2011 College Football Preview

            College football is here. Finally, after all the off-season drama, scandals, firings, and suspension, it is time for the players to get on the field. It’s time for the marching bands to march onto the field. It’s time for thousands of tailgaters to fire up their grills. It’s time for fans, students, and alumni to pack into their churches they call stadiums.

            
            Last season, Cam Newton led the Auburn Tigers to a national championship by beating the Oregon Ducks. This year, Newton is gone and Auburn is not expected to return to the BCS Championship game. The Ducks have a good shot at returning though. Running back LaMichael James, the leading rusher last season, returns to the explosive offense of Chip Kelly (no relation to Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly).  How explosive was that offense? Check out these scores: 72-0, 69-0, 60-13, and 53-16. #3 Oregon will have to be ready immediately; their first game will be against the #4 LSU Tigers Saturday night.

              PAC-12

            Challenging Oregon for the new PAC-12 title will be the #7 Stanford Cardinal and their godsend of a quarterback, Andrew Luck. Even though the Cardinal lost head coach Jim Harbaugh, Luck is the greater asset. Luck is not only the leading Heisman Trophy (an award given to the best player at the end of the season) candidate but is the projected number one pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. I watched two games of Andrew Luck’s last year and the guy is hard to stop. He’s not gonna beat you by running all over the field or throwing it deep, he’s gonna beat you by being smart.

           

           
            Big 12

            Just east of the PAC-12 is the badly maligned Big 12. Two schools left the conference over the summer and Texas A&M has already said they will leave after the 2011 season. The Big 12 (currently 10 schools) all play in one division and will not have a conference championship. This creates a race between the top two teams coming into the season, #1 Oklahoma and #9 Oklahoma State; Bedlam indeed. The Oklahoma Sooners return QB Landry Jones and WR Ryan Browles. Both of these players were at the top of their positions’ statistical leader boards last season and they should be even better this year. The Oklahoma State Cowboys have Justin Blackmon. He’s a dynamic wide receiver that can catch any ball thrown to him.

           
           
             SEC

            The Southeastern Conference has won the BCS Championship the last five seasons with 4 different teams. This is the best conference in America. It is home to the best players and the best teams. (As well as the most lenient guidelines to be admitted into the school and full of scandals but that’s a different story for a different day).

            
            There are eight SEC teams currently ranked in the Top 25: #2 Alabama, #4 LSU, #12 South Carolina, #15 Arkansas, #19 Georgia, #20 Mississippi State, #22 Florida, #23 Auburn. Alabama is a definite contender. They have an outstanding defense and even better running back Trent Richardson. The Crimson Tide has a new starting quarterback, but the rest of the team has enough talent to compensate for that.

            
            LSU and South Carolina are always unknowns. Both teams always come into the season with a high ranking, and then win a game in which they’re underdogs, and finally lose to a team they should beat. For example, last season the South Carolina Gamecocks beat then #1 Alabama, then lost to Kentucky the next week.  I’ve been high on the Gamecocks for awhile and I think they’ll be the best team in the SEC East. Quarterback Stephen Garcia, who has struggled to be a great quarterback and leader, won’t need to be a game changer while offensive weapons Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jefferson are on the field.

           
            Eight LSU Tigers have been suspended because of a bar fight. It’ll be interesting to see how the team plays Saturday night against the #3 Oregon Ducks. If they can win that game then I will take them seriously as contenders.

            
            ACC

            There are really only two teams that even have dreams of reaching the national title game in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Those two are the #13 Virginia Tech Hokies and #6 Florida State Seminoles. I feel like people are obligated to rank the Hokies in the Top 25 every year. Seriously, what have the Hokies done in the past 10 years to make anybody think they have a chance to win anything? The Florida State Seminoles are expected to not only win the ACC but to win a BCS game. I’m not seeing it happen. They lost starting quarterback Christian Ponder and didn’t seem too dominant last season. Supposedly, they have a strong defense and good replacement quarterback.

           
            Big East

            The Big East is hands down the deepest and most dominant league in college basketball, the complete opposite of college football. Not one team finished in the Top 25 at the end of the 2010 season. The Big East Champion, UConn, got demolished by TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. This conference has A LOT of work to do if they’re expecting to be taken seriously. All the teams are pretty equal, nobody is gonna win a national championship, but nobody’s gonna go winless.

           
            Big 10

            I’ve already done a full preview for the new look Big 10. Check it out here:

http://basementball.blogspot.com/2011/08/2011-big-ten-football-preview.html

My predictions:

PAC 12: Oregon will represent the North Division and Utah the South Division. Oregon will win the game and play in the Rose Bowl.

Big 12: Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. will be the leading teams all season. When the two teams meet the final weekend in December it will ultimately decide who wins the conference championship. The Oklahoma Sooners win that game and then play for the national title.

SEC: Alabama and South Carolina will represent the East and West divisions. Alabama will win the game and go on to win the national championship. South Carolina plays in the Sugar Bowl.

ACC: Florida St. wins the conference and plays in the Orange Bowl.

Big East: I could probably pick just as well if I put all the names in a hat and drew one out. I’ll go with the South Florida Bulls winning the conference and playing in the Orange Bowl.

Big 10: Nebraska will represent the new Legends division, and Wisconsin will represent the Leaders. Wisconsin wins the conference championship game in Indianapolis and goes on to the play in the Rose Bowl.

Orange Bowl: South Florida vs. Florida State

Sugar Bowl: South Carolina vs. Notre Dame

Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs. Oregon

Fiesta Bowl: Boise St. vs. Oklahoma State

BCS National Championship: Alabama vs. Oklahoma

2011 Big Ten Football Preview

The new Big Ten Logo with its two divisions

            
            The Big Ten has been through a very tumultuous time since the 2010 season ended. There have been coaches hired, coaches fired, and new schools added.

                
            The University of Nebraska has been added to the previously 11-team roster. Yes, the Big Ten has 12 teams (and the Big 12 has ten teams). This let the conference divide into two divisions for all sports, the “Leaders” and “Legends”. The Leaders are: Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin. The Legends are: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern. A lot of people are all hung up on the Big Ten having 12 members, as well as the division names. My thought is that they are just fine and people should find better things to worry about.

                
            The all-mighty Ohio State University has fallen from their perch at the top of the Big Ten. It was discovered in December of 2010 that players were selling their game worn jerseys and memorabilia for tattoos and cash. It was made even worse because head coach Jim Tressel knew about it. A lot went down between the NCAA and OSU, including numerous sanctions. Eventually Tressel resigned and quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who was supposed to be back this season, declared for the draft. Ohio State is now forced to find a new quarterback and hope their new coach can fix the disaster Tressel started.

Jim Tressel. The one in the sweater vest.

                
            Ohio State’s biggest rival, Michigan, also hired a new coach. Brady Hoke, a former football player at Michigan, was brought in to replace Rich Rodriguez. Rodriguez struggled for all three years to produce a talented team and connect with fans and alumni. Hoke inherits a defense that horrible last season, but has quarterback Denard Robinson at his disposal.

                
            Another coaching change occurred when Indiana University fired Bill Lynch and acquired Kevin Wilson. Wilson was the offensive coordinator for Oklahoma State’s recently spectacular offense. Wilson had an odd incident at a radio show in Indianapolis this week. The talk show hosts were poking fun at Indiana University and its struggling football when Wilson just snapped on them. Some see it as a man defending his new team; some see it as a man with anger issues. The people in Bloomington just like guys with anger issues I guess.

Here’s a preview for the 2011 season, with each team in the position I’ll think they’ll finish the season. The team’s 2010 record is in parenthesis.

Leaders

#10 Wisconsin Badgers (11-2)- Transfer quarterback Russell Wilson was a three-year starter at North Carolina State and fills the major hole that was in Wisconsin’s offense for this season. Wisconsin brings back stud running backs Montee Ball and James White. 
UPDATE 8/26/2011- I forgot to mention this but the Badgers are my pick to win the Big 10 Championship.

Purdue (4-8) - I hate hate hate Purdue, but this is my surprise team. They faced dozens of injuries all season long, and eventually lost their best running back, best wide receiver, and best quarterback. By the end of the season, they had used four quarterbacks throughout the season. If they can stay healthy, they’ll be dangerous.

Illinois (7-6) -There can’t be a harder team to predict how they will perform in the Big Ten then these guys. Their record the past five seasons: 7-6, 3-9, 5-7, 9-4, 2-10. So if the pattern continues (losing season, winning season, average season, losing season, and winning season) the Illini should have a mediocre season. Mediocrity has sadly become the norm under head coach Ron Zook. He is very similar to Notre Dame’s former coach Charlie Weis. They bring in top players but can’t ever get the most out of them.

#16 Ohio State (12-1) - It just doesn’t seem possible for the Buckeyes to recover from the turmoil of the past 6 or so months. They have a new coach and quarterback, and will be missing four of their key players because of suspension for the first five weeks of the season. When those players do come back it’ll take a while to get them incorporated into the system and up to speed.

#25 Penn State (7-6) - The Nittany Lions are ALWAYS over-hyped. They beat three absolutely horrible teams (i.e. Temple, Indiana State, and Youngstown State) at home, and then get blown out when they finally play a decent team. This year they don’t have any hype, so maybe they’ll be good.

Indiana (5-7) - The Indiana Hoosiers have a new coach this season, Kevin Wilson. That’s about all that matters really. Oh, and basketball season is less than five months away!

Legends

#11 Nebraska (10-4) - The Cornhuskers are the new kids on the block. They also bring one of the richest histories of any college football program and should fit right in with Ohio State and Michigan. Nebraska has the always dangerous Taylor Martinez at quarterback and two All-Americans on defense.

#17 Michigan State (11-2) - Senior quarterback Kirk Cousins is hoping to make this season even more special for the Spartans. Last year Sparty had a great year and finished 11-1 before losing to Alabama 49-7. The Spartans also bring back their best rusher so their offense should be very potent.

Northwestern (7-6) - You can’t but like the Wildcats. Northwestern is an academic school and seems like one of the few schools left that pushes academics over athletics. The Wildcats were doing great until their quarterback Dan Persa got injured, losing their final three games without him. He’ll be the starting QB this season and whenever he’s on the field he gives Northwestern a decisive advantage.

Michigan (7-6) - As mentioned, Michigan has a new coach, and a new offensive scheme. This new offense is going to rely more on the run, as opposed to the previous “Spread” formation. The Spread is what quarterback Denard Robinson excelled in so it’ll be interesting, and to Michigan’s advantage, if he can succeed in the new offense.

 Iowa (8-5) - There wasn’t a lot of information on how the Hawkeyes will do this year. They will have running back Marcus Cooker back who took over the position midway through the season. Cooker is expected to have a huge year because four of the offensive linemen from last season are back.

Minnesota (3-9) - Even less info was found on the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Maybe I should start making up my own information? How would anybody know I was lying? Just kidding. The Gophers have a new head coach, Jerry Kill, who was the coach for Northern Illinois. Kill is a guy that likes to pound defenses with a strong running game. According to Minnesota running back, MarQueis Gray, “this is the type of offense that we need.' It makes everybody on our offense salivate."

               

            Sports Illustrated writer Stewart Mandel has the Big Ten finishing as followed:

Leaders: Wisconsin, Penn State, Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois

Legends: Nebraska, Mich. State, Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan, Minnesota

                
            So we’ll see after the season who’s smarter, me, or the guy that gets paid to know everything about college football.

                
            Looking at these previews the common theme for about every team is quarterback. Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Indiana all have new quarterbacks. Northwestern, Michigan State, and Michigan retain their dynamic QB’s. Quarterback is probably the most important position of any on a football team, but in the wide-open Big Ten race, a great QB can be the difference between Big Ten Champion and Big Ten Contender.

               

                
            The Big Ten released a statement today saying that the league is not interested in expansion now “or at any time in the foreseeable future, barring a significant shift in the current intercollegiate athletic landscape.” This comes in result to last summer’s mad dash of schools leaving conferences, and recent talks of Texas A&M possibly joining the SEC. Many speculate that if expansion does occur, it would involve Missouri and Pittsburgh; perhaps even Notre Dame.