120 College Football Thoughts, Questions, and Opinions

Everyone knows the big headlines with the big teams.  I decided to return to something I did before last season and give a quick hit on all 120 teams in the FBS.  Simply, a quick thought, comment, opinion or question about each team.  Some serious, some not so much.  I will likely do this again in the summer. 

ACC

Boston College- We want Herzlich (clap, clap, clapclapclap) we want Herzlich (clap, clap, clapclapclap)

Clemson- How much will Spiller be missed?

Duke- Who would have though we would see the day a coach would say I want to coach Duke football instead of Tennessee?

Florida State- No more Bowden? Weird.

Georgia Tech- New defense coordinator but old face for the ACC.

Maryland- Why is Friedgen still the coach??

Miami- Good call on extending Shannon.

North Carolina- A good number of returning underclassman should help next season.

North Carolina State- Despite being granted another year, leading rusher Baker has decided to move on.

Virginia- Trying to get NFL Rip Scherer for offense. To be honest, I don’t know much about him.

Virginia Tech- Way to step up and take on Boise State when most teams appear to be avoiding them.

Wake Forest- Is it just me or does it seem like Skinner was there forever?

Big XII

Baylor- Griffin gets a medical red shirt, should keep Baylor on an up tick.

Colorado- What’s the deal with all the players transferring?

Iowa State- Looks like last years hire of Rhoads was a smart one.

Kansas- I wonder how new coach Gill feels about recruiting.

Kansas State- Snyder came back, but so far nothing special.

Missouri- One of the top rumors here is would they and could they be the team to help expand the Big Ten.

Nebraska- Defense should be good again, but how do you replace a guy like Suh?

Oklahoma- Ready for more Landry Jones, not so much for his stache.

Oklahoma State- New offensive coordinator, but is Gundy still calling the plays?

Texas- The plan stays in place, Muschamp didn’t jump ship.

Texas A&M- Can’t get much better news that All American National leader in sacks returning.

Texas Tech- I will be interested to see how much this team changes with Tuberville.

Big East

Cincinnati- New coach. Central Michigan paid off before, let's see if history repeats.

Connecticut- After the tragedy earlier in the year, nice win over an SEC opponent to take some momentum into 2010.

Louisville- Maybe a little SEC attitude and flavor coming to the Big East.

Pitt- Gonna be all about Lewis next season.

Rutgers- I have a feeling we will be seeing a whole lot of Sanu next season.

South Florida- New coach for the first time ever.

Syracuse- One season and rumors were up for Marrone to move on to other positions? Maybe we should let him try to succeed here first.

West Virginia- Good news, Devine and Sanders are coming back.

Big Ten

Illinois- I would ask how you replace Williams and Benn, but I don’t remember them doing a whole lot last season anyway.

Indiana- I guess no turnover is good considering all the coaches they have gone through.

Iowa- Huge momentum going into next season, could they be making a push at the Big Ten title?

Michigan- Year three for Rich Rod. Is it make or break?

Michigan State- Bringing back seven suspended players could help, could hurt.

Minnesota- Could be losing offensive coordinator to the NFL.

Northwestern- What’s the deal with wanting to play football in baseball stadiums?

Ohio State- If Pryor keeps playing like he did in the Rose Bowl, look out.

Penn State- Paterno still the head coach. Better news in my opinion, Royster is coming back.

Purdue- Purdue improved just a little from '08 to '09. Much more is needed.

Wisconsin- 10-3 and only fourth place in the conference?

Conference USA

East Carolina- Still awaiting a new coach.

Houston- Sumlin and Keenum back could be key for another good year.

Memphis- Tommy West out, Larry Porter in. My guess, good running back recruits.

Marshall- Hired the new coach from a rival. Now he is taking recruits with him.

Rice- Not much to say other than I don’t know if they can get much worse so that’s good, right?

SMU- Back to a bowl game since forever. I would say Jones was a good choice.

Southern Miss- Fedora is winning, just maybe not big enough. Back to back 7-6 seasons.

Tulane- I think it is time to start looking to replace coach Toledo

Tulsa- Bringing in a high school coach to run the offense.

UAB- Couldn’t win with Joe Webb; I don’t expect them to win without him.

UCF- Bringing back Skaldany to help with defense and special teams.

UTEP- Vittatoe and Buckram back just might give the Miners a chance.

Independent

Army- Just a game away from a bowl last year, maybe 2010 is the year.

Navy- I would like to recommend Dobbs in large doses everywhere. That may be a given though.

Notre Dame- Kelly has had success everywhere he has been. Time to see if he can do it again.

MAC

Akron- Brookhart lifted the program, now they are hoping for Ianello to take them to the next level.

Ball State- From 12-2 to 2-10. Wow what a drop.

Bowling Green- Clawson another name up for ECU? Not so fast my friend.

Buffalo- Loss of Gill now what will become of the program.

Central Michigan- Cincinnati keeps taking the coaches, but Central Michigan keeps rolling. Too bad LeFevour is gone.

Eastern Michigan- Year one for Ron English was an 0-12 season. Can’t get worse?

Kent State- Has anyone heard if Jarvis is getting another year or is he moving on?

Miami OH- To be honest, I thought they were going to go 0-12. They surprised me and won one.

Northern Illinois- Jerry Kill has taken the Huskies on a one game flip going 6-7 to 7-6.

Ohio- That makes a pair of MAC championship game losses under Solich. I say they win it soon.

Temple- I hear Golden’s name has been tossed around for some other job openings.

Toledo- The Rockets seem to be able to beat teams like Michigan and Colorado but not the rest of the MAC.

Western Michigan- I will likely pick them again and they will likely lose again.

Mountain West

Air Force- Held on to the head guy but maybe not the defensive coordinator.

BYU- The good news is Unga is coming back. The bad news Pitta and Hall are done.

Colorado State- After a good start I really thought they had something going, I was wrong.

New Mexico- Did anyone else know that they had the national leader in tackles?

San Diego State- Hoke double the wins from '08 to '09. If he can do it again the Aztecs could go to a bowl.

TCU- Ready to make another run at the Mountain West and BCS.

UNLV- Welcome to the FBS coach Hauck. You done good at Montana good luck in the Mountain West.

Utah- Looks like the QB race will be one worth watching.

Wyoming- What a finish to the season. On the up tick moving forward.

Pac-10

Arizona- Everyone making a big deal of Gronkowski leaving. Did anyone else notice he didn’t play last season?

Arizona State-Well at least Erickson is still there. Wait, is that still a good thing?

Cal- Best is out. I wonder if since Cal was rated high last season and they bombed if they will do good if projected low?

Oregon- All the pieces are there for a repeat conference title, maybe more.

Oregon State- Three BCS game opponents on the schedule, could help, could hurt.

Stanford- Bye bye Toby.

UCLA- Way to hold on to Chow. Because your offense has been sooooo good under him.

USC- Kiffin, huh? Good luck with that.

Washington- Locker is back so that’s good.

Washington State- Year Three for Wulff. Will he get more if they don’t win?

SEC

Alabama- Got the goods to repeat for both the SEC and the National Championship.

Arkansas- Well Petrino got the Razorbacks to a bowl but I still feel like I am waiting to see more from him.

Auburn- Remember when the Auburn fans were pissed off about the Chizik hire?

Florida- So is Urban coming back or taking time off or what?

Georgia- New defensive coordinator bringing some NFL experience.

Kentucky- Thanks for everything coach Brooks.

LSU- Rumors are up that Crowton could return to Louisiana Tech.

Mississippi- Snead moving on.

Mississippi State- Brett went to Southern Miss and now his nephew is a Bulldog.

Tennessee- Interesting choice in Dooley. Oh Derek Dooley? Hmmm.

South Carolina- Sounds like the Gamecocks could be getting a highly ranked running back in Lattimore.

Vanderbilt- Going after it, no FCS teams on the schedule.

Sun Belt

Arkansas State- Not a great season, and there is rebuilding to do to squads that weren’t great to start with.

Florida Atlantic- Bad season, but with Schnellenberger still as the coach, I would expect a return to the upper half.

FIU- I thought they had a shot at a bowl but I was wrong. I don’t know what I will think for next season.

Louisiana Lafayette- One of two Sun Belt teams to finish 6-6 but not get a bowl invite.

Louisiana Monroe- The other Sun Belt team at 6-6 at home for the holidays.

Middle Tennessee- Stockstill is staying and so is Dasher, as far as I have heard.

North Texas- Dodge to return despite another losing season.

Troy- Should be at the top of the Sun Belt again next season but losing position coaches is affecting recruiting.

Western Kentucky- First year of D1A less than successful. New coach, year two can’t get much worse.

WAC

Boise State- Early favorite to win the WAC, again. Early favorite to go to a BCS bowl, again. Early projections giving them a shot at the National Championship? That’s new.

Fresno State- The bad news is Matthews is leaving early. The good news is Fresno usually reloads at RB.

Hawaii- Hawaii has always been about big offense, good news Salas, Moniz, and a number of other skill players return.

Idaho- Vandals surprised everyone last season but losing key players.

Louisiana Tech- I have heard a few rumors on a new coach, and I do mean NEW coach.

Nevada- One of the three 1000 yard rushers is gone but that means two are coming back.

New Mexico State- Coach Walker chooses NMS over the NFL, interesting call.

San Jose State- Tomey has chosen to retire. In comes Mike MacIntyre from Duke.

Utah State- To most teams 4-8 is a bad season. For the Aggies it is the best in about seven years. Could be a step forward.