Off-Season 2014

Get up! It's Gameday (almost).

Here are a few headlines that caught my attention since January:

• There is a new poll in town: the Grantland Rice Super 16. I'll view it only out of curiosity. I'm a Coaches Poll fan since it is made up of people who live college football day in and day out.
• The new College Football Playoff (CFP) committee. I like to think this group will help build the foundation for what we all know will become a bigger and better playoff. Only three questions:
• Who was the selection committee for the selection committee?
• Were these folks on a ballot, vying for a spot or were they approached?
• How did Condoleeza Rice get on this gig? The others have some association with the sport but she never played. (She did oversee sports at Stanford and hired Tyrone Willingham. But does she watch enough to make playoff level decisions?)
• There were two 8th grade commits to LSU. One is a nephew of Koy and Ty Detmer. LSU has a serious long-term vision and they are putting it in place.
• And, of course, the lawsuit.
• I read both sides. I do think the NCAAF (BCS) was a big scam (read "The Six Billion Dollar Scam"). But both arguments have some merit and I think this is a good, baby-step move in the right direction. Highly paid players may take away from the sports passion. But this is just enough to be more fair, not be highly paid or remove passion.
• Click HERE for a summary on the Northwestern "players as employees" case.
• Click HERE for a summary of the O'Bannon ("pay for play") trial.
• And you gotta love Jon Stewart's take on all this: click HERE.

My 2014 Predictions

• Florida State will not repeat. Their soft schedule will take them far but they'll be schooled in the end.
• Alabama will have  "down" (re-building) year for the first time in years.
• The PAC-12 highly touted and loaded offenses will beat up on one another...but a playoff team will emerge. I'm guessing UCLA.
• Defense will reign once again in the SEC now that Manziel, Mettenburger, Moore and McCarron are playing on Sundays. 
• The Big 10 won't be part of the playoff...neither will Alabama.

Though I'm a big fan of UGA and BYU I will have my eye on a few other teams this year. (Oddly enough, four are from the PAC-12):

• Utah: I'm curious how Whittingham will handle his hot seat year, especially in a loaded PAC-12 conference.
• Washington: I want to see if Peterson can duplicate what he did at Boise State.
• USC: I just like Sarkisian's style of coaching and want to see how he transfers that back to USC.
• UCLA: I just want to watch Brett Hundley (my pre-season Heisman favorite). 
• Texas: I really like Charlie Strong, his background and his commitment to success and I want to see if he can bring that program back.

END-ZONE

Autonomy given to the Power 5? I'm not sure that is such a good idea. I like the limitations they put in place but too much power in too few hands usually spells trouble. Can't we all just get along?

Bowl Season Wrap Up

"The day after Alabama's dominant win over Notre Dame in last year's BCS National Championship, Bovada released 2013 national title odds. Alabama was an obvious favorite at 5/1, and Oregon, Ohio State, LSU, Texas A&M, and Florida rounded out the top five. Tied with Florida at 14/1: Florida State. And tied with Georgia Tech and Iowa at 200/1: Auburn. College football always plays out just like we expect, doesn't it?" (SBNation.com, 05 Jan 2014).

Yahoo! Bowl Pick 'Em Contest 2013-14

And that pretty much sums up the final season of the BCS system. Of course, we now have another system to whine about, and college football would not be the same without some whining. But the final BCS season worked out OK and the bowl season was fantastic. Well, except for my inability to predict the winners (see picture).

BYU and Georgia shared the same bowl fate - a loss. And for the same reasons: sluggish play. Neither looked excited or prepared to be there. Both had chances to win down the stretch but couldn't execute. Poorly prepared and a disappointment to fans. BYU made zero halftime adjustments being content to stick to the hurry-up offense and maintain their #2 ranking as the team that runs the most plays...failing to recognize that running the most plays does not win games. Oddly enough, both teams are pre-pre-season ranked by USAToday in the Top 25. Georgia because they "should be healthy" again and BYU because they have a "light schedule".

Texas A&M vs Duke was a great final show for Johnny Football. Duke owned the first half and surprised us all. But A&M coaching made the right adjustments at halftime which resulted in one of the best comebacks of the season.

Oklahoma over 'Bama was the surprise of the bowl season. Yahoo! noted that 95% of respondents bet on 'Bama to win (as did I). Where has Oklahoma been all season? Who was that QB? Where was that speed and those receivers and that play calling all season? How did they not win the Big 12? They are ready for next year. And Saban will come back waaaay upset after losing two in a row for the first time in five years. Last time that happened (also in the Sugar Bowl against an unsuspecting Utah team) 'Bama started their reign as kings. (Hey...did Saban really hire Kiffin? Was he on crack?).

And, of course, the title game. High powered offense Florida State over Auburn and their unforgettable worst-to-first season of miracle plays. What a great game and ending to another fantastic season. At half it was as I predicted: the soft schedule FSU had all season was catching up with them and they were no match for an Auburn team who worked their way to the top. But, alas, I was incorrect again. For FSU coaching made adjustments that worked (including using towels to hide play calling). Got to hand it to coaching staffs like FSU and A&M that can go into half-time losing and bring out a completely different team.

Heisman 2013

Not sure that I have ever been this opinionated on the Heisman voting. It's a great group of some of the most memorable players to ever step on the field. But the last few years have placed a small tarnish on that trophy. Maybe it was always there and the uber-connected world we now live in is just exposing it. This is the first time that I can recall disagreeing with the outcome.

For me it goes back to Reggie Bush a few years ago and him being asked to relinquish the trophy. Like a true sportsman he did just that. Maybe he was guilty, maybe not, but he did the right thing. And now, three of the last four years have all but required voters to investigate legal allegations or prior arrest records against some of the candidates before voting. This year Winston's name was not even listed on 115 of the ballots. What is that saying? (Well...besides the fact that he still won by a landslide).

Sorry UF fans...as a Georgia
fan I couldn't resist posting this.

There is no doubt that the winners have been very talented players that are exciting to watch and deserve recognition for such. But should it go to a freshman with a questionable background or the senior who has been "steady Eddie" for four years? Is the Heisman earned in just one year or is it cumulative efforts and great play? If the freshman is that good will he not prove his Heisman worth in the coming years? Are we voting in talent or integrity or both? Should voters consider how their club will be represented in the future or just right now? Just sayin...

PS: Reference the END-ZONE section of my Wk#13 post.

Wk #15: Done

There was plenty of excitement on the last weekend that included mostly conference championships. There were BCS implications galore before it all started and they changed during the course of the day. Enjoyed every minute...

Well deserved celebration...

The Big 12 has not had a lot of good publicity this season (ie: OSU pay-for-play) but they have been grinding out wins as usual whether pollsters paid attention or not. With Oklahoma taking down OSU suddenly the Baylor-Texas game became the BIG 12 championship game. Had Texas won, Mack might be back. Having lost...maybe not.

Two Cinderella teams played for all the SEC marbles and the possibility of a BCS title game slot. Two teams that were 2 - 14 in conference play a year ago met up in Atlanta with a conference record of 14 - 2. But, alas, the glass slipper can only fit one and Auburn was chosen. I wasn't sure if they both had terrible defenses or really good offenses but their bowl opponents better be prepared for both.

Florida State did as expected although Duke made it interesting the first half. They will have their hands full with the Tiger "Team of Destiny" - especially since FSU was not really challenged this season. Going up against the SEC champs who overcame multiple challenges and pulled off a few miracles will be quite the task. But they have a lot of "tired-of-the-SEC" folks pulling for them.

Meyer welcomed back to reality. 

Ohio State was either having a really off day or they were exposed for the mediocre team they really are. Two seasons of cupcakes can make a team over-confident and eventually embarrassed. But this why we play the game and why we need a play-off system. OSU showed signs of life with a well played 24-point run in the middle of the game (that put Auburn fans on edge) but in the end they were out-coached and ill-prepared for the MSU play-calling and defense. (I was impressed to see that Meyer did not play Marcus Hall much after his 1-finger salute to fans last week).

Click HERE for the 2013-14 bowl match-ups and schedule.

E N D - Z O N E
Was not expecting the Sarkisian nor the Petersen move. I thought they were both very happy where they were and with what they were building. But I suppose we all have our price...

Click HERE for the latest in the coaching carousel.

Wk #14: Whew!

What a week to be thankful for all the ups adn downs in college football. This week was a doozy as we so often see in November. And lest we forget, there is still one more Saturday with the potential to turn it all upside down again...

Fresno State lost in a high-scoring shootout leaving N. Illinois the lone non-AQ team that qualifies for a BCS bowl. Both BYU and Georgia took an entire half to get warmed up before pulling out wins (Georgia was breaking in a new QB...not sure what was going on with BYU since I didn't get that channel). USC lost a close one after winning six straight under a new coaching style (let's hear it for good coaches).

Yea...no one else can believe it either.

Given the chance I imagine Bama and Michigan coaches would take back their final play calls in their games. Both lost by going for the win. Mistake? Not in my book. They were just doing what they are paid and expected to do - win the big one. To do that requires risk taking...risks they had taken before and capitalized on. Just not this time.


Bama and Auburn are both great teams. Both with great talent and coaching. But Bama was just out-coached this time. Auburn was ready and threw in just enough surprises at just the right time to catch a very talented Bama team off-guard. There are those that will say Auburn is on top based on two miracle, last-second, unbelievable, quirky plays. And there are those that will say "better to be lucky than good". Either way - that's college football and that's just fun to watch. (Hey...did Saban walk off the field without congratulating Malzahn? That would be very un-Saban like.)

Go ahead and storm the field. The 2nd
answered "prayer in Jordan-Hare"
in as many games merits it.

Now we are all set for one more weekend to either solidify or jumble up the bowl picture. Today we are looking at an FSU-OSU match-up in the title game (the first time in seven years the SEC is not playing for the title). Both deserving? That will be debated for years. Both had somewhat cupcake schedules but going un-defeated and winning a conference championship (assuming) is deserving regardless of which conference you come from. More deserving than a 1-loss SEC? That too will be debated for years.

E N D - Z O NE 
Before each Saturday my wife often asks "How many games are you planning to watch on Saturday?". Much to her dismay my answer this past week was "Three". But she was thrilled when I told her that they all started at the same time. Yes - she is glad to see the season winding down. That makes one of us...