The Rest of College Football

[entropy]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/texas-aggies/20110813-update-texas-am-may-not-be-pulling-sec-trigger-on-monday.ece

[entropy]

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1251531

So now the SEC is being threatened...

[Wild Hoss]

I'm sure Notre Dame wouldn't mind playing in Texas frequently. But are they willing to play Kansas and Iowa State and Oklahoma State and Baylor every year just to achieve that?

I'm guessing no and this is an example of how delusional and arrogant the Texas mindset has gotten.

Sowing confusion and spreading innuendo like this is on Page 1 of the Texas Playing Politics playbook. They know that everyone looks at them as a gigantic pot of gold, with enough crowns slipping thorugh their fingers to make anybody wealthy. They use that greed- or the fear of being on the outside of that greed, looking in- as their ally, and pretty effectively. They did it in 1995, at the Big 12's outset, and they were spreading all kind of bullshit last year, including some made-up insinuations that they were dealing with the Irish.

Its an effective playbook, although somewhat stale. Just beware misdirection in anything involving Texas.

[Wild Hoss]

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1251531

So now the SEC is being threatened...

See my post above. Tempt, threaten, cajole, insinuate, lie and cheat....the Texas Way. They'll be throwing some shit Missou's direction next, even though Mike Alden has already publically raised his hands and dropped his pants.

[lineygoblue]

Heh .. I think I'd like to see A&M go to the SEC just to watch the furor it would raise ...

[Jeff Buchanan]

Bill King said this morning that the interpretations of all the A&M talk this weekend was way out of whack.

King explained, A&M is still working to leave the B12 and join the SEC and its a specific procedure with sspecific timing they have to go through to do it. No one is saying its going to happen and happen quickly but its also not out of the question, which was implied this weekend.

Also to reiterate what Who says above, Delaney was interviewed and stated, "(B1G)expansion is not in our plans at the moment." My view is that Delaney (in counterpart with Slive and now, probably with Larry Scott of the P12) will drive the boat, not be in the passenger's seat in any expansion moves that go CFB wide.

[WM Wolverine]

B10 expansion is 'done', barring ND or Texas calling... I don't see any 'doubles' like Missouri, Rutgers, Pitt, Maryland, etc happening; B10 will only take a home-run addition...

SEC can't add A&M alone, they've to add a 14th team too. Everyone in the ACC is locked in through 2012... Timing isn't good for anything to happen...

Everything coming from Oklahoma makes it sound like they are going to follow Texas' lead and stay in the Big 12 till it dies; if that happens they can go wherever they want, probably with OSU following.

[entropy]

A&M has to humble itself enough for the texas legislature to feel in charge and agree with a plan...

A&M needs to pay the fee to leave to make everyone happy and avoid lawsuits..

SEC needs to find a 14th team...

Only then can A&M leave.

[lineygoblue]

Ent nails it.

And I think all of that will happen. Just not this year.

[entropy]

Liney... It is the bigten education at work.

[entropy]

[JRB]

The Return of the Preseason Top Ten...only it's different this year(not that anyone other than me will notice or care, but hey...)

1. Alabama. Anyone who's actually bothered to read this perennial exercise in punditry knows that I like to give the #1 preseason spot to the defending national champs-- winning the title for me earns you the pole position starting the race next year, so to speak. Since most national champs don't drop off all that much, it actually hasn't been much more inaccurate than ranking teams the way everyone else does in the preseason. But this year, with Auburn having lost nearly everyone of note from the 2010 champs(and still facing the remote possibility of having to vacate that title-- please hurry that investigation along, NCAA), even I can't go about things the usual way. So, I'm breaking that tradition this year, and I'm going with Alabama as my #1 team into the 2011 season. Why Alabama? If you watched the Tide last year, you probably understand-- when they were on, they might have been better than any other team in the country. But they weren't as consistent as the 2009 Crimson Tide machine was, due largely to defensive inexperience. Their defensive performance dropped from 2nd in total defense and scoring defense...to fifth in total defense and third in scoring defense. Virtually the entire 2010 Alabama defense is back this year. They're deep, huge and fast at LB, and they might have the best secondary in the country. When Nick Saban has defenses like this, he leans on his running game, he doesn't ask too much of his QBs, and he almost always wins. The lack of QB experience ought to be a factor, but I'm not sure Alabama's going to need to score more than 21 points that often, and the offensive line ought to be good enough to keep the QB upright long enough to figure things out. Alabama might drop a game(maybe at Florida, maybe at Mississippi State), but I'm guessing they'll win when it counts, and they'll win in New Orleans. 13-1, national champs.

2. Oklahoma. This might be Bob Stoops' last great shot at winning another national title, and at first glance, he's got the roster to do it. The passing game ought to come out firing on all cylinders, at least. But the terrible loss of Austin Box and the injury to Travis Lewis badly hurt a defense that might not have lived up to expectations anyway(they weren't all that good against the run last year), and there are too many talented offenses on this schedule for OU not to slip up at least once, IMO. I'm not sold on their running game, either-- the backs and the line will be good, but I'm not sure they'll be great. I just think this is going to be a supercharged finesse team, and that somebody's going to beat them on both lines. But the passing game will give them a chance against anybody, and a overwhelming chance against most. 13-1, Fiesta Bowl champs.

3. Boise State. The Football Outsiders Almanac has Boise at #3 going into 2011, and so do I. For all the credit Boise State got for coming east and dusting Virginia Tech to start 2010, they might get more for beating Georgia in the Georgia Dome, even though I'm not sure Georgia is going to be as good a team in 2011 as Virginia Tech was in 2010, simply because the Broncos will have taken down an SEC power. Right now, I don't know that that game will even be close. Boise returns 16 starters, including a Heisman finalist at QB, six offensive linemen with starting experience, and six senior starters in the defensive front seven. After Georgia, they get Nevada, Air Force, and TCU at home, where they're all but invincible. Last year, a lot of us thought Boise State had the best chance it would ever have to play for a national title. We might have been a year early. 13-1, BCS national championship game.

4. Oregon. Oregon, for me, is a lot like Oklahoma-- they'll roll up yards and points, but they might struggle at the point of attack against a team that's determined to pound them. They did last year for much of the first half against Stanford, most of the game against California, and in crunch time in the national title game against Auburn, and most of last year's defensive front seven is gone. Unfortunately for the Duck, they'll be facing a team that can play that way right out of the gate, as they travel to LSU. They might get knocked out of the top ten right away. If that happens, and a big early loss is added to the distraction of the ongoing NCAA investigation of the program, how do the Ducks handle that adversity? If there's a top five team headed for a significant downturn this season, my money would be on Oregon to be that team. My guess is, Oregon starts out with a loss, finishes 11-2, and ends up with an Alamo Bowl win over Texas A&M. Of course, they might beat LSU, and just keep rolling. Who knows what a Les Miles-coached team is going to do? Nobody, especially not Les Miles. Speaking of Les Miles...

5. LSU. Alabama doesn't have an experienced QB. That should bother me, but it doesn't. LSU does have an experienced QB. That shouldn't bother me, but it does. It's not as if Jordan Jefferson can't play the position well-- he was very solid in the Cotton Bowl. He might put it all together this year, and one of the most physically talented teams in the country could collectively morph into the sort of monsters LSU fielded in 2003 and 2007. But, sorry, I don't see it. They've just been too erratic under Les Miles for me to take them to win another national title. They could be great-- the receivers might be the best in the country outside of Norman, Oklahoma, the offensive line should be solid, and the defense will be huge, fast, and deep as ever. They've got the talent to beat anybody on the schedule, and that talent's why I've got them ranked here, but I think they'll lose to Alabama, lose one more, and end up being the opening act for Alabama in New Orleans. Not that that's a bad season, and they'll be happy to see LSU in the Quarter again. 11-2, Sugar Bowl champs.

6. Stanford. With the departure of Jim Harbaugh, you'd figure Stanford for an immediate downturn, especially since the Cardinal promoted relatively inexperienced offensive coordinator David Shaw(who was not the architect of the Cardinal offense) to the top job. But Harbaugh left Shaw so much talent that Shaw might do something Harbaugh couldn't-- win the conference. Shaw gets the nation's best player in Andrew Luck, the Pac-12's best offensive line, and almost as importantly, he gets nearly every big game at home. I'm still not convinced Stanford has enough to run the table-- the defensive line might be a weak link-- but this team is my second choice for the second spot in the national title game, if that makes sense. 13-1, Rose Bowl winners.

7. Wisconsin. Who's going to win the Big Ten? I'm ranking Wisconsin with the best chance, out of deference to their accomplishment and returning talent, but here's another team that might be looking at a significant dropoff. Russell Wilson is a radical departure from the maddeningly reliable Scott Tolzien-- Wilson can carry an offense for a quarter or two, then blow everything up with horrible decisions on consecutive drives. He is not the sort of underrated, efficient QB that Wisconsin usually has to complement its punishing ground game. If Wilson doesn't mature in his decision-making, then Wisconsin's going to have turnover problems. I'm also thinking the Badgers might take a small step back on defense without J.J. Watt. In short, I'd really like to pick somebody else to win the Big Ten, but everybody else has at least as many questions, and most of the teams have more, so there you go. 11-3, Rose Bowl.

8. Florida State. It might be this year, or the 'Noles might still be a year away. But they're coming back. They simply recruit too well for the rest of the ACC to hold them off much longer. Calling them the best in the ACC, of course, may be damning them with faint praise, but they'll get a chance early to prove that the hype is justified when Oklahoma comes calling. Florida State wasn't ready for a game of that magnitude last year, and it showed, as the Sooners took them out early. I expect this year's game in Tallahassee to be much more competitive, and if the Seminoles can pull that one off, then a run to the BCS title game becomes a very realistic possibility. I'll guess they lose to OU, get upset once in ACC play, but win the league and the Orange Bowl, setting them up for a very big year in 2012. 12-2, Orange Bowl champs.

9. Nebraska. If Taylor Martinez can play a full season the way he played the first half of last season, then this is too low. On the other hand, if Nebraska can't shake off the offensive malaise and the negative energy that seemed to creep into the program down the stretch last year, this might be ten spots or so too high. Everybody in the Big Ten has major questions this year, so the league is ripe for a team with Nebraska's defensive discipline and athleticism to come in and win the inaugural Big Ten championship game. But I think the Huskers are going to come up just short in that quest, which would set up an interesting possibility. The Fiesta gets the first choice of at-large teams in the BCS this year. If Nebraska's, say, 11-2 at the end of the season, you think the Fiesta Bowl would love to have them square off against Oklahoma? 11-3. Fiesta Bowl.

10. South Carolina. I thought about eight different teams for this spot, and you could talk me into any one of them here. But I think South Carolina took a major step forward last year, even with the disappointing way the season ended for them, and you have to consider them the favorites in the SEC East. Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery give them the sort of elite offensive playmakers that the Gamecocks would usually see from Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. Jadeveon Clowney might give the Gamecocks an elite pass rusher(yes, he's only a freshman-- he might just be that good) to go with a pretty solid defensive back seven. The schedule's as friendly as SEC schedules get-- there's no Alabama or LSU. I think South Carolina takes another step forward this year. Unfortunately, it won't get them as far as a BCS game, but 11-3 with a win in the Capital One Bowl looks doable.

Next Ten: Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, TCU, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Florida, and Michigan State

[JRB]

A Few BCS and Bowl Predictions:

BCS National Title Game:

Alabama over Boise State

Rose Bowl:

Stanford over Wisconsin

Fiesta Bowl:

Oklahoma over Nebraska

Sugar Bowl:

LSU over Notre Dame

Orange Bowl:

Florida State over Syracuse

Cotton Bowl:

Texas over Mississippi State

Chick-Fil-A Bowl:

Virginia Tech over Arkansas

Capital One Bowl:

South Carolina over Ohio State

Outback Bowl:

Michigan over Tennessee

Gator Bowl:

Iowa over Georgia

Holiday Bowl:

Oklahoma State over California

Alamo Bowl:

Oregon over Texas A&M

[iam416]

Do you have Michigan and Iowa finishing ahead of Michigan State, or do you just think they'll finish close enough that those two teams will get picked over the Spartans?

[iam416]

Also, I doubt it will get much coverage, but Miami *might* be in honest-to-goodness F'd in the ass trouble. I haven't a clue whether the booster in question can substantiate his allegations -- a big if -- but good lord, if he can.

Oh, and also, I think a lot of his allegations are outside the statute of limitations. So, that may be really good news for Miami -- if he has more than just his word.