College Football Week 8 Awards October 20, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Al Golden, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Boise State, BYU, Central Florida, Charley McClendon, Charlie Strong, Clemson, Clemsoning, college, Dabo Swinney, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Furman, Gary Pinkel, Gators, George O'Leary, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Hurricanes, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Jimbo isher, Kansas, Kansas State, Kevin Sumlin, Les Miles, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Miami, Miami (Florida), Michigan State, Missouri, Mizzou, Navy, NCAA football, Noles, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Red Raiders, Rutgers, SEC, Seminoles, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, sword of Damocles, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, twilight zone, UCF, UCLA, UMass, Vols, Volunteers, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: George O’Leary, Central Florida
Poor guy: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a clue: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Al Golden, Miami (Fla.)
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Desperately seeking … anything: Mark Richt, Georgia
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Baylor (defeated Iowa State 71-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Miami (defeated North Carolina 27-23)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Arkansas (lost to Alabama 52-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Iowa (lost to Ohio State 34-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Georgia Tech (defeated Syracuse 56-0)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Southern Miss
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville
Did the season start? Northwestern
Can the season end? Georgia
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: No. 24 Auburn 45, No. 7 Texas A&M 41
Play this again, too: BYU 47, Houston 46
Never play this again: Baylor 71, Iowa State 7
Forget about this one, too: Georgia Tech 56, Syracuse 0
What? Central Florida 38, No. 8 Louisville 35
Huh? No. 24 Auburn 45, No. 7 Texas A&M 41
Are you kidding me? Ole Miss 27, No. 6 LSU 24
Oh – my – God: No. 5 Florida State 51, No. 3 Clemson 14
Told you so: Tennessee 23, No. 11 South Carolina 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 1 Alabama
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Pittsburgh @ Navy
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ BYU
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 1 Alabama
Must win: No. 20 South Carolina @ No. 5 Missouri
Offensive explosion: Boise State @ BYU (Friday)
Defensive struggle: Michigan State @ Illinois
Great game no one is talking about: Houston @ Rutgers
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Pinkel of Missouri vs. Steve Spurrier of South Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida Atlantic @ No. 11 Auburn
Why are they playing? Furman @ No. 13 LSU
Plenty of good seats remaining: Western Michigan @ UMass
They shoot horses, don’t they? No. 6 Baylor @ Kansas
Week 8 in Review:
Rarely is there a week when there are so many upsets, that it’s impossible to give all of them their just due. Normally, four categories are enough, from “What?” to “Oh-My-God”. Yet this time around, we needed several more categories, for the undefeateds and top-ten teams ended up dropping like flies. To wit: No. 7 Texas A&M fell to Auburn, No. 6 LSU fell to Ole Miss. Stanford, after paying dearly for taking a game off and thus laying an egg against Utah, turned right around the following week and took out undefeated, then-No. 9 UCLA. Do we have to remind ourselves of how then-No. 8 Louisville (now No. 18) basically gave the game away to now-No. 21 Central Florida? Say this out loud: Missouri beat Florida. In so doing, the reader is likely to ask oneself, “in what Twilight Zone or alternate football universe does that happen?” Yet it did; what’s even more other-dimensionly is that Mizzou was actually ranked ahead of the Gators when they triumphed (No. 14 vs. No. 22, respectively). The Tigers, still undefeated, are now ranked at No. 6.
Then there was the purported “ticket to die for” of the week, and on paper it certainly was that, what with then-No. 3 Clemson at home against then-No. 5 Florida State in a titanic intra-conference clash — on paper, at least. The only problem was, the Seminoles showed up for battle, whereas the Tigers, apparently, not so much. The ‘Noles asserted themselves from the opening kickoff to the final whistle of the game, and demolished the home team, 51-14, despite Clemson’s hitherto superior ranking. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was hoping that the team could put an end to the concept of “Clemsoning”, (look up the second and third definitions of the term on Urban Dictionary), but after last night’s performance, that concept shall live on for a while longer.
Meanwhile, let us compare the heretofore Top Ten to today’s new rankings:
1.) Alabama
2.) Oregon
3.) Clemson
4.) Ohio State
5.) Florida State
6.) LSU
7.) Texas A&M
8.) Louisville
9.) UCLA
10.) Miami (Fla.)
Today (Oct. 20, 2013)
1.) Alabama
2.) Oregon
3.) Florida State
4.) Ohio State
5.) Missouri
6.) Baylor
7.) Miami (Fla.)
8.) Stanford
9.) Clemson
10). Texas Tech
Curious to note: Alabama and Oregon are still No’s 1 and 2 respectively. So far, so good. But Florida State, now at No. 3, leapfrogged over Ohio State, who is still at No. 4. Mizzou, having beaten some formidable teams, has skyrocketed to No. 5, while Baylor sits at No. 6 (personally, I find the latter’s offense more potent than the former; were it only that the two could knock heads in a BCS game!). Meanwhile, the Miami Hurricanes, laboring in the shadow of the NCAA’s Sword of Damocles, have quietly crept up to the No. 7 spot in a spectacular turnaround under Coach Al Golden’s leadership. Stanford is back in the top ten after defeating hitherto unbeaten UCLA, and Clemson remains in the top ten at No. 9 despite a thrashing at home against the Seminoles. Tech rounds out the new top ten, and appropriately so, given that they’re currently unbeaten. That current status, however, shall be seriously called into question the following week, though, as they shall play Oklahoma on the road, then Oklahoma State and Kansas State at home, then they face Baylor and cap things off against Texas. The truly brutal part of the schedule is about to commence for the Red Raiders, hence they shall have the opportunity to prove their worthiness of their new ranking. As LSU’s Charley McClendon said long ago, “[I]n football, and in life, you’ve got to keep proving yourself.
Oh, and don’t look now, but Auburn has climbed up to No. 11 from the No. 24 spot.
On a related note, two programs who were once esteemed as “football factories” but had something of a decade-long slump seem to have returned to that status this year; Florida State and, to a lesser extent, Tennessee. The former demonstrated that convincingly before a national, prime time audience. The latter demonstrated that over the course of the past three weeks by giving Georgia the fight of their lives on Oct. 5, then coming back to beat South Carolina yesterday. No longer is playing the Vols a relative “gimme” on the SEC schedule as it was several years ago. Everyone else in the conference ought to be put on notice.
College Football Week 6 Awards October 6, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big XII, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Buckeyes, Butch Jones, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Dave Doeren, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kentucky, Larry Fedora, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Mississippi State, Missouri, N.C. State, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Paul Rhoads, Penn State, Pittssburgh, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Western Carolina, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Lucky guy: Mark Richt, Georgia, and also Mack Brown, Texas
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee, and also Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a clue: Mack Brown, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dave Doeren, NC State
Desperately seeking … anything: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 20 Texas Tech (defeated Kansas 54-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: South Carolina (defeated Kentucky 35-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Oregon 57-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio U (defeated Akron 43-3)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona State
The Fix is in: Texas
Did the season start? Cincinnati
Can the season end? Western Michigan
Can the season never end? Baylor
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Georgia 34, Tennessee 31
Play this again, too: Rutgers 55, SMU 53, 3OT
Never play this again: No. 8 Florida State 63, No. 25 Maryland 0
What? Ball State 48, Virginia 27
Huh? Missouri 51, Vanderbilt 28
Are you kidding me? South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20
Oh – my – God: Indiana 44 Penn State 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (Dallas)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Georgia Tech @ BYU
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Utah State
Upset alert: No. 14 South Carolina @ Arkansas
Must win: No. 9 Texas A&M @ Ole Miss
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ No. 15 Washington
Defensive struggle: Miami (Ohio) @ UMass
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ No. 24 Virginia Tech, or, No. 19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier of South Carolina vs. Bret Bielema of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Clemson @ Boston College
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Army
They shoot horses, don’t they? Temple @ Cincinnati
Week 6 in Review:
There are times when in hindsight you know that you should have trusted your instincts instead of trying to out-think the room (which, let us be honest, can never end well. Just ask the NFL when they decided to put the upcoming Super Bowl in frigid New Jersey). Case in point: last week, yours truly tried to out-think the room – against my own better judgement – in prediciting that this week’s “offensive explosion” would be Ohio State @ Northwestern. Yes, it was a good game, worthy of a Musburger-Herbstreit broadcast tandem. And yes, the overall score was not exactly paltry at 40-30 (in favor of the Buckeyes, naturally). But then there was Baylor vs. West Virginia, whose score was so high, we needed our collective oxygen tank (final score: 73-42). What was my main reticence in following my instincts and selecting this game for a more accurate prognostication? The fact that West Virginia has been wildly inconsistent this year. One week they embarrass themselves against Maryland, the next week, they upset Oklahoma State. Right now, we the fans do not know what team we are getting week-to-week with the Mountaineers.
All Good Games at Night?
Aside from the satisfying SEC slugfest between Georgia and Tennessee in the 3:30 time slot, and the 3-OT shootout between Rutgers and SMU, all the good games this past week were in the evening. LSU vs. Mississippi State (3 out of 4 quarters, at least), South Florida vs. Cincinnati (surprisingly), Ole Miss vs. Auburn, TCU vs. Oklahoma, Kentucky vs. South Carolina (the Gamecocks allowed for it to be a good game, regrettably), Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Washington vs. Stanford, even Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP (!) all turned out to be competitive, engaging matchups. It was one of those nights where you wished you had four or five flatscreens, all right next to each other, so as to enjoy as much simultaneous action as possible.
A Tale of Two Rivals.
Oklahoma did it the right way. They played a highly respected TCU bunch in a close, hard-fought game, and triumphed in the end, 20-17. There is a school of thought, not one without merit, that states that this is the perfect approach before throwing down the following week with a bitter rival. To follow this line of logic, the Sooners are well-prepared for the Red River Shootout this upcoming week.
On the other side of the coin is Texas, who thought that they could beat up on Big XII lightweight Iowa State as a tune-up. As things turned out, they needed not one, but two scandalous calls by the referees to get their behinds out of some seriously hot water (basically, two “gift” calls of not recognizing fumbles as actual fumbles). Let that sink in for a moment.
College Football Week 4 Awards September 22, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, body bag, Boise State, Bowling Green, Brady Hoke, Bronco Mendenhall, BYU, Central Florida, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Dana Holgersen, David Shaw, Duke, FIU, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida International, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Jim McElwain, Kansas State, Ken Niumatalolo, Kent State, Kyle Flood, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, MTSU, Navy, Nick Saban, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, P.J. Fleck, Pac-12, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tim DeRuyter, Troy, UCF, UCLA, UConn, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: David Shaw, Stanford
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Lucky guy: Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State
Poor guy: Bronco Mendenhall, BYU
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brady Hoke, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dana Holgersen, West Virginia
Desperately seeking … anything: P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 7 Louisville (defeated FIU 72-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 11 Michigan (defeated UConn 24-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Troy (lost to Mississippi State 62-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Colorado State* (lost to No. 1 Alabama 31-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa (defeated Western Michigan 59-3)
Dang, they’re good: Stanford
Dang, they’re bad: Western Michigan
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arkansas
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Central Michigan
Can the season never end? UCLA
GAMES
Play this again: Fresno State 41, Boise State 40
Play this again, too: Pittsburgh 58, Duke 55
Never play this again: No. 4 Ohio State 76, Florida A&M 0
What? Iowa 59, Western Michigan 3
Huh? Fresno State 41, Boise State 40
Are you kidding me? Texas 31, Kansas State 21
Oh – my – God: Maryland 37, West Virginia 0
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 LSU @ No. 9 Georgia
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Northern Illinois @ Purdue
Best non-Big Six matchup: Navy @ Western Kentucky (honorable mention: Akron @ Bowling Green)
Upset alert: No. 23 Wisconsin @ No. 4 Ohio State, or, No. 12 South Carolina @ Central Florida
Must win: No. 10 Texas A&M @ Arkansas
Offensive explosion: Arizona @ No. 16 Washington
Defensive struggle: MTSU @ BYU
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech (Thurs.)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Ken Niumatalolo of Navy vs. Bobby Petrino of Western Kentucky
Who’s bringing the body bags? South Florida @ No. 15 Miami
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: Kent State @ Western Michigan
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Duke
Week 4 in Review:
*: This was the “body bag” game that did not quite turn out to be one. On paper, Colorado State was to be the lamb being led to the slaughter. After all, the fortunes of the Rams have been nothing like the halcyon days under former head coach Sonny Lubick. Moreover, in a week where every other game seemed to be a body bag game, this one should have been no different. Consider an under-performing Mountain West Conference team journeying over a thousand miles from Fort Collins, Colo., to Tuscaloosa, Ala., only to go into one of the most hostile places in the land in which to play football, with none other than Nick Saban, arguably the best coach in the business, to be the pitiless executioner.
All things considered, the 31-6 loss could have been much worse. The Rams actually did a good job of gaining yardage against the Crimson Tide. The only problem was, the bulk of that yardage was between the 20 yard-lines. Once Colorado State made it into the red zone, Alabama started to show more of its true defensive colors, as the score attests. Still, head coach Jim McElwain – coincidentally, the former offensive coordinator at Alabama – came in with a sound game plan, and that was to keep his team’s offense on the field for as long as possible, and conversely, to keep Alabama’s offense off the field as long as possible. They took plenty of risks – including lots of screen passes – in order to try to make that happen. One thing that was particularly telling of some degree of success in the overall game plan, despite the loss, was that Saban kept his headset on and kept coaching his team literally as the final second of the fourth quarter ticked off the clock. One normally does not see that sort of behavior from a coach – no matter how skilled they are in the business – during a so-called “body bag” game.
But this game aside, even some of the better matches on paper (say, Tennessee at Florida, or Michigan State at Notre Dame) turned out to be exercises in ineptitude on both sides of the ball. Even Purdue, who acquitted themselves well against Notre Dame last week, came out flat against Wisconsin this week.
Speaking of “body bag” games, though, this weekend was lousy with them. Records have become so important in terms of one’s BCS standings, that teams have largely become risk-averse, and since most conferences do not mandate that at least nine conference games be scheduled (notwithstanding the Big XII and Pac-12), we the fans had to suffer through lots of garbage matchups (hello, Florida A&M @ Ohio State) this past week. Next week will thankfully be different, though, as most teams have some sort of conference game, and even those that do not still [mostly] have some interesting opponent to play (e.g., Northern Illinois at Purdue, South Carolina at an up-and-coming UCF, Oklahoma at Notre Dame, and Navy at Western Kentucky). The bottom line is, let us blot this past week out of our memories, and just look forward to that which is immediately ahead.
College Football Week 3 Awards September 15, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 40 Acres, Aggies, Akron, Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, Boilermakers, Boise State, Boston College, Brian Kelly, BYU, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, Crimson Tide, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida International, Florida State, Fresno State, Gary Andersen, Gary Patterson, George O'Leary, Georgia Tech, Greg Robinson, Hawaii, Johnny Football, Johnny Manziel, Kansas State, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Mack Brown, Mark Dantonio, Mark Helfrich, Michigan, Michigan State, Nevada, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon Sate, Penn State, Purdue, Rebels, Ron Turner, South Alabama, South Florida, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Todd Graham, USC, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, UTSA, Weber, Western Kentucky, Willie Taggert, Wisconsin, Zips
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Glad I’m not him: Gary Patterson, TCU
Lucky guy: Todd Graham, Arizona State
Poor guy: Gary Andersen, Wisconsin
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: George O’Leary, Central Florida
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Ron Turner, Florida International
Desperately seeking … anything: Willie Taggert, South Florida
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 10 Florida State (defeated Nevada 62-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 11 Michigan (defeated Akron 28-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tennessee (lost to No. 2 Oregon 59-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 21 Notre Dame 31-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: USC (defeated Boston College 35-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Florida International
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Penn State
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? South Florida
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Alabama 49, No. 6 Texas A&M 42
Play this again, too: Oregon State 51, Utah 48
Never play this again: Utah State 70, Weber 6
What? Arizona State 32, No. 20 Wisconsin 30
Huh? South Alabama 31, Western Kentucky 24
Are you kidding me? Texas Tech 20, No. 24 TCU 10
Oh – my – God: Central Florida 34, Penn State 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 19 Florida
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Utah State @ USC
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Fresno State
Upset alert: Purdue @ No. 24 Wisconsin
Must win: Kansas State @ Texas
Offensive explosion: Boise State @ Fresno State
Defensive struggle: Hawaii @ Nevada
Great game no one is talking about: Utah @ BYU, or, North Carolina @ Georgia Tech
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Dantonio of Michigan State vs. Brian Kelly of No. 22 Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida International @ No. 7 Louisville
Why are they playing? Florida A&M @ No. 4 Ohio State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTSA @ UTEP
They shoot horses, don’t they? Louisiana-Monroe @ No. 20 Baylor
Week 3 in Review:
The game that has been billed by the media and built up in the minds of many a fan nationwide certainly lived up to its billing/hype yesterday. No. 1-ranked Alabama is sure to retain atop the mountain of college football rankings after defeating the home team No. 6 Texas A&M in a thriller of a game. The key to the success of the Crimson Tide was figuring out how to contain the Aggies’ QB Johnny Manziel, by not allowing him sufficient access to the outsides of the hash marks and instead forcing him inside, up the middle (both of running and throwing) as a means of containing the threat of his talents. In the end, it worked. Best of all, “Johnny Football” seemed surprisingly humble, contrite, and team-oriented during the postgame press conference. After witnessing all of his antics the previous weeks, this was a rather pleasing development. Time will tell if he truly did learn a lesson or two from this loss, or whether he will devolve back to the cocky, reckless punk he was earlier.
Other random thoughts:
A curious case of both Michigan and Notre Dame arose this past Saturday. The former team had to struggle at home to beat the Akron Zips, and only doing so in the last minutes of play. Meanwhile, Notre Dame, an ostensibly revitalized, nationally viable team under head coach Brian Kelly, had to earn – in every sense of the word – a win against a Purdue team whose performance prior to this game was suspect at best. Perhaps this strange case is a result of a hangover from big game between the two the following week. Lots of media hype and team energy went into that game, and as anybody who has any real experience in college football can tell you, one of the biggest challenges in the sport is trying to get 19-20 year-olds to play consistently week in and week out. Or, it could be at both Akron and Purdue are better than we thought they were. Concerning the latter, it could have been that the Boilers were looking past Indiana State (could you blame them?) and devoted some extra prep time to dealing with the Fighting Irish. Certainly a plausible scenario, no? What remains intriguing about this case is that, in all likelihood, Michigan and Notre Dame will be just fine. But it could also be that Akron and Purdue are on the rise from the doldrums in which both programs have been stuck for the past several years. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, Texas lost another game, this time at home, against a respectable opponent in Ole Miss. The Longhorns were supposed to have gotten things together, so we were told. After all, before last week’s BYU debacle (in which they lost 40-21), they were ranked No. 15 in the nation. This week, the Rebels came into Austin ranked #25. Yet the Horns lost again, this time 44-23. It is conceivable that Texas could turn things around and that the defense could get more settled under new defensive coordinator Greg Robinson. Or, it could be that the wheels are coming off the program, and as much as Longhorn Nation likes head coach Mack Brown personally, it is time for a changing of the guard. Right now, though, things are not looking good on the 40 Acres, and the prognosis for the second Saturday in October is not that rosy, either.
You too can put together a Top 25 CFB preseason poll! February 17, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: ACC, Alabama, AP, Auburn, B1G, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Boise State, Braxton Miller, Cal, Charlie Weis, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, conference, Duke, Florida, Florida State, football, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, LSU, MAC, Manti Te'o, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi, NCAA, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pac-12, preseason, Purdue, ranking, San Jose State, SEC, South Carolina, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tim Tebow, Tommy Tuberville, top 25, UC, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah State, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Will Muschamp
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Ever wanted to make a college football Top-25 preseason ranking but just didn’t know how? Well, now you do! Thanks to the hilarious writers at SBNation’s Every Day Should Be Saturday, we now have a guide at our disposal to put such a list together and look like prognostication geniuses in so doing! I have taken the liberty of quoting the guiding text to give you reference while we play along. The quoted text from the actual (and funny) guide page is given in italics.
1. Alabama. Look, maybe you have a perfectly strong case for some other school, but if you go off the reservation right away, the readers are going to suspect something is amiss. Stay with the pack here and, if the Tide stumble, you’ll be one of many mistaken scribes, not a distinct and lonesome idiot.
Alabama looks and sounds like a winner to me!
2. Big 12 or Big Ten team. BOOM! Because you started comfortable, those stupid readers didn’t see this knowledge roundhouse coming. Pick a team that didn’t meet expectations in 2012 and talk about how they’ll be “hungry” and “focused” because of it.
Michigan, perhaps?
3. SEC team. Mention how battle tested playing in the conference will leave this team by the end of the season. Then hedge by saying SEC play could eat them alive. SPORTSNIGMA!
Texas A&M; they’re really hot right now. Seriously, so much for them having to get behind Arkansas like we all predicted last year!
4. Ohio State. Emphasize how good the team looked in the first year of a new system. Ignore that they barely beat Cal, Indiana, and Purdue. Clunky suggestion that Braxton Miller could be the next Tim Tebow. Obliquely suggest Urban Meyer could quit at any week for any reason.
Ohio State, and this is why I didn’t put them at the No. 2 spot like I would have otherwise.
5. Oregon or Stanford. Sh-t, you meant to put one of them higher, but that much backspacing seems like a real pain in the ass. Say something here about how you’re being cautious not to put too much stock into a big bowl performance.
Stanford, for reasons of coaching continuity.
6. Team Coming Off A Big Bowl Performance. Clemson-Louisville national championship game ahoy!
Okay, I’ll bite. What the heck; let’s put Louisville in there for the fun of it!
7. SEC team. Which one? Any one THAT’S JUST HOW DAMN GOOD THEY ARE MAN. (Seriously, though, not Auburn.)
Seriously; definitely not Auburn! Already put Texas A&M in there, so let’s have LSU fill this slot, shall we? Or maybe South Carolina; yeah, definitely the Gamecocks. They’re doing quite well right now.
8. Notre Dame. Yes, Irish fans are going to be super pissed at the perceived disrespect, but that’d be true even if you ranked ND numbers one, two, and three simultaneously. Don’t fight a losing battle. Just slot them here and suggest that they could be better off without Manti Te’o.
Notre Dame; and they might not miss Manti Te’o that much if their highly-ranked recruiting class has any teeth to it, unlike “highly-ranked” recruiting classes under Charlie Weis.
9. Oregon or Stanford (whoever you didn’t put at 5). Say something about how they’ve lost a lot of key pieces. Is it true? Players graduate, don’t they?
Oregon, for reasons of lack of coaching continuity.
10. ACC team. You’ll need to construct a paper fortune teller and write the names of four plausibly successful teams twice each. Be sure you only do it twice, because if you write out “Georgia Tech” three times on the same piece of paper Paul Johnson appears out of nowhere and insists on rearranging your pantry.
Well, we already put Louisville at No. 6, so we might as well put Florida State into this one.
11. Team that will likely have three losses before Halloween. Your obligation in preparing this ranking is not simply to come up with a sensible accounting of the top 25 teams heading into the season. It’s also to provide us with teams destined to leave unreasonable expectations unfulfilled. Who will be this year’s Arkansas? THE POWER IS YOURS!
Ole Miss, because expectations are high due to their half-way decent team from last year and No. 7-ranked recruiting class this year.
12. Team with the highest ranked recruiting class that you have not yet included. I mean, all that talent wouldn’t be going to a bad team, would it? And I bet half of them start right away! (note: I do not know how recruiting works)
I want to put Florida here, because they’ve got the No. 4-ranked recruiting class, and I’ve got to stick ‘em somewhere! But, skip down to No 14, and you’ll find out that cannot be done, according to this system. So, we’ll put in Oklahoma.
13. This is exhausting. You really deserve a lemonade, and maybe even an oatmeal cookie. I mean, people bitch about preseason rankings, but then they lap them right up like hungry dogs. Do they not understand how market forces work? Oh, um, Michigan State. Whatever.
Georgia; gotta stick ‘em somewhere.
14. Florida. “Will Muschamp is driving a truck with a great engine and no brake pads. Will Muschamp is eating a sandwich with meat and no bread. Will Muschamp is developing a model that explains how light behaves like a particle but not as a wave.” Metaphor them to death in this middle section.
Okay, NOW we’re allowed to put Florida in there.
15. School that was good six years ago and has stunk since. Because these things are cyclical, or something.
USC, anybody?
16. Team stocked with seniors that have mostly underachieved up to this point. They just want it more, man. That’s why they’re fighting in spring practice. Out of love.
Michigan State, perhaps?
17. Big 12 team with a miserably weak non conference schedule. Basically, this is between Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas, and Kansas State. Kansas is out for reasons of being Kansas, so just pick one of the other three and feel like a genius up to, but not beyond, Week 5.
West Virginia is the safest pick out of the three, at least through Week 5. After Week 5, it might be Texas Tech. Just sayin’.
18. Big East team. Start out by noting that the conference had a better bowl winning percentage last year than the every other AQ conference. Pretend you knew that Memphis was joining this year without looking. Realize that the team you pick could join the ACC before this gets published. Shrug, and continue trying to beat Jetpack Joyride.
Cincinnati, because after U of L, UC is the only Big East team that comes to mind, and goodness knows what could happen with Tommy Tuberville at the helm.
19. Team that was terrible but hired a trendy coach. You’ve already won me over, Cal, in spite of me.
Okay, let’s go with Cal. Let me waste another space on something ridiculous, why don’t you!
20. School from a non AQ conference. Again, this is mostly an exercise in antagonizing fans, so just find a Mountain West or MAC team that could plausibly win eight games and put them here. Then say something snide about the Big Ten.
Ah, so THIS is where you put in Boise State!
21. Scandium. Don’t think it belongs here? Check your atomic numbers, clown.
Okay, now they’re being downright silly. Not funny, just silly. Let’s go with LSU.
22. Team with a coach on the hot seat. If you’re not sure who qualifies, just pick any coach that hasn’t won a conference title in the last two years and say he’s on the hot seat.
Texas, because even though I love Mack Brown as a person, he ought to be on the hot seat after three consecutive seasons of underperformance.
23. Almost there! Pick any team, say this is a make-or-break season for the program, and move forward.
Auburn, because after the horrible year they had last season, we’ll now see how quickly they can bounce back.
24. Duke.
Are you kidding me? Alright, we’ll play along for the funny hell of it.
25. Team that barely made a bowl last year. “Trial by fire has made them stronger” sounds way more optimistic than “holy sh– they needed a punt return touchdown to beat Sweet Valley High.”
Heck, Purdue barely made it to a bowl game last year, but I’m certainly not putting them at No. 25! I’d put somebody like Nebraska in there, but I don’t know if it fits the template. Screw it; I’ll put Nebraska in anyway.
Now, let us see how this ranking plays out, according to the above formula:
- Alabama
- Michigan
- Texas A&M
- Ohio State
- Stanford
- Louisville
- South Carolina
- Notre Dame
- Oregon
- Florida State
- Ole Miss
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Florida
- USC
- Michigan State
- West Virginia
- Cincinnati
- Cal
- Boise State
- LSU
- Texas
- Auburn
- Duke (groan!)
- Nebraska
I know, I know; LSU is ranked way too low, and it bothers the heck out of me, too. Just for fun, let us compare this with the current 2013 AP preseason Top 25 poll:
- Alabama (no surprise there!)
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
- Stanford
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Florida State
- Clemson
- Kansas State
- Louisville
- LSU (beats not being ranked at all!)
- Oklahoma (I knew they were overvalued!)
- Utah State (there had better be a darn good reason for this!)
- Northwestern (quite plausible, actually)
- Boise State (are you sure you want them that high, AP?)
- Texas
- Oregon State
- San Jose State (huh?)
- Northern Illinois (I guess they felt compelled to stick a MAC team somewhere)
- Vanderbilt (also plausible; have you seen their recruiting class lately?)
- Michigan
- Nebraska
For starters, I’m really regretting sticking Michigan in that No. 2 slot, but the formula called for a Big Ten team, and Ohio State was already locked in to No. 4; what was I to do? The Florida State ranking, though, seems pretty spot-on, and many others (Alabama, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Stanford, South Carolina, and Nebraska are within one or two rankings). Yes, it’s all in fun and jest, to be sure, but it shows that sometimes these whacky formulas work, other times, not so much. And it still sticks in my craw that it compelled me to under-value the Bayou Bengals, and grossly over-value Michigan.
2012-2013 Bowl Game Awards January 10, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: A.J. McCarron, ACC, Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Bama, Baylor, BCS, Bill Belichick, Bill Blankenship, Bob Stoops, Bowl, Brian Kelly, championship, Charlie Strong, Chick-Fil-A, Clemson, college, conference, Cotton, Crimson Tide, FBS, FIghting Irish, Florida, football, game, Georgia Tech, Heart of Dallas, Idaho Potato, Lane Kiffin, Louisville, Mack Brown, Mark Dantonio, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, MSU, national, NCAA, ND, Nebraska, Nevada, NFL, Nick Saban, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Outback, Patrick Higgins, Peach, Pittsburgh, Purdue, SEC, South Carolina, Southeastern, Stanford, Sugar, Sun, Texas, Texas A&M, title, Toledo, Tulsa, U of L, UCLA, USC, Utah, Utah State, West Virginia
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What, you’d think I’d be lying down on the job just because the regular season is over?
COACHES
Wish I were him: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Wouldn’t be bad to be him, either: Nick Saban, Alabama
Glad I’m not him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Lucky guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Poor guy: Patrick Higgins, Purdue (interim coach)
Desperately seeking a clue (long-term, notwithstanding the win): Mack Brown, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bill Blankenship, Tulsa
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Lane Kiffin, USC
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Texas A&M (beat No. 11 Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4, 41-13)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida (see below)
(Dec. 15-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (see below)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Louisville (see below)
(Jan. 1-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Alabama
Thought you wouldn’t get your butt kicked, you did: Notre Dame
Dang, they’re good: Alabama (and Texas A&M!)
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
They can’t be that good: Oklahoma State
Dang, they’re overrated: Notre Dame
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Mississippi State (lost to Northwestern in the Gator Bowl, Jan. 1, 34-20)
Did the season start? USC
Can the season end? West Virginia
Can the season never end? Louisville (or Clemson, though really, Louisville more so!)
GAMES
Play this again (Jan. 1-7): Outback Bowl – No. 10 South Carolina 33, No. 18 Michigan 28
(Dec. 15-31)
Play this again: Peach, I mean, Chick-Fil-A Bowl — No. 14 Clemson 25, No. 8 LSU 24
Also, play this again: New Mexico Bowl – Arizona 49, Nevada 48
(All Bowls)
Never play this again: Heart of Dallas Bowl – Oklahoma State 58, Purdue 14
Don’t bother with this one again, either: Idaho Potato Bowl – No. 22 Utah State 41, Toledo 15
What? Chick-Fil-A Bowl — No. 14 Clemson 25, No. 8 LSU 24
Huh? Holiday Bowl — Baylor 49, No. 17 UCLA 26
Are you kidding me? Sun Bowl — Georgia Tech 21, USC 7
Oh – my – God: Sugar Bowl – No. 21 Louisville 33, No. 3 Florida 23
Wow, dude: BCS National Championship – erstwhile No. 2 Alabama 42, erstwhile No. 1 Notre Dame 14
Cal Sport Media / AP Images
That’s why you line them up and play. My father repeated this mantra to me as I was growing up. Going in to the BCS National Championship game, it seemed as though Notre Dame and Alabama were rather evenly matched on paper. The Fighting Irish had some rather impressive wins on their resume this year, far more impressive than the mediocre schedule they had played in recent years. Beating a tough Stanford squad at home, going on the road to humiliate Oklahoma, and then closing out the regular season on the west coast to beat USC, all in the same year, is no small feat. With such a record, it looked like Notre Dame was back, ready to butt heads with the big boys for national prominence.
Moreover, it was supposed to be a down year for the SEC, remember? Michigan played South Carolina down to the wire (though seriously, the overall outcome was as predicted, if not by a slightly truncated margin of error), and an underachieving Nebraska challenged a, well, underachieving Georgia squad. Mississippi State, for what a great regular season had – by MSU standards, at least – came for naught when they coughed it up to Northwestern in the Gator Bowl. The most striking example of building the case for a SEC down year was the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. No way, under normal circumstances would LSU lose to Clemson, though to be sure, the ACC team has been known to pull one over on the SEC team in that bowl game (remember the 2001 Peach Bowl between Auburn and North Carolina?). No. 3 Florida inexplicably losing to No. 21 Louisville can also add fuel to that fire (not that U of L’s win is something to be rued outside of SEC country!).
Forget that the SEC had three losses going into this game. The conference was 5-3, to be exact; still a winning record. Look at the Bama team itself. They had graduated tons of talent to the NFL. Quarterback A.J. McCarron was not a transcendent player at that position (as one often expects on a team that would be in the running for the national title). The offensive line was young and inexperienced. The Crimson Tide’s defense was not overwhelming, either, especially when compared to the smothering D’s of recent champion squads. When paired up against the other team, one could readily predict some clearly potential mismatches. After all, Notre Dame’s receiving corps was big and talented, and proved to be a game-winning factor throughout the season, as the Irish’s opponents had no answer for that part of their offense.
But there was more. What gave the Irish the strong look of national viability was that Coach Brian Kelly had done an amazing job of massively upgrading the team’s defense. At a school this is much more academically rigid as ND, certain recruiting restrictions tend to put the defensive side of the ball at a disadvantage. One can recruit smart linemen, quarterbacks, tight ends, and receivers, after all, and they are out there. Defense is another issue. Never as well-choreographed as offensive, players on that side of the ball tend to be a bit more reckless, and often have to be to make key stops. Making good grades and doing what defensive players have to do to succeed on the field is oftentimes an incompatibility. Yet Kelly somehow made it work.
So how did things turn out they did? Even yours truly predicted a close game, at least until some time in the 3rd quarter. Turns out, in hindsight, we all made the same mistake we made going into the 2007 BCS game. That year, Ohio State was the undefeated, No.1 team. Florida got in the game almost as an afterthought. Yet despite a touchdown by the Buckeyes on the opening kickoff, the Gators dominated from then on, leaving many viewers in a state of shock and disbelief, and also to ask each other: how did we not see this coming?
The answer comes in two parts. The simplest part is, they are SEC teams. Florida then and Alabama this year played in the most brutal of all college football conferences. Anybody who emerges as the conference champion is battle-hardened, battle tested, and ready and able to go toe-to-toe with anybody else in the country. If one does not believe that the SEC, despite its down year this year, is still not the best conference in the country, you are both blind and detached from reality. For one, SEC teams have won every national title since the 2006-’07 season; that’s seven consecutive years and counting. But even more to the point, the NFL is the ultimate truth serum when it comes to who produces the best players in college football. One NFL team general manager once observed that you could field a competitive team in the pros just by drafting players out of the Southeastern Conference. Lots of money, along with people’s mortgages and livelihoods, rest on making such key decisions – think about that.
So Ohio State then, and Notre Dame this year, were frankly NOT consistently playing the same level of competition that SEC teams face week in and week out. It’s fine for Notre Dame to beat Oklahoma on the road, but to turn right around the struggle at home to Pittsburgh the next game should have raised a few more eyebrows than it did.
The other part to explain how Bama ended up dominating Notre Dame is that Nick Saban is the best college coach in the business. He learned his grinder’s work ethic from his father growing up in West Virginia, and learned how to be detail-oriented as an NFL assistant under Bill Belichick. Being detail-oriented is a transferrable skill that works well at either the college or the pro level. Saban knows how to prepare. Alabama might have seemed relatively weak (compared to recent teams) having to go from one tough game to another (LSU then Texas A&M, for example). But give Saban a full month to prepare, and the team’s true potential shines through. Pay no attention to the Tide getting humiliated to Utah in the 2008 Sugar Bowl; pay attention to Saban’s, and the team’s, more recent body of work, that being three national titles out of the past four years. They say that hindsight is 20-20, and in this case, it most certainly is: Bama played better competition throughout the year, had even better overall athletes, and are guided by the best coach in the business. Sometimes, you have to line them up and play just to be able to see those things with sufficient clarity.
2012-2013 Bowl Games of Moderate Interest (at best) December 14, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: ACC, Air Force, Aloha, Armed Forces, Aztecs, B1G, Ball State, Bayou Bengals, BCS, Bearcats, Beef 'O' Brady's, Belk, Big 10, Big Easy, Big Ten, Big XII, Blue Devils, Bobcats, Bowl, Bowling Green, Bulldogs, BYU, C-USA, Cadillac Chrysler, Cardinals, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Colin Cowherd, college, conference, Cougars, Cyclones, David Cutcliffe, Duke, ESPN, Ethics, football, Fresno State, game, Georgia Tech, Golden Knights, Hawaii, Hokies, Idaho Potato, Independence, Iowa State, K-car, Liberty Bowl, Little Caesars, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, LSU, MAC, Meinecke Car Care, Michigan State, Military Bowl, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Mountain West, Mustangs, NCAA, Notre Dame, Ohio U, Pac-12, Poinsettia, Red Raiders, Rice, Russell Athletics, Rutgers, San Diego State, San Jose State, Scarlet Knights, SEC, SMU, Snow, Sun Belt, Sun Bowl, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, The Herd, Tigers, Toledo, Tommy Tuberville, triple option, Trojans, Tulsa, UCF, USC, Utah State, Virginia Tech, WAC, Western Kentucky, Yellow Jackets
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Bowl season is almost upon us once again. Yes, friends, things kickoff early as usual, just as they have since roughly 2001. But instead of the New Orleans Bowl doing the honors in getting things started this year, we have the New Mexico Bowl and the Idaho Potatoes Bowl (don’t laugh!) doing said honors this year. The Big Easy Bowl does not commence until Dec. 22, oddly enough.
In any event, I have ranked the bowl games by category, with the major criterion being level of desirability to view, partly on my end, partly on the end of the average viewer who is NOT a certifiable college football addict like yours truly!
The first installment is of bowl games about which I am only moderately interested, at best (all times Eastern Standard):
Idaho Potato Bowl (Boise, Id.), Sat., Dec. 15, 4:30 PM EST
Toledo (9-3) vs. No. 22 Utah State (10-2)
The de facto WAC champ takes on a respectable MAC team that finished 3rd in the western division. The only interesting aspect about this game is that it will be an interesting test to see how strong the MAC truly is against the best of what is seen by most as a traditionally weak conference.
Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego) Sat., Dec. 15, 8:00 PM EST
BYU (7-5) vs. San Diego State (9-3)
The Cougars take on the de facto leader of the Mountain West, in what amounts to a glorified home game for the Aztecs. Despite the numbers not matching, their records have interesting similarities in that both teams lost to at least one Pac-12 team, and both teams also lost to San Jose State (!).
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl (St. Petersburg, Fla.) Fri., Dec. 21, 7:30 PM EST
Ball State (9-3) vs. UCF (9-4)
Both the Cardinals and the Golden Knights have nearly identical records, with UCF’s extra loss coming to Tulsa in the C-USA championship game. The only interesting aspect to this game is how a MAC also-ran stacks up against the C-USA runner-up. Everybody was bullish on the MAC this year for the apparent strength the conference hath shewn; now it is time to put up or shut up.
Hawaii Bowl (Honolulu, Hi.) Dec. 24, 8:00 PM EST
Fresno State (9-3) vs. SMU (6-6)
This game used to have a little more of a mystique to it when it was called the Aloha Bowl, and was played on Christmas. Just sayin’! That said, it least this game is another glorified home game for Hawaii team, like it is half the time. A Mountain West also-ran vs. a C-USA team barely eligible does seem to be a slight mismatch in the Bulldogs favor. On the other hand, this will be an interesting homecoming for June Jones, albeit on the Mustangs side this time.
Little Caesars Bowl (Detroit), Wed., Dec. 26, 7:30 PM
Western Kentucky (7-5) vs. Central Michigan (6-6)
It used to be they would pit a middle-of-the-road Big Ten team against the MAC champ. Even then, the game was only moderately interesting, and only to the fan bases of the teams that got the bid to the Motor City. Now, with a Sun Belt Conference also-ran against a plodding MAC team, it is even less interesting. But credit the guys at EDSBS for reminding us that, given the game is in Detroit, the players, as a bonus, the players might get deeds to abandoned key real estate in their gift bags!
Military Bowl (Washington, D.C.), Thurs., Dec. 27, 3:00 PM
No. 24 San Jose State (10-2) vs. Bowling Green (8-4)
WAC near-champ vs. MAC also-ran: we know what ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd would say; “not interested!” Yes, the Trojans (the SJSU kind, not the USC kind) did take the WAC by storm this year, but it’s still the WAC.
Belk Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.), Thurs., Dec. 27, 6:30 PM
Cincinnati (9-3) vs. Duke (6-6)
A decent Big East team takes on a barely-eligible ACC team. That alone does not make most folks interested. So what in addition to that dismal matchup engages anybody? Answer: the intrigue. Who exactly will be coaching the Bearcats, anyhow? And how will David Cutcliffe prepare the Blue Devils for a bowl game that might actually be winnable for them?
Independence Bowl (Shreveport, La.), Fri., Dec. 28, 2:00 PM
Ohio U (8-4) vs. Louisiana-Monroe (8-4)
Something negative, something positive to be said. The negative is obvious if one knows anything at all about bowl history. The Independence Bowl used to be one of the best matchups in the bowl lineup, pitting a Big XII team against an SEC team in a fairly even match. Even before then, the 1995 Michigan State – LSU matchup was memorable, and the 1997 match between the Tigers and Notre Dame was even more so (both ended in the Bayou Bengals’ favor). Remember the “Blizzard Bowl” between Mississippi State and Texas A&M in late 2000? ‘Twas yet another great example of this great bowl game. It is not anymore, though. Now it pits MAC vs. Sun Belt. The Cadillac has been reduced to a Chrysler K-car. Positive: lookee there, the Bobcats made it to a bowl game after all!
Russell Athletics Bowl (Orlando, Fla.), Fri., Dec. 28, 5:30 PM
Virginia Tech (6-6) vs. Rutgers (9-3)
The Hokies have under-performed all the year, and the Scarlet Knights might be a bit demoralized after losing at home to Louisville and losing out on the BCS in so doing. So which team is going to show up? Scratch that: is either team going to show up?
Meinecke Car Care Bowl (Houston), Fri., Dec. 28, 9:00 PM
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (7-5)
Okay, at least it involves a Big Ten vs. Big XII matchup. The only problem is, one team squeaked by into this game while in a conference that is down this year, and the other is facing leadership turmoil in the wake of Tommy Tuberville’s abrupt departure. On paper, the Red Raiders are the clear favorite, but don’t underestimate the power of demoralization.
Armed Forces Bowl (Ft. Worth, Texas), Sat., Dec. 29, 11:45 AM
Rice (6-6) vs Air Force (6-6)
Both teams squeaked into a bowl game. Which one is happier to be there? The happier team is a bit more focused on preparation, which will make the difference come game time. Seriously; it should be called the “Ethics Bowl,” and the fact that I imply derision in that observation is a very sad commentary on our society. On the other hand, Air Force’s triple option ‘grittitude’ is always a pleasure to see for those of us who like real football.
Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tenn.), Mon., Dec. 31, 3:30 PM
Iowa State (6-6) vs. Tulsa (10-3)
The Cyclones have had some flashes of brilliance this year. The question becomes, will this be enough to overcome the C-USA champs?
Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas), Mon., Dec. 31, 2:00 PM
USC (7-5) vs Georgia Tech (6-7)
My bowl pick for “they shoot horses, don’t they?” Why? Because it is pointless. The Trojans come in to El Paso only 7-5 because they have yet to muster up the discipline needed to take things to the next level, while the Yellow Jackets already have a losing season. Still, the offensive contrast should be interesting to watch, if nothing else.
Next installment: Bowl Games of More Interest
Bowl Game “Categories” December 11, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Armed Forces, Army, Baylor, BBVA Compass, BCS, Black Knights, Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings, Capital One, championship, Citrus, college, Cotton, Doc Blanchard, East Carolina, Fight Hunger, Florida, Florida State, football, Gator, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Glenn Davis, GoDaddy.com, Holiday, Ken Niumatalolo, Kent State, Kraft, Lafayette, Louisiana, Louisville, Michigan State, Midshipmen, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Music City, N.C. State, Navy, NCAA, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New Orleans, North Carolina State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Orange, Pinstripe, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Rice, Rich Ellerson, Southern Cal, Sugar, Sun, Syracuse, TCU, Texas A&M, Todd Graham, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, West Virginia
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COACHES: (following Week 15)
Lucky Guy: Ken Niumatalolo, Navy
Poor Guy: Rich Ellerson, Army
TEAMS:
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Navy
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Army
UPCOMING BOWL GAMES:
Ticket to die for: No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama in the BCS National Championship, Miami, Jan. 7
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Nevada vs. Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 15
Best non-Big Six matchup: East Carolina vs. Louisiana-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 22
Upset alert: No. 16 Nebraska over No. 7 Georgia in the Capital One Bowl (formerly the Citrus Bowl), Orlando, Fla., Jan. 1 (the reasons for this possibility are to be explained in a subsequent article).
Old Rivals Reunite: No. 9 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas (Arlington), Jan. 4 Also: West Virginia vs. Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl, Bronx, N.Y., Dec. 29
Home Field Advantage: Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina State in the Music City Bowl, Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 31
Must win: Pitt vs. Ole Miss (both 6-6) in the BBVA Compass Bowl, Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 5
Offensive explosion: Baylor vs. No. 17 UCLA in the Holiday Bowl, San Diego, Dec. 27
Defensive struggle: possibly none. Then again, possibly TCU vs. Michigan State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Tempe, Ariz., Dec. 29.
Great game no one is talking about: Mississippi State vs. No. 20 Northwestern in the Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Jan. 1
Intriguing coaching matchup: Ken Niumatalolo of Navy vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, San Francisco, Dec. 29
Intriguing Lack-of-Coach matchup: No. 25 Kent State vs. Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl, Mobile, Ala., Jan. 6
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 21 Louisville vs. No. 3 Florida in the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, Jan. 2 Also: See next item below!
Why are they playing? No. 15 Northern Illinois vs. No. 12 Florida State in the Orange Bowl, Miami, Jan. 1
Plenty of good seats remaining: Rice vs. Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, Fort Worth, Texas, Dec. 29
They shoot horses, don’t they? USC vs. Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl, El Paso, Texas, Dec. 31
When it comes to the bowl games themselves, plenty more humorously-talented writers than I have taken their stab at wryly skewering most of the matchups. Perhaps the best example of this would be the talented folks at everydayshouldbesaturday.com, who have done just that regarding the aforementioned skewering.
Having said that, a brief pause is in order for the Army-Navy game this past weekend, for it was a viewing pleasure. The game was the best of this storied match-up in recent memory; big plays on both sides, a close score throughout the game, and lots of heart and extra efforts on both sides of the ball. It was a darn shame one of them had to lose, especially Army, who lost in heartbreaking fashion after fumbling the ball with only 15 yards and a minute to go before scoring a touchdown to otherwise win the game. Instead, the Midshipmen have triumphed over the Black Knights for the 11th year in a row (!). But the game was also a viewing pleasure from a uniforms aesthetics standpoint, too. The gold in Army’s helmets was a true old gold, and harkened directly back to the glory days of Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis. Why don’t they use that gold in their helmets all the time today? The WWII maps in their jersey numbers and black helmet stripe was a way-cool touch, too! Meanwhile, Navy’s tri-tone white helmet was awesome to behold. Chrome-gold on blue on white is something never before seen at any major level of football; congrats to the Middies for this new innovation in artistic helmet design!
College Football Week 14 Awards December 3, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: ACC, Alabama, Arkansas State, Army, B1G, Baylor, Big 10, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Bo Pelini, championship, Charlie Strong, Charlie Weis, college, Florida State, football, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Gus Malzahn, Kansas, Kyle Flood, Louisville, Mack Brown, Mark Richt, Navy, NCAA, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Nicholls, Nick Saban, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Pac-12, Rutgers, SEC, South Alabama, South Florida, Stanford, Texas, Texas State, UCLA, West Virginia, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are week 14 AP polls unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Nick Saban, Alabama
Glad I’m not him: Mark Richt, Georgia
Lucky guy: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Poor guy: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Desperately seeking a clue: Charlie Weis, Kansas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gus Malzahn, Arkansas State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Desperately seeking … anything: Mack Brown, Texas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oregon State (beat Nicholls 77-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Stanford (beat UCLA 27-24 in the Pac-12 championship)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (lost to West Virginia 59-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Georgia Tech (lost to Florida State in the ACC championship)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas State (beat New Mexico State 66-28)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: South Alabama
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Nebraska
Did the season start? Rutgers
Can the season end? South Florida
Can the season never end? Wisconsin
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Alabama 32, No. 3 Georgia 28
Never play this again: No. 15 Oregon State 77, Nicholls 3
What? No. 8 Stanford 27, No. 16 UCLA 24
Huh? Louisville 20, Rutgers 17
Are you kidding me? No. 21 Northern Illinois 44, No. 17 Kent State 37
Oh – my – God: Wisconsin 70, No. 12 Nebraska 31
Told you so: Baylor 41, Oklahoma State 34
NEXT WEEK
Only one regular season game is to be played next week, which is the annual Army-Navy game: a cherished American tradition. Go Armed Forces – God bless our troops!
College Football Week 13 Awards November 25, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, B1G, BCS, Big 10, Big Ten, Bill Snyder, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Buckeyes, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Columbus, Commodores, Connecticut, crasher, Dana Holgorsen, Dores, Eastern Michigan, Fighting, Florida, Florida State, football, Fresno State, FSU, Gamecocks, Gators, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Iowa, Irish, Jay Cutler, Jimbo Fisher, Joker Phillips, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Kyle Flood, Lane Kiffin, Liberty Bowl, Los Angeles, Louisville, MAC, Mack Brown, Madison, Michigan, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nebraska, Nevada, Nicholls, Noles, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, Pete Carroll, Pittsburgh, rival, Ron English, Rutgers, Seminoles, South Alabama, South Bend, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Tallahassee, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Tigers, Todd Graham, Trojan, UConn, Urban Meyer, USC, Vanderbilt, Vandy, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [post-week 13, pre-week 14] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Will Muschamp, Florida
Glad I’m not him: Mack Brown, Texas
Glad it’s finally over: Joker Phillips, Kentucky
Lucky guy: Todd Graham, Arizona State
Poor guy: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a clue: Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Desperately seeking … anything: Ron English, Eastern Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (beat Auburn 49-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Nebraska (beat Iowa 13-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Georgia Tech (lost to No. 3 Georgia 42-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Washington State (beat Washington 31-28, OT)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ole Miss (beat Mississippi State 41-24)
Dang, they’re good: Stanford
Dang, they’re bad: South Florida
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona (lost to Arizona State 41-34)
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Kansas
Can the season never end? Florida
GAMES
Play this again: No. 12* South Carolina 27, No. 11* Clemson 17 (notwithstanding Baylor 52, Texas Tech 45, OT)
Never play this again: Fresno State 48, Air Force 15
What? TCU 20, No. 15* Texas 13
Huh? UConn 23, No. 20* Louisville 20, 3OT
Are you kidding me? Pittsburgh 27, No. 18* Rutgers 6
Oh – my – God: Ole Miss 41, Mississippi State 24
Told you so: No. 13* Oklahoma 51, No. 21* Oklahoma State 48, OT
*Week 13 AP rankings
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Alabama vs. No .3 Georgia in Atlanta
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: (none)
Best non-Big Six matchup: No. 19 Northern Illinois @ No. 18 Kent State (MAC Championship, Friday night)
Upset alert: No. 7 Kansas State @ No. 23 Texas
Must win: Alabama vs. Georgia in the SEC Championship game (notwithstanding Louisville @ Rutgers)
Offensive explosion: Baylor @ Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: Cincinnati @ UConn
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Rutgers, Thursday
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mack Brown of Texas vs. Bill Snyder of Kansas State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Nicholls @ No. 16 Oregon State
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Hawaii
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ Texas State
They shoot horses, don’t they? Kansas @ West Virginia
Rivalry Week in Review:
Give Urban Meyer a ton of credit: Ohio State had nothing to play for this year. Nothing. No matter how well they played this regular season, they were ineligible for any sort of bowl game or any other post-season play, not even the Big 10 Conference championship game. That is too bad, because they currently, er, lead the Leaders division of the conference by a virtual mile (two games, to be exact). Moreover, the team they lead is Penn State, who is ineligible for a much longer stretch of time, sadly, and for even more bizarre reasons. The Buckeyes’ current lead in the conference is three games ahead of the actual eligible member of the Leaders division, that being Wisconsin, whom Ohio State defeated in Madison, Wis., in overtime. As stated earlier, the Buckeyes had nothing to play for this year, and as such could have just lied down and given up early on. Yet Coach Meyer has kept his team focused and hungry every week. Best of all, they capped off an undefeated season by beating arch-rival Michigan 26-21. If these shadows remain unchanged, then the future in Columbus, Ohio is very bright indeed.
Yes, Florida won: But give Jimbo Fisher a ton of credit. He has brought Florida State back to near-football factory status, which has, in turn, brought the Sunshine State Rivalry back to prominence, which is good for football. The Seminoles put up on heckuva fight against the Gators in Tallahassee, but in the end, the latter’s defense proved too much for the former, as Florida triumphed in the end, 37-26. Yet to put things in perspective, this “rivalry” had been rather one-sided since 2004, be it in recent wins on the part of the ‘Noles (31-7 in 2010, 21-7 in 2011), or in consecutive wins (the Gators won all matchups with FSU from 2004 to 2009). The level of play, the overall excitement, and reasonably close score indicate that the one-sidedness has come to an end, at least temporarily. Expect this rivalry to retain its regained intensity in the future years to come!
Speaking of Florida, it looks like Muschamp is “the guy” after all. Folks had left him for dead at the end of last year after he went only 7-6 in his first season as head coach of the Gators. Yet this year, he has lost only one game, has just defeated his No. 10-ranked, in-state rival, and his team is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation. The Gators look to be in good hands after all.
Is the USC-Notre Dame rivalry back? Could be. Brian Kelly has put enough pieces together at Notre Dame to make the team recall the physical squads that made the Irish top contenders for years on end. Meanwhile, Lane Kiffin has gradually been putting pieces back together at USC after years of probation. Notre Dame was downright dormant as a former national power for a decade and a half. Meanwhile, USC was severely weakened by scholarship reductions due to probation, which they have now survived, and are looking to get back to where they were under Pete Carroll’s tenure. Going in to the most recent game, this rivalry, like the previous one mentioned, was also one-sided over the past decade. The Trojans won all but one of these games since 2002, and embarrassed the Irish in South Bend last year, 31-17. This year, Notre Dame stepped up and won in Los Angeles, 22-13, against a Trojan team with a back-up redshirt freshman and a team that has yet to find itself in terms of a necessary level of discipline and consistency. Regardless, though, the game was competitive, and we look forward to more of it in the coming years.
Speaking of one-sided rivalries: The South Carolina-Clemson game is one that has overall been in the latter’s favor, as the Tigers led the rivalry 65-41-4. Nevertheless, with the Gamecocks’ recent win, they have now won the last four games between them and the Tigers. This is the first time South Carolina has repeated this streak since from 1951-1954, and it ties the record for their longest win streak against their upstate rival. Moreover, South Carolina has won five out of the last seven of such games.
Is it too early to say that this is the greatest Vanderbilt team of modern times, if not of all time? Don’t laugh. When is the last time you saw the Commodores go 8-4? In recent memory, Vandy teams showed some signs of brilliance (the Jay Cutler-led squads, for example), but even they struggled to win six games, most of the time falling short of that mark. This team not only surpassed that mark for bowl eligibility, it blew passed it completely. Along the way, they blew out Kentucky, Tennessee, and Wake Forest. Not the most impressive opponents, to be sure, but the fact that they were able to hold off a rapidly-improving Ole Miss should count for something. To be sure, they have proven not to be able to handle the true heavyweights of the conference, losing badly to both Georgia (48-3) and Florida (31-17), and lost the season opener at home to South Carolina (17-13). Still, despite these weaknesses, the ‘Dores are bowl eligible for the second season in a row, something unprecedented in the history of the program. If that is not enough, the team reached other key milestones as well. The evidence speaks for itself. That said, if any doubts remain, last year, Vandy went only 6-6 before losing to Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. This year, they are a stronger team, and are 8-4; a bowl win should quell any doubt that they are the greatest Commodore squad of modern times, if not since the program’s inception in 1890.
Here’s something to blow you mind: Iowa and Kentucky, both cellar-dwellers in their respective conference divisions, are the only reasons why there is not some undefeated MAC team out there threatening to crash the BCS. Check it out. Iowa beat Northern Illinois by one point in the season opener, and Kentucky beat Kent State 47-14 in week 2. Want to make things even more interesting? Ask yourself the following question: would either of these “Big Six” teams beat any one of those two MAC teams at this stage of the season?
Oh yeah, and Notre Dame will be playing for the national championship for the first time in 24 years. Yay.
intellectualgridiron 