Saturday Football Fever

Today, the NCAA approved two new bowl games.  One in St. Petersburgh, FL and one in Washington, D.C.  The addition of these two games begs the question, “Do we really need more bowl games?”  And the answer is “HELL NO!”

There are already too many bowl games now.  Bowls used to be rewards for teams that had good seasons.  Now bowl games have lost their luster, with teams that are 6-6 facing off in bowl games that are watched by hardly anyone.  Like last years Independence Bowl between 6-6 Alabama and 6-6 Colorado.  These were two teams who had mediocre seasons and were rewarded with a post season game that hardly anyone outside of Boulder or Tuscaloosa cared about.  How is that good for college football (other than bringing in revenue – FYI…Bama made more from it’s neutral site game with FSU than it did in the Independence Bowl)?  How does this add to the allure to the bowl season?

It doesn’t.  We need to get rid of a lot of these small time bowl games that feature crappy teams year after year.  These mediocre match-ups are ruining the college football postseason.

Filed under: Bowls

Tags: alabama crimson tide, bowl games, colorado buffaloes, florida state seminoles, independence bowl, ncaa

Well, it looks like there will be no plus-one game for college football.  And that sucks.  I think the plus-one format would have been a better way to figure out who the “true” national champion is and it would have been one step closer to a true play-off system.

I’m convinced that one day the BCS commissioners and Notre Dame will realize that they can have all their bowl games and they can have a play-off at the same time.  And I’m pretty sure that they could make more money than they do now.

Filed under: Conference News

Tags: bcs, bowl game, national champion, notre dame, play-off, plus-one

For the first time since 1970, the Alabama Crimson Tide had ZERO players selected in the NFL draft.  I find that hard to believe.  Sure, probation and Shula’s inability to develop talent may have contributed to some of this, but we still had talented players, like DJ Hall and Wallace Gilberry.

Some of these guys will be signed as free agents, but here’s the list of guys from Bama who didn’t make the draft cut.

DJ Hall – Offer from NY Giants pending

Wallace Gilberry – Signed with NY Giants

Simeon Castille – Signed with Cincinnati Bengals

Justin Britt – Signed with Cincinnati Bengals

Keith Brown

Matt Caddell – Signed with St. Louis Rams

Chris Capps

Charles Carter

Jamie Christensen

Keith Saunders

Filed under: Preseason news

Tags: alabam crimson tide, charles carter, chris capps, dj hall, jamie christensen, justin britt, keith brown, keith saunders, matt caddell, mike shula, simeon castille, wallace gilberry

The Outland Trophy Watch-list was published yesterday.

Most importantly, there are 2 Alabama players on there: Antoine Caldwell and Andre Smith.  Both of these guys are studs and will anchor the line for the Tide this year.  Each has something to prove that will give them the drive to win the Outland.  Caldwell will want to show that his lapse in judgement with the text book scandal last year was not indicitive of his character or his on the field play.  Smith will look to live up to the imense hype that follwed him to Tuscaloosa from Huffman 3 years ago.

Either way, these guys will be paving the road for Terry Grant and protecting John Parker Wilson this year.  And that’s a good thing.

Filed under: Awards, Preseason news

Tags: alabama crimson tide, andre smith, antoine caldwell, john parker wilson, outland trophy, terry grant

This makes me sick.

Congress is calling for the Justice Department to look into whether the BCS is an illegal enterprise. Is this really all Congress has to do these days? This and the baseball steroids investigations are monumental wastes of taxpayer dollars. With the other problems in this country that need to be solved (Social Security, illegal immigration, pork barrel spending, etc), you’d think that Congress could find something else to do with their time ad not waste my money on investigating the BCS and steroids in baseball.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the BCS is crap and needs to bew scrapped for a play-off system (which I’ll outline one of these days). But I think that is a change that should (and eventually will be) brought about by the demand from fans and the realization from college presidents that more money can be made from a play-off. It is not a change that should be legislated. Nothing good can come from the government interfering with the NCAA operations (no matter how flawed they may be).

The thing that really angers me about this is the timing of it. This was not the first year of the BCS. It’s year 10. Why the need to investigate now? I’ll tell you why: sour grapes. Check out who one of the bills sponsors: Lynn Westmoreland, Republican-Georgia. That’s right, a Georgia guy sponsors the bill the season after Georgia fans felt they were unjustly left out of the BCS championship game (which they weren’t). And this isn’t the first time lawmakers from Georgia have wasted my money to try and change the BCS. (Here’s the actual bill). The elected officials of Georgia need to cut this kind of crap out before they embarrass themselves any further. This kind of stuff only makes them look petty and childish. GET OVER IT! NEXT TIME WIN YOUR DIVISION!

Bottom line: the BCS needs to change, but involving the federal government is not the way to do it.

Filed under: Preseason news

Tags: bcs, georgia bulldogs, ncaa, play-off

Mitch Mustain must be pissed.

First, he had his parents (along with some others) raise a stink about Houston Nutt at Arkansas. When he didn’t get what he wanted (namely, a new coach and a better offense), he transferred to USC. He sat out he entire year, thinking that he’d be able to land the starting job. Then spring rolls around and he gets beat out by Mark Sanchez.

From prep superstar and top recruit in the country to back-up QB for the mighty Trojans. Think he wishes he had stayed at Arkansas now that Petrino has showed up?

Filed under: Conference News, Spring Practice

Tags: arkansas razorbacks, bobby petrino, houston nutt, mark sanchez, mitch mustain, pac 10, usc trojans

The question was posed to me today – “Can Georgia Tech succeed in the ACC running the triple option that Paul Johnson employed at Navy?”

I say yes it can.

Just about any offense can succeed in college football if you have the right players, the right coaching and excellent execution (except for the West Coast offense…but that’s another story).

We already know that Johnson can coach. Anyone who can make Navy football semi-relevant again has to have some coaching skills. He doesn’t have the perfect players to run the triple option, but that is easily remedied through recruiting (which will take a few years). And once he’s go the players, it’s simply a matter of repetition and good coaching and they will have the execution part down as well. So yes, you can succeed running the triple option.

The big knocks against the triple option are that A) you can’t recruit players for that offense (i.e. no one wants to play in that offense) and B) there is too much speed in the major BCS conferences to be successful.

The first point is ridiculous. Go watch any 5 high school games in your area on any given Friday night. You know what kind of offense they are running? A variation of the triple option. Nebraska was able to recruit top high school players to run that offense until they stopped running it in 2004. There are always going to be good players who will fit into and are willing to play in the triple option. And if Johnson can convince a kid to play football at Navy (and thus, enroll in the service) then I think he can convince a kid to come to Georgia Tech (despite the 600:1 guys to girls ratio).

The second point is even more ridiculous. Nebraska was successful up through 2003 (they won 10 games and even played in the 2001 BCS championship game) running a variation of triple option. The Big 12 has lots of speed and Nebraska was successful. If the speed thing were true, then all those spread options would fail as well. They are both based on the quarterback’s ability to read the defense and either pitch the ball or run with it. With the right QB, you can neutralize much of the speed issue with any iteration of the option.

What it boils down to is that Johnson can flat out coach, he’ll get the players to run the option and he’ll be successful in the ACC running the triple option.

If you don’t believe me, remember this: everyone said that Urban Meyer’s spread option wouldn’t work in the SEC because of all the speed on defense.

And I think things have turned out pretty well for Urban Meyer and his Gators thus far.

Filed under: Conference News

Tags: acc, bcs, florida gators, georgia tech yellow jackets, national championship, navy midshipmen, nebraska cornhuskers, paul johnson, sec, spread option, triple option, urban meyer, west coast offense

The Georgia State Panthers will begin playing football in 2010.

As a resident of Atlanta, I am looking forward to this. For one, you can never have too many options when it comes to watching football. Secondly, it opens the possibility of one day having 3 Division 1-A teams in the state of Georgia, and that would be pretty cool.

Most importantly, I am holding out hope that another college team in the state of Georgia will reduce the amount of quality Georgia high school players that end up at UGA (and become stars). I will always root for the SEC, but as a Bama fan, I’ll take any competitive advantage I can get in the most competitive conference in the land.

Filed under: FCS News

Tags: alabama crimson tide, atlanta, divison 1-a, georgia bulldogs, georgia state panthers, sec

Normally, I wouldn’t care about what happens in the Kansas spring game. But given their success last year on the gridiron, a little more attention will be paid to the Jayhawks this year.

I don’t think that you’ll see the same level of success from Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks again. For starters, they have a much tougher schedule this year. Their conference slate is much more difficult this season, as they play at Oklahoma and Texas and Texas Tech at home. Throw in a game at an improved (and pissed off) Nebraska and a tough game against Missouri and the Big 12 schedule is brutal. Add non-conference opponent South Florida and you can guess that Kansas won’t be 12-1 again next year.

You also have to consider that they lost a ton of talent on both sides of the ball. First team All-Americans Aqib Talib and Anthony Collins; second team All-American James McClinton; receiver Marcus Henry and leading rusher Brandon McAnderson. Even the USC’s and Ohio State’s of the world don’t bounce back easily from player attrition like that.

Finally, Reesing will have the weight of the offense and the team on his shoulders. If Reesing fails to deliver (like he did in the spring game), then Kansas will crumble. Their fate rests on his ability to take his game to a higher level. Not an easy feat.

Even if all goes poorly for Kansas this season, they’ll always be able to say they won the basketball national championship.

Filed under: Conference News, Spring Practice

Tags: anthony collins, aqib talib, big 12, brandon mcanderson, james mcclinton, kansas jayhawks, marcus henry, mark mangino, missouri tigers, nebraska cornhuskers, ohio state buckeyes, oklahoma sooners, south florida bulls, texas longhorns, texas tech red raiders, todd reesing, usc trojans

Urban Meyer took his goal of having the “fastest team in America” to new heights at this year’s spring game. He made the bold prediction that if a student from the Gator population could beat one of his players in a foot race, he’d give them a full scholarship.

After some shady race officiating, the Gator players came out on top. And Urban Meyer came up with another creative way of widening his recruiting base by having ESPN there to broadcast the whole thing.

Filed under: Conference News, Spring Practice

Tags: espn, florida gators, urban meyer