Random Thoughts for the Upcoming Week

There are a handful of teams looking to remain undefeated this week. Some are almost guaranteed to win, while others are dacing more difficult opponents.

Here's what the unblemished squads will be facing:

Boise St. will travel to Northern Mexico to play the San Jose St. Spartans. This might just be the last chance for the Broncos to lose. That's bad news for some teams on the BCS bubble. If it came down to an undefeated Boise St. team and a perfect Utah team, I'd have to think the nod would go to the Broncos. Maybe...

Mike Leach takes his Texas Tech squad to Lawrence to take on the Fighting Manginos. I think this game will be extremely close. Kansas hung tough with Oklahoma last week until Sam Bradford lost his freaking mind. Kansas will have to avoid letting Graham Harrell do the same thing if they want to pull off the upset.

Ball St. will host Eastern Michigan this week. Ball St. will win. That's all I got.

Oklahoma St. and Texas will battle it out in the only game featuring two unbeatens. If the Longhorns play lik they did against Missouri last week, there's no chance for the Cowboys. If Dez Bryant continues to produce like he's the best receiver in the nation outside of Jarrett Dillard, Mike Gundy's men could be walking out of Austin with a win. I've already picked Texas to win this one.

Alabama takes on Tennessee in the god awful city of Knoxville. If Bama can get past all the hillbillies shouting the dreadful lyrics to Rocky Top every 10 seconds, they should do just fine. God I wish someone would line up all the Vols fans so I can kick them in the nuts.

In what the World Wide Leader has deemed the game of the week, Penn St. traves to the Shoe to take on the Terrelle Pryors. I have actually picked OSU to win this one. As much as I should be rooting for Penn St. to lose, I just don't know if I can cheer for the Buckeyes.

On Sunday, Tulsa plays UCF. David Johnson should have another huge game for the Golden Hurricane. It's unfortunate how bad the formely Golden Knights have become.
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On the other end of the spectrum, Washington and North Texas will both be looking for their first wins. I picked Washington to upset Notre Dame at home this weekend. Mostly due to my hatred for the Irish, the team and the people. North Texas is gonna lose in a game that no one will even know about. As bad as the Mean Green are this year, I wouldn't expect them to stay down for too long. They have a plethora of talent on the offensive side of the ball. It's just too bad Hayden Fry isn't available to coach.
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5 Stories to follow:

1. How many coaches will Syracuse contact this weekend about their coaching job? Randy Edsall down. Next up, Al Golden.
2. How many dumb ass new segments will CFB Live do? How about trying to see who can mention Hitler's name more often when talking about bad coaches?
3. Will USC choke against another inferior PAC-10 team?
4. How many more Florida St. violations will the NCAA uncover?
5. Will Jim Grobe slip in the puddle of tears from Randy Shannon's constant crying?

Conference Outlook

As the season is drawing ever closer. I decided to make my conference picks.

As you all know, I don't like to bet, but if I did, I would be a millionaire because these picks are freaking golden.

Kirk Herbstreit (aka The Viceroy of Cock) recently completed his list. I will not post a link to it however because the WWL will relentlessly hunt me down and kill all my future children. So I'll just tell you to go check it out. You know the address.

Here's the CORRECT picks:

Note: If I feel another team might have a decent shot, I'll put them in these bad boys, (....).

ACC Atlantic - Clemson, (Wake Forest)
ACC Coastal - Virginia Tech, (North Carolina)
ACC Champ - Clemson, (Wake Forest)

Big East - West Virginia, (Rutgers)

Big Eleven - Ohio St., (Illinois)

Big 12 North - Missouri, (Colorado)
Big 12 South - Oklahoma, (Texas Tech)
Big 12 Champ - Oklahoma, (Missouri)

PAC 10 - USC, (Arizona St.)

SEC West - Auburn, (LSU)
SEC East - Florida, (Georgia)
SEC Champ - Florida, (Georgia)

Conference USA East - UCF, (Memphis)
Conference USA West - Tulsa, (SMU)
Conference USA Champ - Tulsa, (UCF)

MAC East - Temple, (Bowling Green)
MAC West - Central Michigan, (Ball St.)
MAC Champ - Central Michigan, (Ball St.)

Mountain West - BYU, (Utah)

Sun Belt - Florida Atlantic, (UL-Monroe)

WAC - Boise St., (Fresno St.)

The top 25 players: C-USA

Now we delve into the lower levels of D-1 football. It's time to take a look at the top players from the non-BCS conferences.

First off, I'll start with Conference USA.

Since no one really gives a damn about these schools, I'll only provide a synopsis of the top 10. If you would like more info on a player in the 11-25 range, then I suggest you e-mail said player and tell him to start kicking ass so I will talk about him.

1. Jarret Dillard - Rice WR - Not only is Dillard by far the best receiver in C-USA, he is among the best receivers in the nation. It's a shame this guy plays for such a shitty team. Todd Bailiff has a lot to work with in Dillard and QB Chase Clement.

2. Damion Fletcher - Southern Miss RB - Some people have said that Fletcher is the best player at any position in the non-BCS conferences. I don't know about all that, but Fletcher is definitely something special. He's one of a few weapons new HC Larry Fedora will have at his disposal.

3. Joe Burnett - Central Florida DB - Burnett is the top defensive player in C-USA. He was often overlooked last season due to the play of teammate Kevin Smith. Now Burnett is the star of this Knights team and he's ready to have a breakout year.

4. Brennan Marion - Tulsa WR - This guy had some pretty gaudy numbers at the receiver position last year. His talent should allow him to continue to play at a high level despite the departure of QB Paul Smith.

5. Gerald McGrath - Southern Miss LB - McGrath might be the most feared defender in the conference. He brings a big mean streak to a position that really needs it.

6. Trae Johnson - Tulsa WR - Johnson, along with Marion, gives the Golden Hurricane one of the most dynamic receiving tandems in the country. Tulsa should once again make it to the C-USA championship game. This season, they should win it.

7. Joe Henderson - UAB LB - Henderson is one of the few bright spots on a very bad Blazer team. UAB should once again be at the bottom of the conference. Which is a shame because no one will get a chance to see this kid play.

8. Duke Calhoun - Memphis WR - I've mentioned before that Calhoun is somewhat of an enigma. Tommy West never knows which Calhoun he's going to get. If he gets the one that plays to his potential, he has perhaps a top 10 receiver in the nation.

9. Chase Clement - Rice QB - The Owls suffered through a pretty horrible season last year. Todd Bailiff was able to put together some wins towards the end of the season. It will be up to Clement to carry the momentum over to this year.

10. Justin Willis - SMU QB - Willis' status on this Mustang team is up in the air right now. If he is available to play, he will thrive under the tutelage of new head coach June Jones. 5 of 6 wins is not out of reach for SMU this season.

The rest:

11. Tarrion Adams Tulsa RB
12. Cody Slate Marshall TE
13.Albert McClellan Marshall DL
14. Phillip Hunt Houston DL
15. Emmanuel Sanders SMU WR
16. Will Dunbar UAB DB
17. Darius Marshall Marshall RB
18. Trevor Vittatoe UTEP QB
19. Ell Ash Houston DL
20. Shawn Nelson Southern Miss TE
21. Johnell Neal Central Florida DB
22. Jeff Moturi UTEP WR
23. Ryan McKee Southern Miss OL
24. Zack Slate East Carolina DL
25. Quentin Cotton East Carolina LB

Countdown: 53 Days!

53 Days

Tulsa appears poised to take up right from where they left off last season. Despite the departure of all-everything QB Paul Smith, the Golden Hurricane should be just as explosive on offense this season. The WR tandem of Brennan Marion and Trae Johnson may very well be the best wide out duo in the nation. RB Tarrion Adams is also back to provide a game breaker coming out of the backfield. HC Todd Graham just may be the next hot coaching name come next off season.