Following an exciting first round, we break down the favorite picks, most pleasant and biggest surprises, most under-appreciated pick, worst move and more.
Peyton Manning, Mario Williams, Mike Wallace and Carl Nicks headline an intriguing free agent class that can shift the balance of power this offseason.
The Eagles seemingly came out of nowhere to sign Nnamdi Asomugha as they eye a trip to the Super Bowl.
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$.01--All these amazing upsets lead many talking heads to opine that a playoff system must be implemented, but I see it the complete opposite way. A playoff would reward teams that didn?t get the job done in the regular season and punish those who took care of their business. Just because so many prominent programs keep stumbling does not mean the BCS title game is going to feature undeserving teams. There are still several BCS Conference schools that are undefeated: Ohio State, Boston College, South Florida, Arizona State and Kansas. Those aren?t the sexiest names or the names anyone expected, but these teams shouldn?t be pushed aside because of that. LSU, USC, Cal, Wisconsin, Oklahoma--all those schools had the same opportunity to win all their games, but they didn?t. The regular season is short enough that it must mean something. It?s high time people stop equating great talent with being a great team.
$.02--Ohio State is the new #1, and despite the admonition of my Buckeye alum father, I think they?re going to stay there for a few weeks. The Buckeyes do two things very well that really nip upsets in the bud. First is special teams, where the Bucks have a kicker who doesn?t allow returns as well as a great return game of their own. Second is that they typically score early in games. There is no better way to squelch an upset than by dashing the hopes of the underdog early, and Jim Tressel teams always dominate the 1st quarter. They haven?t given up a 1st quarter point all season other than a gift safety. The finale at Michigan will be a huge challenge, but the way things are falling the Buckeyes just might be able to lose that game and still play for a national title.
$.03--In another week of surprises, the one game that truly shocked me was Louisville rising up and bouncing Cincinnati from the ranks of the unbeaten. The Cardinals' defense has been as bad as any I?ve ever seen from a good program, while the Bearcat offense hums along with a ruthlessly efficient potency. Yet somehow UL Coach Steve Kragthorpe got his charges ready to play and won a huge game despite scoring just 28 points of their own. I did not expect Cincinnati to go undefeated in Coach Brian Kelly?s first season, but in Kelly?s prior stops his teams never lost games to inferior defenses. Yet another reason why you should never gamble, kiddies!
$.04--Four quick rhetorical questions:
1. Does Boise State ever play on Saturday anymore?
2. If Texas Tech and Hawaii played, how high would the over/under be?
3. How can you be a senior in college with a major of ?undecided??
4. If Temple, Buffalo, and Utah State dropped football would anyone care?
$.05--This season further emphasizes my long-held belief that no polls should be conducted before the first weekend in October. Every team in the preseason top 10 has at least one loss, while 3 of the 6 remaining DI undefeated teams got zero top 25 votes. Some of us believe we need to see a team play a few games before we can accurately evaluate it. Once again, stop mistaking great talent on the roster for a great team.
$.06--3 best coaching jobs this year: Rich Brooks at Kentucky, Ron Zook at Illinois, and Mark Mangino at Kansas. And both Brooks and Zook had far more boosters and fans who wanted them dead than coaching their teams just two months ago. Three worst coaching jobs this year: Bill Callahan at Nebraska, Pete Carroll at USC, and Dave Wannstedt at Pittsburgh. What do all three of those guys have in common? All are former NFL head coaches who aren?t getting the most out of the talent on their teams.
$.07--My current Heisman trophy ballot looks like this:
1. Mike Hart, Michigan--he nearly beat App St. by himself and gets the ?body of work? boost
2. Andre Woodson--rebounded nicely from a bad game and epitomizes leadership for a rising power
3. Matt Ryan, Boston College--polished leader of an undefeated but undominant team
4. Matt Grothe, South Florida--his unorthodox craftiness and infectious spunk are the happy face of the college football season
5. James Laurinaitis, Ohio State--because the best player on the best team always deserves a trip to NYC.
Biggest Heisman hot air: Cal WR Desean Jackson, not even the best or most productive WR on his own team by a pretty wide margin.
$.08--It is far beyond time to start putting real punitive teeth into off-field discipline problems the way the NFL has done under Commish Roger Goodell. I?ve railed on this topic for years, and it seems to only be getting worse. My proposals: every player arrested between midnight and 8AM during the season is suspended three weeks, or the entire season if it?s a felony or involves drugs. Every player arrested and not exonerated results in not just a lost scholarship for that player but also an additional future scholarship. In addition a $10K reduction in the base salary of the head coach is levied for each player arrested and either found guilty or pleading down to a lesser charge. Coaches make far too much money to begin with; time to hit them where it hurts. If an ordinary student gets arrested for, let?s say, domestic violence or drunkenly resisting arrest, they?d be lucky to stay in school, let alone on a full ride.
$.09--Current top 10 overall NFL prospects. Note that this does not indicate where I think they will be drafted.
1. Glenn Dorsey, DT, LSU
2. Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville
3. Darren McFadden, RB, Arkansas
4. Jake Long, T, Michigan
5. Matt Ryan, QB, Boston College
6. Chris Long, DE, Virginia
7. Dan Connor, LB, Penn State
8. Andre Woodson, QB, Kentucky
9. Gosder Cherilus, T, Boston College
10. Keith Rivers, LB, USC
$.10--Since so many people ask me, my off-the-cuff predictions for the rest of the year:
- South Florida loses at least one game, perhaps to Rutgers this week
- Virginia Tech beats Boston College and wins out in the ACC
- Oklahoma wins out in the Big 12 South but loses the rematch with Missouri (who will beat Kansas) in the Big 12 title game
- Arizona State loses 3 of their next 4, while Oregon runs the table and wins the Pac-10
- Kentucky loses this week to Florida and also one other game
- LSU wins out but drops the SEC title game to the South Carolina/Tennessee winner
- Ohio State will be undefeated headed into the finale against Michigan, which will also be undefeated in the Big 10, and the Wolverines pull it off
- Hawaii will not lose, but it will not matter
- National championship game: Virginia Tech and Oregon, with Ohio State and LSU as the at-large BCS Bowl teams.
The author, a proud alumnus of Ohio University, can be reached at Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com
