College Football National Preview- Week 1

I’m going to try something new for this season. Along with a Notre Dame preview each week and occasional Big 10 posts, I’m also going to do a quick preview of each week’s big games and pick a winner for those and games with Indiana teams.

Even though there are 17 games Thursday night (which is unbelievable) and five Friday night, the real kick off is on Saturday.  Can you guess which two teams are first to play on Saturday? Come on, if you know me, you can get this right. It’s Notre Dame and Navy! The two teams are playing in Ireland and the game begins at 9:00 a.m. EST. I wonder if the bars will open early in South Bend.

 After that early skirmish, there’s a huge showdown in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. The Penn State Nittany Lions began a new chapter in the history of Penn State when they take the field without Joe Paterno on the sidelines. It will be a day of renewal for the players, fans, coaches, and everybody involved with Penn State and the scandal that will forever plague the program. On the flip side, the Nittany Lions opponents are looking to get a win just as badly. The Ohio Bobcats finished 10-4 last year and are looking to go undefeated and get to a BCS Bowl. If they out of Beaver Stadium with a win, they should have smooth sailing to the end of the season. This is the game I am dying to see because I don’t view either team as a clear favorite. I think Ohio is the better team on paper, but Beaver Stadium is going to be electric with 100,000+ screaming fans cheering on their team.

If you’re going to take some time to enjoy your Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, you can do that at 3:30 because there aren’t any intriguing games happening. Unless of course you’re a fan of Purdue but they should be able to handle Eastern Kentucky. The big game on Saturday is a huge showdown between #2 Alabama and #8 Michigan at 8:00 p.m. These are two of the most prestigious programs in the country and Alabama starts the season as the reigning national champions. Michigan will put points on the board with their quarterback Denard Robinson, but not enough to win the game. Plus, don’t forget that Alabama has a pretty good offense too.

Picks for this weekend. Winner in bold.

Thursday: #9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt. Eastern Michigan at Ball State.

Friday: Tennessee at North Carolina State. #24 Boise State at #13 Michigan State.  San Jose State at #21 Stanford

Saturday: Notre Dame vs. Navy. Ohio at Penn State. Eastern Kentucky at Purdue. #14 Clemson vs. Auburn. #8 Michigan vs. #2 Alabama. Indiana State at Indiana.

Sunday: Kentucky at #25 Louisville

Monday: Georgia Tech at #16 Virginia Tech

UPDATE: How about getting off to a great start? I went 13-0 with my picks for Week 1.

College Football is Back!

            You can call it laziness or a lack of determination, either way, I feel awful that I have not posted ONCE since the end of May. It’s not like nothing has been happening in the world of sports. For the Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Luck’s talent is threatening to make Peyton Manning a second class citizen in Indy. The Pacers have shook up the lineup for their 2012 campaign with the addition of two rookies and some veteran players. The Indianapolis Indians have won their division and are looking to make some noise in the playoffs next week. Last weekend, the Moto GP boys were in town and this weekend is the NHRA U.S. Nationals.

            Oh, and don’t forgot about the kickoff of COLLEGE FOOTBALL!! Yes, it is finally back! It’s a whole new season with new players, new teams, and new conferences. Obviously, college football is one of my favorite sports to watch and to write about. Here’s a breakdown of all the major conferences and my prediction of who will win each.

ACC

Atlantic Division: Boston College, #14 Clemson, #7 Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State, Wake Forest

Coastal Division: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, #16 Virginia Tech

Rundown: The ACC is typically a basketball conference powerhouse, but it enters 2012 with several great football teams that have a lot of talent. Obviously, Florida State, Clemson, and Virginia Tech are primed to make a run for a national championship. You should also keep an eye on North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, and Virginia. Virginia impressed me last year with a couple big wins. I’m anxious to see if they can have success this year too.

My pick: Florida State and Virginia Tech win their division and Florida State wins the conference championship.

Big 12

Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, #22 Kansas State, #4 Oklahoma, #19 Oklahoma State, #20 TCU, #15 Texas, Texas Tech, #11 West Virginia

Rundown: For all the long time college football fans, it’s a bit shocking to see new members TCU and West Virginia. Those two really bolster the strength of this conference. This is a conference long dominated by Texas and Oklahoma so it will be interesting to see if the two new kids on the block can hold their own against the big boys.

My pick: Oklahoma will lose a few games but it will come out on top. Texas, TCU, and West Virginia are good teams, but they don’t have as much talent as Oklahoma does. Underdog Kansas State comes in a close second.

Big East

Cincinnati, Connecticut, #25 Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple

Rundown: Enjoy this easy to understand conference while you can, because next year it gets crazy as it grows to a 12-team, cross country jumble of mediocre teams. (You know your conference is in trouble when you don’t have and state universities).

My pick: This is without a doubt the hardest conference to predict because the teams are so equal. I’ll go with South Florida just because I’m feeling crazy.

Big Ten

Legends Division: Iowa, #8 Michigan, #13 Michigan State, Minnesota, #17 Nebraska, Northwestern

Leaders Division: Illinois, Indiana, #18 Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, #12 Wisconsin

Rundown: This is a conference that has to be ready for the season to begin. Penn State is starting brand new after the scandal that encompassed the entire school led to the firing of Joe Paterno. Ohio State and Illinois are beginning the season with new coaches. It will be interesting how Ohio State and Penn State play this season, because neither are eligible to win the conference and play in any bowl games after the season. That leaves the door open to Illinois and Purdue to chase Wisconsin for the Leaders Division title. The Legends Division is wide open with four teams that all have the potential to win.

My picks: Iowa and Michigan will be the top two in the Legends Division but Michigan beats them in the head to head matchup. Wisconsin wins their division and Purdue finishes a surprising second.  Michigan defeats Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game and goes on to play in the Rose Bowl.

Pac- 12

North Division: California, #5 Oregon, Oregon State, #21 Stanford, Washington, Washington State

South Division: Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, UCLA, #1 USC, Utah

Rundown: This is a two-horse show. USC and Oregon are two of the best teams in the country and the only two in this conference that have a shot at a national championship. The biggest concern for USC is depth. Since they were penalized by the NCAA a few years ago, they still don’t have the same number of scholarship athletes that other teams have. If any of their starters gets injured, there may not be a reliable replacement.

My pick: Oregon and USC win their divisions. In their head to head matchup in the regular season, Oregon wins a very close game. In the conference championship game, Oregon wins again.

SEC

East Division: #23 Florida, #6 Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, #9 South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

West Division: #2 Alabama, #10 Arkansas, Auburn, #3 LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M

Rundown: The ego of SEC fans grows more and more every year. Last year, Alabama defeated LSU in the national championship game to win the conference’s sixth straight title. Those two teams are back and have more than enough talent to go for a seventh title. Arkansas will also look to make some noise, but a coaching change during the offseason may hurt them. In the East, Georgia and South Carolina return as the favorites. Their game in early October will likely determine the winner of the East.

My pick: Alabama finishes undefeated with Arkansas finishing second in the West. I’m going with South Carolina to win the East, but it’ll be close. Alabama wins the conference championship and will play for the national championship.

Non-AQ’s

Don’t expect Boise State to climb the rankings and shock the world this year. The team that has the best shot at that is the Ohio Bobcats from the MAC. The won the MAC Championship last year, won a bowl game, and finished 10-4.

Sprint Cup Series Half-Way to the Chase

            We are halfway to the beginning of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship and I think it’s safe to say there are no favorites. Even though Roush Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Bifle are 1-2 in the standings, they have only combined to win two races. Denny Hamlin sits in fourth place and has won twice but he has been so inconsistent the entire season that it’s hard to imagine him putting together 10 great races in the Chase. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie take the third and fifth place spots. Those are two drivers that I would be worried about if I was a Roush driver. The other two at Hendrick, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, are also two that can get into the Chase. Both got off to rough starts but Kahne won the Coke 600 a couple of weeks ago and Gordon has been so close to winning but something out of his control always ruins it.

Points standings after Dover:

1) Greg Bifle

2) Matt Kenseth

3) Dale Earnhardt Jr.*

4) Denny Hamlin

5) Jimmie Johnson*

6) Martin Truex Jr.

7) Kevin Harvick*

8) Tony Stewart*

9) Kyle Busch

10) Clint Bowyer

11) Brad Keselowski*

12) Carl Edwards*

13) Ryan Newman

14) Kasey Kahne*

15) Paul Menard

16) Joey Logano

17) Aric Almirola

18) Jeff Burton

19) Marcos Ambrose*

20) Juan Pablo Montoya

21) Jeff Gordon

22) Jamie McMurray

23) AJ Allmendinger*

24) Mark Martin

25) Regan Smith*

*-Drivers I picked before the season as “Drivers to Watch”

           

Next 6 races:

6/10- Pocono

6/17- Michigan

6/24- Sonoma

6/30- Kentucky

7/7- Daytona

7/15- Loudon

            
          The first segment of the summer season for NASCAR is probably one of the more boring stretches in the season. This year could be completely different though. Pocono and Michigan have both been resurfaced since last year’s races. Testing done earlier in the season at the two tracks saw much higher speeds than ever before. Plus, the Pocono race has been shortened by 40 laps. Kentucky’s inaugural race was a snoozer and the biggest story that came from that weekend was the parking debacle that led to thousands of fans being stranded miles from the track. Hopefully teams learned enough from last year’s race that they’ll be able to set their cars up to make it easier to pass. Sonoma, Daytona, and Loudon are always exciting.

            With just 13 races left before the Chase, the time has come for drivers from about 15^th on back to start going for wins instead of just racing for points. Remember, after the last race before the Chase, drivers from 1^st-10^th are in the Chase. The final two spots are given to the drivers in 11^th-20^th that have the most wins. If the Chase started right now, those two would be Brad K. and Ryan Newman. Brad has two victories and Newman has one. Kahne also has won win but he is behind Newman in the points standings.

            Nobody else from 10^th back has any wins. If anybody is going to change that and make a charge to get into the Chase, it’s going to be Jeff Gordon. The four-time champ has been so close to winning several times this season, only to have something out of his control end up ruining his race. Gordon had a big lead late in the race at Martinsville, but a caution came out and led to a green-white-checkered finish. On that restart, Clint Bowyer dove underneath Gordon and slammed him into the wall. At Dover, Gordon had one of the strongest cars and was leading when one of his tires became loose because his tire changer didn’t’ get all the lug nuts tightened. Gordon is just about the only driver in the garage that has the talent and experience to overcome these misfortunes and still make the Chase.

            I would also keep an eye on Marcos Ambrose. The Australian made a living in his native country dominating on road courses and won at Watkins Glen in 2011. He could easily win both road course races before the Chase and clinch a spot for the postseason. I’m also anxious to see if my driver, AJ Allmendinger, can string together great finishes like his teammate Brad Keselowski did last summer. At the same time last year, Brad was in 21^st and just won a fuel-mileage race at Kansas. He then went on to win twice more and finished 5^th in the final points standings. The Dinger has the talent to do it, but does he have the crew chief? That’s what concerns me. Finally, Carl Edwards tied for the Sprint Cup Championship last year but has not even come close to even winning a race this year. He has the talent and the team, much like Jeff Gordon, to rally and win some races.

Pacers and Racers

I took this while at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a couple weeks ago. Pacers flag and a green flag at the greatest race course in the world. Awesome.

            
          There was an incredible moment a few weeks ago when all was perfect in central Indiana. The Indianapolis 500 activities were under way and the Indiana Pacers were battling the Miami Heat in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. I was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for most of that time but I can’t believe all the Pacers gear I saw people wearing. Never had I seen the amount of pride on display at IMS than I had for that one week.

As a native Hoosier, let me tell you that nothing means more to us than basketball and racing. As small of a state we are, we have a heck of a lot of history that is important to both sports. Our racing heritage goes all the way back to 1911 when the first Indianapolis 500 was run. Ever since that day, millions have come to Indianapolis to celebrate the greatest race in the world. In basketball, there may be varying opinions of when our mark was made in basketball. In 1932, Indiana-born John Wooden led the Purdue Boilermakers to the 1932 NCAA Championship. That would be the first collegiate championship for Purdue, but not the last as Indiana University would go on to win five more throughout the years. In 1954, a small high school from Milan, Indiana won the state high school championship. Their story is portrayed in a movie you may have heard of, called “Hoosiers”.

            It’s been a rocky few years for the Indy 500 and condition of basketball in Indiana, but now it seems like both are on the rise. The sanctioning body of the “500”, IndyCar, has struggled to gain popularity and fan support ever since the late 90’s. Just a couple of years ago, many thought the death of open-wheel in America was nearing. Although the league is nowhere near the same level of popularity as NASCAR, it is improving and could very well become the more popular series in the coming years. As for basketball, it all starts and ends with the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers have struggled to win games and fan support ever since the retirement of Reggie Miller in 2005.

           

IndyCar is on the rise, not just in Indiana, but across America. TV ratings increased in 2011 from 2010, and they are even higher this year.  Although the number of people tuning into races is measly compared to the NFL or even NASCAR, at least the numbers are going up and not down. There was a lot of momentum built after last year’s thrilling Indianapolis 500 but much of it was lost after the death of Dan Wheldon. This year’s “500” was even better. It was just what IndyCar needed, especially after the dominance of Chevrolet and Penske. What IndyCar really needs is Dario Franchitti to win a couple of more races and set up a Chevrolet/Honda and Penske/Ganassi showdown.

The Pacers have finally removed themselves from the “bunch of thugs” label that they were given after the Brawl in Detroit. They made it to the playoffs last year and this year they finished with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. In the 2012 playoffs they made it to the second round but were defeated by the Miami Heat (who have two of the Top 10 players in the world on their roster). The Pacers may not win a championship in the next three to four years, but they will be one of the best teams in the NBA. They have a young team and a young coach that are hungry and determined to prove that you don’t need superstars to be successful.

            There’s also another basketball team in Indiana that’s pretty popular, the Indiana University Hoosiers. You may have seen a short clip of what happened during the Indiana Hoosier’s season last year. After beating the #1 Kentucky Wildcats on a last-second shot, hundreds of fans and students rushed the court and celebrated. After that victory, the rally cry of “we’re back!” could be heard and seen everywhere. The Hoosiers made it to the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they again would face the Wildcats. Although the Wildcats soundly defeated the Hoosiers, there is no doubt that the Hoosiers will be even stronger in 2012. Cody Zeller, one of the best freshmen in the country last year, will be back for his sophomore season. Coach Tom Crean was also able to bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the nation to help cement success in the future.