Bleacher Report - Articles by David Hedlind

College Football's Unlucky Week 13?: Anything Goes in a Rivarly

David Hedlind — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:20:59 -0500

It’s week 13. Will 13 prove to be unlucky for some teams?

It’s Thanksgiving week. What will these teams have to be thankful for?

It’s rivalry week. Everything goes out the window when you are playing a rival.

Tuesday Nov. 24

Ball State at Western Michigan: It is already the second half. By the time this is published the game will likely be over. WMU is just trying not to have a losing season. Ball State just wants a W.

Thursday Nov. 26

Texas at Texas A&M: Texas is still undefeated and is trying to make the BCS National Championship game. A win here is the first step followed by the Big XII title game.

Friday Nov. 27

Temple at Ohio: The winner of this game goes to the MAC title game to represent the East. Temple has been the hot team and is undefeated in MAC play. Ohio only has one conference loss.

Illinois at Cincinnati: The Bearcats are undefeated and could lose here but still make a BCS bowl since it is out of conference. Winning against a Big Ten conference team will help the reputation and staying undefeated will keep the hopes of more than just any BCS bowl alive.

Alabama at Auburn: Alabama is undefeated and already playing in the SEC championship game, the winner of which people expect will play for the National Championship. Auburn would love to kill its rival's dreams by pulling the upset in the Iron Bowl.

Nebraska at Colorado: Nebraska is set to play for the Big XII title in another week and will use this as a momentum builder.

Pitt at West Virginia: Pitt still has a chance at the Big East title but first must battle through the Back Yard Brawl. Pitt will meet Cincinnati next week for no less than a share of the Big East.

Nevada at Boise State: Boise State still has a game after this one but this is basically for the WAC title. Both teams are undefeated in league play. Boise is still hoping to make the BCS.

Saturday Nov. 28

Wake Forest at Duke: Only real thing to say here is that if Duke wins it will be bowl eligible.

Clemson at South Carolina: Clemson is already headed for the ACC title game. South Carolina would love to take some of the wind out of Clemson’s sails.

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma: Oklahoma State could still make a BCS bowl but the Cowboys would definitely need a win here. Oklahoma simply wants to have a better season than just 6-6.

Southern Miss at East Carolina: The winner will play in the Conference USA championship game. The representative from the West is yet to be determined.

Arizona at Arizona State: Arizona is playing for bowl position and to show it can rebound from back to back losses with the last one being a draining emotional overtime loss.

Florida State at Florida: This rivalry has been pretty one sided in recent years with Florida winning and winning and winning. Florida still has National Championship hopes which, like in any rivalry, FSU would love to dash.

Miami at South Florida: USF already beat Florida State this season and would love to notch a win over Miami. The state’s big three is inching toward a big four.

Middle Tennessee at ULM: Did you know that if a conference is unable to fill all of its bowls then those bowls must take a 7-5 team before a 6-6 team no matter what? What does that mean? It means that if ULM wins it will be 7-5 and a bowl must take the Warhawks at large before teams like Arizona, UCLA, Tennessee, or South Carolina.

Utah at BYU: The Holy War doesn’t have the same luster as it has in the last few years when the conference and more were on the line. It will still be a big game for both teams, though, as it is for second place in the conference. The only game with two ranked teams this week.

Washington State at Washington: Another Sour Apple Cup game. Washington isn’t as bad as it was last season but the Huskies are still low in the Pac 10. Washington State is just as bad, maybe worse, as last season.

Troy at ULL: Same story as the ULM game. ULL is eligible and could steal a spot from a more prestigious name team if they can get another win.

Georgia at Georgia Tech: I don’t know what to say here since Georgia is having its worst year in, well, let's just say a long time. Georgia Tech on the other hand is rolling right along with a great year.

Notre Dame at Stanford: Notre Dame is not having the year the Irish expected and even with a win change is likely going to happen. Stanford is exceeding the expectations of most and change may happen due to the success.

UCLA at USC: I don’t even really know what they call this rivalry. The battle for LA? Simply for bragging rights and bowl position with no impact on the conference title.

Luck Runs Out On Irish, Not Oregon: Week 12 Thoughts

David Hedlind — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:19:51 -0500

Running, Running, Running

The University of Nevada has done something no other team has ever done. They ran the ball. That isn’t the part no one has ever done. That comes in the fact that this season they have three different players that have now run for over 1,000 yards. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running backs Luke Lippincott and Vai Taua have all hit the mark.

By the way, I predicted this to happen in my 17 bold predictions at the start of the season.

BCS Play-ins

The Ohio State University is already in the Rose Bowl.

The SEC Championship game has been known for a couple weeks to be between Florida and Alabama.

The ACC will be decided between Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Texas and Nebraska will play for the Big 12 title.

In other games that are not championship games by title, but will decide the conference's spot in the BCS, Pitt and Cincinnati will play for the Big East title while Oregon and Oregon State will battle for the Pac-10 championship.

Of the non-automatic qualifiers, most are still yet to be decided, but the WAC will be decided when Boise State meets Nevada.

Double OT: Part One

With 1:10 left against Notre Dame, Connecticut drove the field and tied the game on a field goal. After UCONN failed to convert on Notre Dame's ensuing fumle, the game was pushed into overtime. Both teams then scored touchdowns to force a second over time.

In the second OT, Notre Dame started with ball and was forced to kick a 36 yard field goal. Connecticut then took the ball and moved it inside the five, where Anthony Dixon scored on a four yard run. It is being called one of the biggest wins in the history of the young Connecticut program.

Double OT: Part Two

In a little more dramatic fashion, one of the last games of the day also ended in a double overtime thrill ride. In the previous, game both teams were playing to salvage their season. In this one, Pac-10 title hopes and Rose Bowl dreams were on the line.

The drama started with about eight minutes to play when Oregon kicked a long field goal to tie the game at 24. The ball was a line drive that looked like it was going to be too low. In fact it was so low it hit the cross bar. Fotunately for the lucky Ducks, it still went over.

Very quickly, Arizona came back and threw a 70 yard touchdown. The ball then went back and forth until it seemed Arizona was going to score again to put the game away. Instead, Oregon corner Talmadge Jackson III intercepted a tipped pass in the end zone.

The Ducks took over and drove 80 yards, capping things off with an eight yard pass from Masoli to TE Ed Dickson with six seconds left. The entire drive, Arizona fans were coming out of their seats and standing on the sidelines in anticipation of taking the field. The snap on the extra point was low, but backup quarterback Nate Costa stayed calm and got it down for Morgan Flint to kick the extra point for the tie. Arizona quarterback Nick Foles took one knee and the game went to overtime.

The fans went back into the stands.

In overtime Oregon scored first on a circus looking catch across the middle by Jeff Maehl. Arizona responded with a touchdown pass to Juron Criner.

In the second overtime, Oregon’s defense stepped up and forced a long field goal. Masoli again went to work and four plays later he was in the end zone holding a game winning touchdown.

Tick Tock

I don’t know if it was Les Miles, an assistant, or the quarterback, and it was likely all of them, but someone wasn’t paying attention to the clock at the end of the LSU and Ole Miss game. The play calling was suspect too. With the golden opportunity vanished, it seems like LSU fans have reason to feal upset.

Rich Rodriguez and Michigan

If Michigan fans are upset with him after yesterdays loss, they need to redirect the blame elsewhere. I don’t think this loss was the coach's fault. Tate Forcier, on the other hand, should have all the blame. He was responsible for too many turnovers and missed opportunities. The defense didn’t help much either.

Notre Dame

At worst, the Irish will finish 6-6, which still makes them bowl eligible. The question is, in which low tier bowl in mid-December will they end up? Regardless of which bowl they play in, it is it will be a far cry from the expectations that the fans had at the start of the season.

Big-10 BCS at Large

Does the Big 10 deserve a second team in the BCS? If so, how do you decide which team gets that spot? Iowa and Penn State are the two teams in position to make it in. Iowa was one of the hottest teams out there until they suddenly lost two in a row to Northwestern and Ohio State at the end of the season. Meanwhile, Penn State has won seven of their last eight games. However, Iowa did beat Penn State.

Army-Navy

Army is now 5-6 with one game to go against Navy game. This year's matchup takes on a whole new dimension. For the first time in a while, Army will be playing for a bowl game. If they can beat Navy, Army will make their first bowl appearance in over 10 seasons.

Pac-10 Race for the Roses Highlights Week 12 in College Football

David Hedlind — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:07:07 -0500

I can’t believe we are here already. It seems like it was just the other day when the season started.

Yet here we are at week 12, and some of the schools will be done for the season after this week. Most won't, but some will.

Sorry if things get redundant about bowl eligibility or conference rankings and bowl positioning.

Wednesday, Nov. 18

Buffalo at Miami OH and Central Michigan at Ball State

The MAC is the only thing on, but neither game is really all that exciting or important unless Ball State can manage an upset.

Thursday, Nov. 19

Colorado at Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State is hoping to keep its chances alive for a BCS at-large bid. Colorado may be playing for coach Dan Hawkins' job, or at least to cool his hot seat.

Friday, Nov. 20

Boise State at Utah State

Boise State has to go on the road a week before meeting Nevada in what will likely be for the conference. They better not overlook Utah State and look ahead...sorry, I can’t even type it with a straight face.

Saturday, Nov. 21

North Carolina at Boston College

BC still has a shot at the division but probably a slim one. Mostly playing for bowl positioning.

Minnesota at Iowa

Iowa is trying to not let down after back-to-back losses and the emotional finish of last week's overtime game. Minnesota is trying to push for appeal for a bowl.

Duke at Miami

Duke is 5-5 but needs two more wins to become bowl eligible.

Ohio State at Michigan

Not even close to what it used to be, unless you are a fan of either. But the rest of the nation probably didn’t even realize this game is on—I didn’t.

Oklahoma at Texas Tech

By name it sounds good, but it is really only for bowl position.

Kent State at Temple

Temple is still at the top of the MAC East. The Owls' great run so far is unlikely to end this week. Kent State would like to win though as it would give them six wins.

Iowa State at Missouri

Iowa State has been one of the surprise teams of the season. Already bowl eligible and looking for more.

Northern Illinois at Ohio

These two sit at second in each of their divisions. Both meet the leaders in their divisions at the end of the regular season. This game may change the ramifications of those games.

TCU at Wyoming

TCU of course is riding high atop the Mountain West and is the leader to earn a BCS bowl from a non-automatic qualifying conference. They take to the road to play a Wyoming team looking to pick up win number six and earn any bowl.

Connecticut at Notre Dame

Notre Dame is not having the season they thought they would. Many chalked this game up as a win, and from what I have seen many still are. I am not—not from what I have seen.

Oregon at Arizona

The most important game in the Pac-10 this week. Each week for the winner will go towards the Rose Bowl. Both teams need to win out to earn their spot, so the winner takes the lead.

Air Force at BYU

Air Force has been that next team in the standings of the Mountain West after the big three of TCU, BYU, and Utah. Of course, they don’t want to always sit in the back seat to those teams and look to make a statement.

Penn State at Michigan State

Penn State would like to keep a BCS at-large chance alive. Michigan State wants to move up in bowl standing.

LSU at Mississippi

Alabama already has the SEC West locked up, so these two are playing for, you guessed it, bowl position.

Wisconsin at Northwestern

Did you know that Wisconsin is actually in a three-way tie for second with Iowa and Penn State in the Big Ten?

Army at North Texas

I haven’t mentioned it in a while, but Army is still alive in their hunt for a bowl. Their record is 4-6 with two games to go.

Arizona State at UCLA

The Pac-10 already has six teams that are bowl eligible, and UCLA and Arizona State are the next two down. UCLA has two tries to get one more win. Arizona State needs two more wins with two tries. In theory both could get there, but 6-6 still might not get them a bowl.

Oregon State at Washington State

Oregon State needs to win out and have Arizona lose a game, and they can go to the Rose Bowl. Washington State probably won't be a problem. The Civil War with Oregon on Dec. 3 may very well be for the conference and the Roses.

Cal at Stanford

The Big Game. I still always see the Stanford band on the field. Stanford can still make the Rose Bowl but needs lots of help around the rest of the top teams in the conference.

Kansas State at Nebraska

Fighting for the right to face Texas in the Big XII title game. The winner will likely do so as the Big XII North champion.

Kansas at Texas

Texas is still trying to stay undefeated and on track to the national championship game.

Nevada at New Mexico State

Nevada has been on a roll and is charging to the matchup with Boise State for the conference title.

College Football Thoughts and Opinions on Week 11

David Hedlind — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:27:24 -0500

Playing for Conference Titles

As we learned last week, the SEC title game is set with Florida and Alabama.

This week Georgia Tech clinched a spot in the ACC championship game. They will likely meet Clemson provided Clemson can win their next game against Virginia.

The Big East is going to come down to Cincinnati and Pitt when they meet in December.

The Pac-10 will be all about Oregon and Arizona this coming Saturday, but even then, whoever wins will still have games on the schedule that they have to win. Oregon State and Stanford are waiting to see what happens.

I don’t know if anything is secured in the Big 12, but I would bet on Texas and Nebraska playing for the title.

The Big Ten is pretty much done no matter what happens with Ohio State and Michigan—the Buckeyes have won the conference again.

Who Is Going Bowling?

Stanford and Iowa State are eligible.

Duke is one win away, and Army needs two.

SMU went 1-11 last season but is bowl eligible this season.

Temple is not only bowl eligible but also in a good spot to win the MAC.

Boise State usually makes all the headlines in Idaho, and despite the blowout loss to the Broncos, the Vandals are still going to go bowling.

BCS

As mentioned above, Ohio State has won the Big Ten and now has the only cinched-up spot in a BCS bowl. There are at-large spots that need to be filled, and right now it is likely at least one will go to either TCU or Boise State. There is still the possibility that both make it in.

We usually expect the loser of the SEC title game to get invited to the Sugar Bowl.

USC was in the running for an at-large as was Notre Dame. With the recent losses by both, it is unlikely that either will see a BCS bowl.

Iowa and Penn State are still possible out of the Big Ten.

Oklahoma State could also be a choice from the Big 12.

The loser of the Pitt and Cincinnati game may still have a chance except that with the loss being so late in the season, it may knock them out.

How Long of a Pass Does Weis Get?

The two things that have been stated and stand out to me are that Charlie Weis now has the same record as Bob Davie and the same win percentage as Ty Willingham at the time of both of their firings.

So two guys in a row let go, and now Weis is truly no better than either one, yet he is still standing. Even if the talk is going on, he still hasn’t been let go.

With the last two games on the schedule not exactly looking like gimmie games, the record and win percentage could fall below those two. Then what excuse will we get?

Blount, No Blount

It seemed like a big story. ESPN announcers tried to make it one. When asked about it at halftime, coach Chip Kelly simply said, “Stay tuned.”

One week ago, suspended running back LeGarrette Blount was reinstated after serving a suspension that started Sept. 4, the day after he blew up on national television and punched an opposing player.

It has been argued both ways. Some people are upset about the reinstatement, saying he got what he deserved. The opposite argument is that a season-long suspension was too much and people are glad he was okayed to come back.

For the first time in two months Blount was suited up on the sideline. The cameras found him time and time again.

Oregon ran the ball with LaMichael James, who has stepped in and clearly become a feature back, already passing the 1,000-yard mark.

His backup Kenjon Barner got carries, as did Andre Crenshaw and Remene Alston.

Blount never played a down.

To me, the message was clear. Blount is a backup now, and he will play AFTER those ahead of him on the depth chart, if at all.

Coaches Up and Down

So how long should a coach get to turn things around?

Memphis and Western Kentucky have already let their coaches go. Who else is likely in danger?

Here is my list of the possible.

Al Groh, Virginia

Tom O’Brien, NC State

Mark Mangino, Kansas

Dan Hawkins, Colorado

Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville

Bill Lynch, Indiana

Ron Zook, Illinois

Charlie Weis, Notre Dame

Mark Snyder, Marshall

Mike Price, UTEP

Bob Toledo, Tulane

David Bailiff, Rice

J.D. Brookhart, Akron

Mike Sanford, UNLV

Dennis Erickson, Arizona State

Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt

Todd Dodge, North Texas

Steve Roberts, Arkansas State

Mario Cristobal, FIU

Dick Tomey, San Jose State

And who is on the up? Who are the guys that may get some press to move on to a bigger paycheck?

Brian Kelly, Cincinnati

Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee State

Chris Petersen, Boise State

Rob Akey, Idaho

Butch Jones, Central Michigan

Al Golden, Temple

Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois

Gary Patterson, TCU

Bronco Mendenhall, BYU

Kyle Whittingham, Utah

Troy Calhoun, Air Force

Kevin Sumlin, Houston

Larry Fedora, Southern Miss

Jim Harbaugh, Stanford

Chip Kelly, Oregon

Paul Rhoads, Iowa State

TCU-Utah Has Center Stage in Week 11 College Football Action

David Hedlind — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:09:30 -0500

It's crunch time in week 11. Some teams are bowl eligible, while some are out.

There are a lot that are looking for one or two more wins to get to a bowl, and they only have a couple more chances.

Tuesday, Nov. 10

Ohio at Buffalo

Ohio is still a game behind Temple, but if they win out up to the regular season finale against the Owls, they could steal the East title.

Wednesday, Nov. 11

Toledo at Central Michigan

Really not much to say other than Central Michigan is looking to stay perfect in MAC play.

Thursday, Nov. 12

Ball State at Northern Illinois

Much like Ohio, Northern Illinois is a game back and meets Central Michigan in the regular season finale, where they could slip into the MAC title game.

South Florida at Rutgers

Both played two FCS teams, so while both have six wins, neither is considered bowl eligible. The winner will become the Big East’s fourth bowl eligible team.

Friday, Nov. 13

West Virginia at Cincinnati

Cincinnati is atop the conference with West Virginia sitting just behind. A win for either will go a long way toward deciding the conference, and even the loser won't be totally out of it.

Temple at Akron

Temple is having a dream season. They are well on their way to the MAC championship game and a bowl.

Saturday, Nov. 14

Tennessee at Mississippi

I think Tennessee is having a better season than expected, while Mississippi may be having a slightly disappointing one. This game puts one of these teams in a bowl.

Colorado at Iowa State

If Iowa State wins, I think two things happen. One, they would be bowl eligible; two, I think Colorado would be looking for a new head coach.

Arizona at Cal

Both are coming in a bit beat up. Arizona looks to keep its Pac-10 title hopes alive. Cal is still trying to salvage a season that had high hopes that have come crashing down.

Arizona State at Oregon

Everyone was anointing Oregon THE hottest team in the country. Then they lost. They are still on top of the Pac-10, but their cushion isn’t there anymore.

Idaho at Boise State

Idaho has been having a good season and is bowl eligible. For a while there it seemed like they would be one of the challengers to Boise State. In recent weeks they haven’t been quite as good but could still catch Boise sleeping.

Nebraska at Kansas

Nebraska is pushing for the Big XII North title. Kansas is trying to get to a bowl.

Iowa at Ohio State

I had it planned as the game of the week, but after Iowa lost last week and with Ricky Stanzi out, not so much. Still a big one in deciding the Big Ten representative for the Rose Bowl.

Washington at Oregon State

Oregon State is still in the mix for the Pac-10 title. Washington already has a couple of upsets under their belt.

Florida at South Carolina

Florida already has the East locked up, but that doesn’t mean they can sleep on a team like the Gamecocks.

Stanford at USC

Two years ago Stanford beating USC was considered one of the biggest upsets of all time. If it were to happen this year, would many people even blink? I wouldn’t.

Fresno State at Nevada

The nation's leading rusher, Ryan Mathews from Fresno State, against the nation's second leading rushing team, Nevada.

Southern Miss at Marshall

Both still have a shot at the Conference USA East. The winner will become bowl eligible.

Auburn at Georgia

Auburn is weird this year and has been streaky. Right now they are winning. Georgia, on the other hand, is just not having a typical Georgia year. I think this is one of those anything can happen games.

Texas A&M at Oklahoma

Who would have thought these two would be playing at this point for a spot in a bowl?

Troy at Arkansas

Troy keeps booking games with SEC teams, and they lose, but I think it is safe to say that the SEC teams know they have been in a game. I also think it is just a matter of time before instead of coming up just short, Troy gets one.

Utah at TCU

The Mountain West, for the third time this season, will host College GameDay . This one will likely decide the conference, and TCU is playing for its shot at a BCS bowl.

Texas Tech at Oklahoma State

If you like offense, this is your game. I think whichever defense can step up is who will win this one.

Notre Dame at Pitt

Notre Dame went from proclaiming to be back to now trying to salvage the season—and may be playing for Charlie Weis’ job.

Sunday, Nov. 15

East Carolina at Tulsa

This was last year's conference title game. East Carolina has a shot to return, but Tulsa not so much.

NCAA Football Thoughts and Opinions: Week 10

David Hedlind — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:07:56 -0500

SEC Championship Game

In a rematch of last season, we again have Florida representing the East and Alabama from the West. I think many of us saw this one coming after last season, when we saw who was coming back for both teams. Last season's game was pretty good so I wouldn’t expect that this year's would be boring.

Notre Dame Will NOT Be In a BCS Bowl

The hopes and expectations were high before the season. Many even said that Notre Dame needed to get to the BCS in order for Charlie Weis to keep his job. While that may not be the case, winning games could still save his job. The schedule isn’t easy though and the road ahead may still have a few more bumps.

Iowa and Oregon Down but Not Out

Both lost games this week, but both are still at the top of the conference standings.

Iowa has to get past Ohio State this coming week and the task may be difficult if quarterback Stanzi is unable to return. If Ohio State beats Iowa, I am pretty sure they clinch the Rose Bowl no matter what happens the following week.

Oregon needs to win out in order to win the conference out right. Another loss, and it is likely a shared title. Arizona is in a good seat to steal away the conference title, especially since they play each other in a couple weeks.

Upsets and Escapes

Oregon and Iowa weren’t the only teams involved in some upsets around the country. Nebraska was able to hold off Oklahoma and Navy edged Notre Dame.

Those four games were unranked teams beating a ranked team. There was also Penn State falling to Ohio State, which was a few spots behind them.

While these teams came out on the short end, there were a number of teams that were able to stave off the upset.

On Friday night, Boise State held on to beat Louisiana Tech who was making a late push. LSU had Alabama on the ropes, but even if they were able to win I don’t know that it would have been really considered that much of an upset.

Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Houston, and Wisconsin won by a combined nine points between their four games.

Conference Outlooks

The SEC leaders were basically decided before the season. Florida and Alabama lived up to expectations.

The Big 10 should all but be decided after next week when Iowa and Ohio State meet.

The ACC likely comes down to Georgia Tech playing Clemson with Boston College lurking.

The Pac 10 game between Oregon and Arizona will be one of the biggest ones in determining the conference. That is provided they win their other games. Two loss Stanford, Oregon State, and USC are holding on for some missteps.

I would be surprised if Texas isn’t playing for the Big 12, but the opponent from the North is likely to come down to either Kansas State or Nebraska who meet in the final week.

The Big East is still a race between Cincinnati and Pitt. West Virginia is hoping to slip into the mix.

TCU and BYU should determine the Mountain West. Boise State and Nevada will do the same for the WAC.

Troy is walking away with the Sun Belt.

Temple and Ohio will play to represent the MAC East in a couple weeks. The West will be determined on the same day between Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.

Conference USA will probably see a return of East Carolina, but the opponent will be different this year and Houston will be the West representative.

Heisman

I know I am just one small voice but I truly believe that winning should no longer be a factor in the Heisman Trophy. If a player is good and has all the right stats, a lack of the Ws shouldn’t eliminate them from the competition. I have seen some amazing performances from players with good stats that are playing on teams that may not be catching all the right breaks.

College Football Week 10: SEC West and Big Ten Take Center Stage

David Hedlind — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:11:33 -0500

We are now in Week 10, and the third month of college football, and these Tuesday games are killing me. I usually end up writing these during the Tuesday game.

Tuesday, Nov. 3

Bowling Green at Buffalo—At this point, I think they are just playing for a winning record, and an outside chance at making a bowl.

Thursday, Nov. 5

Virginia Tech at East Carolina—Last season East Carolina surprised just about everyone with the upset.

Miami at Temple—Temple has long been a joke in college football. This season they are leading the MAC East, and likely going to a bowl.

Friday, Nov. 6

Boise State at Louisiana Tech—Boise State tends to have closer games on the road than at home.

Saturday, Nov. 7

Northwestern at Iowa—Iowa is still undefeated, though they have been narrowly winning to teams most would expect them to beat easily. Most expect them to win this one.

South Carolina at Arkansas—Neither can catch the division leaders. South Carolina could still finish with their best record in recent years. Arkansas just wants to win a couple more to get to a bowl.

Kansas at Kansas State—Besides being a rivalry, the winner becomes bowl eligible. I’m sure they play for some trophy, but I am sorry I don’t know what.

Navy at Notre Dame—Can it still be a rivalry if one team has won all but one game for the last 40 something years? Also on the line, Notre Dame still trying to get to the BCS.

Army at Air Force—I was all about Army with their three early wins, but they are only 3-5 now. It isn’t Army/Navy, but I still enjoy the armed forces games.

LSU at Alabama—Top-10 teams and the winner will likely represent the West in the SEC title game against Florida.

Duke at North Carolina—Did you know that Duke is only one game from bowl eligibility? And they are playing the ACC Coastal last place team in North Carolina? And the two schools are kinda rivals?

Ohio State at Penn State—A lot of people saw this as the decider for the Big 10, and I am sure it will have some impact, but because of Iowa, it is just a notch down from where it was expected to be.

Oregon at Stanford—Oregon is now in the drivers seat in the Pac 10. Stanford is just a couple games back, and is undefeated at home this year. People are asking will Oregon stay focused after the big win?

Washington at UCLA—The winner keeps slim bowl hopes alive. Remember when UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel was the coach at Washington?

TCU at San Diego State—TCU is still looking to go the BCS. San Diego State is playing better than last season. But I still doubt they will have enough to knock off TCU.

Oregon State at California—There was a run of the away team winning between these two until last season when home team Oregon State won. Will that be the new streak, or will Oregon State keep their winning at Cal going?

Florida State at Clemson—Impact on the ACC Atlantic race, not that it isn’t hectic enough already.

USC at Arizona State—After their worst loss in nearly forever, will USC have a hangover, or take out frustration on Arizona State?

Connecticut at Cincinnati—Since the loss of Howard, Connecticut has suffered two heartbreaking losses in a row. Cincinnati is still likely without QB Tony Pike, but Zach Collaros has been playing well.

Oklahoma at Nebraska—In the past, the names alone would have made people very excited. Today, not as much.

Fresno State at Idaho—Whoever would have thought that this would be a game that has a spot in the WAC race? Both teams are only one game back from the leaders.

Sunday, Nov. 8

Nevada at San Jose State—Speaking of the WAC leaders, Nevada is in the lead, and if they keep winning, we should have a nice game with them and Boise State for the conference in a few weeks.

College Football Thoughts and Opinions: Week Nine

David Hedlind — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:43:45 -0500

Ugly Ducklings Transformed and Pac-10 Change

It’s the story of the season for Oregon: the ugly performance at Boise State and all that followed.

Now, seven games later, the Oregon team I saw maul USC was nowhere near the same team.

Before the season Oregon fans had hope of a Pac-10 title, the Rose Bowl, and possibly more. After the Boise State game, the attitude changed to that of hope for a solid winning season.

Now at 7-1 with wins over three ranked teams and the lead in the Pac-10 race, the thoughts of Pasadena have returned, and even talk of which bowl game played in the Rose Bowl they may have a chance at.

With the Ducks in the lead and the win over USC, the Trojan stranglehold on the Pac-10 appears over. Oregon still needs to win a few more games, but USC is likely out of the race. Oregon now has a three-game lead on the Trojans due to the two losses and the head-to-head tiebreak in favor of the Ducks.

The Ducks still have to play at Arizona, which only has one conference loss.

The Boise State BCS Debate

Before reading the rest of this section, we have to remember we assume Oregon and Boise State win out.

Trying to be unbiased is hard, but I promise you I understand both sides of the coin.

On one hand you have Boise State, who beat Oregon. Head-to-head Boise State got it done on the field. Who is better than who in the rankings usually comes down to assumptions and the eyeball test of who appears to have the upper hand if two teams were to play. This doesn’t need to be done since they did play.

The other side of it is that Oregon has or will have played the tougher schedule. Oregon will have more quality wins. Boise State will have beaten Oregon, and that is all.

Oregon has wins over three ranked teams already this season and could pick up a couple more. Arizona is ranked 18th in the BCS, and Oregon State could make a move if they can beat ranked California and win the other games on the schedule before the Civil War.

ACC

While the Atlantic is still a huge toss-up with two teams at 3-2 and two at 2-3, I feel pretty confident in saying the Coastal will be represented by Georgia Tech.

While nothing is a guarantee, I would be surprised if Georgia Tech were to drop either of their last two ACC games with Wake Forest and Duke. There is still that season finale matchup with Georgia as well, but that game would not impact the ACC race.

Cincinnati Rolling Along Without Pike

I like Tony Pike. I honestly thought he was one of the best, if not the best quarterback in the country before being injured. Zach Collaros has now stepped in nicely and has the Bearcats continuing to win. He is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback who can and will beat opponents with both his arm and his legs.

If Pike can’t return this season, the offense is in good hands with Collaros. That’s the good news for Cincinnati. The bad news for the Big East is that he will be back for a couple more seasons.

Lucky or Good? Maybe Both

That’s the question we need to ask about Iowa. People first brought it up with the Northern Iowa game. The questions resurfaced with the narrow win over Arkansas State. They won the Michigan game by only two.

The last-second, game-winning touchdown with Michigan State raised eyebrows and got people saying they can come back from being down but also that they got lucky to win.

Now, this week, down 24-14 going into the fourth quarter, Iowa rallied to score 28 unanswered points to again come back to win the game.

Undefeated is still undefeated though. Close wins or blowouts, one point or 50 points, runaway win or come from behind, the Hawkeyes are still undefeated.

BCS vs. Playoff

We hear it every year: Which is the better system? The current system is supposed to match the top two teams. But rankings are subjective. This year we could have a repeat of the 2004 season when there were multiple undefeated teams.

It is a given either Florida or Alabama will lose, but the other could still be undefeated. Texas, Cincinnati, Iowa, TCU, and Boise State could all finish undefeated.

In 2004 we had four undefeated teams. But seven? If there are seven undefeated teams, not to mention the worthy one-loss teams, then the system that is already under scrutiny becomes more chaotic and controversial.

We are still a few weeks away from the end of the season, and there are still big games to be played, so maybe in a couple more weeks this will be a moot point.

USC at Oregon, Texas at Oklahoma State Make for a Scary Exciting Week Nine

David Hedlind — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:04:31 -0400

Tuesday, Oct. 27

East Carolina at Memphis

Whose idea was it to have Tuesday games? I like that there is a game, but at the same time it kind of throws my week off. East Carolina can push to a lead in the CUSA East. Memphis is just trying to keep their bowl hopes alive.

Thursday, Oct. 29

North Carolina at Virginia Tech

I remember in preseason I had this as the Coastal decider, but now that it is here the teams are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and this game is just a matter of a W and an L.

Friday, Oct. 30

West Virginia at South Florida

West Virginia is surging while South Florida seems to be sliding. I don’t think South Florida has a chance to win the conference, but they can disrupt others and push for bowl positioning.

Saturday, Oct. 31

Indiana at Iowa

The watch continues to see if Iowa can run the table. This one does not seem like it will be much of a challenge, but if I have learned anything about college football, it is that on any given Saturday anything can happen.

Cincinnati at Syracuse

Same as above. Can Cincinnati go undefeated? Can they do it now with the backup quarterback? He has filled in so far very nicely.

Southern Miss at Houston

This game could very well be played twice this season—this being the first, and it wouldn’t be too surprising to see these two match up again in the Conference USA championship game. The loser, of course, will have work to do though, as both divisions have tough competition.

SMU at Tulsa

These two are actually tied with Houston for the lead in the West. The loser is likely eliminated from the conference race.

Western Kentucky at North Texas

I love these play for last place games. Last place in the Sun Belt is like being the bottom of college football.

Central Michigan at Boston College

A win here would go a long way for the reputation of the MAC. The seemingly top of the MAC at a mid/upper ACC team would be a nice win.

Georgia at Florida

It’s the cocktail party, but it doesn’t have that big game shine to it like normal. If UGA manages to win, that’s a different story though.

Temple at Navy

Temple is having a season much like Buffalo did last season. They are surprisingly at the top of the MAC East and could soon be playing for the conference title. Navy has six wins but plays 13 games this season, so they still need one more for a bowl.

Miami at Wake Forest

A few weeks ago both of these teams were atop the ACC. Now they are both sitting in the middle. Even still, neither is really out of the conference race. That’s just how the ACC goes.

UNLV at TCU

TCU is another team looking to stay undefeated against a team that likely has little chance of winning.

Hawaii at Nevada

Nevada started the season slowly but has come on strong and is undefeated in the WAC. Nevada was picked as the team to challenge Boise State and now still look to be that team.

Louisiana Monroe at Troy

Sun Belt leaders go head to head with the winner being the lone undefeated team in the conference.

Texas at Oklahoma State

I would venture to say the winner of this game is likely to win the division. The Big XII South gave us all kinds of trouble last season though. There is going to be a lot of orange in the stands.

USC at Oregon

It will be loud. The fans will be drunk and obnoxious. It will be cold. Does it get any better than two top 10 teams with the conference likely on the line playing a night game in late October?

Sunday, Nov. 1

Marshall at UCF

Lost among the NFL will be a college football game. Marshall is playing with the Conference USA East division lead on the line.

College Football Thoughts and Opinions: Week Eight

David Hedlind — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:43:29 -0400

Jasper Howard Honored at Connecticut-West Virginia

In honor of Jasper Howard, there was a moment of silence before the Connecticut-West Virginia game.

Both teams met at midfield and exchanged handshakes and hugs and what we can only imagine were well wishes.

The West Virginia students and fans had a banner that said, “Today we are all Huskies,” which was signed with thoughts and prayers. The banner hung in the tunnel where Connecticut emerged to applause not usually given to the visiting team. Howard’s jersey and helmet were on hand for the game as well.

Unfortunately, the Huskies fell just short of winning.

Will the Real No. 1 Please Stand Up?

In recent weeks, has any team honestly looked like it wants to be No. 1? The teams at the top of the standings have all had games that should have been sleepwalks, yet the opposition was still in the game longer than anyone would have expected.

I am not saying the teams at the top don’t belong there or that they aren’t good teams—I really do believe the right teams are on top—but week to week I couldn’t tell you who really is No. 1 through No. 4.

Halloween in Eugene

I wish I could be there. Some projected this game as the Pac-10 decider before the season. Many forgot about it after Oregon’s loss to Boise State and the surge by California to start the season. Then Oregon dominated California and has shot to the top of the Pac-10 standings as the lone conference undefeated.

With both USC and Oregon winning this past weekend and a little help out of the ACC, the game got just a touch bigger.

GameDay will broadcast from Eugene for a top 10 ranked matchup of USC and Oregon in what will most likely be one of the biggest deciding games in the conference.

ACC

Speaking of the ACC, can anyone make sense of it? I can't. These games become my least favorite when it comes to picking the winners. Both divisions are all mixed up; I don’t know if anyone really stands out as a clear and away favorite. Maybe given another week or two things will be more clear.

Iowa State

Paul Rhoads now has as many wins at Iowa State in his first year as former coach and current Auburn head coach Gene Chizik had in both his seasons at Iowa State. I don’t know if it is that Rhoads is a good coach or that Chizik was a good recruiter that left a little early.

I know Iowa State got a lot of help from Nebraska with turnovers, but they are now one win away from bowl eligibility.

Bill Snyder Magic

I don’t know how he does it, but it appears he has done it again. In his last coaching stint at Kansas State, it took a couple years, but then he had the Wildcats competing for the Big Eight and then the Big 12 North on a constant basis until his final couple of seasons.

Now in his return season, Kansas State is atop the Big 12 North at 3-1. The road from here does get tougher though, as next week is a trip to always tough South opponent Oklahoma, followed by two home games against Kansas and Missouri before a final road game with Nebraska.

Iowa and Cincinnati

They are still in BCS conferences and are still undefeated. People still doubt them. People still don’t know that if they go undefeated if they could, or should, make the championship game.

Undefeated is undefeated.

Both teams can get help from the Pac-10.

Iowa beat Arizona, who currently sit tied for second in the conference.

Cincinnati came across the country and beat Oregon State. The Beavers aren't high in the standings right now, but they usually surge in the second half of the season.

TCU and Boise State

Only one is guaranteed a spot in a BCS bowl provided all conditions are met. If one gets the automatic bid and the other qualifies for an at-large bid, should both go? I think it will really all depend on who the other at-large teams are and if Notre Dame can claw its way up.

Right now both should hope for another Notre Dame loss, and for their benefit later rather than sooner. Lucky enough for them, the last three opponents on the Irish schedule are no pushovers.

Mountain West Has the Feature Game of Week Eight

David Hedlind — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:42:44 -0400

I can’t believe I am typing it, but we are at week eight.

Wednesday Oct. 21

Tulsa at UTEP - Sure Tulsa just lost to Boise State a week ago on national television but they are still undefeated in Conference USA. UTEP is more of a mystery having beat highly ranked Houston then losing to Memphis.

Thursday Oct. 22

Florida State at North Carolina - If anyone would have told me either one of these teams would open conference play at 0-2 I would have said they were crazy. Here we are now with both at 0-2 in the ACC.

Friday Oct. 23

Rutgers at Army - Knights vs. Knights on a Friday night. Army is sitting at 3-4 and looking for a long awaited bowl bid. Rutgers probably wont help that cause.

Saturday Oct. 24

Minnesota at Ohio State - Ohio State coming off the upset loss to Purdue only to return home to play a middle tier Minnesota that could very likely steal one in the post upset hangover.

South Florida at Pitt - A week ago South Florida was ranked before losing to Cincinnati. Pitt pretty much took their place after beating Rutgers.

Connecticut at West Virginia - How Connecticut will be ready to play is something that will be hard to understand. They will go forward and play to try to return to normalcy. They will honor Jasper Howard before the game. They will play to honor Jasper Howard the football player, friend, brother and man because that is what he would want of his teammates and friends.

Ball State at Eastern Michigan - Everyone knows the undefeated teams but how about the reverse? Neither of these has a win so after this week we will have one less defeated team.

Oklahoma at Kansas - Landry Jones filled in nicely for Bradford the first time he was out winning three of four only losing to a ranked Miami. The bad news is this weeks opponent is Kansas and they are ranked.

Clemson at Miami - As convoluted as the ACC is I know this one will matter I am just not exactly sure how.

Penn State at Michigan - Not sure just yet, but I think this one is still bigger in names than anything this year.

Boston College at Notre Dame - Every knows the streak for USC against Notre Dame. The other rivalry is about the same as Boston College has won the last six meetings.

Oregon at Washington - The only love you will find in this rivalry is the fact that both fan bases love to hate the others. Both schools generally feel a greater rivalry to each other rather than their in state rivals. Washington leads the overall series. Oregon owns the recent having won the last five in a row.

Air Force at Utah - When it comes to the Mountain West, it is usually all about BYU, Utah and TCU. The next team down in most years, and sometimes breaks up that top three, is Air Force.

Idaho at Nevada - Believe it or not the top of the WAC standings reads as

Idaho 3-0 6-1

Nevada 2-0 3-3

Boise 1-0 6-0

So when it comes to conference play we have the top two teams in terms of standings, playing each other and it doesn’t involve Boise State.

Iowa at Michigan State - The Hawkeyes have made quite a name for themselves going 7-0. While Michigan State hasn’t quite been at the same level, their 4-2 record isn’t too bad.

TCU at BYU - The only game this week featuring two teams from inside the top 20. The winner takes a step toward a BCS bowl.

Auburn at LSU - For a while there it seemed as though Auburn was going to challenge in the West. They have lost two in a row but could shake things up if they pull the upset here.

Oregon State at USC - The home team has now won the last three games. Oregon States wins were by two and by six. USC won at home in between by 21.

Boise State at Hawaii - Boise State doesn’t really play the same on the road. This is one heck of a trip too. The last time they played on the islands, Boise State lost. That is the only conference loss in about three years.

College Football Week 7 Thoughts and Opinioins

David Hedlind — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:11:25 -0400

Who is Number One...anywhere?

Not just nationally, but some of the conferences are up in the air too.

The SEC gives us both questions. Florida and Alabama are flip-flopping the one and two spots for now, as it seems Alabama is the best in the nation and the conference.

Ohio State was basically the favorite in the Big 10, but they lost to Purdue. Iowa and Penn State now hold down the top of the conference.

USC has won the Pac 10 for seven years, but right now Oregon leads the conference. The game on Halloween night in Eugene appears to be the game of the year for the conference, assuming they both get past next weeks games.

Georgia Tech’s upset over highly-ranked Virginia Tech throws the ACC into a spin.

It’s still pretty safe to bet on Texas in the Big XII South, but the North is all over the place after losses by probably the three favorites.

ACC

I still can’t figure it out. Georgia Tech was one of my early favorites, and they still look good. To try and pick the conference though is a bigger crap shoot than if I had a gun in an outhouse. Ok so I’m not great with analogies but you get the idea.

Auburn Yo-Yo

The yo-yo starts with the hire of Chizik. The fans wanted nothing to do with him. His record at Iowa State pretty much explains why.

Then they win and keep winning. And the offense looked really good.

Then they lost. Can’t win them all can you? But now they lost again.

Personally I think Auburn had the benefit of an easy schedule to start the season and that Chizik isn’t really that good of a coach. Anyone else notice that Iowa State only needs one more win to match his entire win total there?

Idaho

Going bowling? It's now possible.

The Vandals got win number six and are now eligible. The reason we can’t say it is a sure thing is the bowl deals for the WAC. There have been a number of six-win teams in the WAC that did not go to a bowl. If they can manage one more win then they should get somewhere. I am guessing Hawaii.

Karma?

I am talking to you Washington Huskies. After that amazing yet controversial win over Arizona last week with an interception that may or may not have bounced off ground, Washington lost in dramatic fashion without controversy at Arizona State.

Sun Devils quarterback Danny Sullivan threw a 50 yard touchdown pass with five seconds left. On the receiving end was Chris McGaha. McGaha is one of the leading receivers for the Sun Devils but he was mostly quiet all night. In fact his only reception of the night was this one.

I am sure he will gladly take one reception for a game winning touchdown instead of a mess of yards and catches.

Something that Really Matters: RIP Jasper Howard

Forget football for a second and let your hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and teammates of Jasper Howard.

Howard was tragically stabbed and killed on Saturday night.

Howard was a starting corner for the Huskies.

College Football Week Seven: Five Days of Football

David Hedlind — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:34:12 -0400

Week Seven

Tuesday, Oct. 13

Arkansas State at Louisiana Monroe

So the game is going as I write this. Did anyone really notice? ULM actually sits atop the Sun Belt while Arkansas State is looking for their first Sun Belt win.

Wednesday, Oct. 14

Boise State at Tulsa

Tulsa has their high powered offense while Boise State has a stout defense. One has to give. My guess is Tulsa won’t be able to move the ball as easily as they have in other games.

If they can, Tulsa may still pose a threat to Boise State going undefeated since this game is at Tulsa instead of on the blue.

Thursday, Oct. 15

Cincinnati at South Florida

Big East tilt of undefeated, ranked teams. Remember at the start of the season when the Big East had no ranked teams?

Friday, Oct. 16

Pitt at Rutgers

Back to back days of Big East football. This one may be a little less prestigious though. Rutgers isn’t quite up to the preseason hype that was going on. Pitt, I think, may be doing better than people thought.

Saturday, Oct. 17

Wake Forest at Clemson

I am not sure exactly what to make of this matchup. Wake is on top of the division and Clemson is in the middle, but everything can change quickly in the ACC.

Oklahoma vs. Texas

The Red River Rivalry/Shootout: I don’t feel as excited about this one this year, but I am not normally a fan of either team.

I am sure it will still be pretty good but with Oklahoma having already lost a couple it just doesn’t seem the same.

Iowa at Wisconsin

Iowa is the only undefeated team in the Big Ten. Wisconsin only has one loss. Iowa has been lucky a few times this season in winning. This should prove a good test for them.

Army at Temple

I know most of you are probably thinking I am crazy to include it, but Army is actually doing well enough that they could be playing for a bowl this season. I want to see it just because. Temple is playing well in the MAC so it could be a good matchup.

Arkansas at Florida

Arkansas caught a ranked Auburn last week causing some questions about how good both teams truly may be.

It was also an unranked team from the SEC West that beat a top ranked Florida at Florida last season.

Texas Tech at Nebraska

I honestly haven’t seen much from either team this season so I am not sure how to talk about the matchup. I do know Nebraska is a contender for the Big XII North and Texas Tech is really only one game back in the South.

USC at Notre Dame

Some thought USC was vulnerable this year. They might be, but the defense that everyone questioned is looking just as strong as ever. Notre Dame has improved but has struggled to get the record they have. Weis could be getting a hot seat.

Minnesota at Penn State

Both these teams only have one conference loss. So the loser probably has no chance, while the winner could still contend for the Big Ten title.

Marshall at West Virginia

I don’t know for a fact but I swear I remember something about West Virginia winning every game in this series. Marshall is actually playing pretty strong this season. While that may be good in the MAC I don’t know how they will do against the Mountaineers.

Central Michigan at Western Michigan

Most thought this would be the top of the MAC West and it may still turn out that way. The winner likely will be the West champ at seasons end.

Hawaii at Idaho

Idaho has been a surprise team this season and Hawaii is not quite the same team on the road.

Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech

Probably the most highly anticipated ACC game of the season. At least I know I have been waiting for it.

Stanford at Arizona

The Pac 10 looks pretty competitive, and these two are in the mix. Both are one loss back so the loser may be out.

South Carolina at Alabama

Ranked SEC opponents. I am not anticipating many points in this game. Could be a brief stay in the rankings for South Carolina or we may see a massive jump.

Missouri at Oklahoma State

Many thought Missouri would fall off this year, and up to now they have surprised with only one loss. People expected Oklahoma State to compete for the Big XII and they are very much still in it as well.

After this one someone maybe looking at long odds to get back in the mix.

Washington at Arizona State

I have never seen a more lucky play, or now controversial, than the Washington interception for a win against Arizona last week. Washington has been a surprising team but has yet to win on the road.

College Football Thoughts and Opinions Week Six

David Hedlind — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:48:44 -0400

Signs of Life at the Bottom of the ACC

It started last week when Maryland and Virginia, teams most had written off, beat teams Clemson and North Carolina, teams most expected to challenge for the ACC, and continued this week.

Duke, the seemingly most traditional bottom team of any conference, beat North Carolina State. While NC State isn’t exactly a powerhouse team, many thought they would be a solid middle team.

Oregon’s Defense?

For the last few seasons when people said "Oregon," people have thought offense. Rightfully so, too.

Last season, Oregon was eighth nationally in offense. The Ducks were third in total rushing yards, but first in yards per attempt. They were also among the nation's leaders in points per game.

This year started a little rocky, but now in the last three games, all conference games, Oregon’s defense has given up only 12 points. A closer look shows three by Cal on a kick off fumble recovered by Cal for a negative eight-yard drive for a field goal. Six points by Washington State were off a fumble at the goal line on a punt by Oregon recovered by the Cougars. It still took three tries to get that one yard.

Oregon’s offense is still rolling too, though.

PAC-10...Well at Least Nine

After USC and Oregon and forgetting Washington State at the bottom, the conference is looking pretty strong. There are eight teams in the conference with a winning record and Washington has a .500.

This is a far cry from the past perception that the league was USC and nine others. USC isn’t even in the top three of the conference right now with Oregon at 3-0, Stanford at 3-1, and USC and Washington tied at 2-1 in conference and the Huskies holding the tie break win over the Trojans.

SEC Top Is the Top but the Bottom..

With Florida and Alabama you have arguably the two best teams in the country. With LSU in there you have three of the top 10 teams.

On the other end, though, you have Vanderbilt losing to Army. Army has not been relevant for many, many years.

Mississippi State is right there at the bottom too. They dropped their contest with Houston.

Houston has been seen as one of the top Conference USA teams and one of the top non-autoqualifiers. While that may be the case, I don’t want to hear how the bottom SEC teams would win any other conference any more.

BCS Busting

TCU won again and kept their place at the conversation table. Boise State was idle. Houston, as mentioned above, won beating their third opponent from a BCS conference this year. Even with one loss, if they could run the table they may render the conversation moot. BYU and Utah are hoping for the same.

Independents

Notre Dame, Army, and Navy do not belong to a conference and therefore have their own deals with bowls.

Notre Dame usually fall in with the Big East deals while Army and Navy strike deals to go to certain bowls if they are eligible. Notre Dame and Navy haven’t had much trouble getting to bowl games, but Army hasn’t been in over 10 years.

Right now all three are still in position to be eligible at season's end.

Bowls

Speaking of bowls, we just had week six, meaning that teams have actually played six games and could have six wins. Only two do.

Alabama and Iowa became the first bowl eligible teams for the 2009 season.

There are 20 teams that only need one more win.

Ball State, Miami (OH), New Mexico, and Rice are all at 0-6, and will be eliminated from bowl eligibility with another loss.

Flip Flop

Just a few seasons ago, Illinois went to the Rose Bowl. Now they are 0-3 and 1-4 overall.

Idaho is 5-1 and on the verge of a bowl berth. Hawaii is two years removed from the Sugar Bowl and is now last in the WAC.

FAU won a share of the Sun Belt and is now 0-4.

Ball State played for the MAC title last season and are now winless at 0-6.

Buffalo won it and now sits 0-2 in conference play.

Thoughts on Minnesota

I mentioned I would be traveling to Minnesota for their game against Purdue in my preview to week six. It may not come as any surprise the word that describes the game most was cold. Cold in Minnesota—who would have thought it? Well in October, not even the natives. Even the people around me said it was unusual to be that cold this time of year.

The stadium is brand new and really nice. Huge scoreboard and screen. Seating is pretty close together, but while they said it was sold out, there were quite a few open seats.

The food was OK. Nothing special. I had a bratwurst thinking that Minnesota would get it right. I was wrong. It tasted okay, but it was cold from the time they handed it to me. The roast beef sandwich didn’t have many options for dressing it up. Really only horseradish. It tasted pretty good plain though. Since it was cold out I had hot chocolate, too. Only it was more like they put a couple chocolate chips in a huge cup of hot water.

The game was good. I don’t see how there could have been a bad seat. I am used to a loud stadium and Minnesota was not. You could hear a whisper.

I would recommend not going in the later part of the season unless you like cold. If you do go, remember the bathrooms are heated.

SEC West and Interdivisional Matchups Top Week 6

David Hedlind — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:08:56 -0400

Wait a second, week six means that for some teams, half the season is over. Already? Seems like the season just started yesterday.

This week brings on our first really early weekday game.

Tuesday Oct. 6

Middle Tennessee at Troy—It looked like this would be a Sun Belt deciding game and it still may turn out that way. Right now though Louisiana Monroe is atop the conference with these two right behind.

Thursday Oct. 8

Nebraska at Missouri—It wouldn’t surprise me at all if these two were at the top of the Big XII North standings at the end of the season. The winner would obviously have the edge.

Friday Oct. 9

Louisiana Tech at Nevada—Louisiana Tech is about where I thought they would be but Nevada took about four games to find their high powered offense we all heard so much about. Can they keep it running now?

Saturday Oct. 10

Purdue at Minnesota—Nothing really to say here other than to note I will be attending this game in person. My parents live in Minnesota, for now, so while visiting them, we will take in a game.

Connecticut at Pitt—Right now sitting in the three and four spot in the conference but mostly because there hasn’t been significant in conference play.

Boston College at Virginia Tech—How many times has this been the ACC title game?

Alabama at Ole Miss— Many thought this would be the SEC West decider in the preseason. It still could be at least one of the deciders.

Wisconsin at Ohio State—Both are 2-0 in conference but Wisconsin is riding a 5-0 record while Ohio State rebounded nicely from their only loss to USC.

Oregon at UCLA—Oregon was left for dead after the opening game at Boise State. The Ducks then took four home games in a row to a 4-1 record. Now they have to go back on the road to a 3-1 UCLA who just suffered their first loss at the hands of Pac 10 leader Stanford.

Utah at Colorado State—I don’t know if this will have large conference implications in terms of the conference title or if it will just help determine some bowls.

Stanford at Oregon State—Stanford is the current Pac 10 leader and one of the surprise team of the year in my opinion. I think we will see a lot of offense with Stanford’s balance of run and pass and Oregon State’s use of the Rodgers brothers.

FIU at Western Kentucky—Sun Belt Bottom feeders playing not to be the worst team in the country.

TCU at Air Force—Air Force seems to always come up about number four behind the Mountain West big three of TCU, BYU and Utah. Seems to but they have come in ahead of them a few years. They have started that way in conference this season.

Florida at LSU—Will he or won’t he isn’t as important a question to me as should he. The he being Tim Tebow and the question being presented because of his concussion. Two weeks to rest is nice but that is the edge of proper healing time. I understand it is a big game between top five opponents but weather you like him or not, his health should be the most important thing here.

Idaho at San Jose State—Idaho has been a nice little surprise team this season and are 4-1. Two more wins and they could be in a bowl. San Jose State presents a beatable team for the Vandals.

Michigan at Iowa—Just misses being a game between ranked teams. Should still be good and should still have some impact on the conference race.

College Football Week Five Thoughts and Opinions

David Hedlind — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:57:20 -0400

I Don’t Need No Stinking Helmet

Tanner Brock of TCU made a key block on a punt return. My favorite part was that he did it without his helmet. At some point during the return he lost it. He kept playing anyway. He saw a guy and blocked him.

Teammate Jeremy Kerley used the block to take the punt to the end zone. This was the first punt return by the Horned Frogs in seven years.

Notre Dame

At the start of the season, we were told over and over that Notre Dame could be a BCS bowl team because their schedule is weak and they could run through it. Now I know they are winning and sitting at 4-1, but if you have followed them at all you would know it isn’t as good as it seems.

The last three wins have been by a combined 13 points and the one against Washington was in overtime. You would think that a team that is supposed to make it to a BCS bowl due to their weak schedule would have an easier time.

The schedule is still weak. Of their five opponents, only Michigan, who is their one loss, even has a winning record. So is Notre Dame good or lucky?

USC, Oregon, and…Stanford??

The Pac-10 race right now appears like it will come down to annual favorite USC, Oregon, who usually is in the mix, and now the Stanford Cardinal, who most expected to be improved and challenge to make a bowl, but has surprised by going 4-1 and 3-0 in-conference.

Auburn Turnaround

Auburn finds themselves at 5-0 to start the season. Last year they had five wins total. Five is also the total number of wins that head coach Gene Chizik had in his career prior to taking over on the plains.

As of right now, Chizik is well ahead of schedule to return Auburn to a top program and is ahead of the other new SEC coaches, as well as a few of the old ones, I think.

Conference USA—Wait, I Mean Big East

Cincinnati and South Florida are leading the way in the Big East, just a few years removed from the Conference USA. When the ACC raided the Big East and a couple teams jumped conferences, the Big East picked up three from the Conference USA. Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida joined the Big East in 2004.

Louisville won the Big East in 2006 and Cincinnati won it last season. As of right now, both Cincinnati and South Florida are 5-0 overall and 1-0 in conference to sit atop the conference standings.

Back to the Usual Suspects

Houston was a nice story and was making a great run, giving Conference USA a contender for a BCS Bowl bid. They had beaten both Oklahoma State and Texas Tech from the Big 12. Unfortunately, they lost to UTEP in conference play.

Now we are left with Boise State and TCU as the main teams with a shot at a BCS bowl. BYU is on the outside, waiting for slip ups and a win streak.

WAC

Everyone always picks Boise State to win. They usually do and probably will again this year. After that, it isn’t so easy.

Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, and Nevada have all been named as contenders to challenge for the conference.

Suddenly a new name appears on the list, and it is a surprise to everyone. Idaho has started the season 4-1 overall and is already 1-0 in-conference. I didn’t see this coming. If anyone out there did, all I can say is "wow."

There Is Still Time on the Clock

I lost track of it, too.

Just when it seems Washington is out of it, they drive the field and kick a field goal to tie it up and send the game to overtime.

Ball State gave up a touchdown to lose the lead and the game to Toledo with 27 seconds left. This was right after scoring on a Statue of Liberty play.

Oregon’s Running Game Blountly

You may have heard Oregon has changed the status of suspended running back LeGarrette Blount, to a possibility of retuning to play for the Ducks in November. I wrote an article on my opinion of the situation already, so here is a quick recap of what I think.

Oregon doesn’t need Blount. The Ducks ran for 318 yards against the Cougars. Five players ran in for touchdowns. Three players were over 50 yards and two more just under with over 40 yards.

Five players took it in for a touchdown.

If he does come back, I am ok with that, too. I didn’t really think a full season suspension was needed.

Speculation on the Reinstatement of LeGarrette Blount

David Hedlind — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:48:10 -0400

I’ve only been awake for a little over an hour this morning and I have already read a half a dozen articles and opinions on the subject of Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount and his possible reinstatement.

For a quick reminder, though I doubt anyone needs it, Blount was the player that punched an opposing player after the first game of the season and the following day received a suspension for the season.

I have read from people on both sides of the argument that this is a good move and this is a bad one.

First I have to say “what move?”

There has been nothing said so far. It is all speculation.

However, going along with that, here is my opinion.

I don’t care either way. And I am a Duck fan. I was born and raised in Eugene.

I felt like he should be suspended, and he was. I didn’t necessarily think the entire season was the right call, but I was ok with it.

Now here we are, three games later. Three wins later. Coming off a huge win over then sixth ranked California, which was preceded by a win over a ranked Utah team.

Three wins in a row, including back to back wins over ranked teams? Does Oregon need Blount? Clearly the answer is no.

My answer is also, not as much as Blount needs and needed Oregon.

This may have been the plan all along as some are suggesting. If it was, I don’t think Blount was in on it.

I could see where this was a wake up call and a test for Blount.

Him believing that he was out for the season sends a message of “everything you thought you had, everything you have worked hard for can be taken away.”

Seeing how he responds to that is the test. Blount continued to go to class. After a week he returned to practice. He accepted his new role on the team and did his part.

He didn’t pout. He didn’t quit. He could have. He stayed the course and showed who he really is. Not the guy that threw the punch. Instead, the guy that did everything that was asked of him without expectations to be given another chance.

LSU at UGA, USC at Cal, OK at The U Highlight Week Five

David Hedlind — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:16:23 -0400

After a major week of upsets what will week five bring us? More of the same if we are lucky. Well if you like controversy and excitement anyway.

Wednesday Sept 30

Hawaii at Louisiana Tech- Seriously what is that? Like a five hour time difference for Hawaii? The Warriors are not quite as good on the road most of the time.

Thursday Oct 1

Colorado at West Virginia- If it wasn’t on Thursday I don’t know if I would watch it. Really doesn’t sound all that exciting but it was a close one last year so maybe it will be ok.

Friday Oct 2

Pitt at Louisville- A little Big East action on a Friday night. Might not be overly important at this point since it is still early but it is the conference opener for both.

Saturday Oct 3

Michigan at Michigan State- I keep hearing about it but already this looks like a mismatch. Michigan is running hot while Michigan State is not.

Wisconsin at Minnesota- This one on the other hand intrigues me. Only one loss between the two teams and that was a close one by Minnesota to a highly ranked team.

South Florida at Syracuse- I only include this to ask will South Florida prove they aren’t missing Grothe or was the Florida State win a fluke?

Florida State at Boston College- It seemed like last season every game had an enormous impact on the ACC standings. Which Florida State will show up? The last two weeks looked like two different teams.

LSU at Georgia- There is a lot of talk about LSU not being quite as good as their ranking indicates. Actually I have heard that about UGA too.

Air Force at Navy- Not as prestigious as Army v Navy but you still gotta respect it.

Washington at Notre Dame- Notre Dame keeps winning, but they are winning close. I don’t know if any of the teams they have beat have been as good as Washington has appeared they can be.

UCLA at Stanford- Actually kind of a big game in respect to the Pac-10 race. Stanford is 2-0 in conference but they are wins against the Washington schools. UCLA has not played a conference game yet but is 3-0 overall. There is also a pretty good defense for UCLA and a pretty dangerous offense from Stanford.

Auburn at Tennessee- Two new SEC coaches. One that was welcomed by the school despite his loud mouth and actions. The other, greeted at the airport with verbal abuse form a “fan.” I wonder what the fans think now?

USC at Cal- Has less appeal than it did prior to the season. USC lost to Washington and Cal got destroyed by Oregon. This game will still have an impact on the conference and the fight to keep the season a success for both.

Oklahoma at Miami- Another game that has less appeal than it did a few weeks ago. I am sure most expected Oklahoma to come in undefeated. They aren’t. I don’t think many expected Miami to only have one loss. They do. Both could still end up in a BCS bowl.

College Football Week Four: Thoughts and Opinions

David Hedlind — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:30:48 -0400

Tebow’s Concussion

I don’t mean to make light of the situation, and he has been released, but the injury to Tim Tebow yesterday shows he is human. He is not Superman. He is just a college football player.

I have had concussions before; I am sure many of us have. The problem is, most of the time people appear normal within a few days and don’t show any signs of the concussion, but the brain takes time to heal.

It is fortunate that Florida has a bye week. I hope Tebow rests and heals and doesn’t get rushed back into action.

Non Auto-Qualifiers

In terms of non-BCS conference teams with a shot at BCS bowl games, Boise State is still at the forefront, but TCU and Houston are in the mix waiting for a slip up.

The long-standing belief that these teams have to go undefeated in order to have a chance puts a few others, primarily BYU, at a major disadvantage but not completely out. The debate then becomes who has the best resume?

SEC Championship Game

At this point it appears that Florida and Alabama are the teams headed for the SEC championship game. I think the main challenge in the East still comes from Georgia, and the West is thinning out with the Ole Miss loss. LSU also doesn’t seem as strong coming off a narrow win over Mississippi State.

The Favorite in the Pac 10 Is…

Vacant until proven otherwise. Sure you could go back to the old standby of USC but it is hard to ignore Oregon after the Ducks appear to have rediscovered their offense and defense looks solid.

Arizona picked up a big road win at Oregon State to place itself in the discussion. UCLA hasn’t opened conference play but is 3-0. Stanford is making a push after beating Washington right after the Huskies' upset of USC.

I’m sticking with my preseason pick.

Here is a quick thought on Oregon/Cal: Had Oregon not fumbled the opening kickoff which set up Cal for its only points, would the Bears have scored in the game at all?

Cincinnati

Traditional wisdom is control the clock and you control the game. In other words, own time of possession and you win the game.

Don’t tell that to Cincinnati.

The Bearcats had just over 16 minutes of possession on Saturday and won the game. Cincinnati also came in with less time of possession against Oregon State and Rutgers. The offense scores quickly and therefore has the ball less than the other team.

Miami

Just when it seemed the U was back, this happens: a loss to Virginia Tech.

Not just a loss, but a bad loss.

Miami didn’t score until the third quarter and it was the 'Canes' only score of the game. Miami could only muster 59 yards rushing. Granted this was played in one of the worst downpours I have seen (keep in mind I live in the northwest).

I also think the schedule had something to do with this, as this was Miami’s third game in a row against a ranked opponent. It doesn't get any easier: ranked Oklahoma is up next.

Big 10, Quickly

Is Michigan overrated or is Indiana underrated? Is Penn State still a favorite? Ohio State has bounced back from the loss to USC and pitched back-to-back shutouts. Iowa is in this race. Purdue keeps losing close, but losing nonetheless, with three losses in a row by a combined 12 points. Michigan State and Illinois, what happened?

Things That Look Funny

I know it is still early in the season and not many conference games have been played, but it seems to me that the standings look a little funny.

In the WAC Idaho is in second place and Fresno State is in last. Stanford is currently at the top of the Pac-10. Ball State and Buffalo, the teams that played for the MAC title last season, are at sixth in their divisions. Ohio State and Penn State are at five and eight in the Big Ten. Oklahoma and Texas Tech are bringing up the rear in the Big 12 South.

Who is BJ Daniels?

He is the freshman quarterback at South Florida that had to step in for four-year starter Matt Grothe. His first opponent as a starter? Florida State. Seems like things would be kinda ugly.

But he performed well enough, throwing for 215 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for another 126 yards. His percentages left something to be desired as he was 8-for-21 and threw two interceptions along with his two touchdowns. The end result though was a 17-7 win over No. 18 Florida State.

Heisman Race

The three big names to start the season were of course Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, and Colt McCoy. Other names have come up, such as Cal running back Jahvid Best, but he was stifled at Oregon. Cincinnati QB Tony Pike has put up some solid numbers.

As for a few other names based on pure stats:

Greg Alexander, QB, Hawaii

Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State

Ryan Matthews, RB, Fresno State

Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford

Right now I would say the race is as wide open as it could be. If voting were today, I know I wouldn't want to be in the voters position.

ACC Coastal Feature Games, Pac 10 Teams Trying to Unseat USC After Upset

David Hedlind — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 03:13:33 -0400

WEEEEEEEEEEEK FOOOOOOOOOOOUR!!!!!!!!!!

There is only one game featuring two ranked teams. If you would have told me this would be the only game this week featuring two ranked teams, I probably would have laughed.

It isn’t so much that I find it hard to believe that No. 9 Miami and No. 11 Virginia Tech are as highly ranked as they are, although Miami is a little bit of a surprise this year after an average season last year.

The thing I find more hard to believe is that all of a sudden games that were hyped up in the preseason have a team that has fallen out of the rankings somewhere along the way.

I thought we were going to see ranked North Carolina vs. ranked Georgia Tech, ranked Cal vs. ranked Oregon, ranked Iowa vs. ranked Penn State, and more recently we almost had ranked Texas Tech vs. ranked Houston.

Now each of these only feature one ranked team but they are all still very relevant.

Thursday Sept. 24

Mississippi at South Carolina—Remember the days when SEC fans made fun of everyone else for having mid week games? Last year Ole Miss lost to South Carolina before finishing the season strong.

Friday Sept. 25

Missouri at Nevada—To be honest I am surprised by both of these teams. Missouri is much better than I thought they would be and Nevada has not come close to what I thought they were capable of.

Saturday Sept. 26

Fresno State at Cincinnati—Fresno State is always considered a dangerous team and even though they lost to Wisconsin and Boise State, they played hard till the end. Cincinnati is the hands down favorite for the Big East and better not overlook the Bulldogs.

North Carolina at Georgia Tech—These two are trailing Miami for the Coastal division. If Miami should stumble, the winner of this one looks to be in the best position to try and steal the division lead, well you know that is if Virginia Tech doesn’t.

Southern Miss at Kansas—Southern Miss took out an ACC team already, although it was Virginia. Kansas hasn’t really played anyone worth much. I think this one could be pretty good.

TCU at Clemson—TCU is in the lead position for the Mountain West to try and get a bid to a BCS bowl. If they could add Clemson to the win column they would be sitting even better.

Illinois at Ohio State—Ohio State appears to have rebounded from the USC game. Last time they played here Illinois pulled off a massive upset.

Cal at Oregon—Oregon has made a turnaround from week one and is coming off two home wins including one to a ranked Utah. Cal has won four of the last five in the series. Autzen is always a tough place to play. After the recent upset of USC the Pac 10 seems wide open. Speaking of which Cal plays USC next, don’t look ahead.

No. 9 Miami at No. 11 Virginia Tech—Clearly the game of the day. With this game and the before mentioned North Carolina at Georgia Tech, the ACC Coastal division will start to take shape.

Colorado State at BYU—Colorado State used to own the Mountain West. They have started out 3-0 and are either going to catch a disappointed BYU or a BYU looking to take it out on someone.

Army at Iowa State—I don’t know why but something intrigues me about Army this year. I want to see them go to a bowl. I would think Iowa State is a winnable game.

Arizona at Oregon State—There isn’t much separating the middle of the Pac 10, and these two teams are right in there looking for an opening to move higher. I think teams nine through two are going to just eat each other alive. Arizona and Oregon State will likely fall into this area.

Louisville at Utah—Utah just lost to Oregon and now they look to start a new winning streak. Louisville looks improved from last season, this may show us how much.

Iowa at Penn State—In last year's game Iowa killed Penn State’s national title hopes. It was a close one. We’ll see what happens this year.

Washington at Stanford—Washington is coming off a big upset and if anyone knows what that’s like it is Stanford. Washington has looked good this year so far but all of their games have been at home. I want to see them play a pretty good Stanford team on the road before I declare them back.

Texas Tech at Houston—I would expect a high scoring, offensive battle that will likely be won by either the defense or whoever has the ball last.

College Football Week Three: Thoughts and Opinions

David Hedlind — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:43:49 -0400

Pac-10 Snap Judgments

I’m not making them. I am telling people to calm down and remember there is a lot of football left to play.

Oregon was all but written off after losing on the road in game one to a ranked team. Now they are 2-1 and look nothing like they did in game one.

Oregon State is 2-1 and lost to Cincinnati. And people are already forgetting how many times in recent years that they started out about the same and finished with nine or 10 wins, a bowl win, and top 25 rankings.

USC lost to Washington and is now 2-1, and I hear they are overrated. Except how many years now have they lost early and finished 11-1 and still won the Pac 10?

Washington is 2-1 after upsetting USC. While they are for sure improved over last year and the upset win is big, don’t go claiming the Pac-10 title just yet. Five teams that beat the Trojans in Pac 10 play never won the conference.

Cal is the team to beat in the Pac 10? Yeah, you could say they have looked good so far but who have they played? Maryland who just lost to Middle Tennessee for the second year in a row, Eastern Washington from FCS, and Minnesota who needed overtime to beat Syracuse, a team that went 3-9 last season.

ACC Expansion

No it isn’t happening again. What I mean is, the conference may finally get what they wanted when they did expand and have Miami in the title game.

The Hurricanes have looked really good against a couple of tough opponents. If they can keep it up they could be playing at home for a BCS game, or more.

Coaching Hot Seat

Someone cooled Dan Hawkins seat at Colorado, but not much, with the Buffs win over Wyoming.

Al Groh at Virginia however is over a volcano of a hot seat. Not only are the Cavaliers 0-3 but the three losses are to an FCS school and two schools from non auto qualifiers.

I know that each is around the top of their respective levels but that doesn’t matter. At the way the schedule is shaping up, Virginia will likely be lucky to have more than two wins at the end of the season. And if that’s the case Groh would be lucky to still have a job.

Cincinnati to Repeat as Big East Champs

It is possible. They already have a 1-0 record in conference and the win is over a preseason favorite, Rutgers. Now they have a solid non-conference win over Oregon State on the road.

Oregon State is a solid Pac 10 team that has finished in the upper half of the conference, with nine or more wins, three bowl wins in a row and top 25 rankings to finish the season for three years straight as well.

Busting the BCS

I am still not quite ready to eliminate teams after one loss but I know it certainly makes it tougher. At this point I think all talks of a shot at the national championship for any team outside the Big Six conferences are done.

BYU and Utah both lost this weekend but BYU is still in a good position to climb back into consideration provided TCU, Houston and Boise were to lose somewhere along the way.

My FCS vs. FBS

So far, my 16 games that I wrote about prior to the season I was calling it a record of 10-0 since the FCS team I warned about won or lost by one possession.

Unfortunately my record takes a hit this week.

Wisconsin easily handled Wofford. I thought they might have a chance as they were 9-3 last season and played South Carolina tough. Wisconsin also escaped an upset last season so I though maybe they would be vulnerable. Oh well.

Memphis also took care of UT Martin with ease. UT Martin had a good offense like I thought they would. They gained over 400 yards of offense. Memphis just gained more.

From the MAC, Ohio was able to beat Cal Poly. This one was closer than the other two played but still enough to call it a bad call on my part.

I did get one right in Central Arkansas over Western Kentucky. It actually wasn’t even close as Central Arkansas won 28-7.

Well that brings my record to 11-3.

Revenge Games, BCS Busting, and Student Takes On Teacher In Week Three

David Hedlind — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:12:06 -0400

Week 3 already? I think so far we have probably seen more upsets than big games. I find it interesting all the people trying to project the bowl games already when I am simply looking at what games I want to watch each week.

To be honest I wont be watching more than a couple this week because instead of sitting here with four different games on four different televisions while my two DVRs record another game each, I will instead be making a trek down to Eugene, Oregon for the Utah at Oregon game.

Here is my list of what I would want to see though.

Thursday Sept 17

Georgia Tech at Miami- So far the ACC has given us a couple pretty good games NOT on a Saturday. Both of these teams come in ranked and I suspect that we will see another week night thriller.

Friday Sept 18

Boise State at Fresno State- People have long called this the game that will decide the WAC. Almost every year we hear it but to be honest I haven’t seen it. Boise State has won at least four of the last five. That one loss to Fresno State though did come at Fresno.

Saturday Sept 19

Boston College at Clemson- Well I guess I spoke to soon, it appears the ACC can give us intriguing match ups on a Saturday as well. This one should have quite the impact on the ACC Atlantic.

California at Minnesota- It isn’t quite as far as California traveled last year when they were upset at Maryland but it is still a bit of a trip and time difference. This will be the first game of BCS conference teams played in TCF Bank Stadium.

Wyoming at Colorado- Colorado is on a bit of a skid this year. So far they have lost to two non auto qualifying teams in rival Colorado State from the Mountain West and Toledo from the MAC. Wyoming gave Texas a good half a game and Colorado is no Texas. Maybe they stay in it longer.

Tennessee at Florida- Well I am still not actually really looking all that forward to it as I really don’t see it being much of a game. But if I didn’t mention it I could see the heat coming for leaving it off. Um, I don’t know if there are actually any story lines here though. HA!

Michigan State at Notre Dame- Michigan State has won the last few times in South Bend. I am not sure if this MSU team is quite as good as those were. Notre Dame hoping to get the win over at least one team from the state of Michigan.

Utah at Oregon- Ok so it doesn’t actually have the appeal it had before the season started and there are a few players missing for various reasons. This is still a key game for both these teams. And, like I said, I will be there.

Nebraska at Virginia Tech- I don’t know about this one. I haven’t actually seen Nebraska play yet so I don’t have much of an opinion on them. I guess they are both ranked so there is that.

USC at Washington- Well if you haven’t heard yet, the Washington coach and his defensive coordinator are former USC coaches. You would think that is the only thing to talk about. There is still a game to be played. Oh yeah, I live in Washington state and the papers keep talking about it.

Arizona at Iowa- Both were at that upper mid-level at the end of last season. Coming into this one both had a lot of questions in regards to replacing key players.

San Diego State at Idaho- Pretty much the bottom, or near bottom, teams from the Mountain West and WAC.

SMU at Washington State- SMU is finding it’s stride under second year coach June Jones. Washington State, not so much.

Cincinnati at Oregon State- Oregon State is a weird team. They go east and get blown out. They play at home and they win, a lot, I don’t think they have lost at home in a nonconference game under Riley. Cincinnati is probably the best team to come to Reser Stadium though.

Florida State at BYU- Yeah you read that right. Florida State is going to BYU. After the win over Oklahoma, there is a lot of support behind BYU for a BCS bowl and a shot at the National Championship.

West Virginia at Auburn- I remember the anticipation for last years meeting and feeling a bit disappointed in the end. Auburn looks much improved so maybe we will get a better game this year.

Texas Tech at Texas- Did you see last years game? It may not be quite like that but I don’t expect a blow out in either way either.

San Jose State at Stanford- These two schools aren’t very far apart and I have heard there is a bit of a rivalry. San Jose State just missed out upsetting Utah last week and Stanford just barely lost on the road at Wake Forest.

Hawaii at UNLV- I like something about this one. I think UNLV looks like they could make it to a bowl this season. They played Oregon State pretty tough and almost won last week. Hawaii beat their Pac 10 opponent but it was Washington State.

College Football 2009 Thoughts and Opinions Week 2

David Hedlind — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:38:16 -0400

Heads Up Coach

This is a fair warning to Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins. Things haven’t been going right for Hawkins up to this season and have only gotten worse in 2009.

The loss to rival Colorado State is one thing, but the loss to Toledo raises more rumblings. The road isn’t getting any easier as the Buffs host Wyoming, have a week off, then travel to West Virginia and Texas in back to back weeks.

I just wonder if Hawkins will be around all year. Don't worry though, there are a few other guys out there that need to watch out.

Non Autoqualifiers

I still hold to BYU, Utah, Boise State, and TCU as the top contenders to earn a BCS bowl. I mentioned Houston last week as a long shot and that shot just got shorter.

In my opinion Houston’s win over No. 5 Oklahoma State may be more impressive than BYU’s win over Oklahoma. Houston didn’t just win, they dominated them.

Couple that with Toledo and Colorado State’s wins over Colorado, Central Michigan beating Michigan State, Boise State beating Oregon, Fresno State taking Wisconsin to overtime, UNLV losing to Oregon State in the final seconds, Eastern and Western Michigan barely falling to a couple of Big 10 schools, TCU beating Virginia, Bowling Green loss by seven to Missouri, Louisiana Lafayette beating Kansas State, and Hawaii beating Washington State, and it looks like the “mid majors” are ready to play the big boys.

FCS Upsets

I mentioned last week that I had a list of 16 games against FCS opponents where I had a feeling about the FCS upset happening. In week one, three FCS teams beat FBS teams and three others lost by one possession. Since I only said the FBS teams need to watch out I am calling a 6-0 record.

In week two Maryland escaped James Madison by three. Colorado State beat Weber State by one. New Mexico State managed a three point win over Prairie view A&M.

Ball State actually fell victim and lost to New Hampshire.

No big wins but more narrow wins and a loss. I’m calling it a 10-0 record.

Notre Dame: Sorry Lou

Improved, but still not good enough to make the National Championship game. A BCS berth may still be an option, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

I am calling an eight or nine win season. From what I have seen so far from them and some of their opponents, I think there are a few teams, on the right day that can beat them.

The ACC

Last season the ACC had 10 teams in bowls. The difference in teams in both divisions was slight. I have a feeling we will see something similar this season.

The close games for Miami and Florida State, then from Georgia Tech and Clemson gives me the indication that the race could be just as tight this year. I would count out Duke, Virginia, and probably Maryland this season though.

Tennessee at Florida

Sorry, but I am not looking forward to this. I know all the drama from the offseason has a lot of people talking about this game, but from the on field play so far, I would be greatly surprised if Florida didn’t win this walking away.

Florida, so far this season, has not really played anyone of substance but they still seem to be clicking on all cylinders. Tennessee opened up with a big win over the newest FCS team in Western Kentucky but then lost at home to UCLA.

Tennessee still has a lot of work before I think they are ready to compete for the SEC again. I just don’t see this game being close.

The State of Washington

Last year the two schools in the state of Washington were two of the worst in the country. This year, so far, it appears one of them is turning around.

Washington has opened the season 1-1 with a win over Idaho and a loss to LSU. The loss was closer than many expected as Washington was still in the game well into the fourth quarter.

The win in week two may have been over Idaho, a school that isn’t exactly a power house, but the win ends the nation's longest losing streak at 15 games. Washington had not won a game since 2007.

Washington State on the other hand is 0-2 after losses to Stanford and Hawaii. It would not surprise me to see Washington State end up 0-12 this season. Their only chance is to upset someone looking past them to their next opponent.

USC-Ohio State

I read the words USC and national championship numerous times in the same story and I don’t get it.

Sure they won, but its not like they dominated. I didn’t see the same USC I saw last season, or in previous ones.

Yeah they will still be in the discussion, but I am skeptical. I said it in my bold predictions that neither of these teams, win or lose, would make the title game. I still feel that way.

USC-Ohio State: Trojans, Buckeyes Highlights Week Two of College Football

David Hedlind — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:56:46 -0400

Week one gave us everything we were waiting for and more in college football. The opening week came to a close with an amazing battle between Miami and Florida State.

Week two brings us one of, if not the most highly anticipated game of the season. The USC Trojans travel to Ohio State to take on the Buckeyes. While this is the feature game, it isn’t the only one being played.

Thursday, Sept. 10

Clemson at Georgia Tech

This is a conference game, but cross-divisional. It may be a good game, but as far as ACC games go, probably won’t live up to what we got on Monday night. Sorry, but that is fresh in my mind still and will draw comparisons to those two teams.

Friday, Sept. 11

Colorado at Toledo

This is only game being played Friday, so it's the only one to watch. The only thing of interest will be to see if Colorado can pull off the win or if they go 0-2 against non-auto-qualifying teams.

Saturday, Sept. 12

Duke at Army

I know it doesn’t sound attractive, but Army has a chance to start the season 2-0. Do you know when the last time they did that was? When was the last time they were 1-0 to start?

After losing to Richmond, though, Duke may come out fired up.

North Carolina at Connecticut

Last season, North Carolina won this contest pretty easily at home. Connecticut will look to attack with two different rushers that went for over 100 yards in game one.

Iowa at Iowa State

Iowa suddenly appears beatable after struggling to beat Northern Iowa. Iowa State appears to have found an offense and a play maker in QB Austin Arnaud.

Syracuse at Penn State

Paulus almost led Syracuse to a win over Minnesota at home. Now we'll see how he does in one of the hardest places to play in the country and against a step up in the competition.

Stanford at Wake Forest

Stanford has improved greatly under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Going across the country to play can have ill effects. This game will be played at 9 a.m. Pacific time, much earlier than the Stanford players will be used to.

Fresno State at Wisconsin

Did you watch this game last season when it was at Fresno? Wisconsin won, 13-10. I thought it was a pretty good game and this one should be right there with it.

Notre Dame at Michigan

The names alone should make some watch. The fact that both of these programs have been down in recent years and are now both coming off wins should bring in more.

Houston at Oklahoma State

Both of these teams have some huge offensive firepower and weapons. I think this game will really come down to whose defense performs better.

TCU at Virginia

TCU is trying to prove they can hang with the BCS conferences. Unfortunately, MWC mate BYU just stole the limelight by beating Oklahoma while Virginia just lost to an FCS opponent.

Idaho at Washington

Washington hasn’t won a game since the 2007 season. They are riding a 15-game losing streak. That should come to an end here—should.

East Carolina at West Virginia

East Carolina surprised everyone last season by beating Virginia Tech and West Virginia back to back. I don’t think they will be catching anyone off guard this season.

UCLA at Tennessee

A pretty good game last season for the suspense, if nothing else. It really wasn’t a pretty game, but the whole overtime thing was fun.

Mississippi State at Auburn

With the cupcakes out of the way in week one, it’s time for a couple of the new coaches to jump into SEC play.

South Carolina at Georgia

UGA just lost to Oklahoma State in a non-conference game. Usually after a big game loss one of two things can happen: They let that loss deflate them and they lose again or they take out a lot of frustration on SC.

Air Force at Minnesota

Air Force is trying to show that the MWC has more than the three teams everyone talks about. I know they were playing an FCS team last week, but they handled it to the tone of 72-0. Minnesota barely made a come from behind overtime win over Syracuse.

Ohio at North Texas

North Texas handled Ball State out of the MAC pretty well last week. Another MAC opponent will try their hand. Something about this game appeals to me as being a pretty good matchup.

UCF at Southern Miss

Should be a factor in the race for Conference USA East.

USC at Ohio State

Do I need to say anything? USC dominated last year at home. Ohio State would like to return that.

Purdue at Oregon

Last year's game was pretty good and ended in double overtime. The bigger story is how Oregon will come out and respond to the aftermath of an embarrassing showing against Boise State and all that came after it.

Oregon State at UNLV

Oregon State typically starts slow each season and drops an early game on the road. Those opponents have been superior to UNLV. UNLV did upset Arizona State last season.

None of these games take into consideration any chances of flu breakouts that seem to be sweeping the nation.

College Football 2009 Thoughts and Observations week 1

David Hedlind — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:55:48 -0400

After watching football all weekend, I would venture a guess that I saw about 25 games, and read reports on quite a few others, I have some thoughts.

The Punch

Can’t really start anywhere else can I?

You may have already seen my take on this else where like one of the many articles that were written about it. I don’t agree with Blount’s actions but I have a bigger problem with going at his teammates and the fans than I do Hout.

To me the turning point came as Blount is walking away and Hout runs up to him, slaps his shoulder pad while saying something regarding Blount’s statement in an off season interview.

Blount opened his mouth and Boise State shut it the way they should have, on the field. That’s all that was needed. Hout didn’t need to say more and even if he did feel the need to he didn’t need to slap the shoulder pad which brought Blount’s head up and his attention on Hout.

I learned a long time ago don’t be a sore loser but also be a gracious winner. Neither was applied.

Control your temper, just because you want to punch someone doesn’t mean you have to.

Keep your helmet on when you are on the field.

While Blount got he deserved, I think Hout needs a game out as well for his actions though.

Notre Dame

I admit I was wrong so far. The defense looks strong as they shut down one of the most productive offenses in college football.

The offense was clicking, Clausen passed well and they appear to have found a running game.

But it was Nevada and the defense wasn’t that good.

Still it I admit I undervalued Notre Dame but I am still not quite ready to call an upset over USC or even put them in a BCS game.

One step at a time.

Michigan

I don’t know how they will do this year. They may be better than last year, it would be hard to be worse. How much did we learn from their win over Western Michigan? I can’t really say since I didn’t actually see this game.

For now it would seem though that all distractions aside, Michigan is ready to play football. The offense was rolling and the defense stout. Next week we will probably learn more as they take on a little more potent opponent.

Welcome to College Football Mr. Paulus

It was almost a happy welcome too. Paulus had Syracuse leading late in the game before Minnesota was able to tie it up and send the game to overtime.

Unfortunately he threw and interception in overtime. The turn over allowed Minnesota to win with a field goal.

I will say Paulus played better than I expected though. Paulus threw for 61% and 1-1 ratio in his debut against a Big 10 bowl team.

They could be looking to make a little noise in the Big East.

FCS vs. FBS

A while back I listed 16 FCS teams that I thought could upset their FBS opponent. Maybe next year I will send it to the teams on the list. In the opening weekend six of the games I listed played. Three of the FBS teams, Temple, Duke and Virginia lost. The scores on the other three were 19-13, 25-20, and 29-22. The FBS team may have won but as I warned the FCS team kept it a game.

I am calling it six for six in upset warnings on opening weekend.

BCS Busting

The Mountain West still has their main teams in TCU, who didn’t play, Utah, who beat Utah State, and BYU, if you haven’t heard they beat Oklahoma, why are you even reading this?

Along with those three the rest may be doing there part to strengthen the image of the conference. As I write I am watching Colorado State dominate Colorado. Air Force played an FCS opponent but dominated them 72-0. UNLV and Wyoming won their games and San Diego State had a solid showing against UCLA even in a loss. Who ever wins this conference will be in a good position to play in a BCS bowl.

The other is still Boise State. They won their game against Oregon even if it wasn’t pretty. They should be favored in every other game they play this season. If they continue to play as they did against Oregon though, they are beatable.

I am not sure any other team from a conference outside the big six can make it but I would give an outside shot to Houston for right now. They have a huge test with Oklahoma State next week but if they win that and get through the conference they have all the right pieces to get there.

Warm Up Games

There really are such a thing as warm up games they are games that you play to work out the kinks and you expect a fairly easy win.

My problem is, how are some of these games considered warm ups if you take out your starters early? Or even if you just dominate the opponent did you really get a challenge to know how ready you really are?

Air Force 72-0 over Nichols State

Florida 62-3 over Charleston Southern

Michigan State 44-3 over Montana State

Kentucky 42-0 over Miami OH

Tennessee 63-7 over Western Kentucky

Boston College 54-0 over Northeastern

USC 56-3 over San Jose State

Miss State 45-7 over Jackson State

Nebraska 49-3 over FAU

Texas A&M 41-6 over New Mexico

Houston 55-7 over Northwestern State

Southern Miss 52-0 over Alcorn State

Arkansas State 61-0 over Miss. Valley St

Kansas 49-3 over Northern Arizona

Vanderbilt 45-0 over Western Carolina

Arizona State 50-3 over Idaho State

Fresno State 51-0 over UC Davis

Maybe playing each other would let you know more about your team.

Here We Go: 2009 College Football Ready for Kick-Off

David Hedlind — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:26:55 -0400

If you know me, or read me before I am all about the game. Well, Oregon football first, then all about the game. I love watching college football top teams, average teams, even the bottom feeders. As long as the games are competitive anyway.

Last season I saw 119 out of 120 teams play. Now with a few more channels, finally got ESPNU, I think I should be able to all of them.

Everyone has their “must see” lists and almost all of them feature five or so games with top teams.

Here is my list of “if its on tv, I am going to watch it” games.

Thursday September 3

Troy at Bowling Green—The favorite for the Sun Belt to play a likely middle of the road MAC team. Most of the time even the Sun Belt favorite is the underdog no matter who they play but the Trojans look to be favored.

South Carolina at North Carolina State—Last year this game wasn’t even close. But as the year went on South Carolina dropped off and North Carolina State rose up. Probably a bit more competitive this season.

Oregon at Boise State—I could go on and on about this one. Revenge game for Oregon, cheap shots from Boise State last season, Boise State’s home record. What I will say is top ranked teams going at it.

Friday September 4

Tulsa at Tulane—Conference USA game to open up any and all league play. It is likely a favorite, Tulsa, against a bottom, Tulane, but what else is on?

Saturday September 5

Appalachian State at East Carolina—Not on the level of knocking off Michigan in the Big House but should still be an exciting game.

Weber State at Wyoming—This could hurt the Mountain West and their quest for a BCS automatic bid. Weber State was 10-4 last season, a Big Sky favorite and likely FCS top 10 team.

Western Michigan at Michigan—Michigan is covered in distractions right now with anything and everything going on. Western Michigan is a MAC contender that can be dangerous.

Nevada at Notre Dame—Nevada has a dangerous offense with three returning rusher who have gone for 1,000 in a season. Their pass defense was the worst in the FBS. Notre Dame has tons of talent and need to continue to improve into this year as they did through last year. My opinion, game could go either way.

Georgia at Oklahoma State—The questions here are can UGA replace Stafford and Moreno and can Oklahoma State improve on defense? A couple of top 15 teams meeting.

Baylor at Wake Forest—Baylor could be one of the most improved teams in the country behind up and comer QB Robert Griffin. Wake on the other hand goes with veteran QB Riley Skinner.

Missouri at Illinois—These two have played the last couple years and the games have been decided by 10 or less. How big a difference will we see with Missouri losing a lot of big names?

Stanford at Washington State—Pac 10 conference opener. Stanford wants a repeat performance from RB Toby Gerhart. Washington State wants an improved run defense that got torched over and over last season.

Richmond at Duke—Richmond won the FCS last season and Duke has been a bottom tier FBS team for quite a while. They played in 2006 and Richmond won 13-0.

BYU at Oklahoma—BYU wants to bust the BCS. Oklahoma is a National Championship contender. Both in the top 20 but we are talking BYU at No. 20 and Oklahoma at No 3.

Idaho at New Mexico State—So not top tier teams or anything and probably playing to stay out of last place in the WAC. But like I said I like games that look like should be competitive. The last four games have been decided by 1, 8, 14, and 7.

Alabama at Virginia—Both teams in the top 10 but a lot of questions for both teams as there are controversies and illness at Alabama while Virginia Tech recently lost their top rusher.

Maryland at Cal—A lot was said about Cal going to Maryland last year and playing the game at what equated to about 9A.M. west coast time. This year Maryland goes out west and plays at 10 P.M. East coast time.

LSU at Washington—Looks like it should be one sided but no one really knows what to expect from Washington under new head coach Steve Sarkisian. With Jake Locker under center again Washington should be more competitive than last season. There is also that late kickoff for LSU players.

Sunday September 6

Mississippi at Memphis—Ole Miss just wants to prove last year was no fluke. Memphis isn’t really a top tier opponent to make that statement against but at least there isn’t any other college games on at this time.

Colorado State at Colorado—Colorado has won four of the last five. I kind of expect the same this year. Again though, nothing else on.

Monday September 7

Cincinnati at Rutgers—Cincinnati is the defending Big East champion. Rutgers is the trendy pick for the Big East title this year. Can the conference be decided in the first game?

Miami at Florida State—They may have been down recently but the names still make this a must see game. ACC and state tilt.

So there you have it, my watch it list. Sure I may catch a few more and of course people are going to watch their favorites, but if you want to see more games look for these in your local listings.

It Could Happen: 17 Bold College Football Predictions For 2009

David Hedlind — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:17:33 -0400

Well I can’t say I did real well on bold predictions last season, meaning maybe I go a little too bold. Of 17 predictions last season, I only saw about six right.

Despite that record here are my bold predictions for 2009.

1. Nevada will have three 1000 yard rushers in Lippincott, Taua, and Kaepernick. I will still need to look up how to spell those names.

2. There will be a one loss BCS buster team.

3. Fulmer will return to coaching at some level for the 2010 season.

4. Oregon will increase their offensive production.

5. The winner of USC at Ohio State will not play for the National Championship as either will have a loss somewhere else anyway.

6. Jim Harbaugh will be coaching in the NFL next season.

7. Dennis Erickson will move on from Arizona State.

8. There will be a two way tie in the Big XII south.

9. Miami(OH) goes 0-12.

10. Joe Paterno will step down.

11. The Big XII will have a lot of quarterbacks on the stat leaders.

12. The Big East will have their fourth different team in a BCS bowl in the last four years.

13. There will be no undefeated teams.

14. Western Michigan goes 3-1 against the rest of Michigan.

15. One of the coaches in waiting will take over.

16. Hoke will double San Diego State’s wins from 2008.

17. Joe Webb will become a more commonly heard name each week.

Preseason Conference Predictions

David Hedlind — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:27:21 -0400

Ok so the last time I did this was before the spring games. Now that’s all past and players have transferred and quit teams. Some have been kicked off others injured beyond a point of being able to return this season.

I have read numerous spring game reports and now some from the fall camps. I have read preview magazines this summer and watched some preview shows on tv. Then there was College Football Live almost everyday.

Its time to revisit and revise my predictions. Below are my predictions from March 30, 2009 followed by a note on what, if anything, I would change.

ACC - Virginia Tech

Atlantic

Florida State

Maryland

Boston College

North Carolina State

Wake Forest

Clemson

Coastal

Virginia Tech

Georgia Tech

Miami

North Carolina

Duke

Virginia

Overall leaving the ACC alone except I am higher on GT than VT so that’s my one difference.

Big East

West Virginia

Rutgers

South Florida

Cincinnati

Pitt

Connecticut

Louisville

Syracuse

To be honest I think my 1-4 are all pretty interchangeable. At this time I think I would move West Virginia down though and probably go with South Florida on top. Actually just flip flop the two.

Big Ten

Ohio State

Penn State

Michigan State

Iowa

Minnesota

Wisconsin

Northwestern

Michigan

Illinois

Purdue

Indiana

I would move Iowa up to three and move Michigan State down maybe behind Minnesota.

Big XII - Texas

North

Nebraska

Kansas

Missouri

Colorado

Kansas State

Iowa State

South

Texas

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Texas Tech

Baylor

Texas A&M

No changes for the Big XII.

CUSA - Houston

East

East Carolina

Southern Miss

UCF

UAB

Memphis

Marshall

West

Houston

Tulsa

UTEP

Rice

SMU

Tulane

No changes for Conference USA.

MAC - Central Michigan

East

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Temple

Akron

Miami (OH)

Ohio

Kent State

West

Central Michigan

Western Michigan

Northern Illinois

Ball State

Toledo

Eastern Michigan

At the time I wrote this, I will admit, I didn’t know a lot on the MAC. With that being said my new Mac East prediction is:

Akron

Kent State

Ohio

Temple

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Miami

This stems from actually doing some homework. Buffalo with what it is replacing, plus now losing Stark,s drops for me. BG is overhauling the D plus a new coach. Jarvis is healthier for Kent State. On the other side though I stand by my West predictions.

Mountain West

TCU

BYU

Utah

Air Force

UNLV

Colorado State

New Mexico

Wyoming

San Diego State

No Mountain West changes.

Pac 10

Oregon

USC

Oregon State

Arizona

Cal

Stanford

Arizona State

UCLA

Washington

Washington State

So it may be the homer in me but I’m gonna stand by my Pac 10 predictions.

SEC - Florida

East

Florida

Georgia

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vanderbilt

Kentucky

West

Ole Miss

Alabama

LSU

Arkansas

Auburn

Miss St

No SEC changes

Sun Belt

Troy

FAU

ULL

Middle Tennessee

Arkansas State

FIU

ULM

Western Kentucky

North Texas

I think Troy stays on top but I like what Arkansas State has going on so I say move them to the two spot. I now would flip flop ULM and ULL. So that now looks like:

Troy

Arkansas State

FAU

ULM

Middle Tenn

FIU

ULL

WAC

Boise State

Nevada

Louisiana Tech

Fresno State

Hawaii

San Jose State

Utah State

Idaho

New Mexico State

No changes in the WAC

There you have it my official call for the 2009 season. I reserve the right to edit this up to Sept 3,2009 before any games are played.

It's in The Way You Say It

David Hedlind — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:23:10 -0400

I may be to touchy when it comes to some things but it’s the fine details that seem to drive me the craziest.

These are a few things that when I read them, something irks me and I just can’t help but comment on them.

The Orange Bowl and the Big East

Yes they used to be affiliated but they aren’t now and have not been since 2005. Since 2005, the Big East champ has not appeared in the Orange Bowl in consecutive years. Cincinnati played in the Orange Bowl in 2009. Keep these things in mind when you make your bowl predictions.

The BCS Bowls

The BCS is five bowls: the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl and the BCS National Championship game.

The last one is played at one of the sites of the previous four. For the 2009 season the BCS Championship Game is being played at the site of the Rose Bowl but it is not the Rose Bowl.

Stop saying your teams goal is the Rose Bowl when you mean the National Championship Game.

Finish the Name

Why do some people feel it is OK to leave off part of the school name? I don’t know how many times I read Ohio when people were talking about Ohio State. Sure, not many people even realize there is actually and Ohio University, but there is. If you want to talk about Ohio State say Ohio State.

Acronyms and Mascots

Along those lines of names, when starting a conversation, char, article, whatever remember that many schools use the same acronym and mascots and clarify who you are talking about. OSU is used by Ohio State, Oklahoma State, and Oregon State. UT is used by Texas, Tennessee, and Toledo. How many schools use Bulldogs, Huskies, and Wildcats. I don’t know how many times something has read funny because I didn’t know exactly what school was being talked about till I was a little ways in to the story.

Bowl Selection

When it says something like Big 10 #4 or ACC #5 it does not mean the team that finished in the finished in that place in the conference. In the majority of cases it actually means that particular bowl has that selection of bowl eligible teams from that conference. Maybe the fifth place team had a better overall record than the fourth so that bowl may decide to pick that team instead.

There are a few out there that do go based on placement though such as the Pac 10 No.2 and the Holiday Bowl.

Full Week One Game List

David Hedlind — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:56:30 -0400

Believe it or not, there are 120 teams in the FBS level of college football.

From all previews and predictions for Week 1, one would think there are only about 20, because people focus on the big games.

I understand why, but I am a fan of the game. I like watching two teams that have no shot at a national championship play if they are closely matched and comparable. If you read my profile, you know I have multiple TVs in my living room for college football. If you don’t believe me, look at the picture.

Here is a rundown of every game in Week 1. These are in order of approximate time of kickoff.

Look over the full list. There may be a game you weren’t aware of that you may kick yourself for missing.

Sept. 3

Troy at Bowling Green

Coastal Carolina at Kent State

South Carolina at North Carolina State

Villanova at Temple

North Texas at Ball State

Eastern Kentucky at Indiana

North Dakota at Iowa State

Utah State at Utah

Oregon at Boise State

Sept. 4

Tulsa at Tulane

Central Arkansas at Hawaii

Sept. 5

Appalachian State at East Carolina

Kentucky at Miami (OH)

Montana State at Michigan State

Towson at Northwestern

Navy at Ohio State

Akron at Penn State

Toledo at Purdue

Minnesota at Syracuse

Western Kentucky at Tennessee

Liberty at West Virginia

Northern Iowa at Iowa

Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech

Youngstown State at Pittsburgh

Nicholls State at Air Force

Northeastern at Boston College

Portland State at Oregon State

Weber State at Wyoming

Western Michigan at Michigan

Jackson State at Mississippi State

Nevada at Notre Dame

Georgia at Oklahoma State

San Jose State at USC

Baylor at Wake Forest

Missouri at Illinois

Rice at UAB

Southern Illinois at Marshall

Northwestern State at Houston

Middle Tennessee State at Clemson

Citadel Bulldogs at North Carolina

William & Mary at Virginia

Missouri State at Arkansas

Louisiana Tech at Auburn

Richmond at Duke

Army at Eastern Michigan

Charleston Southern at Florida

Northern Colorado at Kansas

Southern University at Louisiana Lafayette

FAU at Nebraska

Uconn at Ohio

BYU at Oklahoma

Wofford at USF

Alcorn State at Southern Miss

Louisiana Monroe at Texas

New Mexico at Texas A&M

North Dakota at Texas Tech

Northern Illinois at Wisconsin

Mississippi Valley State at Arkansas State

Massachusetts at Kansas State

Indiana State at Louisville

Samford at UCF

San Diego State at UCLA

Western Carolina at Vanderbilt

Idaho at New Mexico State

Stephen F. Austin at SMU

Alabama at Virginia Tech

Stanford at Washington State

Buffalo at UTEP

Central Michigan at Arizona

Idaho State at Arizona State

Maryland at Cal

California-Davis at Fresno State

Sacramento State at UNLV

LSU at Washington

Sept. 6

Mississippi at Memphis

Colorado State at Colorado

Sept. 7

Cincinnati at Rutgers

Miami at Florida State