Thursday Recap

Thursday officially marked the first day of the college football season. It also marked the first of many fights I will have with my wife over the viewing of said college football. She's got to understand there's a certain order for my priorities in life right now:

1. Me.
2. College Football
3. My entertainment
4. Family.

That seems about right. How could she get mad at me? Anyway, here's a brief recap on the happenings around college football Thursday night.

ESPN showcased the North Carolina St. v. South Carolina match-up. The Gators weren't involved in this one but it sure seemed like it. UF references were made throughout the game with the OBC on the Cock sideline, Jesse Palmer in the booth and Erin Andrews reporting. In case you were in a comma last night, Palmer played QB for Spurrier at Florida. Chris Fowler must have mentioned that fact 40 times. Also, all the references to Palmer being on the Bachelor are very unnecessary.

The actual game was a complete douche fest. SC QB Tommy Beecher threw four picks and the OBC never once slammed his visor! What kind of shit is that? Also, the refs are taking this whole new celebration rule enforcement thing a little too seriously. I mean, giving a guy a penalty because he's doing push-ups after missing an int? That's a little ridiculous.

It's safe to say Jim Harbaugh has done a tremendous job of getting the Stanford Cardinal back to being competitive. Stanford pulled off a mild upset by defeating the Oregon St. Beavers late last night. The Cardinal have a RB named Toby Gerhart that is the real deal. This guy is big and has deceptive speed. The way he broke through Beaver tackles made you think Ron Zook was the OSU coach.

Both of the Miamis were in action last night. Miami(FL) wooped up on Charleston Southern behind QB Jacory Harris. Miami(OH) faltered at home against the almighty Vanderbilt Commodores. By the way, Vandy CB D.J. Moore is a legitimate All-American candidate. I would like to hear any of his doubters now.

Wake Forest got their first ever victory in the state of Texas by knocking off Baylor. Wake is a dark horse national title contender this season. If Riley Skinner can keep producing, the Deacs are capable of running through the weak ACC. Baylor dual threat QB Robert Griffin II was very impressive running the ball. Passing.....not so much.

Eastern Michigan won! That almost never happens.

Cincinnati and Connecticut both looked rather impressive while beating up on 1-aa teams. I think Cincinnati will surprise some people this year. Brian Kelly is a vastly underrated coach. Kelly's old team, Central Michigan, also got a win last night. Let the Dan LeFevour Heisman hype begin!

ESPN probably has the worst pre-game/halftime show crew ever. I love Lou Holtz, but these horrible gimmicks they make him do are ridiculous. The pep talk segments last year were a monumental flop. That shit fest looks like Emmy winning material compared to the new Dr. Lou crap they're trying to shove down our throats this season. Also, I hate Mark May. He sucks.

Can't wait for Saturday.

The top 25 players: Big East

The Big East enjoyed a terrific season last year. West Virginia was in the title hunt all season long, South Florida climbed all the way up to # 2, and Cincinnati and Connecticut were both nice surprises.

The conference formerly known as the Big Least is next on my list of player breakdowns.

Here are the top 25 players in the Big East.


1.LeSean McCoy - Pittsburgh RB - McCoy is one of my favorites to remain in Heisman contention throughout the season. The Panthers seem like they're ready to take that next step this year, and LeSean McCoy is a big reason for that.

2. Pat White = West Virginia QB - Pat White is another player that I think will be in Heisman contention this year. The Mountaineers are hoping to not miss a beat during the transition to Bill Stewart as HC. With White at the helm, that should be no problem.

3. George Selvie - South Florida DL - Selvie is a serious contender for defensive MOP this season. George will be trying to make it back to back years leading the nation in sacks. Hopefully, the departure of Dan McCarney won't affect his play.

4. Noel Devine - West Virginia RB - Noel Devine is one of the most exciting players in the nation. I predict it will be early in the season when this guy makes Mountaineer fans forget all about Steve Slaton.

5. Ryan Stanchek - West Virgnia OL - Stanchek will lead the O-line in Morgantown. It will be his responsibility to clear the hole for Devine and Slaton. Stancheck is also a tremendous pass blocker for WVU.

6. Terrill Byrd - Cincinnati DL -If not for George Selvie at South Florida, Terrill Byrd would be the most talked about defensive player in the conference. This guy is just straight scary. He has fast become one of Brian Kelly's favorite players.

7. Matt Grothe -South Florida QB - I've said it before, Grothe is a poor man's version of Tim Tebow. Don't get me wrong Bulls' fans, that's a compliment, not a put down. Grothe can do every thing Tebow can, just on a smaller level.

8. Scott McKillop - Pittsburgh LB - McKillop will be the leader of a much improved Panther defense this season. McKillop could also receive strong consideration for All-American honors this year.

9. Eric Wood - Louisville OL - It's not all bad for the Cardinals this year. Eric Wood is a top notch offensive linemen that will be in charge of protecting new QB Hunter Cantwell. Wood should help Cantwell adjust to the starter role rather quickly.

10. Mike Mickens - Cincinnati DB - It's players like Mickens that have Bearcat fans extremely excited heading into this year. Brian Kelly has instilled a much tougher attitude at Cincinnati and Mickens has bought into it.

11. Jamaal Westerman - Rutgers DL - Westerman may not get some of the pub that his fellow Rutgers teammates get, but Jamaal just may be the best player on this Scarlet Knights team.

12. Dominick Goodman - Cincinnati WR - Goodman should be aided greatly by an emerging Marcus Barnett at the other receiver position. Goodman should see less double teams this year, which should translate to better production.

13. Greg Isdaner - West Virginia OL - Isdaner joins Ryan Stanchek on the West Virginia O-line to form one of the better units in America.

14.Dustin Grutza - Cincinnati QB - Everyone is worried about Cincinnati's QB situation coming into this year. Honestly, I don't see why all the concern. Grutza has the talent to be the best QB in the conference. His spring game converted a lot of doubters into believers.

15. Courtney Greene - Rutgers DB - I expect the Scarlet Knights to be right in the thick of things come November. If they get outstanding play from their stars like Greene, that could be an underestimation.

16. Donald Brown - Connecticut RB - The Huskies have a solid one - two punch coming out of the backfield. Donald Brown will be teaming up with Andre Dixon to give UConn one of the better running tandems in the Big East. I look for Brown to get more of the carries.

17. Mike Ford - South Florida RB - This pick is purely on potential. Ford has the ability to be a top flight RB in CFB. Last season, Ford showed flashes of greatness as well as ineptness. HC Jim Leavitt also seemed reluctant to give Ford the ball a lot. With a full season under his belt, the Bulls coaching staff should get him the rock more often, and Ford should be able to make more plays once it's in his hands.

18. Hunter Cantwell - Louisville QB - Cantwell will be replacing a Louisville legend in Brian Brohm this season. Although America hasn't seen much of Cantwell, he is expected to pick up where Brohm left off. If he can produce like expected, the Cardinals could be bowling once again.

19. Kenny Britt - Rutgers WR - Rutgers will feature a dynamic duo at the WR position this season. Britt will form half of that combo.

20. Derek Kinder - Pittsburgh WR - Derek Kinder is another reason why the Panthers are expected to be much better this season. With LeSean McCoy in the backfield, the deep ball should be available to Kinder all year long.

21. Anthony Davis - Rutgers OL - This may actually be underselling Davis. I should have placed him a little higher. I think with one more year under his belt, this kid could become one of the better linemen in the country.

22. Tiquan Underwood - Rutgers WR - Underwood is the second half of that Rutgers WR combo. Britt and Underwood could go down as the number 1 and 2 receivers in school history.

23. Arthur Jones - Syracuse DL - How bad have things gotten in Syracuse? It's a sad sight to see because Syracuse is one of my favorite teams. Gregg Robinson has got to go. At least they have a talent like Jones for the fans to see.

24. Tyrone McKenzie - South Florida LB - South Floria lost a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball. Fortunately for them, they have George Selvie on the line and Tyrone McKenzie leading the linebackers.

25. Kevin Huber - Cincinnati P - I know it seems sacrilegious to have a punter on this list, but Huber is the best punter in the nation. Anytime you have a player that is the best in the nation ,you have to include him.

Big East Expansion?

Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese announced that he is retiring from his position after the season. Tranghese saw the Big East make tremendous strides during his tenure despite the departure of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to the ACC. The Big East also added South Florida, Cincinnati, Louisville and Connecticut as well as booted out Temple in recent years.

I got to thinking, Why doesn't the Big East expand to 12 teams so they can have a championship game? The big East catches a lot of heat because they're champion isn't decided through a conference title game.

Their situation is different than that of the Big Ten and PAC-10 because their teams do no have the name recognition and tradition as those programs.

I believe I have selected four schools that would make good additions to the conference. They are listed below along with their record since 2005 (when USF, Louisville and Cincy were added.)

1. Central Florida- Their record since 2005 is 22-17. They have a big name coach in George O'Leary and are located in a recruiting hot bed. If the Knights were elevated to a bigger conference they could see a similar success as their rival South Florida has seen in recent years.

2.Memphis- Their record since 2005 is 16-21. That number is somewhat skewed by an out of character 2-10 season 2 years ago. Memphis has always been able to get top talent recruits that slip through the cracks or don't qualify academically elsewhere. Memphis' induction into the football conference could be boosted by their basketball program which is looking to join the Big East.

3.Southern Miss- Their record since 2005 is 23-18. The Golden Eagles have always been well respected as a non-BCS school. With a recent stadium upgrade, Southern Miss could have one of the premiere facilities in the Big East.

4.Navy- Their record since 2005 is 25-13. Army made a disastrous attempt to play in a conference when they spent 3 years in C-USA. This would be different. Navy has clearly shown that they are the class of the service academies. Air Force is in the Mountain West, so I see no reason why Navy can't join a conference.

While I'm on the subject, I feel there should be no more independents. Notre Dame should join the Big Eleven, Army should join back with C-USA (especially since I'm proposing the Big East take 3 of their teams) and Western Kentucky is actually already committed to join the Sun Belt.

To see how these teams would stack up against the current Big East, here are the teams' records since 2005.

1. West Virginia 33-5
2. Louisville 27-10
3. Rutgers 26-12
4. South Florida 24-14
5. Cincinnati 22-15
6. Connecticut 18-18
7. Pittsburgh 16-19
8. Syracuse 7-28

So, in the past five years, Central Florida would have been the 6th best team, Memphis would be 8th, Southern Miss would be 5th and Navy would be 4th.

Another reason for the expansion would be the fact that the Big East now has 7 bowl tie-ins. That is a ridiculous amount for a conference that only has 8 teams. Only 6 teams qualified last year with 5 of them receiving bids.

With this expansion, the conference would have to be split into two divisions. Here's how it could look

North

1. Rutgers
2. Navy
3. Cincinnati
4. Connecticut
5. Pittsburgh
6. Syracuse

SOUTH

1. West Virginia
2. Louisville
3. South Florida
4. Southern Miss
5. Central Florida
6. Memphis

That seems like a pretty decent conference to me.

Also, imagine where the championship games could be played. I don't think any other conference could play their title game in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston or Baltimore. They also would be able to pick form the usual hot spots of title games like Tampa, Charlotte or Miami.

Countdown: 85 Days!

85 Days

Brian Kelly really instilled some much needed toughness into the Cincinnati program last season. Ben Mauck is gone as starting quarterback, but new starter Dustin Grutza had an impressive Spring. Grutza will have 2 top notch receivers to get the ball to in Dominick Goodman and Marcus Barnett.