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 He has been replaced by Mike Sherman, who has quietly assembled an excellent staff and put together a strong first-year recruiting class.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.
