Us can’t wait until college football season starts again even though the NCAA has ignored our repeated requests for a 128 team playoff, so we decided to take an early look at the top of the rankings for next year.

1. Notre Dame: Is there any doubt?  They have their own network!  They’re on national TV more than any oer thteam in the country.  You’re going to see them every weekend all year and you know what that means.  Eyeballs!

2. Florida: Even though Tim Tebow got aborted we still like the Gators to be in the mix because of their beautiful co-eds and warm weather.

3. USC: What’s changed?  With Pete Carroll in charge, this team is guaranteed to be in the mix.

4. North Carolina: Sure they weren’t good at all last year, but when we look at stats, we look at returning starters.  And UNC has a lot of returning starters.

5. Washington State: We had to be controversial somewhere, so we decided to go way off the grid.  I couldn’t name a single player on their team, but hey, they play ND so they have to be at least decent, right?  Hey, these aren’t our rankings, we’re just asking questions here.

Watch as former Auburn star Stephen Davis gives 5 star recruit Marcus Lattimore his cap as he prepares to announce his choice on signing day. The switcharoo is nice, but “Sandstorm” takes it to whole ‘nother level.

H/T SB Nation

No, this has nothing to do with actual coaching…because we all know Mack doesn’t do any of that.  This is a matchup between good and evil.  Honor and integrity vs. slimeball garbage.  No…this is more than just Mack vs. Tressel.

The stakes?

All world recruit, Jordan Hicks…a star in the making plying his trade in Ohio, but who is a native Texan who’s a lifelong Longhorn fan.  And when you throw Florida into the mix, you have a battle of the giants raging.  Today is the decision day…12:30 LeBron Standard Time.  Ohio State vs. Texas IV.

So…who ya got?

*we should throw Urban Meyer in there, but he’s taking a “leave of absence**.”
**but he’s got God doing all his recruiting for him.

PS…the kid’s going to Texas.  This post was nothing more than an outlet for me to take a subtle jab at Mack Brown.  Hopefully, he chooses the good guys over those fags in Austin, but once a fag always a fag*.
*unless he chooses OSU, which would make him the coolest evar.

I’ve long admired Pete Carroll.

While it’s fun to knock his future prospects in Seattle because of his less than stellar record with the Patriots and Jets in the 90’s, some guys just are MADE for the college game…guys like Urban Meyer and Mack Brown and Jim Tressel spring instantly to mind.  However, coaches are an interesting breed.  Some are perfectly content sticking with collegians and dealing with recruiting and the more, CEO-esque responsibilities that come outside of the professional realm, yet some, like Bob Stoops and Nick Saban, have a competitive urge that’ll put the possibility of NFL defection square in the crosshairs every time a season doesn’t go as planned by the NCAA prognostication constituency.

Pete Carroll was always a college coach at heart, and if you read the great LA Magazine piece about him authored a few years ago, you’d understand that.  But the other thing you should’ve gleaned from that article was that Carroll was one of the more competitive people in the college coaching ranks.  This move shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

But what surprises me is the timing of this move.  Not because of the inevitability of sanctions swirling around the program, but because these sanctions weren’t levied down MUCH, MUCH sooner.  I’ve long been campaigning against the fact that USC has been given a free pass by the NCAA, especially considering the well documented,  treasure trove of bullshit Reggie Bush brought down, but because USC, in both football and basketball, has DEFINED the term, “lack of institutional control,” only nobody cared.

Even though USC isn’t among the richest athletic departments in the country, and their pathetic fan base pales in comparison to the more vociferous disciples in the southeast and midwest, they got away with straight up, college program murder.  It just doesn’t make sense…schools like Texas and Florida and Ohio State generated a ton more income for their respective schools, conferences and, ultimately, the NCAA, USC was treated with kid gloves and a sideways glance.  It just didn’t matter…but before you cast judgment about my stance, after the jump, take a look at just WHAT was going on in USC during Carroll’s tenure, with an additional focus on how fucked up the basketball program was. (courtesy of Bruins Nation). Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently there was some form of Hall of Fame announcering going on today, but MLB’s attempt to out-shout us will be denied.  Buckeye Nation (Me, Spence, and NickP), be proud as we salute the greatest catches in the history of the last decade’ish of The Ohio State University (and therefore, among the greatest catches in the history of football).

The Inaugural Class of the Hall of Fame of Greatest Ohio State Buckeye Catches* is comprised of exactly three catches:  Michael Jenkins, Jake Ballard, and Anthony Gonzalez. Jenkins preserved the National Championship season.  Ballard went Air Jordan on the Ducks, leading the way to a Rose Bowl win.  Gonzalez, sacrificing himself, kicked Michigan in the teeth with an amazing catch, down 2, with 45 seconds to play.

Note: All nominees must have received a minimum 3 votes from the Official MLJ HOF Election Committee.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the uproar over Brian Billick’s critique of Tim Tebow’s NFL prospects during the Sugar Bowl broadcast last week.  College football fans all around say stuff like, “well he just dominated in a bowl game over an undefeated team and got the record for most total yards in a bowl game so he obviously doesn’t suck,” while NFL guys point out his flaws.

Before we go on, let me say that I enjoy college football a thousand times more than the NFL.  The NFL is great for watching the cream of the crop execute shit that one could only dream about, but really, it’s just a bunch of highly paid specialists seeing who can split the most hairs.  There’s no fun in the NFL, but why should there be?  It’s a fucking job, man.

Still, despite that, I can’t help but side with the objective NFL guys on this argument.  Tebow was fantastic in college, one of the ten or fifteen best I’ve ever seen in my short lifetime, but at the same time, I’m not delusional enough to think that his act is going to fly in the NFL.  Florida was successful for a variety of reasons, chiefly being that they simply had SOOOO much more talent than everyone else that winning was easy.  That talent discrepancy is void in the NFL, as even the worst team in the league, probably the Lions, Rams or Seahawks, are still better than a fictional team of All Americans by about three scores, so how is Tebow going to reap the benefit of a 10 yard bubble screen taken 70 yards by a quarkback?

He won’t.  Read the rest of this entry »

This is in response to bbryan’s well thought out post.  However, this time, it’ll be written by someone who knows what the fuck is going on and not some mouth breathing, limp wristed Oregon ass spelunker.  Onward.

1. The Running Game: Oh, you mean I’m starting with the exact same point that bbryan did?  HOW FUN!

See, here’s the biggest difference between the two running games.  Oregon’s is all about speed and flash, but unfortunately they’re facing a defense that has more than enough speed, a great scheme and depth at every position, but more on that later.  It’s an important point though, even when looking at Ohio State’s running game and here’s why…while OSU has a fantastic defense that won’t be pushed around, Oregon’s front seven is at a MASSIVE size disadvantage. Oregon’s DT’s have some decent size, but where Ohio State makes it’s hay is running off tackle, conveniently matching up three 300+ lb. behemoths against ends that max out at 250 lbs. and linebackers that are even smaller.

May I remind you that Ohio State, against fantastic run defenses in Penn State and Iowa, closed out the year with four straight games of 200 yards rushing.  Hate to break it to Oregon, but while their defense was OK against the run, they still managed to give up 223 yards to Toby Gerhart’s Stanford rushing attack that’s quite similar to Ohio State’s.  Terrelle Pryor has had some shortcomings this year, well documented ones in fact, but the one thing that was never in question was his ability to run the football, and when the attack gelled, the rushing attack was very similar to Oregon’s, only with an element of power involved.  This is the first movement in a classic Tresselballian opera. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s more American than having someone else do your work for you?  NOTHING, that’s what.  So in honor of the greatest American tradition, labor delegation, I want to cordially thank our forefathers for giving me the opportunity to dole out my responsibility while I snack on some Chex Mix and watch Youtubes of high school football players.  I’d also like to introduce commenter bbryan, a man well schooled in watching a bunch of small guys not try and tackle while looking like an emo kid’s ironic socks. So lets thank bbryan for taking the time to fall  write this post about his beloved Oregon Ducks football team’s chances of beating the glorious Ohio State Buckeyes in the Grandaddy.

1. The running game: The Ducks have one of the best running games in the nation with a +96 ypg above their opponents’ defensive season averages. Despite being limited to 11 carries in the first two games, LaMichael James finished 7th in the nation in rushing yards. He is the quickest back Ohio State will have faced all year. Between the frenetic no huddle offense Oregon plays and having to chase James around for 3 quarters, the defensive line will be sucking wind just in time for Oregon to go into beast mode with some Blount force trauma. Oregon will run for 200+ as they have in 9 of their last 10 games.

2. Terrelle Pryor: Pryor will be real good someday, but he’s not right now. Eddie Pleasant and his 4.36 speed will keep Pryor from getting to the edge just as he did against Jake Locker. The Ducks will commit to stopping the run until Pryor proves he can beat them with his arm. This is bad news for Ohio State as Pryor hasn’t shown he can consistently make defenses pay. While Posey and Sanzenbacher are nice threats and will probably make a play or two, there will be too many 3rd down throws that sail 15 yards over his targets head. Plus he’s good for a turnover or two. And if you think having an over-weight offensive line will get it done just ask USC how it worked out for them. As soon as Barkley quit making plays down the field the rout was on. If Pryor can’t force Oregons’ safeties back into coverage the Buckeyes won’t get into the 30s, which is what it will take to win this game. Read the rest of this entry »

OK, lets see…you’ve had the most successful football program of the past four years, was treated to weekly performances by one of the all time great individual players, have two national championships and a team that reloads as well as any other school in the country.  You’d think a team of with this description would have no problem filling their ticket allotment for their Sugar Bowl appearance, right?

Not so fast, my friend.

“We have about 5,000 to go (to sell out),” said Mark Gajda, UF’s assistant athletic director of ticket operations.

Gajda said he thinks ticket sales have been slow for two reasons: the Gators’ disappointing loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game and the sagging economy.

Interest in the Sugar Bowl has been lukewarm from a Gator fan base that was hoping (maybe expecting) its team to be in the BCS Championship Game in Pasadena on Jan. 7. It is reflected in the ticket sales.

“People really had their hearts set on the BCS Championship Game,” Gajda said. “When we didn’t make it, it was a little downer in some peoples’ minds and they’re simply not going (to the Sugar Bowl).

Awww…poor little Gator fans didn’t get your precious little BCS Championship Game appearance.

OSU fans snatched up 10,000 tix in 10 minutes to see their flawed, 2 loss team play in a meaningless bowl game against a tradition-less opponent that besmirches everything that’s good and honorable about college football.  What’s your excuse Florida Gator Nation?

Oh, you’re a bunch of faggoty bandwagoners.  I see.  Carry on.

Blah blah…Brian Kelly…blah blah…Notre Dame.

Enjoy the ass raping in the Sugar Bowl, Cincinnati, it’s the last time you’ll be relevant as a football program again.  “Best team in Ohio” my pale ass.  Get the fuck out of here with that noise, you bunch of midget lineman, no defense playing fah go’s.

(Image H/T: Eleven Warriors)