College Bowl Picks...

Alright I'm going to make my official college bowl picks for the year. I have to admit, I don't care much for most of them. So, here we go...

Eaglebank Bowl- Wake Forest over Navy
New Mexico Bowl- Colorado St. over Fresno St.
St. Petersburg Bowl- South Florida over Memphis
Las Vegas Bowl- BYU over Arizona
New Orleans Bowl- Troy over Southern Miss
Poinsettia Bowl- TCU over Boise St.- This one is actually worth watching
Hawaii Bowl- Hawaii over Notre Dame
Motor City Bowl- Central Michigan over Florida Atlantic
Car Care Bowl- North Carolina over West Virginia
Champs Sports Bowl- Florida St. over Wisconsin
Emerald Bowl- Cal over Miami
Independence Bowl- Louisiana Tech over Northern Illinois
Papajohns.com Bowl- NC St. over Rutgers
Alamo Bowl- Missouri over Northwestern
Humanitarian Bowl- Maryland over Nevada
Holiday Bowl- Oklahoma St. over Oregon
Texas Bowl- Rice over Western Michigan
Armed Forces Bowl- Houston over Air Force
Sun Bowl- Oregon St. over Pittsburgh
Music City Bowl- Boston College over Vanderbilt
Insight Bowl- Kansas over Minnesota
Chick Fila Bowl- Georgia Tech over LSU
Outback Bowl- South Carolina over Iowa
Capital One Bowl- Georgia over Michigan St.
Gator Bowl- Clemson over Nebraska
Cotton Bowl- Texas Tech over Ole Miss
Liberty Bowl- Kentucky over East Carolina
International Bowl- UConn over Buffalo
GMAC Bowl- Tulsa over Ball St.
Orange Bowl- V Tech over Cincinnati
Rose Bowl- USC over Penn St.
Fiesta Bowl- Texas over Ohio St.
Sugar Bowl- Alabama over Utah
BCS Championship- Florida over Oklahoma- this is the only game that matters folks

My official pre-playoff Super Bowl prediction

I think the AFC has 4 contenders, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Indianapolis and New England (never count them out until they lose!). The NFC has two contenders, New York and Carolina (Dallas has too much clubhouse drama).

One common theme I've seen this year has been the teams that run the ball well, have road-grader style O lines and stout defenses have been the most successful. The Titans, Giants, Steelers and Panthers all fit that mold. I'm predicting a Panthers/Giants NFC Championship and Titans/Steelers AFC Championship.

Carolina- Stout, physical defense, two-headed running back duo with Jonathan Stewart/DeAngelo Williams, and a qb/wr combo in Delhomme/Smith that find ways to get it done.

New York- Fundamental, well-coached team that doesn't make many mistakes. Good defense, great O line. They use 3 running backs- Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw. Eli Manning has really come into his own. I've heard alot about how not having Plaxico is going to affect them. I agree that they could not have won last year without Burress. I don't think that is the case this year. David Tyree and Steve Smith have stepped up and they still have Amani Toomer and Kevin Boss has come into his own as a Tight End...and the running game is better this year than it was last year. Plus, they don't have to play New England this year. They don't need Plaxico to get to the Super Bowl...bottom line.

Pittsburgh- Tough, physical and speedy defense with great pass rush. Great running game. Roethlisberger is one of the better qb's in the game and doesn't have to put up gawdy numbers for the Steelers to win. He has good weapons in Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller.

Tennessee- Best defense in the league this year. Hands down, the best D line with a physical secondary. Great O line with a two headed running back monster of LenDale White and the incredibly fast Chris Johnson. Passing game is a little dicey.

Steelers beat the Titans due to better qb play. The Giants beat the Panthers because the game will be in the Meadowlands.

My Super Bowl pick: Steelers/Giants

Initial reaction to BCS announcements

- Orange Bowl- and I'm talking about the one that has Cincinnati vs. V Tech. Is anyone even gonna watch that game? I don't plan to.

- Rose Bowl- USC/Penn St. USC has an immediate home field advantage. I'm not sure if Penn St. even travels well. USC has the talent on paper but they can't overlook JoePa. Penn St. plays sound, mistake free, fundamental and boring football. If the Trojans show up and play their A game though, it won't be close.

- Fiesta Bowl- Texas/Ohio St. Texas is the more talented team. They play the best defense of anybody in the Big 12 (not exactly saying much). Buckeyes defense will have to be big and force a low scoring game for them to have a chance. If Texas shuts down Beanie Wells and forces Terrelle Pryor to beat them with his arm, Buckeyes could be in trouble.

- Sugar Bowl- Alabama/Utah. Automatic home field advantage for Bama. Not only do they travel well and don't have far to go, Utah does not travel well. I expect to see about 100 Utah fans in attendance tops. I see a similar result to the Georgia/Hawaii Sugar Bowl last year. Bama is going to beat this team up physically and on the score board...and they're faster.

- BCS Championship- Oklahoma/Florida. Oklahoma's defense has not seen an offense with this much speed. Florida is the fastest team in the country and they're hungry. Oklahoma's offense has not seen this good of a defense all year either. The Big 12 has decided that defense is a liability. On the other hand, Florida has seen defenses just as good and much better than what Oklahoma has. Florida's defense has not seen this high powered of an offense...the closest being Alabama and Georgia. My initial thoughts are Florida by about 10-15.

Thoughts on the College scenario

Well, we are all doing what the BCS folks want us to do, talking about the jacked up BCS! Seriously! That is one of their arguments in favor of the current system! It's so screwed up we are all talking about it, so it must be good! There is not a single coherent, well thought out argument that can be made in favor of the current system in college football. I once heard Lee Corso argue in favor of the BCS by basically stating that the men in control want it this way, so we are going to have to deal with it! Great! It's settled! Now with that being said...

- I can't argue with Oklahoma potentially being in the championship game. They are a great team, I cannot see Mizzou beating them this week and I do think a team from that Big 12 South deserves to be there. Do I think Texas Tech and Texas deserve it just as much? Absolutely. How do you figure out a three way tie?

- The real national championship is this weekend in Atlanta between Alabama and Florida. I think Florida wins, and Bama gets the Sugar Bowl. I feel sorry for the other team that gets invited to the Sugar Bowl! I could also see Bama beating Florida...don't be surprised.

- Virginia Tech beats Boston College in the most meaningless conference championship. No team from the Big East or ACC deserve to be in a BCS bowl. I hope they just pit V Tech/BC and Cincinnati against each other in the Orange Bowl.

- USC blows boring Penn St. out of the water in the Rose Bowl.

- I see Ohio St. getting an at-large bid, either the Fiesta Bowl against Utah or the Sugar Bowl against Florida/Alabama.

Thoughts on Saturday's games...

- I was hoping Oklahoma would beat Texas Tech. I wasn't sure they would...but wow! 65-21? Are you kidding? I wanted OU to win to add confusion to the BCS picture. Who wins the Big 12 South? Texas, TT, and OU all beat each other and they each have one loss! Obviously, there is one week to go...Texas has A&M, Tech has Baylor and OU has Oklahoma St. Unless a couple of these teams get upset next week, it should be interesting hashing this out. Although, Oklahoma St. could upset OU and A&M has been known to pull the upset on UT a time or two. At this point, Oklahoma looks like the best one-loss team in the country.

- I've been watching the OSU/Michigan rivalry for 13 years. I've never seen the Buckeyes put that much of a drubbing on Michigan. I saw Michigan do it to Ohio St. a couple of times in the late 90's. This is the first time OSU has won 5 in a row in this storied rivalry. Michigan still has the all-time edge, but Ohio St. is catching up. Ohio St. is losing a lot of starters next year and Rich Rodriguez will start really recruiting in Michigan. I look for it to even out more next year. Ohio St. will most likely play in the Capital One Bowl against an SEC team, probably Georgia.

- I didn't get the memo that Tennessee would beat Vandy today! Did anyone else get this memo? Now I suppose they'll beat Kentucky next week?

- What's up the ACC??? Nobody wants to win that conference! Clemson beats Virginia, NC State massacres North Carolina. Wake loses to BC. Florida St. may be the team to beat.

- If USC somehow manages to get into the BCS championship, Oregon St. will most likely end up in the Rose Bowl against Penn St.

- Congrats to Utah to most likely getting into a BCS bowl for the second time in 4 years. I see them most likely in the Fiesta Bowl against a Big 12 team, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, take your pick. What a disappointment for BYU! The BYU fans must be crushed! Weeping & wailing! Gnashing of teeth! Boise St. was probably disappointed as well.

- I'm glad Houston Nutt is still in the SEC and coaching Ole Miss! I wish Tennessee would've fired Fulmer a year ago, so the Vols could've hired him! He is one of my favorite coaches.

- I've got Florida and either USC/one of the 3 from the Big 12 South in the BCS Championship. Penn St. vs. USC/Oregon St. in the Rose Bowl. One of the 3 from the Big 12 South vs. Utah in the Fiesta Bowl. Cincinnati vs. Florida St. in the Orange Bowl....snoozer. For the Sugar Bowl, I've got Alabama vs. one of the 3 from the Big 12 South or dare I say it...Boise St? Two BCS busters??? Would we want another WAC/SEC matchup in the Sugar Bowl after last years debacle between Georgia and Hawaii? Stay tuned...

Saturday Picks...

Not really any good matchups this week, which is surprising considering how late in the season we are.

- Ohio St. over Illinois

- Navy over Notre Dame for the second year in a row.

- Texas over Kansas big

- Florida over Spurrier big

- North Carolina over Maryland

- Air Force over BYU

- Washington over UCLA for their first win of the season!

- Oregon St. over Cal

- Georgia over Auburn

- Northwestern over Michigan

- And finally, Bye week over Tennessee big!

Here's to next week which will be much more exciting: Ohio St./Michigan, Mobilhoma/Texas Tech, Utah/BYU

Fulmer's out

So Phil Fulmer has been forced out at Tennessee. No big shock, other than I thought it would happen at the end of the year and not in the middle. The team has clearly quit on him, though some players have reacted very emotionally to the news of his termination. He is in his 17th and final season as the head coach.

Fulmer does deserve credit for his accomplishments. His fantastic recruiting in the 90's turned the Vols into a national powerhouse that won back to back SEC titles and the BCS championship in '98, defeating Florida St. in the Fiesta Bowl. Many of his top players during the 90's and into this decade are or very recently were playing on Sunday's. Peyton Manning, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, Charlie Garner, Jason Witten, Donte Stallworth, Peerless Price, Leonard Little, Al Wilson, John Henderson, Gibril Wilson, Albert Haynesworth, Shaun Ellis...to name the major ones. Fulmer has a great career winning percentage and managed to beat Alabama and Georgia more often than not. He had a hard time with Florida during the Spurrier era and will have never beaten Urban Meyer, but he did have success during the Ron Zook era. His major strength as a coach was recruiting talent.

However, his talent had come into question recently. He was never an x's and o's coach, and during the heyday, Tennessee usually beat opposing teams on sheer talent. During the 90's, Tennessee and Florida were the predominant programs in the SEC. But things have changed over the last few years in the SEC. Enter coaches like Nick Saban, Les Miles, Urban Meyer, Mark Richt, Tommy Tuberville and that pesky Spurrier, and Fulmer's had his hands full recruiting lately. Essentially, Fulmer hasn't been able to recruit as well because of the influx of coaching talent in the SEC. Add the fact that these new coaches can all outcoach him and you have a declining program. A change needed to happen. David Cutcliffe, Spurrier, Jon Gruden, Bill Cowher and Butch Davis have been mentioned as possible candidates. We'll see what happens.

Sunday picks

- Bills over Jets. This will be a big win for the Bills against a scrappy Jets team.

- Bears over Lions in a laugher.

- Jaguars over Bengals in Cincy. Easy pick

-Browns over Ravens in Cleveland. I don't know why...I just think the Browns are going to win this one.

- Packers over Titans. No more unbeatens after today. The Pack's defense is a bad matchup for the Titans offense.

- Cardinals over Rams. Kurt Warner returns to St. Louis triumphantly.

- Vikings over Texans. I don't know why. The Texans have been relatively hot, but I think the Vikings win today.

- Bucs over Chiefs in Kansas City. Easy pick, though it probably won't be a blow out.

- Dolphins over Broncos. Denver defense? Meet Ronnie Brown and the Wildcat offense!

- Falcons over Raiders. Matt Ryan picks the defense apart and Michael Turner runs all over them.

- Giants over Cowboys in a laugher. This won't even be close.

- Eagles over Seahawks. Because it's in Seattle it will be close.

- Colts over Patriots. Manning picks this secondary apart today.

- Redskins over Steelers in a close game. The Redskins don't make many mistakes and if they can pressure Big Ben like the Giants did last week they should win. This is going to be a physical game!

- Last week- 9-5

Thoughts on Saturday...

- Looks like Texas came out flat. They finally got some life in the 4th quarter but it was too little too late. Texas Tech didn't even play that great, but it was good enough to beat the #1 team in the nation. Big game next week for Texas Tech against Oklahoma St. For Texas, you can only keep the momentum for so long when you're having to play so many great teams in a row.

- Alabama should move up to #1, with Penn St. moving up to #2. Texas Tech may now pop into #3.

- Vengeance is a dish that is best served cold and it was very cold in Jacksonville yesterday for the Dawgs. It was actually a pretty close game in the first half, but Georgia had too many miscues...failed onside kick, two missed field goals and turnovers galore. Florida's defense pinned their ears back in the second half and just went after Stafford.

- Matthew Stafford reminds me of John Elway in the way he throws the ball and tries to zing it into spots. He's not as mobile, but he has an NFL arm. Pro scouts are drooling over him! He's widely considered the best "pro-style" qb right now.

- Looks like we may see a third consecutive SEC vs. Big 10 national championship. Penn St. has the clearest road. Their remaining games are Iowa, Indiana and Michigan St. All very winnable games for JoePa. Florida, the hottest team right now, has Vandy, Spurrier, Citadel and Florida St. and then the SEC Championship, most likely against Alabama. Florida is good enough to win all of those games. Texas Tech still has Oklahoma St. and Oklahoma to play...they will lose at least one of those games if not both. Alabama has Miss St., LSU and Auburn, then the SEC Championship. Bama will go to Atlanta undefeated but lose to Florida.

Saturday College Picks

- I'm taking Florida over Georgia in the annual Cocktail Party in Jacksonville. Urban Meyer wants revenge for Georgia's end zone celebration last year. The Gators have too much speed and they are running on all cylinders at the moment. Emotional win for the Gators.

- The Fightin' Spurriers over the lameduck Fulmer's. The Cocks play sturdy defense and really...you only need to score about 14 points to beat Tennessee this year.

- Texas over Texas Tech. The closeness of this game will be determined by the Longhorns ability to play with passion after having to do so for 3 straight weeks against OU, Mizzou and Ok St. If they are flat, it will be close with Tech having a chance to win. If they show up, it will be a blow out of 56-14 proportions...Tech does not play defense and they really haven't played anybody yet.

- Pitt over Notre Dame. Even though it's at overrated South Bend, Pitt has better athletes and more speed. The Irish really haven't beat anybody decent either.

- Other picks that are not as relevant:
Virginia over Miami,
Minnesota over Northwestern
TCU over UNLV
Ole Miss over Auburn

Sunday NFL picks

- I'm going to take Tampa over Dallas but this one should be close. The Cowboys have fallen off the wagon with injuries and suspensions. Tampa plays better with Garcia under center.

- Redskins over Lions. I'm not sure the Lions are going to win a game this year. Easy pick.

- Bills over Dolphins in a close one. Miami is tough and they don't make many mistakes. Buffalo doesn't make many mistakes either but they have more talent. Bills win on the talent factor.

- Patriots over Rams in a boring game in which the Patriots physically dominate but don't score many points.

- Chargers/Saints in London- This is a tough one because it's in London. I think the Chargers win because they are desperate and the Saints are pretty banged up.

- Jets over Chiefs in a low scoring but physical game. The Chiefs play decent defense but their offense is putrid.

- Eagles over Falcons. I can see the Eagles blowing this open if they show up. I've been impressed with the Falcons, but it's tough to win in Philly and the Eagles need a win badly in a tough NFC East.

- Raiders at Ravens- This game should be full of mistakes and turnovers. I give the Ravens the advantage since they are at home and they have a better defense.

- Panthers over Cardinals in a shootout. This should be a fun game. Boldin is back in the Cardinals lineup. Expect some fireworks...I'll take the Panthers.

- Jaguars over Browns. The Browns have shown some signs of life, but the Jags are too big and too physical. The Jags have no passing game but the Cleveland defense should get a healthy dose of Fred Taylor/Maurice Jones-Drew.

- Texans over Bengals. Easy pick, I can't see the Bengals winning another game this year.

- Steelers over Giants. The Blitzburgh defense will create too much havoc for the Giants offense. The Steelers offense will have to beat the Giants with Big Ben's arm. This should be a good game.

- 49ers over Seahawks in a laugher. Injuries have depleted what once was the class of the NFC West.

- Titans over Colts in a close one. Indy played awful last week, but they typically play well against AFC South opponents. The Titans however, are a poor matchup for the Colts...that puts the Titans over the edge.

Thoughts on Saturday...

-Tennessee played Bama tight in the first half...but when your offense is so horrible it's hard for any defense to stay motivated into the second half. Auburn has the same problem. This should be the final nail in the coffin for Fulmer.

-The two top ranked teams in the country are not the two best teams in the country. Florida and USC are the two best.

-Texas may be in trouble next week at Lubbock. The Horns defense will be the key because the Texas offense can definitely score on Tech's defense.

-I said that LSU's qb's would be the key to the game against Georgia and that turned out to be true. Jarrett Lee in particular throwing two picks that went for TD's ended up being the difference in a surprisingly high scoring game. I still think Georgia is a little overrated.

- I also said that if Penn St. forced Ohio St. to beat them with Terrelle Pryor's arm, the Buckeyes would be in trouble...I rest my case. I also said it would be low scoring. Beanie was held in check and Pryor's costly fumble in the 4th cost them the game. OSU's defense played well enough to win but Penn St. was damn near flawless on defense. The Nittany Lions in general did not make mistakes. Penn St. may be playing in the BCS Championship in January!

- Who is going to win the ACC? What about the Big East? I have no clue at this point! Virginia has made quite the turnaround and FSU is flying under the radar. Meanwhile all the Big East teams do is knock each other out of contention.

- BYU giving up 35 to UNLV? Not good if you expect to beat Utah this year! Where did TCU find it's offense? The night they faced BYU's defense! I believe the Mountain West is good enough of a conference that it should be included in the BCS. How is the ACC, Big East or Pac 10 better than the Mountain West at this point? I don't think any of the other mid-majors are at that level, but I do believe the Mountain West is.

Saturday preview

Some good games afoot today! Here's what I think is gonna happen!

- USC is on upset alert today at Arizona. The Wildcats are very similar to Oregon St. They can beat USC...If the Trojans don't show up. I don't think that is gonna happen. USC big!


- Texas needs to treat Okie St. just like they're playing the Sooners or Mizzou. If they come out flat, look out! I think Texas wins, but it could be closer than the experts think.

- Ohio St./Penn St.- the key to this game will be whether or not Penn St. can make the Buckeyes offense one dimensional. If they shut down the running game and force Pryor to beat them with his arm, the Buckeyes are in trouble. Now, with that being said, Penn St. has not faced a team this good yet. OSU on the other hand, has already seen USC. Ohio St. wins in a close, relatively low scoring game.

- Bama/Rocky Top- Forget about it...the Tide roll, but it will be closer than the experts think. The Vol defense is better than people think, but Bama's defense will completely shut down Tennessee's anemic offense. One interesting note...Eric Berry will play some offense today...

- LSU/UGA- I think the Bayou Bengals win today because 1.) It's at Death Valley- it is so tough to beat LSU at home! 2.) LSU's defense has come alive the last couple of weeks and Georgia is overrated offensively. Another key will be the play of LSU's qb's- Jarrett Lee and Andrew Hatch. If they play mistake free, LSU will win.

- Texas Tech/Kansas- Forget about it...Tech beats a slightly overrated KU squad.

Ugly Broncos!

Wow! What a disaster Monday night! Turnovers have been killing the Broncos all season. The defense is absolutely atrocious! The only good news that has come out of the game is Cutler's finger injury doesn't appear to be too serious. However, Champ is out 4-6 weeks and Boss is out for the season (his career MO)...not what the defense needed. Injuries have also plagued the offense...Stokely, Sheffler, Royal, Selvin and now Cutler's finger. At this point, the Broncos should be grateful they are in the pathetic AFC West where every team is having the same injury and off-field problems.

Thoughts on Saturday games

- I had predicted Michigan St. to upset Ohio St. Boy was I wrong! My prediction of course was dependent on Michigan St. actually showing up! The Buckeyes got some early turnovers and capitalized on them with a short field...next thing you know it's 28-0. The Buckeyes seem to be getting into a groove...the game with JoePa next week should be a good one!

- I'm now officially a believer in Texas. Most of Mizzou's 31 were garbage points. The Horns are hot right now. Colt McCoy has become the poster child Heisman candidate. We had to figure Mizzou's non-defense would be a factor at some point...

- Wisconsin has now lost 4 in a row...ouch

- I don't believe there is a single team in either the Big East or the ACC who deserves to play in a BCS bowl this year. They are all mediocre. I think the BCS should replace them with Utah, TCU, Boise St or even BYU. Any of those teams would be better than an ACC or Big East team.

- LSU finally put it together last night in the second half against South Carolina. The defense played lights out and the offense was just good enough to get the win.

- Tennessee is not as good as the 34-3 score against Miss St. indicates. They have a good matchup next week with Bama...speaking of which

- Bama almost blew that game with Ole Miss. Never sleep on Houston Nutt! He will beat you! Bama had jumped out to a good lead and then fell asleep at the wheel. Ole Miss had a chance at the end. In fact the only thing that kept Ole Miss from driving down the field and winning was their lack of a consistent passing game...the achilles heal of Houston Nutt teams.

- Two games I'm obviously looking forward to next week...Ohio St./Penn St. and Tennessee/Alabama. Vols/Tide used to be called "Third Saturday in October" but they always play in the fourth Saturday in October now...go figure. Bud and I agree that this game will be closer than the experts think. I also think Ohio St. is going to beat JoePa.

BYWHOOOO?

I didn't get to see the debacle in Ft. Worth but the score gave me a pretty good idea that the Cougars got their collective asses handed to 'em by some Horny Toads...EEEERRRRR Horned Frogs! Some of Brigham Young's faithful were even speculating on a BCS Championship bid! No Divine Intervention tonight Saints! God must be a Texan afterall, just ask the Dallas Cowboys!

There is still hope for the Cougars to get in, but the chances are pretty slim. Boise St., Utah and now TCU have an advantage. Boise and Utah are still undefeated and TCU's only loss was to Oklahoma. BYU would need each of these teams to falter, but not too much for the sake of strength of schedule. They would also need the BCS conference teams to tear each other apart. I don't see it happening at this point, but as a consolation, they can still win the Mountain West and play in the Vegas Bowl again for the upteenth year in a row. Viva Las Vegas baby!!!

College coaches on the hot seat

The culture in college coaching has become somewhat similar to coaching in the NFL in that coaches can be fired at the drop of a hat. Winning is everything in college just as much as it is in the pros. Is it fair to the student athletes? It's such a big business that AD's are under constant pressure from fans and boosters with deep pockets to maintain a winning program. Add that to the changing demographics in college football and the increasingly competitive recruiting world and you have hot bed of ripe with strife! Here are some coaches on the hot seat right now:

Ty Willingham- Washington- This guy is always on the hot seat! He had the same problems at Notre Dame. The Huskies haven't won a game yet, Jake Locker is hurt and there doesn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. He's probably out at the end of the year.

Mike Stoops- Arizona- I don't get this one. He has turned this dead program into a respectable one. You can't sleep on this team. They can beat you! Recruiting has got to be a little difficult in Tucson. Besides, I don't know who they would replace him with?

Joe Glenn- Wyoming- Glenn came in with high expectations and they just haven't materialized. I heard so much about what a great coach he is when he was first hired. There hasn't been any steady improvement.

Kirk Ferentz- Iowa- Ditto for Ferentz. Iowa has been pretty competitive at times. They played in the Rose Bowl against USC a few years ago. I can't imagine anyone wanting to play in Iowa City though. Must be tough to recruit there. He has also had disciplinary problems with players.

Tommy Tuberville- Auburn- All this guy does is beat Alabama every year, go undefeated in the SEC a few years ago, produce great defenses and recruits well. Yet, he's on the hot seat again. Granted, he hasn't been able to produce a decent offense since the days of Jason Campbell, Cadillac Williams, and Ronnie Brown, but give the guy a break! He knows how to win. So he picked the wrong Spread offense "guru". Give him time to hire another offensive coordinator.

Phil Fulmer- Tennessee- He only seems to produce good teams when he has David Cutcliffe as his offensive coordinator. Recruiting, once his strength, has been in decline for years. This is a sinking ship that he won't be able to save. Time for a change.

Tommy Bowden- Clemson- Oh wait...so long underachiever!

Al Groh- Virginia- Wow...what a drop off from last year. Is it enough for the hot seat? I'm not sure, but word is he's on sitting on it.

Greg Robinson- Syracuse- I can't believe he hasn't been fired yet! This program has hit rock bottom. I guarantee he's out at the end of the year!

Dave Wannestedt- Pittsburgh- His teams never live up to expectations. They were considered a serious Big East contender this year. He recruits well, but they just can't seem to put together a consistent team.

Thoughts on Sunday's games...

- The Broncos have once again been physically dominated by the Jaguars. The Jags came to Denver last year and beat the Broncos by beating them up. Ditto for this year. It didn't help that the Broncos were missing Eddie Royal, Tony Sheffler and Brandon Stokely most of the game. The defense can't stop anybody.

- Big win for the Falcons today beating the Bears by a field goal as time expired. I'm thoroughly impressed with the way the Falcons have played this year, specifically Michael Turner and Matt Ryan. As for the Bears, Kyle Orton has played well and doesn't make the same stupid mistakes that Rex Grossman made. Not just being a caretaker, they are asking him to make plays.

- Ditto for Cardinals, beating the Cowboys with a blocked punt in OT. Dallas has not played well the last couple of weeks while Arizona is having a great year. Kurt Warner looks re-born.

- It's about time the Colts played some offense. They lit up a very good Ravens defense.

- I'm all in favor of the Lions going for 0-16 this year! I think it could happen! I've never seen a team go 0-16. I want to see it happen!

College Pick 'Em

Wow! What a wild weekend. Me and Cory both only got 4 right this week. I finished with 21 points and Cory with 16! Paltry! I looked at the #1 ranked entry and he only got 7 points. What's sad is that I actually moved up in the rankings to 304! I'm now in the 99.9th percentile! I was in the 94th percentile last week. Cory is in 67th percentile. I have 283 total points, Cory has 216 total points. As usual, Plays With Kittens and Enlarged Prostate are MIA....Losers. There seems to be a correlation here. The young guys are participating and scoring points, the old farts must be too computer illiterate to understand how to make picks in an online game...

Thoughts on Saturday's action...

- Someone must have told Oklahoma that they were playing in the Fiesta Bowl instead of the Red River Rivalry...The Sooners are athletically superior to Texas (not by much). They seemed to mail it in after going up 21-10. Texas proceeded to outscore the Sooners 35-14 after that. The Sooners typically "mail it in" at least a couple of times a year, but not usually against Texas. Surprising win for the Longhorns.

- Holy Oklahoma St! I'd never seen a defense put so much pressure on Chase Daniel compared to what happened tonight. Another contributing factor in Mizzou's defeat is their lack of defense. It had to rear it's ugly head at some point. It didn't help that Jeremy Maclin seems to be hurt as well.

- I thought Florida would beat LSU, but not that bad! Two major factors contributed to this: 1.) Florida has UNGODLY speed! It's not fair! I thought LSU was an equal in that dept. but it wasn't the case tonight. LSU has Trindon Holliday who's incredibly fast, but Florida has like 4 guys that are just as fast, if not faster! Percy Harvin, Jeffrey Demps, Brandon James and Chris Rainey. Having said that, I think Tebow is a little overrated...2.) The Gators defense showed up and completely shut down LSU's running game. Going in to tonight, the big concern for the Florida D was LSU rb Charles Scott. He was a non-factor. In fact, it was LSU's passing game that was able to get them any points!

- I am finally convinced that Penn St. is the best team in the Big 10. Huge blowout win against Wisconsin tonight! I can't believe Wisconsin has lost three in a row!

- Terrelle Pryor looked like a freshman today. He's too tentative in his zone reads. He tries to outrun everybody laterally instead of picking a spot and running.

- With Arkansas beating Auburn and Miss St. beating Vandy, I'm now thoroughly convinced that Tennessee is the worst team in the SEC this year. How could they not be? Now with that being said, I do like their new qb Nick Stephens ahead of Crompton. He doesn't make the bonehead mistakes that Crompton does and he's more accurate. The defense and special teams actually played good enough for the Vols to win today, but their offense is horrible!

- I'd like to see Wake Forest and North Carolina in the ACC championship this year!

- Texas Tech had better get some defense if they want to hang with the likes of Oklahoma, Oklahoma St. and Texas.

- Miss St. 17- Vandy 14. Welcome to the top of the SEC Commodores!

- BYU 21- New Mexico 3. Not impressed Cougars! They had better watch out for Boise St. and Utah stealing their BCS buster thunder!

- Welcome back to earth Northwestern...Minnesota got an impressive win today against Illinois!

- Holy Toledo! Michigan really sucks!

Drooling over today's slate of games!!!

What a great lineup of college football today! The Red River Shootout which looks like it should be as good of a match up as ever. Both teams have gotten off to a great start. I think Oklahoma will win today for the following reasons: They have a little more talent and speed. Better coaching. Stoops has Mack Brown's number. The only times Texas has beat OU recently was when a certain Vince Young was wearing Longhorn burnt orange.

Then we have Florida/LSU. Both teams have speed and talent...I give the Gators the advantage because of Tebow. LSU can't match him at qb. Plus it's in the Swamp, so I think Florida should pull it off.

Then of course there's the matchup that has lost it's luster...Tennesse/Georgia. This has been a great rivalry over the last several years. The visiting team has usually won. Tennessee has beat Georgia the last two years. Two years ago, between the hedges, Georgia had jumped out to a huge lead. Then, the Vols pulled off a major comeback and won like 52-40 or something. Last year, on the banks of the Tennessee River, the Vols demolished Georgia in what proved to be the loss that kept the Dawgs out of the BCS Championship.

Speaking of the SEC, I met a guy yesterday who claimed to be an Auburn fan. When I said, "Oh! War Eagle!" he responded, "No, they're the Auburn Tigers." Are you really an Auburn fan if you don't even know what War Eagle is?

NFL- 1/3 of the way done. Team report cards.

There really doesn't seem to be a clear cut dominant team this year.

NFC East-
-New York Giants: 5-0 The Giants seem to be the closest to being THE dominant team in the league but they play in the NFL version of the SEC, the NFC East, so you can't expect it to last. Eli has looked like the better Manning so far.
- Washington Redskins: 4-1 Clinton Portis is the only real star on the offense but they don't make mistakes...Jason Campbell is turning into a solid qb. Defense isn't great, but serviceable.
Dallas Cowboys: 4-1 Poor coaching results in them appearing to "coast" at times. Definitely the most talented team in the NFL and should be considered the NFC favorite for the Super Bowl. The Cowboys just win on sheer talent and nothing else. With that being said, Romo is major overrated!
- Philadelphia Eagles: 2-3 The best 2-3 team in the league. I don't know how they find ways to lose but they do. Very talented squad.

NFC North-
- Chicago Bears: 3-2 The offense has improved with Orton under center. He doesn't make big mistakes. Matt Forte has re-invigorated the running game and making Devin Hester an offensive weapon seems to be working as well.
- Green Bay Packers: 2-3 Another really good 2-3 team that just can't seem to find ways to win. I've been impressed with Aaron Rodgers and the defense is solid.
- Minnesota Vikings: 1-3 The most talented 1-3 team in the league. The much over hyped and bellyhooed Vikings don't have a qb, but they have everything else in place.
- Detroit Lions: 0-4 Talented on offense but their defense is absolutely atrocious. They get behind early and cannot recover. The Matt Millen debacle is finally over, now they can start building on some of their talent.

NFC South-
- Carolina Panthers: 4-1 Great coaching...when healthy, this team is a legit contender. They're winning with great defense and two running backs, Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. Jake Delhomme is a perfect qb for this team, he just finds ways to win.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 3-2 I can't believe Derrick Brooks is still playing at such a high level! I also can't believe Gruden had benched Jeff Garcia for Brian Griese. Garcia is the most underrated qb, he doesn't have all the tools but he wins. Griese doesn't have all the tools and doesn't win. It's perplexing, they are a playoff team with Garcia.
- Atlanta Falcons: 3-2 Most surprising 3-2 team. Michael Turner is leading the league in rushing, Matt Ryan is not playing like a rookie qb and the defense is playing surprisingly well. Finally some good karma...
- New Orleans Saints: 2-2 The Saints are missing Marques Colston and need to get Deuce McAllister back as an inside runner. Reggie Bush and Drew Brees are great players but they can't do it all.

NFC West-
- Arizona Cardinals: 3-2 The JV division of the NFC has the Cardinals on top. The offense is in sync though the loss of Anquan Boldin hurts. Adrian Wilson is the most underrated Safety in the game. By the way, how old is Kurt Warner? 45???
- San Fransisco 49ers: 2-3 Alex Smith is a total bust. J.T. O'Sullivan is the franchise qb, 50 year old Isaac Bruce is the leading receiver and the defense isn't that great. This is Mike Nolan's last year as the 49ers coach.
- Seattle Seahawks: 1-3 The Seahawks have had to recruit local flag football players to staff their receiving corps. Deion Branch? out. Nate Burleson? out. Bobby Engram? out. Ouch! So much for Mike Holmgren's swan song!
- St. Louis Rams: 0-4 Firing Scott Linehan appears to have been the right move. Benching Marc Bulger for Trent Green? Are you kidding me? Torry Holt appears over the hill and the defense has never lived up to expectations. This team has been awful!

AFC East-
- Buffalo Bills: 4-1 I wonder if the hit Trent Edwards took today will knock the good karma out of him! The offense has been in sync and the defense has played well. Motivated team that has some momentum. Dangerous!
- New England Patriots: 3-1 How the Patriots are 3-1 without Brady and Randy Moss taking the season off is beyond me. The secondary is weak, but they just keep plugging along.
- Miami Dolphins: 2-2 Big wins over the Patriots and Chargers. Great coaching + motivated team - much talent = dangerous team that can beat anybody. This team looks like a Bill Parcells team. Big, physical, ball control, minimal mistakes.
- New York Jets: 2-2 Favre seems to be developing a good relationship with his receivers and the defense has been pretty good. The young but talented O-line still needs to gel.

AFC North-
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 3-1 How is it that this team always finds good, young outside lbs? Right now it's James Harrison and Lamar Woodley. Offensive line has not played well and they need to get Willie Parker back quick.
- Baltimore Ravens: 2-2 As usual, the defense has kept this team competitive. Ray Lewis isn't the player he once was, but he is still a great leader. Joe Flacco has played well considering he is a rookie...he has a cannon for an arm.
- Cleveland Browns: 1-3 Talented team that is poorly coached and has had a tough schedule. It's time to get Brady Quinn into the starting lineup. They were supposed to be a playoff team this year, but that looks unlikely.
- Cincinnati Bengals: 0-5 How can a team with Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmanzedah and a coach who is a defensive guru be so bad? The defense is awful, and Ocho Cinco hasn't done squat. This team is really bad.

AFC South-
- Tennessee Titans: 5-0 The Titans are undefeated but they don't have an offense to speak of. 60 year old Kerry Collins is starting in place of the emotionally fragile Vince Young. No receivers, but they have a dual rb threat in Chris Johnson and LenDale White. The defense has been excellent.
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 2-2 Disappointing start for a team with such lofty expectations. The coke-head Matt Jones has stepped up to become David Garrard's go-to guy. Still a big, physical team that can physically dominate anybody when they want to.
- Indianapolis Colts: 2-2 Lucky to be 2-2 at this point. Both wins were come from behinds. No run defense, Bob Sanders is hurt, the O-line has been banged up, Marvin Harrison looks old and Peyton Manning does not look like himself. Not good.
- Houston Texans: 0-4 Came into this season with loftier expectations. Steve Slaton has been a pleasant surprise but Matt Schaub has not lived up to his contract. They should've won today...they handed the Colts that victory.

AFC West-
- Denver Broncos: 4-1 The Broncos defense has been surprisingly bad. They can't stop the run or generate much of a pass rush. The offense has been great. Cutler looks like the real deal and Brandon Marshall is a man-child. He could become the best receiver in the league.
- San Diego Chargers: 2-3 The Chargers have Norv Turner for a coach so they automatically have a handicap there. A better coach would take this team all the way. Too much talent that is going to waste.
- Oakland Raiders: 1-3 Who in their right mind would want to coach this team? The worst ownership in the league makes this franchise a joke. Lots of young talent on offense and the defense is decent. JaMarcus Russell has the strongest arm I've ever seen!
- Kansas City Chiefs: 1-4 Young team that has a lot of growing to do. The defense isn't too bad, but the offense is terrible. They have talent, DeWayne Bowe, Larry Johnson, Tony Gonzalez, but no qb.

Random thoughts for this weekend that may only interest me...

- Texas Tech made a statement with a big win against a decent K St. team. The Sooners better watch out...
- Tennessee may be the worst team in the SEC this year...Seriously, it's either them or Arkansas.
- Ohio St. looks much better on offense with Beanie Wells back and Terrelle Pryor starting at qb. He made some freshman like mistakes, but he's a playmaker waiting to happen. Big win against Wisconsin...I still think the Buckeyes are the best team in the Big 10.
- This year's Red River Shootout is looking real good for next week. At this point, I have to give the advantage to the Sooners, but Texas is better than I have given them credit for.
- Vanderbilt is now officially the best team in the Volunteer state. Big come from behind win against Auburn. The Commodores are currently in 1st place in the SEC East.
- Fresno St. is once again showing that they are overrated. Huge loss to Hawaii...I told you in the pre-season that Boise St. is still the best team in the WAC.

- The Broncos defense decided to show up today against a decent Bucs offense. Cutler showed maturity in taking what a very good Bucs defense gave him. No big plays, but they were still able to move the ball.
- The Redskins may be the most surprising team in the NFC right now. Big win against Philly. They don't have many playmakers, but they don't make mistakes.
- Ditto for the Dolphins as being the most surprising team in the AFC right now. Their win today was coaching. They didn't make mistakes and were able to beat a more talented Chargers team. Chad Pennington and Ronnie Brown have resurrected their careers. The Chargers would win more if they didn't have Norv Turner as their head coach.
- The Giants made a statement today putting up 44 without Plaxico Burress against Seattle. They're just continuing what they started late last year.
- Big win for the Cardinals, beating up a Trent Edwardsless Buffalo team. They did it without Anquan Boldin no less.

Thoughts on Saturday games

- Even though they lost to an upstart North Carolina today, Miami is not far from coming back to prominence. They have some talented players with tremendous speed.
- Tennessee needs a new qb right now. Crompton looks lost out there, can't make the reads, can't get on the same page with his receivers. They also need to bench Arian Foster and play back up rb's Montario Hardesty and Lennon Creer more, they are better backs. Vols may not even crack .500 this year. Also, new offensive coordinator, Dave Clawson needs to go.
- Auburn needs to bench their starting qb, Chris Todd and start Kodi Burns. Burns can run, Todd cannot...it's pointless to run the spread with a qb who can't run.
- Houston Nutt is one of my favorite coaches. He always seems to pull off unlikely wins with less talented teams. Of course today's win over Florida didn't go without a little luck. He already has Ole Miss looking like his old Arkansas teams.
- Impressive win for V Tech on the road at Lincoln.
- When is Texas actually going to play somebody?
- Another big win for Alabama. Last week I said they could win the SEC West...this week I'm saying they can win the SEC and play for a national championship. That was more than an impressive win at Athens. By the way, I picked Bama to win tonight.
- I had a feeling Georgia was overrated when they snuck past South Carolina. Their win at Arizona St. was not very impressive either.
- Ohio St. looks to be getting back on track now that they have Beanie Wells back and are starting Terrelle Pryor at qb. Big test next week against Wisconsin, speaking of which...
- How did Wisconsin blow that game today? That will go down as Rich Rodriquez' first signature win at Michigan.
- Notre Dame looked impressive today against Purdue. They played well against a very good offense and moved the ball at will.
- I still think Ohio St. is going to win the Big 10, but Penn St. is looking really good!
- The Pac 10 sucks, that's all there is to it.

My power rankings for this week:

1. Oklahoma- sheer body of work. They look like the most complete team...for now.

2. Alabama- They have blown out Clemson, Arkansas and Georgia. Not bad for early season!

3. Missouri- The offense is flawless, the defense leaves much to be desired.

4. Florida- Despite the loss today, still one of the best teams in the country.

5. USC- They'll be back. Nobody plays perfect every week.

- Teams I thought about for the power rankings:
BYU, Penn St., LSU, Tennessee...just kidding

Thoughts on USC/Oregon St.

Wow! What a shocker! Though the Beavers have beat the Trojans in Corvallis two out of the last 3 times they've played, I thought SC would win last night. USC's offensive line was the weakness on offense. The Trojans couldn't get a consistent ground game going and Mark Sanchez had no time to throw. Also, Sanchez kept looking for the big play rather than the short stuff. There were a few times when he had a TE open short, but ignored him in favor of trying to hit a receiver deep. The defense was uncharacteristically bad. They couldn't stop the run to save their lives!

The BCS implications of this loss are huge. Because they are in a weak conference this year, USC had to go undefeated to ensure a spot in the BCS championship game. If a team from the SEC and a team from the Big 12 have 1 loss they will be favored to play in the game rather than USC because of conference strength. USC cannot afford to lose another game this year and hope that everyone from the Big 12 and SEC have 2+ losses to have a chance at this point. This game was a great example of why I love inter-conference play, these teams know each other! Ohio St. may have been intimidated by USC, but Oregon St. knows what there up against and that the Trojans are beatable.

Fantasy analysis

Now I'm going to list fantasy players on the rise and fantasy players on the decline or busts:

On the rise:

Darren McFadden- RB- Raiders
Jay Cutler- QB- Broncos
Tony Sheffler- TE- Broncos
Philip Rivers- QB- Chargers
Chris Chambers- WR- Chargers
Dewayne Bowe- WR- Chiefs
Felix Jones- RB- Cowboys
Chris Johnson- RB- Titans
Matt Forte- RB- Bears
Calvin Johnson- WR- Lions
Jonathan Stewart- RB- Panthers
Michael Turner- RB- Falcons

On the decline/busts (injuries don't count):

Edgerrin James- RB- Cardinals
Larry Johnson- RB- Chiefs
Chargers Defense
Marc Bulger- QB- Rams
Torry Holt- WR- Rams
Steven Jackson- RB- Rams
Marvin Harrison- WR- Colts
Ocho Cinco- WR- Bengals
Brett Favre- QB- Jets
Laverneus Coles- WR- Jets
Hines Ward- WR- Steelers
Joey Galloway- WR- Bucs

Random thoughts on the NFL

- If Al Davis fires Lane Kiffin, who will he replace him with? Who would want that job? Seriously? I think he would promote Rob Ryan, the defensive coordinator.

- Sean Payton is crying about a no call neutral zone infraction at the end of the Broncos game. Granted, it was a missed call, but the Saints 1)could not gain a yard and 2) could not make a field goal. Try playing some defense next time. By the way, I don't think the Broncos defense is quite that bad...they've played two really high powered offenses the last 2 weeks.

- The Browns really aren't that bad of a team, they're just poorly coached. Plus, Derek Anderson's deal with the devil seems to have expired. Ditto for Marc Bulger and Jon Kitna.

- I'm glad the Chargers finally won a game, I'm sick of hearing their whinning!

- I'm impressed with Aaron Rodgers. Because he played his college ball for Jeff Tedford, I really thought he'd stink up the place.

- Looks like Matt Ryan is the real deal. Not many rookie qb's play like he has so far. Reminds one of Peyton Manning as a rookie.

Surprisez/disappointments

Here are my surprises and disappointments in College football so far this season:

Surprises-
- Alabama- They have a shot at the SEC West this year.
- LSU- Have played well despite questions at qb. Also a legitimate shot at SEC West.
- Vanderbilt- They'll go bowling this year.
- East Carolina- No longer a BCS buster, but still making a name for themselves.
- Wake Forest- Could win the ACC for the 2nd time in 3 years.
- North Carolina- Big win at Rutgers, don't underestimate these guys.
- Penn St.- JoePa's off to a great start, legit contenders for the Big 10.
- Utah- BYU better watch out for these guys, they always play the Cougars tough.

Disappointments-
- Any Pac 10 team not named USC- Specifically Cal, Oregon, UCLA, ASU and Oregon St.
- West Virginia- Pat White really isn't a good passing qb.
- Tennessee- Fire Fulmer and replace him with Butch Davis PLEASE!!!!
- South Carolina- Spurrier seems to have lost his touch.
- Michigan- We knew they wouldn't be great, but not this bad! They stink!
- Clemson- Embarassing loss to Bama.
- Pretty much most of the ACC and Big East-

Rocky Bottom...

So I went to the Tennessee/Florida game and here are my thoughts: The Gators are for real and should win the SEC and appear in the BCS championship game. They have unbelievable speed, are well coached, and have a relatively easy schedule. The Vols on the other hand need lots of help...let's see, where to start...hmmm...how about coaching. The game has clearly passed Fulmer by, he never was a great x's & o's coach...his niche has always been recruiting but that has dropped off over the last few years. He is not going to out coach most of the other SEC coaches. In the 90's, Tennessee would win by just having more talent on the field than almost anyone else. The list of Vols from the 90's who went on to play on Sundays is quite impressive. That isn't the case anymore. The Vols aren't any more talented than anyone else. Time to move on Phil...The hiring of offensive coordinator Dave Clawson is not looking like a great hire either. The offense can't seem to gel or find an identity. Defensive coordinator John Chavis does not know how to scheme the spread offense, rather than attacking the spread, he plays a bend but don't break style that gets eaten alive. Special teams has been atrocious, the Vols need to hire a special teams coach.

Update on Stump the Stevo

I got the best of Cory this week. He got 8/10 missing Fresno St. and Michigan for a total of 52 points. I got 9/10 missing Fresno St. for a total of 53 points. I'm in the 91st percentile while he is in the 75th percentile.

Thoughts on Saturday's games

Ohio St. could've hung in the game in the first half but offensive penalties killed them. They were able to move the ball but penalties negated a touchdown and forced them to settle for a field goal after being at the 5 yd line. A loss for the Buckeyes will have a bigger impact on them than a loss for USC would've. Ohio St. is still the best team in the Big 10 but that ain't sayin' much!

Other than USC, the Pac 10 has had a rough weekend. Oregon needed OT and a massive comeback to beat Purdue. Cal got spanked by Maryland, the final score is deceiving. Stanford was spanked by TCU. Washington took a drubbing at the hands of Boomer Sooner. UCLA got waxed by BYU. Arizona is losing to New Mexico. I'm now thoroughly convinced the Big 12 is the second best conference, surpassing the Pac 10.

Georgia is NOT the second best team in the country. The defense is good. Knowshon Moreno and Matt Stafford are the real deal, but Stafford has no reliable receivers. They are a little vanilla on offense. They are a little overrated.

I'm starting to think both Alabama and LSU are better than Auburn in the SEC West. Auburn implemented the spread offense this year, but just having the spread offense isn't enough. You need to be able to execute as well.

Missouri is scary good. They are quickly becoming everyone's dark horse for the BCS game.

Currently, the 5 best teams in the country are:

USC
Florida
Oklahoma
Missouri
Georgia

Saturday matchups

I expect USC to win big...especially since Beanie Wells is not playing. The Buckeyes offense just doesn't look the same without him. I expect USC's defensive front seven to dominate the line of scrimmage and get to OSU qb Todd Boeckman quite a bit. I'm not looking for a classic here.

Michigan v. Notre Dame is about as intriguing as San Diego St. v. UNLV. I'm giving the Irish the benefit of the doubt since it's in South Bend.

Oregon wins at Purdue and I think Fresno St. is going to upset Wisconsin today. Georgia beats South Carolina, Auburn over Mississippi St., Oklahoma over Washington. BYU over UCLA. V Tech over G Tech.

South Florida had an impressive win over Kansas last night and North Carolina made a statement at Rutgers Thursday night.

Stevo's been stumped!

Congrats to Cory for beating me at college pick 'em this week. We picked all the same winners except the Duke/Northwestern game. I had Duke and he had Northwestern. He scored 43 points with 8/10 right and I scored 41 points with 7/10 right. See I can be stumped!

Random thoughts from this past weekend that may interest only me...

- I'm jumping on the East Carolina bandwagon! They dominated West Virginia! They deserve their ranking in the top 25 this week!

- Jake Locker should not have been flagged for excessive celebration. I think BYU would have gone on to win in OT anyway, but that call was lame.

- Ohio St. is NOT going to beat USC even with Beanie Wells. USC will open up that stable of running backs and keep the OSU D off balance. I do think the Ohio St. secondary is good enough to match up with USC's WR's though. USC's defense will be the biggest factor dominating the line of scrimmage and giving Boeckman no time to throw or do anything else. It will look a lot like the LSU/Ohio St. game last year.

- Houston Nutt has Ole Miss on the right track. They look like his old Arkansas teams already.

- The loss of Tom Brady is devastating! (unless you hate the Patriots) Matt Cassel is not the answer either! That guy wasn't even a starter in college! Patriots are in trouble.

- Peyton Manning looked rusty last night. He couldn't handle the blitz and wasn't accurate. I think the Colts will regroup, but their defense was not impressive at all.

- The Bears may be back. Decimated by injuries last year, the defense looked back to old form. The offense looked back to form as well (no serious passing game but a strong running game).

- I have loved the Carolina Panthers ever since John Fox became their head coach! They always take on the following identity when healthy- Big, physical O-line with emphasis on running game. Jake Delhomme when healthy is a steady playmaker. The passing game will consist mostly of quick strikes to Steve Smith (when he comes back). The defense is always big and physical with great pass rushing D-line and quick linebackers. They out-muscled San Diego and hit 'em in the mouth. The Chargers are typically the more physical team. The Panthers (again, when healthy) just find ways to win...but it's usually ugly.

- I was impressed by the following teams yesterday: Bills, Falcons, Panthers, Steelers, Eagles, Bears and Saints. I was also impressed with the Dolphins and the Chiefs even though they lost.

- I was not impressed by the following teams yesterday: Seahawks (injuries at WR killed them), Chargers, Texans, Colts, Jaguars and Rams.

Thursday night thoughts

• South Carolina looks like the 3rd best team in the SEC East. The defense is stout.
• The Giants can still generate a good pash rush even without Strahan and Osi.
• The Redskins offense looks inept at best. Jason Campbell looks like he doesn't know what he's doing.
• I love the way Clinton Portis plays! I saw him drop a chip block on a DE and he put the guy on his back! An often overlooked trait of a great RB is their blocking ability. He's also a tough inside runner for a guy that is not very big.
• Someone should create a drinking game that involves taking a drink every time Madden says the word "bootleg." That would be one drunk person by the end of the night!
• Eli relies on Plaxico Burress a little too much in the passing game.
• I would hate to have to try and tackle Brandon Jacobs as he's running towards me! That dude is a load!

Rocky Top Lament...

Last night at about 10pm mountain standard time you could hear much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth coming from my house. The Vols offense was TERRIBLE! Crompton was the main problem. Inaccurate passing, hanging on to the ball too long, and poor foot work led to his less than 50% completion rate. Why did they insist on Crompton throwing more than 35 passes when he clearly was not playing well? Arian Foster and Montario Hardesty both ran the ball pretty well, perhaps they should have had a few more carries. The defense, which had been dominant throughout was finally worn down by the 4th quarter. Special teams was awful too. Why did they squib kick with 2 minutes left to give UCLA great field position? The missed field goal in OT and the blocked punt were just plain unacceptable. They had a chance to put it away in the 1st half with 4 int's but the offense couldn't capitalize. Then, they had a chance to put it away in the 3rd quarter until Arian Foster fumbled at the 5 yard line. That would have put them up 21-7 and given the defense the opportunity to just tee off on them. That was one of the most frustrating games I have EVER watched.

Stump the Stevo

Well, looks like Cory is the only one with the nads to challenge me at college pick 'em. He didn't fare too well this week against me, but at least he's trying! V Tech and Michigan killed me, but fortunately it killed everyone else too. The Alabama pick was my proudest moment. Cory had picked Clemson and Washington St. Ouch! He ended up with 30 points this week, 45th percentile and I finished with 42 points, 92nd percentile. Come on ladies! It's not too late to sign up and join the group! You're not...scared...are you???

Random thoughts that may only interest me...

Here are some of my football related thoughts in this opening weekend in college football:

• Does Shawne Merriman seriously think he's warrior? Why do football players think they are in some kind of war? If he wants to be a warrior, join the army and go to Iraq or Afghanistan like Pat Tillman did. He's putting his career at risk in the name of calling himself a "warrior". He's clearly lacking in intelligence and wisdom.
• Rich Rodriguez has a long way to go to turn the Michigan offense around. That unit was awful today against Utah. Credit Utah though, and it helps that they see the same spread offense every day in practice.
  
• USC looked complete today against Virginia. The linebackers were terrific.
  
• The ACC suffered some major losses. VT losing to East Carolina. NC St. losing to South Carolina. Clemson suffered a humiliating loss to Bama. This matchup was interesting. In college pick 'em, my head and rationalizing told me to pick Clemson, but my gut told me to take Bama. So I took the Tide.
• The SEC looked great. Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia came away with dominating wins against non-conference opponents.
• Someone asked the Appalachian St. qb what his thoughts were after seeing film of both LSU this year and Michigan last year. His response was that LSU had a lot more speed.
• Ohio St. better hope Beanie Wells' injury isn't serious and that he can play in two weeks against USC. This would be a major loss to the Buckeyes who have more to lose in the USC game than the Trojans do.
  
• The Mountain West has had a good weekend too, capped off with Utah's win. Air Force and TCU also dominated in their wins.
  

Fantasy Football pt 2

I had my not-so-free league draft last night and I feel pretty good about my team. In fact, I feel better about this team than the team I drafted in my free league...which wasn't the case last year. I changed my draft strategy this year and also had a different number in the draft order which made it interesting. In the past, I usually had a pick right in the middle of the order, like 5 or 6 out of 10 and would always draft 2 RB's with my first two picks. This year, I had pick 9 and being that we use the snake method of drafting which goes backwards in the next round, I also had pick 12. So I was able to pick 2 players in a very short time but would then have to wait awhile for my next two picks. I think I prefer being pick 9 over pick 5 or 6. My strategy this year was to draft either a WR or QB first, then a RB second. Because RB's aren't getting the kind of numbers they used to, I'm putting less emphasis on them this year. Anyway, here is the team I drafted:

QB- Peyton Manning- I drafted Peyton first. This is the best qb I've ever drafted in this league.
RB- Marion Barber- Not big on yardage, but big on TD's.
RB- Laurence Maroney- The Patriots are going to balance out their offense more this year.
WR- Plaxico Burress- Go to guy for Eli Manning. Always puts up big.
WR- Brandon Marshall- Can't use him the first game, but after that, he's Cutler's go to guy.
TE- Kellen Winslow- Great TE option in high powered Cleveland offense.
DEF- Seahawks- Great for sacks and TO's. Lots of speed. Having a consistent offense helps too.
K- Phil Dawson- Browns kicker
Bench:
QB- Marc Bulger- Still has weapons to throw to and O-line should be healthier this year. I only need him for one game.
RB- Kevin Smith- Rookie out of UCF. Never trust a rookie WR, but you can trust rookie RB's.
RB- DeAngelo Williams- Will split time on a run first offense.
WR- Calvin Johnson- Remember this guy at Georgia Tech? He's a 2nd year player now and should put up big.
WR- Anthony Gonzalez- 3rd receiver on Colts. If Marvin Harrison goes down, he's a starter.
TE- Alge Crumpler- Will improve the Titans red zone scoring problems

Fantasy Football

I attended the draft of my free league this past Saturday. The league is managed via Yahoo sports but we have an in person draft at the commissioner's house. I do like having the draft in person because you can really rail on people! One problem we kept having was that people would not mark off who was drafted and then try to draft someone that had already been taken. For example, it's the 10th round and someone asks if Willis McGahee is still available! Are you kidding me? He was taken in the 1st round! Then, later on, someone tried to draft a Tight End I had already taken.. I proposed a rule that next time this happened, the individual had to forfeit his pick for that round! Of course that didn't happen (this is a free league after all). This was a 10 person league last year, a league in which I dominated all year until the end when my team completely fell apart and I lost in the playoffs. It's tough being the #1 seed because you get comfortable and once you have key players get hurt at the end of the year and there are no good players left to sign off waivers, your SCREWED! Towards the end of the year, I could feel that I wasn't going to win it because of injuries to my running backs, Larry Johnson and Ronnie Brown. This year our league is up to 12 people so there is less depth on our rosters. I feel like I drafted a pretty decent team. I think I'm still a contender, but I won't be as dominant as I was last year. I seriously was demolishing everyone through most of the season. My roster is as follows:

QB- Tom Brady- I had him last year too. The #1 reason for my success last year.
RB- Larry Johnson- Also had him last year. Was pretty good until he hurt his foot at the end.
RB- LenDale White- Workhorse back who puts up solid numbers consistently.
Flex- Edgerrin James- Aging, hopefully not over the hill yet!
WR- Braylon Edwards- Expected to have a great year in a high powered offense.
WR- Torry Holt- Aging, but can still produce good numbers.
TE- Vernon Davis- Hasn't lived up to potential yet, but is in Mike Martz offense...
DEF- Jaguars- physical, dominating defense. One of the best around.
K- Phil Dawson- Browns kicker. Should get a lot of points.
Bench:

WR- Joey Galloway- Old timer had a great year last year. Is still very fast.
WR- Jerry Porter- My last draft pick...we'll see.
TE- Zach Miller- Raiders TE who has looked good in camp and pre-season
RB- Kolby Smith- Larry Johnson's backup. Let's just call it insurance.
QB- Vince Young- I'll only need him 1 week.
WR- Donte Stallworth- He'll be opposite Braylon Edwards on the Browns lineup.

I have the draft for my not-so-free league on Thursday night. It's done online via espn.com because everyone in the league lives in a different city. We have a couple of guys in Dallas, Memphis, Philly, Tampa and Denver. I think the fact that I've already had a draft will help me Thursday night in that it's given me an idea of where everyone is going. I won this league 3 years ago in my first year, but then had an awful year the next with injuries and then an average, ho-hum year last year. I need to get back to elite status.

My Thoughts on the BCS

I guess at this point I should post my thoughts on the BCS and the arguments for and against it. Let me just start by saying I can understand some of the arguments in favor of the current system. Has college football always been about who's #1? Not necessarily. Prior to the BCS, it was really more about winning your conference and playing in a traditional bowl. For example, let's take Ohio St in the Woody Hayes era 1970's. Playing ball for the Buckeyes meant beating Michigan, winning the Big 10 and then playing USC in the Rose Bowl. That was the tradition...and still is, for the most part. And, anyone who is even vaguely familiar with college football understands that tradition is a HUGE part of college football. Ask any rabid Buckeye fan in Ohio what the teams all time record is against Michigan and he'll rattle it right off the top of his head! There have been books written about the Tennessee/Alabama rivalry! I could go on and on... There is also the argument that every game matters in the current system, and that is true, but it's actually not as true as it used to be. So, what changed? Why are there so many people and media people who want to see division I go to a playoff system instead of the traditional bowl system? Why don't the people in charge of division I want a playoff system? My working hypothosis is that the demographics of college football have changed, thereby altering views and perspectives on college football. The national media is also heavily influencing the dialogue, and the people in power have not changed.

I'll start by saying that the people in power have not changed because they don't need to. It's all about money and they are making a ton of it! If it ain't broke... Of course everyone who disagrees with the BCS system could just boycott it...but we all know that isn't going to happen. Now that we got the obvious stuff out of the way, let's talk demographics. Division I college football is a tradition that sprang up and has largely been centered in the midwest and the south. Think of all the traditional powerhouses...Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio St., Penn St., Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue are all in the general vicinity of the midwest. Then there's Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Clemson, Miami, Florida, Florida St. All in the south. There have been some other great schools that are from different areas of the country, think USC, but not as prevalent. This has changed. Obviously, the south is still dominant (college football IS religion). The midwest has declined a little bit. Joe Tiller, Purdue's head coach who is retiring after this season said that part of the reason the Big 10 is struggling is that high school football in the midwest has declined. The west, which includes the mountain west and the Pacific coast have improved drastically over the last 40 years, mainly due to the simple fact that more people are living in these areas. Think of some of the western programs that have had success...USC, Washington, Oregon, Cal, UCLA, Arizona St., BYU, Colorado, Utah, Hawaii, Boise St. My point is this: College football has become a much more national past time, not just relegated to the midwest and the south. With these new programs having success in the west and even a little in the northeast, there are legions of newer fans who aren't familiar with the traditions or don't care about the traditions of college football. For example, why would a mormon BYU fan in Utah care about the Iron Bowl? He probably wouldn't even know what the Iron Bowl is or who plays in it! The shift in demographics essentially de-values the tradition of the game on a national level...though it is still maintained religiously on local levels. Another factor in the demographics and tradition issue is the national media. The national media is predominantly from the northeast, an area of the country that does not traditionally care about college football. However, for the sake of 24 hour sports coverage, the media has taken an interest in college football over the last several years, and whether it be pundits criticizing the bowl system or just sparking debate, the media has put the spotlight on this issue and even offered "solutions" to the "problem". So, along with the shifting demographics, the national media has also de-valued the tradition, and via the debates, the national media has also placed an emphasis on the need for a national champion, which the new fans wholeheartedly agree with. More and more fans want to see a playoff to bring a sense of closure and finality to the season. The BCS system was implemented as a compromise to this, but has not worked.

Then there's the argument that all the games matter. The reason I said that it is not as true as it used to be is due to the fact that two-loss teams can win the BCS championship now. Undefeated teams are slowly becoming a thing of the past. The competition has just become too much. So, with all this being said, here is my solution. I propose a compromise! Keep the BCS and all the bowl games. Keep the pre-season rankings and coaches polls and all that. I also agree that the mid-majors, i.e., MWC, WAC, MAC, etc. do not belong in the discussion unless they go undefeated. As a whole, they still aren't as strong as the BCS conferences. But, a playoff system needs to be implemented. Take the top 8 BCS ranked teams. This includes the 6 BCS conference champions and two at-large bids. Use the BCS bowls as the first 4 games then rotate which bowls get to have the final 3 games. Lot's of money for the powerful people. Because only 8 teams make it and we are keeping the polls and BCS, things like "strength of schedule" and "every game matters" remain important aspects of the game. Teams still have to win every week to even be considered an "elite 8" team. We will also get to see the "elite 8" battle it out in a playoff to determine who the best really is! How awesome would that be??? Will there be arguments over some of the top 8 choices? Of course! This will keep people interested and talking about the game. In summary, we keep almost all of the traditions, while truly finding out who the real national champion is year to year. It's a win/win!

In conclusion, I predict something similar to this will happen eventually, but not for a long time. The continuance of the demographic shift, the relentlessness of the national media, and the influence of younger generations will make the changes. At some point, the positions of power in the game will be manned by non-traditionalists who will finally make the necessary changes to the game to improve the overall product, while maintaining many of the old traditions that make college football such a wonderful game.

(My thoughts on the media's influence and the tradition were heavily influenced by Jason Whitlock, a former college player and sports writer who actually favors the tradtional system. The demographic thoughts came out of my clouded noggin)

Good news for the Vols!

The NCAA has cleared Brandon Warren to play this season as a Tight End for the Vols. He is a transfer from Florida St. who played quite a bit as a true freshman at FSU. He missed last year due to transferring. He is from Alcoa and wanted to transfer to Tennessee to be closer to his mother who was diagnosed with cancer. He is one of those hybrid type Tight Ends (think Kellen Winslow, Jr. or Shannon Sharpe). He's too quick for linebackers and too big and strong for DB's. Fulmer also mentioned that he would like to get him in on some pass rushing situations on defense as well. I'm not quite sure how to read that...is he that great of an athlete? Or do the Vols not have squat at defensive end? I'm suspicious of the latter. This also comes at a good time as another of the Vols TE's, Jeff Cottam, is out for 6-8 weeks for back surgery.

ESPN's face of the franchise- NFL teams

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3538393&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1. This is pretty interesting. I agree with all of them except one. Matt Stover as the face of the Ravens? Are you kidding me? A kicker? With the great defenses? They've won a Super Bowl in their short history...in fact, I believe the 2000 Ravens defense is the best that's ever taken the field (including the '85 Bears). Ray Lewis is the face of the Ravens franchise. He is one of the greatest linebackers ever to play the game. They would not have won a Super Bowl without him...they still would've won the Super Bowl without Matt Stover. Incredible. All the other picks are good. I even agree with the Bengals having Anthony Munoz as their franchise player. He was an offensive lineman but he may very well be the best left tackle ever. He was a stud. Some of the teams have such a rich history that several players could be their franchise player. For example, the Colts have Peyton Manning, but you could also make a great case for Johnny Unitas. Another would be the Cowboys. It ended up being Emmitt Smith, but it could've been Staubach, Aikman, Irvin, Dorsett, etc.

College Pick 'Em

http://games.espn.go.com/cpickem/frontpage. This is the direct link to the Pick 'em page...So, go ahead see if you can stump the Stevo!!! Good luck, you're gonna need it!

College Pre-season rankings are out!

Georgia gets #1 in the pre-season rankings. I think they deserve the ranking but it's going to be a tough road to the BCS championship for them. They got red hot at the end of the year last year and demolished Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. The night of the game my dad-in-law was saying he thought Hawaii would do pretty good in that game to which I responded, "Do you Knowshon Moreno? Hawaii is gonna Knowshon Moreno tonight!" Georgia's players have had a rough offseason with injuries and arrests and they have an INSANE schedule that includes @Arizona St., @LSU, @Auburn, @South Carolina and @Kentucky. They also have Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Tech and that little cocktail party in Jacksonville with the Gators! I see them with at least 3 losses. Ohio St., USC, Oklahoma and Florida round out the top 5. I know, everyone's thinking..."Not the Buckeyes! I'm tired of the Buckeyes!" They are loaded again and should be better than they were last year...though that doesn't qualify them to beat an SEC team...

Speaking of the SEC, they have 6 teams in the top 25...Georgia, Florida, LSU at 7, Auburn at 10, Tennessee at 18, and Bama at 24. Spurrier could easily crack the top 25 this year too. The Big 12 has 5 with Boomer Sooner, Mizzou, Kansas, Texas, Texas Tech. The Pac 10 has 3 with USC, Arizona St., and Oregon. The ACC has 3 with Clemson, V Tech and Wake Forest. The Big 10 has an overrated 4 with OSU, Wisconsin, Illinois and Joe Pa. The Big East has 3 with West Virginia, South Florida and Pitt. BYU is the lone non BCS wolf at #16.

The A-11 offense...is this thing for real???

Read this article on ESPN. This is fascinating. The NFL could never do this but I could see some college teams trying it in the near future.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=weinreb/080811&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

NFL Preview- NFC West

Other than the 49ers, this division has some high octane offense. Because of this Nolan's on the hot seat...so they brought in Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator. This is Mike Holmgren's final season, will the Seahawks make it a memorable one for him? Here are the picks...

• Seahawks- Hasselbeck has turned into one of the better and more consistent qb's in the league. Walter Jones remains the best tackle in the game. They have depth at wideout. Major question mark is in the running game, can Julius Jones be the man? The defense should remain consistent.
• Rams- I almost put the Cardinals here, then I remembered...it's the Cardinals. If they can get Steven Jackson back and injury free this should be a very balanced offense. Torry Holt is no spring chicken anymore. Nor is Orlando Pace. The defense should be solid. Chris Long is gonna be a beast!
• Cardinals- It's time for Matt Leinart to step up. He's got all the weapons he needs, Edge James in the backfield, Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin...what more do you need? The defense isn't bad, Adrian Wilson is the best safety no one's heard of. I like Ken Whisenhunt as their coach.
• 49ers- It's also do or die for Alex Smith. The former #1 overall pick has lost his starting spot to J.T. O'Sullivan...WHO??? Martz brought O'Sullivan in and apparently thinks he can run the offense better than Smith. Ouch! They brought in Bryant Johnson and an over the hill Isaac Bruce at wideout and of course there's Vernon Davis at TE (if he can stay healthy). Frank Gore is a good back but he needs support from the passing game. The defense is scrappy and I like Patrick Willis, he could turn into an elite LB.

Quick note

I got the word that people have been unable to comment on this blog. I had to adjust the comment settings so it should work now...sorry about that!

NFL Preview- NFC South

The Bucs won this division a year ago behind the wyly Jeff Garcia. The Saints fell off the wagon after an appearance in the NFC championship the year before. The Panthers were a disappointment once Jake Delhomme got hurt and the Falcons were just plain and simply a disaster. Here are the picks...

• Saints- The Saints are back in the playoffs this year with a much improved defense with the additions of Sedrick Ellis and Jonathan Vilma. The offense should be a powerhouse again, though they need an inside runner to compliment Reggie Bush. Picking up Shockey was huge and keep your eye on Robert Meacham at wideout.
• Buccaneers- Garcia returns at qb. The guy seems like an ageless wonder and just finds ways to win. They have a running back by committee approach with Cadillac, Earnest Graham, Warrick Dunn and Michael Bennett. They have another ageless wonder at wideout with Joey Galloway who had a monster year last year. The defense has also been returning to the old Super Bowl form. Derrick Brooks is another ageless wonder at LB.
• Panthers- They got off to a quick start last year then Delhomme had a season ending injury. If he and Steve Smith can stay healthy, the passing game should be sufficient. Smith is pound for pound the best receiver in the game. They have a dual running back threat with rookie Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. What used to be one of the best defenses in the game has slipped of late. They need Julius Peppers to get a few more than 2 sacks this year.
• Falcons- It can't get any worse for this franchise than what they went through last year.
  They had to have hit rock bottom right? They were talking about starting Matt Ryan right off the bat, but it looks like they are going to start journey man Chris Redman. They picked up a playmaker in Michael Turner, trouble is, there isn't much of a supporting cast. The defense is decent. Keith Brooking continues to play at a high level at LB.

Stump the Stevo

It's almost time for Stump the Stevo! I've set up a group for College Pick 'em on espn.com. Once you're on the homepage, click on "fantasy" then click "college pick 'em". You'll need to create a free entry and then join the group called, "Stump the Stevo". It's a public group so anyone can join. The first week of college football is Aug. 30. There are already 10 games picked out to pick. You have to pick a winner of each of the 10 games listed and score it from 1-10 based on how confident you are in that pick. For example, you might have USC v. UNLV but also LSU v. Auburn. Obviously the USC/UNLV is an easy one so you might give that game 10 points. But the LSU/Auburn game is a little trickier so you might give that game 1 point. Then, as a tie breaker it gives you a game to pick the score on. You accumulate points based on how many games you pick right and how many confidence points you gave those games. So, if you get all 10 right, you get 55 points that week...1+2+3+4+5, etc. Last year was the first full year I played it and I managed to stay around the 97th percentile all year on the ESPN pick 'em...there are literally hundreds of thousands of people that play it on ESPN every year. So, if you think you can do better than me, give it a shot! What have you got to lose...besides your every ounce of pride!

NFL Preview- NFC North

The black and blue division or as Chris Berman refers to it...the Norse division. Questions at qb abound in this division. Here are the picks...

• Vikings- Many are calling them a Super Bowl contender this year. Loaded on defense, enough so that they may have the top rated d in the league this year. O line is one of the best in the business and they have this RB...a certain Adrian Peterson...who is fast becoming the best in the biz. Question mark is obviously at qb. Is Tarvaris Jackson a legit pro qb? Questions at receiver as well.
• Packers- They won't be what they were a year ago w/o Favre. Like the Vikings, the only real question is at qb. I'm not a believer in Aaron Rodgers. He comes from a college system that produces great college qb's but not great pro qb's. They have talent in all the other positions on the team.
• Bears- Same story here...qb issues. Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman are your choices? No thanks. In fact, I'll say no thanks to the whole offense. The defense is still good. Did I mention my brother has a man crush on Brian Urlacher? Devin Hester may be the best return man ever and is the only scoring threat on this whole team.
• Lions- Mike Martz is gone as the offensive coordinator, which means that the pass happy offense will be gone and word is they are going more toward a run happy offense. This bodes well for Joh Kitna's shelf life as he got killed last year. Rookie Kevin Smith could have a good year.

NFL Preview- NFC East

The NFC East has become the most intriguing and competitive division in football. All four of these teams are potential playoff teams who can beat anybody. Here are the picks...

• Cowboys- They are the team to beat again this year (in the NFC East and maybe even the NFC). Drafting Felix Jones was a great move, he can compliment Marion Barber nicely! TO and Witten should both have great years again and they have one of the best O lines in football. Defense has some playmakers too and provided Pacman is allowed to play, the secondary should be strong this year. DeMarcus Ware is a beast at LB!
• Eagles- McNabb still needs a go to receiver and they need to talk Shawn Andrews into coming back to camp, but Westbrook is a flat out playmaker! DeSean Jackson should make a nice slot receiver addition. They are loaded in the secondary with the pick up of Asante Samuel from NE to compliment Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown.
• Giants- Super Bowl slump for the G-Men. They lost too much on defense with Strahan's retirement and Gibril Wilson in the secondary. Eli is finally proving he's the real deal. He'll have another good year, but not good enough to repeat last years magic.
• Redskins- New coach, new system for Jason Campbell to learn. Chris Cooley is one of the more underrated TE's. Solid on defense. This team is good enough for the playoffs, but they unfortunately play in the wrong division.

NFL Preview- AFC West

One contender and three pretenders is the story of this division. One thing I do like about these four teams is that they each have a young high potential qb. The Chargers have the most experienced one in Philip Rivers. The Broncos have Jay Cutler, the Raiders have JaMarcus Russell and the Chiefs have Brodie Croyle who I think is the least talented of the bunch. Here are the picks...

• Chargers- They have become a perennial contender thru great drafting...all the stars were drafted. The offense is loaded, the only weakness in the past has been the lack of receivers but the acquisition of Chris Chambers and the emergence of Vincent Jackson could change that. The defense will be great as usual.
• Broncos- They get 2nd place by default. There are way too many questions here. They have playmakers on offense but the O line is weak. Ryan Torain was looking good at RB until he got hurt...then there's the whole Marshall suspension. The D line needs to step up for once and there are some questions at LB. Shanahan needs to focus on coaching...Pat Bowlen needs to hire a legit GM.
• Chiefs- They get 3rd place by default. Is Croyle the real deal? He has some weapons to throw to in Tony Gonzalez and the DeWayne Bowe. Larry Johnson is one of the best when healthy, but the O line is depleted. The defense is young, inexperienced, but very speedy.
• Raiders- Other than the inexplicable Javon Walker, they have no receivers. Russell and Darren McFadden will be good, but there is not enough talent around them at this point. Defense is solid and picking up DeAngelo Hall at CB was huge.

Favre trade

Good move for both teams. The Pack gets rid of the headache to a team in a different conference and the Jets get a much needed qb. My guess is Pennington is probably out. Will this make the Jets a playoff team? No...but they should be more competitive. There have been numerous other hall of fame players who played for a different team at the end of there careers...Unitas, Namath, Montana, O.J., Franco Harris, Tony Dorsett. The only situation that seemed to work out alright was Montana in KC. Jets fans cannot expect Favre to have the kind of year he had last year, but he can make the throws that Pennington can't and he's got the veteran intangibles that Clemens doesn't have yet.

NFL Preview- AFC South

This new division is evolving...Gone are the days of complete Colt dominance. Keep an eye on those pesky Jaguars! Here are the picks...

• Colts- I was tempted to put the Jags here but I think barring injury, the Colts are still the team to beat. If Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney can return to form after last season's injuries, the Colts should be a strong Super Bowl contender. Joseph Addai and Reggie Wayne proved they were the real deal last year, so this team is loaded like usual.
• Jaguars- They are on the cusp, can they get over? Awesome running tandem with Maurice Jones-Drew and a resurgent Fred Taylor. David Garrard does nothing but impress me. Now if they could only find a go-to guy at wideout. The defense is lights out as usual. This team is big, physical and they will beat you up! I saw them in Denver last year and not only did they beat the Broncos, they beat them up.
• Texans- I'm putting them ahead of the Titans provided they can stay healthy this year. The Matt Schaub/Andre Johnson combo was lethal until they got hurt. Mario Williams is proving to be a pretty good pick at DE. Young, up and coming team.
• Titans- Will somebody please get some receivers for VY to throw to? No playmakers on the outside...they did make a great pick up in Alge Crumpler at TE. Running game should be strong as usual. I keep hearing about this Chris Johnson...don't know much about him. Keith Bulluck is the best LB no one's heard of.

NFL Preview- AFC North

The AFC North, the AFC's version of the "Black & Blue" division. The Steelers/Browns rivalry is one of the oldest around. Here are the picks...

• Steelers- This team has the talent to be a Super Bowl contender. If the rebuilt offensive line can gel quickly, the offense should be pretty efficient. Keep an eye on Santonio Holmes at receiver, this should be his break-out year (should've been last year but he got hurt). Defense will be strong as usual. Lamar Woodley is getting rave reviews at outside linebacker opposite James Harrison. They always have great blitzing linebackers! Where do they find them?
• Browns- This offense is loaded! Of course Derek Anderson looks good when he's got Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow, Joshua Cribbs, Jamal Lewis and a great O-line. Defense should be better. The Browns should be in the playoffs this year.
• Bengals- They need to find a 3rd wideout to replace Chris Henry. O-line is depleted. Defense will probably still stink. Every year they say their defense is going to be improved and it never happens. Also, can they stay out of jail?
• Ravens- Rebuilding time in Baltimore. New coach, new qb, new O-line, defense is getting old...Ray Lewis is past his prime, but Ed Reed is still a playmaker. I wonder how long it will take the coaching staff to bench Kyle Boller and put in the rookie Joe Flacco? He comes from div II Delaware but he has an arm.

NFL Preview- AFC East

Now that I got the college previews out of the way let's focus on the NFL. I'll start with the AFC East which has been dominated by New England the last several years. Things won't be different this year. Here are the picks...

• Patriots- Won't go 16-0 this year but are still a top flight Super Bowl contender. Offense lost Stallworth but that's about it. When is Chad Jackson going to start seeing some playing time? The defense has the question marks in the secondary. They lost Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs. Rodney Harrison ain't gettin' any younger either. It proved to be their achilles heal in the Super Bowl and should be again this year. Front seven is strong as usual. Keep your eye on rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo.
• Bills- Young, scrappy team that' s looking to make a move this year. Set at RB with Marshawn Lynch. Trent Edwards may finally be the answer to Jim Kelly's retirement, we'll see. O line is getting better but they need to get Jason Peters into camp. Defense should be solid...they finally get Paul Pozluzny at LB after losing him for the season early last year. If injury bug doesn't hit, they should be pretty decent.
• Jets- They still need a qb. Pennington is the old fall back but he's got zero arm strength. O line is young and improving with the pick up of Alan Faneca at LG...he's a mauler and one of the best. The Jets were a playoff team two years ago and then just fell off last year. I don't think they are going to get back to form this year.
• Dolphins- Gone is the veteran defensive leadership with Taylor and Thomas...maybe they needed to go? I'm hearing good things about rookie qb Chad Henne...great size and arm strength. Ronnie Brown may start slow because it usually takes longer than a year to fully heal from a torn ACL.

The Princess and the Pauper

Looks like Aaron Rodgers just lost his job! Favre is coming back to the Pack and will compete for the starting job. Of course Favre will get the starting spot, he is clearly a better qb than Rodgers. Makes you wonder what's going thru Rodgers head at this point.

4 SEC games you HAVE to watch!

9/20- Florida v Tennessee in Knoxville- The Gators demolished the Vols last year and ran up the score. Tebow was still going deep well in the 4th quarter after the game was over! Word is the Vols are still holding a grudge...stay tuned. This used to be THE game in the SEC. Plus, I'll be at that game...that's all the motivation you need, right?

9/20- LSU v Auburn in Auburn- This will decide who wins the SEC West. LSU has had a hard time winning at Auburn the last several years...will it be the same this year?

11/1- Florida v Georgia in Jacksonville- Florida had been dominating this series until last year. After the Dawgs scored their first td, ALL the players ran into the end zone to celebrate! Knowshon Moreno than ran all over the Gators the rest of the game. Urban Meyer is STILL pissed about the end zone shenanigans and wants revenge!

11/15- Georgia v Auburn in Auburn- Possible pre-SEC championship right here. This will be a HUGE matchup!

Then there's that whole Iron Bowl between Bama and Auburn, but Auburn has dominated that series of late, Bama needs to get back to relevance before we can count this game. Ditto for the Tennessee/Alabama rivalry...one of the longest running and most storied rivalries hasn't meant much the last few years.

BCS Bowl predictions

Here are my pre-season BCS bowl predictions...enjoy!

Rose Bowl- Ohio St. v Arizona St. (Not that ASU will deserve it, but the Rose Bowl has to always have Big 10 v Pac 10)
Fiesta Bowl- Missouri v BYU
Sugar Bowl- Auburn v West Virginia
Orange Bowl- Clemson v Oklahoma (though Georgia wouldn't surprise me)

Did I forget something? Oh yeah...the BCS Championship which is in Miami this year.

Florida v. USC- with the Gators winning

The Prince(ss)

I'm so sick of Brett Favre. It would appear the Green Bay Packers are sick of him as well...though the fans don't seem to be. At the end of the previous four seasons, Favre would lead the organization along while he painstakingly "considered" retirement. Then, after this past season, he finally does the classy thing and makes his announcement in a timely fashion...only to back out of that decision right before training camp. Meanwhile the Pack had moved on. So what do the Packers do? New president Mark Murphy flies down to Mississippi to bribe Favre into staying retired with $20 million. And considering Favre has been so hellbent on being reinstated by the league, he's actually mulling the Pack's offer over! What gives? I thought he wanted back? The Packers originally had no intention of trading him to Vikings (which is were he wants to go) but are now considering that option if he rejects their bribe. I actually used to like Favre but that's been about 7-8 years ago. I'm tired of this guy! What are your thoughts?

College Preview- WAC

In the last of my college preview series, I'll go over the WAC. The WAC has produced two BCS busters with Boise St. and Hawaii. Fresno St. is looking to crash the party this year. Should be another interesting year in this conference that is still full of fireworks. I'm not going to cover the other mid-majors (MAC, Conference USA, Sun-Belt, though for future reference, keep your eye on UCF & FAU) because I'm just not that familiar with them. Here are the picks...

• Boise St.- Fresno is getting all the pre-season love but Boise cannot be overlooked. They always have plenty of weapons on offense and they have a fairly easy schedule, other than a trip to Eugene. The annual matchup with Fresno is on the Smurf Turf so Boise gets the advantage.
• Fresno St.- I can see why so many picked the Bulldogs to win the WAC this year, they return a lot of starters and should be a powerhouse on offense. Tough schedule that includes @Rutgers, @UCLA and Wisconsin, then @Smurf Turf. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. They have a tendency to lose games they shouldn't.
• Hawaii- Hangover from last years devastating loss to Georgia. Plus they've lost June Jones and Colt Brennan. They'll still be competitive and Honalulu is a tough place to play for visitors. They have to travel to Gainesville for their first game...Ouch! That's not gonna help the old confidence!
• Nevada- Tough early season matchups with Texas Tech and Missouri. This team is usually in the hunt but can never quite get over the hump.
• New Mexico St.- Have the firepower to win more than one conference game this year. Defense is the achilles heal here. Chase Holbrook may be the best qb they've ever had.
• San Jose St.- Several returning starters. They need to find a way to win close games. Solid defense but overall average team.
• Louisiana Tech- I still can't figure out why this team is in the WAC? Just being in Louisiana should give them an automatic recruiting advantage over many others in this conference, but that doesn't seem to happen. Just below average team.
• Idaho- Doormat that doesn't have the talent to compete with the elite of the WAC. Will it ever improve?
• Utah St.- See Idaho. Ditto here.