(Sept 15), Kentucky(Sept 22) and Auburn(Oct 13). If they can find a way to win two of those three games, Arkansas will likely be 7-1 when they head to South Carolina on Nov 3. They finish with some rough road trips to Tennessee and LSU, but if they're able to get even one of those three big ones down the stretch that would put them at 9-3 which would be amazing given the off season they just went through and could get McFadden a Heisman.

College Football Preview; Top 25 Part I

2007-08-15T00:11:00.000-06:00

It's so cliche and stupid, but I'm gonna give it a shot so that I'm not the last one to do it.

Caveats & Chicken Shit Ass covering-

This is not like the top 25's I'll do during the season. This is "How I Expect Them to Finish", during the season it will be "the best 25 teams in order, right now".
There is so little to choose from once you get below the top 5 teams in the country this year, or I guess so little that we know about those teams, that it's a crapshoot from six on down, I think. I believe there are 40-50 teams that could finish the year in the top 25, but only about 8-10 that I could legitimately see winning the whole thing.
Each team has an upside and a disaster rating. Which is rather transparently a way of saying later on that I knew "Team X" was "capable" of going 13-0 or crashing to 5-7 later on. But also should give some idea of the relative strength.
Schedule ratings are included in this, it's ludicrous to think you can pick teams to finish at a certain record without considering their schedule.
Some teams have players to watch, recruits I'm dying to see, and other special features. This is not indicative of anything other then what I've read and watched over the summer and think over the coming season.

And because we're t-minus 16 days until he comes back, there's a bit of an homage to Michael Myers(Not that crappy defensive tackle or the guy that used to be Wayne Campbell and Austin Powers.) This Guy...

If OJ could play, imagine MM lined up on the nose

No Pressure, Matt, Just Win the National Championship

1. LSU (Open the season, 8/30 at Mississippi State, 6:00 PM ESPN)
Why the Tigers are #1:Obviously they have a monster amount of talent, but this is the easiest schedule I've ever seen an SEC team have in the 12-team Championship Game era. Every single tough game is in Baton Rouge.
What's up with the Schedule: The two toughest road games are at Alabama and at Kentucky. They're both good teams, but LSU has far too much talent to lose those two games. Virginia Tech, Florida, South Carolina, Auburn, and Arkansas all play at LSU.
So what's the Problem?: Well, Les Miles is still the coach, and has yet to prove he can win on this National level. And hey, Jamarcus Russell was only the #1 pick in the draft, it's not like losing him's a big deal, right?
If Everything Goes Well: LSU gets the National Title, beating USC and vindicating their coach for both his ability and his big off season mouth.
Disaster Equals: 8-4, and no growth or development behind Flynn at QB. The talent level in Baton Rouge is far too high right now for LSU to be much worse then that, but they will need a new QB in 08 either way and with Ryan Perriloux a high risk player at this point, it should be the #1 personnel concern. (FR QB Jarrett Lee could get time this year, too.)
Talk of the Pre-Season: RB Richard Murphy. Every single time I read an LSU site or newspaper covering the Tigers he came up. Put him with Keiland Williams and you've got a scary 1-2.
Breakout Star: Brandon LaFell, WR(Soph); Since Bill Callahan got to NU, there's only one WR they really seemed upset they missed out on, and it was LaFell.
Most Important Tiger: Matt Flynn, QB; He only has to replace the #1 pick in the NFL draft, and steer them on a National Championship run, that's all.
Projected Record/Bowl Game: 13-0, National Championship(New Orleans) vs Texas

Just the perfect amount of fat for a kickass DT

2. Texas(Open the season, Arkansas State, 5:00)
Why the Longhorns are #2: Plenty of talent on hand, another highly ranked recruiting class and the returning star at QB, combined with a not-so challenging schedule and the frustration of finishing poorly in 06? Lot of motivated Longhorns in 07.
What's up with the schedule: A home game against TCU is the only non-conference "test". They play at A&M & Ok State. While Nebraska has to come to Austin. It's likely the whole season, again, comes down to beating OU in Dallas, at least for the division title.
So What's the Problem: Texas didn't finish off games like they should have in 06. Kansas State, Texas A&M and Nebraska all came from behind in games the Horns looked to be well in control. Part of that was McCoy's injury problems, but a big part of that was Texas did not run the ball the way they should have. This is a team that should be knocking everyone off the ball.
If Everything Goes Well: The Horns win the National Championship; They're deep, they're athletic, they're hungry and leadership should not be a problem.
Disaster Equals: 8-4, this would be a monumental collapse, they'd have to lose every game they could possibly lose. That's where the program is right now. They dwarf so many of the Big XII teams in talent and the non-conference is sickly. You'll hear a lot about a TCU upset in Austin, it's bullshit.
Player I Heard About All Summer: John Chiles, QB/RB/WR/Ridicalous; Texas could use him as a home run threat in the passing game or the backfield, but he'll get time at QB, too. (Especially with the injury to backup Sherrod Harris.)
Breakout Star: Sergio Kindle, LB(So); As good as Derrick Johnson was in Austin, this kid may have more physical ability; He may not start, but expect to see some "Holy shit, who was that!?" hit early and often.
Michael Myers' is a Pussy Compared to: Frank Okam, DT(Sr); One of the awesome things about Texas' weak non-conf schedule is seeing a guy like Okam destroy the puny offensive lines of Arkansas State and the like. I enjoy carnage, sue me.
Projected Record/Bowl Game: 13-0/National Championship Game(New Orleans) vs LSU

Anger Management, Trojan-style

3. USC (Open the season, 9/1, vs Idaho, 8:15 FSN)
Why the Trojans are #3: Defense and skill position speed are not better anywhere in the country. I can't rank them #1 because I think at some point they'll drop a game because they won't be able to replace Dwayne Jarrett completely and I'm not 100% sold on John David Booty. (But ya know, in his defense, how good does he have to be with like 3000 future NFL players on the two deep?)
What's up with the schedule: Les Miles will be pissed to know it's harder then LSU & Texas' schedule. At Nebraska, at Washington, at Notre Dame, at Oregon, at Cal, at Arizona State and a finale with UCLA will all be difficult. They'll be favored in all of them, but with each road trip there's a little more danger like the Oregon St and UCLA games last season.
If Everything Goes Right: They beat the high, holy crap out of someone in the National Title game and claim a third National Title under Sunshine Pete.
Disaster Equals: I don't know, 10-2, MAYBE 9-3; It's hard to see USC losing any more then three games for any reason. If they get knocked off in Lincoln, that might give the Pac Ten contenders enough confidence to score a couple of upsets. But that's really stretching it. 10-2 would be a down year, that's where USC is right now.
Breakout Star: Pick a WR, one of them is going to step up with Smith and Jarrett moving to the NFL. I'll go with Vidal Hazelton.
Michael Myers' is a Pussy Compared to: Rey Maualuga, he's just old fashioned Chet Brooks-crazy.
Projected Record/Bowl Game: 11-1/Rose Bowl vs Michigan, ahhhhgain.

The Rare Contact With Slaton Near the Line of Scrimmage

4. West Virginia, (Opens season 9/1 vs Western Michigan, 1:30)
Why the Mountaineers are #4: Slaton, Schmitt and White are good enough to beat everyone on their schedule. That may still not get them all the way to the title game, but it's going to be fun to watch.
What's Up With the Schedule: Easy. Play at Maryland(Sept 13), at South Florida(With revenge in their hearts), at Rutgers, and host Louisville. Everyone else will be more then two touchdown dogs and rightfully so.
If Everything Goes Right: The bigger, better BCS conferences produce only one (or zero) undefeated teams and WVA gets their shot at the National Title and wins one of the more exciting championship games ever.
Disaster Equals: 9-3; An injury to White would be hard to get through and turnovers in some key games were a problem a year ago. But really there aren't many teams on their schedule that wouldn't require a super human effort to stop this team.
True Heisman Candidate: Steve Slaton; Slaton and Darren McFadden are 1 and 2 on everyone's list for a reason. In this style of offense(And please let us see the much talked about Wishbone!!), Slaton is as dangerous as Barry Sanders was at Oklahoma State.
Freshman With So Much Buzz He Should Be a 1992 MTV Music Video: Noel Devine, RB; The guy that almost everyone decided would not qualify, well he did. And now the most exciting offense in the country adds the most exciting freshman runner in the country.
My God You Only Have to Stop Them a Couple of Times: The entire WVA defense. Every stop is like a service break in tennis for this team.
Michael Myers is a Pussy Compared to: Owen Schmitt, FB and all around bad ass. No truth to the rumor that it was Schmitt who did, in fact, eat Lennox Lewis' children.
Projected Record/Bowl Game: 12-0/Orange Bowl vs Virginia Tech

Let's let both of these guys be healthy, fair?

5. Michigan(Opens Season vs Appalachian State, Sept 1, 10:00 AM)
Why the Wolverines are #5: They look a lot like last year's Ohio State team. Lost a lot of defensive stars, have a lot of young talent coming up to fill in and they have SR leadership on offense back, with a big-time playmaker at WR. And they're still much better then Wisconsin.
What's Up With the Schedule: If Michigan successfully navigates a three game home stretch in September(Oregon/Notre Dame/Penn State), they're every possiblity they go into the showdown with Wisconsin on Nov 10 at 10-0. Ohio State then comes to Ann Arbor in a game Michigan, and Lloyd Carr, really need to win.
If Everything Goes Right: Michigan does go into Madison at 10-0, then outclasses Wisconsin, beats a retooling Buckeye team and plays for the National Championship.
Disaster Equals: 8-4 would qualify with this schedule. Maybe an upset at rebuilding Illinois and Michigan State always seems to play them well in East Lansing. But really, the three game home stand at the beginning of the season features three teams they're just better then. Anything short of 8-4 and Carr's got some serious splainin' to do. (Especially if one of the four is the Buckeyes.)
Most Important Wolverine: Mario Manningham, WR; Prior to Manningham's injury, Michigan was explosive in 06. After (Even when he came back)...not so much.
Freshman I Can't Wait to See: I'm on record, or now I am, that Ryan Mallett(QB) is better then Jimmy Clausen.
Michael Myers is a Pussy Compared to: Shawn Crable, LB(Sr); With a lot of talent leaving on defense, Crable will be expected to make a ton of plays in 07, he will...quickly.
Projected Record/Bowl Game: 11-1/Rose Bowl vs USC

Oh that exciting pre-season!!

2007-08-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

Jay-C lookin' like...well, you know

The Broncos are still the Broncos

And that's good and bad.

Only 3 more fake games left before the sixteen games that don't really mean shit here anymore, either. So the notes are pretty meaningless...but they're still here.

One or Two series into it, there is still no evidence that anyone beside Elvis Dummervil can consistently rush the passer. (This will continue to be note #1 until proven otherwise, because it is so completely the dominant issue on this football team. Short of shaving 20 years off of Johnny Ballgame it is the one thing that can make this a legitimate contender.)
Travis Henry was very impressive, those were not well blocked running plays on that first drive. The way he busted up inside two tacklers on the stretch play and turned a Tatum Bell 1 yard run into a Poor Man's Terrell Davis 9 yard run was very impressive. So far so good on that front. Mike Bell also ran like a rampaging beast, and even kept his head up and avoided contact a couple of times, which he did not do in 06. And that's a huge key, if Bell can take 120-140 carries off the load of Henry, Henry's chances of playing all season and being fresh from game 15 on go up 50%
Rod Smith. Can't add anything to that. He's Rod Smith, bitch! What a great interview.
The OL is as scary as you would expect at this point. Cutler stepped out of pressure twice on the one drive and he better get used to that because it's gonna be a theme all year long.
Until further notice consider the Bronco WR corp still a big fat question mark.
Special Teams looked like a disaster save for the one big return from Morgan, which had little to do with Morgan and much more to do with a well blocked return. And hey Q!! You're barely on the damn team, you ass, you don't get to run out of bounds, cut the ball back and get in the damn end zone. That was pathetic and soft. It's almost like he went to K-State. (Oh yeah.)
The front seven was AWFUL while the starters were in on defense. You add in the fact that Gore was out for the Niners and Penn State's old QB was playing HB, and well...the Broncos better be ready to score a ton of points this year.
Hamza Abdullah's a pretty exciting athlete. He looks too skinny, like Mike Harden back in the day, but that was a pretty decent cut on the Dilfer pass that he picked off and he'll stick his nose in there on the run. Ferguson and Brandon don't make plays like that. And you put a playmaking back half safety with Lynch, Bailey and Bly...you got somethin'.
Somebody start calling backup quarterbacks, because Patrick Ramsey...SUUUUUUUUUHHHHCCCCKKKKS!

Bill Walsh, Rest In Peace

2007-08-09T20:51:00.000-06:00

And he handled it with some class, too.

Bill Walsh(1931-2007)

There's a lot of misconceptions about the man that built a dynasty in San Francisco and forever changed nearly every franchise in the NFL. A minor one is that most people I know seem to believe that I would have a negative opinion of him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Walsh was cursed with a candy-ass voice that concealed an extremely dry wit and deeply physical nature. The man boxed most of the Middleweight to Light Heavyweight contenders while he was in the service. I'd like to see a lot of those "tough guy" coaches be able to say that. Or just imagine, Mike Shanahan vs Bernard Hopkins.

Pussy-ass, finesse little bitch!

Stupid Media Misconception #1: Bill Walsh was the champion of "Brawn over Brains" football.

This one just pisses me off. Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, Fred Dean, Dwight Hicks, Hacksaw Reynolds, Pierce Holt, Bill Romanowski, Chet Brooks(The guy wore "NWA" sweatbands in a fucking Super Bowl), Jeff Fuller, Don Griffin, Michael Carter, Dan Bunz, Eric Wright(Not that one), Carlton Williamson, Keena Turner, and about 20 other guys that were brought to San Francisco by Bill Walsh to play bad ass playoff defense. And I won't even get into the physical offensive players, wait I will, Roger Craig, Tom Rathman, Jessie Sapolu, Harris Barton, Russ Francis, Earl Cooper and the two most physical wide receivers I ever saw on a championship team Jerry Rice and John Taylor. Hell, even Dwight Clark was a big, physical receiver. So seriously, shut up. Walsh wasn't dumb enough to think he could get out and draw lines on a chalkboard and beat better or more physical teams.

And part II of this stupid, stupid misconception. The least dominant of any of the Walsh-era 49er Super Bowl defenses was the first one.(1981, won Super Bowl XVI). They gave up 24 to the Giants in the Divisional Playoff, 27 to the Cowboys in the NFC Championship, and 21 to the Bengals in the Super Bowl. No team since has given up more then 72 points in 3 playoff games and won a Super Bowl. (The Broncos gave up 72 in four games in 97, the Colts gave up 79 in four last year.) However, the 49er defense did win that Super Bowl with the most famous goal line stand in Super Bowl history and four big turnovers they forced that staked a struggling 49er offense to a 20-0 lead.

In 1984, Walsh's Niners had take a couple of years to continue building and were clearly the best team in the league during the regular season, at 15-1. In the playoffs, the Montana-led offense was hardly spectacular, putting up only 21 and 23 points in their home wins over the Giants and Bears(The next two Super Bowl winners, more on that in a minute). while the defense dominated both teams giving up only 10 points total. The Forty-Niners then played the most prolific offense in the league, Dan Marino's record setting Miami Dolphins and absolutely stuffed their asses. Much of the attention post-game centered on Joe Montana, as it always seemed to, but the Niners defense held Miami to 16 points after they scored 76 in thier two playoff wins. A woefully outmanned Steeler team had scored 28 points in the AFC Championship game at Miami, so it was a shock to no one that a very good 49er offense, led by 3 touchdowns from breakout star Roger Craig, scored 38. But like most NFL stories, the pack journalism mentality completely overlooked the main point.

But where Walsh really seperates himself from the rest of the "West Coast Offense" types is what happened in the next five years. The 85 & 86 49ers were locked in battles all season long with the Los Angeles Rams just to win the relatively weak NFC West. (The Falcons and Saints were bloody awful) In 85, the Rams won the division at 11-5 and the Niners took a Wild Card spot at 10-6. In 86, the 49ers came from behind late in the year to win the division at 10-5-1, while the Rams got the Wild Card at 10-6. Neither team was very successful outside the division or in the playoffs. San Francisco lost both years to the New York Giants(On the Road), 17-3 in 1985 and an ass-clearing 49-3 in 1986. In 1987, all appeared right with the 49ers for the first time since 1984 as they cruised to a 13-2 record(Strike year), and home field throughout the playoffs. However it was a dismal performance against a 9-7 Minnesota team(At home) that had the 49ers "one and done" for the third straight year.

Think about that for a minute. Coach comes in, puts in the West Coast Offense, has almost immediate success with Two Super Bowl Appearances(And in this case wins) in his first few seasons. Then he goes thru a period where his teams are completely overmatched in big games and blown out of the playoffs three straight times. (Paging Mr Holmgren and Mr Shanahan, please) The Niners were simply a team that had been passed by the Bears, Redskins and Giants. But Walsh, again behind an improved defense, brought San Francisco back into the playoffs, looking like the same team they had been from 85 to 87 at 10-6. But in his most important win as an NFL head coach, the Niners buried Minnesota in the exact same round and stadium that they were beaten up in 87, 34-9. A week later, San Francisco blew out Chicago (On the road, the third consecutive season the Bears were beaten at home in the playoffs behind one of the worst post-season coaches in NFL history, Mike Ditka.), 28-3, an went back to the Super Bowl, where again, the defense was completely overlooked in a 20-16 victory. Cincinnati did not score an offensive touchdown in the game(Their only score coming on Stanford Jennings' 93 yard kickoff return.) and despite a doddering offense that put up giant numers but very few points, they gave the ball back to their offense with the opportunity to win the game after only scoring 13 points in 55 minutes. This is where the media always gets things wrong with the 49ers and the present day Patriots. Because they loved to write about Joe Montana, and they now love to write about Tom Brady, you miss what actually happened in those Super Bowls. Bill Walsh's team dominated with defense just as much as a Bill Parcells or Bill Cowher or Chuck Noll team did in Super Bowl years. But because they had a different offense and a quarterback the media's shorts get creamy around, the legend reads that the 49ers were a finesse team. It's flat out stupid, and it also misses the point of Bill Walsh's terrific career, he knew how to evaluate, teach AND motivate as well as anyone who ever coached the game. The "West Coast Offense" has survived because it's the easiest offense to run, but a lot of people miss the point(Including Mike Shanahan) of why it was so brilliant in San Francisco. They had a great quarterback (From 81 to 98, Montana and Young started nearly every 49er game. That's ridiculous), they had talented running backs and deep receiving corps and physical, intelligent offensive lines when the 49ers won championships. They didn't skimp on talent in favor of "Smarter" players. As much as I think Joe Montana's a seriously overrated football player, he makes Tom Brady look like Brian Griese in terms of physical skill. The 49ers were never making due with "possession" receivers. They brought in Wendell Tyler in 1984 and then Roger Craig became a star in 1985 and they were loaded in the backfield. Even their "Blocking Fullback" was a guy who had 10 60+ yard touchdown runs in college(Rathman). So every time you see some coach who's running the "West Coast Offense" and playing a quarterback, running back or wide receiver with significantly less talent then his backup because he "gets the offense" just remember that's NOT what Bill Walsh had in mind. And I think even Bill would have admitted that he wished there was more creativity in today's NFL. Hell, I know he would have because he did when he was an announcer 18 years ago.

Misconception #2; Bill Walsh was a failure as an announcer

This is just fucking stupid. Bill Walsh essentially lost in the late 80s, early 90s, a battle for the soul of American football fans with that fat fuck on Monday Night Football. And it says a lot more about us then it does about Bill that we preferred John Madden to him. Bill Walsh was smarter then we are/were, John Madden's significantly not. You could learn things every single time you watched a Bill Walsh broadcast, and you had to actually pay attention when he was talking. Neither of those things has ever been an asset when John Madden is behind the mike. (Hell, Madden even got credit for the fucking football game that Bill Walsh was originally a part of from EA Sports. But Bill was the college/better version with the indestructable Bo Jackson.) Bill Walsh was an absolute genius with the telestrator, John Madden's like a rorschach test for mental retardation. And it's had a lasting effect on the way the game is telecast.

This is what happens when you inbreed

When Bill Walsh took over as lead color man for NBC, he took the job from the righteously awful Merlin Olson, who honestly I would bet my giant liver couldn't describe a simple toss play without firing in three mindless cliches. (Actually calling him awful is an insult to all the announcers I've ever called awful. Like fellow religious zealot Trevor Matich, Olson truly created his own definition of shitbaggery. If you were to call one person "asshole" and another "Olsen-esque" only the Olsen-esque would have the right to feel offended. Thanks for sucking, Merlin.) And since Walsh left NBC, it's only gotten worse. The best example of which is Phil Simms, a promising announcer to start his career, who simply cannot stop giving reach arounds to the coaches and players in this league long enough to form some sort of unbiased opinion, and who has now started to resort to the "Madden" tactic of trying to be funny in that Kevin James/CBS sitcom sort of "Funny". The two defining moments of football broadcasting in the past twenty years were Bill Walsh going back to Stanford to coach, and Dick Vermeil(Who made Brent Musberger TOLERABLE!!) leaving to go back to the NFL. It's been pretty well downhill for "in-game" broadcasts ever since.

So, I'm sorry it was late, Bill. But I was sorry to see you go, here's hoping you find an audience wherever you are, or at least that when Madden's fat ass finally joins you that you get to coach against him. His best team against yours, hell I'd even root for the 49ers that one time.

Catching Up: The NFL

2007-08-02T00:54:00.000-06:00

That wacky NFL...

Catching Up: The NFL

-I've got a piece coming later on Vince Young. I'm calling him one of the "Ten Reasons to Make Up With the NFL". Also, I'll have some sort of Bill Walsh retro up this week, too much bullshit out there on the net about this guy not to speak up.
-Is there anything more boring then NFL off-season news? Does ESPN really think we give a shit about what these guys do with guns in strip clubs? I think not. And to all these big fucks taking their glock to the "poop shoot", the girls are going to take their clothes off, braniac, you don't need a gun. And to everyone who's frequenting a strip club and feels the need to test a 300lb NFL looking dude...You're missing the point of the strip club. It's supposed to release frustration, if it's creating more, then maybe it's time to examine that who sexuality thing.
-The Broncos have gone a month or so without being interesting (EXCEPT THIS. Leave Javon Walker alone, media. If he wants to talk about what happened, he will, until then: Fuck off.) But in all fairness I think a Training Camp roster breakdown is in order.

Quarterbacks: Obviously Jay Cutler is the unquestioned #1 heading to camp. I expect Cutler to be very good this year. This has been the time under Shanahan where all QBs have flourished. When they're fresh and new. In fact, I'll go so far as to say he's not even one of the top four questions on the offense. (Which may say more about the offense, but that's not for me to decide.) Patrick Ramsey's a good backup to have, Denver will be competitive if Cutler goes down for a couple of games. Preston Parsons is not going to be on the roster, but enjoy camp, Pres.
Running Backs: Travis Henry carries a great deal of the expected improvement of the entire team on his back, doesn't he? But I suspect he'll be a noticeable upgrade over Timid Tatum Bell and really everything they've had since Clinton Portis was traded away. I wouldn't expect to see much of him in August. And that leaves dependable Mike Bell to get a ton of reps, and I think he's a solid backup type. Certainly now they'll be more willing to use him on special teams, where I think he's most valuable. Kyle Johnson and Cecil Sapp have only been in Denver four years...seems like more doesn't it? One interesting name in camp is Rookie Free Agent Andre Hall, who was very effective as a JC transfer to South Florida. I could see him sticking as the #3 HB.
Wide Receivers: Hey, have you heard about this Brandon Marshall guy? I heard he can slaughter the Chiefs with beams coming from his eyes and consume the Chargers with bolts from his arse. Never have so many hopes been pinned to a player who caught 20 balls the year before. But the good news is, they dropped the "False imprisonment" charges. Javon Walker is so solid, you can probably just mark him down for 70 catches, 1200 yards and 10 tds right now. Rod Smith and Brandon Stokely will be terrific if they're counted on as 3 & 4 guys, but even better if Domenik Hixon is the #3 and they're behind him. If Marshall & Hixon both flameout, not a huge stretch, then Denver's back to a very limited receiving corp.
Tight Ends: I make fun of Daniel Graham, mostly because it's fun, but also because he did dunk a football over a goal post in a bowl game he was losing by 22 points and that's just funny. However, it appears the bane of Jake Plummer's existence, Stephen Alexander, may not actually be on the field for 80% of the fucking plays in 2007. And if that's the case, Danny you may dunk at will my friend. Tony Scheffler needs to show more then he did a year ago, there's a lot of talent there. If they can't protect Cutler(As I suspect may be the case) then Scheffler has the ability to become the security blanket type receiver that can save Jay from massive beatings. Oh, Nate Jackson is still on the roster, but he's being pushed by workout wonder Teyo Johnson and the always dependable Chad Mustard. God, Mike Shanahan loves him some talentless tight ends, doesn't he Patrick Hape?
Tackles: Wow. Matt Lepsis, Adam Meadows, Erik Pears & Rookie Ryan Harris. The good news is, no more George Foster, so that's gotta be addition by subtraction. But Meadows is falling apart physically, Pears played at CSU and Lepsis is no all-star. Harris will eventually be a player, but I don't think you can count on a rookie 4th round OT playing right away. Scariest position on the team. Easily.
Guards: Another area that isn't exactly what it was in 1998. Ben Hamilton is in his 7th year? Jesus. Chris Kuper is being counted on to step up after some promising play a year ago. The Broncos couldn't stop raving about him. But again, this is not the dominant Bronco O-line that won championships, hell it's not even the one that let Gus Frerotte put up 35 points in three straight games in 2000.
Center: Tom Nalen's 14th year will be marked by one big change, now that those assholes in the NFL PC department have decided he must talk to the media. Thanks, way to drive the best player on the team out the door, asshats. Greg Eslinger should get more time to spell Nalen as he moves in to replace the Hall of Fame center in the next season or two. And yeah, I know Nalen's probably not getting in the HOF, but he's a Hall of Famer on this site.
Defensive End: Ha, ha. ESPN.com still has Courtney Brown listed on the Bronco roster. Screw that guy. Probably no position on the roster has been as noticeable by it's sheer invisibility as DE. But Jarvis Moss & Tim Crowder were drafted to combine with Elvis Dumervil and Ebenezer Eduban and Kenard Lang to try and give some hope of a pass rush to this otherwise fairly effective defense. I don't think it's going to work, but nice effort.
Defensive Tackle: Denver added 3-300 lb bodies to the interior DL. Jimmy Kennedy, Sam Adams and Marcus Thomas. Thomas is probably the most exciting, as he was easily one of the best 15-20 players in college football before he got caught littering...littering and...littering and...tokin the refer. I have doubts about how clean he's going to stay in the NFL. Kennedy has been a real disappointment, but there's a lot of talent there. I'm sure Shanahan has visions of a Moss, Crowder, Thomas, Kennedy Defensive Line for the next 5-6 years building up and competing with San Diego and Kansas City's power games, but that's a lot of ifs.
Linebackers: You simply cannot underestimate how much the defense suffered from the declining play from Al Wilson post neck injury. And you cannot believe that DJ Williams has shown he's a MLB. I would really rather see them try to put Nate Webster in at Mike and let DJ stay outside with a coordinator who may turn his athletic ability loose more in Jim Bates. The Broncos have talked in circles about how athletic their linebackers are, but they haven't made very many big plays in the past five seasons. And most of the big ones they made were made by #56.
Cornerbacks: Champ Bailey, Dre Bly and Domonique Foxworth should be the best threesome the Broncos have ever had. Hell, even Karl Paymah made a few plays last year in a secondary too often left hung out to dry because there was NO PASS RUSH AT ALL. If they can even fake a pass rush, the CB position will be outstanding. Certainly better then Denver's had since the late 70s.
Safety: But here's where it gets sketchy. Nick Ferguson hasn't been the same player since tearing his ACL in Indy a few years ago. Sam Brandon has mostly been a training camp workout warrior type. I really saw some potential in Hamza Abdullah last season, but the other two seem to end up ahead of him on the depth chart. John Lynch can't play forever, but he still scares everyone so much they all still vote him to the Pro Bowl, so I'm going to say he's still effective, too. But I'm skeptical.
Kicker/Punter: The Sauerbrun is back, baby! Our roided up, badass punter returns, fuckers! Forget Moss and Crowder, I say we throw the Sauerbrun on the DL. Hey, I've seen him force a fumble in a big game. Jason Elam seems boring by comparison, but we can afford to keep him now because The Sauerbrun kicks off like a bastard, too. Viva The Sauerbrun.
Return Specialists: Do you see any? Aside from Champ? Whom they've just decided they don't use. Is it really still David Kircus-time? (Dave, don't kick my ass for saying this, but you suck.)
All in all, your basic 10-6/11-5 team, injuries could make them 8-8/9-7 or a complete meltdown of the offensive line puts them at 6-10/7-9. (Which might not be all that bad, this team could use a couple high draft picks to build around Cutler. And hey, maybe a fired head coach, too.)

Catching Up: Boxing

2007-08-02T00:51:00.000-06:00

Been a wild summer of boxing...

- It's getting down to serious time this Fall, some of the key matchups are already set. Getting started this Saturday.

Saturday; Showtime; Rafael Marquez vs Israel Vasquez, 122lbs; The rematch of the brutal 7th round TKO win by Marquez seems like it came rather quickly. Marquez is certainly among the 5 best fighters in the world right now and anytime he fights, it's an occasion. But when you put him in with another boxer-puncher with heart, like Vasquez, it's a bonanza. I like Marquez, again, by 9th round TKO in another brawl, both men touching the canvas at some point. Keep an eye on Celestino Caballero in the co-feature, he'll likely face the winner in another high contact fight.
Saturday; HBO PPV; Erik Morales vs David Diaz, 135lbs; Like so many fighters before him, Morales is soldiering on when it seems his skills have been beaten down over time. Stepping up in weight, he fights a talented, pressure fighter. And that's not a great combination when your reflexes don't appear to be what they once were. All the wars, all the rounds, all the punches appear to have caught up to a truly great fighter, I just hope it doesn't get ugly and he calls it quits at the end of the night.
Sept 8, HBO PPV; Fernando Vargas vs Ricardo Mayorga, 162 lbs; Quite simply machismo overload in this one. Mayorga's a crazy, wild swinging freak and Vargas hasn't been the same since his wars with Trinidad and De La Hoya over 5 years ago. If Vargas has anything left, he should hold large edges in speed and skill. If not, he's facing a big chin and a big time puncher. Fernando says either way this is his last fight, I expect him to win and walk off gracefully.
Sept 15, HBO PPV; Juan Manuel Marquez vs Jorge Barrios, 130lbs; This wasn't how it was supposed to go down. This was supposed to be Marquez-Pacquiao II to decide who the best 130lb fighter in the world is. Instead, we get a game (But severely overmatched) Jorge Barrios taking a one-way beating from Marquez. Hopefully it's just a delay before we get the fight we all want.
Sept 29, HBO; Jermain Taylor vs Kelly Pavlik, 160lbs; For the first time in his career, Jermain Taylor has serious questions that need to be answered. He won disputed decisions over Bernard Hopkins(Twice) and Cory Spinks. He didn't look very good in beating undersized Kasim Ouma and most people think he "lost"(As much as you can lose to pillow handed Winky) to Winky Wright. Now he's fighting a young, tough, physical hungry contender who brutally dispatched Edison Miranda. The odds are DEAD EVEN on this one. I haven't seen anything from Taylor that makes me think he can handle a fighter who's just as big and strong as he is and who will come forward and pummel him and make him pay for his technical flaws. Right now, I would have to pick Pavlik by late round stoppage.
Oct 6, HBO PPV; Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonio Barrera II, 130 lbs; There have been two other times I can remember that Barrera was this much of an underdog. He was a 5:1 dog against Erik Morales in their first epic war, a fight a lot of people think he won but which covered both fighters in glory. And he was pretty significant dog against Naseem Hamed, and he beat the crap out of the Prince over a dominant 12 round decision. Pacquiao is -350 to win this one, but I think this time Barrera's really in trouble. Manny is just too strong at this point in Barrera's career.
Oct 13, HBO; Juan Diaz vs Julio Diaz, 135lbs; This is a true "fight fans" fight. Juan Diaz is maybe the most exciting fighter in the game right now. Julio is a taller fighter who can give Juan problems if he is able to pick Juan apart when he's coming in. Not that it'll stop the "Baby Bull", who just keeps coming and imposing his will on older, more experienced fighters every time out. I see him wearing Julio down to a nub by the middle rounds and beating him up down the stretch, with both fighters probably looking worse for wear by the end of the night.
Nov 3, HBO; Joe Calzaghe vs Mikkel Kessler, 168lbs; Probably the best and most anticipated fight of the bunch. Really only Marquez-Pacquiao II would be a bigger fight right now. Calzaghe get the hometown advantage and he has an experience edge on Kessler. I was not as impressed with Kessler as many people seem to have been in his last fight with Andrade. I just don't see his style of fight working against Calzaghe, because I don't think he has the one punch dynamite to back up Calzaghe. But the fight should be nose to nose for 12 rounds, with Calzaghe taking a slight, but obvious advantage down the stretch. Can't wait to see it.

If you don't know what's going on in boxing, you have to start watching Friday Night Fights, and you have to start reading Maxboxing.com. It's that simple. And as always for the nuts and bolts of a guy's career, or a chick's career if you're into such things, go to Boxrec.com.

Catching Up: Basketball

2007-08-02T00:50:00.001-06:00

Not much hoops yet, I'm working on a college hoops' piece for later this month. But some basics here.

I think Celtics just bought the Eastern Conference crown. Not that it really means anything, other then certain douchebag on ESPN.com will be insufferable-er. I am interested to see how Paul Pierce accepts his role, and if Ray Allen can stay healthy, but there isn't any team in the East that can defend that threesome. Kevin Garnett will absolutely rule the Eastern PFs.
On the local front. It's August 1 and both Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin are still Nuggets. I know the Nuggets are still apeshit about Von Wafer getting 44 points in a rookie league game, but uh...you know, maybe time to make that move you've been needing to make for four months now? No?
It could be that the Nuggets have come to the realization that all of us have about how well they did play against San Antonio. You figure Carmelo makes another step toward becoming a complete player (read: distribution and shot selection.), and AI can't possibly shoot 30% in another playoff series with the good shots he was getting against the Spurs...maybe, maybe they...no, I'm not gonna say it.
Much more later this month, I'm working on a college basketball "Who's Gone, Who's Back, Who's New, What Does it Mean?" piece, but it's harder then it sounds.

Catching Up: Baseball

2007-08-02T00:48:00.000-06:00

Since I've been away, lo these many weeks, much has happened, now we catch up in three days.

-The Rockies; With 56 games left, the Rockies are only 4 games out, which is closer then they've been in nearly a decade. And despite the fact that they have easily the worst pitching staff of any of the four NL West teams in contention, they can win this division. How?

Brian Fuentes. A healthy, confident Brian Fuentes coming off the Disabled List is an absolute must. His four game meltdown in the middle of an 8-game losing streak is the difference between this team being even in the divisional race right now. It also moves Affeldt and Corpas back into their accustomed 7th & 8th inning roles.
Kaz Matsui. The biggest offensive disappointment of the season has to be the play of Matsui ever since he returned from the DL. The Rox are 11 games over .500 with Kaz in the lineup and 9 games under when he isn't, so he's still had a positive affect on the ballclub, but he'd s better hitter then .270. If he can do a better job helping Tavares set the table for Holiday and the big guns, this offense is far and away the NL West best.
Troy Tulowitski & Yorvit Torrealba. With two good hitters with big power bringing up the 7-8 spots, Colorado has something the Dodgers, D-Backs and Padres do not. And simply put with the big series' left with their division rivals, Tulo and Torrealba are two back end sticks that can cause seperation in run production.

-If, however, they do drop back off the pace, there are some questions they must answer to make this season pay off.

The Rockies have to make a decision, and they HAVE to be right about it, at third base and first base. If they truly believe that Ian Stewart is a big-time all-star talent at 3rd base, then they must either move Garrett Atkins to first base and get something for Todd Helton or get something for Atkins.
Which brings us to Helton, they can't afford to pay him for the production they're getting this season. And they probably have to clear SOME room to sign Matt Holiday. And they cannot sell to the public anything less then signing Matt Holiday.
Going forward they have to fix the rotation, and decide whether the Ubaldo and Jeff Francis are a 1-2 that they can win championships with. If not, then the Rox have a big hole in their rebuilding plan.

-Now on to matters of significantly less importance. Barry Bonds. This first part is for everyone who is throwing a giant nerd tantrum about the "SANCTITY OF THE GREATEST RECORD IN ALL OF SPORTS!!" (On behalf of all football/hockey/basketball fans everywhere, fuck you.)

First off, shut up! The only reason this thing is such a big story is that media wonks will simply not stop talking about this. Let it happen, cover it and move on. If you've opened more then five conversations in the past month with Barry Bonds, you're obsessed and you need help. You're spending way too much of your time talking about someone that you hate. Life is far too short for this. So stop. On behalf of all talk show listeners and ESPN viewers, thank you for shutting up.
Second, I'm going to pretend for a minute that everyone whining about Bonds' steroid use is legitimately concerned about his steroid use. (Which is bullshit.) So what? So Bonds used steroids, I think we can all agree that a large amount of players used steroids from the late 80s to the present day. None of them have 700 home runs. So if Bonds is simply the greatest home run hitter who ever used steroids, that's still pretty good. Bonds is a big boy, allegedly intelligent, he knew the risks involved and he'll likely pay for them later in life. (His health the past two years seems to suggest he's starting to pay right now.) So get over it, get some better testing procedures in place and educate high school and little league players better then you have up to now. Save your self-righteous nonsense about the "integrity of the game" there are far better places in life to direct your energy on this issue.
Finally, for the majority of the whining masses out there that really don't care about steroids, but who simply hate Barry Bonds. I hate him, too. Always have, he's a moody, selfish little shit who disappears in big games and treats the entire world like they owe him everything. I know you see this preening asshat raising his hands in triumph as the greatest home run hitter of all time and it makes you sick to your stomach. Sometimes in life things are like that. Get over it. You think I wanted to watch Joe Montana stick 55 points on the Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV? You think I relished living through the 1984 Orange Bowl? I didn't.

-Now there is another group in this sad little farce that needs to get a grip. The Bonds Superfans.

Spare me the "He hasn't been found guilty of anything" defense. Right now, say God called down from heaven and asked you on your immortal soul if you believe he tood 'roids. Yeah, you know what you would say. So shut it. This isn't a courtroom, nobody's taking him to the hole.
There is also the whole "I just like to take the opposing viewpoint" crowd. The same people that defend Terrell Owens and Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather and just seem to get off on being contrary. You're a disappointment, asshats.
But worst of all the people that just suck, this is not a racial issue, in any meaningful way. People would be more then happy if Tony Gwynn's fat ass was about to be hitting #755. All of them, except the extreme nerds, would be creaming all over themselves to talk about how great it was that someone "who respected the game so much" was about to break the "most hallowed record in all of sports." It would be comi-con for baseball dorks. They hate Barry because he's an asshole, or because they legitimately find steroids to be out and out cheating. If Mark McGwire was still playing and chasing the record, they'd be in his kitchen 24/7, too. Stop bringing your social agenda into something far less significant then racism, it cheapens race relations in this country when you do so.

-And lastly, my grandfather was probably the last real baseball fan in my family, if I have anything to say about it. And he told me that any predictions made before August 1 were completely stupid. So I now sit on August 2nd and make some picks that probably won't be worth a damn thing by Sept 1. (When I'll be concerned with more important pursuits....COLLEGE FOOTBALL)
In the American League. Boston will hold the AL East lead, The Angels will cruise to the AL West title, Detroit will hold off Cleveland for the AL Central, and sadly the Yankees will beat out the Indians for the Wild Card. Boston will beat Detroit for the American League Championship
In the NL, the Dodgers win the West because Jeff Kent will stay healthy. The Cubs have already caught the Brewers and will pull away in the Central and the Mets will cruise to the East. The wild card will come down to Atlanta and San Diego, and I'm picking the Padres, barely. Then the Mets over the Cubs in the NLCS.
And make it the Mets over the Red Sox in seven, with some sort of collosal choke we'll be reading about for 30 years from Boston along the way.

The early pointspreads are released

2007-07-21T06:15:00.001-06:00

With comments...forget the preview magazines, this is when you know it's almost go time.

Sept 8

Oklahoma (-8 1/2) over Miami,FL
LSU(-7) over Virginia Tech
Nebraska (-3) over Wake Forest
Penn State (-7) over Notre Dame
Boise State(-4 1/2) over Washington

Sept 13
West Virginia (-10) over Maryland

Sept 15
Michigan (-13) over Notre Dame
USC (-10) over Nebraska
Alabama (-2) over Arkansas
Florida (-6 1/2) over Tennessee
Iowa (-14) over Iowa St

Sept 20
Miami(-3) over Texas A&M

Sept 22
Michigan (-6 1/2) over Penn State
Notre Dame (-7 1/2) over Michigan St
Georgia (-2) over Alabama

Sept 29
Florida State(-8 1/2) over Alabama
Cal (PK) over Oregon
Florida (-8) over Auburn

Oct 6
Missouri (-1) over Nebraska
Virginia Tech (-3) over Clemson
Oklahoma(PK) over Texas
UCLA(-9 1/2) over Notre Dame
LSU(-5) over Florida
Tennessee (-2 1/2) over Georgia

"Championships" Part II

2007-07-18T20:51:00.000-06:00

A little late, but part II

The 8 Team Playoff

What is it? An Eight Team playoff, yeah no shit, right? But the model that I'm using is pretty simple, the six main BCS conferences (ACC, Big East, Big XII, Big Ten, Pac-10 & SEC) all would get automatic bids and the next two highest qualifiers would get "At-large" bids. I would want a "Selection comittee" to pick the two teams, ala the NCAA Basketball tournament, which would eliminate any sort of BCS/Computer criticism. The teams would be seeded 1-8 with no regard for conference championships. I would expect all six conferences to adopt a championship game format, and have a minimum of twelve members. This would likely mean the end of "Independent" status for Notre Dame, and possibly some upheavel within the conferences. I would also expect 7 bowl sites to be used for the 7 playoff games. (They could still hold their own bowl game if they wanted.)

How does it pass the various criteria?

Equal Opportunity. Not that great, the likelihood of a non-BCS conference team being one of the two at-large bids on a regular basis is not very good. BYU in 84, Boise in 06 and how many more? Maybe two or three? Overal Equality Rating: Honestly, it's about as equal as it should be in my opinion, but champions of the weaker conferences will raise hell.

Fairness of Entry: Tournaments are not fair. There's no way there are eight teams every single year that deserve to play for the National Championship. No way. The first time an 9-4 Oklahoma team wins the Big XII title and upsets a 13-0 LSU team in the first round, it'll open a whole new can of worms for people that are actually college football fans. The media will love it, because they love anything they can call an upset. But it will essentially reduce college football to the same level as the NFL when it comes to determining a "Champion". Fairness of Entry rating: About as fair as Heroes being a hit tv show while Friday Night Lights labors along, scraping by.

Amount of Post-Selection Sqwak. Will essentially eliminate any bitching about anything other then the seeding of the teams. Won't absolutely eliminate it, because there will be many years where the "At-large" teams will be bunched together at 10-2-type records. And there will be many at-large candidates with better records then the conference champions that get in. But significantly reduces the sqwak factor. Post-Selection Sqwak rating: Not much Sqwak at all.

Maintaining "College football". Changes everything. The conference titles would become the end all/be all. Which isn't terrible, because they've definitely been devalued in the past decade. But the playoffs would dominate every aspect of the game, in a smaller but more abrupt way then the NCAA basketball tournament. Maintainance rating: Everything would be different.

Living With the Negatives:Really I think it'll be just a matter of time to adjust. We've already lost a lot of what made the bowl season so awesome, so it's not like that's a big deal. Living with the Negatives Rating: Like living with Eddie Murphy, post 1988, he's probably still really funny, he's just weird now.

Fan Interest/Participation: Scores high in this regard. The fact that only two sets of fans would have to go to an extra location for one game. And that game would be the National Championshp game, so they'd be okay with that. Sadly, it would be a scalpers delight since no one would know who was going to the game until after the bowl games. But that's the world we live in today. Fan Rating: A playoff would be outstanding. Imagine if you will this Quarterfinal Saturday. 11:00AM, Alabama vs Nebraska @ Citrus Bowl; 2:30 PM, USC vs Michigan at Cotton Bowl, 6:00 West Virginia vs Oklahoma(At Large) at Gator Bowl; 9:00 Tennessee(At Large) vs Florida State at Fiesta Bowl. With all of the winners advancing to the Sugar/Orange semifinals? Yeah, you're fired up already.

16 Team Playoff

What is it? The largest tournament-style playoff system that can realistically work. In my model, you would take the six BCS conference champions(All playing in championship games.), eight at large teams and the final two bids would come from a "Championship weekend" playoff between the four non-bcs league champions(CUSA, WAC, MAC, MWC; The Sun Belt would need to be annexed or go back to I-AA.).

How does it pass the various criteria?

Equal Opportunity. The most "equal" tournament feasible. Overal Equality Rating: Downright emanicpating.

Fairness of Entry: Well, I really wonder about how fair it would have been to see Ohio State have to play Houston or Central Michigan with an equal shot at winning it all.. Fairness of Entry rating: About as fair as running out of similes.

Amount of Post-Selection Sqwak. None. Finis. Other then bitching about seeding, which honestly is pretty weak.. Post-Selection Sqwak rating: Silent sqwaking only.

Maintaining "College football". At the end of the final conference title game, not a single thing would be how it has been for the past century plus. Maintainance rating: Dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria.

Living With the Negatives:There would not be any noticeable negatives.. Living with the Negatives Rating: Watching a sport with sixteen playoff teams hasn't really paid off for NBA/NHL fans. (I had nothing there, it would be awesome.)

Fan Interest/Participation: Are you serious? Fifteen real playoff games, most of them involving the absolute power elite? . Fan Rating: Think about the first time you ever heard Al McGuire, it'll be almost that cool.

National Championship, Part I

2007-07-16T18:42:00.000-06:00

The "National" Championship

Today: Part I, Explaining the criteria and breakdown of "And 1" System
Tomorrow, Part II, 8 Team Playoff & 16 team playoff
Wednesday, Part III, BCS system & "Traditional" Bowl system
Thursday, Part IV, Documentation
Friday, Part V, The Verdict

I've just grown so tired of all the bitching and belly-aching about the evil, maniacal BCS, that it's finally time to really dig in and break down the facts of the debate over how to decide the I-A National Championship. Before we get into a comparison of the various systems, we have to go over what exactly you're looking for out of the entire system.

1. Equal Opportunity. One factor that I have absolutely zero interest in at this point in my life is the inclusion of all I-A schools in the process, at least automatically. But I know there is a growing Boise-fueled movement to include the tired, the poor, the teaming masses of MAC/WAC/MWC/CUSA into the process(Even the Slap Bet, er Sun Belt, Commissioner knows they do not belong here.). So I begrudgingly include this as part of the equation.

2. Fairness of Entry. I call this the 95 Nebraska-Florida rule(Some might call it 05 USC-Texas or other such matchup.), Nebraska and Florida eviscerated everyone in 1995. Florida destroyed Tennessee(The #3 team in the nation), 60-34. Nebraska beat three top ten teams, 41-3, 49-25 and 44-21. There were no other undefeated teams. Florida and Nebraska earned a showdown with all other teams clearing out and watching from the side. An "And 1" system, an 8/16/24 team playoff, or any other such format would have given lesser teams the same opportunity to win the National title that NU & Florida had. The other part of this criteria is that we seem to have all agreed there must be a post-season. If you're the one and only undefeated team in the country through the regular season, you will have to play at least one game against someone lesser then you to win the National title. (See 2006 Ohio State, although upon a second viewing of said game last week, I think Troy Smith and company decided on their own that they were National Champs as far as they were concerned. Smith looked like he went on a binge with Big Baby Davis.)

3. Amount of Post-Selection Squak. This is the most important component to...well, me. I'm so sick of the mainstream media, and an alarmingly growing segment of actual college football fans, complaining about the BCS system, I want to force them to watch 47 straight hours of Donald Trump and Rosie O'Donnell stories so they get a new appreciation for the term "Beating a dead horse." This isn't the only factor that turned me around on a playoff .(All the major bowls on the same network at different times, the loss of Jan 1 as a total bowl blowout on multi-networks over the entire day, no more Orange Bowl for winning the Big 8, Monday Night Football crew no longer forced to embarrass themselves with their lack of knowledge calling the Sugar Bowl on ABC, everyone talking about 1 Bowl game and crying like bitches about the other 30+ games like they're being forced to watch them yet the Red Sox and Yankees can play 11,244 times and we don't get to complain about the entire sports world being taken hostage by this silly, regional "rivalry", just some examples.), BUT it is the most compelling, because I just can't do it anymore. If you've ever called a talk radio station to complain about the BCS, that random ass-kicking you eventually receive will be well earned. I also don't want teams to ahve a beef. As a Husker fan, I wish we'd been able to play Penn State in 94 and Michigan in 97, so nobody would be able to bitch about anything. I wish Miami and Washington had played in 1991, and that Auburn had a shot in 93 and 04. I don't think it "Adds to the arguments that shape the sport" or whatever nonsense I bought when I was a kid. I think it wastes time that could be spent talking about the actual sport and the actual games. You don't have to know a damn thing about football to complain about it. It's the college equivilant of "Talking fantasy football." and it needs to be stopped.

4. Maintaining "College Football". I don't want to turn September USC-Nebraska games into November Kansas-Florida basketball games. Not that they could ever get that far gone. But they've already ruined Bowl Season, or at least what used to be a great holiday, Jan 1. And you have to decide how much you're willing to part with.

5. Living with the Negatives. Every single system that you can name has a downside. The key is to get to the one that has the most manageable sickness. And then once you've gone with that system, you don't get to complain about any of the things you knew were wrong with it before you implimented it. This should have applied to the BCS, but somehow people expected that two teams would always be clearly better then every other team in the country every year. And suddenly computers became evil. Never mind the fact that I'd trust a computer over 95% of AP voters to decide which team is better every single time, or that a computer has the same criteria for every single team in the nation, not just the teams they actually watched.

6. Fan Interest/Participation. Whatever may come of the sport, college football is more fan-driven then any of the major American sports. And that must not change. You have to take into consideration the travel and participation of the core fans of the sport.

7. Documentation. I want to know how this system would have worked in the previous 30 years. Every scenario you could possibly imagine isn't important, what is important is what actually HAS happened in the sport. If 17 teams go undefeated in 2012, nobody gets to bitch about the system failing. But if one team goes undefeated and three BCS schools have 1 loss, they better be prepared to handle that without a month of rehashing why the system didn't work. How a system would have fared in the past 30 years is the #1 criteria as far as I'm concerned. And we will get into that in depth. And it will be a section all to its' own here.

So now we'll apply those 7 criteria to the major systems that have been put forward by pundits and ex-coaches and fans. And we'll also compare the BCS system and the pre-BCS "traditional bowl" system. (One note on historical situations, since the NCAA no longer actually penazlizes teams by taking away post season play until AFTER they have participated, I have included teams on probation in the historical summaries because they would be allowed to compete today.)

The "And 1" System.

What is it? The "And 1" system has been favored by many, most loudly by Kirk Herbsreit, and involves using the current bowl system to match the top four teams in the country in bowl games against one another. Then a week, or so, later you match up the two winners of the "Semi-Final" bowl games for the championship.

How does it pass the various criteria?

Equal Opportunity. The four participants in the semi-final would be determined by the polls/computers the same way the BCS top two are decided right now. There has not been a Non-BCS team in the top four since the BCS started. I believe the last non-BCS school to get into the top 4 of the pre-bowl top 20/25 was BYU in 1984. (They were undefeated, and there were zero undefeated BCS schools. Overal Equality Rating: About as equal opportunity as the pre-1970 SEC.

Fairness of Entry: This is where this system bothers me, and it's where I think it comes up short. You're automatically granting four teams the right to play for the National Championship with zero flexibility. Take 2005 for a very recent, negative example. Texas and USC would be the automatic 1 and 2 seeds. Penn State would probably get the #3 seed(They were 10-1). After that, Ohio State and Notre Dame were 4 and 5(At 9-2). Oregon was #6 at 10-1, Auburn, Georgia and Miami were 2-loss teams, Georgia was 10-2 with a win in the SEC title game. Virginia Tech, West Virginia(At 10-1) and LSU also would have claims. So essentially there were two schools that really did earn bids to the championship, a third that had sorta seperated themselves from the pack and a bunch of two loss schools(Or one loss schools ranked lower then the two loss schools) that didn't deserve to be in it in the first place. If Ohio State upset USC(Something I would have absolutely been rooting for), you've devalued the entire regular season. Fairness of Entry rating: About as fair as Brad Pitt winning the lottery

Amount of Post-Selection Sqwak. This system doesn't always come up big here, either. Granted complaining about being the fourth best team in the country shouldn't be as big of a deal as complaining about being the second best team, but I guarantee you it would be. a huge issue. Not to mention the inclusion of two-loss teams, which would have happened at least six times in the past 30 seasons. Post-Selection Sqwak rating: Not the worst sqwaking, but not good, think Charlie Brown's teacher.

Maintaining "College football". Doesn't really change all that much from BCS-system. But the Rose Bowl would be used as a title game semi-final/final much more then it is right now, and all 12 college football fans on the west coast seem to be really upset when that happens. The real danger is the inclusion of two-loss teams and devaluation of the regular season. Which isn't as bad as some of the "Playoff" type systems, but isn't the advantage that some of its proponents think it is. Maintainance rating: Pretty good, with a potentially ominous cloud in the background.

Living With the Negatives: I don't think the negatives in this system, two-loss teams/are there really four teams that belong, will be all that bad. I am not prepared to live with the fact that there is still a mountain of bitching that goes along with this system. I can't listen to four weeks of breaking down the #3 thru #9 teams in the country, which you know would be constant. Living with the Negatives Rating: Like living in a world where Barry Bonds is chasing the "GREATEST RECORD OF ALL TIME". Painful.

Fan Interest/Participation: Scores high in this regard. The fact that only two sets of fans would have to go to an extra location for one game. And that game would be the National Championshp game, so they'd be okay with that. Sadly, it would be a scalpers delight since no one would know who was going to the game until after the bowl games. But that's the world we live in today. Fan Rating: Pretty good, like when ESPN Classic shows a game they haven't show 4400 times.

It just doesn't do very well in any of the minor criteria, but I have a hunch it will do well against the test of documentation. We'll see on Thursday.

Summer Break

2007-07-11T15:55:00.001-06:00

The Woodshed will return Monday

Happy Birthday, America!

2007-07-03T19:37:00.000-06:00

Word.. 59 days until first kickoff.

Avalanche F Ryan Smith, that sounds weird

2007-07-01T21:27:00.000-06:00

That's how you do Free Agency

For most teams, Scott Hannan would have been a good first day's work.

Not so much, Ryan Smith is an Av! Colorado is a real, live contender again. That down year was hell!! I hope we never have to go thru such dark times again.

The Colorado Avalanche Respond

2007-07-01T18:59:00.001-06:00

WE BOUGHT THAT GUY!!! Just like the old days...

Day one of Free Agency could not have gone better for Avalanche fans.

Scott Hannan arrives as the bull/horse/badass defenseman required to lead Colorado on a run in the playoffs in 07/08. I don't think they're done, and I can't believe I'm typing this...they should go after Ryan Smith. There I said it.

For a breakdown on the Avalanche roster for next season, read on:

Reurning Forwards
Joe Sakic
Milan Hejduk
Andrew Brunette
Paul Stastny
Wojtek Wolski
Tyler Arneson
Brad Richardson
Marek Svatos
Ian Laperriere
Ben Guite
Scott Parker

Minor Leaguers looking for a spot in camp
Chris Stewart
TJ Hensick
Codey Burki

Free Agent Forwards to Consider (1-2 spots available)
Ryan Smith
Peter Forsberg
Paul Kariya

Notes: Colorado's pretty deep up front, already. But I think they need 1 top six forward. Ryan Smith would be perfect on the line with Sakic and Brunette, allowing Hejduk to move back with Stastny and Wolski(Or Arneson, or potentially Stewart/Hensick) to form the best #2 line they've had in five years. The overall depth is really up to Hensick, Stewart and Brad Richardson. If Hensick and Stewart are NHL-ready, as I suspect, and Richardson continues to develop into a top 3rd line forward then Colorado will have one of the two or three best forward units in the West.

Forsberg is fool's gold at this point in his career, and I'd like to see the Avs try to seel Kariya to the public here in Colorado after he tanked his last go round, to me it's a long-term contract for Ryan Smith, or nothing. Forsberg, Drury, Briere or Kariya would have been sexy picks, but the Avs don't need sexy, they score plenty of goals and have plenty of skill guys. They need a power forward, that's why Smith would have been #1 on this list 24 hours ago and why he still is now.

Defensemen
Scott Hannan
Jean Michael-Liles
Jordan Leopold
Karlis Skrastins
Brett Clark
Kurt Sauer
Jeff Finger

Minor Leaguers Looking for a spot in camp
Johnny Boychuk
Raymond Macias
Kyle Cuminsky
Nigel Williams

Notes: A healthy Leopold and the signing of Hannan really change the outlook for the Avs' blue line, don't they? Hannan's a stay-at home defender, and you can already see how attractive a pairing between Hannan and Liles would be, with their contrasting styles. It'll be a lot like the way Liles played alongside Blake prior to Blake leaving for LA. If any of the prospects are ready to go this season, it would be great if they could play alongside Jordan Leopold and leave Brett Clark and Karlis Skrastins(Awful as a #1 pairing, impressive as a #3 pairing.), in tact. Raymond Macias and Nigel Williams probably have the biggest upside of the prospects, but neither one is NHL-ready. I think the Avs are done here for the off season.

Goalies
Jose Theodore
Peter Budaj

Notes: Unbelievably, Jose Theodore looks like he's to be a $6 million backup next season. But either way, Colorado's in decent shape in goal. I would love to see Theodore moved for a veteran backup and some prospects, Colorado would also have to eat somebody else's bad contract, but that's life. At the same time, I can't shake this feeling that Theodore's going to be needed, I just don't trust Budaj, long term.

2007 Too Early Previews: Penn State

2007-06-28T23:48:00.000-06:00

Deon Butler

After a dominant 11-1 season punctuated with an Orange Bowl win, Penn State took a step back in 2006.

Penn State

Quarterbacks

Returning Players: Anthony Morelli, Sr; Daryll Clark,Jr; Pat Devlin, So; Paul Cianciolo, Sr; Kevin Suhey, Jr;

Notes/Grade: The clock is running out on Anthony Morelli, already a punchline in some quarters. With an 11/8 td/int ratio and an anemic 6.3 yds/att rating, Morelli didn’t exactly get it done last season. Hopes for 2007 center largely around a developing receiver corp , combined with the promise that Morelli had as a high school prospect. It also appears that Morelli wasn’t even pushed much in the Spring. Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin are the top backups, but neither has any real experience. Devlin is probably the biggest prospect/hope, but that’s all he is at this point. There was no QB in the 2007 recruiting class, but I imagine the Nittany Lions will be pushing hard after at least one in the 08 class. Grade: C

Running Backs

Returning Players: Austin Scott, HB-Sr; Rodney Kinlaw, HB-Sr; Evan Royster, HB-So; Brent Carter, HB-So; Matt Hahn, FB-Sr; Dan Lawlor, FB-Sr;

Notes/Grade: Another Lion in search of fulfillment in his career, Austin Scott comes off a redshirt season in 06 to take the tailback slot for his SR year. Scott has never run for 500 yards in a season, but has the talent to be a top back. Now if the Penn State passing game could become formidable, I do think he could have a big season to close his career. Rodney Kinlaw had 39 carries last year, the most of any returning back. Royster and Carter were highly thought of recruits coming out of high school, but I think RB will be a big focus in recruiting in 08. Grade: B-

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Returning Players: Deon Butler, WR-Jr; Jordan Norwood, WR-Jr; Derrick Williams, WR-Jr; Chris Bell, WR-So; Terrell Golden, WR-Sr; Kevin Cousins, WR-Jr; Brett Brackett, WR-So; Andrew Quarless, TE-So; Brennan Coakley, TE-Jr; Francis Claude, TE-Jr; Jordan Lyons, TE-Sr;

Incoming Players: Jon Ditto, WR-HS; Derek Moye, WR-HS; Joe Suhey, WR-HS; Andrew Szczerba, TE-HS;

Notes/Grade: The most exciting part of the Lion roster is the wideouts. Butler, Norwood, Williams and Bell have as much talent as any foursome in the country. The production hasn’t been what you would expect to this point, but you really have to believe that Morelli’s performance and the inability to protect him in the pocket. The only thing I haven’t seen yet is one of the receivers step up and become the #1 guy. Williams is the one you keep waiting to see explode like Braylon Edwards, but all four have the potential. TE Andrew Quarless actually averaged more yards/catch then any of the big four WRs in 06(13.7) and his improved production(21 catches in 06) should help ease the pressure on both the wideouts and Morelli. This unit can be the best in country, or at least be in the discussion, but the production to this point just doesn’t warrant that sort of grade. Grade: B+

Offensive Line

Returning Players: Gerald Cadagan, T-Jr; Dennis Landolt, T-Jr; Lou Eliades, G-So; John Shaw, G-Sr; AQ Shipley, C-Sr; Johnnie Troutman, T-Fr; Joe Toriello, T-Sr; Rich Ohrnberger, G-Sr; Elijah Robinson, G-Sr; Austin Hinton, G-Sr; Patrick Weber, C-Sr; Ross Muir, C-Sr; Doug Klopacz, C-So;

Incoming Players: JB Walton, G-HS; Ako Poti, T-Jr; Quinn Barham, G-HS; Josh Marks, T-HS; Nerraw McCormick, T-JC(Jr); Stefen Wisniewski, G-HS;

2008 Commits: Matt Stankiewitch, C-HS;

Notes/Grade: In the biggest four games of 2006 (Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin & Ohio State), Penn State gave up 17 sacks despite having an All-American Left Tackle in Levi Brown. Gerald Cadagan moves over from guard to take the LT spot, but you have to assume that he’ll be a significant downgrade from Brown. Shipley & Shaw have experience, Shipley should be a solid anchor for the unit. But much depends on the development of Lou Eliades, who won his job from Rich Ohrnberger in the Spring. With 2 JC transfers and 4 high school linemen coming in (Including the very talented JB Walton), the Lions are building up solid depth. Cadagan , Landolt and Eliades will determine whether or not Penn State can protect Morelli & set the explosive receivers free. Grade: C+

Defensive Line

Returning Players: Josh Gaines, DE-Jr; Maurice Evans, DE-So; Phillip Taylor, DT-So; Abe Koroma, DT-So; Aaron Maybin, DE-So; Chris Rogers, DE-Sr; Eric Latimore, DE-Fr; Jared Odrick, DT-So; Tom McEowen, DT-So; Jed Hill, DE-Sr; Chris Baker, DT-Jr; Ollie Ogbu, DT-So;

Incoming Players: Kevion Latham, DE-HS: Chimaeze Okoli, DT-HS;

Notes/Grade: Penn State is looking for several young players to break out and push aside more experienced vets in 07. Maurice Evans, Jared Odrick, Aaron Maybin and Phillip Taylor are the four to watch long term. Depth should not be an issue, but it’s a question of how many plays this group will make regardless of who the starters are eventually. Grade: B-

Linebackers

Returning Players: Sean Lee, OLB-Jr; Navorro Bowman, OLB-So; Dan Connor, MLB-Sr; Jerome Hayes, OLB-Jr; Bani Gbadyu, OLB-So; Tyrell Sales, OLB-Sr; Dontey Brown, MLB-Sr;

Incoming Players: Chris Colasanti, MLB-HS; Andrew Dailey, OLB-HS; Nathan Stupar, OLB-HS;

2008 Commits: Michael Mauti, MLB-HS; Mike Yancich, OLB-HS; Mike Zordich, MLB-HS;

Notes/Grades: Typically the best unit in the program, this is no exception in 07. Lee & Connor are probably the best 1-2 punch in the conference(Or at least in the discussion.). And Navarro Bowman showed enough in Spring ball that there’s a buzz about him heading into the season. Penn State’s already got three in the 08 class and 3 coming in this season, so it looks as though they’ll be set for years down the road. Bowman’s development could make Penn State the top unit in the country. Grade: A

Defensive Backs

Returning Players: Justin King, CB-Jr; AJ Wallace, CB-So; Lydell Sargeant, CB-Jr; Tony Davis, FR-Sr; Anthony Scirrotto, SS-Jr; Willie Harriot, CB-Jr; Knowledge Timmons, CB-Jr; Devin Fentress, CB-Jr; Spencer Ridenhour, FS-Sr; Travis McBride, FS-So; Jason Ganter, FS-Sr; Cedric Jeffries, SS-So; Mark Rubin, SS-Sr;

Incoming Players: Drew Astorino, CB-HS; Nick Sukay, SS-HS; Stephron Green, S-HS; Chaz Powell, S-HS:

Notes/Grade: Justin King is one of the top cover corners in the country. On the other side, AJ Wallace and Lydell Sargeant are in a battle for the starting job. Smart money’s on Wallace who has sick, star quality talent. Grade: B

Coaching: Joe Paterno still roams the sidelines, or the press box as it were, but Penn State’s recruiting seemed to rejuvenate a few seasons ago and the program has the look and feel of one on the way back to the top. Grade: B

Overall Grade: B (Projected Record 8-4, Alamo or some other mid-level bowl.). Penn State is a notch below Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan. It would take a major u-turn in the production of Anthony Morelli and the passing game to see the Lions seriously contending for the league title.

Big XII Positions Preview Part VII(DBs)

2007-06-27T23:27:00.000-06:00

Reggie Smith

This concludes the review of the Big XII position by position, we'll have an overall breakdown next week.

Defensive Backs

Baylor

Returning Players: Josh Bell, CB-Sr; Alton Wideman, CB-Sr; Dwain Crawford, FS-Jr; Jeremy Williams, S-So; Jordan Lake, S-So; Ralph Rodriquez, S-Sr; Antareis Byran, CB-Fr; Dominique Criss, CB-Fr; Brandon Stiggers, S-Sr; Jake LaMar, S-Jr; Zach Jones, S-Sr; Desmond Jenkins, S-Jr; Marlon Price, S-Jr; Tim Atchison, S-Fr;

Incoming Players: Elliot Coffey, S-HS; VJ McElroy, S-HS; Clifton Odom, Jr; CB-HS; Larry Rosebud, CB-HS; Barry Valcin, CB-HS;

2008 Commits: Kristohar Rhymes, S-HS; Mike Williams, CB-HS;

Notes/Grade: Baylor’s pass defense stats for their final six games in 2007: 107-169 (63.31%) 1392 yds; 8.24 yds/att; 17tds/4ints. They were shredded. Five incoming FR arrive this fall to try and upgrade the talent base, but it’s hard to see Baylor’s secondary faring any better against Big XII QBs this season. Grade: D

Oklahoma State

Returning Players: Jacob Lacey, CB-Jr; Martel Van Zandt, CB-Sr; Quinton Moore, S-Jr; Andre Sexton, S-So; Clint Coe, S-Sr; Ricky Price, S-Jr; Deron Fontenot, S-Sr; Terrance Anderson, CB-So; Calvin Mickens, CB-Jr; Perrish Cox, CB-So; Al’Darius Thompson, CB-So;

Incoming Players: Jacoby Reed, CB-HS; James Thomas, S-HS;

2008 Commits: Jackie Hinton, DB-HS;

Notes/Grade: One of the biggest upgrades in the improving Oklahoma State program has come in the defensive backfield. Al’Darius Thompson was a breakout performer last season and could potentially be an All-American. Ricky Price moved over from offense and was a big play guy this spring. Jacob Lacey & Martel Van Zandt both return at the CB slots. There is sufficient depth and athletic ability. Grade: B

Iowa State

Returning Players: Devin McDowell, CB-Fr; Chris Singleton, CB-Jr; Caleb Berg, S-Sr; James Smith, S-So; Drenard Williams, CB-So; Chris Brown, CB-Jr; Zac Sandvig, CB-Fr; Brandon Hunley, S-Jr; Steve Johnson, S-So

Incoming Players: Allen Bell, S-JC(Jr); AJ Matthews, S-HS;

Notes/Grade: The Cyclone defensive backfield is in limbo, I do not believe that Chizik has the required athletes or experience to handle the Big XII passing attacks. Devin McDowell was slated to start at LCB, but has apparently gotten suspended or kicked off the team. On a team without a lot of cover corner options, that’s gigantic. Grade: D

Kansas

Returning Players: Kendrick Harper, CB-Jr; Aqib Talib, CB-Jr; Darrell Stuckey, FS-So; Anthony Webb, CB-So; Gary Green, CB-Jr; Tang Bacheyie, SS-Jr; Justin Thornton, FS-Jr;

Incoming Players: Chris Harris, CB-HS; Anthony Davis, CB-HS; Kendrick Harper, CB-JC(Jr); Ryan Murphy, CB-HS; Patrick Resby, SS-JC(Jr);

Notes/Grade: With Talib at one of the CB spots, Kansas has an All-American and Thorpe Award candidate to build around. Kendrick Harper appears to have beaten out Anthony Webb for the other one. KU could be equipped to push up their press coverage and get back to the, at times, dominant defensive style they played in 2005. The Jayhawk secondary appears to be fit to at least compete with the better passing attacks in the conference. Grade: B

Kansas State

Returning Players: Joshua Moore, CB-Fr; Justin McKinney, CB-Jr; Andrew Erker, S-So; Marcus Watts, S-Jr; Byron Garvin, S-Jr; Bryan Badlwin, S-Jr; Kevin Hollis, S-So; Chris Carney, S-So;

Incoming Players: Gary Chandler, S-JC(Jr); Tysyn Hartman, S-HS; Reggie Haynes, DB-HS; Kendrick Matthews, CB-HS: Dahrnaz Tigner, S-HS: Justin Woods, CB-HS;

2008 Commits: Trent Hunter, CB-HS: Logan Dold, S-HS;

Notes/Grade: K-State returns a lot of talent in the secondary, but they simply didn’t produce very well in conference play in 06. Macus Watts and Bryan Baldwin both return after missing significant time last season. Gary Chandler was a good get at Safety, and there are a ton of high school bodies joining him in the incoming class. K-State will show improvement over the past two years when they’ve lagged in production. But they need to make plays, and they have not demonstrated that ability. Grade: B-

Missouri

Returning Players: Hardy Ricks, CB-So; Darnell Terrell, CB-Sr; William Moore, S-Jr; Del Howard, S-So; Darren Meade, CB-Sr; Paul Simpson, CB-Sr; Cornelius Brown, S-Sr; Brandon Massey, S-Sr; Mack Breed, S-Jr; Castine Bridges, CB-Jr; Kevin Rutland, CB-Fr;

Incoming Players: Justin Garrett, S-JC(Jr); Trey Hobson, S-HS; Donte Neal, S-HS:

2008 Commits: Robert Steeples, CB-HS;

Notes/Grade: Missouri has a lot of athletes, and they have a ton of potential in the secondary. The only real position battle in Fall camp will be between Hardy Ricks and Castine Bridges at CB. William Moore and Cornelius Brown are the Safeties. There are a ton of young players who will be counted on for depth and possibly to push for time. The two who I’ve read the most about in the off season are Kevin Rutland and Del Howard. Grade: B

Colorado

Returning Players: Terrence Wheatley, CB-Sr; Ben Burney, CB-Jr; Lionel Harris, SS-Sr; Ryan Walters, S-Jr; Jalil Brown, CB-Fr; Jonathan Hawkins, CB-Fr; Jimmy Smith, CB-Fr; Gardner McKay, CB-Jr; Daniel Dykes, S-Jr; Bret Smith, S-Fr; Kyle Black, S-Fr; Terry Wilson, S-Jr; Joel Adams, S-Jr;

Incoming Players: Anthony Perkins, CB-HS: Lamont Smith, CB-HS; Anthony Wright, S-HS;

2008 Commits: Vince Ewing, S-HS; Patrick Mahnke, S-HS;

Notes/Grade: Wheatley and Burney give Colorado a good 1-2 at CB, and Daniel Dykes had a terrific Spring, so there is plenty of talent on hand. Incoming FR Anthony Wright is going to be a star eventually. The Buffaloes will need to develop some of the younger CB candidates as there really isn’t a whole lot of established depth at this point, but there are tons of candidates. Grade: B-

Texas Tech

Returning Players: Jamar Wall, CB-So; Chris Parker, CB-Sr; Joe Garcia, S-Sr; Darcel McBath, CB-Jr; Pete Richardson, CB-So; Marcus Bunton, CB-Jr; Brent Nickerson, CB-So; Lance Fuller, S-Jr; Anthony Hines, S-Jr; Daniel Charbonnet, S-Jr; Steven Harris, S-Fr

Incoming Players: DeShon Sanders, CB-Jr; Bront Bird, S-HS;

2008 Commits: Cody Davis, S-HS; Jarell Routt, CB-JC(Jr);

Notes/Grade: Texas Tech has some questions in the secondary. They gave up 7.67 yds/att in league play last season on 59% completions along with 15tds to only 9 ints. It’s tough to get a read on them from Spring ball since they were going head to head with the powerful Tech passing attack. (It is nice to know that Leach hasn’t figured out how to stop his own offense, though.) There are good athletes on hand, but this is one of those areas where I just don’t see Tech matching up with the Texas’ & Oklahomas in terms of talent. Grade; C+

Texas A&M

Returning Players: Arkeith Brown, CB-Jr; Jordan Peterson, CB-So; Alton Dixon, S-Jr; Jordan Pugh, S-So; Devin Gregg, S-Jr; Danny Gorrer, CB-Jr; Marquis Carpenter, CB-Sr; Johnathan Batson, CB-Sr; Chevar Bryson, S-So; Demaurier Thompson, DB-Fr; Kenny Brown, S-Fr;

Incoming Players: Brandon Williams, S/LB-HS; Lionel Smith, CB-HS;

2008 Commits: Derrick Hall, S-HS; Jordan Fields, CB-HS; Keon Furtch, S-HS; Markelle Martin, CB-HS;

Notes/Grade: The talk of the Aggie defense in spring was the play of Arkeith Brown who pushed past Danny Gorrer to take a starting CB slot. And a #1 shut-down type cornerback was missing last season when A&M lost games down the stretch. If Gorrer responds well to the demotion A&M could have three CBs who can play at the Big XII level. If the Aggies are to seriously challenge Texas and OU for the South Division in 07, this might be the key. Matching up with the big receivers from OU, Texas and Nebraska in the three biggest games on their conference slate could make A&M big time. Grade: B

Texas

Returning Players: Brandon Foster, CB-Sr; Deon Beasley, CB-So; Drew Kelson, SS-Sr; Marcus Griffin, FS-Sr; Ryan Palmer, CB-Jr; Chykie Brown, CB-Fr; Robert Joseph, SS-Jr; Isie Oduegwu, SS-So; Erick Jackson, FS-Sr;

Incoming Players: Curtis Brown, CB-HS; Ben Wells, CB-HS; Earl Thomas, CB-HS; Christian Scott, S-HS;

2008 Commits: Nolan Brewster, S-HS(Mullen); Blake Gideon, S-HS; DJ Monroe, CB-HS; Aaron Williams, CB-HS;

Notes/Grade: Texas has another boatload of talent in the secondary, some of it is unproven at this point. But Chykie Brown & Drew Kelson are probably the two keys. With four more on the way in 07(And four already committed for 08), the depth should not be an issue. It’s just a matter of finding the right pieces in the right places. Grade: A-

Oklahoma

Returning Players: Reggie Smith, CB-Jr; Marcus Walker, CB-Jr; DJ Wolfe, SS-Jr; Darien Williams, FS-Jr; Lendy Holmes, CB-So; Jonathan Nelson, CB-Fr; Dominique Franks, CB/S-Fr; Keenan Clayton, SS-Fr; Quinton Carter, SS-Fr; Brett Blowers, SS-So; Nic Harris, FS-So; Brian Jackson, FS-Fr;

Incoming Players: Sam Proctor, S/WR-HS; Ryan Broyles, CB-HS: Jamell Flemming, CB-HS; Desmond Jackson, S-HS:

2008 Commits: Joseph Ibiloye, S-HS; Herman Mitchell, S-HS;

Notes/Grade: The Sooner secondary should be among the best in the country if a couple things fall into place the right way. (They’ll still be pretty damned good even if it doesn’t break that way.) Reggie Smith goes back to CB after playing Safety for his first two season. Smith is as good as any defensive back in the conference, but how will he fare out on the island at CB? And how will DJ Wolfe settle in at Smith’s old position. Wolfe is a talented player, but he’s not exactly a big bodied defender(5-11/200). And if Wolfe can’t go, can Nic Harris take that spot and make it his? These are three highly skilled athletes and I’m betting on them to make it work big-time. Smith has had superstar written on him from day 1, and this’ll be the year he cements that thought into national recognition. Grade: A-

Nebraska

Returning Players: Zack Bowman, CB-Sr; Courtney Grixby, CB-Sr; Andre Jones, CB-Sr; Rickey Thenarse, CB/S-So; Major Culbert, RB/S-So; Tierre Green, S-Sr; Ben Eisenhardt, S-Sr; Anthony West, CB-Fr; Bryan Wilson, S-Sr;

Incoming Players: Larry Asante, JC(So); Shawn Sullivan, CB-HS; Armando Murillo, CB-JC(Jr); Prince Amukamara, RB/WR/DB-HS; Anthony Blue, CB-HS;

2008 Commits: John Leverson, S/LB-HS; David Whitmore, CB-HS;

Notes/Grade: The Huskers once again had a bad break before the season even got started with the injury to Bowman. Bowman should be back before conference play starts. They do have the luxury of three other top level CBs to play even if Bowman doesn’t make it back on schedule. Courtney Grixby and Andre Jones are both solid Big XII corners and Armando Murrillo was one of the best JC CBs in the country last season. At S, Nebraska has been searching for playmakers since the Bullocks brothers left. But for the first time there are some terrific athletes in contention for those positions. Rickey Thenarse is going to be an absolute star at some point and JC transfer Larry Asante is being counted on to come in and play right away. The two are both listed at SS, but I think I speak for Husker Nation when I say I’ll be shocked if they’re not both on the field at some point in 2007. Tierre Green is a solid player, but not a terrific tackler or ballhawk. If Major Culbert remains on the offensive side of the football, then Bryan Wilson and Ben Eisenhardt are both experienced backups. If the Huskers had a healthy Bowman, this would be the best unit on the Husker defense. As is, they’re still better then they’ve been since the early 2000s. Grade: B