Pondering The Upcoming College Football Season With My Dad

I have been trying to think of a nice way to sum up the major themes in the upcoming season.  Then I was standing with my Dad at a car dealership getting his car worked on when it dawned on me.  Why not ask the man who was the starting quarterback for his high school team and a man that has watched a ton of college football.  So I asked him, “Dad, give me five questions that are hovering over the college football landscape”.  He gave me six.  So I will do my best to answer what he believes the six biggest questions are.

1.  Will Nebraska become a contender or a pretender in the Big XII?

Nebraska should start off hot with games against Western Michigan, San Jose St., and New Mexico St.  They get a very stern test against Virginia Tech at home.  So they should be 3-1 heading into October.  But they have a brutal Big XII schedule; they have home games against Missouri, Baylor, Kansas, and Colorado.  Of that bunch, Missouri is a certain loss, Baylor is a certain win, and Kansas and Colorado are going to be tough.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Nebraska went 1-3 at home.  Road games are not much better; they will play at Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Iowa St., and Kansas St.  Oklahoma is a certain loss and Texas Tech is right now a pencil loss.  Kansas St. is a rising program and that game will be very tough in Manhattan.  The good news is there is a game against Iowa St.  Even though I believe long term Nebraska will be fine under Bo Pelini, this year will be rough.  Pretender for this year, contender in a few years.

2.  Will the winner of the Ohio St./USC game have a pass to the National Championship?

Even though the winner will likely be #1 in the nation, you can’t say for certain.  That game I would classify as a “razor’s edge” game.  To the winner, glory and a great resume win that will propel them to the #1 spot in the polls, to the loser, possibly elimination from a National Championship title game spot.  Since the SEC is (finally) recognized nationally as the best conference, a one loss SEC team will zoom past this one loss team.  Especially if it is Ohio St., their schedule is weak with only one big game other than this one, at Wisconsin.  Michigan isn’t highly though of this year thus will only impact Ohio St. if Ohio St. loses that game.  USC can absorb a loss better, since it still will play good teams in Oregon and Arizona St.

3.  Will the loser of the Auburn/LSU game be eliminated from the SEC West race?

Emphatically yes.  Since the SEC West race will be so tight, and the first tiebreaker is head to head, you would think that at the very least the loser will be playing a difficult hand.  The only way that this game becomes less pivotal (but still much so) is if Alabama can become a threat in the race thus putting into play a possible three team tie. 

4.  If LSU ends up with less than 10 wins will that translate into Les Miles being on the hot seat?

Probably not, the only way it gets him in hot water is if he loses games this year the way he won them last year.  If a nine win season includes victories over Alabama and Auburn or either then it won’t matter much.  If a nine win season includes loses over those teams then he will be criticized harshly, but I feel a national championship earns you some clout.  However, my dad did cite the example of Larry Coker.

5.  Will Charlie Weis be put on the hot seat if he wins less than 10 games this year?

Again, it depends on the circumstances.  If they are close in every game and play hard then Notre Dame Fans will be upset but take solace that they will have a better team next year.  Unless this season totally unravels Coach Weis should have enough time to build a good team in 2009.

6.  Is there a BCS spoiler out in the field in 2008?

Pete Futak of Scout.com puts out two possibilities: BYU and Fresno St.  BYU will have games against UCLA (home) and at Washington.  Could be some nice wins, but I don’t see those wins being that big unless either one of those teams knocks of Arizona St. or USC.  Remember, the mid-majors have to gain points by a big victory over a BCS team and hope that the BCS team gains clout by beating big opponents to raise their BCS average which in turn will raise the mid-major’s clout.  The team that could do it is Fresno St. their BCS schedule could cause a rumble if they are to win all three.  They play at UCLA (ok game) at Kansas St. (solid team) and home to Wisconsin (big game), if they go undefeated then Pat Hill may have an argument to get a date at the Fiesta Bowl.

Now that my Dad has put in his two cents into the big issues, I would like to encourage you to do the same.  Either by emailing me at [e-mail] (please put something in the subject line as an indicator), or put them in the comments section below.  I read all comments, and the ones that think I am on some narcotic are entertaining.  I will pick the best ones and answer them next week as a final summation heading into the season, provided I have participation.