Season Update
Hard to believe the season is as far along as it is, I wanted to be writing every day by this point.
This is a big day in college football. By the end of today, we should know a lot more about some of the top teams as we are now in the meat of the schedule.
There are a couple good ones today.
#12 USC vs #5 Oregon. I’m looking forward to that one. And finally, we get to see Oregon on at a decent time on the East Coast. I’m convinced Dennis Dixon would be more of a Heisman favorite if he played on this side of the Mississippi.
#11 Florida vs #18 Georgia in the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. My only complaint with this game is that it occurs at the same time of some of the other big games and intriguing matchups today.
#1 Ohio State vs #25 Penn State. OSU gets their biggest test of the year. I’m convinced the voters all left Penn State just barely in the top 25 so that the Buckeyes could finally beat a ranked team this season. I’ve heard alot of people say that OSU and BC wouldn’t deserve to be in the National Championship game if they both went undefeated (which haven’t we learned not to talk like that yet this season?). I disagree. This season has been so whacky, anyone who makes it through undefeated deserves a chance at the title. After BC’s comeback win Thursday, that just might be what they needed to spark them the rest of the way. All National Championship teams have that one game like that throughout the season.
#4 Arizona State vs #21 California. Finally, Arizona State plays somebody! How did this team get to #4? Seriously? Anyway, I think California comes into their place tonight and reminds them that they are still Arizona State.
Year of the Running Back/Heisman Race
I was reading before the start of the year how this was the year of the running back. That college fooball had its greatest collection of backs in years and how their was such a resurgance there. All the preseason magazines I read made a big deal about the teams running back and how there were just so many great ones this year. And there are: Darren McFadden, Mike Hart, Ian Johnson, Steve Slaton, Ray Rice, PJ Hill, Brandon Ore, James Davis, Jonathan Stewart, any of USC’s 8 backs, and the list goes on. But it has turned out to be the year of the quarterback afterall. Sure, there was quite a bit of talk about John David Booty, Colt Brennan, Brian Brohm and a couple others going into the season, but it has become a huge year for the quarterback position. The Heisman winner, will be a quarterback. Mike Hart is the only one left with a chance, and he’s banged up with high ankle sprain. All the sudden, it’s Tim Tebow, Matt Ryan, Dennis Dixon, Andre Woodson, Colt Brennan is still on the list too. Not really in Heisman contention, but you hear more about Graham Harrell, Chase Daniel, Matt Grothe, Sam Bradford, Rudy Carpenter, etc than you do about most of the running backs now. I just think its interesting how the whacky season has completely changed everything. The QBs are the story now so they are rightfully getting the coverage, but I thought for sure this really would be the year that several running backs emerged and there would be like 15 taken in the first round of the draft next year. There still might be (as NFL running backs are becoming increasing rare for some reason), but I thought it an interesting twist.
Now for the first time in weeks, on to the picks…
West Virginia -6.5 over Rutgers (over rated vs more over rated)
Indiana +9 over Wisconsin (IU should make it to a bowl this year, all I had to say was that, and you’d know this season was crazy)
Oregon -3 over USC
Washington -3.5 over Arizona
South Florida -4.5 over Connecticut
Nebraska +20.5 over Texas
Baylor +26 over Kansas State
Mississippi +18 over Auburn
South Carolina +2.5 over Tennessee (although, I will gladly be wrong, Go Vols!)
Penn State +3.5 over Ohio State (the popular upset special this week)
California +3.0 over Arizona State
What a season
What a season this college football season has been. Thank you Boston College for becoming the first #2 ranked team to lose in like a month and for making me look like a complete idiot as I predicted BC would have a disappointing year and VT would be the top of the ACC.
Thanks for that.