2008 College Football Thread!

ND has a VERY soft schedule. So if they suck this year, then they REALLY suck. And we can only hope

Michigan will have a VERY good D, but it will be interesting to see of they can adjust offensively.

And again, we can only hope Nebraska is still bad

Ah hell, let's do dis.

--

It’s time. We have made it through signing day. Spring ball came and went. Silly season’s police blotters can rest. Only the last few August heat burdened walkthroughs remain before young men assault their respective fields for autumnal glory. From Pacific glazed, rose hued seats to Atlantic chilled, fog encased Sebastion., from Gulf kissed Godzillatron to sky high Jonas Field. As sure as the power formation in the rust belt or the spread in the shadow of the Rockies, as sure as blue turf in Boise or touchdown Jesus. College Football has returned to hand the misses the credit card and fire up the t.v. stack.

Perhaps you will take the seat in the hallowed cathedral like your father, like your daughter. Maybe you will taste the frost from inappropriately early alcohol. You will marvel at athletes who dedicate their lives to a brief three hours during Saturday, who remind you of a youth spent or waiting. Whose helmet represents more than protective gear. It represents the unextinquishable desire for crowing achievement birthed from sweat and dedication, forged in the march of human ambition. Here in the church of our choice, we pray to Gods the Greeks couldn’t imagine and sing the praises of their rich bestowal. Here our collective mass exerts will into colliding color.

--

viro’s pre-season predictions:

The Champs:

ACC – Boston College – hyped Tigers can’t pay Toal.
Big East – Pitt – p*rn ‘stache gets another season.
Big Ten – OSU – senator is even better than the real thing.
Big 12 – Missouri – run or pass as long as there is shotgun.
Conference USA – Tulsa – Hurricane change quarterback, still high category.
Mountain West – Utah – Utes unseat Mormons.
Pac 10 – USC – Cushing return to do ton of pushing.
SEC – LSU – Snoop Dogg likes winners.
Sun Belt – Troy – home to big time dismissed players
WAC – Fresno State – second toughest non-con in Cali.

The Big Trophy:

USC – Defense wins championships. Tough schedule good late regular season BCS tie-breaker so sayeth Les Miles.

The ESPN trophy (formerly known as the Heisman):

Michael Crabtree – pass happy era due for receiver winner. Tech stud rack up obscene numbers.

Well, it's been an interesting year since this time last year for us Michigan folks. Two horriffic losses to open the season, a rain soaked loss to OSU with our starting QB and RB banged up, and a redemption of sorts vs a Florida team that, frankly, we had no business playing in the post season (and yet we BEAT OUR SEC team!! ). Then the whole retirement, the courting of Les Miles (who I would rather have seen come to Michigan...the guy sure seems to know how to beat OSU! ), and the eventual hire of Rich Rodriguez away from a fan base at WVU that was behaving much like Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction. WHEW!! What a ride!!

I will be VERY interested in how they do this year. They are green as can be at QB, though I don't necessarily buy off on the whole "he doesn't have the QB for his system" thing. The OL has talent, but they are young, devoid of experience and banged up to boot... which doesn't bode well for whomever wins the battle of the little green horn and starts at QB. That said, the D is going to be strong this year. I also feel like their level of conditioning will be improved, thanks to Mike Barwis (has anyone read about this guy...he's a VERY interesting cat!!).

I put the over/under at 8 games, before the bowl game. Key games will be #1 vs Utah, #3 at Notre Dame, the annual bru-ha-ha vs Michigan State, and of course the regular season finale in Columbus. It will, if nothing else, be an interesting season (hopefully not along the lines of the old Chinese curse).

Uhhh... how can you even say that? Last yeah we stomped them in the ACC Championship, and this year they don't even have Matt Ryan (who isn't that great anyway, IMO). I say Boston College will revert to its previously crappy state. I think the best ACC team this year will easily be us, since the ACC sucks, and we have an easy schedule. Probably our biggest competition will be Florida State again, although I'm not familiar with Nebraska.

Hawkeye fan here. Feel sorry for me.

I have to root for the home team. Go SU Orangemen!

DDDDfense and schedule my friend. Surely, a Beamer baller wouldn't forget the former. BC has best front seven in the ACC, plus they get Tech and Tigers at home. Admittedly, Clemson or VT are the safe pick, but I just had to roll the dice on a couple, otherwise yawn city.

hahaha no... its either gonna be Texas or ou... again.

I will watch your Orangemen take on my Wildcats in Evanston Saturday. Should be a beautiful day for a game.

Well, it’s that time of the year again. Fall is just around the corner in some parts of the country and, even here in the mosquito-infested bayou city swamp, a fan’s fancy turns to college football. Every team is 0-0 and optimism abounds on every campus. Athletic departments are churning out the favorable spin faster than political candidates at a convention, and every team has a Heisman winner. Let’s separate the contenders from the pretenders, shall we?

First, we start with my old buddy, virometal. He is a very modest chap, and doesn’t like to brag on his team. So I’ll do it for him. How about the offense? It’s the best in the country. Sam Bradford is a REAL Heisman candidate, and they have two great running backs. Their offensive line IS the best in the country. Their only weakness might be their defense. It may only be the 15th or 20th best defense in the country, but good luck trying to out-score them. They will be tested once or twice in the Big 12, but it says here that they will pass with flying colors. Okies, book your January flights to Miami now and stay an extra night to celebrate that championship.

So one team in the BCS “big game” is decided, but who will they play? That’s easy. Turn your TV to ABC at 7PM Central time on Saturday, September 13, and see for yourself. That’s when Ohio State plays USC in the elimination game. For the remainder of the season, everyone else will play catch up. The winner of this game will reside alone atop the BCS standings by virtue of this win (until they lose to OK). I say go with the home field Trojans in this one.

Who else gets a BCS bid? The USC-OSU loser, Missouri, Georgia, Clemson… by the way, does it really matter who wins the ACC? There are some pretty good also-rans in the SEC and Big 12 that could probably beat the ACC and Big East champs. I guess we have to give bids to these lesser conferences in order to keep them happy. We need someone to beat besides each other.

I can’t leave without throwing a bone to all the Northwestern fans. Great news… you may not be the worst team in the Big Ten. Minnesota is still in the league. And even better, you may not be the worst team in Illinois. Surely you could beat somebody among the compass schools and Illinois State. No? Milliken? No? Hmmm… does Bradley have a football team?

And finally, what’s up with my beloved Texas A&M Aggies? Well, we don’t have our village idiot, Dennis Franchionne, to kick around anymore. That’s the good news. He has been replaced by Mike Sherman, who has quietly assembled an excellent staff and put together a strong first-year recruiting class. The bad news? It’s a new system on both sides of the ball and they play in the arguably the toughest conference in the country. It could be rough sledding once they hit conference play, but one thing is certain… The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band will go undefeated at halftime!! What makes a successful year for A&M? 9 wins? Bowl game? Nah, we don’t care about that stuff… BEAT THE HELL OUTTA tu and the Tech-tards. That’s what matters.

First weekend? Do yourself a favor and tune in on Saturday night to watch Illinois at Missouri. The Illini have a young but very talented squad and this one will be closer than it looks on paper.

Orcin out.

^ Rack 'em. Can't say I appreciate the jinx though. The thought of a Sooner bowl win does get me excited. I don't care if it's in the Shreveport.

Double yup for 'zou/Zook's - one of the few decent match-ups the first weekend. How about the baby blue Davis vs the ball coach Thursday night. A border war might be fun for a half or so. First squad to find an offense wins.

I think you should of went with Wake then. Maybe it's just because I'm a die-hard Nole and have seen my team get whooped by them twice in a row, but I really think they've got a shot to win the conference again. They have concerns at oline, but that defense is real solid. I'm still going with Clemson though.

Alright, it's boring, but here we go. Stealing the style of Virometal's post-

ACC- Clemson- Tommy better not choke this one away.
Big East- WVU - White and Devine, all you need.
Big 10- OSU - Not even close.
Big 12- Oklahoma- Stoops makes good.
Pac 10- USC- 5 stars 5 deep at every position.
SEC- Florida- It hurts me but that defense will really improve look for Carlos Dunlap.

Champ: Oklahoma

Heisman- I have to pick an upset somewhere, so I'll go with Noel Devine.

I do not have any real reason to argue against any of those, with the exception of the fact that there are ALWAYS surprises in college football, and I think there will be some here. For example, it COULD end up being:

ACC: Virginia Tech
Big East: Pitt
Big 10: Wisconsin
Big 12: Mizzou
Pac 10: Cal
SEC: Tennessee

Again, I am not saying it WILL...but it COULD