Bleacher Report - Articles by James Colt

Something Smells Rank: How the Media Is Leading College Football Fans Astray

James Colt — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:20:41 -0400

There is a reason that NFL teams have preseason games.

There is a reason why many of the top college football programs choose to play cupcakes for the first few games of the season.

There is a reason why polls shouldn't be conducted until the middle of the college football season.

The reason is because nobody really knows how good a team is until a few games into the season, not even the coaches.

Coaches like the easy games because it's tough for them to get a feel for who can do what from scrimmages at practice. Scrimmages are nice, and playing hard in practice can reward a player, but there is never a substitute for game speed.

What does this all have to do with the media?

The fact is that the media is creating an early bias of how good teams are going to be before their own coaches can even be sure of what to expect.

This leads to the glorification of games like Miami and Florida State. Sure, it was a great game and very entertaining, but let's face it, neither team has been better than mediocre of late. So how does the fact that they could play a game like that against each other mean that Miami has turned the corner by coming out the victor?

Two teams that are 0-11 at the end of the year could play a game that's just as entertaining and full of highlight reel plays, but would anyone ever notice?

No, because we already know how good those teams are, or in that particular example, aren't.

So then, this weekend Michigan and Notre Dame played a thriller of a game. Notre Dame got a lot of hype coming into the season because of their beat down over Hawaii in their bowl game last year.

Michigan was being revered by reporters because of how good they looked against Western Michigan in their opener.

Notre Dame received more hype after beating up on Nevada.

So the stage was set. Both teams beat teams that will be lucky to finish the year at .500, but nevertheless, they are being viewed as powerhouses on the verge of coming back to life.

Whoever comes out on top is poised to have a breakthrough season.

Well, can anyone tell me the last time that Notre Dame beat a BCS team that finished the season with a winning record?

I couldn't remember, so I had to do some research. The answer is—the last time that Notre Dame beat a BCS team that finished with a winning record was Oct. 21, 2006 against UCLA, who finished 7-6.

Since then, Notre Dame has gone 0-14 against BCS schools that have finished the year with a winning record. Those aren't teams that finished the year ranked. I'm just talking teams that finished 7-6 or better.

Michigan is coming off a year in which they won two games, and have two true freshman quarterbacks at the top of their depth chart.

So are we supposed to believe all the hype that Michigan is a top-25 team?

Once again, the game was great, but come on, what has either team done to deserve to be glorified to the extent that they are?

Then we have USC and Ohio State. Two teams that started the year in the top 10.

Ohio State started the year by having to stave off a two-point conversion by Navy to pull out a win at home.

USC is replacing nine starters on defense and has a true freshman starting at quarterback for the first time in the history of the program.

Both teams lost a ton of talent from last year, and played a nail-biting game, which USC pulled out in the end on the road.

These two teams are definitely head and shoulders above all of the aforementioned teams, but did USC really look like the No. 3 team in the country? Did they look like a team that can contend with Florida? Did they even look like they are the best team in their conference?

NO!!! They look like a team with a great coach, and a lot of confidence, that is good enough to be in the second tier of the top 10, but certainly not the top three.

The problem is the media has a love affair with prestigious programs. Looking at it from the media's point of view that's a good thing.

Most of the people in the country root for one of the teams I've named above. Ratings drive television. Who cares if you aren't being fair and balanced if the ratings are high.

That is the bottom line at ESPN, ABC, CBS, and Fox. They want ratings, and those teams drive the ratings.

The people who suffer are the true fans of the sport.

Not necessarily Joe Schmo Wolverine Fan, but rather the hardcore fan that read my article on the top 10 quarterbacks heading into 2009, and knew who Case Keenum was before he upset Oklahoma State because you wanted to know everything you can about college football.

However, all the big time media outlets are still out there driving their ratings leaving all of us to suffer their incessant talk of how great a team is that hasn't beaten a team of consequence since 2006, and that that team will be UPSET by FLORIDA in the National Championship game.

SERIOUSLY!!!!!! Who lets these people on TV, and then tells people they are college football experts.

Look, I have respect for Lou Holtz as a coach, but I thought you are supposed to check your bias at the door when you get on a national television show and are supposed to educate people about the game not mislead them.

It's a responsibility that large media outlets don't take seriously. Fortunately, there are those on here that do.

So to all of you B/R writers, keep writing about how Cal will win the Pac-10. Keep writing about how the MWC really could be the third or even second best conference in the country RIGHT NOW.

We may be a small community, but perhaps we can cause some sort of change in the way the popular media conducts their business, or we can at the very least keep each other informed of what is really happening in the world of college football, and keep praising those deserving individuals and teams that get skipped over by the large outlets because they just aren't popular.

Well you know what ESPN, ABC, CBS, and Fox? They aren't popular because you aren't doing your job!!!!

College Football's Week One Upsets and Locks

James Colt — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:46:10 -0400

With the first weekend of the 2009 college football season staring us down, I'm going to try and provide everyone with some upsets to look for, and some games that look like they may be close but I view as locks.

This is something I'm going to try to do every week, and would love for everyone to let me know what they think about my picks, and if you have any of your own. So here we go.

Teams that should be on upset alert

Notre Dame hosting Nevada

Notre Dame has cracked the top 25 based mostly on hype and a beat down of Hawaii in their bowl game in Hawaii. I'm sorry if I'm not buying the hype of a team that finished the regular season at 6-6, including a home loss to Syracuse in the latter part of the season.

I know Notre Dame has a lot of bigtime recruits, but potential doesn't mean anything especially when your counterpart on the field has one of the nation's top quarterbacks, Colin Kaepernick, and a Hall of Fame coach, Chris Ault.

Look for Nevada to not only push the Irish to the brink but come away with the victory in South Bend and demolish the Irish's hopes of a BCS bowl.

Maryland at Cal

Maryland pulled out an eight-point victory last year at home against Cal. This year the game is at Cal which should be an advantage to the Golden Bears.

However, while Cal may have one of the best running backs in the country, they don't have any leadership at the quarterback position.

If Cal can't get steady play out of the quarterback position then look for Maryland to walk away with a W or at least make it a lot closer than the 21-point spread.

LSU at Washington

I'm not calling for an upset in this one, but it should be a lot closer than the 18-point spread. I know Washington was winless last year, but they are always competitive with Jake Locker under center.

Many of the Huskies struggles last year could be blamed on terrible quarterback play, but Locker not only solidifies that position, but makes it the strength of the team, and that's a great place to be your strongest.

LSU on the other hand isn't strongest at the quarterback position. While a quarterback controversy never materialized between Jordan Jefferson and Russell Shepard, the quality of play that we will see from Jefferson remains a big question mark. Yes, he played well in the Peach Bowl, but he was very inconsistent before that game.

I wouldn't be too shocked to see the Huskies shock the world, but, if I were betting the game, I would take Washington to cover the 18 points.

Games people think will be close but are really locks

Georgia at Oklahoma State

Everyone knows about the talent that Oklahoma State returns on offense and the talent that Georgia lost on offense.

However, OSU showed in the Holiday bowl that it has no other receiving threat outside of Dez Bryant, which is especially more true today than last year with the departure of tight end Brandon Pettigrew.

The OSU defense is also very suspect, even under new defensive guru Bill Young.

Georgia did lose two first-round draft picks, but Joe Cox and Caleb King are more than adequate replacements.

Georgia also has their own bigtime receiver with A.J. Green and a deeper talent pool on both sides of the ball.

The last time these two got together, Mike Gundy was billing his team as the best offense in the country only to end up getting smacked by Georgia. Expect Georgia to be up to the road challenge and end Oklahoma State's high hopes for 2009 early.

Missouri at Illinois

This seems like a slam dunk in favor of Illinois even though they are only a seven-point favorite.

Missouri lost a ton of players after 2008 but does return two standouts in linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and running back Derrick Washington. Those two shouldn't be enough to carry the rest of the inexperience on the team over a very experienced and athletic Illinois.

Expect Illinois to win and cover the spread.

Alabama vs. Virginia Tech

The loss of Darren Evans for Va. Tech will be prove to be huge for the Hokies.

The Alabama defense and ground attack will keep the game to a low-scoring affair, and the 6.5-point spread seems about right. Look for Alabama to win this game in classic SEC style with tough D and a bruising ball-control offense with the occasional bigtime play to Julio Jones.

So there you have it: the Week One upsets and locks. Let me know what you think, and I don't want any retroactive trash talk if you can't say something before the game first.

Texas Longhorns: Parallel Seasons, Parallel Championships?

James Colt — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:12:36 -0400

History is said by some to be cyclical. Hopefully, for the 2009 edition of the Texas Longhorns, it is.

If you look back on the events around not just college football, but all of college sports, you will see that the events that occurred before the 2005 college football season are very similar to those that have occurred before the 2009 season.

Let's start with Texas's win at the Fiesta Bowl.

In 2005, Texas won it's first ever BCS game against a Big Ten team in heart-pounding, come-from-behind fashion.

In 2009, Texas won it's first BCS game since their national championship victory, and it came in heart-pounding, come-from-behind fashion against a Big Ten team.

In 2005, Texas began the year ranked second behind defending national champion USC.

In 2009, Texas is beginning the year ranked second behind defending national champion Florida.

In 2005, USC was seeking to become the first-ever back-to-back BCS champion after defeating Big 12 champion Oklahoma for the title the year before.

In 2009, Florida is seeking to become the first-ever back-to-back BCS champion after defeating Big 12 champion Oklahoma for the title the year before.

In 2005, Texas had a defensive coordinator from Auburn, Gene Chizik.

In 2009, Texas has a defensive coordinator from Auburn, Wil Muschamp.

In 2009, Texas will play the exact same Big 12 schedule that they played in 2005.

In 2005, Texas had no running back emerge as a go-to guy, and thus the Longhorns used a running back-by-committee.

In 2009, Texas has no featured back, and thus they will use a running back-by-committee style.

Going into 2005, Texas had lost only one game the season before.

Going into 2009, Texas lost only one game the season before.

Going into 2005, Texas was looking to end a streak of three OU Big 12 championships since Texas last won the Big 12 title.

Going into 2009, Texas is looking to end a streak of three OU Big 12 championships since Texas last won the Big 12 title.

In 2005, the Big 12 championship was played at a Texas NFL stadium in Houston.

In 2009, the Big 12 championship will be played at a Texas NFL stadium in Dallas.

In 2005, the National Championship game was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

In 2009, the National Championship game will be played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

In 2005, the Texas Longhorns baseball team faced an SEC opponent (Florida) in the College World Series Finals.

In 2009, the Texas Longhorns baseball team faced an SEC opponent (LSU) in the College World Series Finals.

In 2005, North Carolina won the National Championship in basketball against Big Ten opponent Illinois.

In 2009, North Carolina won the National Championship in basketball against Big Ten opponent Michigan State.

Hopefully, all of these similarities are all pointing to another dramatic victory for Texas in the Rose Bowl come January. Hopefully, that Rose Bowl game won't be the first bowl game played in Pasadena this January, but rather the BCS Championship game.

If history truly is cyclical then we should hopefully once again see a Texas quarterback with a five letter last name (Young, five letters; McCoy, five letters) hoisting the crystal ball in Pasadena.

Let's keep our fingers crossed, Texas fans.

2008 Should Serve As a Blueprint for 2009 Longhorns

James Colt — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:23:30 -0400

The exploits of the flawed 2008 college football season are quite well known by college football fans by now. However, like the saying goes, "if we don't learn from our history, then we are doomed to repeat it."

Well the 2009 Texas Longhorns had better take the lesson they learned in 2008, and apply it to 2009, because the 'Horns cannot afford a loss in the upcoming season if they plan to play for the National Championship.

The 2008 edition of the Longhorns were left with a sour taste in their mouth after being passed up for the title game by a team they had previously beaten by 10 points.

With the way the current BCS system is set up, head to head meetings have no bearing on what teams get to advance to the title game.

Instead, a team's entire schedule is rated by the BCS, and a team's strength of schedule plays a major role in deciding who goes to the National Championship game.

Just as last year, Texas finds themselves with an extremely weak out of conference schedule that will do them no favors should they drop a game at some point during the season.

In the world of the BCS, it is important to either be able to go undefeated or have a strong schedule.

We know Texas lacks a tough schedule outside of their conference schedule, and so going undefeated will be of paramount importance if Texas hopes to reach Pasadena for the National Championship game.

Teams like Utah and Arkansas who were supposed to play Texas in 2009 certainly have done the Longhorns no favors in backing out the their games against the Longhorns this season, but Texas didn't really help the situation by replacing those teams with Wyoming and UTEP.

Certainly in the past Texas has had a history of tough out-of-conference scheduling, and I'm sure after meeting with BCS experts this off-season, Texas will continue to schedule tough out-of-conference opponents.

However, the fact remains that Texas has no marquee games for 2009 against someone outside the Big 12, and that means if Texas wants a shot at the roses, they have to be perfect in 2009.

2008 saw Texas come one play and one second shy of perfection. Hopefully in 2009, Texas will be able to stay away from the letdown to find themselves once again hoisting the crystal ball in Pasadena.

Folks Aren't Just Whistlin' Dixie in Declaring the SEC's BCS Dominance

James Colt — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:20:17 -0400

Sometimes when I'm just sitting around with nothing to do, some random thoughts run through my head.

Today, I began to wonder if USC could have beat LSU in the 2004 Sugar Bowl if they would have played the way many of us expected them to play.

My answer to this question was not only no, but it got me thinking a lot more about the BCS, it's champions, and people's perception of which conference is best.

For starters, I'm going to provide a quick piece of information to back up my answer as to why USC would have lost to LSU in the 2004 Sugar Bowl.

The simplest reason why is because no SEC school has ever lost a BCS National Championship Game.

The SEC has reigned supreme in BCS National Championship Games, going an astonishing 5-0 when given the opportunity to play for the title beginning with Tennessee winning the first in 1999 and Florida winning the most recent in 2009.

This fact could have also been disastrous for USC in the 2005 BCS Championship Game had Auburn not been left out of the game despite going undefeated.

The fact that Auburn went undefeated and was left out of the championship game brings me to my next point. Despite what people think, the SEC has not been the most dominant conference throughout not just history, but throughout the short history of the BCS.

Tennessee won the first ever BCS National Championship in 1998, just one year removed from the disappointment of not winning the national title in 1997.

However, the SEC would only appear in and win one of the next seven BCS National Championship Games. That hardly has the ring of historical BCS dominance that fans of the SEC have been claiming they have had.

No, the SEC has not had history of BCS dominance, but they have most certainly have had recent dominance. The SEC has gone on to win three-straight BCS title games, and four of the last six.

The saying is heard every year that if you can run the table in the SEC, you will be playing for a national championship. The last few seasons have certainly warranted that expression.

What happened to that saying when Auburn was able to run the table? I know this was before the SEC was dominating the BCS titles yet, but LSU had just won the year before.

Speaking of that LSU team, where is the respect for the SEC champion who actually won the "National Championship Game?" Would we actually see a split national championship today if the SEC champs won the BCS title game?

The answer of course is no because the SEC is clearly the most dominant conference in the country today. However, as you can see, it truly wasn't that long ago that the SEC wasn't receiving anything near the level of respect that they get today.

So why the sudden change in attitude regarding the SEC? I think the answer lies in what happened at the end of the 2006 and beginning of 2007. This was the season that the Florida Gators won their first ever BCS title.

Florida was a one-loss team who had to do some hard lobbying by coach Urban Meyer to get people to vote the Gators into the BCS title game.

Many people around the country felt that Ohio State and Michigan were the two best teams in the country. They played a season-finale game that was one of the best ever in the history of their rivalry.

What ensued after the game was a huge uproar from fans signifying that the two should be allowed to meet again in Tempe and play for the national championship.

Unfortunately for Michigan, they had a couple of things working against them.

First was the time of the season that the loss occurred. Everyone knows that the best time to lose is early in the season. It worked for Oklahoma and Florida last year.

However, the annual Michigan-Ohio State game is always the last game of the year for the two teams. Perhaps national championship aspirations should force these two into considering a move to earlier in the year like when Oklahoma and Texas play or Miami and Florida State.

The second factor is actually the same as the first, the timing of the game. This was the last game of the year for both teams, but everyone outside of the Big Ten still had at least one and maybe two games left to play.

This gave voters a chance to forget about the phenomenal game that Ohio State and Michigan played. It gave Florida the stage all to themselves and the ability to leave the last impression.

The last impression stuck and Florida went on to dominate Ohio State. This subsequently cemented the SEC over the Big Ten as the best conference in the country.

Since that time, the SEC has failed to not claim the national title and are heavy favorites to win it again this season. Meanwhile, the Big Ten has failed to win one single BCS game, championship or otherwise.

So for all those fans that think the SEC's dominance has been perpetual, you obviously have short memories. For all those SEC fans that think it will last forever, well I wouldn't be too sure about that either.

I'll leave all you die-hard SEC people with one little nugget of wisdom: You all have a very precious present. Enjoy it because the present is always fleeting, and you never know what tomorrow may bring. Just ask the Big Ten.

Gator Blog Posts Ridiculously Biased Poll

James Colt — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:51:44 -0400

Thanks to Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin, I came across a Florida Gators blog which is debating what college football team has been the greatest team of the decade, and the author really emphasizes the phrase so far.

The author even puts a poll on the blog for readers to vote which team they believe is the greatest of the decade, so far.

While this is a fun thing to talk about and debate, the problem I have is that the article is on a Florida Gator blog called Swamp Things, and can be found on orlandosentinel.com. Here is the link to that particular blog.

One main area of focus that the author seems to have first and foremost isn't the stated topic of her article, but rather which championship Gator team of this decade was better.

Again, that is an interesting topic for debate, but it is a little superfluous to the topic, and also takes away some objectivity, if there ever was any, of the author on this topic.

By making this a focus of her, we'll call it a series, she is indicating that she thinks one or both Gator teams are among the best of the decade.

I must whole heartedly disagree with that.

Of course, we all know that neither Florida team was able to achieve perfection, which levies a HUGE penalty against them both when comparing them to other championship teams of the decade (she does say that to qualify you must have been a BCS champion, so, sorry to the 2003 and 2005 USC teams and 2004 Auburn).

When I think of the best teams of this decade I would immediately discount any of the once or twice (ahem, LSU) beaten teams. Sometimes this shouldn't be an automatic disqualification, but all of the undefeated teams of the past nine years have just been that good.

So let's look at the undefeated teams by breaking them down in order.

First is the 2000 Oklahoma Sooners.

They pretty much shocked everyone that year, and are perhaps a little forgotten about because they weren't on anyone's radar at the beginning of the year, and so the hype machine didn't really get going for this team. OU boasted an outstanding defense in 2000 that held FSU, which averaged 42.4 ppg in 2000, to just two points in the title game.

Next is the 2001 Miami team which can now boast 10 first round picks from that team, and completely obliterated Nebraska in the title game, whether they deserved to be there or not.

The following season saw Ohio State run the table and stun Miami in the title game in double overtime. Miami definitely suffered from the loss of McGahee, but the Buckeyes still won the game and the title.

Much like the 2000 OU team, the Buckeyes championship team seems almost forgotten because they were talked about very little during the 2002 season due to Miami, their winning streak and their quest for back-to-back titles.

The next undefeated team was the 2004 Trojans led by Heisman winner Matt Leinart. USC was able to go wire to wire as the AP No. 1 after coming off of a split title in 2003. USC completely dominated OU and former Heisman trophy winner Jason White.

The following year saw Texas claim an undefeated national title against the team that ESPN had declared the greatest ever.

USC was led by two Heisman trophy winners, and was essentially playing a home game, but Texas pulled out the win in what was an improbable highly anticipated match up because the two teams went wire to wire as Nos. 1 and 2 in the AP in 2005.

There has yet to be an undefeated team since 2005, but I have a feeling that Andrea Adelson of the Swamp Things blog feels that 2009 will see Florida run the table, and become the greatest team ever judging by the tone of her article.

One final note on Miss Adelson's article is about the poll. While it is exclusively a Gators blog posted on an Orlando newspaper web site, the poll does have the 2005 Texas team leading the 2008 Gator team.

Don't fret Gator fans, you can still click the link above to go vote for your beloved Gators.

As for me, I don't know if I could rank the teams I listed above. I think you could take any of them and not be wrong.

So, since I'm talking about a biased article, I might as well throw out my own biased vote, and say the 2005 Longhorns have been, so far, the best team of the decade.

College Football's Summer Top 25: Head Coaches

James Colt — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:21:03 -0400

This time of year always has people putting out their top 25 lists of teams heading into the season.

I put one out myself shortly after the regular season ended.

However, I wanted to take a break from the norm and rank the top 25 coaches going into the 2009 season.

Just so everyone knows this isn't a list of all-time great coaches, and it isn't a list of who is the greatest coach that is actively coaching.

If that were the case this would be an insanely easy list to make, and we all know that people like Paterno, Bowden and Spurrier would be at the top of that list, but Bowden and Spurrier are inauspiciously missing from this particular ranking.

This list simply ranks the coaches who are perhaps the hottest coaches in the country right now. It could be coaches who are exceeding expectations at their particular university, or an all-time great who is resurrecting his career.

Whatever the criteria, I've tried painstakingly hard to put together this list of the top 25 coaches heading into the 2009 season, and I hope it's one that both satisfies and causes some controversial discussion.

So without further ado here is the top 25 for 2009:

25. Bo Pelini - Nebraska

Bo has the shortest tenure of any coach on the list at one year. I disqualified most coaches who have that little time under their belts, but the job that he did in his first year is worth noting.

Also worth noting is that Pelini has the Cornhuskers as one of the early favorites to be making a trip to the Big 12 title game in December. I think most head coaches would love to have a 9-4 year in their first season ever as head coach.

So for exceeding what were already lofty expectations, Bo Pelini lands himself at number 25 for 2009.

24. Mike Gundy - Oklahoma State

Many know Gundy for his infamous "I'm a man! I'm 40!" tirade a couple of years ago. However, I think people are starting to take notice of the fact that he has a pretty good football team up there in Stillwater.

The Cowboys are in most everyone's early top 10, and they are actually averaging the six spot if you average all the major polls in the country.

His offense certainly has a ton of fire power with players that are at or near the top of their respective positions at QB, WR, and RB.

However, if Gundy wants to climb this list he is going to have to figure out that it also helps to have some sort of defense backing your offense up.

23. Brian Kelly - Cincinnati

Kelly has made a living being known as a guy that turns programs around quickly.

His tenure at Cincinnati has been no exception. He has taken what is largely known as a basketball school and turned it into a Big East football power.

He took home the Big East crown in 2009 along with a trip to the Orange Bowl. He was able to do all this without any kind of stability at quarterback.

He had to shuffle through ineligibilities and injuries all year long at the most important position on the field, but was still able to coach his team to a conference title.

I don't care if it was the Big East, it was still impressive.

22. Gary Pinkel - Missouri

Pinkel has taken a team that is generally a historically mediocre team to two straight Big 12 north titles.

In 2007 his team even achieved a number one ranking.

2008 saw his Tigers fall below expectations, and 2009 maybe an even tougher year for the head man at Mizzou, but his turnaround job in Columbia has definitely been remarkable.

21. Bobby Petrino - Arkansas

Petrino is a guy that would have found himself higher on this list a few years ago.

He is responsible for turning around Louisville, and his impact as the coach of that team is undeniable when seeing what happened to them the year after he left.

Now he is trying to turnaround an Arkansas team that is playing in one of the toughest divisions in college football.

He probably doesn't have a shot at an SEC west title this year, though many would say they are the dark horse in that division, but in 2010 and 2011 I would expect Arkansas to be one of the top teams in the SEC.

20. Jim Grobe - Wake Forest

Jim Grobe guided the Demon Deacons to an ACC title and an appearance in the Orange Bowl in 2007.

The Deacons championship shocked many, and while they haven't yet won another the Demon Deacons are no longer a team that you can just show up against. They are an extremely tough team led by an extremely tough leader.

As long as Grobe is on the sidelines at Wake Forest the Deacons will always be a viable threat in the ACC.

19. Jim Leavitt - South Florida

Leavitt is the only the coach that this young football program has ever known.

That is why I think it is all that much more remarkable that the program has gotten to the point that it has, and that is the early favorite to win the Big East in 2009.

Leavitt has guided the Bulls to a number two ranking at one point, but late season let downs have been a bad trend for his teams the last few years.

If Leavitt and the Bulls hope to finally take home the Big East title he is going to have to figure how to get his team to handle expectations, and how to not wear down towards the end of the season.

18. Mike Leach - Texas Tech

Mike Leach is unquestionably an offensive genius.

People sometimes hate on Leach saying that it's the system that allows them to score so many points.

Well, yeah, of course it is. And he is the man that created the system, and if I had a system that allowed me to score 50 points a game I would use it too.

While being an offensive genius his defenses have often gone largely by the wayside. Leach has taken notice that he can't outscore every team, and has taken measures to fix his defense, but so far it's still not enough.

2009 may be a tough year for the Red Raiders as they are picked as the fourth or even the fifth best team in the Big 12 south, but if there is one thing that everyone should know about Leach it's that you shouldn't underestimate his ability to plug players into his system.

17. Jeff Tedford - Cal

Tedford is without a doubt one of the most unsung coaches in the country. He puts together some outstanding football teams year to year, and yet the man never really gets any recognition.

With perhaps the best running back in the nation in Jahvid Best, and a reloading year at USC, this could finally be the year that Tedford breaks through in the Pac 10.

16. Bronco Mendenhall - BYU

Mendenhall has backed off the slogans about perfection for the 2009 season, but with QB Max Hall back to guide BYU, the Cougars are still looked at as one of the potential BCS busters for 2009.

Mendenhall hasn't been at BYU for long, but he has made them competitive on a national stage once again.

BYU used to be a national power in the '80's, but fell off the map of college football for quite a while. Mendenhall has helped to resurrect the Mormon football faithful, and has made them into a perennial top 25 team.

15. Mark Mangino - Kansas

Mangino just continues to defy the odds at Kansas.

Known for it's prowess in basketball, the Jayhawks are no longer a one trick pony.

Mangino has guided Kansas to back-to-back bowl victories for the first time in school history including an Orange Bowl victory.

Considering the long history of futility in Lawrence, what Mangino has done is nothing short of spectacular.

14. Chris Petersen - Boise State

Petersen wasn't responsible for building up the Boise program, but he is responsible for taking them to the next level.

We are all of course aware of the Bronco's stunning Fiesta Bowl victory and undefeated season, but then Petersen took the Bronco's to another undefeated regular season in 2008 before they were snubbed by the BCS committee.

Boise has some very lofty expectations, with a schedule that will get them into a BCS game if they earn it. With qb Kellen Moore returning, the Bronco's just may be making a return to the BCS.

13. Les Miles - LSU

Les has been the subject of some controversy in Baton Rouge. Many Tigers fans are unsure of his ability to win without Saban's players, and also the fact that even when they did win the championship they still had two losses.

Whatever side of the fence you stand regarding Miles, the fact is he is one of the best coaches in the country.

His reckless style might lose some games, but it wins many as well. It's also pretty undeniable that he is a great recruiter which comes in handy when you are in a recruiting rich area like LSU.

12. Gary Patterson - TCU

Patterson's teams are best known for their ferocious defense. 2009 should be another banner year for the Horned Frogs defense which is led by defensive end Jerry Hughes.

Patterson has made TCU a perennial top 25 team, and always one of the teams in the discussion as a BCS buster.

He has yet to breakthrough to the BCS, but does have on his resume a win in Norman, and, along with Texas, held OU to their lowest regular season point total in 2008.

I think that their schedule works out favorably in 2009, and Patterson finally busts down the BCS door that he has been knocking on for so long.

11. Butch Davis - North Carolina

Had he not ever opted to leave Miami for the NFL we may be talking about Butch Davis as perhaps the best coach in the country right now.

In his final season at Miami his one loss team was snubbed for the National Championship game in favor of a once beaten FSU that Davis had beaten earlier in the season.

The year after Davis left Miami the Hurricanes went on to win the national title, and perhaps became one of the greatest teams ever.

Now at North Carolina, Davis has recruited marvelously, and has his team as a favorite to win their division in 2009.

The Tar Heels hadn't seen success since Mack Brown, but as long as Davis is there they should be in the national picture almost every year.

10. Kyle Whittingham - Utah

The Utes shocked the world in January when they showed up at the Sugar Bowl and put a whipping on the Crimson Tide.

Many claim that Utah should have had at least a share of the title because of their showing in the BCS, but Whittingham has only himself to blame because if they would have kept their 2008 date with Texas and won, then perhaps the Utes would have actually been in the title game instead of the Sugar bowl.

However, the job that Whittingham did in 2008 was still very impressive, and while his team may take a step back in 2009, they are still worthy of a top 25 preseason ranking.

9. Mark Richt - Georgia

Richt is still seeking the Bulldog's first national title since the days of Herschel Walker, but he does have two SEC crowns under his belt.

The Bulldogs did fall well below expectations in 2008, but you can largely blame that on a severe rash of injuries to the team.

Georgia doesn't have any lofty expectations placed upon them in 2009, but don't be surprised to see them rebound into a top 10 team.

8. Frank Beamer - Virginia Tech

Beamer is still searching for that elusive national championship, but 2009 looks like a promising season for the man known for "Beamer ball."

Beamer has won several ACC titles, but the quest for the national championship could end this year with what looks to be his best team since the days of Michael Vick.

Of course standing in his way is a date with Alabama, the ACC schedule, and if he gets to the National title game probably a great Florida team, or Texas or Oklahoma. All of whom would be huge obstacles to Beamer's title hopes.

7. Joe Paterno - Penn State

Without a doubt Joe Paterno is one of the greatest coaches of all time, and in the last few years he has been able to resurrect his Penn State team that many thought would be dead until Paterno decided to hang up his clip board.

Paterno has been able to prove his critics wrong by winning a couple of Big Ten titles and going 1-1 in BCS bowls since 2005.

With some big time starters returning in 2009, and a home date against the Buckeyes, expectations are high once again in Happy Valley.

6. Jim Tressell - Ohio State

Tressell made a promise to the Buckeye faithful that beating Michigan is priority one. He has delivered on that promise by pretty much dominating the Wolverines during his tenure.

Tressell has a national title and a plethora of Big Ten titles to his credit, but as of late he has his critics because the Buckeyes, who were once dominant in BCS games under Tressell, have now lost three straight.

Regardless of recent lack of success in BCS games there isn't a team in the country that wouldn't sign Tressell in a heartbeat. That is unless you are one of the next five schools with one of these coaches on your sideline.

5. Bob Stoops - Oklahoma

Bob Stoops revived from the ashes one of the greatest football programs of all-time.

In this decade no one has won more games than stoops. He has by far more Big 12 titles than any other school. He has led Oklahoma to the only back-to-back and back-to-back-to-back Big 12 titles. He has a BCS title and a Rose Bowl title. He has a winning record against Texas.

However, as of late Stoops, like Tressell, has his detractors because of five straight BCS game losses and three straight BCS title game losses. He has also lost three of the last four games against Texas, but this year he will go to work on his fourth straight Big 12 title, and there isn't a person around that won't say Oklahoma isn't one of the top three teams in the country right now.

4. Nick Saban - Alabama

Saban is known as a man that is great at turning around football programs. He is also known as somewhat of a vagabond who gets restless being in one place for too long.

However, he is still a great coach. He led LSU to a national title before bolting for the NFL. He spent a year there, and decided college was much more suited to him.

Coming back to college Saban assumed the role as head coach at Alabama. One of the greatest programs in college history was in desperate need of a great coach, and that is just what they got.

Saban, in only his second season as the head man of the Tide, rolled Alabama to an undefeated regular season, a number one ranking, an SEC title game appearance, and a Sugar Bowl appearance.

While the Tide came up short in their last two games, a message was sent to the rest of the country that Alabama is back on the scene again, and they will be there for a long time.

3. Mack Brown - Texas

Mack was much maligned at Texas in the early going. He was hated for playing Simms over Applewhite. He was hated for not winning the Big 12 or a national title. He was cursed with the not so flattering nickname "Mr. February", which alluded to his great ability to recruit, but seeming inability to develop players.

Mack has since changed things around in Texas, and they are an early favorite to make a trip to Pasadena, the place they won their last national title.

Mack has a perfect BCS record at 3-0. He has the longest streak of 10 win seasons ever, and will look to extend that streak this year. He guided one of the greatest teams ever in 2005 to a national championship. He has never won fewer than nine games at Texas, and has never finished lower than second in the Big 12 South. He has won five straight bowl games and won three of the last four games against his arch rival Bob Stoops.

The Longhorns are one of the top three teams heading into 2009, and yet with all he has accomplished there are many that still consider Mack to be "Mr. February," which is a topic I touched on during last season.

You can check that out here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/68406-still-mr-february-will-mack-brown-ever-earn-any-respect

2. Pete Carroll - USC

Pete is another coach that revived a dormant historically great program. During his tenure the Trojans have seemingly won the Pac-10 title every year.

He has guided the Trojans to a BCS title and a split national championship.

The Trojans have been to a BCS bowl for seven straight years now, and are 6-1 in those games. In those seven years they have finished no lower than fourth in either the Coaches or AP poll.

Carroll has had three Heisman trophy winners in only eight years as head coach of the Trojans. That's more than the vast majority of schools have had in their entire existence.

Carroll has a huge rebuilding job to do in 2009, but to speak of his greatness, the Trojans are still considered a top five preseason team.

1. Urban Meyer - Florida

Meyer is the original BCS buster. He led Utah to a perfect season and a BCS game where they defeated the Big East champs Pittsburgh.

Meyer then went on to become the head coach at Florida where he has now won two of the last three BCS championships becoming the first coach to ever win two BCS titles, and Florida is the early favorite to win yet another title, and become the first to repeat as BCS champions.

Meyer is constantly plagued by rumors that he will leave Florida for Notre Dame, but one thing is for sure he will be in Florida in 2009, and he will be trying to make history yet again.

That is my coaches summer top 25. If you agree, disagree or are simply disgusted by the list feel free to let me know. I always enjoy a good debate.

Here are a few notables that I left off, that I think I'm sure to hear: Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier, Rich Rodriguez, and Charlie Weis. If you can think of any others please let me know.

Michigan Wolverines Futility Leaves Door Open for Texas Longhorns

James Colt — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:17:14 -0400

The Michigan Wolverines, as most people know, are the winningest division I college football team of all-time.

Not only do they lead the world in wins with 872, but also in win percentage at .741. So don't make the argument that they have more wins because they have played longer than their closest competitors, which they have.

Every team in every sport, however, goes through a dry spell when it comes to winning. Even college football teams have times when they find it hard to win seven or eight games.

Michigan just had what was a historically bad year for the program. Does this signify the beginning of a new era for the Wolverines?

Could this be the dawning of the age of futility in Ann Arbor?

Many think that the hiring of Rich Rodriguez is doomed to fail. They don't think that his system can ever work at Michigan or in the Big Ten.

Others think he just needs time to recruit players that fit his system.

But the question is will he get that time, and if he does, will all of the bickering by the fans and the media about whether or not Rodriguez can be successful drive off recruits?

Time will be the only thing to provide us with a definitive answer, but the fact remains that at some point in time everyone will go through a lull in winning.

Part of this situation that the Wolverines now find themselves in has a lot to do with a media that is always sensationalizing stories for ratings, and the fans that believe the garbage that the media is always putting out there.

By this I mean the university forcing out Lloyd Carr. The fan support of Carr had run dry because of recent woes against Ohio State, and the media perennially putting him on the hot seat.

I don't understand why you would want to run out a coach that was one year removed from a chance to go to the national championship. A coach that has won a national championship. A coach that is one of the winningest coaches at the winningest university of all-time.

If they thought they could do better, they were wrong.

This is like people that think Penn State will be better without Joe Pa or Florida State will be better without Bobby Bowden, or Tennessee will be better without Phil Fulmer.

The fact is that whether it's the fault of Lloyd Carr or not, Michigan has, for whatever reason, lost some national appeal. The same way that for no apparent reason schools like Nebraska, Miami, and FSU have lost their appeal.

No one knows what the cause is for this to happen, but it does.

Oklahoma, Texas, USC, and Alabama were all out of the national spotlight not that long ago before having a resurgence by a great coach.

Is Rich Rodriguez that great coach that Michigan needs to pull them out of their down spin?

I don't believe he is.

In fact, with where Michigan is located, I think they may be in for a long drought because they don't live in a recruiting hot bed like USC, Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, and the recruits that do live up there are all being taken by Ohio State.

This is why I think the door may be left open for Texas to take over as the all-time wins leader in division I college football.

This may be a stretch considering the gap between Michigan and Texas and Notre Dame.

Michigan is 43 wins ahead of Texas and Notre Dame, who are tied for second at 829 wins a piece (obviously I'm assuming Texas is also going to leave Notre Dame behind, and that will happen this year).

That means that Texas would have to win 4.3 games more a year than Michigan for the next 10 years to tie the Wolverines.

While this changing of the guard might not happen that quickly, I think it will eventually happen, as the southern part of the country continues to get better and become even more dominant than the north.

I will say to all Michigan faithful that I hope you are prepared for what is to come up there, because I think it will be a while before the Wolverines are ever back in the national picture.

Should There Be Optimism in Arlington?

James Colt — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:38:17 -0400

This May has created all kinds of optimism amongst fans of the Texas Rangers. Outsiders looking in on the Rangers are still nay-sayers because of the history of the Rangers.

The Rangers have not been what you might call a great, good, or perhaps even mediocre franchise for pretty much their entire history.

The high point for the entire Rangers franchise came in the mid to late '90s when they won the division title three times in four years. However, they were never able to advance out of the first round, falling every year to the eventual World Series champion Yankees.

The start of the new millennium brought a new level of futility to the Rangers organization, but also a new level of prolific offense.

We have witnessed, through the last nine years, some of the worst pitching teams that you could possibly field at the major league level.

However, the level of high powered offenses that the Rangers have toted around for the last decade have always offered a sort of false sense of hope that perhaps the bats could make up for the arms.

Obviously, they have always failed.

So, while over the last decade we have seen our divisional rival Mariners string together a record number of wins one season, the A's win divisions and wild cards with a smaller payroll than what the Rangers were paying A-Rod, and the Angels win a World Series and several division titles, the Rangers have managed to parlay poor drafts and trades into mediocre season after mediocre season.

The trend seems to be reversing itself, finally, to the delight of all Rangers fans. Texas boasts the strongest farm system in the majors, and we are starting to see that pay dividends this season.

The trades that were so terrible in the past like, Chris Young and Adrian Gonzales for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otskua, have now started to turn in favor of the Rangers giving the organization players like Matt Harrison, Elvis Andrus, Jarrod Saltalamaachia, and Neftali Feliz.

With the Rangers having a dominating May thus far is there really reason for optimism or should we just listen to the rest of baseball, and know that the Angels will eventually catch the Rangers?

I think there is definitely reason for optimism in Texas. No, it's not because the pitching staff seems to finally be carrying their share of the load, but it helps.

No, it's not because the defense has gone from 30th in the league in fielding efficiency last year to fourth this year, but it helps.

And no, it's not because they boast a high powered offense that leads the league in home runs, but it helps.

It's because they have, to this point, been a dominating force within their own division.

Baseball today is the age of the unbalanced schedule. That means that roughly half of your games will be played against a division rival.

The opportunity to play games against your division rival always gives you the chance to put distance between you and your division opponents. Sure, winning outside the division is always nice, but if the Rangers win and the Angels win then there is no ground gained.

But, if you can take the 19 games you play against the Angels and win 15 of them then you have just separated yourself by 11 games. That's 11 games where the Angels have to make up ground on you by hoping that other teams can help them out.

If you can do this against your entire division then there is no doubt that you will win your division, and right now that is exactly what the Rangers are doing.

As I'm writing this right now the Rangers sit three games ahead of the Angels. That just happens to be because the Rangers just pulled off a three-game sweep of the Angels this past weekend.

Still don't believe that divisional matchups are important?

The Rangers right now sit at a dominating 10-2 in the division and are 8-0 against their closest competitors, the Mariners and the Angels.

If you ask me, that series this weekend, while only three games out of 162 meant more than the Angels let on because in reality it's not three games out of 162, but it's three games out of 19.

Anyone who downplays the importance of baseball in April and May doesn't really understand the game of baseball.

When you do play 162 games and lose your division by five or fewer games, I guarantee you there are at least that many games you can look back on that you could have won in April and May, but didn't because I guess you just thought the game wasn't important.

Well, I hope the Rangers think every game is important, and judging from the way they have played thus far in the division they know those games are important, and that is the best news that any Rangers fan can take solace in and find a reason for optimism this summer.

Things That Irk Me About College Football and Its Fans

James Colt — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:22:49 -0400

Not a day goes by that I hear something from someone or watch something on t.v. where somebody says something incredibly stupid or lame.

I'm probably just to uptight or a jerk, but I'm getting sick of it so I decided this might be a good way for me to vent about some things that bother me in the world of college football.

Since this is an article about the things that I find bothersome about college football it would be easy for me to list the BCS, but that is no surprise to anyone so that one won't be seen on here, but rest assured it is high up on my list.

1. Copycat teams

I'm not talking about teams that steal other teams offenses or defenses. I'm all for that. If there is a proven system that is working for someone then why wouldn't you want to copy it?

I'm talking about teams that are so lame they can't come up with their own gimmicks. I don't know if Penn State was the first to do a "white out", but it certainly belongs to them.

I can't tell you how tired I am of hearing on ESPN, "well better watch this weekend team X is going to be having a "black out", or a "red out"" or whatever.

Here's a fresh idea for anyone who wants it. Try having a brown out. Now there is something I would tune in to see. How about a brown out at one of the proverbial "toilet bowls" early in the bowl season?

That is how you get your ratings right there, and now I apologize to everyone who is too sophisticated for that joke, and I'm guessing if you are over 8 years old then you are probably too sophisticated.

The "black outs" aren't the only thing that teams copy. There is the infamous 12th man. This one kind of pertains to the NFL more so than college, but still can't we come up with our own slogans.

I mean the Seahawks are so lame that they had to steal a copyrighted term, and because it apparently would have been to difficult to come up with a new one, they wanted to go to court to try to use The 12th Man. No luck for the trite people up in Seattle.

Then there are hand signs. Wow, I know there is only so many signs you can make with your hand, but there has to be more than one. Let's everyone in the world that is playing Texas throw the horns down sign because it is so cool and fresh.

I even saw a game where a team wasn't playing Texas that threw the horns down. What is that about? If you aren't a rival of Texas then why do it. It has no significance to you. I have no issue if OU, or A&M, or Texas Tech do it, but that's about as far as it should go.

Plain and simple originality will always be copied by people, but lets start being the originators instead of the copycats and the college football world will be that much cooler for it.

2. Know it all fans

We all know who I'm talking about. The fans that figured out how to work the Google machine and look up stats. These fans can only talk about stats. Every argument they make has to be statistically based, and they will usually bend the statistics in favor of their argument.

These people usually know nothing about the nuances of football that don't show up in the stats. They are the ones that watch a game and probably couldn't tell what formation the offense and defense are lined up in, but they sure can tell you why one team is better purely based off stats.

3. Blindly biased fans

This somewhat falls into the category above, but who hasn't come across these fans. They will never open their eyes to what is going on around them, and they are the reason that coaches like Tommy Tuberville get fired.

I'm all for having a loyal following of your team. I for one love my Longhorns, and will always defend them, but if they are having a down year I'm not blind to that fact to the point where I have to resort to degrading the good teams to make myself feel better. I don't understand why some fans can't see for the trees.

4. Conference allegiances

I have written an article on this topic previously, and got hounded by SEC fans about why they root like they do. For me it still doesn't make sense. I can never be aligned to the Big 12.

I can't force myself to ever root the two greatest evils in the world, OU and TX A&M. I would sooner die than root for two teams I spend the entire year hating with every ounce of my being.

I can't understand how fans can hate a team, call them names, say they suck, and then come bowl time they root for the same team they cursed. It doesn't make sense.

I've written extensively on the topic before so I'll leave it at that, but if anyone is interested in reading more, here is a link to that article.

5. Impatience with a new coach

It's become the norm now, and not just in college football, to expect immediate results from a new coach. I don't know how or why this trend got started. People only give a coach three years at the most to prove himself anymore, and apparently Lane Kiffin better win this year or he's out according to some idiots out there.

The fact is that even after four years you can't truly gauge a coach.

Yes, after four years they are all his players, but if you are building a program that has been down then you have to use those first four years to establish your system and program for future recruits to see.

You can't come into a program that's not winning, and then automatically have top ten recruiting classes. I mean who cares if Bear Bryant is coaching at Duke. It's Duke and they are still terrible.

It would take time to build the program. More than four years I can guarantee you that (I know he didn't coach at Duke, just an example).

This doesn't necessarily go for people at an established powerhouse like LSU. Les Miles came in after a national championship.

He doesn't have to build a reputation for LSU. Larry Coker had a ready made championship team, and it shouldn't have been hard for him to keep it that way. I agree that he should have gotten the ax for murdering the Miami program.

Well that's my list for today. If I find anything else to be irksome, and I probably will, I'll let everyone know.

2009 SEC Power Rankings

James Colt — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:00:18 -0500

A quick glance at the SEC shows that it would appear the West division is going to be a murderer's row, and perhaps the best division in college football.

The East division, with the exception of Florida, appears to be in rebuilding mode.

So, with that said, here is how I see the SEC shaking out in 2009:

1. Florida Gators

An easy call, I would say, with the most dynamic player in college football returning.

To go along with Tim Tebow, the Gators are also returning TE Aaron Hernandez, who seems primed for a breakout season. They also return a bevy of running backs, but mostly they return not only all 11 starters on defense, but the entire two-deep defense.

If defense wins championships, then Florida has got it all sewn up.

However, it's not as if everything is great for Florida. They did lose perhaps the best player on the team (apologies to Tebow), Percy Harvin. Along with Harvin was the other top receiving threat, Louis Murphy. There are also a couple of key losses along the offensive line.

These losses, however, shouldn't be enough to derail the Gators on their way to back-to-back SEC titles.

2. Ole Miss Rebels

This was a tough decision because there are so many teams I could have gone with in this spot. I went with the Rebels for a couple of reasons.

No. 1: Of the rest of the top teams in the SEC, only the Rebels have an experienced quarterback behind center.

The whole country sat back and watched Jevan Snead make huge strides every single week as a signal caller. He is beginning to fully blossom into the five-star quarterback that he was when he graduated high school.

No. 2: They have a favorable schedule.

Their toughest road game looks to be a Thursday night game in Columbus. They don't have Florida on their schedule, and the other top three teams in the West division, LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas will be home games.

The stage is set for the Rebels to represent the West in the SEC championship.

3. Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama has a lot going for it heading into the 2009 season, but they also have a lot working against them.

They should have a very stout defense yet again in 2009. The return of DT Terrance Cody was a huge lift for the Crimson Tide, as he will undoubtedly anchor one of the best defenses in the country.

Unfortunately, we don't really know what to expect from the offense in 2009. This is a team that has lost their starting quarterback and running back. Fortunately, Mark Ingram showed that he is capable of being a feature back.

Still, the lack of experience at quarterback could be an issue for the Tide, but at least whoever is back there will be throwing to Julio Jones, one of the best WR in the country.

4. LSU Tigers

I think the Tigers are talented enough to win the West, but they have some issues with experience and their schedule.

This is going to be a very talented Tigers team, but also a very inexperienced one as well. They have quite a few key losses on defense, as well as on the offensive line.

They have an inexperienced, but talented quarterback. LSU does have the most athletic player in high school football coming in the fall, but their lack of experience will be too much for them to overcome, especially with their brutal schedule.

The Tigers must travel to Georgia, Alabama, and Ole Miss. Also, of the three top West teams, they are the only ones who have to play Florida.

A nine-win season may be the max for the Tigers this year.

t5. Georgia Bulldogs

Everyone knows about the losses the Bulldogs are having to endure this season.

However, Caleb King and Joe Cox should be good enough to make the Bulldogs competitive in every game.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs not only possess one of the toughest conference schedules in the country with road games at Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt, and a neutral site game with Florida, but they must also travel to Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech.

Overall, I see only about seven or eight wins for the Bulldogs in 2009.

t5. Arkansas Razorbacks

Arkansas definitely has to be the sleeper in the SEC this year. They are the team to most likely repeat the impressive turn around that Ole Miss accomplished last year.

Like the Rebels, they too will have a highly-touted Texan transfer quarterback at the helm. Ryan Mallet, who was the heir apparent at Michigan before Rich Rodriguez came in, was a five-star recruit who has a cannon arm, along with the precision passing needed for Petrino's offense.

To go along with Mallet is a bevy of underclassmen who all took their lumps as starters last year to prepare for this year.

Unfortunately, achieving great success this year is going to have to come without the help of a home crowd, as Arkansas boasts a murderous road schedule featuring Florida, Bama, Ole Miss, LSU, and a non-conference road game at Texas A&M.

Arkansas has the talent, but with their schedule I predict a seven to eight win season, which will be a big improvement from the five in 2008.

Here are numbers 7-12:

7. Vanderbilt Commodores

8. South Carolina Gamecocks

9. Tennessee Volunteers

10. Kentucky Wildcats

11. Auburn Tigers

12. Mississippi Bulldogs

The Greatest Big 12 Championship Games

James Colt — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:59:38 -0500

Wherever you go you will always find proponents and opponents of conference championship games in college football. You really can't argue with the fact that there have been some pretty meaningless games over the years, but there have also been some awesome ones that have had HUGE ramifications on the national stage.

The Big 12 certainly has had their fair share of thrilling championship games, and I'm going to try to figure out which one was the best. So without further ado, here is the comprehensive list of Big 12 Championships, 13 through 1.

13. 2005 Texas v. Colorado (Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX)

There was absolutely never any doubt who the winner of this game was going to be. It was simply billed as a Big 12 money maker, and the last show in Vince Young's hometown before he rode off to become a legend in Pasadena.

While the outcome was never in doubt before the game, I don't think anyone could have ever expected what was to come. A 70-3 beat down by Texas was by far the most lopsided defeat in any championship game in college football history.

This game was without a doubt the low point for the North division. Colorado backed into the game in a division that nobody seemed to want to win. I guess nobody wanted to be the sacrificial lamb for the Longhorns.

The worst part about the game is that the score isn't even indicative of how much of a beat down this game was. The last point was put up with 7:36 left to go in the third quarter. If they had wanted, Texas could have put up well over 100 points with ease.

Adding to the misery for Colorado was a big time hit on quarterback Joel Klatt that gave him a nasty concussion. It was simply adding injury to insult.

This was without a doubt the worst championship game in Big 12 history, and likely will remain so forever.

12. 2008 Missouri v. Oklahoma (Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri)

This is another game that had no real question as to who would win going in. The only question surrounding this one was whether or not OU would put up 60 again against a far inferior opponent.

Yes, they did tack on a classless touchdown to get the record for most 60 point games in a row with a 62-21 rout of Missouri.

Everyone wanted to see if Missouri could somehow rebound from a disappointing season, and get to a BCS bowl, but they were clearly outclassed just as they were against Texas earlier in the season.

All in all this was a truly meaningless game, which could have been better had it been say a South division rematch with Texas and OU, but instead we all had to settle with this pathetic excuse for a "championship" game.

11. 1997 Nebraska v. Texas A&M (Alamodome, San Antonio, TX)

This was the last season of Tom Osborne's coaching career, and he wasn't about to be denied his shot at a championship. Only upstart Texas A&M stood in his way, but for all the magic the Aggie's had that year, nobody was going to stop this locomotive on their way to a split national championship.

Nebraska jumped out to a 16-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, and then made it 23-0 before A&M finally kicked a field goal to get on the board. The final was a dominating Cornhusker victory by the score of 54-15 which really wasn't as close as it sounds.

10 & 9. 2002 &2004 Colorado v. Oklahoma (Reliant and Arrowhead Stadiums)

I lumped these two together so i didn't have to write the same thing over.

In 2002 Colorado was trying to pull yet another upset of the South division and become the first ever repeat champion of the Big 12. However, Oklahoma denied them at the door pulling off an easy 29-7 drumming of Colorado.

In 2004 OU was looking to make another BCS title game appearance by going undefeated. They went into the game clearly on a mission after being embarrassed the year before. OU walked way with yet another Big 12 title after a 42-3 beat-down of the Buffaloes.

8. 1999 Nebraska v. Texas (Alamodome)

This was one of the most dominating defensive performances in championship game history. Texas was only able to gain six yards rushing on the ground, and their only touchdown came via a fumble return.

Correll Buckhalter and Eric Crouch on the offensive side were unstoppable as the Husker O-line just dominated the defensive front of the Longhorns.

Nebraska was up early with a 10-0 lead at the end of one, and with the way the defense played the 22-6 final seemed much much worse than the score indicates.

7. 2006 Oklahoma v. Nebraska (Arrowhead Stadium)

This is a game that Oklahoma was expected to dominate going in despite having backed into the game because of two straight Texas losses at the end of the season.

While they did win easily it wasn't really the dominating performance that everyone expected, and should have been a sign that Boise would be able to keep up with and perhaps beat the Sooners.

The 21-7 win by the Sooners was a real lackluster performance.

6. 2007 Oklahoma v. Missouri (Alamodome)

This was the year that the Big 12 North was supposed to be catching up to the South, but it wasn't meant to be for the Tigers.

Missouri had high hopes going to the Alamo City as the top ranked team in the nation. However, as was the case earlier in the season, the Tigers were unable to handle the Sooners.

The Sooners walked out of San Antonio with a 38-17 victory, but more over they threw a huge wrench into the BCS as a plethora of teams now sat with two losses. Ultimately Missouri got the big screw by the BCS committee and wound up in the Cotton Bowl, and OU had yet another BCS meltdown.

5. 2003 Kansas State v. Oklahoma (Arrowhead Stadium)

Going into this matchup, Oklahoma was being billed as perhaps the greatest team ever as they had completely destroyed every team they played coming into this game.

However, perhaps overlooking their North division foe, and perhaps being a bit overrated (or a lot) the Sooners were quickly given a reality check by shifty Darren Sproles and the Wildcats.

Sproles put together 235 rushing yards as the Wildcats scored 35 straight points after OU scored the opening touchdown to rumble to a stunning 35-7 victory.

The game wasn't necessarily great, but I guarantee there wasn't anyone in America watching whose jaw wasn't on the floor as K-State walked all over a team that had sat at No. 1 for 16 straight weeks. The shock value of this game is what lands it at No. 5 on this list.

Despite the loss and being ranked No. 3 in both polls, OU still went to play LSU in the BCS championship game which resulted in the first and only split championship in the BCS era.

4. 2000 Kansas State v. Oklahoma (Arrowhead Stadium)

OU was without a doubt the surprise team in 2000. However, by the time that the Championship game rolled around Oklahoma was no longer sneaking up on people considering their number one ranking.

However, K-State ranked number seven was a very formidable opponent, plus the game was in Kansas City. So the scene was set for an epic battle between the Sooners and the Wildcats.

The three point, 27-24, victory for Oklahoma lifted OU to the BCS title game versus FSU, and the rise back to elite status was complete for Bob Stoops and the Oklahoma Sooners.

3. 2001 Colorado v. Texas (Texas Stadium, Irving, TX)

This game was filled with all kinds of national title implications. After No. 2 Tennessee fell earlier in the day, No. 3 Texas seemed primed to be going to Pasadena to take on Miami.

It seemed Texas would be well on its way to it's second Big 12 championship as they scored without much resistance on their first drive of the game. However, things would quickly change for the Longhorns after that as Colorado went on to score 16 unanswered points.

Much maligned Texas quarterback Chris Simms was booed off the field at the end of the second quarter and replaced by the more popular Major Applewhite.

Given the opportunity to bring Texas back from the dead, Major led what was almost one of the greatest comebacks in football history.

The Longhorns were down by 19 points in the third and 16 points going into the fourth, but they fought all the way back to pull within six, but a late Colorado field goal made the lead almost insurmountable.

Texas scored yet again to pull within two, but were unable to recover the onside kick, and Colorado was victorious 39-37, and created perhaps the biggest BCS controversy ever.

2. 1998 Kansas State v. Texas A&M (Trans World Dome, St. Louis, MO)

This was the first Big 12 championship that pitted two top 10 teams against each other. K-State came into the game ranked No. 2, and were looking to make it to the first ever BCS title game.

A&M, however had other plans for the Wildcats.

The game was dominated early by the Wildcats as they had built up a 27-12 lead over the Aggie's by the end of the third quarter.

However, A&M was able to run off 15 unanswered points in the fourth to tie the game and send it into overtime. The first OT was a stalemate with both teams trading field goals.

K-State got the ball first in the second OT, and only managed another field goal. They then had A&M backed up to a 3rd-and-17 when RB Sirr Parker became a championship game legend by hauling in a 32 yard touchdown pass to lead the Aggie's to a 33-36 victory over the heavily favored Wildcats.

1. 1996 Texas v. Nebraska (Trans World Dome)

This game was the epitome of why Tom Osborne was dead set against a championship game when the Big 12 formed. His Cornhuskers came into the game ranked No. 3 and still with a shot at a national championship.

The Texas Longhorns came into the game unranked and big time underdogs.

What happened between the two is now college football lore.

The Longhorns didn't have any real big time stars on their team. Ricky Williams was still a freshman, and Priest Holmes never really made a name for himself until well into his pro-career. QB James Brown probably would have faded into oblivion if not for this game.

Texas took a surprising 20-17 lead into halftime, and come out and extended that lead to 23-17 to start the third.

Nebraska would answer twice to go up 27-23. Having apparently gained all the momentum, and being the better team, it appeared Nebraska had the game in hand.

However, Brown would make the first of his two big plays in the game as he found Wayne McGarity for a 66-yd touchdown strike to put the Longhorns ahead 30-27.

Then, Brown would pull off one of the most famous plays in Big 12 championship history.

With the Longhorns facing a fourth-and-one on their OWN 28 yard line, with a three point lead, and only 2:40 left in the game, head coach John Mackovic called one of the gutsiest, and perhaps dumbest plays ever.

On the 4th-and-1 deep in their own territory Texas lined up to run a play instead of punt and put the game in the hands of the defense.

To further elevate the situation the Longhorns didn't go with a running play, but instead threw a 61-yard pass to back up tight end Derek Lewis. Priest Holmes would then run in an 11-yard touchdown to seal the thrilling 37-27 win for the Longhorns.

More importantly it cost Nebraska a shot at the Sugar Bowl and National Championship versus Florida State.

Other Championship Notes

Here are some interesting things worth noting about Big 12 championship games.

When the Big 12 was formed the North was expected to be the dominate division because OU and Texas were still in the middle of their down slide, and there was no real power team to speak of in the South.

However, the North division is 4-9 in Big 12 Championships with Nebraska leading the way with two wins.

Of the four wins by the North, three have come in venues which were in the South division. The only win by a North team in North division territory was by Kansas State in 2003, which was actually supposed to be a year that the game was in the South Division, but due to some previous circumstances the game was held in Kansas City.

Despite their lack of success in bowl games recently, Oklahoma is the only Big 12 team above .500 in Big 12 championship games with a record of 6-1. Nebraska and Texas are second with records of 2-2. A&M is also a .500 team with a record of 1-1.

Earlier Game should be Big Time Boost for Texas

James Colt — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:23:43 -0500

The Texas-Texas Tech game has been moved from Nov. 7 to Sept. 19.

This means that when the two meet in Austin, Tyler Potts will have only two games under his belt instead of almost an entire season. Not to mention that this will be his first-ever road game as a starter in college football.

Throw in the fact that Tech will be starting three new offensive linemen on Potts' blindside, and this game has the makings of a blowout already.

The game was moved for television broadcasting reasons. ABC wanted to air the game in its prime-time slot that day.

If I were Mike Leach, I would be furious about this move by the Big 12, but when it comes to money and college football, you really can't put anything past the people in charge.

This game could have possibly been a pretty big game late in the season with Texas possibly being undefeated and looking for revenge.

Television executives, however, must have been worried about all of the personnel losses to Tech, and been concerned it wouldn't have been a marketable game late in the season, but that if they televised it early then it might still have some intrigue because Tech probably won't lose to likes of North Dakota or Rice.

Pittsburgh Steelers Can Only Lay Claim to Two Super Bowl Titles

James Colt — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:49:57 -0500

About nine days ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers became the NFL's greatest franchise by claiming their record sixth Super Bowl title. They had been previously tied with the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49er's who each have five.

The admission by former Steelers' players from the teams in the '70s that they used steroids is not new news. Those teams, by the way, won four of the Steelers' six titles.

With all the steroid mania going on in baseball and talk of striking records out of the annals of history, I got to thinking that shouldn't we be holding all sports to the same standard? So, shouldn't we take away those first four Super Bowl wins by the Steelers like we want to take away Barry Bonds' home run record?

Shawne Merriman can go test positive for steroids, then, become defensive player of the year, and be voted into a Pro-Bowl but never have to go sit up on Capitol Hill and atone for his lack of judgment.

The same could be said of Rodney Harrison, Bill Romanowski, Terry Bradshaw, and many others in the NFL.

NFL players seem to get a free pass from the fans and the media and perhaps they get it from the fans BECAUSE the media never makes an issue of steroids in the NFL.

However, steroids in the NFL should be a great cause for concern. It is a league where people suffer spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, and are facing death every time someone gets bigger, stronger, and faster which allows that player to unload with a greater force on opposing players.

The steroid controversy should be about safety for players and not about the records that they are breaking by using them. Steroids aren't illegal because they make you more prone to hitting home runs.

Steroids are illegal because of the damage that they do to your heart, your emotional state, and your body overall. The fact that steroids are dangerous to a person's body and cause death like other illegal drugs such as heroin or cocaine is why steroids are illegal.

So, can we stop thinking about records that are being broken and please start thinking about the lives that are in danger by the use of steroids.

It's not just the lives of those that are taking them that are in jeopardy. Football players, who seem to skate by with just a slap on the wrist for using, influence young players to use steroids.

The lives of the opposing players are in jeopardy because of the elevated ability of the person that is using the steroid and not just in football. In baseball, being able to hit a ball harder actually puts the pitcher's life in danger or even a base coach.

Until the media really starts focusing on steroids in all sports and the actual danger of using them and not just the records that are broken, the problem will never be eradicated.

It's time to eliminate the double standard of steroids in sports and start holding EVERYONE fully accountable for their actions.

Top Running Backs In 2009

James Colt — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:50:25 -0500

After quite a break I'm finally getting to part two in my series on who the best college players are heading into 2009.

The end of the 2008 season saw quite a few of the top running backs in college football leave for the NFL draft or early defection and as well graduation.

This is not going to leave teams in 2009 struggling for rushing production, however, because there is a bevy of great backs returning for their final season or seasons of the inaugural decade of this millennium.

So here we go, the top running backs for 2009 are:

10. Noel Devine - Jr., West Virginia:

Devine exploded onto the scene in West Virginia's Fiesta Bowl romp over Oklahoma in 2008. Many expected big things of Devine with the departure of Steve Slaton.

The 2008 season saw Devine put up big yardage numbers going for 1,289 yards, but he somehow only mananged four touchdowns on the year.

With Pat White leaving due to graduation Devine will have to be the big play-maker that the Mountaineers need to be successful.

Devine has terrific speed and may be one of the fastest tailbacks in America, but he is very undersized, which could be the big factor as to why he had so few touchdowns in 2008.

9. Michael Smith - Sr., Arkansas

Smith was perhaps the only bright spot on the Razorback offense in 2008.

He rushed for 1,072 yards and scored eight TDs. He averaged out to 107.2 yards/game.

Obviously with an anemic passing game, Arkansas was going to have to run the ball quite a bit, and Smith did it very well. Many people think of Bobby Petrino's offensive scheme as a pass happy one, but his offense depends greatly on the ability to run in order to set up the play action pass.

When he was at Louisville the offense was only ever effective as long as they were able to run the ball effectively. Smith will give Petrino and quarterback Ryan Mallet the ability to be able to efficiently run the play action fakes, which could mean a big year offensively for the Razorbacks.

8. Charles Scott - Sr., LSU

Scott was a powerful force for the LSU offense in 2008. Unfortunately, they weren't able to depend on him quite as much as they had hoped to because of their inexperience at quarterback.

Still, Scott was able to chew up 1,174 yards and 18 TD's including three in LSU's romp of former SEC slayer Georgia Tech.

With more experience around him on offense expect that Scott should be able to perform better while at the same time be depended upon less.

7. Demarco Murray/Chris Brown - Jr./Sr., Oklahoma

Both Murray and Brown were able to rush for over 1,000 yards in 2008. Murray did it despite missing the final two games of the season, and being hobbled early.

While it's astonishing that both could rush for over 1,000 yards in the same season their quarterback threw for just shy of 5,000 yards, the two combined for 34 TD's as well, and their quarterback threw for another 50.

That kind of production isn't easy to come by with an offense that is able to move the ball and score threw the air at such a prolific rate.

If Murray is able to be healthy start to finish this could be the most dynamic duo in the country.

6. Jonathan Dwyer - Jr., Georgia Tech

Perhaps a player that is unknown too many, Jonathan Dwyer headed up one of the best rushing attacks in 2008. Granted Georgia Tech barely throws the ball in their triple option offense, but Dwyer isn't the only person touching the ball either.

Dwyer was able to rush for 1,395 yards and accumulate 12 TD's despite defenses knowing exactly what play Tech would run on almost every down.

Dwyer is one of the unique backs that possess both strength and speed, which is what makes him so deadly in the option offense. He has the ability to break tackles and then run away from the rest of the defense.

5. Miquale Lewis - Sr., Ball St.

The Ball State offense didn't revolve completely around now departed quarterback Nate Davis. Miquale Lewis' running ability helped to provide Davis with the balance he needed in order to put up big numbers.

Davis is gone, but Lewis should come up with another big year.

In his junior season Lewis was able to run for 1,736 yards and 22 scores. Those are some monster numbers regardless of what conference it is that you play in.

Anticipate a jump in those numbers as well because Ball State will become more reliant on Lewis with the departure of Davis.

4. Jacquizz Rodgers - So., Oregon State

Jacquizz finds himself as the youngest player on my list. He burst onto the scene and onto the tips of everyone's tongues this past season in Oregon State's show stopping upset of USC.

Jacquizz did have some struggles in 2008, but he was in no way a one game wonder. He managed to post 1,253 yards and 11 scores for the Beavers in 2008.

Everyone, including myself, only expect bigger and bigger things from this small, but talented, former Texas High School player of the year.

3. Evan Royster - Jr., Penn State

Evan was a player that had Nittany Lion fans wondering how he wasn't in the running for the Heisman trophy. He led one of the better offenses in the history of Penn State football, and with the departure of the teams three best receivers his numbers and chances should only go up in 2009.

In 2008 Royster went from unknown to one of the best in the country. He put up 1,236 yards and 12 TD's. Royster looks to be the best running back in the Big 10 in 2009, a conference notorious for great rushing attacks.

2. Kendall Hunter - Jr., Oklahoma State

In a pass happy league Oklahoma State chooses to remain a balanced offense. Hunter was by far and away the best running back in the Big 12, and will no doubt find himself a finalist for the Doak Walker award this year.

Hunter managed to run for 1,555 yards and score 16 times despite being flanked by one the best wide receivers in the country, and one of the best tight ends in the country.

Experience and the play making ability of quarterback Zac Robinson will only help to make Hunter a more dangerous force in the Big 12 in 2009.

1. Jahvid Best - Jr., Cal

Jahvid is perhaps easily the best returning back in 2009. Of the returning backs he averaged more yards per game than anyone at 131 yards per game.

In 2008 he was able to rattle off 1,580 yards and 15 TDs. This year he will be called upon to lead a Cal offensive attack that expects to compete with USC for the Pac-10 title.

The success of the Golden Bears in 2009 rests solely upon Jahvid's broad shoulders. The answer is to just simply be the Best.

Well there you have it, my top 10 running backs for 2009. I know there are many others worth mentioning so I leave it up to my loyal readers to bring them to light.

The Mysterious Driving Force Behind Sports and Their Fans

James Colt — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:04:29 -0500

Well today, I'm in a very reflective and deeply introspective mood for some reason.

I should probably be writing a different article that I've planned on writing, and have said in other articles that I was going to write, but I've just got these thoughts that keep popping up in my head that I want to get out.

I grew up in a baseball family. My dad played baseball through college, and taught me to play so early that I have no recollection of learning how to play, but simply I've just always known.

I, like my dad, played baseball through college, and had aspirations to play longer before suffering an arm injury.

Baseball wasn't the only sport I played growing up, nor was it the sport I was even the best at. I was actually a phenomenal runner, but I loathe the very core of running competitively.

I played pretty much every sport that I could. I tried soccer at a young age, but the field I played on was full of stickers so that turned me off quite quickly.

I played football for a little while, but still being a competitive runner at the time, and running anywhere from 10-20 miles a day kept me a little too scrawny to play football.

I played basketball, and was quite good at it, but only played through my freshman year in high school because it interfered with baseball.

I also play tennis and racquetball. I enjoy bike riding and kayaking, but nothing that I've ever played (short of college baseball) has excited me as much as watching and talking about college football.

I enjoy watching the MLB, and still dream of the day the Texas Rangers finally win a playoff series. I like watching pro football, and still feel heartbreak over the Oilers collapse against the Bills, and watching them come up a yard short against the Rams.

Nothing, though, compares to what I feel when I watch college football.

My wife thought I was going to have a heart attack watching Texas take on Oklahoma this year. After Texas lost to Tech, I had to stay away from this site and ESPN for about a week and a half, because I just couldn't stomach anything that had to do with sports at that time.

I watched with a youthful optimism the OT to find out if Texas was going to make it to the Big 12 championship, and then felt my heart drop before they even showed the rankings because Barry Switzer had an ear-to-ear idiotic grin on his face.

I even had the same optimistic hope the following week that Texas would still be ranked above Florida. Boy, am I an idiot!

My entire life of following sports, especially the Longhorns, has been one big letdown after another, except for 2005, but boy there was a lot pain I had to endure up until then.

So why do we do it? I know I'm not alone on this boat. I've seen fellow BR members go through the same things I have. All the pain we endure even though we are in no way actually associated with these teams.

Why do we want to cheer on teams that have less than a 1 percent chance of finishing the year as national champion (I know some have more, I'm using simple math 119 teams and one champion is less than one percent).

Especially in a world that is so full of letdowns on a daily basis, why do we let ourselves be so emotionally involved in a team that we can feel our hearts break when they lose?

Do we really not suffer enough already? There is a depression going on, a war (well actually many wars, but since I'm an American I'll just be very egocentric), we still have racial hatred, religious hatred, sexual hatred, random violent attacks, and the celebrities that we worship are even more screwed up than we are.

Yet, every year, no matter what sport your passion is, we build our hopes up only to have them shatter like we fully know they will, but hope they won't.

I have used two very strong words in this article a few times already, and I think they help unlock the mystery to why we allow ourselves to act in such a manner.

The first word is passion. Passion is any powerful compelling emotion or feeling. This is a word that I had heard before and knew about what it meant. I don't think I'd say it is a word that I ever really used to use much if at all.

Then, one day at a very uninspired baseball practice in college, my coach had had his fill of watching us simply go through the motions. He forced us to go back into the locker room, wait 15 minutes, and then come back out on the field, and completely start practice all over from stretching.

Typical college students: we all thought that it was ridiculous. So naturally, we all go out and continue to practice in the same uninspired manner that we had before.

Well, Coach blew a fuse. He ran us, and then ran us, and then ran us.

Then he sat us down, and began to explain why he was upset.

This is when I really learned about what passion is. He asked us if we knew, but know one could really come up with a satisfactory answer?

I would be lying if I said I could remember what his definition was, but the overall message really resonated with me.

If you have a passion for something, then it is something you cannot live without. If there is something that you are passionate about, then you should never have to tell anyone because it will be oozing out of every crevasse of your body.

We were exhibiting not one single ounce of passion on that particular day, which made our coach sick, because this is a man who is probably the most passionate baseball man I'd ever seen. He never took a day off. He never settled for mediocrity, not even at practice.

That is what we needed to play with, and that is what we played with from that point on for the rest of the year. That year was the banner year for that program, but it still ended in disappointment.

I had been disappointed before in sports, but never like this, because never before had I so wholeheartedly devoted myself each and every day. So yes, we were disappointed, heartbroken, and somber, but I wouldn't say we were devastated.

We knew we had done everything we could. We left it all on the field (so cliche, but true).

Sure, we could have had some breaks go our way, but those were nothing that we could control, and knowing that we did everything possible left us with a bit of satisfaction because we would never wonder what if, and we could take pride in doing our best.

Passion is what makes us hurt so much when we watch sports, but it is also what makes us feel so WONDERFUL when things are good. Life would be utterly boring and meaningless without passion.

The second powerful word I used earlier is hope. According to the dictionary, hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had, or that events will turn out for the best.

Every year, every team across the country is hopeful of what is to come. Hope can inspire the best in each and every one of us.

Hope can also be a destructive force. A hope for a better tomorrow could mean terrible things for today. Just ask any team that has been gutted for rebuilding, or ask those who are in Iraq right now.

Hope is perhaps the most powerful emotion in the universe.

Whenever I think of hope I always I think of the movie The Shawshank Redemption (if you've never seen it, stop reading right now and go rent it). The entire movie was about hope.

Hope inspired Andy to escape his shackles. Hope helped him survive every day he was wrongfully imprisoned.

Misplaced hope, or the loss of hope causes others to be sullen and suicidal.

Red knew about the power of hope. He knew it was destructive, and he was afraid of it, but his friendship with Andy helped him to realize the good side of hope.

As sports fans, we have no doubt experienced hope driving us insane, but what about the times that hope has filled our hearts with joy and inspiration.

That is what makes watching sports fun, and being passionate about sports a wonderful thing.

I love talking sports. I love watching sports. I love arguing sports.

I hope the Longhorns win the national championship. I hope the Texas Rangers win the world series. I hope the Titans win the Super Bowl.

"I hope."

The 12 Big Questions Facing the Big 12 in 2009

James Colt — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:00:30 -0500

The Big 12 is coming off of what was a banner year for the conference in 2008. Looking forward to 2009 here, are some issues facing the Big 12 in its quest to be one of the top conferences year in and year out.

12. Can the North Division ever catch the South?

The North has been largely overshadowed by the South Division in the Big 12 since the turn of the century. Well, not really overshadowed—more like dominated. However, the North did go 3-0 in their bowl games this past season, while the South was a dismal 1-3 in their contests.

Does this mean the tide is turning?

Well, that's very unlikely. Many thought the North would be closer to the South after the 2007 season and the great year that both Mizzou and Kansas had, but the top North teams continue to be pounded by the top of the South division, and that trend should continue into 2009.

11. Is Bo Pelini restoring the Cornhusker program?

After a nine-win season and a Gator Bowl victory in 2008, Big Red nation is buzzing about Bo and the Huskers for 2009. Nebraska has a very real shot at a Big 12 North title with what should be a stellar running attack and (gasp) what should be a pretty stout defense. Sound familiar?

Bo has only been there one year, but it looks like he has Nebraska back on the road to glory. A national championship likely isn't in the picture for a few years to come, but the Huskers should be a top 25 team as long as Pelini is at the helm.

10. Will Oklahoma State have the best offense in the Country?

It is being speculated that this Cowboys team could boast the best offense in the country. 2008 saw a very balanced Cowboy attack with the running of Kendall Hunter, Keith Toston, and Zac Robinson, and a passing attack featuring TE Brandon Pettigrew and WR Dez Bryant.

All of these players return for the Cowboys except Pettigrew. Hunter will be one of the top running backs in the nation, and Bryant is arguably the best receiver in the country.

However, I remember two years ago Mike Gundy was billing the Cowboys offense as the "Greatest show on turf," but that didn't really work out too well for them that season.

Also, the Cowpokes need to find someone other than Dez Bryant as a receiving threat because their bowl exposed what will happen to their offense without the dynamic playmaker.

9. Can Baylor build on their 2008 success?

Baylor has perhaps one of the best unknown players in college football. Robert Griffin, as a freshman, finally lifted Baylor out of the Big 12 South cellar and took them to within one game of bowl eligibility.

2009 has the Baylor faithful not just hoping for a bowl berth, but fully expecting one, and Robert Griffin is the kind of player with the ability to take them there.

The Bears sadly came up just one win shy in 2008 of that bowl berth, and what was heartbreaking about it is that they had three games they could have won, but ended up losing in the second half. Just one of those would have given them their bowl eligibility, and all of those games could have given the Bears an eight-win season with a chance at a nine-win season.

That is how close Baylor is to breaking through and being a force in the Big 12.

8. Why did Texas A&M ever fire R.C. Slocum?

The answer to this question seems obvious, but it's amazing to think that Slocum was one of the winningest coaches in the 1990s. That's a decade in which Oklahoma and Texas both experienced a severe decline in their prowess as power programs.

Since the departure of Slocum, A&M has now had two different head coaches, and if things don't turn around quickly in College Station, they will be on their third in less than a decade.

Last year the Aggies found themselves as the cellar dweller in the South division and were completely manhandled and embarrassed by perennial cellar dweller Baylor.

I know Aggie fans everywhere are dreaming of the day that Slocum makes his triumphant return to College Station, just as Bill Snyder is doing this season in Manhattan.

7. Should the return of Bill Snyder usher in optimism for Kansas State?

You could hear the triumphant roar from Manhattan to Manhattan when Snyder was announced to be coming back to lead the Wildcats in 2009.

The job isn't an easy one for Snyder though. He inherits a very young and inexperienced team. He inherits a losing team. He comes into a North division that has a very different landscape than when he left.

All of this sounds like a tough rebuilding process for Bill Snyder, but he's done it before. I don't think anyone even knew there was a Kansas State before he showed up to lead the Wildcats, but he's not as youthful as he once was, which begs the question: Is he really up to the task of rebuilding a program that is bottoming out?

6. Can Kansas finally win the Big 12 North?

2007 gave the Kansas faithful something they hadn't seen in their lifetimes: a 12-win season. That gave the program perhaps unreal expectations in 2008. However, as 2009 approaches, the Jayhawks have to be considered the favorite to win the North title.

Nebraska and Kansas are, as of now, clearly the two best teams in the Big 12 North. Kansas will have to exact revenge on the Huskers in 2009 if they hope to walk away with a title, but with all of their pieces on offense—QB Todd Reesing, WRs Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier, and RB Jake Sharp—coming back, this should be a potent Jayhawks team to deal with.

5. Can Mike Leach really replace Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree?

The thought on this question seems to be that offensive production will not be down by much for the Red Raiders. Leach has shown the ability to just plug players in and keep on scoring.

However, it really isn't the offense and loss of Harrell and Crabtree that people should be concerned with in Lubbock, but rather the defense. The defense played better in 2008 than any defense Mike Leach has ever had, but it still has to improve drastically in 2009 to expect to be able to compete for a South title.

The Raiders are going to score points, and Taylor Potts will put up big numbers, but if they are unable to stop anyone, it won't matter.

4. Will anyone show up to play defense in 2009?

2008 was a banner year for the Big 12 on offense, but never before has there ever been a league with such terrible defenses top to bottom.

2009 should see a bit of a return to defense. The numbers we saw the offense put up last year were no doubt just an aberration. It took excellent quarterbacks coupled with young defenses.

Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska should lead the way in 2009 with some very good defensive play. Oklahoma has a wealth of experience coming back from a defense that looked very good by the end of the season. Texas had a very young secondary (two freshmen starting at safety and a sophomore at corner), but they should be one of the strengths of this year's team.

Similarly, Nebraska was a very young defense, and with the return of Ndamukong Suh, the Huskers look to be a force on the defensive side of the ball.

3. Will Colorado finally play up to their talent level?

Dan Hawkins came to Colorado with a reputation as a good recruiter and a good talent developer. Well, he has recruited very well in Boulder, but his player development thus far has left a little something to be desired.

He has standout recruits at almost every skill position, including Darrell Scott at running back and Josh Smith at receiver, but for whatever reason these two continue to play below their expectation level.

I know people like to excuse Scott because he was a true freshman, but he wasn't even the best freshman at his own position.

Hawkins has predicted a 10-win season for the Buffaloes this year, and that is probably what he needs to save his job, but he better start getting the most out of his players if he's going to do it.

2. Will the Big 12 tiebreaker be changed, and if not, will it bite them once again?

I don't think the Big 12 will change their tiebreaker system. No matter how you do a three-way tiebreaker, someone will always be left bitter. So the Big 12 will look at it and then decide to leave it as it is.

Will it come back to bite them in the ass once again? I think there is a good possibility. I can for see another three-way tie this year between Texas, OU, and Oklahoma State.

Here's how it happens: Texas beats OU in Dallas, and then a couple of weeks later travels to Stillwater and loses to OSU, who then travels to Norman and loses to OU. Thus we once again have our three-way South division tie.

1. Is this going to be the biggest Red River Shootout ever?

It certainly could be. There are so many stories going into this game that you could do a new show on it every day until the game is played.

Let's see, where to begin? Well, how about all the tension that resulted from UT being snubbed in favor of OU for the Big 12 title game?

Then there is Sam Bradford, the Heisman winner, versus Colt McCoy, the Heisman runner-up.

The two teams in all likelihood will be ranked No. 2 and No. 3, and if Florida should lose early in the season, it will be a 1 versus 2 matchup (this is assuming both don't drop a game early).

Then there is Big Game Bob, who will be dealing with all the questions that Mack Brown used to deal with going into this game, but having won three of the last four and going 3-0 in BCS games, Mack no longer has to answer those questions.

The list could seemingly go on and on. I don't know if it will be one of the best games played, but it will certainly be the most hyped game of the year in college football, and probably the most anticipated game in Red River Shootout history.

College Football's Top 10 Quarterbacks for 2009

James Colt — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:57:26 -0500

This is the first article in my series that will rank the top players at each position going into the 2009 season. Since it's said that winning begins with a great quarterback, that is where my series will start.

2008 saw some great quarterback play all over the country with records just falling by the way side. Hopefully the 2009 aerial attack doesn't disappoint. So with no further ado, here are my top 10 quarter backs for 2009:

1. Tim Tebow - Sr, University of Florida

Tebow finished the 2008 campaign as the fourth-ranked passer in the country with an efficiency rating of 172.4. He also finished the year third in Heisman voting and 2008 national champion.

Everyone knows Tebow has all the intangibles that a quarterback needs. He posesses great character, true leadership skills, and a determination to win.

Everyone also knows that Tim is a terrific runner as a quarterback. People fail to realize his true skills as a passer, however. Tim finished the year completing 64.4 percent of his passes for 2746 yds, 30 touchdowns, and ONLY four INT's. WOW, 30 TD's to four INT's is simply astounding considering the defenses he went up against.

Tebow tops my list, just like I think he should everyone's, and the next stop for Tim Tebow will be the first ever to win back-to-back BCS titles, and his third in four years.

2. Sam Bradford - Jr, University of Oklahoma

Sam finished as the highest rated passer for the second straight year in 2008. He also finished with the Heisman trophy, a Big 12 championship, and a BCS title game appearance.

Sam surprised everyone by returning for his Junior year because he likely would have been one of the first two passers taken in the upcoming draft. Sam will return only one of his top receiving threats in 2009, and only one offensive lineman.

That spells a bit of a down year for Bradford, and a bad decision to stay in school.

Nevertheless, Sam is easily one of the best quarterbacks in America, and his 2008 stats back that up.

In 2008 Sam finished with an efficiency rating of 180.8, and completed 67.91 percent of his passes for 4720 yds, 50 TD's, and eight INT's. Those numbers are astounding, and the main reason he was able to haul in the Heisman over my No. 3 quarter back for 2009.

3. Colt McCoy - Sr, University of Texas

It's no coincidence that these are my top three signal callers. These are also my top three teams for 2009, and in both cases I think that these three quarterbacks, and their teams, are head and shoulders above the rest of the country.

Colt finished the 2008 season as the third highest rated passer with a rating of 173.8. He also finished the season as Heisman runner-up, and Fiesta bowl champion, which gave McCoy a 3-0 record as a starter in bowl games.

McCoy certainly had some impressive stats of his own in 2008. He set an NCAA record for completion percentage at 76.67 percent, and threw for 3859 yds, 34 td's and only 8 int's.

McCoy had a big year breaking all kinds of records both nationally and at UT.

This next quarterback on this list will be a shocker to most everyone, but when he is done with his career, he should be quite the record holder as well.

4. Case Keenum - Jr, University of Houston

Case is probably not known by many around the country, but he did finish his sophomore season as the ninth-best passer in the country with a passer rating of 159.9 (which is the fifth highest among returners for 2009).

Case had a solid season his freshman year for the Cougars as he finished the 2007 as the 16th ranked passer. Just as he improved from freshman to sophomore, I expect a lot of improvement from sophomore to junior for Keenum.

One of the reasons you find Keenum so high on my list is the fact that he is the only returning player to have thrown for over 5000 yards last year (Harrell of Texas Tech was the only other).

To go along with his astounding 5020 yards, Case also threw 44 TD's, and completed 67.4 percent of his passes. His 11 INT's are slightly high, but not overwhelming.

Keep the name Case Keenum in your minds throughout the 2009 season because he may be breaking some records down there in Houston.

5. Zac Robinson - Sr, Oklahoma State University

Zac will definitely benefit from throwing to one of the best receivers in the country in Dez Bryant. To complement those two is one of the best running backs in the country in Kendall Hunter, who should be able to allow Robinson to have a very effective play action to get the ball in the hands of Bryant.

This will undoubtedly be a very potent offense in 2009.

Zac finished 2008 as the fifth rated quarterback, but also as an afterthought thanks to all the other stand out quarterback play in the Big 12.

Still, I feel that Robinson is due for a stellar year with all of the offensive talent surrounding him.

2008 saw Zac throw for 3064 yds while completing 64.97 percent of his passes. He also threw for 25 td's and 10 int's. Zac is also a very effective runner that helps to keep defenses honest.

6. Jevan Snead - Jr, Ole Miss

Jevan finished his 2008 season as the 21st ranked passer, but what was impressive was the way he finished off his season against his final four opponents, including his bowl performance against Texas Tech.

Snead's numbers weren't great, but success followed with him and that isn't always something you can measure with statistics.

Snead threw for 2762 yds, and completed only 56.27 percent of his passes in 2008. He garnered 26 touchdown passes, but threw 13 int's, tied for the most on my list.

Despite his relatively low numbers you really can't ignore the wins, and the way he finished the year. Snead and the Rebels seem poised to make a run at the SEC west in 2009.

7. Kellen Moore - So, Boise State University

Kellen had a breakout year for the Broncos leading them to an undefeated regular season as a freshman. He finished his freshman campaign as the 12th rated passer in the nation with a 157.1 passer rating.

Moore is losing the services of Ian Johnson at running back, but every year that he can gain experience, I believe Moore will improve greatly.

In his first year as a starter Moore tallied up 3486 yards passing, 25 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and was second in the nation with a completion percentage of 69.38.

It will be hard for Moore to duplicate, let alone improve upon his freshman performance, but I believe with the great coaching and his moxie he'll be able to pull it off.

8. Todd Reesing - Sr, Kansas

Todd will take over as the top gun slinger in the Big 12 north for 2009. Along with being the best quarterback in the north division, Kansas should also be the best team. Reesing definitely has an advantage of throwing to Dezmon Briscoe who is probably the most underrated receiver in the nation.

Reesing suffered a bit in 2008 because of the lack of a running game to keep defenses honest. That really shouldn't improve much this year as well.

I say he suffered, but Reesing still put up some very gaudy numbers. He was able to throw for 3888 yards while completing 66.46 percent of his passes. He also posted 32 touchdown passes on the year, but he threw 13 int's tying him with Snead for most on this list.

Still Reesing finished '08 with a rating of 148.5 which was good enough for 17th in the country.

9. Robert Griffin - So, Baylor

Griffin at first glance may have people scratching their heads, but he is a phenomenal talent at quarterback. Griffin has the ability to run (846 yds, and 13 td's), but he is a rather polished quarter back for someone so young.

Robert threw a minuscule THREE INT's in his FRESHMAN year. He was able to throw for 15 TD's, which is a five-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio. Add in his rushing TD's and he accounted for 28 touchdowns for the Baylor Bears.

That's right, he did that for one of the most historically incompetent teams ever. He was able to finally get the Bears out of the Big 12 south cellar, and has Bear fans hoping for a bowl game in 2009.

That is some talent to inspire hope within Baylor football fans.

10. Ryan Mallet - So, University of Arkansas

This may be another shocker to many, but I feel that Mallet is as talented as anyone else in the country.

Ryan possess what it takes to get to the next level, and Razorback fans are hoping he can take Arkansas to the next level as well.

Mallet has a big arm that will suit him well in Petrino's pass happy system that could have the Razorbacks putting up big numbers and competing for the SEC west crown in 2009.

Mallet may be a stretch to put at No. 10, but I like him, and I think he has a huge upside.

So there is my list, now let the debate begin.

Never Too Early: 2009 College Football Preseason Top 25

James Colt — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:21:45 -0500

I know that early polls are the problem with rankings when the end of the season rolls around because it creates an expectation of teams that leads to voting biases, but since they are done anyway I'm going to submit my early 2009 poll.

Obviously, not everyone has declared yet so I'll probably update once the declaration date for the NFL has passed.

So here we go; the 2009 Top 25 are:

1. Florida

With Tim Tebow most likely coming back, who doesn't like the Gators? 19 of the Gators' 22 starters are eligible to come back, but Harvin and Spikes are expected to leave early. Still with all of the talent left the Gators will be huge Vegas favorites to repeat in 2009, as long as Superman returns that is.

2. USC

The Trojans got to enjoy having one of the greatest defenses of all time this year, and at least nine of those players will be gone for 2009, but we all know that USC simply reloads talent, especially on defense.

If Mark Sanchez returns for his senior campaign, the men of Troy will have 10 returning starters on offense, including one of the best receivers in Damian Williams, and one of the most dynamic playmakers in the country in Joe McKnight.

If USC can get motivated to play every game this year (and they will have to because they have a murderous schedule in 2009),, then they will find themselves with the chance to hoist the crystal ball.

3. Texas

Texas was a big time overachiever this year. The experience they gained from being the hunted in 2008 will serve this team well in 2009. Colt McCoy says he is returning to the team in 2009, and back for a sixth year will be his best friend and go-to guy Jordan Shipley.

The defensive line is suffering the most losses for the Longhorns with three starters gone for 2009, but that is a position they were deep at for 2008, and their production shouldn't drop off much.

The young Texas secondary looks to be a strength for the Longhorns in 2009, with the youngsters gaining a lot of valuable experience in 2008. A Big 12 title should be in the picture for the Longhorns.

4. LSU

After a down year for the Tigers, I believe they will rebound nicely in 2009. The defense looked outstanding against a Georgia Tech that tore apart fellow SEC member Georgia. Also, it looks as though the quarterback position has come into focus for the Tigers and shouldn't be a weakness for them in 2009.

LSU could throw some interesting looks next year with both Jefferson and incoming freshman Russell Shepard in the backfield at the same time. I look for LSU to claim the SEC West title next year.

5. Oklahoma

The last two games of the season were very strong showings for this Sooners defense that will return nine starters next year. If Bradford decides to jet for the NFL, the Sooners will likely have to rely on this defense to be their strong point, and then rely on a strong running game from DeMarco Murray. If Bradford returns, then we will once again see a three horse race for the Big 12 South.

6. Ole Miss

I like what the Rebels were able to do at the end of the year last year. They will have 17 starters returning from that surprise team in 2008 including standout QB Jevan Snead, and all-purpose man Dexter McCluster. The Rebels will challenge for the SEC West crown.

7. Virginia Tech

QB Tyrod Taylor has shown that he is a big time playmaker from the quarterback position. Taylor had expected to spend the '08 season as a redshirt, but due to the lack of production from Sean Glennon, Taylor was thrust into the starter's role and brought home an Orange Bowl victory for the Hokies.

Along with Taylor the offense will return nine starters, and a host of young talent on defense that saw valuable time in 2008. Virginia Tech should bring home the ACC title once again, and will find themselves in the BCS title hunt.

8. Oklahoma State

The Cowboys will be returning nine starters on offense including three dynamic talents in QB Zac Robinson, RB Kendall Hunter, and arguably the receiver in the country Dez Bryant. It is possible with Texas having to travel to Stillwater that we could see yet another three -way tie in the Big 12 South in 2009, as the Cowboys will be strong contenders in that division yet again.

9. Oregon

The Ducks finished 2008 very strong and have a lot to build on, especially with their offense, for 2009. The return of Mike Belloti would help greatly as well, and having USC come to Eugene is a definite plus since USC has struggled in the state of Oregon for the past few years.

10. Ohio State

At this point my job is really getting tough. I don't know if the Buckeyes will be top ten caliber next season, but I'm having a hard time finding anyone else I believe will be. The loss of Beanie Wells will hurt the Buckeyes greatly as will the loss of Laurinaitas and Jenkins on defense.

The play making ability of Pryor may be enough to keep the Buckeyes atop the Big Ten next year, especially if he can learn to be a better passer, and not to run out of bounds so early when he runs. The Big Ten should be wide open with no real great team, but hopefully one will emerge.

11. Alabama

I'm not as sold on the upside of the Tide for 2009 like so many people are. I think they benefited from sneaking up on people early, and then playing a bit of a soft schedule until the SEC title game. The success of the team may depend on the return of DT Terrence Cody. I for one expect him to leave, but we have to wait and see.

Also, of detriment besides losing their experienced signal caller is the loss of their two best offensive linemen. We already saw what happened to the Bama line when Smith was out of the Sugar Bowl. Luckily, Alabama will have an athletic QB next year because I suspect he will be running for his life quite a bit.

When, whoever the QB is for Alabama next year actually gets time to throw, he will have a huge benefit of throwing to Julio Jones. I suspect Bama will finish third or fourth in the West next year, which may be the toughest division in college football for 2009.

12. Georgia Tech

The Yellow Jackets showed the world that the old triple option play isn't dead yet, and with all their top playmakers back for 2009, the Jackets should be able to build upon their success from 2008.

13. Iowa

2009 will let us see just how valuable Shonn Greene was to the success of the Hawkeyes. Despite his loss, they will be returning eight starters on offense and seven of defense. It's amazing how in one season Kirk Ferentz went from hot seat to hot commodity. We'll see if he can stay hot in '09.

14. Nebraska

A team that flew under the radar for the entire 2008 season and somehow managed not to finish the season in the top 25, Nebraska will be one of the leading contenders for the Big 12 North title. Perhaps lost in all the other Big 12 stories of 2008 was the excellent coaching job of Bo Pelini. He took a team from 5-7 to 9-4 and a Gator Bowl victory. The biggest challenge is going to be replacing Gator Bowl MVP Joe Ganz.

15. North Carolina

Butch Davis is working his magic yet again. He is turning the Tar Heels back into a successful team; the Heels had been terrible since the departure of Mack Brown. This is definitely a team that is a sleeper to win the ACC title. The loss of Hakeem Nicks will loom large, but the Tar Heels still have a lot of talent returning for Davis in 2009.

16. Florida State

The Seminoles will have quite a bit of experience returning on offense including quarterback Christian Ponder. However, Mickey Andrews will have his work cut out for him with his defense especially in the secondary. If the defense is adequate the Seminoles may be in the hunt for a Coastal Division title.

17. Kansas

2008 may have seemed like a down year for the Jayhawks after 2007, but they ended very strong with a win over Missouri and then the most dominating performance by a Big 12 team in a bowl game.

Highlighting the returners for 2009 will be QB Todd Reesing and WR Dezmon Briscoe. This could be one of the best pass catch tandems in the country for 2009. If the Jayhawks are going to contend with Nebraska in the North, though they need to find a way to get it done on the ground.

18. Penn State

Penn State looks to have a good shot at repeating as Big 10 champs in 2009 with the return of QB Darryl Clark and RB Evan Royster, but in the end they may just be losing too much, and have too many holes to fill. Joe Pa will certainly have his work cut out for him in 2009.

19. California

Jahvid Best will be the key to the success of the Bears in 2009. Whenever Best goes, so will the Golden Bears of Cal. I would look for Cal in the Holiday Bowl.

20. Miami

The Hurricanes had a wealth of underclassmen play in 2008, and at times they played very well. They ended on a down note in '08, but that can be expected of young players.

I expect Miami to compete in 2009 and surprise a few folks. I think I'm starting to see the ACC rising back up.

21. Utah

The Utes will have a lot of holes to fill, but you can't completely discount the success that they had as a one-year wonder. They have built a quality program out there, and I expect to see them finish strong in 2009.

22. TCU

Always keyed by their defense the Horned Frogs will need to replace seven starters on that side of the ball, but will have DE Jerry Hughes returning. Like Utah, Gary Patterson always has a quality, perennial top 25 team.

23. Vanderbilt

I hate myself for this one, but they do return 18 starters from a team that won their bowl against ACC runner-up Boston College. The Commodores also finally found a solid quarterback that could take them to places they have never seen in Larry Smith. Well maybe not, but another bowl game isn't out of the question.

24. Boise State

Benefiting from playing in the WAC, Boise will yet again look strong. Their only blemish will be against Oregon, but Kellen Moore looks to be every bit as good as advertised.

25a. Minnesota

They ended very poorly in 2008, but they still return 19 starters, and do play in a weak conference. Eight to nine wins may not be out of the question for the Gophers in 2009.

25b. Arkansas

Arkansas is my sleeper for the 2009 season. I like Ryan Mallet as the quarter back for Bobby Petrino's system. I like all of the returning players that the Hogs will have for the 2009 season. So many underclassmen saw time last year, and you could visibly see them grow every game.

The Hogs will surprise many next year, and if they get some good breaks could finish in the top 15. Of course, with their schedule being so tough they could play really well and still not make a bowl. I think they will be in between those two scenarios and finish 8-5.

Well that's my "way too early" 2009 top 25. I did not really include SOS in my rankings, but went off of who I thought had the talent to be in these positions.

I always appreciate any feedback, and love to debate the merits of teams if you disagree with me.

Who Needs a Playoff, I Want Tradition!

James Colt — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 05:25:44 -0500

Why would anyone want to miss out on the annual celebration of mediocrity that is the college football bowl season?

This year there are nine teams that are being rewarded for finishing their respective seasons at 6-6. At least college football has standards I guess.

After all, everyone would rather watch the Eaglebank Bowl and the MagicJack.com Bowl instead of a playoff because college football is all about tradition. However, the only traditions I seem to find in the bowl system is that it continually celebrates and rewards mediocrity while punishing teams that excelled throughout the year by not letting them compete for a national title.

Well, there are some other bowl traditions that I can think of. The tradition to add a new bowl or two every year to water down the once honorable feeling teams used to have when they earned a bowl invitation.

Then there is the tradition to come up with crappier names and more obscure sponsors every year. I didn't know there was an Eagle Bank, and I guess if I ever move to San Diego (not very likely) I might decide to bank at the San Diego County Credit Union (again not very likely).

Perhaps my favorite tradition is just abolishing the traditional name of a bowl game in favor of a sponsor. Does anyone remember a bowl named the Peach Bowl? I do, but now that game is ruined because it's been shamefully named the Chick-fil-a bowl.

As I sit here and watch the EagleBank Bowl, I can't help but think that I could possibly be watching the first round of a college football playoff, which could possibly feature OU vs. Penn State.

Oh, but wait, thank you BCS for forcing me to watch Navy vs. Wake Forrest. Just to think that I could have missed out on a rematch of two mediocre teams just makes me sick. How dare all these playoff advocates try to take this game away from me.

While the BCS is at it, how about instead of bowl invitations to only about 60 percent of the teams, we just give every team in college football a sticker, and every conference the same amount of money? I know that would really make Karl Marx and Joseph Stalin happy. After all, mediocrity is the name of the game in college football now, isn't it?

Well I guess money really is the name of the game. The BCS likes to hide behind this facade of bowl games are the tradition of college football, but what they really want to say is that the bowl games are the tradition of money and not allowing the country to crown a true national champion.

Don't get me wrong. Tradition is a big part of college football. Every school has their own tradition. Most teams have their traditional rival. However, bowl games are no longer a grand tradition in college football.

Bowl games are simply a creation, or a way, for the BCS to earn more money for themselves while not only cheating the people that actually bring that money in out of their fair share, but also cheating them out of their chance for what they really want, glory.

Whenever I think of the BCS I'm always reminded of the movie Billy Madison. For those that haven't seen the movie I'll explain so you can understand.

In the movie Billy Madison, Billy must go through all 12 grades of school and graduate to inherit his father's company. Eric, the person who was in line to run the company, is a weasel type of person who unethically gets Billy kicked out of school.

The two then square off in an academic decathlon. With the score tied in the final event, each must answer a question selected by the other competitor. Billy selects business ethics for Eric, knowing he could never be ethical in any response he may give. This is the BCS, a weaselly, unethical institution.

The only tradition the world holds on to is that times must and always do change. It's time for college football to embrace the world's oldest tradition and change the college football postseason for the better.

Conference Allegiances: Why Are College Football Fans So Biased?

James Colt — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:43:11 -0500

Every year, you hear the same conversations. The SEC is great. The Big XII is better. The Pac-10 is only one team. The ACC and Big East are garbage. Every year, the conversations and debates go on and on like the Energizer bunny.

But why?

Why do college football fans care so much about conferences, and pledge our allegiance to the conference that is home to our favorite college sports team?

With the matchup of Oklahoma vs. Florida this year in the National Championship game people think that the debate will be settled by the outcome of this singular sports event, but why even care?

Why would a fan of the University of Georgia root for the Florida Gators to win the national championship of college football?

That is like the New York Yankees making it to the World Series, and all of Red Sox nation is cheering them on including the Boston Red Sox themselves. Why shouldn't that happen? They're both not only in the American League, but also in the same division.

I'm glad they don't, though, because that kind of display would be more than enough to make me puke.

Well, all of these "conference loyalists" are really starting to border on that kind of level of intolerability for me.

I've played around in some of these conversations before because it's what people tend to talk about. I might defend the Big XII if people condemn it in general, because it's home to my beloved Longhorns.

But I will NEVER root for OU or any other Big XII team to win a national title.

It makes me sick any time somebody from the Big XII does anything better than Texas. I almost cried when Kansas won the national title in basketball, because I knew Texas was just as good.

For all I care, the Big XII could be the weakest conference in the country. USC has a setup right now that I truly envy. I'm not saying the Pac-10 is the weakest conference in the country, but it certainly isn't one of the stalwarts, and what has that gotten USC?

Six straight Pac-10 titles (interesting note, the Pac-10 site has ASU listed as the Co-Champ this year), perennial national contention, and a yearly berth in the BCS.

For all you complaining USC fans, we should all be so cursed as to have to go the Rose Bowl every year.

If Texas played in a conference that was so weak they could win six straight titles, that would be my heaven. Instead, they lose one game all year and can't even win their own division. Big XII fans are loving the strength of the Big XII this year, but I'm bemoaning it.

I certainly will never say to myself, "Well Texas had a tough year, but at least the Big XII was great." That is a loser mentality.

I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong to have pride in your conference, but it certainly is odd in the world of sports to cheer for your rival to win something that you were unable to do yourself.

Perhaps if someone could point to a similar occurrence in sports then I might be able to understand, but as of now this concept is alien to me.

I know some people might be anxious to point out that baseball has its loyalists. Some people root for the American League and some for the National.

This, however, has its roots in the fact that they were actually two separate leagues that never played each other except for its champions in the World Series.

Recently, however, interleague play, along with free agency, and even the commonizing of the umpires, has really begun to do away with these biases.

The same could be said for pro football, because the AFL and NFL used to be two different leagues that didn't compete with each other on the field, but only for fans and revenue. However, the merger was so long ago that you really don't see an AFC/NFC bias.

Perhaps I'm just lost in the days of yore when hating your rival was a year-round type of event and not just a one- or two-Saturday-a-year ritual like Thanksgiving.

Imagine, you go to the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail party and the Red River Shootout (don't say RRR), and while you're there you hear all about how the Gators suck and other hateful things from Georgia fans, and you hear the same from Longhorn fans in Dallas about OU.

Now imagine those same fans that said those hateful things are now cheering for those very same teams. That would be a paradox in the literary world. In the sports world, I simply call it unfaithful.

I know, people will criticize me for insulting them by calling them unfaithful. However, as a Longhorn fan I have an unwritten and unspoken oath to hate with every ounce of my soul every team that gets in the way of my Longhorns and their greatness, conference affiliation BE DAMNED!!!!!!!

Conference Allegiances: Why Are College Football Fans So Bias?

James Colt — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:31:43 -0500

Every year you hear the same conversations. The SEC is great. The Big 12 is better. The Pac-10 is only one team. The ACC and Big East are garbage. Every year the conversations and debates go on and on like the Energizer Bunny.

But why?

Why do college football fans care so much about conferences, and pledge our allegiance to the conference that is home to our favorite college sports team?

With the match up of OU vs. Florida this year in the National Championship game people think that the debate will be settled by the outcome of this singular sports event. But why even care? Why would a fan of the University of Georgia root for the Florida Gators to win the national championship of college football?

That is like the New York Yankees making it to the World Series, and all of Red Sox nation is cheering them on, including the Boston Red Sox themselves. Why shouldn't that happen? They're both not only in the American League, but also in the same division.

I'm glad they don't though because that kind of display would be more than enough to make me puke.

Well, all of these "conference loyalists" are really starting to border on that kind of level of intolerability for me.

I've played around in some of these conversations before because it's what people tend to talk about. I might defend the Big 12 if people condemn it in general because its home to my beloved Longhorns.

But I will NEVER root for OU or any other Big 12 team to win a national title.

It makes me sick any time somebody from the Big 12 does anything better than Texas. I almost cried when Kansas won the national title in basketball because I knew that Texas was just as good.

For all I care the Big 12 could be the weakest conference in country. USC has a setup right now that I truly envy. I'm not saying the Pac-10 is the weakest conference in the country, but it certainly isn't one of the stalwarts, and what has that gotten USC?

Six straight Pac-10 titles (interesting note, the Pac 10 site has ASU listed as the Co-Champ this year), perennial national contention, and a yearly birth in the BCS. For all you complaining USC fans, we should all be so cursed as to have to go the Rose Bowl every year.

If Texas played in a conference that was so weak they could win six straight titles that would be my heaven. Instead they lose one game all year and can't even win their own division. Big 12 fans are loving the strength of the Big 12 this year, but I'm bemoaning it.

I certainly will never say to myself, "Well Texas had a tough year, but at least the Big 12 was great." That is a loser mentality.

I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong to have pride in your conference, but it certainly is odd in the world of sports to cheer for your rival to win something that you were unable to do yourself.

Perhaps if someone could point to a similar occurrence in sports then I might be able to understand, but as of now this concept is alien to me.

I know some people might be anxious to point out that baseball has its loyalists. Some people root for the American League and some for the National. This, however, has its roots in the fact that they were actually two separate leagues that never played each other except for its champions in the World Series.

Recently, however, interleague play, along with free agency, and even the commonizing of the umpires has really begun to do away with these biases.

The same could be said for pro football because the AFL and NFL used to be two different leagues that didn't compete with each other on the field, but only for fans and revenue. However, the merger was so long ago that you really don't see an AFC/NFC bias.

Perhaps I'm just lost in the days of yore when hating your rival was a year-round type of event and not just a one, or maybe two, Saturday-a-year ritual like Thanksgiving.

Imagine, you go to the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail party and the Red River Shootout (don't say RRR), and while your there you hear all about how the Gator's suck and other hateful things from Georgia fans, and you hear the same from Longhorn fans in Dallas about OU.

Now imagine those same fans that said those hateful things are now cheering for those very same teams. That would be a paradox in the literary world. In the sports world I simply call it unfaithful.

I know, people will criticize me for insulting them by calling them unfaithful. However, as a Longhorn fan I have an unwritten and unspoken oath to hate with every ounce of my soul every team that gets in the way of my Longhorn's and their greatness, conference affiliation be DAMNED!!!!!!!

They Aren't Complaining IN Tempe, But The Fiesta Bowl Could Have Been Better

James Colt — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:26:16 -0500

The 2009 version of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will pit two of the most storied college football programs of all time against each other. Unfortunately for the Fiesta Bowl, it's not the two that it could have been.

On January 5th the Texas Longhorn's will be reunited on the field of play with the Ohio State Buckeyes for the third time in four years. This game is sure to be a ratings coup for the Fiesta Bowl as these two programs have two of the largest fan bases in the country.

The game will bring many intriguing elements along with the two teams. It will be a classic battle of great defense vs. great offense. The Buckeyes rank 8th in total defense and 7th in scoring defense. The Longhorns meanwhile rank 9th in total offense and 5th in scoring offense. It will provide an answer to the ultimate question, does great defense beat great offense?

Then there will be the Texas subplot of being left out of the National Championship. Many will watch and see how the Longhorn's perform, and base their judgement of whether or Texas truly deserved to be in the National Championship game or not. For Texas, there is still a slim hope of a split national championship if OU can win ugly, and Texas can win big. If that happens, then perhaps the folks in the AP will remember Texas beating OU earlier in the season.

Ohio State brings a plot of their own into the game. Many people feel the Buckeyes don't deserve this game, but only get to be in it because of the name on their chest. That may be true, but they are still the co-Big Ten champions.

People will also want to see if Ohio State can break their dry spell in BCS games. There was a time not too long ago that Ohio State was the surest bet you could make to pick a team to win a BCS bowl game. Now, two devastating losses later, people have no faith in the Buckeyes. This is their chance to reclaim some lost credibility for the Big Ten.

Finally, there is the renewal of the two game series that Ohio State and Texas played in 2005 and 2006. Both games were won by the visiting team, and both winning teams went on to play in the National Championship, but with different results.

This game will give Ohio State the chance to show Texas what defending Vince Young was like. Terrelle Pryor, though not as polished as Vince was in 2005, is one of the most popular players in the game right now, and he will have his big stage for a chance at a coming out party, or we will see how much improvement he still needs.

All of these are very compelling story lines that the Fiesta Bowl can hang its hat on to attract viewers. Viewers isn't something that they should be short on for this game. However, you have to believe that they were very close to an even more intriguing and lucrative match up.

If it hadn't been for Oregon going and spoiling the Rose Bowl dreams of Oregon State, the Fiesta Bowl would be looking at a dream matchup of Texas vs. USC. If the BCS had a plus one system this could be the other game alongside Florida/Oklahoma.

If this game had come to fruition we might even be calling it National Championship game B. I mean honestly who wouldn't tune in to see this game. Two teams that are the BCS national championship rejects, but deserve to be there every bit as much as the two teams that are.

Also, everyone would be salivating at the chance to see the rematch from one of the greatest games ever played, the 2006 Rose Bowl. With USC complaining about having to play in Pasadena yet again (OH MY GOD what a burden), the change of scenery would have been nice for the men of Troy and their followers. With Southern Cal being so close to Tempe you better believe their fans would show up in droves to see SC exact revenge on its national championship record setting spoiler foe.

I guess we can only reminisce about what might have been. Not only does the BCS screw the fans out of chances for their teams to play for national championships, it screws them out of great matchups due to bowl tie-in's. So lets all congratulate Oregon on ruining it for the rest of us. OH, Thank you mighty Ducks.

SEC Defense Is Outstanding and Big 12 Offense is Overrated, Think Again

James Colt — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:13:51 -0500

All year long, people have argued which conference is better: the Big 12 or the SEC. Well the consensus came to a decision and decided it is the Big 12.

The only few who still claim the SEC are the die hard SEC fans who will argue anything, even when proven wrong.

Another argument has raged about these conferences all year long as well. The SEC plays GREAT defense, and the Big 12 plays GREAT offense.

Some might say the stats of the Big 12 are way overrated because they don't have ANY defense whatsoever.

Some might say the SEC has great defenses because of the lack of ANY offense outside of the University of Florida.

I say the defense in the SEC is more a product of BAD offense than the Big 12's offense is a product of bad defense.

There is no arguing the statistical merits that the SEC has accrued this season. 11 of their 12 members are in the top 38 in total defense. That is very impressive. Eight of their 12 members are in the top 40 in scoring defense, which is also impressive.

Maybe I should stop writing right now, because those stats are too good to argue against, but I think I'll continue and try anyway.

The SEC only has three teams in the top 50 in total offense compared to six teams ranked 97 or lower with the bottom 3 being 113, 115, and 117 out of 119. That is complete incompetence on the offensive side of the ball.

The SEC only has five members in the top 50 in scoring offense. Meanwhile they have 7 teams ranked 87 or lower. Those rankings are as follows: 87, 91, 92, 104, t-110, t-110, 115.

While I'm on the subject of scoring who can forget the epic 3-2 game between Auburn and Mississippi St. which voters apparently felt was so good that Auburn should stay in the top 10.

Aside from UF, the SEC does not possess a team in top 20 of total offense or scoring offense. So are the defenses really that good?

Well, since Florida is the only team in the SEC with anything that resembles a modern offense let's see how the big SEC defenses fared.

Tennessee's 11th ranked scoring defense gave up 30 points. Mississippi's 14th-ranked scoring defense gave up 30 points, but both of those games were before Florida "found" themselves offensively.

Post-loss Florida scored 51 points on LSU, who holds the 36th ranked total defense, but only the 65th ranked scoring defense. Kentucky, 37th in total defense and 40th in scoring defense, gave up 63 points.

Georgia who is 28th in total defense and 64th in scoring, gave up 49 points to the Gators. Finally, Alabama, who is the 6th ranked scoring defense, gave up 31 points against Florida.

So maybe those SEC defenses aren't that great after all, but if you still need more proof here you go. Tennessee's 11th ranked scoring defense gave up 27 points to the 109th ranked scoring offense of UCLA.

Mississippi's 14th ranked scoring defense gave up 30 points to the 97th ranked offense of Wake Forest. Auburn's 15th ranked scoring defense gave up 34 points to the 74th ranked scoring offense of West Virginia.

I could keep going, but I think the point is made, and the point, like the no-offense games in the SEC, is getting boring.

Now moving along to other part of this article we will talk about the Big 12 and their magnificent offense and atrocious defense.

People have accused the Big 12 of being overrated because they play no defense. Tim Tebow said he wished he could pass against the Big 12 defenses. The Big 12's defenses could be likened to Rodney Dangerfield, they get no respect. Do they deserve any? Let's see.

We already saw that the SEC has only one team, Florida, which is in the top 20 in scoring and total offense. The Gators are 18th in total offense and 3rd in scoring offense.

The Big 12 boasts 6 teams in the top 20 of total offense (half the conference for the mathematically disabled), and 10 teams in the top 50 of total offense.

In scoring offense, the Big 12 can lay claim to 5 of the top 8 scoring offenses, 6 of the top 21 and 9 of the top 46.

On the flip side, Texas the top ranked defense in the Big 12 in both total defense and scoring defense. The 'Horns rank 50th in total defense and 20th in scoring defense. That's a long ways from the SEC's top defensive ranks.

Texas doesn't appear to have a great defense, but they never gave up 40 points in any game this year. They allowed 14 points or fewer in 7 of their 12 games, and held EVERY opponent they played to at least 7 points below their season scoring average, and they can boast the second-ranked rushing defense in the COUNTRY. That is a very good defense that I would take over most of the SEC defenses.

So, since Texas is the most SEC like defense we will use them as the litmus test for Big 12 offenses like we used Florida for the SEC's version of a Big 12 offense.

Against Oklahoma, Texas gave up 35 points. All 35 points were scored via a Sam Bradford pass because the Sooners ground game couldn't get more than two yards on the majority of their carries.

The Sooners are the top ranked offense in the country and were held to 19 points below their season average. However, I still think 35 points is a great effort against a team that only gave up 18 points per game on average.

Against Missouri, the 6th ranked offense in the nation, the Longhorn's gave up 31 points. They only gave up 3 in the first half however, and the other 28 points came against base defenses and second stringers. Not a good performance as they were held to 12 points below their season average.

Against Oklahoma State who is the 8th ranked scoring offense Texas only gave up 24 points. This total is 17 points less than the Cowboys season average. The ground game for Okie State, however, still was very potent even against the second-ranked Longhorns defense.

Kansas could only manage a touchdown in Lawrence against the Longhorns. The elements surely helped in aiding that effort as the 'Horns were only able to manage 35 points themselves, but still the Jayhawks' 27th-ranked scoring offense was held to 27 points below their season average.

Texas Tech was able to put up the most points on the Longhorns this year. 9 of those points, however, were scored by the defense so the offense only really managed to score 30 points against the Longhorns defense. This total is 14 points less than the 4th ranked Red Raider's season average.

Obviously, at least it's obvious to me, after looking at these stats and games, the Big 12 still has some very good offenses. The SEC still has a few very good defenses. However, I feel that the Big 12 offenses don't get as much help from the ineptitude of their defense as the SEC does from the ineptitude of the SEC offenses.

A reason that the SEC defenses have such good numbers is because of the lack of quality quarterback play. Florida is the only team that has exceptional quarterback play, and they have had no problem scoring in the SEC. That's not a coincidence.

The reason Florida has been able to score against the vaunted SEC defenses is the same reason that Big 12 schools have been putting up such gaudy numbers. The Big 12 has the best quarterback play in the country.

They don't put up the biggest numbers because they have the worst defenses. They put up the numbers because of a combination of offensive scheme, great coaching, and quarterbacks who understand how to be efficient within their respective systems.

When the SEC starts getting quarterbacks to play great, then you will start to see a lowering in the statistical levels of the defenses. As it stands right now, except for Florida, the SEC is still stuck alongside the Big 10 in the era of three yards and a cloud of dust.

The Rose Bowl: A Marriage Gone Bad

James Colt — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:29:49 -0500

The Rose Bowl is considered the "Granddaddy of 'em all" among the bowl games. Right now it's a granddad that needs a divorce.

The Rose Bowl is like a marriage that started out with lots of passion that made everyone stand in awe. However, as the years have gone on, the passion has burned off, leaving people to only reminisce of what once was. Now the old couple only co-exist and stay together because after so many years with one another what would be the point of a divorce.

Well in the case of the Rose Bowl it would be to recapture the glory and passion of what was once the greatest game of the year. The solution is simple too. All the Rose Bowl needs to do is divorce the Big-Ten.

Since the turn of the century the Big-Ten has gone 1-5 in Pasadena, and if you are one those "know-it all" types and consider the new century 2001 because of the lack of a year 0, then the Big-Ten is a big goose egg for 5.

This record is the meaning of the word futility in sports. The Big-Ten has become the Notre Dame of the Rose Bowl. Not only has the Big-Ten lost in their last five trips to Pasadena, but they have lost by an average of 14 points per game. Ouch!!

So what should the Rose Bowl do after giving the Big-Ten the boot? First they go ahead and keep the Pac-10 for obvious reasons like location and success in the Rose Bowl of late. Then they could take some time to play the field. Why not, they deserve to have some fun after being in such a long term relationship.

If they decide that they would just rather go and find a suitor right away because being promiscous just isn't their style, well I think I have the perfect one for them.

The Big XII made it's debut in the Rose Bowl in 2002, and was a real dud. They laid out their first pick up line and it got shot down, but it wasn't by the Pac-10 or Big-10, but Miami from the Big-East at the time. Nebraska, in the 2002 National Championship, was like the nerdiest guy in the bar hitting on the super model.

However, the Big-XII was very persistent, and in its next three attempts was able to impress the Tournament of Roses. First, was Oklahoma the very next year in 2003 which wound up pounding Washington State 34-14. OU showed the Pac-10 what domination is truly about.

Then came Texas two years later in 2005. It took Michigan a little while to be hooked, but by the end of the night they belonged to the Longhorns. Texas performed so well they took another shot the very next year at the best that the Rose Bowl had to offer, USC. Like a well written love story these two went back and forth at each other all night before Texas finally won the Pac-10 over. Oh, and by the way, it was a game that many consider the best ever played.

Now the Tournament of Roses has gone back to its old ways. No more running around on each other. And what has been the result of that? Two lack luster games in which the Pac-10 has walked all over the Big-10 by an average margin of 23 points.

So today I implore everyone to make it known to the Rose Bowl that it should make a clean break from the Big-10 and join it's new passionate lover, the Big-XII, because after all 12 is greater than 10.

And College Football's No. 2 Should Be...EVERYONE!

James Colt — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:09:29 -0500

I know everyone has been writing an article about the beleaguered BCS lately, so I figured I'd throw my two cents out there. This weekend finally provided all the BCS critics with the fire they knew had been coming.

Texas is now sitting at the No. 2 slot in the BCS, and everyone outside of Austin couldn't be more upset about it. This is the same team that was at one point the No. 1 team in the country and had the can't miss candidate for Heisman. Now that Texas sits at No. 2, it's as if the most unjust thing has just happened to college football fans.

So if Texas shouldn't be No. 2, then who should be? Well, before we knock UT out of that spot, can we come up with a reason why they shouldn't be?

They lost on the road to a top 10 team with one second left to go in the game. WOW, I know all the UT haters will be all over that argument. Texas lost to a team that lost by 44 points. Well that team is still No. 7, and the game was still a night road game with more hype surrounding that Tech team than ever before.

So if Texas isn't No. 2, then people must think it's OU. Well, just like for Texas, you really can't make an argument against them being No. 2. Their lone loss was to a top five team by 10 points on a neutral field—not terrible either, especially compared to the other top teams.

If neither of these teams, then how about Florida at No. 2? Many believe they have been playing the best of anyone in the country. Florida is a team that is hard to make a case against, but I believe you can do it easier for them than for OU or Texas.

Florida's lone loss came against a team that was unranked until this week, and it was at home. Of the top five teams, Florida is the only team who has dropped a game at home.

We see that it is tough to make a case against teams being No. 2, so then you must resort to who has the strongest case to be No. 2.

Texas is the only team of the big three in the Big 12 with a marquee win away from home, which came against No. 1 OU. That in itself should be a strong case for Texas since they beat a team they are battling for the same spot, and the win came at a neutral site.

Also, Texas beat No. 11 Missouri quite handily and then No. 7 Oklahoma St., and all three of those wins came in a three-week stretch.

OU's case is also very strong. They have two key non-conference wins against Cincinnati and TCU, who are both top 15 teams right now. Now they have added the 44-point beating of Texas Tech, which was very impressive. If they can add a road win against OSU this week, that would give OU the only true marquee road win between Texas and OU.

Florida's marquee wins are against LSU, which is no longer very impressive considering LSU's 3-4 conference record, and a win against Georgia, which was at a neutral site and a thorough beatdown at that. The Georgia win may lose a little more luster if they are unable to beat Georgia Tech this weekend.

Florida does still have more opportunities to impress with games against Florida State and Alabama on the horizon.

So who has the edge? Tough to say. My humble opinion is that RIGHT NOW Texas has the best résumé, but OU and Florida will have their opportunities to improve theirs.

However, I don't really think you can make a reasonable argument that none of them deserve to be No. 2—which is why we definitely need a playoff.

Texas Wins Despite a Shady Defense: True Or False?

James Colt — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:02:26 -0400

If there has been a criticism of the top ranked Texas Longhorns this season, that criticism has been aimed at the UT defense. More specifically at their young secondary. Texas ranks 111 out of 119 schools in pass defense.

That is a staggering statistic that when you look at it really makes you wonder how Texas can be 7-0 and No. 1 in the country.

On the other hand, Texas has the No. 2 ranked rushing defense in the country giving up a mere 48.1 ypg, which comes out to a minuscule 1.9 ypc. That stat says national championship. I guess the two meet in the middle and rank Texas as the 47th best defense in the country, which is mediocre at best.

Is the Texas defense really that mediocre though? Some say it's worse than mediocre, and others say that new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has made this defense into a very good unit.

I say Texas and the rest of the Big XII have entered into a new era. An era of the spread offense. Gone are the days of the SWC when it was three yards and a cloud of dust. Now it's lets test how high the numbers on the scoreboard really go. Let's see how fast the statistician's can keep up with our up tempo no huddle offenses.

It is impossible to expect anyone in the Big XII to live up to the old time defensive standards that most people still use. There is no way in a conference that boasts the best offensive talent in the country to expect a defense to only give up 150 passing yards/game and 11ppg. Those were the standards of yester-year.

So is the Texas defense as bad as people think, no! My favorite statistic when talking defense is points. Points are the determining factor in the outcome of a game, so it only makes sense to start from there.

The Texas defense ranks 40th in scoring defense. Again that is middle of the pack mediocrity, or is it? Consider that Texas has played the fourth and fifth ranked scoring offenses in the country. They held Oklahoma to 35 points, which on the surface is a lot, but OU averages 47 ppg. Texas held them to 12 points below their season average.

Missouri, the 5th ranked scoring offense, was held to 3 first half points. They then scored 28 points in the second half, however those came against base and prevent defenses with second stringers on the field and the outcome already determined. Even still 31 points is 15 below their season average of 46 ppg.

In fact Texas has held every that they have played to at least more than a touchdown less than each teams average points per game.

So what does this all mean for their upcoming game against Oklahoma St.? Well Oklahoma St. has one of the most balanced offenses in the country. They boast the leading Big XII receiver and kick returner in Dez Bryant, the Big XII leading rusher in Kendall Hunter, and the 3rd rated passer in the country in Zac Robinson who can also make plays with his feet.

Texas will have their biggest test of the year against this offense. The Longhorns boast one of the best defensive lines, which has allowed them to drop seven in coverage to help their young secondary, but with the talented backfield of the Cowboys, Texas may be forced into keeping the linebackers home to play the run, which is something they haven't had to do much this year.

The young secondary has been very susceptible to breakdowns which lead to big plays. Going against the best receiver in college football, the secondary can ill afford many coverage breakdowns this week.

However, if you have watched Texas play this season, you know that we have been watching this young secondary grow up game to game, half to half, and play to play. They are actually outplaying their age and experience.

The OSU Cowboys will bring a lot of fire power, but Longhorns do too. The Longhorns defense needs to only play well enough to give their offense a chance to win the game. Texas has risen to the challenge thus far, and will most likely continue to as they mature throughout the season.

Still Mr. February? Will Mack Brown ever earn any respect?

James Colt — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:46:23 -0400

Mack Brown once owned a 5 game losing streak to Oklahoma, and in those five games twice gave up 60+ points. He failed twice in Big XII championship games to Nebraska and Colorado.

Yet, during all this time of failure, Brown continued to haul in top recruiting classes, but still through his first 7 seasons he had failed to capture even so much as a conference championship.

Now, Mack Brown owns two Rose Bowl titles, a Big XII title, a national title, and has won his last 4 bowl games. Oh yeah, and he's won 3 of the last 4 against Big Game Bob and the Sooners.

Yet, people outside of the Texas fan base still don't respect Mack.

People thought Pete Carroll would out coach him in the Rose Bowl, but if anything he out coached Pete. People, despite Stoops' recent struggles in big games, still thought that Stoops would out coach Mack, even though Mack by far out coached Stoops (i.e. a fake punt with the lead that forced his punter to run a total of 20 yards to get a first down, and then not going for fourth and short at mid-field and giving the ball back to a team they had been unable to stop the entire game).

The point is that no one respects the coach that has the winingest record in the nation during his tenure at Texas. His early failures will forever mar his image as far as the rest of the nation is concerned.

Part of his image problem I believe is that he is the head coach of the Texas Longhorns. Texas is a very polarizing team for whatever reason. Maybe it's because people who aren't Longhorn fans believe that Texas fans and the Texas program is arrogant. I don't know, but I do know there is a definite bias by non-UT supporters against UT, especially in the media.

Another part of his problem is first impressions can last a lifetime. His first 7 seasons were mostly failed seasons, at least compared to the expectations that preceded them. Therefore, the public forged an image of a man who is a very charismatic recruiter, but at the same time a man who couldn't coach a peewee team.

Then comes his two Rose Bowl victories, but rather than change their opinion of Mack, people said, "well Vince did it all by himself" (despite the fact that several of those players were first round picks, and many more, especially on the offensive line are now starting in the NFL, but let's forget about that). OK fine, VY was a man among boys.

Now, going into a big game in which Mack was expected to be beat down because his team only had one player, Colt McCoy, that the rest of the country knew about (and given his struggles last season didn't think highly of), Mack pulls out a victory.

Wait, not just any victory, it was a victory against his long time tormentor, Bob Stoops. Oh, and not just any Bob Stoops team, a #1, star studded Bob Stoops team. Not one single TV. Sports analyst, that wasn't affiliated in some way with UT, gave Texas any chance of beating OU. Still, Mack wins, and still has no credibility.

Maybe, if Texas manages to run the gauntlet that is their schedule this year, maybe he can have at least a little respect from people, but I doubt it. Unfortunately, Mack, I think it's too late for ya buddy, but that's ok because I know you don't really care.

Red River Hype

James Colt — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:07:20 -0400

This week is Texas-Oklahoma week. Everyone knows that.

What everyone hasn't realized yet is the significance of the game, or really lack there of.

Sure, this one of the biggest rivalries in college football and both teams are ranked in the top 5, but it's not, by a long shot, what should be considered a national title "implications" game.

Let's say Texas pulls the upset on Saturday. Do we get to do this all over again next week in the Texas-Mizzou game?

What if Texas wins that game, and we get to the Texas-Texas Tech game and both teams are undefeated, does that become the biggest game of the year?

Simply put this game gives the winner the inside track to the Big XII South title, but that's it.

We live in an era of sports overhype. This is an era where ESPN has over dramatised every match-up as if this is going to be the greatest game ever, and then when one of the games actually does live up to the hype it automatically becomes "The Greatest Game Ever", at least until next week.

I can understand people thinking that this game is all or nothing for both teams because in the past, Texas and Oklahoma were the only two teams that knew how to walk on to a football field in the Big XII, but times they are a changing.

Now Oklahoma and Texas have very tough conference schedules, especially Texas, with a date with Missouri the very week after the Red River Rivalry. I'm not on here to diminish the rivalry in any way, but rather to put into context in the national picture.

This game has only minimal, at best, national title implications.

The game should be enjoyed for what it is, two great football teams with a long rich tradition of winning and hating each other. That in itself already makes for great entertainment. There is no need to over hype an already great rivalry.

So this weekend when you are watching the game get lost in the game and not the hype because it should be easy to do.