Posted by deaconcat08 on November 1, 2009
Good Thoughts:
1. Coaches Poll- Finally, we see some common sense at the top of both the Coaches’ Poll this week. This has got to be the first time in several years, if not ever, that five or more unbeaten teams all ranked consecutively at the top of the poll. There is not the usual overrated 1-loss team that the pollsters put ahead of one or two unbeatens, even though they’ve dropped a game. For the last few weeks, that team was Southern Cal, and obviously, the CFRA was right in ranking them lower than everyone else for the past few weeks. The AP still has Oregon ranked ahead of Iowa, but I imagine if the Hawkeyes’ beat OSU in Columbus in a few weeks, they’ll move ahead of the Ducks if not higher.
2. Coach of the year candidates- Here are 7 names to throw out there (in order of current worthiness): Robb Akey (Idaho), Brian Kelly (Cincinnati), Gary Patterson (TCU), Chip Kelly (Oregon), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa- almost makes up for his team’s 10-year run as annual underachievers), Al Golden (Temple), Paul Johnson (Georgia Tech).
3. Good Side of the Bowl Bubble: Teams closing in on bowl bids-
Michigan- Record: 5-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 66%; Remaining Schedule: Purdue, at Wisconsin, Ohio State
Michigan State- Record: 4-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 66%; Remaining Schedule: Western Michigan, at Purdue, Penn State
Western Michigan- Record: 4-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 66%; Remaining Schedule: at Michigan State, at Eastern Michigan, Ball State
Ole Miss- Record: 5-3 (need 7 wins); Odds of bowl eligibility: 65%; Remaining Schedule: Northern Arizona, Tennessee, LSU, at Miss. State (can you really believe this team is on the bubble?!?!)
SMU- Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 63%; Remaining Schedule: Rice, UTEP, at Marshall, Tulane
Kentucky-Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 60%; Remaining Schedule: EKU, at Vandy, at Georgia, Tennessee (can this please be the year they beat Tennessee!)
Texas A & M- Record: 5-3; Odds of bowl eligibility: 59%; Remaining Schedule: at Colorado, at Oklahoma, Baylor, Texas
Arkansas- Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 58%; Remaining Schedule: South Carolina, Troy, Miss. State, at LSU
Kent State- Record: 5-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 57%; Remaining Schedule: at Akron, at Temple, Buffalo
Florida State- Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 56%; Remaining Schedule: at Clemson, at Wake, Maryland, at Florida (note: there may end up being only 2 bowl eligible teams from the ACC Atlantic- BC and Clemson)
Central Florida- Record: 4-3; Odds of bowl eligibility: 55%; Remaining Schedule: Marshall, at Texas, Houston, Tulane, at UAB
Iowa State- Record: 5-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 54%; Remaining Schedule: Oklahoma State, Colorado, at Missouri
North Carolina- Record: 5-3 (needs 7 wins); Odds of bowl eligibility: 53%; Remaining Schedule: Duke, at Miami-FL , at BC, at NC State
Southern Miss- Record: 5-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 52%; Remaining Schedule: at Marshall, Tulsa, at ECU
Kansas State- Record: 5-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 51%; Remaining Schedule: Kansas, Mizzou, at Nebraska (note: the fact that the Big 12 North may very well get 5 bowl bids is a crime against humanity, especially against human football fans who like good bowl games)
Toledo- Record: 4-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 51%; Remaining Schedule: at Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, at Bowling Green
Bad Thoughts:
1. Bad Side of the Bowl Bubble: Teams who may be home for the holidays-
Northwestern- Record: 5-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 49%; Remaining Schedule: at Iowa, at Illinois, Wisconsin
UCLA- Record: 3-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 48%; Remaining Schedule: Washington, at Wazzou, Arizona State, at USC
Tulsa- Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 47%; Remaining Schedule: Houston, ECU, at Southern Miss, Memphis (hard to believe this team is on the wrong side of the bubble right now)
San Diego State- Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 45%; Remaining Schedule: TCU, Wyoming, at Utah, at UNLV
UAB- Record: 3-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 44%; Remaining Schedule: FAU, at Memphis, at ECU, Central Florida
Wake Forest- Record: 4-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 40%; Remaining Schedule: at Georgia Tech, FSU, at Duke
Stanford- Record: 5-3; Odds of bowl eligibility: 40%; Remaining Schedule: Oregon, at USC, Cal, Notre Dame
Wyoming- Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 38%; Remaining Schedule: BYU, at San Diego State, TCU, at Colorado State
Duke- Record: 5-3 (needs 7 wins); Odds of bowl eligibility: 37%; Remaining Schedule: at UNC, GT, at Miami-FL, Wake Forest
Arizona State- Record: 4-4; Odds of bowl eligibility: 35%; Remaining Schedule: USC, at Oregon, at UCLA, Arizona
UTEP- Record: 3-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 34%; Remaining Schedule: at Tulane, at SMU, at Rice, Marshall
Indiana- Record: 4-5; Odds of bowl eligibility: 33%; Remaining Schedule: Wisconsin, at Penn State, Purdue
2. Looking too far ahead- I know the Longhorns appear to be on their way to the BCS Title Game, as they will be double, if not triple-digit, favorites in the rest of their games. However, they at least have to act like they’re preparing for each of their opponents. The quote of the year in college football may have been given last night by Roddrick Muckelroy, the Longhorns’ star linebacker. When asked about his team’s ability to focus on its upcoming games, he said ”The Big Prize is next week– Florida Atlantic”. This would have been a very admirable answer, if not for the fact that Texas plays Central Florida next week, not Florida Atlantic. Oops… The Longhorns opened with FAU in 2008, which is probably why Muckelroy got the two mixed up. Regardless, it will definitely be used as billboard material by O’Leary and his Knights this week in practice. Unfortunately, Texas will still roll on Saturday no matter who they think they are playing.
3. Gameday location decision- Another head-scratcher by the ESPN Gameday producers. Next Saturday Gameday will be in Colorado Springs for Air Force and Army, instead of in Tuscaloosa for LSU-Bama. For some reason, this year, television’s most adored pregame show has been choosing to visit locations of novelty games instead of the best game of the week. It is one thing to do that during a week when there aren’t any blockbuster matchups, but Saturday’s clash in Tuscaloosa has huge national title implications. Don’t get me wrong,, I’m all about supporting the troops and the service academies, but this isn’t the week for Gameday to do something like this, especially since the Falcons-Knights game will be a total blowout.
This entry was posted on November 1, 2009 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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