College Football

[TheBigMook]

They still have no schools in NYC.

[Owlman]

Texans are where I thought they would be at this point, 4-3. I had them losing to Pitts, Balt and NO while beating Oak, Miami, Indy (with Manning) and Tenn.

I had them going 10-6 on the year, 5-1 in the division (losing one to Indy on the road-with Manning), losing to Atlanta (at home), and Tampa Bay on the road while beating Cincinnati, Cleveland and Carolina.

I now think they can go 6-0 in the division but with losses at home to Atlanta, on the road at Cincinnati and potentially losses to both Tampa Bay and Carolina which would leave them 9-7 but still winning the division.

[TheBigMook]

Well Fordham is going to offer scholarships for its 1AA football team. That's just a hop skip and a jump from 1A! I think we have our WVU replacement, Big East!

[sardis]

No way! UNCC starts their football program in 2013....

[TheBigMook]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... all-league

What a clusterfluck.

Why would Louisville be the lynchpin to keeping BCS status?

[Hizzy III]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... all-league

What a clusterfluck.

Why would Louisville be the lynchpin to keeping BCS status?

Best overall revenue generator of the group? Otherwise, I don't really know. Anyway, the logistics of 28-32 team league are too complicated for any TV network to want to really invest in the league, and if you can't get any money from TV revenues, then what's the point? The Big East would be best served to look at merging with C-USA--not all schools but some, like Memphis, East Carolina, Houston, SMU and Central Florida. You'd have some kind of a foot hold in a couple of Top 10 TV markets such as D-FW and Houston to go along with your NY/NJ market and the Tampa/St. Pete market.

So...

Central Florida
Cincinnati
Connecticut
East Carolina
Houston
Louisville
Memphis
Rutgers
SMU
South Florida

Maybe you grab Navy and some MWC team like Air force or Boise State (or even both) to make it a full twelve-team league. Right now, Cincinnati and Houston (and maybe South Florida) appear to be the league's future in football. If Boise State and/or Air Force come along, then you'd have a solid (not great but solid) football conference, IMO.

[AlabamAlum]

Wonder where UAB figures into this mess.

[Hizzy III]

Here's our atempt at a Top 25. Take it for what you will.

1. LSU: based on the schedule alone (Auburn, Florida, Oregon, West Virginia). The Tigers also seem to be getting better and better on offense, and when you combine it with the defense...

2. Alabama: The Tide's win at Happy Valley a month ago is looking a bit more impressive. On the other hand, a couple of slow starts as of late could prove to be dangerous next weekend versus the Tigers. Either way, something's going to give.

3. Stanford: Andrew Luck and the offense get all the credit but they've got a few haymakers on defense. Teams that run the ball consistently and defend tend to have a lot of success (well, duh!). Having a QB like Luck makes it all championship grade. Potentially, that is.

4. Oklahoma State: Two things to note: 1) the Cowboys are running the ball better than expected in 2011, and 2) their defense is actually competent. Not great. And probably not good enough to lead them to the BCS title game. But maybe good enough to get past Oklahoma finally.

5. Clemson: Although, you have to wonder about their schizoid defense. Sure, there are playmakers, and they make plays when they're absolutely needed, but giving up 73 points in their last two games has to be a red flag, right?

6. Boise State: Will know a little bit more about Boise after they've taken on TCU and San Diego State. Meanwhile, last week's surprising shootout with Air Force was a bit disconcerting. Notre Dame and Navy had no problems at all scoring on the Falcons, and while Boise put up a solid 34 points, the offense just didn't seem to flow all that well. Not only that, but the Falcons found a few holes in that defense. Of course, there hasn't been anyone worth a damn since the Georgia game on Boise's schedule to even come close to exposing anything. But there it is.

7. Oregon: Even without LaMichael James, the Ducks offense continues to dominate. The win over ASU a couple of weeks ago was a solid one and probably gave the Ducks a bit more of their confidence back after they seemed to fall to pieces in their only other Top 25 showdown (granted, it was with #1 LSU but still...)

8. Kansas State: The Wildcats have wins over Baylor, Miami, Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech. A very good resume for an undefeated team. Consider that they opened the season with a 10-7 win at home over EASTERN KENTUCKY. That's right. EKU. It just goes to show...

9. Arkansas: The Hogs are succeptible on defense and it's already cost them (no prayer of stopping Alabama in Tuscaloosa several weeks ago). That said, when you can score like they can, you're still a hot bet to come away with the W. Unfortunately, the Razorbacks still have that date with LSU...

10. Michigan State: Sure, they won on a hail mary, and yeah, it looked like another quarter of footbal was going to doom Sparty against the Badgers, but there are only four quarters in regulation and it's not MSU's fault that Wisky decided to blow off two of them for whatever reason. Besides, the Spartans really do have a good defense.

The rest...

11. Wisconsin
12. Oklahoma
13. Nebraska
14. Virginia Tech
15. Texas A&M
16. South Carolina
17. Michigan
18. Texas Tech
19. USC
20. Houston
21. Arizona St.
22. Cincinnati
23. Georgia
24. Penn St.
25. Southern Mississippi

[Jungle Rat]

WVU to the Big 12 has been put on hold. Guess they actually visited Morgantown.

[eCat]

According to the New York Times, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is lobbying to the president of the University of Oklahoma and a former senator to get Louisville in the Big 12, and that’s holding things up with West Virginia’s move. Yesterday, it appeared the deal was done for the Mountaineers to leave the Big East. Now, people with knowledge of the situation told the Times that it’s a 50-50 shot between West Virginia and Louisville for which school joins the conference.

McConnell is a U of L grad and a self-proclaimed “die hard Louisville football fan.” The five-term Republican leader is not a very popular man in West Virginia right now.

[BigRedMan]

[eCat]

that's funny, I was watching that Saints game and I told my son - that guy acts like he is standing in line at Burger King

[Owlman]

What the fuck does McConnell have to do with this? He's Kentucky and Oklahoma is a state school. Unless he's promising the Board of regents money, the tell him to fuck off. Just plain bullshit, imo.

[eCat]

I wish someone would smash that pancake face in the mouth.

I hate McConnel

[TheBigMook]

Damn all gentleman!

[Bklyn]

It's one thing to have a photog catch you mid sentence, or not paying attention to the camera while engrossed in a conversation, but to sit for photo like this...



makes him look like a dolt-like character from an early 80s sitcom.

[TheBigMook]

You leave Max Wright out of this!

[Jungle Rat]

Looks like he just shit his pants and knows it.

[Hizzy III]

LMFAO @ BRM.

Me and my boys had a running bet earlier this year as to when Caldwell's expression was finally going to change. FTR, I did catch Caldwell actually frowning after a particularly inept play versus the Bucs a couple of weeks ago. He even let out a "damnit" at the end of it.

Won myself $20.

[TheBigMook]

Fun quiz for everyone!

http://local.cincinnati.com/quiz/quiz.aspx?qid=267