College Football 365

Grab Bag Time!

2009-11-24T16:08:00.008-05:00

I'm sure my millions of readers world wide have noticed that CFB365 has been a little slow lately. Well, more like a lot slow. Truth is I've been incredibly busy lately. Contrary to popular belief, I do in fact have a life. And since I can't find a competent co-writer for this blog, when I have little downtime, this illustrious site suffers.

Since I've been M.I.A. for a while, I thought it would be nice to throw a bunch of crap together in one single post. There's really no rhyme or reason to any of this, just a bunch of random thoughts about college football at this point in the season.

Enjoy!
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Coaching Carousel

There's already been a few firings this season. Both Tommy West of Memphis and Mike Sanford of UNLV have received the pink slip from their bosses. While both Memphis and UNLV are out looking for that next great coach that no one has ever heard of, I thought I should take a look at a few other schools that I will probably be right there with them in the next few weeks.

Notre Dame - Out: Charlie Weis - No obligatory "coaches on the hot seat" discussion can officially begin until Charlie Weis is mentioned. Weis is proving to everyone what this here blogger has always known: The man cannot coach! He's good at calling offensive plays, but he will never have what it takes to run an entire team. Finally, after 5 seasons, the Irish will let him go. In: Brian Kelly - Kelly is the favorite to accept the Notre Dame coaching vacancy when it becomes available. Of course the Irish will contact Urban Meyer and Bobby Stoops, but it is widely believed both of those coaches will give ND a big "No Thank You!".

Virginia - Out: Al Groh - Groh has made a habit of saving his job with late season pushes. This season has been different. With the amount of talent that Groh has been able to amass at UVA, it is hard to believe that they have never seriously contended for an ACC crown. In: Skip Holtz - This is basically the same move I was calling for at the end of last season. Holtz has done a great job of keeping East Carolina at the top of C-USA. Time to see what he can do at a BCS level program.

Louisville - Out: Steve Kragthorpe - Was in over his head as soon as he took the job. Perhaps he can take over for some C-USA or MWC school (I'm thinking UTEP or UNLV). Kragthorpe just doesn't have what it takes to coach a BCS school. And supposedly, that's what Louisville is. In: Charlie Strong - As much as I would hate to see Charlie leave the Florida sideline, he deserves to be a head coach somewhere. The best way to turn around a falling program is to start with defense. I think Strong is pretty decent on that side of the ball.

Akron - Out: J.D. Brookhart - Brookhart should be the first of these coaches to go. He has put together absolutely nothing during his tenure at Akron. In: Chuck Martin - All Martin has done is win two national titles at Division II Grand Valley St. Some would argue if Akron is actually a step up for Martin, but I'm sure he could use the Zips as a nice stepping stone. You have to look no further than former GVSU head coach Brian Kelly to provide an example.

Kansas - Out: Mark Mangino - I really don't see how Mangino can keep his job after this season. Even if the allegations turn out to be false, the damage has already been done. No parent in their right mind would send their kid to play for Kansas while Mangino is roaming the sideline. In: Kevin Sumlin - Sumlin has done a tremendous job in his short stint at Houston. Who's to say he's not the next Urban Meyer?
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Heisman Race

This year's Heisman race has been anything but clear. There are a bunch of good players, but no real great performances really stand out. Here's how I would vote for the Heisman if I actually had a vote.

Toby Gerhart - Stanford RB - All the pub at the running back position has been surrounding Mark Ingram this year. While I think Ingram is a great player, there is no doubt in my mind that Gerhart is a better back. The only thing hurting Toby is that he plays for Stanford and not an SEC or Big Eleven school. The USC game should have earned him a few more votes.

Mark Ingram - Alabama RB - Ingram is the best player on what is arguably the best team in the country. Just think. Where would Bama be without Ingram? Probably not undefeated and getting ready to play Florida in the SEC championship.

C.J. Spiller - Clemson RB - He can run. pass, catch, and return kicks and punts for touchdowns, One of the more exciting players in the nation, it's a shame that C.J. might not even get an invite to NYC this year.

Tim Tebow - Florida QB - I'll admit, this is more of a lifetime achievement vote than anything. However, Timmy is the QB for the number one team in the country. That's gotta count for something. A big game against FSU could catapult him even further on this list.

Colt McCoy - Texas QB - Pretty much the same as Tebow, this is a lifetime achievement vote. The only reason why I even have these two players is because there is a lack of other viable candidates. Plus they are both quarterbacks of undefeated teams.
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Rivalry Week

This weekend is loaded with traditional rivalry games. For the most part these games are played for state bragging rights and recruiting superiority. Here's a quick look at some of my personal favorite games of this weekend. (Note: Oregon v. Oregon St. is one of my favorite games, but it is not listed since they will be playing next week. I hope to have more material to discuss the Civil War in the coming days.)

Florida v. Florida St. - Of course this was gonna be one of my favorite games. The Gators have dominated this rivalry in the Urban Meyer era. However, the series is even since Good 'Ol Bobby came to Tallahassee. This game will be extra special as it will be the last game at the Swamp for Seniors Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes.

Alabama v. Auburn - The Iron Bowl returned back to Alabama's favor with last years victory. The win erased all the bitter memories created by Tommy Tuberville. If Auburn can pull off the upset this week, they will knock Bama out of the title picture (unless they can bounce back and beat Florida in Atlanta). Now tell me that's not something Auburn will be playing out of their minds to do.

Washington v. Washington St. - The Apple Cup might not have the records and title implications that other rivalry games have this year. But you can throw all that crap out the window when the Cougs and Huskies get set to do battle. I truly enjoy this game ever year. It's a shame it's not the traditional last game on the schedule this season.

BYU v. Utah - The Holy War is always a good game to watch. This one has no MWC title implications, but the two teams hate each just the same.

Clemson v. South Carolina - The Battle for the Palmetto State just hasn't been the same since the two teams decided to duke it out on the field a few years ago. It just seems a little tame as of late. A win against Clemson could turn Spurrier's season around for the better.
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BCS Bowl Game Predictions

Here's the way I see the BCS shaping up.

Orange Bowl - Cincinnati v. Georgia Tech - The Big East and ACC champs will meet in what will easily be the most boring bowl game of the season. Should be a nice farewell victory for Brian Kelly before he leaves to take over the Notre Dame job.

Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma St. v. TCU - A high powered offense meets a very stingy defense. I like TCU's chances of continuing the MWC tradition of destroying BCS opponents in BCS bowl games.

Sugar Bowl - Alabama v. Boise St. - I just think there will be too much pressure on the BCS commissioners to include an undefeated Boise St/ team in this year's festivities. Even though a team like Penn St. will most likely get this invite, it would be nice to see the Broncos shred the Crimson Tide defense.

Rose Bowl - Oregon v. Ohio St. - While I wouldn't be surprised if this were Oregon St., I think the Ducks are the favorite to represent the PAC-10 in this year's Rose Bowl. Of course, keeping with tradition, Oregon will dismantle Ohio St.

BCS National Championship - Florida v. Texas - I think both Florida and Texas will survive rivalry week and their conference championship unscathed. Setting up what should be an exciting title game. Tebow v. McCoy could go down as one of the best QB match-ups of all time.
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Ultimate Fantasy League Update

For those of you that have been following CFB365's Ultimate Fantasy League, I commend you. For those of you that haven't, good luck following this segment. It's conference championship time in the UFL. Here are the match-ups. Remember, each conference champion gets an automatic bid into the 16 team playoff starting next week.

SEC - Florida v. Alabama - Just like real life, these two teams will meet to decide the SEC Championship. Bama was one of only two teams to go through the regular season undefeated. This is easily the best match-up of the conference championship week.

Big XII - Texas v. Nebraska - Nebraska overtook Kansas on the last week of the season to earn a spot in the title game. Texas was able to fend off a surging TCU team. This should be a blowout win for the Longhorns. We'll see....

Big Ten - Ohio St. v. Iowa - For awhile there it looked like the Big Ten would be decided by a title game between Wisconsin and Iowa St. However, things evened out the last 2 weeks of the season and the two best teams in the conference will meet. Ohio St. is the obvious favorite.

PAC 10 - Arizona v. Boise St. - The Wildcats used the early stumbles by California to secure their spot in this game early on. Boise St. has been the most consistent team in this conference. I think everyone is a little surprised that USC wasn't even a factor in the conference title race.

ACC - Virginia Tech v. South Florida - The Bulls reach the title game by default. Although they were able to keep East Carolina from wrecking the party. Either way, Va Tech is the odds on favorite to win this one.

Big East - Penn St. v. Cincinnati - Cincinnati was the other undefeated team that I alluded to earlier. This might actually turn out to be a close call. Penn St. did suffer two late season losses, including one to Cincy. We'll see if they can rebound and secure their spot in the playoffs.

Mountain West - Houston v. Colorado St. - Colorado St. held off Baylor to avoid an ALL-Texas Title Tilt in the MWC. The Rams have to be one of the biggest surprises of the season in the UFL. We'll see if they can keep their luck going against the Cougars.
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CFB 365 Top 25

2009-11-08T20:01:00.008-05:00

More teams in the top 25 won than lost this week. There weren't too many shake ups. I wonder if Notre Dame fans will stop bugging me for not including the Irish in the top 25 now. I ranked Notre Dame in my top 25 for the first time last week and they went out and lost to Navy.

Here's how they rank this week.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide - Bama took care of LSU this week. Easily the biggest victory of any of the Big three. Julio Jones finally re-appeared. We can now officially start talking about a Florida-Alabama SEC Championship.

2. Texas Longhorns - Colt McCoy strengthened his Heisman candidacy with a huge day against UCF. Jordan Shipley is also starting to get some Heisman buzz after his big receiving day. Still, a win over UCF at home isn't the stuff championship teams are made of.

3. Florida Gators - The Gators complete the top three once again this week. I've already gone into detail on my thoughts about their Vandy victory in an earlier post. They'll need to pick it up next week against the Cocks.

4. Cincinnati Bearcats - Cincy barely squeaked by Connecticut on Saturday. Despite defensive struggles against the Huskies, Cincinnati remains undefeated. The most surprising thing about their current run is the fact that they are doing it without Tony Pike. The schedule is only going to get harder from here on out.

5. TCU Horned Frogs - I guess you can finally count me in among the believers of the Frogs. All the media attention and love fest for TCU finally wore me down. Add to that the fact that Boise St. struggled to put away Louisiana Tech this week and you can see why TCU climbed into my top 5.

6. Boise St. Broncos - Boise St. gets knocked out of my top 5 by TCU this week. There's not too much time left for the Broncos to prove themselves, plus the Oregon loss makes their win against the Ducks look a little less impressive.

7. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson went all ballsy against Wake Forest in overtime by going for it on fourth and one trailing in overtime. The Yellow Jackets turned that move into a game winning touchdown a few plays later. Ga Tech seems to be pulling away from the ACC pack. Then again, I've said the exact same thing about Virginia Tech and Miami this season.

8. Pittsburgh Panthers - Pitt and Cincy are on a collision course for a de facto Big East Championship game. With Jahvid Best's scary injury against Oregon St., Dion Lewis is now the nation's top back.

9. Miami(FL) Hurricanes - The Canes climb back into the top ten after they demolished an improved Virginia team at home on Saturday. Miami still has a decent resume, including handing Georgia Tech it's only loss of the season.

10. Iowa Hawkeyes - The Hawkeyes slide out of the top 5 after their loss to Northwestern. They remain in the top 10, however. This is partly because the Hawkeyes loss came with a back-up Freshman quarterback in the game. Also, Iowa only has 1 loss. There's not too many one loss teams left in the country.

11. Oregon Ducks - Oregon falls out of the top ten after losing to Stanford this weekend. The PAC-10, much like the ACC and the Big XII North seem to be races that no one is stepping up in. The Ducks loss only makes things much more cloudy in the conference.

12. USC Trojans - Speaking of the PAC-10, their case has not been helped out at all by the suddenly mediocre USC Trojans. I actually think their 14-9 victory over the Arizona St. Sun Devils was more embarrassing than last week's thumping at the hands of Oregon.

13. Utah Utes - Utah was struggling despite winning their games heading into this week. Good thing for the Utes they payed San Diego St. this week. The Aztecs put up little resistance to Utah as the Utes now turn their attention to Mountain West front runner TCU.

14. LSU Tigers - The Tigers looked like they might have been able to pull off the upset over Bama this weekend. Unfortunately, the Tiger secondary forgot how to cover anyone or tackle. As a side note, it was strangely eerie to hear all the Gator fans on campus this week cheering for a LSU victory.

15. Ohio St. Buckeyes - Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes finally came out the victor in a "big game." Amazingly, Ohio St. can still win the Big Eleven if they can knock off Iowa, setting up yet another BCS loss.

16. Houston Cougars - Houston barely escaped with a late second field goal over Tulsa on Saturday. Case Keenum is still a dark horse Heisman contender.

17. Arizona Wildcats - Zona is still n the hunt for the PAC-10 title. Their contest against Cal became a little bit easier with the news that Jahvid Best is going to sit out with a concussion.

18. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - OSU held off the suddenly decent Iowa St. Cyclones on Saturday. Does anybody really care?

19. Penn St. Nittany Lions - Penn St. coughed up their shot at a Big Eleven title with their loss to the Buckeyes this week. Penn St. could still play themselves into a BCS game if they win out and get some help.

20. South Florida Bulls - USF was one of the few teams in the country that enjoyed a bye week this week. That helped them move up a few spots in this week's poll.

21. Wisconsin Badgers - The Badgers scored an impressive win over Indiana this week. The Hoosiers looked out matched the entire game. Something even Iowa was not able to do. Surprisingly, the Badgers still have an outside shot of winning the Big Eleven crown.

22. Virginia Tech Hokies - Virginia Tech avenged last season's disastrous loss to East Carolina on Thursday. Va Tech managed to avoid the distraction of what is quite possibly the ugliest alternate helmet in college football. What the hell was ECU thinking?

23. Oregon St. Beavers - It came down to Oregon St. and Stanford for this spot. Stanford's recent win over Oregon was a bit more impressive than the Beaver's win against Cal this week. However, OSU wins the head to head match up over the Cardinal. Jacquizz Radgers may be the best back in the PAC-10.

24. BYU Cougars - BYU climbs back into my top 25 after a few week's hiatus. If TCU loses twice and BYU knocks off Utah, the cougars will win the Mountain West. That's probably not going to happen. But they can dream, can't they?

25. West Virginia Mountaineers - West Virginia hangs on to the 25th spot this week. They hold off Clemson, Stanford, Temple and Auburn for the coveted spot.

Gators Own The Night

2009-11-08T12:19:00.006-05:00

You know what the say. "Vanderbilt always plays us tough." Still, you would expect the Gators to have put on a little better of a show under the lights vs. the Dores. Tebow may have played one of his worst games in the Orange and Blue, despite what the stats say. Superman just looked a little lost out there last night. The running game was stagnant out there for most of the game. the Gators dd finally do a good job of limiting Chris Rainey's carries for once.

If anything, the game provided a good tune up for the home stretch for the Gators. The offense was a little vanilla, but that may be because Urb doesn't really feel the need to expand the playbook. Despite the lack of offensive ingenuity, the Gators did rack up just under 400 total yards.

The defense was stellar once again. Ryan Stamper and Dustin Doe filled in for Brandon Spikes quite nicely. The secondary was as dominant as it has been all season long. Janoris Jenkins and Joe Haden absolutely shut down Vandy's passing "attack." If I have one complaint about the defense, it was the lack of penetration in the backfield. Florida was held sackless, and they gave up quite a few long runs to Warren Norman.

In honor of the annoying ass Vanderbilt fan that sat behind me at the game. Here are the stats:

Passing

Tim Tebow 15-20 208 yds 1 td
John Brantley 3-3 19 yds

Rushing

Jeff Demps 7 rushes 57 yds 1 td
Emanuel Moody 8 rushes 34 yds
Tim Tebow 16 rushes 27 yds 1 td
Brandon James 2 rushes 18 yds
Chris Rainey 4 rushes 12 yds

Receiving

Aaron Hernandez 7 recs 120 yds
Brandon James 4 recs 44 yds
David Nelson 3 recs 28 yds 1 td
Deonte Thompson 1 rec 16 yds

Field Goals

Caleb Sturgis 2/2 long - 45 yds

Tackles

Dustin Doe 11 tckls
Ryan Stamper 6 tckls
Carlos Dunlap 5 tckls
Ahmad Black 5 tckls
Jon Bostic 5 tckls

Interceptions

Ryan Stamper 1 int

Player of The Game

Ryan Stamper - Linebacker, Interception Machine

Is there any linebacker in the nation that's better at finding the ball in the air and picking it off? Well, yeah. But Brandon Spikes sat this game out, and A.J. Jones didn't register an int. So the honor is Stamper's for now. Stamper was also one of the few players, along with Dustin Doe, to get consistent pressure on the Vanderbilt offense. It was nice to see Stamper really step up in the absence of Spikes. The linebacker unit will be back at full strength next week. That's bad news for Stephen Garcia.

Florida-Vanderbilt Preview

2009-11-05T09:59:00.008-05:00

It's time for the annual grudge match between two hated rivals. Vandy's coming to town!!! The past few years, the Dores have managed to make it to the Florida game with a decent shot at making a bowl. That's not the case this year. Bobby Johnson's bunch have stumbled and fumbled their way to a 2-7 mark.

I really don't have much to say about this game. I hope the Gators are more fired up and ready to play than I am to watch it. I've already begun the countdown to South Carolina.

5 Keys to the Game

1. Play With Emotion - The Gators certainly need to play with more emotion than I have for doing this preview. If Florida comes out flat, they will struggle against yet another inferior SEC opponent. This shouldn't happen. Florida can see the finish line and they should be willing to do all that they can to reach that line undefeated.

2. Score Touchdowns in the Red Zone - Getting a little success in the red zone during this game could go a long way in determining how the Gators will finish the season. I like Caleb Sturgis and all, but I only want to see him on the field to kick extra points and kick-offs after touchdowns.

3. Pad Tebow's Stats - Tebow is still in the race for this year's Heisman. I'm never one to call for an individual to pad his stats. However, securing his second Heisman Trophy would pretty much seal Tebow's fate as one of the greatest college football players of all time. What better chance to pad your Heisman stats than against a Vandy team that just gave up 50+ points to Georgia Tech?

4. Don't Give Rainey The Ball - For one, he's coming off an injury. No need to risk further damaging it before the South Carolina game. For two, Rainey seems to always stall the offense when he's in the game. Florida will be driving down field, ripping off 5 yards a play. Then the ball would go to Rainey. Stuffed at the line. Happens all the freakin' time.

5. No Eye Gouging - This shouldn't be a problem as Brandon Spikes has now officially taken himself out of the entire game this week.

5 Players That Need To Step Up

1. Brandon Hicks - Hicks will probably get the starting nod on Saturday with Spikes out of the line-up. Believe it or not, there shouldn't be too much of a drop in production. Hicks could easily be the best linebacker on every other team in the conference. He's that damn good.

2. Brandon James - I'm still waiting on Brandon James to do something in the return game. We haven't seen anything that exciting since the Charleston Southern game. He should get some opportunity against this Vandy squad. I also think James should get more touches coming out of the backfield. We've completely gone away from that this season.

3. David Nelson - In order for Tebow to pad his passing stats, he's gonna need someone other than Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez to step up. I'm tired of talking about Deonte Thompson, so I'm gonna turn my attention to Mr. Nelson. He should have a big day against a very weak Vanderbilt secondary.

4. Emmanuel Moody - With Rainey dinged up and Manny running better and better each week, there's really no reason why he shouldn't get the bulk of the carries this week. Moody had himself a good day last year against a much better Vandy defense. I expect him to break the 100 yard mark for the first time this season.

5. Duke Lemmens - Duke has really been stepping his game up these past few weeks. If he continues to play this well, he will just be another dangerous weapon in Florida's front 7 defensively. Cunningham, Trattou, Dunlap and Marsh should get some rest this week, so expect Lemmens to come up big.

Here's some highlights from last year's Gators victory over the Dores.

Here's some Vandy fan's take on Meyer calling out the refs for the no-call on the late hit to Tebow last week.

I know, it's hard to believer for me too. There actually is such a thing as Vanderbilt fans.

My Prediction:

Florida - 55

Vanderbilt - 12

"Eye" Gate

2009-11-04T09:36:00.006-05:00

The entire college football world is talking about Brandon Spikes this week. Not because he' the best linebacker in the country, or the leader of one of the best defenses in the nation. Instead they are talking about his eye gouging of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey.

I've been listening to all kinds of differing opinions this week, and I thought it was time for me to share my own.

While I think intentionally trying to mame someone is reprehensibly wrong, I think Spikes is being unfairly singled out here. Eye gouging, crotch grabbing, gut punching, spitting, biting and pinching all take place in a typical dog-pile. Spikes was just dumb enough to get caught this time. All the people out there calling for a 3 game suspension should take a step back and look at their own program for a second. I'm sure if you ask anyone on any team, they will tell you it happens all the time.

I don't believe 2 wrongs make a right, but if you watch the game film, early in the first quarter Spikes had his helmet ripped off. While he was helmetless, a Georgia player intentionally head butted him. Who out there would not be pissed off if this were to happen to you. Now, Spikes should have handled that situation right then and there instead of stewing on the sidelines for 2 quarters plotting his revenge. That's where I think Spikes is wrong in all of this.

The other part of this that is getting Florida criticized is the half game suspension for Spikes. I agree with everyone out there. This suspension is a joke. I think it would be in Florida's best interest to suspend Spikes for the whole game. For one, it's Vanderbilt and Spikes is not necessarily needed to win the game. Plus, Meyer could have averted all this extra criticism from the media and Gator Haters.

Now, everyone calling for Spikes' head should read some of Ealey's comments about the incident. If you're too lazy to click on the link, Ealey is basically saying that all that stuff was happening on both sides of the ball on Saturday. Ealey also said that he didn't think Spikes should be suspended, mainly because he didn't even come close to his eyes. I have to give some props to Ealey on this one. He's showing a lot of class coming out to defend Spikes.

For the other side of the argument, take a look at Pat Forde's usually unbiased and well-written Forde-Yard Dash. My favorite part of the article was a comment left by one of the readers:

"Pat Forde, you're an idiot. I wish Brandon Spikes would gouge my eyes out so I wouldn't have to read any more of your articles. ESPN should suspend you for stupidity."

That is just classic.

One thing that is being overlooked in "Eye" Gate was this blatant no-cal against Nick Williams. They don't get much worse than this.

Watching all this drama unfold does remind me of one thing:

That was one of the worst things I've seen in a football game, mainly because it caused serious injury to Earnest Graham. There are Seminole fans to this day that deny Dockett did anything wrong that day.

Ultimate Fantasy League Update

2009-11-02T20:40:00.005-05:00

I got a few e-mails last week after posting the Fantasy League Update. After complimenting me on my genius, they would all ask me the same question. "What the hell is up with that fantasy league?"

So, since there are some people out there who don't know how to use the labels or archives function on this blog, I'll be the gentleman that I am and make it easy for you.

Here's the original write up of my fantasy league. This was actually the post that got me back into blogging after a much needed hiatus.

Here's my explanation of why the conferences look the way they do.

Now that that's out of the way, it's on to this week's update.

SEC

East

1. Florida 8-1 (6-1)
2. Tennessee 5-4 (4-4)
3. Georgia Tech 5-4 (3-3)
4. Georgia 5-4 (3-3)
5. Clemson 4-5 (2-4)
6. South Carolina 4-5 (2-4)

West

1. Alabama 9-0 (6-0)
2. LSU 7-2 (6-1)
3. Ole Miss 6-3 (4-3)
4. Auburn 4-5 (2-5)
5. Mississippi St. 3-6 (0-6)
6. Kentucky 2-7 (1-6)

Big XII

North

1. Kansas 7-2 (6-1)
2. Nebraska 5-4 (4-2)
3. Missouri 5-4 (2-4)
4. Kansas St. 4-5 (3-4)
5. Arkansas 3-6 (2-5)
6. Colorado 1-8 (1-5)

South

1. Texas 8-1 (6-1)
2. TCU 7-2 (6-2)
3. Oklahoma St. 7-2 (4-2)
4. Oklahoma 4-5 (3-4)
5. Texas Tech 3-6 (3-5)
6. Texas A&M 3-6 (2-5)

PAC 10

North

1. Boise St. 8-1 (6-0)
2. Oregon St. 7-2 (5-1)
3. Oregon 6-3 (4-2)
4. Washington 3-6 (3-3)
5. Stanford 3-6 (1-5)
6. Washington St. 0-9 (0-6)

South

1. Arizona 6-3 (4-2)
2. USC 5-4 (5-2)
3. California 5-4 (3-3)
4. UCLA 3-6 (3-3)
5. San Diego St. 3-6 (1-5)
6. Arizona St. 2-7 (2-5)

Big Ten

East

1. Wisconsin 7-2 (5-1)
2. Ohio St. 6-3 (5-1)
3. Minnesota 5-4 (3-4)
4. Northwestern 4-5 (2-4)
5. Purdue 2-7 (1-6)
6. Illinois 1-8 (1-6)

West

1. Iowa 7-2 (5-2)
2. Notre Dame 6-3 (5-2)
3. Michigan St. 5-4 (4-3)
4. Iowa St. 5-4 (3-3)
5. Indiana 5-4 (2-4)
6. Michigan 4-5 (2-4)

ACC

Atlantic

1. Virginia Tech 8-1 (6-0)
2. Miami 7-2 (6-1)
3. Virginia 5-4 (4-2)
4. Louisville 3-6 (3-5)
5. North Carolina 2-7 (2-5)
6. North Carolina St. 1-8 (1-5)

Coastal

1. South Florida 6-3 (5-2)
2. Florida St. 5-4 (3-4)
3. East Carolina 4-5 (3-4)
4. Duke 3-6 (3-3)
5. Wake Forest 3-6 (3-4)
6. Maryland 1-8 (1-6)

Big East

North

1. Penn St. 8-1 (5-1)
2. Boston College 7-2 (5-1)
3. Connecticut 4-5 (3-3)
4. Rutgers 4-5 (3-4)
5. Syracuse 1-8 (1-6)
6. Army 1-8 (0-6)

South

1. Cincinnati 9-0 (7-0)
2. Pittsburgh 7-2 (5-1)
3. West Virginia 6-3 (5-1)
4. Navy 4-5 (2-5)
5. Vanderbilt 3-6 (1-6)
6. Central Florida 2-7 (2-6)

Mountain West

Mountain

1. Colorado St. 6-3 (5-2)
2. Baylor 5-4 (4-2)
3. Southern Miss 4-5 (4-3)
4. Louisiana Tech 3-6 (3-3)
5. Troy 3-6 (3-4)
6. Air Force 3-6 (3-4)

West

1. Houston 8-1 (5-1)
2. BYU 5-4 (4-2)
3. Tulsa 5-4 (4-2)
4. Utah 3-6 (3-3)
5. Wyoming 2-7 (1-6)
6. UNLV 0-9 (0-7)

CFB 365 Top 25

2009-11-01T10:55:00.008-05:00

The top schools actually played like top schools this week. For the most part that is. Seven of the top 9 teams are undefeated. Oregon and LSU are the only 1 loss teams in that realm. Here's how they rank:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide - The Tide enjoyed the week off. They'll face a monster test next week against LSU.

2. Texas Longhorns - The Longhorns once again played an impressive game this week. Texas had no problems knocking off Oklahoma St. on the road. It's clear that this team is the class of the Big XII. Every remaining game on UT's schedule is extremely winnable.

3. Florida Gators - Florida played their first real impressive game since their win against Kentucky. The Gators stay at number three, however, due to Texas' very big win over Ok St. The Gators should roll again next week against Vandy, They've held up their end of the SEC Championship rematch vs. Bama.

4. Cincinnati Bearcats - Cincy is rolling right along despite the absence of Quarterback Tony Pike. Zach Collaros is proving to be more than capable of filling in for the injured Pike. His touchdown pass on a botched field goal against Syracuse was the play of the day for the Bearcats. Even though it shouldn't have counted due to the entire offensive line being down field.

5. Boise St. Broncos - Another weak WAC opponent, another big win for the Broncos. Boise St. had no trouble with San Jose St., just as they should have no trouble with the remained of their schedule. It will be real interesting to see what the BCS does with an undefeated Boise St. and an undefeated TCU.

6. Iowa Hawkeyes - Another weak Big Eleven opponent, another close victory for the Hawkeyes. Iowa is proving to be the captain of fourth quarter comebacks. We'll see how long they can keep it up. The rest of their schedule is extremely manageable. Which means we're in for more slim victories.

7. Oregon Ducks - The Ducks jump a few teams in this week's poll. Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James were very impressive in the huge win over the Trojans. The Ducks are now the best one loss team in the country.

8. LSU Tigers - LSU slides a few spots. That's what they get for playing Tulane. I know the annual match-up with the Green Wave is supposed to be an in-state rivalry game, but come on! It's never going to be competitive. Time for the Tigers to opt out of that one.

9. TCU Horned Frogs - TCU dominated UNLV this week. Beating up on one of the worst teams in the nation is not all that impressive. That's why TCU is the lowest ranked unbeaten team in my poll.

10. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - Ga Tech allowed Vanderbilt to hang in the game for nearly 3 and a half quarters. That's when Paul Johnson's bunch unleashed a fury of points to pull away from the Commodores. The Yellow Jackets are clearly the best team in a very weak ACC right now.

11. Penn St. Nittany Lions - Penn St. beat up on another out matched Big Eleven team this week. We'll get to see how good the Nittany Lions are when they take on the Ohio St. Buckeyes next week.

12. USC Trojans - USC slides out of the top 5 after being throttled by Oregon on Saturday night. The only thing that kept the Trojans from sliding further is the fact that there aren't really too many teams that are worthy of being moved up.

13. Miami(FL) Hurricanes - Miami escaped from Winston-Salem with a slim win over the Demon Deacons on Saturday. If Wake's starting QB Riley Skinner doesn't take on a defender without a helmet, the Deacs probably win the game. Still, a win is a win for Miami.

14. Pittsburgh Panthers - The Pitt Panthers move up a few spots after having a bye week. USF's win over West Virginia makes the Panthers' win over the Bulls all the more impressive.

15. Utah Utes - Utah struggled offensively against a much improved Wyoming team this week. The Utes were able to pull away late, but the game showed how much the offense has slipped for Utah. That's not a good sign with TCU still on the schedule.

16. Houston Cougars - Houston has the exact opposite problem that Utah has. Their offense is fine, but their defense looked terrible against an average Southern Miss squad. Houston is obviously the best team in C-USA, but their defense will keep them out of any top notch bowl games.

17. Ohio St. Buckeyes - Ohio St. moves up a few spots after destroying New Mexico St. this week. The win might provide the Buckeyes with the confidence they need heading into the showdown against Penn St. next week.

18. Arizona Wildcats - Arizona enjoyed a bye week. Nick Folk is strongly getting consideration for PAC-10 passer of the year.

19. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - The Pokes slide a few spots after shitting all over themselves vs. Texas. So much for OSU showing up in big games. I guess we have to wait another year for that to happen.

20. California Golden Bears - Cal needed a last second field goal to get past Arizona St. on Saturday. Cal is starting to get some of the respect back that they loss with competitive blowouts to Oregon and USC.

21. South Florida Bulls - The Bulls climb back into the top 25 after their Friday night victory over West Virginia. The win takes some of the sting off of their blowout loss to Pitt the week before.

22. Wisconsin Badgers - The Badgers re-appear in the top 25 after shutting out an improved Purdue team. 'Sconsin has beating the teams that they were supposed to. Could you really ask for anything more?

23. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Believe it or not, but this is the first appearance for the Irish in my top 25 ever! Granted I've only been doing this for two years. The Irish finally break into the top 25 after beating Washington St. in San Antonio. Obviously, that game alone isn't the only reason why the Irish are at number 23. The rest of the schedule, outside of Pitt, seems pretty easy.

24. Virginia Tech Hokies - The Hokies nearly slide out of the top 25 after their loss to North Carolina on Thursday. I still think Frank Beamer's team is a top 25 team, but they are no longer among the nation's elite.

25. West Virginia Mountaineers - West Virginia stays in the top 25 despite losing to South Florida. This is mainly because of the lack of good teams behind them. The Mountaineers get the nod for the 25th spot over Oregon St., Clemson, Boston College and Idaho.

It All Comes Together

2009-11-01T10:06:00.007-05:00

Finally the offense decided to show up for a game. After weeks of hitting the snooze button and missing the game, Florida's offense went off against a reeling Georgia defense. The 41-17 win makes the Gators 17-3 in the last two decades of The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

The Gators overcame all kinds of motivational ploys from the "Motivational Master" Mark Richt. The Dawgs stormed the field with black domes in the hopes of psyching themselves up. It didn't work. Then, after UGA's first score, Richt had the boys get together and jump around on their sideline. That didn't work either. What did work was Florida's offense and defense.

Tim Tebow looked like his old self in throwing and rushing for two touchdowns each. He broke Herschel Walker's all-time SEC rushing touchdown mark against Walker's old team. Riley Cooper went Cris Carter on Georgia's secondary. His second touchdown catch was a thing of beauty. Jeff Demps and Emmanuel Moody both ran the ball effectively. Even Mike Gillislee broke off a big run before pulling his hammy.

The defense was stellar once again. Linebacker A.J. Jones picked off two Joe Cox passes. The first pick was a tip-drill to himself that might have been the play of the game. Ryan Stamper got himself a tip-drill int late in the game as well. However, it was Brandon Spikes that was able to convert his int into a touchdown. He quietly walked into the endzone after picking off Cox's backup Logan Gray at the 5 yard line.

The only sour point of the game for the Gators were the injuries. As I mention earlier Mike Gillislee pulled his hamstring on a long run late in the game. Chris Rainey was taken off the field after re-injuring his left shoulder. Tim Tebow, Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Spikes were also dinged up during the contest.

Stat time!

Passing

Tim Tebow 15-21 164 yards 2 tds

Rushing

Tim Tebow 18 rushes 85 yards 2 tds
Mike Gillislee 3 rushes 57 yards
Jeff Demps 5 rushes 31 yards
Emmanuel Moody 7 rushes 26 yards

Receiving

Riley Cooper 4 recs 78 yards 2 tds
Aaron Hernandez 3 recs 29 yards
David Nelson 3 recs 26 yards
Deonte Thompson 3 recs 17 yards

Field Goals

Caleb Sturgis 2/2 Long-56

Tackles

Brandon Spikes 10
Ahmad Black 8
Will Hill 6

Sacks

A.J. Jones 1
Carlos Dunlap 1
Jermaine Cunningham 1

Interceptions

A.J. Jones 2
Brandon Spikes 1
Ryan Stamper 1

Player of The Game

Tim Tebow - Quarterback, SEC Rushing TD King

You know that's gotta sting for Georgia fans. Tim Tebow broke Herschel Walker's record against his old team. Not only that, but Tebow did it on a long run. Something that Tebow has been criticized for the lack of. Tebow's passing also greatly improved this game. With the exception of a few screen passes, Tebow placed the ball exactly where it needed to be on each throw. He now joins the long list of Gator quarterbacks to leave Gainesville with a winning record against UGA.

Florida-Georgia Preview

2009-10-29T16:34:00.005-04:00

This year's edition of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party seems to be creeping up a bit quieter than recent years. No this isn't a clash of two of the nation's top 10 teams this season, and no Florida isn't seeking revenge for a showboating ass-whooping from a previous edition of the cocktail party.

All that being said, the Florida-Georgia game is always special, and this installment should be no different. The Gator players and coaches are still hollering about Georgia storming the field in Jacksonville 2 years ago. Personally, I think that's already been avenged with last year's thrashing. I truly believe the Gators are just doing this to rile themselves up. I don't know if that says the Georgia program is so down this year that Florida needs extra motivation to get up for it, or if it says that Florida needs to do something to wake their offense up out of the doldrums.

No matter what the records are of these two teams, or how bad a certain unit is playing, you'll still hear plenty of name calling and jort/red trouser bashing amongst the fans.

5 Keys to the game.

1. Establish a deep threat - Georgia's defense is incredibly horrendous thus far. They have made Ryan Mallett and Jonathan Crompton look like future NFL Hall of Famers. It seems that no matter who Georgia is playing, the opposing team's quarterback is in store for a huge day. That will only be the case this Saturday if the Gators finally decide to throw the ball deep. Something they haven't done since the last play of the first quarter against Kentucky.

2. Protect the ball - Georgia will be feeding off some huge emotion this weekend. Their season will certainly be salvaged in a big way if they were to knock off the Gators somehow. The best way for the Dawgs to accomplish this is to force some turnovers. Giving the ball up is also the best way to give a struggling defense some serious confidence. The ball needs to stay off the turf for the Gators to control this game.

3. Control emotions - Controlling emotions goes a long way in determining if the Gators ca hold on to the ball or not. This is something that I am always worried about heading into a rivalry game. The Gators have been outstanding in these instances during the Urban Meyer regime. If you remember, their only loss to one of Florida's "Big 3" rivals was to UGA.

4.Protect Tebow - This is definitely something that the offensive line has not been doing lately. What would it take for Steve Addazio to shift a tight end over to help protect Tebow's blind side? Hopefully not a loss. That could be on the way if the line continues to struggle.

5. Save your timeouts - If the Gators truly are still pissed at Mark Richt and Co. for that celebration, Meyer should make sure that he has some extra timeouts at the end of the game to "Give Moody more quality carries."

5 Players That Need to Step Up

1. Tim Tebow - Tebow has struggled mightily against Geogria (2007) and looked brilliant against Georgia (2008). I can't remember the last Gator QB to leave Gainesville with a losing record vs. Georgia as a starter. Tebow will be 1-2 if the Gators lose on Saturday.

2. Deonte Thompson - Thompson went M.I.A. again last week. I think he should change his nickname to Nessie. No one can really prove that he exists, but every once in a while he'll pop his head up and cause all kinds of commotion.

3. Emmanuel Moody - Moody is continuing to establish himself as the Gators best runner out of the backfield. Demps will be sore with a sprained neck and Rainey will have to be relieved at some point. I would like to see Moody get some carries out of the I-Formation against the Dawgs' D. It worked the whole 1 time we ran it last week.

4. Brandon Spikes - Spikes set the tone during last season's Georgia game by clobbering Knowshon Moreno as he tried to break through the line. Brandon should be well rested after sitting out last week's game with a sore groin. I feel bad for Richard Samuel.

5. Dustin Doe - Even though Spikes grabbed the highlights last season, perhaps Florida's best linebacker in that Game was Dustin Doe. Doe was all over the place last season in Jacksonville. If he doesn't get arrested by Saturday, he should continue to build on last week's stellar performance. Showboating aside...

Here's some highlights of last year's 49-10 victory.

Here's what they're saying about the game over at Dawgs Sports.

I like the second comment. The only way Georgia can beat us is if the Florida bus driver drives us to the wrong stadium. Good Stuff!

My Prediction

Florida - 27

Georgia - 17

Q&A With Catfish and Cornbread

2009-10-27T15:30:00.005-04:00

In honor of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, me and the boys from Catfish and Cornbread got together and put together a little Q&A for your enjoyment.

JJ and Bop are both contributors to Catfish and Cornbread which is wholly dedicated to their first passion: University of Georgia Athletics.

I hope you enjoy the interview, and please check out my portion of the interview at their site.

CFB365: A real simple question to start things off. What is up with Georgia's defense this season?

JJ: Its a combination of coaching, attitude, and players - in that order. You really don't have enough space available on this blog to explain all the problems, primarily pertaining to coaching and attitude.

Bop: It is embarrassing and pathetic. We have completely lost our identity and our swagger. The talent is still in town, but the fundamentals and hustle are gone. The players are honestly not getting the coaching they deserve. Blown coverages and missed tackles are a common theme. We gave up 30 points once in the first half of Richt's tenure in Athens (to the BCS Champion LSU team in the SEC title game). Now we give up 30 points a game almost every week.

CFB365: After the Tennessee game, Mark Richt joined the growing ranks of SEC coaches that have had to deal with Lane Kiffin's big 'ol mouth. His statements about Georgia weren't as inflammatory as his remarks about Florida, South Carolina and Alabama, but they were controversial nonetheless. As a Georgia fan, what's your take on Kiffin and the Vols?

JJ: This will be unpopular with most Georgia and Florida fans, but I actually admire what Kiffin is doing. I think most of that lies in the fact that as a Georgia fan, I wish our own head coach was a little more "out there" with the program, especially when UGA doesn't have a product on the field that can speak for itself positively. Tennessee is likely to finish 6-6 at best this season, but they'll be the most publicized 6-6 team in the history of college football, and Kiffin will recruit like a madman because of it. If he doesn't win eventually, he'll be fired regardless of how much he runs his mouth.

Bop: I just refuse to ever have any respect for a coach that recruits and signs a kid that was an accessory to rape. It blows my mind that kid got a scholarship. I'm all for second chances, but not in that situation. T. Kyle King over on Dawgsports.com said it best: Lane Kiffin has a famous father, a hot wife and a career record of 8-18 (.308). He has no quarterback prospects for the forseeable future and he doesn't have the luxtury of playing a Willie Martinez defense more than once a season.

CFB365: Richard Samuel only has 200 more rushing yards than Caleb King on twice as many carries this season, with 80 of those yards coming on one run. Why is Samuel still getting the bulk of the carries over King?

JJ: Two reasons: Samuel had a monster August (albeit working out against the UGA defense), and King spent the majority of the same month in a green jersey and hasn't really gotten healthy since. Most UGA fans really expected Samuel to have a great season, but all he's proven so far is that he still needs alot more experience to be an SEC caliber back. King is probably the most polished ball carrier on the roster, but he's been hobbled by just about every injury imaginable since early in his senior season of high school.

Bop: Honestly, it started out because of a preseason injury to Caleb. Samuel locked the position down by the time the opener came around. Then a broken jaw in the LSU game caused King to miss more time. Caleb came back and scored a couple against Vandy, but no one really knows who will get the most carries in any given game. The true freshman Washan Ealey is as good a guess as anyone.

CFB365: Speaking of the running game, did you honestly think that Georgia would miss Knowshon Moreno this much? I've always been used to the Dawgs reloading at the running back position, but that doesn't seem to be the case this season. Is this more to blame on the backs or the O-line?

JJ: A perfect storm of events. King being hurt, Samuel not living up to expectations, some ridiculously strange substitution patterns by the offensive coaching staff, and an extremely disappointing offensive line, have all played a part. But it is probably the offensive line that has been the biggest issue. Even losing its most talented piece (Trinton Sturdivant) doesn't excuse how poor they've been so far.

Bop: Yeah, Knowshon was just special. OLine was our supposed strength this season, but they have probably been the biggest dissapointment all year (besides the total lack of anything close to competitive defense). I did think we would miss Knowshon more than say Stafford, but I , like you, expected us to reload a bit quicker than has happened. If the line gets back to being a force, I would expect a better performance out of one of our backs than we've seen so far this year. I'm just hoping it happens in Jacksonville or Atlanta.

CFB365:What's your assessment of Joe Cox's play up to this point? What do you want to see him improve on?

JJ: Cox has been about as good as could be expected coming into the year. Most UGA fans would say that they expected him to be a better game-manager (i.e. throw less interceptions), but those same UGA fans probably didn't expect that he'd be throwing the ball as much as he did either. With a decent running game and a half-decent defense, Cox would have been alot more effective. There really isn't much more you can ask of the kid under the circumstances.

Bop: He's an acurate passer who's best part of his game is his deep ball. I think Joe is a good quarterback and a great Dawg, he just probably lacks in overall talent from the quarterbacks we've had since we had to play walk-on Cory Phillips or since the days of Mike Bobo. Really, I'm not sure he is going to improve much more. He's capable of dropping 300 on anyone. Getting the ball to our TE's and throwing as many in the direction of AJ Green is ideal.

CFB365: Tim Tebow will almost certainly break Herschel Walker's SEC TD rushing record within the next few weeks. I won't ask your thoughts on the record, but I would like to know: As a Dawg fan, what is your perception of Tebow? Overhyped? Overrated? Product of the media?

JJ: I think any player that has as much exposure as Tebow does is probably overhyped. I wouldn't call him overrated....during his 3+ seasons in Gainesville, Florida has been the premier national program, and he is the unquestioned leader of the team. In this age of ESPN, the hype is understandable. I just wish one of the esteemed SEC officials would throw a flag on him one time when he puts on his chest pounding, hands in the air show after a first down that he seems to do at least once per game. Let's just say we've seen UGA players call much less attention to themselves this season and receive extremely damaging penalties for it.

Bop: He's overhyped, but so was Georgia great David Pollack. My brother hit the nail on the head during Tebow's heisman year. He said "Florida has their David Pollack, the problem for everyone else is that their Pollack plays quarterback." He's not a product of the media and he's not overrated, in my opinion, because the sumbitch produces. And he wins. Of course if ole lady luck shines on the Red & Black this weekend, his record against Georgia could end up being 1-2.

CFB365:I've frequented a few Georgia message boards recently, and I was surprised to see so many fans putting a little heat to Mark Richt's seat. Is the patience running thin for Richt in Athens?

JJ: I think what you're seeing is the vocal minority. 90% of UGA fans would never even want to think of getting rid of Richt, regardless of what happens the rest of the year. That said, there are quite a few fans that are getting a little anxious to see him make some changes to his staff, some of whom believe it would have been a no-brainer to make those changes before this season. This coming offseason is going to be different than anything Richt has gone through thus far, and how he handles it will determine the rest of his career in Athens.

Bop: Yes it is. His loyalty to assistant coaches has always been admired. It has helped Georgia year in and year out in the recruiting wars. The problem now is that our coaches are getting taken to the woodshed on Saturday afternoons. The Tennessee debacle was probably the nail in the coffin for Defensive Coordinator Willie Martinez. Almost every quarterback we have played has shattered their previous career high in passing yards against us. We made one of the worst quarterbacks in league history (Crompton) look like a frontrunner for the heisman. Either heads will have to roll come winter or Richt's seat will be blazing hot. My God, we lost to Lane Kiffin.

CFB365: One thing Florida and Georgia have in common this season is bad officiating by Marc Curles and his crew. In Florida's case, it helped. In Georgia's case, not so much. As someone who has been on the wrong side of the bad calls, do you think the punishment (suspension until Nov. 14) is good enough for these refs?

JJ: Personally, I think Curles should have been fired and the rest of his crew suspended for the remainder of the season. The personal foul penalty on AJ Green was bad enough, but for the head referee to blow a personal foul penalty the following week in a game that close, just proves that he isn't a quality enough official to be working at the highest level of college football. The questionable interference calls (or non-calls), I can live with. Stuff like that happens in every game. You just cannot throw that flag against the Arkansas D-lineman without knowing absolutely for certain that it was the right call. The fact that other members of his crew didn't try to correct him makes them all culpable.

Bop: I just wish we could find a way to have full time refs. We are the SEC, we should have the best of the best. Problem is, we probably have the worst. And what's worse is it's beginning to look fixed. Not saying it is...it just looks that way. When the head of officials in the SEC is a Tech grad and you add the history with Al Ford (Gator grad) and the Jasper 'fumble' in Atlanta in '99, it's a recipe for doubt and anger. Just know this, after the AJ Green celebration penalty against LSU, if Tebow does anything remotely celabratory after a first down, the boo birds will be out in full force. It won't be directed towards Florida or Tebow, but venom will spew towards the refs from the Georgia faithful after that LSU game.

CFB365: Georgia seems to be the only team in the conference that is willing to travel out of the South to play a non-conference opponent. This is a good bragging point for Georgia fans, but a loss to a team like Oklahoma St. can really cause some damage. In a college football landscape where the SEC is seen as being so dominant that these cross-national road games are nor necessary for a strength of schedule argument, do you feel that Georgia should take it easy in the future?

JJ: I don't think one home and home every 2 years with a out of conference BCS team (other than natural rivals like Georgia Tech for Georgia and FSU for Florida) is too much to ask for any team. That gives you one tough road game every other year. That would give an SEC team 2 tough OOC games and 2 cupcakes.

Bop: Nah, I like it. Actually, I love it. It's good for the Georgia brand and keeps us in the national spotlight when others are playing I-AA's. The Arizona State game last year, the Oklahoma State game this year and in '07, the Boise State game a few years ago were all as good as it got on those Saturday's. We go to Colorado next season and have Oregon and our old rival Clemson back on the slate in the future. I'd love a Michigan or Texas matchup in the future also.

CFB365:I really hate that corny Lou Holtz locker room speech segment that ESPN shoves down our throats every week. So its only right that I ask you to participate in a little role play. Pretend you are Mark Richt. What are you telling your team in the locker room before they head out onto the field?

JJ: I'd tell them that despite everything bad that has happened this year, all the public criticism and ridicule, the Dawgs have a chance to salvage the entire season, maybe even the entire program this weekend. If this UGA team has any heart, any pride in the uniform they are privileged enough to wear, those words should be plenty of motivation.

Bop: I'd tell them that I want to see everyone celebrate after our first score....

Weekly Picks

2009-10-26T15:50:00.002-04:00

The week kicks off extra early tomorrow with your traditional Tuesday Night Toss-Up game. In honor of this momentous occasion. I present to you a very rare Monday edition of Weekly Picks.

I reserve the right to change my mind by Friday.

East Carolina @ Memphis
North Carolina @ Virginia Tech
West Virginia @ South Florida
Indiana @ Iowa
Cincinnati @ Syracuse
New Mexico St. @ Ohio St.
Rutgers @ Connecticut
NC State @ Florida St.
Purdue @ Wisconsin
Ohio @ Ball St.
UL-Lafayette @ Florida International
Akron @ Northern Illinois
Ole Miss @ Auburn
Nebraska @ Baylor
Southern Miss @ Houston
Missouri @ Colorado
Coastal Carolina @ Clemson
SMU @ Tulsa
Western Michigan @ Kent St.
San Jose St. @ Boise St.
UAB @ UTEP
Georgia @ Florida
Miami (FL) @ Wake Forest
California @ Arizona St.
Arkansas St. @ Louisville
Central Michigan @ Boston College
Toledo @ Miami (OH)
Iowa St. @ Texas A&M
Duke @ Virginia
Michigan @ Illinois
Temple @ Navy
Kansas @ Texas Tech
UNLV @ TCU
Air Force @ Colorado St.
UCLA @ Oregon St.
Western Kentucky @ North Texas
Middle Tennessee @ Florida Atlantic
Hawaii @ Nevada
Penn St. @ Northwestern
Louisiana Tech @ Idaho
Utah St. @ Fresno St.
Eastern Michigan @ Arkansas
Mississippi St. @ Kentucky
Kansas St. @ Oklahoma
UL-Monroe @ Troy
Georgia Tech @ Vanderbilt
Washington St. @ Notre Dame
New Mexico @ San Diego St.
South Carolina @ Tennessee
Texas @ Oklahoma St.
USC @ Oregon
Tulane @ LSU
Wyoming @ Utah
Michigan St. @ Minnesota
Marshall @ UCF

CFB 365 Top 25

2009-10-25T15:31:00.010-04:00

The top 25 pretty much stays stagnant this week. Some teams slid a bit after disappointing performances. There are 4 new teams in the 20-25 range this week.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide - It usually takes two bad performances for me to move a number 1 team down in the rankings. Bama needed a last second field goal block by Terrance Cody to hold off the Tennessee Volunteers. The Tide desperately needs to find a passing attack if they want to win the SEC this season.

2. Texas Longhorns - Texas put together its best game of the season. For the first time all year Colt McCoy played well the entire game. Instead of waiting until the second half to get things rolling, the Longhorns jumped out on the Missouri Tigers early in their romp. Next week is a big challenge as Texas will play Oklahoma St.

3. Florida Gators - The Gators move down a spot for the second straight week. I still think Florida is the best team in the nation, but they're just not playing like it. Back to back unimpressive performances against Arkansas and Mississippi St. leaves this Gator team with a lot of unanswered questions as they prepare for Georgia.

4. Cincinnati Bearcats - Another week, another impressive Big East victory for Cincy. The Bearcats were able to defeat Louisville even without starting QB Tony Pike. Next week should bring similar results as Cincinnati will play Syracuse.

5. USC Trojans - USC escaped with a victory over Oregon St. on Saturday Night. That result is an improvement from SC's game last season vs. the Beavers. The Trojans will face an even stiffer challenge next week as they play the Oregon Ducks.

6. LSU Tigers - LSU leapfrogged a few teams after their dominating performance against Auburn on Saturday night. The game for the Tigers, against the Tigers, may have been the Bayou Bengals' best all around game on the year.

7. Boise St. Broncos - The worst news for the Broncos this past weekend was that TCU absolutely dismantled BYU. The Horned Frogs are getting growing support as the best Non-BCS team in the country. I still think Boise St. is better, and their win against Oregon is more impressive than anything TCU has done this season.

8. Iowa Hawkeyes - Iowa barely snuck out a late second victory over Michigan St. this weekend. The Hawkeyes still control their own destiny within the Big Eleven. They still have Ohio St. on the slate. Outside of the Buckeyes, Iowa should be favored in it's remaining games.

9. Oregon Ducks - The Ducks pulled out yet another uniform combination this week. The black helmets were actually an upgrade from their regular apparel. We'll see what the Ducks can come up with for next week's showdown against USC.

10. TCU Horned Frogs - TCU finally cracks my top ten this season. The Frogs were this week's most impressive team in their victory over BYU. The Cougars had all the motivation in the world to knock off TCU, but they were completely outclassed by this TCU team.

11. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - With the Jackets' win over Virginia on Saturday, Georgia Tech became the unofficial champion of the Commonwealth State. In back to back weeks, Ga Tech has embarrassed Virginia Tech and Virginia. With Miami's loss, the Yellow Jackets become the favorite to make the ACC Championship game.

12. Penn St. Nittany Lions - Penn St. destroyed the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday. They should get a nice rest next week as they play Purdue. Then again, Ohio St. thought they had a nice break against Purdue too.

13. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - Oklahoma St. had no problems taking care of Baylor without Dez Bryant or Kendall Hunter. It may be a different story next week. Oklahoma St.'s defense will need to come up big if the Cowboys want any chance of upsetting Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns.

14. Virginia Tech Hokies - The Hokies enjoyed a bye week this week. They move up a few spots thanks to losses by BYU and Miami.

15. Miami(FL) Hurricanes - Speaking of Miami, the Canes let one slip away against Clemson on Saturday. I'm sure Randy Shannon will have nightmares of C.J. Spiller for the next few days. Miami should be able to rebound nicely next week against Wake Forest.

16. West Virginia Mountaineers - What impressed me the most abut West Virginia this week was the class they showed against Connecticut. That all starts with Bill Stewart. Stewart is a tremendous human being who has this West Virginia team paying extremely well. I wish them nothing but the best for the rest of the year, and I hope the Stewart bashers from a few years ago have enjoyed eating their words.

17. Pittsburgh Panthers - Pittsburgh humiliated South Florida at home on Saturday. Surprisingly, Dave Wannstedt has not done anything to screw this up yet. Dion Lewis is the real deal at running back.

18. Utah Utes - The Utes needed overtime to take down Air Force on Saturday. That's not all that impressive. Utah is quietly still in the hunt for the Mountain West crown.

19. Houston Cougars - The Cougars beat up on another lowly C-USA team. This time it was SMU's turn to take the beating. Imagine the Cougars' standing if they hadn't lost to UTEP. They could possibly be ranked in the top 5 right now.

20. Ohio St. Buckeyes - Ohio St. bounced back from their loss to Purdue quite nicely. The Buckeyes put together a great game led by, believe it or not, Terrelle Pryor, en route to an impressive win over Minnesota. Next up for the Buckeyes is a daunting visit from the New Mexico St. Aggies.

21. Arizona Wildcats - Arizona is quietly putting together a solid season under Mike Stoops. We'll see how long the Wildcats can hold onto their surprising BCS ranking.

22. South Carolina Gamecocks - South Carolina remains at the 22 spot after barely beating Vanderbilt at home. The Gamecocks' D is one of the fiercest in the nation. Their offense hasn't quite lit the world on fire. Alshon Jefferey is a stud at the WR spot.

23. Central Michigan Chippewas - Central Michigan's only loss this season was to the aforementioned Arizona Wildcats in the first week of the season. They have since reeled off 7 wins in a row, including a victory on the road at Michigan St. Time for the Chippewas to get some love.

24. California Golden Bears - Cal re-appears in the top 25. Yeah their two losses were by a lot. But they were against Oregon and USC. Two very good teams. Plus, the Golden Bears are led by one of the most potent offenses behind RB Jahvid Best.

25. Ole Miss Rebels - The Rebels also re-enter the top 25 this week. Like Cal, Ole Miss' 2 losses were against two very good teams (South Carolina & Alabama). Dexter McCluster finally showed up in Mississippi's big win over Arkansas this week. Perhaps his emergence will help Jevan Snead at QB.

Ultimate Fantasy League Update

2009-10-25T14:44:00.003-04:00

Things are starting to shape up in CFB 365's Ultimate Fantasy League. There have been some minor upsets, but for the most part, the fantasy league is following it's real life counterpart pretty closely.

SEC

East

1. Florida 7-1 (6-1)
2. Tennessee 4-4 (3-4)
3. Georgia Tech 4-4 (2-3)
4. Georgia 4-4 (2-3)
5. Clemson 4-4 (2-3)
6. South Carolina 4-4 (2-3)

West

1. Alabama 8-0 (5-0)
2. LSU 6-2 (5-1)
3. Ole Miss 6-2 (4-2)
4.Auburn 4-4 (2-4)
5. Kentucky 2-6 (1-5)
6. Mississippi St. 2-6 (0-6)

Big XII

North

1. Kansas 7-1 (6-0)
2. Nebraska 5-3 (4-2)
3. Missouri 4-4 (2-4)
4. Kansas St. 3-5 (2-4)
5. Arkansas 2-6 (2-5)
6. Colorado 1-7 (1-4)

South

1. Texas 7-1 (6-1)
2. Oklahoma St. 7-1 (4-1)
3. TCU 6-2 (5-2)
4. Oklahoma 4-4 (3-3)
5. Texas Tech 2-6 (2-5)
6. Texas A&M 2-6 (1-5)

PAC 10

North

1. Oregon St. 7-1 (5-0)
2. Boise St. 7-1 (5-0)
3. Oregon 5-3 (3-2)
4. Washington 3-5 (3-3)
5. Stanford 3-5 (1-4)
6. Washington St. 0-8 (0-5)

South

1. Arizona 5-3 (3-2)
2. California 5-3 (3-2)
3. USC 4-4 (4-2)
4. UCLA 2-6 (2-3)
5. Arizona St. 2-6 (2-4)
6. San Diego St. 2-6 (1-5)

Big Ten

East

1. Wisconsin 7-1 (5-1)
2. Ohio St. 6-2 (5-1)
3. Northwestern 4-4 (2-4)
4. Minnesota 4-4 (2-4)
5. Illinois 1-7 (1-5)
6. Purdue 1-7 (1-6)

West

1. Iowa 6-2 (4-2)
2. Notre Dame 5-3 (4-2)
3. Michigan St. 5-3 (4-2)
4. Indiana 5-3 (2-3)
5. Iowa St. 4-4(2-3)
6. Michigan 4-4 (2-3)

ACC

Atlantic

1. Virginia Tech 8-0 (6-0)
2. Miami 6-2 (5-1)
3. Virginia 4-4 (4-2)
4. North Carolina 2-6 (2-4)
5. Louisville 2-6 (2-5)
6. North Carolina St. 1-7 (1-4)

Coastal

1. South Florida 5-3 (4-2)
2. East Carolina 4-4 (3-3)
3. Florida St. 4-4 (3-4)
4. Wake Forest 3-5 (3-3)
5. Duke 2-6 (2-3)
6. Maryland 1-7 (1-5)

Big East

North

1. Penn St. 7-1 (4-1)
2. Boston College 6-2 (4-1)
3. Connecticut 4-4 (3-2)
4. Rutgers 4-4 (3-3)
5. Syracuse 1-7 (1-6)
6. Army 1-7 (0-6)

South

1. Cincinnati 8-0 (7-0)
2. Pittsburgh 6-2 (4-1)
3. West Virginia 5-3 (4-1)
4. Navy 4-4 (2-4)
5. Central Florida 2-6 (2-5)
6. Vanderbilt 2-6 (1-6)

Mountain West

Mountain

1. Colorado St. 6-2 (5-2)
2. Baylor 5-3 (4-1)
3. Southern Miss 4-4 (4-3)
4. Louisiana Tech 3-5 (3-2)
5. Troy 3-5 (3-4)
6. Air Force 2-6 (2-4)

West

1. Houston 7-1 (4-1)
2. BYU 4-4 (3-2)
3. Tulsa 4-4 (3-2)
4. Utah 3-5 (3-2)
5. Wyoming 1-7 (1-6)
6. UNLV 0-8 (0-6)

Gators Finally Win in Starkville

2009-10-25T11:24:00.005-04:00

It wasn't pretty, but the Gators left Starkville, Mississippi Saturday night with a 29-19 victory over the pesky Mississippi St. Bulldogs. With the win, this Gators squad becomes the first UF team to make it through the SEC West schedule unblemished in 11 years.

Once again the Gators offense was nothing to write home about. In fact, Florida's offense accounted for as many Mississippi St. touchdowns (2) as Florida touchdowns. True Freshman safety Johnthan Banks picked off Tebow two times and ran both picks back for touchdowns. The first pick 6 was a memorable 100 yard interception return for a TD. Also, the Gators once again managed to screw up nearly every red zone opportunity against the Bulldogs. They'll need to correct that problem in a hurry if they want to get the win in the WLOCP next weekend.

The good things to take from the game; Florida played much better defense than last week. The Gators' D stymied the Bulldogs all night long, only giving up 2 field goals and returning an int for a touchdown themselves. The Gators held on to the ball. Their might have been two interceptions, but there were no fumbles. That's definitely an improvement from last week.

Here's the stats:

Passing

Tim Tebow 12-22 127 yards 2 ints

Rushing

Chris Rainey 12 rushes 90 yards 1 td
Tim Tebow 22 rushes 88 yards 1 td
Emmanuel Moody 5 rushes 32 yards
Brandon James 2 rushes 28 yards
Jeff Demps 5 rushes 13 yards

Receiving

Riley Cooper 4 recs 63 yards
Aaron Hernandez 5 recs 32 yards
Deonte Thompson 1 rec 19 yards

Field Goals

Caleb Sturgis 3/4 Long- 27

Tackles

Ryan Stamper 13 tckls
Joe Haden 7 tckls
Dustin Doe 6 tckls
Carlos Dunlap 5 tckls

Interceptions

Dustin Doe 1 int
A.J. Jones 1 int
Major Wright 1 int

Sacks

Carlos Dunlap 3 sacks
Jermaine Cunningham 1 sack

Player of the Game

Carlos Dunlap - Defensive End, Sack Master

I could have easily selected Chris Rainey as the player of the game after his stellar performance on the ground. However, on a night when the defense once again played superb, it's only fitting that the player of the game is a defensive player. Carlos Dunlap and the defensive line made life miserable for Tyson Lee and Anthony Dixon. Dunlap recorded 3 of Florida's 4 sacks on the evening. His unstoppable rush also played a huge role in the Gators' ability to stuff Anthony Dixon all night long. Dixon came into the game as MSU's all-time leading rusher.He left as the latest victim of a Charlie Strong defense. The most impressive thing about Dunlap's and the defense's performance is the fact that they did it without Brandon Spikes and 3 defensive linemen.

Coach Power Rankings

2009-10-22T18:52:00.006-04:00

I've been working on these rankings for quite a while now. I always seem to be making little changes here and there, so I decided to finally post them so I couldn't make any further changes.

There are several factors I've taken into account for these rankings. Wins, recruiting ability, prestige, job security, off field reputation and reputation among other coaches all played a part in how I determined these rankings.

Keep in mind that these rankings are somewhat fluid, even though they won't be updated continuously.

Rank	Coach	Team	Comments
1	Urban Meyer	Florida Gators	The pinnacle of the coaching profession. Two titles in 3 years and looking for more.
2	Nick Saban	Alabama Crimson Tide	He may be Satan, but the bastard can coach.
3	Pete Carroll	USC Trojans
4	Mack Brown	Texas Longhorns
5	Les Miles	LSU Tigers	Possibly the biggest balls among the coaching ranks.
6	Jim Tressel	Ohio St. Buckeyes	The Vest is taking a lot of flack this year. He’s still one of the best in the game.
7	Chris Petersen	Boise St. Broncos	Possibly the second biggest balls among the coaching ranks.
8	Bob Stoops	Oklahoma Sooners	“Big Game Bob” may not deserve his moniker any longer, but he can still recruit and coach better than most.
9	Frank Beamer	Virginia Tech Hokies	Maybe one of the more consistent coaches this side of Los Angeles.
10	Kirk Ferentz	Iowa Hawkeyes	May be a little high. This year’s success definitely helps his ranking.
11	Houston Nutt	Ole Miss Rebels	Built both Arkansas and Ole Miss into SEC West title contenders.
12	Brian Kelly	Cincinnati Bearcats
13	Gary Patterson	TCU Horned Frogs
14	Steve Spurrier	South Carolina Gamecocks	The ‘Ol Ball Coach still carries one of the best legacies in all of CFB.
15	Mark Richt	Georgia Bulldogs
16	Paul Johnson	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	His triple option is wreaking havoc throughout the ACC. And they said it wouldn’t work…
17	Bronco Mendenhall	BYU Cougars	Brought BYU back to relevancy.
18	Mike Riley	Oregon St. Beavers
19	Joe Paterno	Penn St. Nittany Lions
20	Mike Leach	Texas Tech Red Raiders
21	Gary Pinkel	Missouri Tigers
22	Bobby Petrino	Arkansas Razorbacks	He may be a douche, but he an coach. Just look at what’s happened to Louisville now that he’s gone.
23	Greg Schiano	Rutgers Scarlet Knights	Maybe wished he would have took some bigger jobs while he had the chance.
24	Butch Davis	North Carolina Tar Heels
25	Mark D’Antonio	Michigan St. Spartans	Built a great team at Cincinnati before coming to East Lansing. Has the Spartans playing competitively in the Big Eleven once again.
26	Rich Rodriguez	Michigan Wolverines	Making people forget the offseason with each win.
27	Art Briles	Baylor Bears	Built the Houston program that’s tearing it up right now. Has Baylor playing competitive football.
28	Kyle Whittingham	Utah Utes	Took over for Urban Meyer and the Utes haven’t missed a beat.
29	Mike Gundy	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	“The Speech” will forever haunt this man.
30	Mark Mangino	Kansas Jayhawks
31	Jim Grobe	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	Any coach will tell you that Grobe is perhaps the best in-game coach in the country.
32	Jim Leavitt	South Florida Bulls	The only coach South Florida has ever known.
33	Jeff Tedford	California Golden Bears	I can’t believe I actually wanted this guy to be Florida’s coach. Then again, anything was an upgrade over the Zooker.
34	Todd Graham	Tulsa Golden Hurricane	Had Rice competitive before taking over for Steve Kragthorpe at Tulsa. That’s amazing in itself.
35	Jim Harbaugh	Stanford Cardinal	Brought Stanford back from the Walt Harris years.
36	Bo Pelini	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Brought Nebraska back from the Bill Callahan years.
37	Kevin Sumlin	Houston Cougars	Took over a solid program from Art Briles and possibly made it better.
38	Randy Shannon	Miami(FL) Hurricanes
39	Dennis Erickson	Arizona St. Sun Devils	One of the legends.
40	David Cutcliffe	Duke Blue Devils	One of the best assistants of all time. Ole Miss hasn’t been the same since he left.
41	Rick Neuheisel	UCLA Bruins	The best CFB coach to ever get busted for filling out a March Madness bracket.
42	Butch Jones	Central Michigan Chippewas	One of the few coaches with a national title on his resume. Granted it was at Grand Valley St.
43	Bobby Bowden	Florida St. Seminoles	Has definitely slipped this season.
44	Chip Kelly	Oregon Ducks
45	Turner Gil	Buffalo Bulls	May no longer be the hot coaching candidate that he was last season.
46	Ken Niumatalolo	Navy Midshipmen
47	Skip Holtz	East Carolina Pirates	See #45.
48	Tom O’ Brien	North Carolina St. Wolfpack
49	Tim Brewster	Minnesota Golden Gophers	One of the best recruiters out there.
50	Brett Beilema	Wisconsin Badgers
51	Randy Edsall	Connecticut Huskies	Brought UCONN up from literally nothing.
52	Charlie Weis	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
53	Pat Fitzgerald	Northwestern Wildcats
54	Lane Kiffin	Tennessee Volunteers
55	Bill Stewart	West Virginia Mountaineers	Is proving that he wasn’t such a bad hire after all.
56	Dave Wannstedt	Pittsburgh Panthers
57	Ralph Friedgen	Maryland Terrapins	May be time for Ralphie to leave the program that he has single handedly resurrected.
58	Rich Brooks	Kentucky Wildcats	Might want to think about stepping aside so Joker Phillips can take over.
59	Gene Chizik	Auburn Tigers	See #55.
60	Al Groh	Virginia Cavaliers	One of the best second half of the season coaches ever.
61	Frank Solich	Ohio Bobcats
62	Steve Fairchild	Colorado St. Rams
63	June Jones	SMU Mustangs
64	Mike Sherman	Texas A&M Aggies	He sure can recruit. Coaching not one of his strongpoints, however.
65	Mike Stoops	Arizona Wildcats
66	Frank Spaziani	Boston College Eagles
67	Steve Sarkisian	Washington Huskies
68	Larry Blakeney	Troy Trojans	The most tenured coach that no one outside of Alabama knows about.
69	Al Golden	Temple Owls	I still think Golden is doing a tremendous job with this Temple program.
70	Bill Lynch	Indiana Hoosiers
71	Chris Ault	Nevada Wolfpack	Chris Ault is to Nevada football what Bobby Knight is to Indiana basketball. Only he doesn’t choke his players.
72	Derek Dooley	Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
73	Bill Cubit	Western Michigan Broncos
74	Brady Hoke	San Diego St. Aztecs	Look at what’s happened to Ball St. now that Hoke is no longer there.
75	Dan Mullen	Mississippi St. Bulldogs
76	Troy Calhoun	Air Force Falcons
77	Bobby Johnson	Vanderbilt Commodores	Brought the Dores to their first bowl since ever.
78	Dabo Swinney	Clemson Tigers	Cemson may have went out too far on the limb for this one.
79	Robb Akey	Idaho Vandals	His stock is sky rocketing with his coaching job this season.
80	Pat Hill	Fresno St. Bulldogs
81	Dan Hawkins	Colorado Buffaloes	Should have stayed in Boise.
82	Mark Snyder	Marshall Thundering Herd
83	Rick Stockstill	Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
84	Larry Fedora	Southern Miss Golden Eagles
85	Mike Price	UTEP Miners	Should have stayed in the strip club.
86	David Bailiff	Rice Owls
87	Charlie Weatherbie	Louisiana-Monroe War Hawks	Is 1-0 against Nick Saban in head-to-head match-ups.
88	Bill Snyder	Kansas St. Wildcats	The game has passed him a looooong time ago.
89	DeWayne Walker	New Mexico St. Aggies
90	Steve Roberts	Arkansas St. Red Wolves
91	Paul Rhoads	Iowa St. Cyclones	Is doing more with Iowa St. than Gene Chizik ever did.
92	Dave Christensen	Wyoming Cowboys
93	George O’Leary	UCF Knights	Is looking for good resume writers.
94	Howard Schnellenberger	Florida Atlantic Owls	May be time to let someone else take over the Owls. He’s done a nice job getting the program started.
95	Dick Tomey	San Jose St. Spartans
96	David Clawson	Bowling Green Falcons
97	Gary Andersen	Utah St. Aggies
98	Tim Beckman	Toledo Rockets	Has already led Toledo to a victory over Colorado in his first season.
99	Tommy West	Memphis Tigers
100	Doug Martin	Kent St. Golden Flashes
101	Todd Dodge	North Texas Mean Green
102	Doug Marrone	Syracuse Orange
103	Rich Ellerson	Army Black Knights
104	J.D. Brookhart	Akron Zips
105	Gene McMackin	Hawaii Warriors	Hates the gays.
106	Jerry Kill	Northern Illinois Huskies	Has the best name in the business.
107	Ron Zook	Illinois Fighting Illini	Fans are growing weary of the Zooker quicker than I had expected. This is more than likely his last season with the Illini.
108	Danny Hope	Purdue Boilermakers
109	Ron English	Eastern Michigan Eagles
110	Rickey Bustle	UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns
111	Mike Sanford	UNLV Rebels
112	Neal Calloway	UAB Blazers
113	David Elson	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers	Is still in transition mode as the Hilltoppers adjust to 1-a play.
114	Steve Kragthorpe	Louisville Cardinals	He is just over his head in the Big East. Could be a great Non-BCS lifer coach.
115	Mario Cristobal	FIU Golden Panthers
116	Bob Toledo	Tulane Green Wave	I still don’t think Toledo should be coaching any longer.
117	Mike Haywood	Miami(OH) Red Hawks
118	Paul Wulff	Washington St. Cougars	The worst coach in 1-a. At least he lived up to his promise to beat Washington.
119	Stan Parrish	Ball St. Cardinals	One of the worst head coaches in the history of head coaching. Just go ahead and look up his lifetime record. It’s scary.
120	Mike Locksley	New Mexico Lobos	Is the worst because the amount of shittiness he has brought to the Lobos in such a short period of time. He is still winless and he has already faced legal issues in his first season.

Florida-Mississippi St. Preview

2009-10-22T13:32:00.003-04:00

The worst thing that could have possibly happened to Mississippi St. last week was a close call for the Gators. All that means is that the Orange and Blue will be nice and alert for their Saturday Night match up with the Bulldogs.

There are a ton of story lines heading into this ball game. Urban Meyer and long time assistant Dan Mullen will meet as opponents for the first time. Mullen has done a great job making Miss. St. more athletic than usual, but he still doesn't quite have the players necessary to run the offense that he wants. Tyson Lee is definitely not fooling anyone into thinking he's a great QB.

The Gators have historically struggled in the state of Mississippi. Even when S.O.S. roamed the sidelines, Florida had trouble with the cow bells of Starkville. We all know what took place under the Zooker in the Magnolia State. I guess as Gator fans, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the Maroon and White. Even Urb has struggled in David Banner country. He barely snuck out a victory against a very bad Ole Miss team back in 2006 in Oxford.

One thing I do like about this Mississippi St. is Anthony Dixon. Going back to last year, Dixon has been my favorite non-Gator in the nation. His hard running style is finally starting to gain him the attention that he deserves. His defender-destroying touchdown run two weeks ago was a thing of beauty. I hope he continues his success. Just not this week....

5 Keys to the Game

1. Give Moody the ball! - I know this has become a running joke on this blog. I state that the Gators need to get Manny more touches. It's usually the last key I mention every week. However, this week I really man it. We have got to get Emmanuel Moody more touches! This is even more important due to the fact that Chris Rainey couldn't run his way out of a paper bag with a lead blocker right now. Give 21 the rock!

2. Make the most of Red Zone opportunities - One thing that was lost in last week's close call vs. Arkansas was the fact that Florida basically moved the ball at will. Even though Tebow found his way under a defensive linemen more times than Paris Hilton, he was still able to move his team up and down the field. That is, until they reached the end zone. Then, per usual, the Gators would proceed so shit all over themselves as they fumbled the ball away. They have got to get that problem fixed if they want to remain unblemished.

3. Avoid Turnovers - This is the area that almost did in the Gators last week. If you look back to all of the Gators' losses and close calls under Urb the common thread is turnovers. Avoid turnovers and Florida will win. It's as simple as that.

4. Tackle - Seems pretty straightforward. Last Saturday was the first time I've seen the Gators' D miss that many tackles since 2007. Dennis Johnson looked like the reincarnation of Earl Campbell the way he was shedding Florida defenders. If the D thought they had their hands full with Johnson, just wait until they meet Mr. Dixon running the football. Speaking of...

5. Contain Anthony Dixon - If the Gators tackle the way they did against Arkansas, Dixon could go for 200 yards Saturday Night. If Florida can hold Dixon to an average performance, the Bulldogs will not be able to rely on Tyson Lee and the passing game. It would be a long day for Mississippi St.

5 Players That Need to Step Up.

1. Emmanuel Moody - I've already discussed why Manny deserves to get more carries. If, by some miracle, the Gator coaching staff does get Moody more touches, he'll have to prove that he won't screw up like earlier in the season.

2. Chris Rainey - To this point in the season, Chris Rainey has done little to warrant his role as a feature back on this team. This could be sour grapes on my part because he's keeping Moody on the bench, but it seems like everytime Rainey touches the ball it's a 2 yard gain at best. His stats don't prove my theory, but we have to take in the fact that his numbers are bloated by some big runs against Charleston Southern and Troy.

3.Brandon James - I'm calling for James to step up both in the return game as well as within the offense. Outside of Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez, the Gators have nothing in the form of a receiving threat. I'm letting Deonte Thompson off the hook this week and focusing on the Gators' third and fourth receiving options. By the way, whatever happened to the world's most dangerous kick-off return man? He's gone missing for the last 8 months.

4. Major Wright - Since I've been focusing on tackling on the defensive side of the ball, it's only fitting that the worst tackler of all, Major Wright, represents the defense on this list. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Major Wright. If he could get this whole tackling thing down, he could be something special. Wright's presence will be crucial in helping the Gators' D stop the run.

5. David Nelson - You can pretty much apply everything I said about B. James in thepassing game to David Nelson. Except the fact that Nelson actually is a wide receiver. We're just pass the halfway point, time for Nelson to make his usual late season surge.

What Florida should worry about....

This is actually a pretty funny thread poking fun at the Gators over at Six Pack Speak. I encourage you to check it out.

My Prediction:

Florida - 34

Mississippi St. - 6

CFB 365 Top 25

2009-10-18T20:40:00.009-04:00

There was a lot of shake up in this week's poll. The top 5 looks decidedly different from last week. You might notice one big change at the top of the poll...

1. Alabama Crimson Tide - Bama wrestles the number 1 spot away from Florida this week. This is the first week that the Orange and Blue do no sit atop my rankings. I know it's pretty simple, but I made my decision based on the two team's games vs. Arkansas. The Tide dominated the Hogs earlier in the season, while Florida struggled mightily against Arkansas.

2. Florida Gators - Florida didn't fall to number 2 simply because they struggled this week. After all, Arkansas was a ranked team in my poll last week. The fact that Alabama has dominated everyone placed before them like sacrificial lambs helped in the move.

3. Texas Longhorns - The Horns stand pat at the number 3 spot this week. Their win over Oklahoma isn't impressive as it has been in the past, but a win in the Red River Shootout is always impressive. Colt McCoy is just about out of the Heisman race.

4. Cincinnati Bearcats - Cincy jumps up into the top 5 this week. A few teams in front of them either struggled or lost outright, while the Bearcats were able to hand USF their first loss of the season. On the road. With a back up QB. Brian Kelly's team is for real.

5. USC Trojans - I still don't know if the Trojans are all that great yet. The Ohio St. win doesn't look too impressive now. And I haven't been impressed with Notre Dame all season long. I still think SC is a good team with a possible future Heisman candidate in Matt Barkley at the helm.

6. Boise St. Broncos - Boise St. slides out of the top 5 this week despite remaining undefeated. The Broncos struggled mightily against Tulsa on Wednesday night. It should be smooth and unimpressive sailing the rest of the way.

7. LSU Tigers - The Tigers enjoyed a bye week this week. Their schedule is really about to pick up real soon.

8. Miami(FL) Hurricanes - The Canes continued their tear through the Sunshine State on Saturday Night. Miami slowly put UCF out of its misery. That's FSU, FAMU and UCF. The Canes still have to play USF and Florida's School For The Blind.

9. Iowa Hawkeyes - The Hawkeyes are starting to look like the clear favorites in the Big Eleven. Their only real threat is Penn St. and Iowa is already ahead in the head to head battle in that one. They do have a big game next week in East Lansing. MSU is starting to finally put it together.

10. Oregon Ducks - The Ducks enjoyed a nice break from running through PAC-10 opponents this week. Only a bye week could slow down Oregon's attack.

11. TCU Horned Frogs - It took TCU a half to get things going against Colorado St. Once hey did, they couldn't be stopped. The Frogs demolished the struggling Rams in a warm up before next week's showdown against BYU.

12. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - Ga Tech moves up a lot after their impressive win over Virginia Tech. The ACC is starting to slide back into mediocrity. Hopefully, for them, Georgia Tech and Miami can both keep up their winning ways.

13. Penn St. Nittany Lions - Penn St. won a traditional Big Eleven game in traditional Big Eleven weather. The Fighting JoePa's knocked off the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a freezing rain storm. Darryl Clark is starting to look more and more like the best QB in the conference.

14. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - The Cowboys finally looked impressive in knocking off Missouri at home this week. Zac Robinson and Co. looked like they really didn't miss Dez Bryant's presence on the field. We'll see how long that lasts...

15. BYU Cougars - BYU had their hands full vs. Brady Hoke's San Diego St. team on Saturday Night. Struggling against a perennial loser like that is not the way the Cougars wanted to go into the TCU game. Good news for BYU; The game is in Provo.

16. Virginia Tech Hokies - Virginia Tech fall all the way from number 4 to the 16 spot this week. The Hokies were simply outclassed by Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Hopefully for the Hokies, Ryan Williams' injury isn't that serious. They'll need his running threat if they still hope to pull off an ACC Championship game bid.

17. West Virginia Mountaineers - West Virginia's offense looked horrid against Marshall this week. They still came away with the win, though. Much like Texas' win over OU, this rivalry win is still a good one.

18. Utah Utes - Utah took down hapless UNLV this week. The Utes look to benefit from the TCU-BYU tilt. They should jump ahead the loser of that game in the Mountain West standings.

19. Pittsburgh Panthers - Pitt has constantly been one of the first teams left off of my weekly poll. They finally cracked the top 25 this week after another Big East victory over Louisville. I'm sure Dave Wannstedt will find some way to screw this up.

20. Houston Cougars - Houston jumps back into my top 25 this week. Couple their dominating performance over Tulane with nearly everyone in last week's poll falling flat on their faces, and you see why Houston is back in.

21. Texas Tech Red Raiders - Tech is back in my poll after a few weeks hiatus. They have now put up over 60 points in consecutive Big XII games. Tech's only two losses this season were close games against two good teams, Texas and Houston.

22. South Carolina Gamecocks - The Gamecocks hold on in the top 25 barely after falling to Alabama this week. Carolina actually looked like they could compete with Bama at times on Saturday Night. I said, "looked like."

23. Michigan Wolverines - Michigan makes their first appearance in my top 25 this week. I really don't care if the Wolverines would have put 100 on Delaware St. They only crack the top 25 because of other team's incompetence.

24. Kansas Jayhawks - Kansas completely shit all over themselves against Colorado on Saturday Night. I should take them out of the top 25 altogether, but I know that Todd Reesing, Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier are a good trio and they will bounce back.

25. Ohio St. Buckeyes - I really was close to completely dropping OSU from my rankings altogether. However, there really aren't any other viable options here. The Buckeyes barely held off Arizona, Central Michigan, South Florida and Oregon St.

Whew

2009-10-18T15:04:00.005-04:00

I can't recall how many times I thought about the Ole Miss game from last season during yesterday's tilt vs. the Razorbacks. It was a lot though. I thought about that game every single time the Gators fumbled, were forced to settle for 3 and when Arkansas' Greg Childs crossed the goal line late in the fourth.

I actually thought about my game review. I thought about how I would describe this game as being exactly like the Ole Miss game, ending with a loss. However, the Gators' D got a stop when they needed to, Tim Tebow drove the ball down the field when he needed to and Caleb Sturgis nailed the game winning field goal when he was called upon.

You know what they like to say: "A win is a win is a win. Especially in the SEC." I tend to agree with that. I never underestimated the Arkansas team, despite my score prediction. I actually had Arkansas ranked in my top 25. I do think, however, that the Gators underestimated the Arkansas Razorbacks. Meyer said after the game that the team was extremely confident heading into Saturday. He made sure to comment that it was not overconfidence, but just plain old "swagger." I have to disagree with Urb. The Gators did not play with any fire during the entire first half and nearly woke up too late to pull out the victory.

All of the signs pointed to an Arkansas upset. The two starting DT's for Florida did not suit up. Brandon Spikes was injured on the first defensive drive of the game. Riley Cooper was battling a hip pointer for a little over a half. The Gators coughed up the ball every time they reached the red zone. Despite this, the Gators were still able to pull out the victory. We can all breathe a little easier this morning.

Time for some stats!

Passing

Tim Tebow 17-26 255 yards 1 td

Rushing

Tim Tebow 27 rushes 69 yards
Jeff Demps 9 rushes 54 yards 1 td
Emmanuel Moody 3 rushes 7 yards
Chris Rainey 6 rushes 6 yards

Receiving

Aaron Hernandez 7 recs 97 yards
Riley Cooper 6 recs 58 yards
Deonte Thompson 1 rec 77 yards 1 td

Tackles

Joe Haden 6
Jermaine Cunningham 6
Ahmad Black 6
Will Hill 6
Omar Hunter 6

Sacks

Jermaine Cunningham 2
Joe Haden 1
A.J. Jones 1

Field Goals

Caleb Sturgis 3/4 Long-51

Player of The Game

Caleb Sturgis - The Garbage Picking, Field Goal Kicking Florida Gator

Maybe I should make a weekly trip to Gainesville to kick a slumping player in the balls. After my trip last week to give Sturgis' nads a swift, Shawn Michaelsesque superkick, all he did was go out and kick the game winner straight through the uprights. That's not why I'm giving Caleb player of the game honors, though. His 51 yarder earlier in the game was a bit more impressive for me. I knew he had the leg for it, but he has never shown great accuracy. Until now. Also, the way he quited the entire Gators sideline after his game winning boot was phenomenal (you must use your Jim Rome voice to read that last sentence.) Congrats Sturgis, and ice those nuts!

Florida v. Arkansas Preview

2009-10-15T15:18:00.005-04:00

The immovable object v. The unstoppable force.

That would be the great debate heading into this game between Florida's elite D and Arkansas' new-found prolific offense. However, we have already seen what happens to Arkansas' offense when they run into a solid defense. Just pop in a video tape of their game vs Alabama from a few weeks ago. Just a warning: Hide the kids, because it gets ugly.

So Florida's D is a huge key to victory this week. It's not all about the defense though. It is imperative for the Gators to have a strong showing on offense simply for the fact that it will help build confidence on that side of the ball heading into the home stretch.

The atmosphere in Gainesville will be amazing this week. This is the last homecoming of Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes' playing career. Perhaps the best offensive and defensive players to ever wear the Orange and Blue will put on a show.

5 Keys to the game

1. Put pressure on Ryan Mallett - The Gators finally place some major pressure on an opposing QB last week. That could have been a product of what may be one of the worse offensive lines in the SEC. This week, the Gators need to prove that they can apply that same kind of pressure against a good offensive line. Mallett is huge, and getting pressure on him may be the best way to force some errant throws.

2. Don't give Arkansas a short field - Ryan Mallett and RB Michael Smith make this Arkansas team very dangerous offensively. They're the main reasons why the Hogs have snuck into my top 25. Giving the Razorbacks a short field via either a turnover (highly unlikely) or a great return (even more unlikely) is almost guaranteed points, even against the best of defenses.

3. Establish a deep threat - This isn't as importamt to this game as much as it is to the rest of the season. Deonte Thompson should be completely healthy for the first time since the Troy game. Frankie Hammond and Justin Williams need to be ready to play, especially now that we know Carl Moore won't be back this season. Yeah getting the ball to Riley Cooper and Aaron Hernandez is nice, but I wanna see some bombs!

4. Give John Brantley some playing time - We still have not seen Brantley in a ball game that was still in doubt as promised by the coaching staff during the Spring. This is one of those tweener games that would be perfect to get Brantley some early reps. We should never be in danger of losing to Arkansas, but we can still get away with calling it a tough conference game against a very formidable opponent.

5. I gotta have more Moody - The latest out of Gainesville this week is that Moody is finally to take some reps away from Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey. I've had no problem with Demps getting the bulk of the carries. He's a bonafide superstar. However, Rainey really hasn't shown the progress that I would have liked to seen out of him this year. On the flip side, despite some early fumbles, Moody has been straight blowing people up and breaking off huge runs on a consistent basis. Time for Moody to seriously tote the rock.

5 Players that need to step up

1. Deonte Thompson - As I mentioned earlier, Thompson is finally completely healthy. This is critical to the Florida passing game this week. Thompson provides a second deep threat to go along with Riley Cooper, and hopefully this will force David Nelson to the bench a little bit more.

2. Carlos Dunlap - I know Carlos Dunlap wants to lead this team in sacks very badly. He needs to step up if he wants to fend off Brandon Spikes for that distinction. Dunlap is a key to Florida's pass rush. Also, he will have to find the difficult balance of providing enough pressure on Ryan Mallett while continuing to stay at home to help hem in Michael Smith.

3. Jaye Howard - Howard is another pivotal figure in Florida's pass defense. More importantly is his role in the run defense. Howard can help clog up the middle to free up Florida's tenacious linebacker corps.

4. Tim Tebow - I'm a little too lazy to do my own research, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've mentioned the G.O.A.T. in this category. I am definitely not calling out Tebow here. I would just like to see a little more passing mixed in with our offense. Maybe even see Tebow notch 20+ completions?

5. Dustin Doe - Before Dustin Doe decided to get arrested for nearly anything and everything this off season he was slated as the starting linebacker opposite Brandon Spikes and A.J. Jones. Since he's been relegated to the bench, he's now fallen behind Spikes, Jones, Brandon Hicks and Lorenzo Edwards. I've even seen Major Wright make more plays from the linebacker position this season than Doe. This is a perfect game for Doe to get back on the field and make some plays, so if anybody finds the Dustin Doe from last season's Georgia game, please show him the way to the Swamp on Saturday.

Here's some highlights from last season's win over Arkansas. As you may remember, this was the first game of the Gators' current winning streak.

Here's what the Hog faithful are saying about the game. Somebody actually has the Hogs scoring 45 on the Gators! There's a difference between believing in your team and just being plan crazy.

My Prediction:

Florida - 38

Arkansas - 13

Weekly Picks

2009-10-13T22:16:00.003-04:00

No special intro. Well except for that intro. On to the picks!

Arkansas St. @ UL-Monroe
Boise St. @ Tulsa
Cincinnati @ South Florida
Pittsburgh @ Rutgers
Oklahoma v. Texas
Ohio St. @ Purdue
Iowa @ Wisconsin
Louisville @ Connecticut
Northwestern @ Michigan St.
Delaware St. @ Michigan
Wake Forest @ Clemson
Bowling Green @ Ball St.
Georgia @ Vanderbilt
Mississippi St. @ Middle Tennessee St.
Army @ Temple
Miami(OH) @ Ohio
Wyoming @ Air Force
Nevada @ Utah St.
Arkansas @ Florida
USC @ Notre Dame
Minnesota @ Penn St.
Texas Tech @ Nebraska
Houston @ Tulane
California @ UCLA
NC State @ Boston College
Rice @ East Carolina
Marshall @ West Virginia
Akron @ Buffalo
Central Michigan @ Western Michigan
Colorado St. @ TCU
Virginia @ Maryland
Kent St. @ Eastern Michigan
Hawaii @ Idaho
Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech
BYU @ San Diego St.
Stanford @ Arizona
New Mexico St. @ Louisiana Tech
Kansas @ Colorado
Baylor @ Iowa St.
Illinois @ Indiana
UL-Lafayette @ Western Kentucky
UAB @ Ole Miss
Troy @ FIU
Texas A&M @ Kansas St.
Memphis @ Southern Miss
Northern Illinois @ Toledo
Miami(FL) @ UCF
Kentucky @ Auburn
South Carolina @ Alabama
FAU @ North Texas
Navy @ SMU
Missouri @ Oklahoma St.
Utah @ UNLV
San Jose St. @ Fresno St.
Washington @ Arizona St.

CFB 365 Top 25

2009-10-11T17:31:00.009-04:00

There's considerably more shake-up in the poll this week than in previous weeks. The top ten has been shaken up a bit and there are 5 new teams in the top 25 overall.

1. Florida Gators - The Gators won a throwback SEC contest Saturday against LSU. The Florida D is finally starting to show why they have been considered by some to be among the greatest of all time. Homecoming tune-up next week vs. Arkansas is prime for a trap game.

2. Alabama Crimson Tide - Bama leapfrogs Texas this week because of another dominating performance. The Tide are starting to pull away from the rest of the SEC West. It looks like their could be a re-match in the SEC title game this season.

3. Texas Longhorns - The Longhorns drop a spot after struggling for 3 quarters vs. lowly Colorado. Colt McCoy and the offense were able to pull away late, but the Buffs should have never been in the game in the first place.

4. Virginia Tech Hokies - Virginia Tech reclaimed their spot as the best one loss team in America this week. They completely dominated a very good Boston College team. Their play makes you realize just how good Alabama really is.

5. Boise St. Broncos - I continue my tradition of punishing teams for having a bye week. I promise this isn't on purpose, but when Va Tech has such a good outing and Boise St. is sitting at home watching the tube, they're gonna get leapfrogged every time.

6. Ohio St. Buckeyes - Ohio St. looked really impressive against Wisconsin on Saturday. That may have been the most complete game that the Buckeyes have played all season long. They better get ready for their monumental showdown next week against Purdue.

7. Cincinnati Bearcats - Breaking from CFB 365 tradition, the Bearcats actually move up a spot during a bye week. They'll have a great chance to prove themselves this Thursday as they travel to Tampa to face the undefeated South Florida Bulls.

8. USC Trojans - USC also moves up a spot this week, mainly because of LSU's loss. USC now prepares itself for what is annually the most overblown mismatch of the college football season: US v. Notre Dame.

9. LSU Tigers - LSU slides a bit this week, but they remain in the top 10. They were able to hang with number 1 Florida for the entire game. If only they had a QB, this would be a really good team. Charles Scott can't carry the offense all by himself.

10. Miami(FL) Hurricanes - The Canes stand pat at number 10 this week. Defeating 1-aa FAMU is just as good as a bye week. Jacory Harris remains in Heisman contention for now. Next week the Canes face another in-state "power" in the form of the UCF Knights.

11. Oregon Ducks - The Ducks moved up a few spots with another impressive conference win over UCLA. The fact that Oregon was able to hold off the Bruins with a backup QB only shows how good this team really is.

12. Kansas Jayhawks - Kansas stays at number 12 after needing every last minute to knock off Iowa St. at home on Saturday. A close game against the Cyclones won't impress anyone, and next week won't be any more impressive as the Jayhawks travel to Boulder to take on the Colorado Buffaloes.

13. Iowa Hawkeyes - Iowa held off a stubborn Michigan team to remain unbeaten. Iowa's offense may have had their best game of the season, but the defense needs to play better if they wish to make it through the Big Eleven season undefeated.

14. TCU Horned Frogs - I'm still not too impressed with Gary Patterson's team this season. Their defense is among the best in the nation, but they will need to find more offense if they want to really challenge for a BCS bid.

15. Penn St. Nittany Lions - Penn St. had no trouble in taking down 1-aa Eastern Illinois on Saturday. The game was a nice break from Big Eleven play for the Fighting JoePa's. Now they mus hope for Iowa to lose at least two conference games if they want to make it back to the Rose Bowl.

16. South Carolina Gamecocks - Steve Spurrier's bunch found themselves in a dog fight against Kentucky on Saturday. Any win in the SEC is a good won. Even a 2 point victory at home over Kentucky...

17. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - Much like South Carolina, Oklahoma St. barely held off a much inferior conference opponent this week. OSU needed all of their offensive weapons to finally pull away from Texas A&M on the road. State needs to play better if they hope to beat either Oklahoma or Texas this season.

18. BYU Cougars - BYU knocked off UNLV late Saturday night. Ho hum....

19. Nebraska Cornhuskers - The Huskers jump back into my top 25 after defeating Mizzou on Thursday night. The defense is close to earning back their Blackshirt status. They may have to hold Texas Tech to under 50 points to get them back completely though.

20. Oklahoma Sooners - The Sooners actually struggled for about a half against the Baylor Bears this week. Eventually they were able to pull away under the leadership of newly returned Sam Bradford. Maybe they should have waited a week to get a little more pub. It seems like Bradford's return was completely overshadowed by Tebow coming back to the field.

21. South Florida Bulls - The Bulls jump a bunch of spots up to number 21. This is mainly due to the fact of nearly every team in front of them losing. USF must now get ready for their Thursday night showdown vs. Cincinnati.

22. West Virginia Mountaineers - Noel Devine is quietly creeping up on Jahvid Best for the title go best running back in the nation. He should get much more recognition if the Mountaineers continue their stellar play.

23. Utah Utes - The Utes climb back into my top 25 after knocking off Colorado St. this week. Utah has performed well all season long, save for their trip to Eugene. Then again, no visiting team has played well in Eugene this season.

24. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - Georgia Tech is another team making a re-appearance in my top 25. I'm not overly impressed with the Yellow Jackets' slim victory at Florida St., but nearly everybody in the 20-25 spots from last week's poll lost. I gotta rank somebody.

25. Arkansas Razorbacks - The final spot in this week's poll was a tough choice. First, I had Ole Miss ranked. Their only two losses were to South Carolina and Alabama. Both good teams, but they hadn't beaten anybody. Then, I ranked Pittsburgh number 21. The Panthers had the best record of all the teams I was considering, but like Ole Miss, Pitt hadn't really beaten anybody. Also, the only team that Pitt lost to just got beat by Duke. The final choice, and the one that stuck, was the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Hogs have now dominated Texas A&M and Auburn in consecutive weeks. Their only two losses are to Georgia and Alabama. Both Bama and UGA are top notch SEC schools. Also, Ryan Mallett and Michael Smith are two of the top offensive play makers in the conference.

Title "Defense"

2009-10-11T11:56:00.006-04:00

The big news came just hours before the game. Tim Tebow would be the starting QB for the Florida Gators in Death Valley. While the news was good, it may not have been the most important part of the Gators' victory last night. The biggest story for this Gators team is the fact that their defense is very, very good.

This defensive unit still has only allowed 2 touchdowns all season long. I'm not sure if too many people around the nation can comprehend that fact. As Urban Meyer likes to say, this unit is a "grown man's defense." The offense uncharacteristically sputtered late in a few drives and left at least 10 points on the field. They need not worry, as the defense was there to pick them up.

Brandon Spikes was all over the field for the first time this season. Joe Haden seemingly broke up every pass that headed his way, including a late second quarter interception. Ahmad Black turned into Major Wright and delivered some bone jarring hits. The defensive line was amazing. Carlos Dunlap, Jermaine Cunningham, Justin Trattou and even Terron Sanders all had great games against the very solid rushing attack of the LSU Tigers.

There were some bright spots on offense as well. The O-Line, led by the Pouncey Twins, played perhaps their best game of the season. They allowed the Gator rushing attack to gut the very stout front seven of LSU. Aaron Hernandez played a very solid game at the TE position. He even came within inches of saving Tebow and hauling in a third quarter TD pass. Emmanuel Moody finally showed why this particularly blog has a total no-homo man crush on the guy. He never went down on first or even second contact and averaged 7 yards a carry.

I have to cut the outline short now. I just arrived in Gainesville to kick Caleb Sturgis in the nuts as promised. Although for different reasons.

Here's the stats of the classic SEC-style victory of the Gators.

Passing

Tim Tebow 11-16 134 yards 1 td 1 int

Rushing

Jeff Demps 16 rushes 86 yards
Emmanuel Moody 6 rushes 42 yards
Tim Tebow 17 rushes 38 yards
Aaron Hernandez 1 rush 16 yards
Chris Rainey 4 rushes 11 yards

Receiving

Aaron Hernandez 6 recs 70 yards
Riley Cooper 2 recs 31 yards 1 td
Deonte Thompson 2 recs 11 yards
Brandon James 1 rec 20 yards

Field Goals

Caleb Sturgis 2/3 Long-32 yards

Tackles

Brandon Spikes 11
A.J. Jones 10
Ryan Stamper 9

Sacks

Brandon Spikes 2.5
Jermaine Cunningham 1
Justin Trattou 1
Carlos Dunlap 0.5

Interceptions

Joe Haden 1

Player of The Game

Brandon Spikes - Linebacker, The Predator

Spikes played easily what was his best game of the year. Now that I think about it, it was about LSU week when Spikes really started playing out of his mind last season. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come. All I know is you can pretty much pencil him in as All-American 1st team at the LB position. I hope Spikes formally introduces Ryan Mallett to the Swamp and SEC play next week.

Florida-LSU Preview

2009-10-07T12:17:00.009-04:00

After a much needed bye week the Gators are ready to get back into action on Saturday night. As you all know the LSU Tigers will be awaiting Florida at what will be a very hostile Tiger Stadium. Of course the question that is on everybody's mind right now is: Will Tebow play?

Personally, I think Tebow is going to play. I'm not expecting a vintage Tebow out there though. I think the coaching staff will finally deliver on it' promise to play Johnny Brantley during meaningful minutes. We also could finally see some wildcat this week. Anything to take some of the load off of Tebow would be great.

The one thing that really concerns me in this game is the fact that LSU has been battle tested this season. If this game were to be close, LSU has the advantage because they have already played in, and won, close games this season. Granted their close games were against teams with not nearly the same amount of talent as the Gators, but it still helps to have been there before.

Now on to the good stuff. Or should I say, the better stuff?

5 Keys to the Game

1. Stop Charles Scott - Jordan Jefferson and the LSU passing "attack" has no chance whatsoever to move the ball against the Gators' D. I feel very confident in that statement. The only way the Tiger offense can successfully move the ball against Florida will be through the run. The main threat in the Tigers rushing attack: Charles Scott. Stop Scott and you have a cake walk.

2. Maintain Composure - Saturday night at Tiger Stadium is truly something to behold. That is as long as you're not the opposing team. If LSU jumps out early and the fans start going crazy, it will be real easy for a team to lose it's composure. The Gators will need to keep their cool in this hostile atmosphere.

3. Protect the QB - Whoever the QB is, the Gators O-Line needs to protect him. This could probably be best down by making sure everyone on the opposite side of the ball is accounted for before the snap. You know, that way a DE doesn't have a free shot at the QB while the DT gets double teamed. The LSU defense is infinite times better than any defense the Gators have faced all season.

4. Avoid Turnovers - One sure way to ignite an already raucous LSU crowd is to turn the ball over. This is more of a concern when Brantley is in the game as he is not as fluid with the triple option read plays as Tebow is. Also, protecting the ball eliminates any short field scenarios for a struggling LSU offense.

5. Win Field Position Battle - Speaking of short field scenarios. Giving a struggling offense a short field to work with is like giving a struggling jump shooter a pair of free throws in basketball. It's unnecessary and its something that you don't want to do. Make the Tiger offense go 70-80 yards every time they touch the ball. And don't pick up any excessive celebration penalties!

5 Players That Need to Step Up

1. John Brantley - As I mentioned earlier, even if Tebow plays, Brantley will have a much larger role in this contest than any other game he's been a part of at Florida. He needs to be ready to go. Once he's in the game, he needs to be confident enough to make some plays. I believe Johnny is better than Jordan Jefferson. He'll get the chance to prove it.

2. Aaron Hernandez - A young QB's best friend is his tight end. He's usually sure handed, runs good routes and is a great check-down target. Hernandez is all of the above. He will be pivotal to Brantley's success. Hernandez is also becoming a favorite target of Timmy. So look for him to produce while G.O.A.T. is in there as well. If you believe what you hear from the UF coaching staff, we could also see some of Hernandez in the Wildcat. I feel sorry for opposing defenses...

3. Brandon James - I've already mentioned the crowd noise and atmosphere a few times. One good way to shut up even the rowdiest of fans; run a kick or punt back for a TD. BJ is perfectly capable of doing this as we all know. Also, if Deonte Thompson still isn't 100%, James will once again convert to the nation's tiniest slot receiver.

4. Caleb Sturgis - Sturgis will be important for two reasons. 1. His kick-offs can help the Gators win the position battle. 2. The game may come down to a field goal. Plus, If I see one more kick-off go out of bounds I may drive to Gainesville and wait for the team to return. Then, while Caleb is walking to class on Monday, I'll jump from behind the fries at Turlington and kick him straight in the God Damn nuts!

5. Major Wright - Wright will have to really assert himself in the run defense Saturday night. With no passing threat, Wright should be able to cheat up and attack the line to help slow Charles Scott, Keiland Williams, Trindon Holliday, Kevin Faulk, LaBrandon Toefield, and whoever else LSU has to tote the rock.

Here's some highlights from last year's romping

I'll leave it to you guys to find the highlights from the last time the Gators were in Baton Rouge. Just type in Jacob Hester becomes a man in any search engine.

Here's what the LSU faithful are saying about the game.

My Prediction:

Florida - 27

LSU - 16

Weekly Picks

2009-10-06T12:29:00.003-04:00

There's an extra early game this week, so I gotta get my picks in now. Just in case you didn't know, the early game is a titanic Sun Belt showdown between Middle Tennessee and Troy tonight.

Here's the picks...

Middle Tennessee @ Troy
Nebraska @ Missouri
Louisiana Tech @ Nevada
Boston College @ Virginia Tech
Eastern Illinois @ Penn St.
Auburn @ Arkansas
Miami(OH) @ Northwestern
Purdue @ Minnesota
West Virginia @ Syracuse
Vanderbilt @ Army
Michigan St. @ Illinois
Eastern Michigan @ Central Michigan
Georgia @ Tennessee
Oklahoma St. @ Texas A&M
Iowa St. @ Kansas
Kentucky @ South Carolina
Houston @ Mississippi St.
Ball St. @ Temple
New Mexico @ Wyoming
Alabama @ Ole Miss
Wisconsin @ Ohio St.
Oregon @ UCLA
Baylor @ Oklahoma
Georgia Southern @ North Carolina
Texas Southern @ Rutgers
Connecticut @ Pittsburgh
Navy @ Rice
Indiana @ Virginia
Gardner-Webb @ Buffalo
Bowling Green @ Kent St.
Marshall @ Tulane
Duke @ NC State
Arizona St. @ Washington St.
Utah @ Colorado St.
Ohio @ Akron
Maryland @ Wake Forest
Florida A&M @ Miami(FL)
Florida International @ Western Kentucky
Stanford @ Oregon St.
North Texas @ UL-Lafayette
Kansas St. @ Texas Tech
Western Michigan @ Toledo
Colorado @ Texas
TCU @ Air Force
Southern Miss @ Louisville
Florida @ LSU
Georgia Tech @ Florida St.
Idaho @ San Jose St.
Utah St. @ New Mexico St.
UTEP @ Memphis
East Carolina @ SMU
Michigan @ Iowa
BYU @ UNLV
Arizona @ Washington
Fresno St. @ Hawaii

Upset Picks:

Nebraska over Missouri - Missouri is undefeated and at home, but I like Nebraska's defense to harass Blaine Gabbert all day Thursday. I am perfect on Thursday night games, in case you're keeping score at home.

Arkansas over Auburn - Two of the better offenses in the SEC will be on display at high noon on Saturday. I like Arkansas to win at home behind a big day from Ryan Mallett.

Mississippi St. over Houston - We all remember what happened to East Carolina last season once their Cinderella slipper was shattered. This Houston team is better than that Pirate team, but I think Dan Mullen will pull out all the stops in Starkville.

Washington over Arizona - The Huskies just may be the best one win team in the country. I like their chances of knocking off the Wildcats Saturday night.

Ultimate Fantasy League Update

2009-10-04T22:45:00.003-04:00

SEC

East

1. Florida 5-0 (5-0)
2. Georgia 3-2 (1-1)
3. Georgia Tech 2-3 (1-1)
4. South Carolina 2-3 (0-3)
5. Clemson 2-3 (0-3)
6. Tennessee 1-4 (1-3)

West

1. Alabama 5-0 (3-0)
2. Ole Miss 5-0 (3-0)
3. Auburn 4-1 (3-1)
4. LSU 3-2 (3-1)
5. Kentucky 2-3 (1-3)
6. Mississippi St. 2-3 (0-3)

Notes - The Gators are still a perfect 5 for 5 within the Conference thanks to their win over Clemson. Georgia knocked off Arizona St., Auburn knocked off UCLA and Georgia Tech beat Nebraska to continue the SEC's dominance outside of conference play.

Big XII

North

1. Kansas 5-0 (4-0)
2. Missouri 4-1 (2-1)
3. Nebraska 3-2 (2-1)
4. Arkansas 1-4 (1-4)
5. Colorado 0-5 (0-2)
6. Kansas St. 0-5 (0-4)

South

1. Texas 5-0 (4-0)
2. Oklahoma St. 5-0 (3-0)
3. Oklahoma 3-2 (2-1)
4. TCU 3-2 (2-2)
5. Texas Tech 1-4 (1-3)
6. Texas A&M 1-4 (0-3)

Notes - Arkansas finally got their first win of the season. They took down a still winless Kansas St. team. Texas and Oklahoma St. are heading for an undefeated match-up in two weeks. OSU has an out of conference game vs. Tulsa before the game and Texas will play a winless Colorado team.

PAC-10

North

1. Oregon St. 4-1 (3-0)
2. Boise St. 4-1 (2-1)
3. Oregon 3-2 (3-1)
4. Washington 2-3 (2-1)
5. Stanford 2-3 (1-3)
6. Washington St. 0-5 (0-3)

South

1. California 4-1 (2-1)
2. USC 3-2 (3-1)
3. UCLA 2-3 (2-1)
4. Arizona 2-3 (1-2)
5. Arizona St. 1-4 (1-2)
6. San Diego St. 0-5 (0-4)

Notes - San Diego St. continues to make their case for demotion out of the league next season. Cal's overall record keeps them ahead of USC in the standings. Washington St. is still Washington St.

Big Ten

East

1. Wisconsin 5-0 (3-0)
2. Ohio St. 4-1 (3-1)
3. Northwestern 3-2 (2-2)
4. Minnesota 3-2 (1-2)
5. Illinois 0-5 (0-3)
6. Purdue 0-5 (0-4)

West

1. Indiana 4-1 (2-1)
2. Notre Dame 3-2 (3-2)
3. Iowa 3-2 (2-2)
4. Michigan 3-2 (1-1)
5. Iowa St. 3-2 (1-2)
6. Michigan St. 2-3 (2-1)

Notes - You know I started this whole fantasy league to get some premiere match-ups in the post season. However, a Wisconsin v. Indiana Big Ten title game does not really interest me. That would be the title game for this conference if the season ended now. Who would have thought the West would have been the better division when the season started?

ACC

Atlantic

1. Virginia Tech 5-0 (4-0)
2. Miami 3-2 (3-1)
3. Virginia 1-4 (1-2)
4. North Carolina St. 1-4 (1-3)
5. North Carolina 1-4 (1-3)
6. Louisville 1-4 (1-3)

Coastal

1. South Florida 4-1 (3-1)
2. East Carolina 3-2 (3-1)
3. Wake Forest 2-3 (2-2)
4. Florida St. 2-3 (2-3)
5. Duke 1-4 (1-1)
6. Maryland 1-4 (1-3)

Notes - The ACC is a horrible conference. In particular, the Atlantic division just may be the worst group of teams in this entire league. Virginia Tech is pretty much set to play in the title game. It seems their opponent is going to come down to the two newbies, USF and ECU.

Big East

North

1. Penn St. 5-0 (3-0)
2. Boston College 4-1 (3-0)
3. Connecticut 2-3 (2-1)
4. Rutgers 2-3 (1-2)
5. Syracuse 1-4 (1-3)
6. Army 0-5 (0-4)

South

1. Cincinnati 5-0 (4-0)
2. Pittsburgh 3-2 (2-1)
3. West Virginia 2-3 (2-1)
4. Vanderbilt 2-3 (1-3)
5. Navy 2-3 (1-3)
6. Central Florida 1-4 (1-3)

Notes - The South has a huge log-jam in the middle of the rankings. Pitt, WVU, Vandy and Navy are all fighting to take down Cincy.Penn St. and Boston College are running away with the North right now.

Mountain West

Mountain

1. Baylor 5-0 (4-0)
2. Colorado St. 4-1 (3-1)
3. Southern Miss 3-2 (3-2)
4. Louisiana Tech 2-3 (2-1)
5. Air Force 2-3 (2-2)
6. Troy 0-5 (0-4)

West

1. Tulsa 4-1 (3-0)
2. Houston 4-1 (3-1)
3. BYU 3-2 (2-2)
4. Utah 2-3 (2-2)
5. UNLV 0-5 (0-4)
6. Wyoming 0-5 (0-5)

Notes - Tulsa overtakes Houston in the West after taking down the Cougars. Baylor is still rolling through the Mountain division. It could be a Texas v. Oklahoma J.V. match-up.

CFB 365's Top 25

2009-10-04T17:34:00.008-04:00

Not too much shake-up in the top 25 this week. The top ten is nearly the same. The top 5 was stagnant, and there are only two new teams total in the poll. Here's how I rank them:

1. Florida Gators - The Gators got a much needed bye week this week. Hopefully, this means they get to travel to Baton Rouge flu-free. And possibly concussion-free. The next few days will be pivotal to Tebow's ability to play in the Saturday night showdown.

2. Texas Longhorns - Much like the Gators, Texas had a bye week this week. The best part about their week had to be the Oklahoma loss.

3. Alabama Crimson Tide - Alabama overwhelmed an inferior Kentucky team on Saturday. The win against the Wildcats was a good tune-up for the SEC West showdown next week against Ole Miss. Bama is on cruise control right now and they're showing no signs of slowing down.

4. LSU Tigers - LSU escaped Athens with a win over the Bulldogs Saturday night. LSU can't really throw the ball effectively, and they don't run the ball all that well either. Still, the Tigers always seem to manage to pull out the victory. They'll face a serious challenge to that acumen this week when the Gators come to town.

5. Boise St. Broncos - The Broncos did not look impressive at all against 1-aa UC-Davis this week. The only reason why they hang on to their top 5 ranking is that fact that the teams behind them weren't all that impressive either. Boise St. will have to play much better throughout the season if they hope to continue their BCS bid.

6. Vriginia Tech Hokies - With Boise St.'s struggles against UC-Davis, the Hokies were in prime position to claim a spot in the top 5. Instead, Va Tech struggled mightily against the Duke Blue Devils. The Hokies have also lost some ground to Miami, USC and Ohio St. as the best one loss team in the land.

7. Ohio St. Buckeyes - Ohio St. stays ahead of the USC team that it lost to by manhandling a pretty good Indiana team. The Big Eleven had a bad week this week. Iowa struggled, Michigan lost, and the rest of the league blows. Sounds like the formula of an Ohio St. national title run.

8. Cincinnati Bearcats - Some people would argue that the Bearcats are the best team in Ohio. I would rank them as 1b right now. That being said, Cincy might be the first real threat the Big East has ever produced for a national title appearance. Their schedule will get decidedly tougher from here on out.

9. USC Trojans - USC played inspiringly in their lopsided win against Cal Saturday night. It seems that Stafon Johnson's injury has been a strong motivational factor for this team. I'll use this space to state that I hope Johnson makes a speedy and full recovery.

10. Miami (FL) Hurricanes - The Canes make the biggest jump this week as they climb all the way back into the top ten after their victory over Oklahoma. I'm starting to really hate this Miami swagger talk now. One week they got the swagga back, the next week it's gone. Can't we just say that Miami is good?

11. Kansas Jayhawks - Kansas sat out this week and continued to rise up through my rankings. I may be naive, but I think this Jayhawks team is really good. With Sam Bradford's injury and Colt McCoy's slow starts, Todd Reesing has quietly become the best QB in the Big XII.

12. TCU Horned Frogs - TCU started off slow before exploding late against SMU. The win wasn't that impressive, which is why I don't have the Frogs in my top ten. They'll have to do more than beat a couple ACC teams.

13. Oregon Ducks- The Ducks throttled Washington St. this weekend. While a win against the Cougars isn't as good as their previous two wins against Utah and Cal, the fashion in which they beat Wazzou is still pretty impressive. I'm starting to really like the Ducks' chances of challenging USC for the PAC-10.

14. Iowa Hawkeyes - Iowa notched what was probably the least impressive victory of the week. The barely held on to knock off a scrappy Arkansas St. team. That's close victories against Arkansas St. and Northern Iowa this season. Thank god they beat Penn St.

15. Penn St. Nittany Lions - Speaking of Penn St. The Nittany Lions had no trouble in knocking off Illinois this week. Then again, who has had trouble knocking off the Fighting Zookers this year. I still like Penn St.'s chances of rebounding after their Iowa loss to compete for the Big Eleven title. They just need the Hawkeyes to lose a few games.

16. South Carolina Gamecocks - The Gamecocks move up in the rankings despite playing lowly in-state rival South Carolina St. The mettle of South Carolina will truly be tested in the coming weeks. We'll see how long they can last in the top 25.

17. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - Oklahoma St. moves up three spots despite being off this week. Houston's loss to UTEP makes the Cowboys' loss to the Cougars a little bit uglier. There will be plenty of chances for OSU to redeem itself in the coming weeks.

18. BYU Cougars - BYU struggled early against Utah St. on Thursday. They were able to pull away down the stretch, however. It makes you wonder what the hell BYU was doing when they lost to FSU...

19. Ole Miss Rebels - Ole Miss notched their first SEC victory on Saturday with their victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Rebels now turn their attention to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

20. Auburn Tigers - I'd like to point out that I was the first person to rank these Tigers in their top 25. Even when the Vols are down, getting a win at Neyland Stadium on a Saturday Night is pretty impressive for Gene Chizik's bunch.

21. Oklahoma Sooners - Oklahoma becomes the highest ranked two loss team at number 21. The Sooners' two losses are good ones, if there is such a thing. They have now lost close games to two ranked teams in BYU and Miami. The return of Sam Bradford also keeps them in my rankings.

22. Georgia Bulldogs - The Dawgs make it back to back two loss teams in the rankings. Much like the Sooners, UGA's losses are not that bad either. They too have lost to two ranked teams in Oklahoma St. and LSU. The emergence of A.J. Green as a bona fide mega star is bad news for the rest of the SEC.

23. Wisconsin Badgers - Wisconsin makes its first appearance in my top 25 this week. Starting the season 5-0 will do that. Wisconsin took home the Paul Bunyon axe in a hard fought win at Minnesota this week.

24. Missouri Tigers - Mizzou is finally off of the 25 spot this week. All they needed to do to move up was have a bye week.

25. South Florida Bulls - The Bulls have faced what is easily the worst schedule of any of the top 25 teams. However, I have every other undefeated team ranked, so I gotta include the Bulls. Hopefully, they'll continue to play well as the competition starts to get significantly tougher.