I am a little late coming out with the College Football preview (thanks Business School), so here are my thoughts on Michigan State's first game (which I watched in the entirety after hockey practice):-Kirk Cousins is ready to be a 1st round draft pick next year. He's the best Quarterback we've had since Jeff Smoker and was probably better than him.
-We have a secondary! That has NEVER been a strength for us! Johnny Adams had a great game.
-I was expecting more out of William Gholston. Our defensive line and linebackers do seem to have taken a step back from last year.
-I don't know anything about our receivers. Who remembers BJ Cunningham catching that many passes? Mark Dell was our leading receiver last season? I thought he had a terrible year. Matt Trannon had the record for most receptions?
-There is no such thing as a running back controversy and I love that we have FOUR good ones. I hope Nick Bell turns into a return specialist.
-Keshawn Martin seems to lack focus at times. I don't want to see him drop easy punts anymore.
We had an easy schedule last season and we're paying for it this year. Can anyone imagine a tougher October? At Ohio State, vs. Michigan, vs. Wisconsin, @ Nebraska. If Michigan State can win 2 or 3 of those games, they should be able to close out the rest of the season undefeated.
The Rest of the Big Ten
The consensus is that Wisconsin versus Nebraska will be the inaugural Big Ten Championship game. I agree that the Badgers will be there, but people are not giving enough credit to the rest of the Big Ten. Nebraska has to face an entirely new team every week on their schedule. They are the new kid on the block and every Big Ten team will have that game circled on their schedule. I can't wait for Michigan State to play them on October 29th. Instead, I see the Wolverines making a quick comeback and winning the Legends Division. Their defense yesterday looked like a return to the old, punishing Michigan teams of the past. Through the end of October, a roadtrip to Northwestern is their only trip outside the state of Michigan (sound familiar?) They finish the season with their two toughest games, Nebraska and Ohio State, at home. Expect the Badgers to beat them handily to advance to the Rose Bowl.
The Rest of the Country
Oklahoma is returning the most talent and benefits from dropping Nebraska from their schedule. They are the consensus #1, and rightfully so. I don't like them as much as I did last season (when I projected them as one of three teams with a chance to make the BCS Championship) because I think they will continue to not show up against some of the cupcakes. Last season, they flirted with losing to Cincinnati, Air Force, and Utah State. They won those games by 2, 3, and 7 points. They are a complete lock to make a BCS game, but I'm not sure it's the Championship.
I liked Alabama to make the BCS Championship, but LSU's dominant performance over Oregon made me rethink who would win the SEC. I don't see anyone from the conference walking away undefeated. In fact, I think the conference champion will have two losses. That won't prevent them from making, and winning, the BCS Championship game. I am going to stick with Alabama.
The team that I think will have the honor of losing to the SEC team is Florida State. I think they have started to attract the level of talent they used to attract in the mid to late 90s. Since the ACC isn't held in high regard, they will likely have to go undefeated to make it there. A home game against Oklahoma, a road game against Florida to close out the season, and a likely ACC Championship Game against Virginia Tech are the only things that stand in the way of that possibility.
Conference Realignment
I heard the word "Pac 16" thrown around this morning with the possibility of Texas and Oklahoma joining the conference. I am nervous that the Big 10 might not be doing enough to keep the conference strong. Without knowing much about the conference formation process, I think the NCAA needs to do a better job of managing the process. We are definitely headed down the road toward a 4 mega-conference system, but it doesn't appear the talent level is even. If Texas and Oklahoma really do join the "Pacific 12" conference (which is a completely ridiculous name now), I see the Big 10 picking up Kansas, Missouri, Kansas State, and Iowa State. That would surely boost our basketball cred, but it doesn't do anything for making us a football conference. Instead, they should throw everyone into a hat and redistrict the conferences by geograpy. It may look a little something like this:
(Yes, I know they don't have an even number of teams...)
Midwest
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Northwestern
Iowa
Minnesota
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue
Wisconsin
Kentucky
Louisville
Cincinnati
Missouri
Notre Dame
Iowa State
West
Cal
Stanford
Oregon
Oregon State
USC
UCLA
Washington
Washington State
Arizona
Arizona State
Utah
Boise State
Colorado
Nebraska
Kansas
Kansas State
Southwest
Texas
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Baylor
Texas Tech
Texas A&M
LSU
Arkansas
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Alabama
Auburn
TCU
Southeast
Florida
Florida State
Miami
Georgia
South Carolina
Clemson
North Carolina
Duke
Wake Forest
NC State
Georgia Tech
South Florida
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
East
Penn State
Pitt
West Virgina
Virginia Tech
Maryland
Rutgers
UConn
Syracuse
Virginia
Boston College
3 comments:
You know I rely on you for college football insight, but here's how I was thinking the order would go in the Big Ten:
1) Wisconsin
2) Nebraska
3) Ohio State
4) Michigan State
5) Michigan
I'm with you on the schedule. I also think the "magic" is gone a bit. We're not underdogs anymore, and I definitely think will trip up on one or two of those games we feel like lock wins right now, just because other teams are gunning for us (Northwestern and Michigan, to name two that scare me). I think 4th place, this year, would actually be an accomplishment give how brutal our schedule is.
I think I like LSU better than Alabama, just because Alabama lost so much experience on the offensive side (McElroy, Ingram, Julio Jones). Also, what about Boise State? They should roll to an undefeated season now that they beat down Georgia. Any chance they get into the National Championship?
I don't mind the group you have for the Midwest at all. Definitely agree with Kentucky and Louisville. They are hardcore enemies of the state of Indiana already, and many recruiting battles take place between the states. They are natural fits for sure.
I think what bothers are a couple of placements. Arizona and ASU in the West, but not Southwest? Arizona is the first state I think of when you say 'southwest'! And putting Alabama, LSU, and even the Mississippi schools in the southwest doesn't feel right.
It's definitely a hard task to divide everyone up into four groups.
Perhaps the names of the conferences are bad. Look at a map and it makes sense. So much of the tradition has been damned so far, why not just go all in and make sure we're getting equally competitive conferences. I am afraid we're headed to the Pac-whatever, the SEC, and everyone else. What is CRAZY - think about three or four years ago. If you said many teams in the Pac 10 or Big 12 would be switching over from one to the other, would you have EVER guessed that it would be the Pac-10 stealing from the Big 12?! No, because the Big 12 was the 2nd best conference. They just didn't have the leadership to run the conference properly.
You're absolutely right. The Big 12 has been the far superior conference, but the $$$ just isn't there, and that's all that matters in college sports nowadays.
I still don't know how I feel about mega conferences, but it definitely appears to be heading that way.
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