College Football- Questions
| 6
|
by Audino237
This sure has been a wild season in college football so far. Of course, the best (or worst) moment was Appalachian State knocking off then-number 5 Michigan. Last weekend, many of the best teams in the country fell to teams much further up the rankings. Here are some questions and my answers to some of the questions that remain as we approach the halfway point of the regular season in the coming weeks.
Did LSU deserve to jump USC in the rankings?
USC has played one ranked team (Nebraska) and handled them, despite the score. They are recognized as easily the most talented team in the land. They have also beaten respectable programs Washington and Washington State. LSU is 5-0 in (arguably) the best conference in the country, and they have beaten two Top 25 teams, Virginia Tech and South Carolina. USC held the top spot for the first 4 weeks before the voters lifted the title of Number 1 off of them this week.
The verdict: Even
Are big-time newcomers Hawaii, South Florida, Kentucky and Cincinatti for real?
People have been expecting big things from Colt Brennan and the Warriors ever since last season ended. After missing a game due to injury and then a shaky game last week, they play Utah State this week. They have had one close game, a 1-point victory over Louisiana Tech. they're true tests will be the last 2 weeks of the season, against Boise State and Washington. The Cincinatti Bearcats came out of absolutely nowhere to emerge as the 20th ranked team in the land. They begin their Big East season this week against Rutgers, who is ranked a single spot lower then them. In years past, a non-conference schedule including Marshall, Miami of Ohio, Oregon State, and San Diego State would have made for 4 rigorous tests. The BearCats may have shed their basketball only rep, but after Rutgers, they play preseason top 5 Louisville, Pitt, and then #6 South Florida. The South Florida Bulls have been one of the surprise teams in the country. After competing for Big east titles late into the last 2 seasons, they have finally taken the next step. They have beaten 2 national powerhouses in West Virginia and Auburn, and showed resiliency in their game against the high-powered Mountaineers.Most likely, they will be 6-0 heading into their October 18th game against Rutgers. Matt Grothe has looked good running and throwing the ball, and they have good balance running the ball with Mike Ford and Grothe. Even if Jim Leavitt can't get them into a BCS bowl, he has done his job quickly turning the program around. Kentucky is the most interesting of these teams for me. Lucky for me, before the season started, I read on ESPN.com that Kentucky had a high-powered offense led by quarterback Andre Woodson. I knew Kentucky always liked to throw the ball around, with QBs like Jared Lorenzen and Tim Couch putting up ridiculous numbers. Somehow, I found it in me to pull the trigger in my Yahoo! pick 'em pool over Lousiville in week 3, and the 'Cats have been rolling ever since. Woodson has 16 TDs and they have yet to be held under 40 points. However, they play the ole' ball coach's Gamecocks this week, who have one of the best pass defenses in the nation. Carolina is followed by a visit from LSU and then the defending champs come to town. If Kentucky can win 2 of those games, I think that it will solidify their spot in the top 10 the rest of the year, barring an unforeseen meltdown, until the Georgia game the last week of the year.
The verdicts: Hawaii is playin for a title, South Florida will finish 2-3 in the Big East behind WVU, Kentucky will beat Florida but lose to SC and LSU, and South Florida will lose at least one game. Both Cincy and USF will be undefeated going into their matchup on the 18th.
Is the Pac-10 better then the SEC?
Les Miles can't even believe that this question is being asked. However, it is a good matchup. For arguments sake, let's say USC and LSU are both the number 1 team. The SEC boasts #8 Kentucky, #9 Florida, #11 South Carolina (though SC or Kentucky will slide to #18 or so after this week), #12 Georgia, with Auburn and Arkansas knocking on the door. In addition to the Trojans, the Pac-10 has #3 California, led by DeSean Jackson and Nate Longshore, the #11 Oregon Ducks, who, well, have the ugliest uniforms in sports history, and Dennis Erickson's 5-0 Sun Devils. Even after being trounced by Utah, UCLA is close to the Top 25, and Washington even recieved a vote this week. The SEC has 5 teams in the top 12. The Pac-10 has 2 of the top 3 teams and two teams 11-20, along with a UCLA team will the talent (at least on defense) to play with anyone in the land. If you discount LSU and USC, it looks pretty even, but I'd still give the edge to the SEC because of the number of legit teams up and down the conference.
The verdict: Les Miles stands correct.
You didn't think I'd ignore Notre Dame, did you?
The question is, when will the Irish win? They have brought in monster recruiting classes the last few years, but the guys playing now are Willingham's mistakes. Even so, they should not be this bad. Some blame should go to Charlie Weiss, but not much. These guys might not fit his system or vision of what he wants to accomplish, and he has had top classes the last few years, so he will take them back to where ND belongs soon, especially because of his fat contract extension. Year in and year out, they have one of the toughest schedules in the country, and this season is no abbhoration. As it stands, they are 0-5. It gets no easier, as they play USC and BC (both top 10 teams) and UCLA in the next 3 weeks. They will probably defeat Navy in week 9, but the option offense makes up for lack of talent and military academies will not lie down just because the other team has golden helmets. The Irish should get 3 or 4 wins in their last 4 games (Navy, Air Force, Duke, and Stanford) based on pure talent, but right now the focus should be on next year and getting Jimmy Claussen reps, because he is the special player that they need to lead them to success.
Verdict: ND hits rough patches with kids, but takes some games to end the year on a positive note for the future.
This week has some great games on the schedule, so the rankings are sure to do some twisting come Monday. Comment this page or shoot me an e-mail at audinoa2@union.edu
