Monday Musings is back after being off a week. At this point, I plan to continue this feature each week all offseason. Some weeks there might be less than 10 musings, but there will be something to muse about. College football lives on all year.
1. The real meaning of tOSU. I have seen the abbreviation of Ohio State University with a small t in front of it on occasion. I always thought it stood for “the,” in the way people in some circles refer to Ohio State as “the Ohio State.” I guess we all found out last week that tOSU really stands for “tattoo Ohio State University.” As for the NCAA penalties going into effect September 2011, that is ridiculous. That isn’t a penalty at all. No one’s NFL draft stock will be hurt (just ask Dez Bryant and Sam Bradford), and Ohio State plays such inferior out of conference teams, they will still be 5-0 or 4-1. It also helps to know all spring and all fall that you need to get your second string players ready to start those five games.
2. Where did that come from? The Big Ten made their announcement that the two six-team divisions would be named “Legends” and “Leaders” when the conference becomes 12 teams next year. I know I am late on this, but count me as one who doesn’t like them, to say the least. This is coming from the conference that made such a big deal about academics and AAU membership during the expansion evaluation process. These division names show no signs of intelligent discussion and decision making. My suggestions: 1 and 2. Since they are so stubborn to change the name to reflect that the conference has 12 teams, you should work the number 12 in there somewhere.
3. Records are meant to be broken. BYU broke or tied 42 New Mexico Bowl records and 13 school bowl records in their 52-24 trouncing of UTEP in the year’s first bowl game.
4. The Humanitarian Bowl was inhumane. Just playing a game in Boise, Idaho, in December is inhumane, but the way Northern Illionis crushed Fresno State, 40-17, made it worse for the Bulldogs who never want to play there again after losing two games in Boise by a combined score of 91-17.
5. The Men of Troy. The Troy Trojans played like the USC Trojans in the New Orleans Bowl. They piled up 602 total yards and converted 10 of 15 third downs. Freshman quarterback Corey Robinson led the charge with 32-42, 387 yards, and 4 TD passes.
6. Special teams does it again. Another game was greatly impacted by special teams late in the game. After taking a 28-21 fourth quarter lead, Southern Mississippi kicked off to Louisville. The Cardinals ran the kick back 95 yards to tie the game. That enabled Louisville to kick a field goal later in the quarter to win.
7. The worst 10 win team. Utah gets my vote for the worst 10 win team in 2010. The Utes looks terrible against Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl. They had just 200 yards of total offense. Looking at their season record, their best win came against a 5-7 Iowa State team. Utah needed overtime to beat a bad Pittsburgh team, and several breaks to win games against Air Force, San Diego State, and BYU down the stretch. Throw in the disasters against TCU and Notre Dame, and Utah was lucky to be above 0.500.
8. The next Marshall Faulk? San Diego State running back Ronnie Hillman ran for 228 yards and scored four touchdowns in the Poinsettia Bowl. That gives this fab freshman 1,532 yards (5.8 yards per carry) and 17 touchdowns on the season. Marshall Faulk had 1,429 yards and 21 touchdowns as a freshman.
9. How high will he go? With an incredible 326 all-purpose yards in the Hawaii Bowl, Tulsa running back Damaris Johnson broke the NCAA record for career all-purpose yards. Johnson now has 7,796 yards, and he is only a junior. With one more year to play, how high will he push this record? Is 10,000 yards too much to ask?
10. Beginners luck? The Florida International Panthers played their very first bowl game in the Little Caesars Bowl. They also won their first bowl game. They had to overcome a 24-7 second half deficit. They also had to convert a 4th and 17 to get into position to kick the game winning field goal on the last play of the game.
Other recent posts on COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAVEN:
Poll Results: Has Nike gone overboard with the Pro Combat Uniforms?
Weekly Trivia: Three Team Tie For Conference Championship
Heisman Hopefuls: Bowl Games Will Impact The 2011 Race
Showing posts with label Tulsa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tulsa. Show all posts
Monday, December 27, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Conference USA Football Season Preview 2010
Conference USA has made some noise the last few years with multiple wins against top teams from BCS automatic qualifying conferences. The conference will build on the recent success this year.
1. Who will win the conference? Houston Cougars. Houston will hold off a steep challenge in the west division by SMU, but Case Keenum’s senior leadership will carry the Cougars to the conference championship game. Memories of the loss in 2009 will lead to a big win by Houston.
2. Who is the top returning player? Case Keenum, Houston. Keenum has passed for over 5,000 yards two years in a row. He tossed 44 touchdown passes in 2009, while adding four scores on the ground.
3. Which team will be the most improved? Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes will rebound from the 5-7 season a year ago. With a year under his belt, G.J. Kinne will have the offense clicking again, and this Tulsa team will more resemble the 2007 and 2008 teams that won 10 and 11 games.
4. What will be the biggest surprise? Case Keenum will go to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. With monster numbers to go along with the conference championship, Keenum will earn enough respect from the voters that he will be invited to New York for the announcement.
5. Which coach is on the hottest seat? Bob Toledo, Tulane. A 4-8 season followed by 2-10 and 3-9 is enough to get any coach on the hot seat. Tulane needs to push for bowl eligibility for Toledo to keep his job.
1. Who will win the conference? Houston Cougars. Houston will hold off a steep challenge in the west division by SMU, but Case Keenum’s senior leadership will carry the Cougars to the conference championship game. Memories of the loss in 2009 will lead to a big win by Houston.
2. Who is the top returning player? Case Keenum, Houston. Keenum has passed for over 5,000 yards two years in a row. He tossed 44 touchdown passes in 2009, while adding four scores on the ground.
3. Which team will be the most improved? Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes will rebound from the 5-7 season a year ago. With a year under his belt, G.J. Kinne will have the offense clicking again, and this Tulsa team will more resemble the 2007 and 2008 teams that won 10 and 11 games.
4. What will be the biggest surprise? Case Keenum will go to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. With monster numbers to go along with the conference championship, Keenum will earn enough respect from the voters that he will be invited to New York for the announcement.
5. Which coach is on the hottest seat? Bob Toledo, Tulane. A 4-8 season followed by 2-10 and 3-9 is enough to get any coach on the hot seat. Tulane needs to push for bowl eligibility for Toledo to keep his job.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
MORE CONFERENCE EXPANSION THOUGHTS
Since conference expansion usually takes months and years to happen, this will probably be a hot topic until September. There are about a million angles to take on this topic. Today, I will elaborate on three: TCU going to the Big 12, the Big 10 targeting ACC or SEC teams, and the impact on the BCS.
1.TCU to the Big12
Since it appears that the Big 12 is going to be hit by either the Big 10 (Missouri or Nebraska) or the Pac-10 (Colorado) the Big 12 will need to replace one or two schools, or shrink to 10 teams. TCU seems to be a perfect fit geographically and competitively. It doesn't hurt that TCU has tradition with several Big 12 schools as a former Southwestern Conference (SWC) member. That, however, is the exact reason I would be leery, if I were TCU, to join the Big 12. TCU was kicked to the curb while the then Texas Governor struck a deal to bind membership of one state school to the inclusion of three others. In other words, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor are a package deal. If one is in they all are in, if one is out they all are out. As the last one in, TCU would be the first one out if the Big 12 ever decided another rising team (Houston, Tulsa) became more desirable in the future and rather than increase to 13 teams it wanted to stay an even 12. Then again, this is TCU, who was rejected by the other eight teams in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) ten or so years ago when they left the Western Athletic Conferenc (WAC). When the MWC came calling five years later, TCU fully embraced reuniting with the eight schools who felt they were better off without the Horned Frogs.
2. Big 10 targeting ACC or SEC schools
Everyone seems set that the Big 10 will expand with either a Big 12 North team or with a Big East team. Money seems to be the biggest reason behind this round of expansion talks, and the Big 10 seems to be on par with the SEC in that regard, even if the performance on the field has not reflected it. Isn't there a middle of the pack SEC team that would provide just as much added revenue as Missouri or Pitt and would also want to go to the Big 10 to compete better in football? Kentucky would help Big 10 basketball and Kentucky football might fare better in the Big 10. It is also situated nicely geographically. What about Boston College from the ACC? Huge media market, and no strong roots in the ACC. Georgia Tech? The Yellow Jacket's big rival (Georgia) is already in a different conference, and the Atlanta media market would be a nice catch.
3. The Impact on the BCS
Lost in all of the conference expansions and realignments is how this impacts the "solid" foundation of the BCS. The BCS formed itself on the premise that the best football teams were in the ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, and Pac-10. The ACC and Big East realignments last decade resulted in three teams (Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida) that were originally considered outsiders to become insiders. By the time this potentially catacalysmic round of conference expansion finishes we could have another three teams "promoted" to the BCS level. Who says that these six teams (the former three and the hypothetical future three) were the most deserving? It is unfair if a team like Boise State is left out of automatic qualification status, but a team like South Florida gains automatic qualification status. Boise State has done everything in its control (win on the field), but South Florida has all the uncontrolable variables (location, media market). Conferences expand for money, but the BCS was designed, on the surface, to get the top two teams to play each other. With a new composition, who says the Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC, SEC, and Big East of 2012 will be worthy of the automatic qualification status they gained in 1998? The BCS should be null and void and a new system put in place after the conference expansions conclude, unless, like conference expansions, the BCS is really all about money.
1.TCU to the Big12
Since it appears that the Big 12 is going to be hit by either the Big 10 (Missouri or Nebraska) or the Pac-10 (Colorado) the Big 12 will need to replace one or two schools, or shrink to 10 teams. TCU seems to be a perfect fit geographically and competitively. It doesn't hurt that TCU has tradition with several Big 12 schools as a former Southwestern Conference (SWC) member. That, however, is the exact reason I would be leery, if I were TCU, to join the Big 12. TCU was kicked to the curb while the then Texas Governor struck a deal to bind membership of one state school to the inclusion of three others. In other words, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Baylor are a package deal. If one is in they all are in, if one is out they all are out. As the last one in, TCU would be the first one out if the Big 12 ever decided another rising team (Houston, Tulsa) became more desirable in the future and rather than increase to 13 teams it wanted to stay an even 12. Then again, this is TCU, who was rejected by the other eight teams in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) ten or so years ago when they left the Western Athletic Conferenc (WAC). When the MWC came calling five years later, TCU fully embraced reuniting with the eight schools who felt they were better off without the Horned Frogs.
2. Big 10 targeting ACC or SEC schools
Everyone seems set that the Big 10 will expand with either a Big 12 North team or with a Big East team. Money seems to be the biggest reason behind this round of expansion talks, and the Big 10 seems to be on par with the SEC in that regard, even if the performance on the field has not reflected it. Isn't there a middle of the pack SEC team that would provide just as much added revenue as Missouri or Pitt and would also want to go to the Big 10 to compete better in football? Kentucky would help Big 10 basketball and Kentucky football might fare better in the Big 10. It is also situated nicely geographically. What about Boston College from the ACC? Huge media market, and no strong roots in the ACC. Georgia Tech? The Yellow Jacket's big rival (Georgia) is already in a different conference, and the Atlanta media market would be a nice catch.
3. The Impact on the BCS
Lost in all of the conference expansions and realignments is how this impacts the "solid" foundation of the BCS. The BCS formed itself on the premise that the best football teams were in the ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, and Pac-10. The ACC and Big East realignments last decade resulted in three teams (Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida) that were originally considered outsiders to become insiders. By the time this potentially catacalysmic round of conference expansion finishes we could have another three teams "promoted" to the BCS level. Who says that these six teams (the former three and the hypothetical future three) were the most deserving? It is unfair if a team like Boise State is left out of automatic qualification status, but a team like South Florida gains automatic qualification status. Boise State has done everything in its control (win on the field), but South Florida has all the uncontrolable variables (location, media market). Conferences expand for money, but the BCS was designed, on the surface, to get the top two teams to play each other. With a new composition, who says the Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC, SEC, and Big East of 2012 will be worthy of the automatic qualification status they gained in 1998? The BCS should be null and void and a new system put in place after the conference expansions conclude, unless, like conference expansions, the BCS is really all about money.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)