Oversigning

Today is National Signing Day, when high school football players sign their Letter of Intent to play at a particular school. In short, it's when they make their decisions official.

It'd be absurd for anyone to claim that college football is about anything but cash. I love it, but it's as corrupt as horse racing. Coaches face immediate pressure to win and will do anything to make that happen.

Back in the 80s, schools could sign as many players as they wanted. It allowed 10 schools to dominate the sport--they'd all have over 100 players on scholarship; most wouldn't play, but schools wanted them to not play for conference opponents.

Over the years, the NCAA has evened the playing field some. Today, a school has 85 total scholarships with a maximum of 25 given out per year.

But schools have found a way around that 25 rule. They oversign. They offer scholarships to more than 25 players, sometimes up to 30. Then they do 2 things. First, they give them something called a "grayshirt." This means that a player can't come to school until the spring semester. They have to stay at home for what should be the fall semester of their freshmen year. Then, they can be counted against the next year's class.

This is a pretty loathsome practice. Sometimes this is prearranged, but more often is that players are told this after signing day. Then what are they going to do? Their alternative schools have signed other players and don't have room for them.

The second practice is even more disgusting--kicking players off teams. Theoretically, a scholarship covers 4 years of eligibility (which sometimes means 5 years). That means a student should get a full chance to play and earn a college degree. Technically however, it is contingent and must be renewed yearly.

Most of your better institutions don't do this. The Big 10, probably the academically strongest of the six major conferences (with the Pac-12 close behind) has banned the practice of oversigning entirely. But the SEC and lesser conferences like Conference USA, where football is far more important than education, allows teams to kick players off. This means that the scholarship is renewable yearly not as a formality (which is more common) but as more of a professional contract, except of course the student-athletes aren't getting paid over the table. So a school like South Carolina (which signed an absurd 33 players today) or Arkansas (30) is telling players already on scholarship that they need to a) transfer, b) quit, or c) be forced out with mysterious medical discharges.

This process is not only morally reprehensible, but it also gives the SEC much of its vaunted advantage. By bringing in extra players every year and kicking out those who haven't lived up to expectations, they are ensuring a broader base of talent than other teams.

It's ridiculous, it's been going on for years, and it's finally getting some needed attention. Andy Staples at Sports Illustrated has paid particular attention. He put together a chart ranking the average number of players signed over the past 5 years. Again noting the maximum per year is supposed to be 25, here's the top 10:

1. Troy, 32.8
2. Mississippi, 29.0
3. Auburn, 28.8
4. Mississippi St., 27.6
5. Kansas St., 27.4
6. Temple, 27.2
7. Southern Mississippi, 27.0
T8. Arkansas, 26.8
T8. Kentucky, 26.8
T10. Alabama, 26.6
T10. Iowa St., 26.6

Hardly surprising then that Alabama and Auburn have won 3 national championships in the past 10 years, what with all the extra players they choose from. And the fact that 6 of those 10 schools come from the states of Alabama and Mississippi is quite telling.

Note as well that not a single first-rate academic institution signed more than the 25 per year. The University of Washington averaged exactly 25.0.

There is much to loathe about the institution of college football. But crappy schools in football-crazed states trying to game the system while screwing kids over really galls me.

NCAA Top 25

Not too many changes this week. A joyous week however, with Oregon going to the title game. I'll have a longer post about being a Duck fan and what an event means to someone who has lived with a lot of suffering for a long time.

1. Oregon (1)
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)
4. Stanford (4)
5. Wisconsin (5)
6. Ohio St. (6)
7. Michigan St.  (7)
8. Arkansas (8)
9. Oklahoma (9)
10. Boise St. (10)
11. Virginia Tech (12)
12. LSU (13)
13. Missouri (14)
14. Nebraska (10)
15. Nevada (15)
16. Oklahoma St.  (16)
17. Alabama (17)
18. Texas A&M (19)
19. Utah (20)
20. West Virginia (21)
21. Mississippi St.(22)
22. South Carolina (18)
23. Hawaii (NR)
24. Connecticut (NR)
25. Florida St.(21)

Out: Arizona, Northern Illinois

Best Bowl Games:

1. Oregon v. Auburn, National Championship. Wow, is this going to be fun.

2. TCU v. Wisconsin, Rose Bowl. While I'd rather see Stanford and Wisconsin, TCU has absolutely deserved the right to be there. And I think they can easily win this game.

3. Ohio St. v. Arkansas, Sugar Bowl. A fine and very enjoyable BCS matchup.

4. Stanford v. Virginia Tech, Orange Bowl. People aren't too excited about this game, but I think it's going to be very interesting. 

5.  Alabama v. Michigan St, Capital One Bowl. The best non-BCS matchup, though the Boise St.-Utah Las Vegas Bowl will also be quite good, as will the LSU-Texas A&M Cotton Bowl.

NCAA Top 25

Boise loses (Ha Ha!), Oregon moves to 11-0, LSU finally loses one of the many games in which they should have, Auburn comes back against Alabama to keep the awesome national championship matchup with Oregon alive. A good week by any standard. Unless you are a Boise fan.

1. Oregon (1)--back to dominant form against Arizona
2. Auburn (2)--huge comeback win against Alabama. Really deserved to win
3. TCU (3)
4. Stanford (5)
5. Wisconsin (6)--you can still flip a coin between Stanford and Wisconsin as the best one loss team. I'm sticking with Stanford, despite Wisconsin running up the score against weak Big 10 opponents
6. Ohio St. (7)
7. Michigan St.  (8)
8. Arkansas (12)--nice win over LSU
9. Oklahoma (13)
10. Boise St. (4)--I guess I was right to have TCU over Boise after all. I'm keeping Boise above Nevada because Boise completely choked but was clearly the better team. Also, the game was at Nevada and on a neutral field, does anyone think Nevada would win?
11. Nebraska (14)
12. Virginia Tech (15)
13. LSU (8)--so overrated. They should be about 8-4. But they are 10-2, so what can you do?
14. Missouri (16)
15. Nevada (17)
16. Oklahoma St. (11)--Do they play defense in Stillwater?
17. Alabama (9)--Do I really think Alabama is the 17th best team in the country? No, but they have lost 3 times and manage to lose pretty much every big game they've played. So they are missing something. Maybe only luck.
18. South Carolina (18)
19. Texas A&M (19)
20. Utah (21)
21. Florida St. (22)
22. Northern Illinois (25)
23. West Virginia (NR)--I guess the Big East might have a top 25 team at the end of the year after all!
24. Mississippi St. (NR)
25. Arizona (20)--probably the best 4 loss team in the country. They've lost 3 in a row, but to Stanford, USC, and Oregon. I'm keeping them in at 25th.

Out: Miami, Iowa

Key games for next week:

1. Nebraska-Oklahoma. Big 12 title game. Should be a great game.

2. Auburn-South Carolina--SEC title game.

3. Florida St.-Virginia Tech--ACC title game

4. Oregon at Oregon St--this should be a total blowout.

5. N.Illinois-Miami (OH)--MAC championship

NCAA Top 25

Not the most exciting week this season, with few upsets, even as a couple of one-loss teams got lucky wins.

1. Oregon (1)
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)
4. Boise St. (4)
5. Stanford (5)--after yesterday, I feel a lot better about moving Stanford above the other 1 loss teams last week. Stanford killed Cal, while LSU and Ohio St. nearly lost and Nebraska did lose. You could quibble between Stanford and Wisconsin here, but they are clearly 5 and 6.
6. Wisconsin (6)
7. Ohio St. (7)
8. LSU (8)
9. Alabama (10)
10. Michigan St.  (11)--huge comeback against Purdue keeps them in the running for the Rose Bowl.
11. Oklahoma St. (12)
12. Arkansas (13)
13. Oklahoma (14)
14. Nebraska (9)
15. Virginia Tech (15)
16. Missouri (16)
17. Nevada (17)
18. South Carolina (20)
19. Texas A&M (21)--one of the top 10 teams in the 2nd half of the season. First half, maybe not, which is why they are still at 19
20. Arizona (24)
21. Utah (25)--gutty comeback over San Diego St. to save their season
22. Florida St. (NR)
23. Miami (18)
24. Iowa (19)
25. Northern Illinois (NR)--a MAC team has to make it once a year, right?

Out: USC, Mississippi St.

Key Games for Next Week:

1. Auburn at Alabama--The Iron Bowl shows us whether Auburn is really one of the 2 best teams in the country. Should be very very interesting.

2. LSU at Arkansas--another fine SEC matchup. LSU will try to make a claim for the title game if Auburn loses; personally, I think Arkansas wins this game at home.

3. Boise St. at Nevada--If Boise is going to lose, this is the time and place. On the road at an excellent Nevada team. I don't think Boise will lose, but I hope they do.

4. Arizona at Oregon--Oregon should win this going away at home, but Arizona is a solid, if struggling team.

5. Oklahoma at Oklahoma St.--huge Big 12 South matchup and a rivalry game.

NCAA Top 25

Close one for the Ducks. Shows that they can still win when their offense isn't working, which just strengthens my feelings about them. A pretty staid week though.

1. Oregon (1)
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)--a tough win against San Diego St. They are being punished for this in the polls, but SDSU is a very good team. Certainly better than anyone Boise has played in their conference.
4. Boise St.  (4)
5. Stanford (7)--Stanford moves ahead of Wisconsin and Ohio St. not because those Big 10 teams did anything wrong, but because Stanford has looked phenomenal all year, has only lost to the #1 team, and plays a tough schedule. I see no reason to say they are not the best 1 loss team in the country. Yet they will probably end up playing in the Alamo Bowl. 
6. Wisconsin (5)
7. Ohio St. (6)
8. LSU (8)
9. Nebraska (9)
10. Alabama (10)
11. Michigan St. (11)
12. Oklahoma St. (12)
13. Arkansas (15)
14. Oklahoma (16)
15. Virginia Tech (17)--I still have trouble ranking a team that lost to James Madison this high, but they keep winning.
16. Missouri (19)
17. Nevada (21)
18. Miami (22)
19. Iowa (14)
20. South Carolina (23)--beating Florida always makes me happy
21. Texas A&M (24)
22. USC (NR)
23. Mississippi St. (20)
24. Arizona (18)--they looked pretty good wiping up the dregs of the Pac-10. Now they've lost to Stanford and USC back to back weeks.
25. Utah (13)--total flop against Notre Dame. Did they just have a hangover from being blasted by TCU? Or were they frauds all along?

Out: Penn St.

Top Games This Week:

1. Nebraska at Texas A&M--A pretty big game. A&M has risen fast the second half of the year. Are they elite? We'll find out this week. Meanwhile, Nebraska needs to win in order to essentially clinch a BCS bid if they can't win the Big 12 championship game. So it's a big game all around. Best of the week.

2. Ohio St. at Iowa--an Iowa win would provide some clarity to the Big 10 race that is so jumbled at the top. After a tough loss to Northwestern, I don't know if they can pull it off. Meanwhile, I don't really trust Ohio St. on the road at a tough team. Should be good.

3. Arkansas at Mississippi St.--while hardly a game with BCS implications at this point, these are 2 ranked teams in a key conference battle.

4. Virginia Tech at Miami--Important game for the weak ACC. Should even be fairly entertaining. And how often can you say that about the ACC?

5. Utah at San Diego St.--Is Utah a fraud? Is San Diego St. the real deal? This game should decide those questions. I'm definitely picking the Aztecs.

NCAA Top 25

Another year, another Oregon destruction of Washington.

1. Oregon (1)
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)--I really thought about moving TCU past Auburn. They eviscerated Utah. A great team.
4. Boise St. (4)
5. Wisconsin (7)
6. Ohio St. (8)
7. Stanford (11)--dominated Arizona. The nation's most underrated team. I truly think they might be the best 1 loss team in the country. And of course, it's no shame to get blown out by Oregon
8. LSU (15)--OK, that reverse on 4th down was awesome. They keep winning the big games. I guess I have to believe. Except that I really don't. They seem almost fated to blow a game they should win. I'm not really holding the incredibly lucky win against Tennessee against them.  But good and lucky are not always the same thing.
9. Nebraska (10)
10. Alabama (6)--I still have them above some of the 1 loss teams. I think they belong there. But they've been less than dominant all year.
11. Michigan St. (14)
12. Oklahoma St. (16)
13. Utah (5)--Ouch
14. Iowa (17)
15. Arkansas (19)--nice win against South Carolina. Good that only the 5 best teams in the SEC are all in the West.
16. Oklahoma (9)--Like LSU, they've been lucky all year.  Unlike LSU, playing on the edge has bitten them back.
17. Virginia Tech (20)
18. Arizona (13)--Good, but Stanford showed them to be the #3 team in the Pac 10. At best.
19. Missouri (12)
20. Mississippi St. (22)
21. Nevada (25)
22. Miami (NR)
23. South Carolina (18)
24. Texas A&M (NR)
25. Penn St. (NR)--I don't even think Penn St. is very good. But it's getting really hard to find 25 worthy teams.

Key games for next week:

Actually, next week is a pretty mediocre week of college football. Sounds like a good week for raking leaves. I'll be out of town so that's good timing. Anyway, if you are going to watch football, here's the most important games, such as they are.

1. Mississippi St. at Alabama. Possibly the only matchup of ranked teams. Kind of interesting--how will Alabama respond to that tough loss? And is Mississippi St. actually good?

2. Penn St. at Ohio St. Ho hum. Sounds kind of boring really. If this was at Penn St., I might pick an upset.

3. USC at Arizona--the battle for the 3rd best team in the Pac-10, including one team ineligible for a bowl. It's that kind of week.

4. San Diego St. at Utah--this is probably the game I am most interested in, even if it lacks big-time implications. San Diego St. has been the nation's most unexpected rising team this year. Utah looked good all year and then was embarrassed by TCU. Could be an upset.

5. South Carolina at Florida--I suppose I should care about who wins the SEC East, which is what this game will decide. I don't.

Out--Florida St., North Carolina St., Baylor

NCAA Top 25

A week without many upsets still produces changes to the top 25, with 2 top 10 teams losing to other ranked teams. Clarity at the top has set in.

1. Oregon (1)--dominant win at USC.
2. Auburn (2)
3. TCU (3)
4. Boise St. (4)--why is there never anything to say about Boise? Oh yeah, because they never play anyone worth talking about.
5. Utah (5)--survived a tough matchup at Air Force the week before TCU.
6. Alabama (8)
7. Wisconsin (9)
8. Ohio St. (10)
9. Oklahoma (11)
10. Nebraska (12)
11. Stanford (13)--that Andrew Luck v. Jake Locker matchup proved every bit the mismatch I figured it would.
12. Missouri (6)--tough loss to Nebraska, still a quality team. But not necessarily better than the teams above it.
13. Arizona (14)
14. Michigan St. (7)--exposed as the frauds we all knew they were against Iowa
15. LSU (15)
16. Oklahoma St. (17)
17. Iowa (22)--dominant win. Still behind MSU because they have 2 losses.
18. South Carolina (18)
19. Arkansas (19)
20. Virginia Tech (20)
21. Baylor (23)
22. Mississippi St. (24)
23. North Carolina St. (NR)--nice win over Florida St. They have popped in and out of the top 25 all year, but they are back now.
24. Florida St. (16)
25. Nevada (NR)

Out: USC, Miami

Key games for next week (5 games featuring ranked teams playing each other!):

1. TCU at Utah--not only the battle for the Mountain West title, but a game for a possible BCS berth. I see no reason to believe that Boise is per se better than either of these teams and the winner will have a legitimate claim for a BCS berth.

2. Alabama at LSU--the loser of this game will basically be out of the BCS hunt. Two one-loss teams. I completely believe Alabama is going to hammer them. But it is in Baton Rouge. And I hope LSU wins, as I believe they will probably lose later on. So hurting Alabama's BCS hopes would be great for what I really want--2 Pac 10 teams in the BCS.

3. Arizona at Stanford--the battle for 2nd in the Pac 10. Oregon is clearly the dominant team. But the winner of this game, especially if it is Stanford, will be in excellent position for a BCS berth. Because of the rule forcing the Rose Bowl to take Boise or the Mountain West team this year if Oregon goes to the title game, they are facing an uphill battle. But maybe they can sneak into the Fiesta Bowl. I do think Stanford is a significantly better team--witness Arizona's struggles to beat UCLA yesterday. But it's going to be a really good game in any case.

4. Arkansas at South Carolina--very good SEC matchup.

5. Baylor at Oklahoma St.--everyone is wondering if Baylor is for real. Well, they keep winning and beat Texas in Austin yesterday. Can they keep it up in Stillwater. I think they probably can. Should be a very interesting game.

NCAA Top 25

3 straight #1 teams fall. And Oregon plays at USC this week. Very scared!!!!

1. Oregon (1)--complete domination over UCLA. Really looking forward to this week's matchup!
2. Auburn (5)--I'm a believer after that win over LSU. Cameron Newton is amazing
3. TCU (2)
4. Boise St. (3)
5. Utah (6)
6. Missouri (11)--awesome win over Oklahoma. Maybe they really are a force to reckon with
7. Michigan St. (7)--Still very much not a believer
8. Alabama (9)
9. Wisconsin (12)--Nice win over Iowa
10. Ohio St. (13)
11. Oklahoma (4)--tough loss to Missouri, but the Tigers dominated the game. Sooners have been up and down all year so this isn't too surprising to me.
12. Nebraska (14)
13. Stanford (16)
14. Arizona (17)--made Washington look like the patsies they are
15. LSU (8)--exposed against Auburn.
16. Florida St. (18)
17. Oklahoma St. (10)--played tough against Nebraska. They have a lot of talent, but the defense is too suspect for them to compete for the Big 12 title.
18. South Carolina (19)
19. Arkansas (21)
20. Virginia Tech (22)
21. USC (25)
22. Iowa (15)
23. Baylor (NR)--Baylor? But they keep winning
24. Mississippi St. (NR)--Mississippi St.? But they keep winning
25. Miami (NR)

Gone: Georgia Tech, Texas, West Virginia

Key games for next week:

1. Oregon at USC. There seems to be a curse on #1s this year. Let's hope it ends. In any case, there are going to be a lot of points scored.

2. Michigan St. at Iowa. A very interesting game. Is Michigan St. really that good? How will they play on the road against a very tough opponent? How will Iowa respond to their loss against Wisconsin?

3. Missouri at Nebraska. For the Big 12 North title more than likely.

4. Florida St. at North Carolina St. A good Thursday night game between 2 ACC teams that have been up and down all year.

NCAA Top 25

For an Oregon fan, a better day of college football could not be had, at least for a bye week. Two top competitors to the Ducks lost, Ohio St. and Nebraska. There were top games all around. Things are falling really well for my Ducks. Except for the 6 tough games they still have to play...

The other big change I made I boosting Oklahoma St. and Missouri. They are undefeated and come from major conferences. I don't expect them to stay where they are. But they've deserved the chance to prove themselves with the big boys. When they lose, Ohio St. and Wisconsin and Nebraska will rise right back up. I did keep Alabama ahead of them simply because I believe they are better than those other teams. 

1. Oregon (2)
2. TCU (3)
3. Boise St. (4)--another tough win, this time over San Jose St.......
4. Oklahoma (6)
5. Auburn (7)--a little defense might help me believe in this team more. Cameron Newton is pretty awesome though
6. Utah (8)--still the nation's most underrated team
7. Michigan St. (9)--given their amazingly easy schedule, they really could go undefeated. And then get crushed in their bowl game
8. LSU (10)--I still don't believe after another uninspired effort against McNeese St.
9. Alabama (12)
10. Oklahoma St. (20)--I don't believe in them, but they deserve the big bump because they keep winning
11. Missouri (21)--I believe in Missouri even less, but they play Oklahoma this week so we'll see if they are for real or not.
12. Wisconsin (17)--Huge win over Ohio St.
13. Ohio St. (2)--better than the 13th best team in the country. Jim Tressel is a massively overrated football coach though. Way to punt down 13 points with 6 minutes left from your own 50. Loser move.
14. Nebraska (5)--I didn't expect Nebraska to lose to Texas, but if you stop their running game you can beat them.
15. Iowa (14)
16. Stanford (15)
17. Arizona (16)
18. Florida St. (19)
19. South Carolina (11)--nice let-down at Kentucky.
20. West Virginia (24)
21. Arkansas (13)--SEC defenses are clearly superior.....
22. Virginia Tech (NR)--they may have lost to James Madison but they've won every game since and probably will win the ACC.
23. Texas (NR)
24. Georgia Tech (NR)
25. USC (NR)--I didn't expect them to reappear but they absolutely crushed Cal. And now I'm scared of Oregon's trip down there in 2 weeks.

Out--Nevada, Oregon St., North Carolina St., Air Force. Tough week for lesser west coast teams.

Key games for next week:

1. LSU at Auburn. Time for one of the SEC undefeateds to be exposed as a poser. I expect it to be LSU big time.

2. Oklahoma at Missouri. This is an interesting game. I don't really expect Missouri to win but then again, they are playing at home in a pumped atmosphere against a top opponent. This is exactly the kind of set-up for an Oklahoma loss. Plus, other than the Florida St. and Iowa St. games, Oklahoma hasn't looked great in their wins.

3. Wisconsin at Iowa. Key Big 10 matchup. Not for the Rose Bowl, but certainly for pecking order in their upper-tier bowls.

4. Air Force at TCU. TCU doesn't play a lot of tough opponents the rest of the way. This is one of them. Air Force lost this week to a much improved San Diego St. team. So I don't think they can beat TCU. However, if they can move the ball on TCU's tough defense, this could be an upset. As an Oregon fan, I'm really hoping so.

And for an Oregon fan, other than rooting for the Ducks crushing UCLA on Thursday, I am a huge Missouri and Air Force fan this week.

BYU Clearly Made the Correct Decision....

BYU's decision to become an independent in football hasn't worked out so well in the early weeks. Not only do they suck this year, making their decision to leave the Mountain West look premature, but they can't get a schedule together very easily. Athletic Director Tom Holmoe:

Holmoe said three weeks ago that he was “fairly close” to finalizing BYU’s 2011 and 2012 schedules, but since then the only scheduling announcements he has made involve a game against West Virginia in 2016 on a neutral field and the report Thursday that the series with Utah will continue — for at least the next two years.

“It has been difficult,” Holmoe conceded. “If it wasn’t, maybe other schools would do it. It is hard to do, but I think it is going to pay dividends. So, I would disagree that it can’t be done.”

That's some inspiring talk right there! Moreover, BYU is trying to basically play Boise St.'s schedule (without actually playing Boise of course). Next year, they have challenging games against Oregon St., Utah, and Texas. And then they have the dregs of the WAC such as Idaho and Louisiana Tech. I guess if Boise can go to a BCS bowl every year with a schedule like this, BYU might as well try it too. But BYU's dreams of becoming the Mormon Notre Dame are proving much more difficult than they expected.

NCAA Top 25

A fascinating week of college football. Alabama's loss shook up the college football landscape. It also puts a giant question mark at #1. Who is the best team in the country? We are halfway through the season and it's really hard to tell. Oregon didn't play like a #1 team last week; moreover, their questionable defensive scheme puts a lot of pressure on the offense which could bite them someday. Ohio St. hasn't played anyone--1 road game (which they played very poorly in) and their win over Miami doesn't look so hot now. So I don't know. Boise? TCU? Auburn? Michigan St? Many possible candidates. In lieu of making questionable judgments, I won't change too much up this week among the undefeated teams, thus making another questionable decision.

1. Oregon (2)--Didn't like all those injuries against Washington St. Great time for a bye week.
2. Ohio St. (3)--Can they win at Wisconsin in their first real road test this year?
3. TCU (4)--I don't know why no one thinks they are better than Boise. I don't know of course, but they look pretty good to me. People of Texas still don't care--5000 empty seats in a 40 odd thousand seat stadium last game.
4. Boise St. (5)
5. Nebraska (6)--I'm still not a true believer. Let's see what they do to Texas this weekend.
6. Oklahoma (7)--that win over Florida St. looks much better. Still, they've been pretty mediocre in their other wins.
7. Auburn (8)--could be #1 by the end of the year. I don't actually think this is going to happen. But they are very good.
8. Utah (11)--Nation's most underrated team.
9. Michigan St.  (12)--nice win over Michigan, could be a very very good team. They are Michigan St. so; I'm sure they'll blow it.
10. LSU (13)--Lucky
11. South Carolina (21)--I do like the idea of an Auburn-South Carolina SEC title game.
12. Alabama--Do I really believe Alabama is the 12th best team in the country?  No, even though South Carolina did wallop them. But there are 10 legitimate undefeated teams. And how can I rank South Carolina below Alabama? (1)
13. Arkansas (10)--Arkansas did nothing to fall but circumstances dictate them right here. They did lose to Alabama after all.
14. Iowa (14)
15. Stanford (15)--outlasted USC, though I thought they would blow them out.
16. Arizona (9)--Choke
17. Wisconsin (19)--I think they are going to beat Ohio St. this weekend. As an Oregon fan, I hope so.
18. Nevada (20)
19. Florida St. (24)--dominant win over Miami, probably the ACC frontrunners now. Not that this is any great shakes.
20. Oklahoma St (22)--Need a signature win for me to take their undefeated status seriously
21. Missouri (23)--see what I wrote about Oklahoma St.
22. Air Force (25)
23. Oregon St. (NR)--we've seen this story before--Oregon St. loses to tough nonconference opponents, everyone forgets about them, and then they start winning all their games. Luckily, this story also usually has Oregon beating them so they can't go to the Rose Bowl.
24. West Virginia (NR)
25. North Carolina St. (NR)

Gone: Miami (16), Florida (17), Michigan (18)

Key matchups for this weekend:

1. Ohio St. at Wisconsin--huge game with clear national championship implications. Go Badgers!!!!

2. Arkansas at Auburn--a real test for both teams. Is Arkansas a fraud? Is Auburn what they seem to be? This game will go quite a ways in determining that.

3. Iowa at Michigan--I think Iowa is going to go into Ann Arbor and show that Michigan is nothing more than the Denard Robinson game. A really key game for Michigan's season. Iowa is more defined as a upper-level if not elite Big 10 team, yet a victory is necessary for them to retain that image.

4. Texas at Nebraska--A Texas loss probably means a free fall for the Longhorns. A Nebraska win solidifies them as elite. I clearly believe Nebraska will win this game fairly easily.

NCAA Top 25

An interesting week of football, dominated by my Ducks eviscerating Stanford. Last week's ranking in parentheses.

1. Alabama (2)--completely dominated Florida. Clearly the #1 team.
2. Oregon (3)--almost dominated Stanford. Clearly #2
3. Ohio St.(1)--really struggled against a bad Illinois team. Made me wonder about them.
4. TCU (4)
5. Boise St. (5)
6. Nebraska (8)--interesting game coming on Thursday at an undefeated Kansas St. team. I don't believe in Kansas St. at all, but still worth keeping an eye on.
7. Oklahoma (9)--beat up on Texas, but then again, who cares at this point.
8. Auburn (10)
9. Arizona (11)
10. Arkansas (13)--they look a little better to me after seeing what Alabama did to Florida
11. Utah (15)
12. Michigan St. (20)--kind of starting to believe in this team after they beat Wisconsin
13. LSU (12)--a crock of a win against Tennessee.
14. Iowa (16)
15. Stanford (6)--I still believe this is a very good team, but Oregon ran them ragged.
16. Miami (17)
17. Florida (7)--so overrated this year. Alabama really slapped them around.
18. Michigan (19)--terrible defense and a near loss to Indiana after the near loss to UMass suggests actual losses very soon.
19. Wisconsin (14)
20. Nevada (21)
21. South Carolina (22)
22. Oklahoma St. (23)--tough win against Texas A&M, maybe they are for real.
23. Missouri (NR)
24. Florida St. (NR)--we'll see how long they stay here since they play Miami this week.
25. Air Force (25)

Gone: USC (18), Penn St. (24)

Key games this week:

1. Alabama at South Carolina--another tough game for Alabama, who is definitely having to earn a repeat SEC championship. I'm not such a believer in South Carolina, but at home they might have a chance.
2. LSU at Florida--a probably overrated LSU team at an angry but also overrated Florida team. The loser is probably in trouble for a good bowl birth.
3. Michigan St. at Michigan--A real challenge for Michigan. I think MSU is going to wallop them. But then again, the Spartans have had their share of miracles too.
4. Florida St. at Miami--probably the 2 best teams in the ACC, not that this says a lot. Could be a preview of the ACC Championship game,largely because the other 10 teams all kind of suck.

NCAA Top 25

None too soon this week....

1. Ohio St. (1)
2. Alabama (2)
3. Oregon (3)
4. TCU (4)
5. Boise St.  (5)
6. Stanford (14)
7. Florida (13)
8. Nebraska (6)
9. Oklahoma (7)
10. Auburn (18)
11. Arizona (8)
12. LSU (10)
13. Arkansas (11)
14. Wisconsin (12)
15. Utah (14)
16. Iowa (17)
17. Miami (19)
18. USC (20)
19. Michigan  (22)
20. Michigan St. (23)
21. Nevada (24)
22. South Carolina (16)
23. Oklahoma St. (NR)
24. Penn St. (NR)
25. Air Force (25)

Gone: Texas (9), West Virginia (20)

Games of the week:

1. Stanford at Oregon--probably for the Pac-10 title. These two teams are clearly the class of the conference
2. Florida at Alabama--Alabama really didn't play that great last week. Meanwhile Florida has been up and down all season. Both these teams could be great. It's going to be a good one.
3. Texas vs. Oklahoma--Although Texas was exposed as a gigantic fraud last week against UCLA, after struggling to beat inferior opponents previously, this is still a huge game. Texas does have ability and Oklahoma has looked extraordinarily inconsistent as well. Frankly, I wonder if Oklahoma St. and Texas A&M aren't the 2 strongest teams in the Big 12 South (and as they presently playing each other as I write, I guess we'll see which is the most legit--OSU I think).

NCAA Top 25

This week's Top 25, with last week's ranking in parantheses

1. Ohio St.(1)
2. Alabama (2) A real test at Arkansas
3. Oregon (3) Arizona St. did put up a tough fight against Wisconsin. That might say more about the Badgers being overrated. Still, ASU has much more speed on defense than anyone else Oregon's faced. Not sure if the ASU offense can do anything against the Oregon defense though.
4. TCU (4) An interesting matchup with SMU this weekend. I'm sure TCU prevails, but it could be close
5. Boise St (5) I'll be really curious about this Oregon St. game this weekend. I think Boise needs to win fairly convincingly to go to the title game, assuming they can also beat Nevada in Reno.
6. Nebraska (9) Complete dominance over Washington, arguably the nation's most overrated team coming into the season.
7. Oklahoma (6)
8. Arizona (17) Huge win over Iowa, though they nearly blew it in classic Mike Stoops fashion.
9. Texas (13) I was skeptical about the Longhorns but they proved themselves with a tough win in Lubbock.
10. LSU (10)
11. Arkansas (11) Nice win at Georgia. If they beat Alabama, I'll be a true believer.
12. Wisconsin (8) A win is a win but they looked very unimpressive against Arizona St.
13. Florida (14) Still not convinced Continued to struggle in the first half against mediocre opponents.
14. Stanford (18) Bludgeoned Wake Forest. Now a trip to South Bend. A win at Notre Dame means they could be a top 10 team. 
15. Utah (15)
16. South Carolina (16)
17. Iowa (7) Still a good team, but they played poorly for much of the game against Arizona.
18. Auburn (22)
19. Miami (21)
20. West Virginia (23)
21. USC (24)
22. Michigan (12) Pathetic near loss against UMass. Never dropped someone 10 points for a win before. Defense is sketchy. Nonetheless, 3-0.
23. Michigan St. (NR)
24. Nevada (NR) Fantastic win over Cal. Could challenge Boise.
25. Air Force (NR) I almost had them in this list last week and then they almost won in Norman. Very tough team and a good boost for the Mountain West.

Out: Oregon St., Houston, California

3 Games to watch this week:

1. Alabama at Arkansas. Enormous SEC matchup. Everything thinks Alabama is going to win but Arkansas is a very good football team.
2. Oregon St. at Boise St. The big primetime matchup in Boise. Oregon St. got dropped despite a win against Louisville because their defense is poor. Bad defense vs. great offense is a tough combination.
3. South Carolina at Auburn. Two teams I don't quite believe in but that are winning early in the season. Particularly impressive comeback for Auburn against Clemson.

NCAA Top 25

Haven't done this the last couple of years, but I've decided to do my own Top 25 poll this year. I didn't do it the first couple of weeks because it's so meaningless until there's a body of work to show. Unfortunately, starting high in the rankings gives teams an advantage because many pollsters are loathe to drop someone unless they lose. It really has nothing to do with the actual games played. However, that is starting to change with more voters actually watching the games and taking this seriously.

Anyway, here we go, with notes on some teams.

1. Ohio St.--many would pick Alabama, but I believe they are the best team in the country. And they just hammered Miami. Very impressive. Pryor is my pick for the Heisman.
2. Alabama--on the other hand, Alabama looks great too. But I also think Penn St. just isn't any good.
3. Oregon--completely dominant at Tennessee, best offense in the country.
4. TCU--very tough team, but it's just hard to know what to think of them now. A win over Oregon St. is great, but how much does it tell us? Too soon to say.
5. Boise St.--I don't really want to punish them for Virginia Tech's loss to James Madison. After all, it was Boise who sucked the life out of the Hokies to the extent they couldn't even get up the energy to beat a team like JMU. But it clearly hurts their national championship hopes with only Oregon St. an interesting game ahead.
6. Oklahoma--this is why one game means nothing. They looked horrible against Utah St., just pulling out the win. Then they bludgeoned Florida St.
7. Iowa
8. Wisconsin
9. Nebraska
10. LSU
11. Arkansas
12. Michigan--Denard Robinson has been amazing. I don't think the Wolverines can really keep it up, but with Robinson the best player in the country the first two weeks, who knows how far they can go. While I have Ohio St., Iowa, and Wisconsin above the Wolverines, I remain somewhat unconvinced by the latter two.
13. Texas--the classic example of being ranked too high in an early poll. They are still #6 despite looking like crap against two inferior teams. Yet someone still has them ranked #1. That voter has obviously not watched football this year.
14. Florida--exact same comment as Texas, minus the #1 vote. Both teams have slipped some, showing that some voters are paying attention.  But neither has slipped enough. And Florida just has no running game.
15. Utah--great win over Pitt, could make a run for the national championship game. I'm serious.
16. South Carolina--nice win over Georgia. Marcus Lattimore is a sick beast.
17. Arizona--nation's most underrated team. Wouldn't be a bit surprised to see them upset Wisconsin this week.
18. Stanford
19. Houston
20. California--also underrated--watch out for the resurgent Golden Bears.
21. Miami (FL)--the only ACC team in my top 25 and they have a loss. Pathetic.
22. Auburn--I know they are ranked much higher by most, but uninspired and boring wins over Mississippi St. don't suggest much to me.
23. West Virginia--lucky to escape Marshall. The Big East sucks this year. Not as bad as the ACC though.
24. USC--have looked terrible against Hawaii and Virginia. Feel like the season is already about the come off the wheels. Yet they are 2-0.
25. Oregon St.

3 Best Games of Next Week
Very poor week ahead with few interesting matchups.

1. Iowa at Arizona. Clearly the game of the week. Will say a lot about both teams.
2. Air Force at Oklahoma. Seriously. Air Force just pounded BYU. Oklahoma has been inconsistent. Obviously the Sooners should be favored.  But I considered Air Force for this list. And I think this could be a very good game.
3. Arkansas at Georgia. Key SEC matchup. Is Arkansas really that good? Is Georgia as bad as they looked against South Carolina? This game should answer both questions. 

Conference Expansion

The biggest sports story of my week of travel (at least that I care about, meaning not the World Cup or NBA Finals) was the potential for massive NCAA conference realignment.

I was particularly interested in this because, as an Oregon fan, I have a vested interest in seeing the Pac-10 do well. So the idea of expanding to a Pac-16 and stealing half the Big 12 sounded pretty good to me. I wanted to see Oregon play Oklahoma and Texas on a semi-regular basis, wanted a Pac-10 network, and wanted to be part of the best conference in the country.

Well, it didn't happen. The Pac-10 did grab Colorado, which in the long-term should be good but right now is pretty meaningless. Nebraska bailed to the Big 10, which if you ask me is tying your ship to a faulty anchor of declining media markets and recruiting centers. Utah will probably come over to the Pac-10 as well, which is fine if rather unexciting.

Maybe conference consolidation is a good thing for college athletics and maybe it's not. There's good arguments on both sides.

What makes me laugh though is the behavior of Texas. Texas was the lynchpin of all these changes. The Pac-10 wanted them bad. But UT used the Pac-10 to promote its own interests. Essentially, Texas wants to be Notre Dame. The collapse of the Big 12 was going to leave 5 schools out in the cold. And UT knew they could use the Pac-10 as leverage to get whatever they wanted in the Big 12. They managed to get rid of Colorado and Nebraska, i.e. teams that could actually compete with UT in football. Then they got the rest of the conference to not only agree to unequal revenue distribution, with UT getting even more than Oklahoma. Then they convinced the rest of the conference to allow UT to start their own television network, for which they could keep ALL the money. On top of all of this, they actually got the 5 nearly abandoned schools to give their share of the money Nebraska and Colorado has to pay to leave the conference to UT.

Talk about the rich getting richer.

What a joke.

I'd love to see the Pac-10 go after Kansas instead of Utah, just to screw UT. Kansas isn't going to leave, but they should. The Pac-10 is a far better academic conference, it's basketball traditions are just as good (playing against UCLA and Arizona is certainly as good as Texas and Oklahoma) and it would be a boatload of money for KU.

Of course, it's always all about the money in college sports. But Texas just created a situation where they have a weaker conference where they get all the money. They don't have to play a conference championship game. All they have to do every year is beat Oklahoma and not get upset by someone else and they get to go to the National Championship game!

I don't think this will last though. Texas' domination of the conference is going to rankle a lot of teams. The SEC is still interested in Texas A&M in the long-term. The conference is a joke in football now. And everyone knows UT will screw them over at the first opportunity. Sounds great....

Evil Finds Evil

Seems fitting that the BCS would hire Ari Fleischer to promote it:

They hired former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer for a reason, and it wasn't because they enjoyed watching his work on CNN in the early days of the Bush 43 administration. So far, Fleischer and his minions have served only to enrage fans further by creating a Facebook page and a Twitter feed that severely underestimate the customers' intelligence. Now, they're going to earn their money. The BCS hired Fleischer because he can navigate the halls of power in Washington, not because he makes a mean Facebook page.

What, Karl Rove and G. Gordon Liddy not available?

Lane Kiffin

Let me start my participation here at Alterdestiny with a simple declarative statement: Lane Kiffin is an asshole.

In his short 14 months at UT, Knoxville, he managed to produce the highest-paid assistant coaching staff in all of college football, a string of rarely-backed-up shit talking, a whole series of secondary NCAA violations, an investigation into the murky underworld of campus "hostesses," and now the high likelihood that the Vols will lose their recruiting class. Students on the campus summed it up well, in their preferred method of paleo-communication:

Rose Bowl Open Thread

All times Pacific

Final Thoughts--EL--As I said below, if Pryor can pass well, it opens everything up for Ohio St. And he played a phenomenal game. His coming out party. I'm sure both Ohio St. and Oregon will be in the top 5 to start next season. Still can't believe Oregon attempted a 45 yard FG on 4th and 1--one of only 2 terrible calls Chip Kelly made all year.

5:20--LS--Sad as it may be for me, Pryor has played a phenomenal game, as has all of Ohio State. Congratulations, while I weep.

5:10--EL--I love Chip Kelly, but that was the exact wrong time to be conservative. 4th & 1 with your accurate but limited range kicker forced to try from 45? Terrible call.

5:08--LS--Good play, but seriously, those kickoff return reverses are dangerous plays.

5:05--LS--No doubt, that was brilliant football played by Ohio State. Go Ducks, they have plenty of time.

5:04--EL--Give Ohio St. all the credit--that was a world class drive against an Oregon defense that is playing very well.

4:55--LS--The offense sure is sputtering; this is considerably scarier than it should be.

4:33--LS--See Erik's pregame Note 4, below.

4:30--LS--Wow! James is such a brilliant runner, so much tougher than he looks.

4:27--EL--Next to "bend but don't break" in the dictionary is a picture of the Oregon defense.

4:26--LS--Pryor's starting to stare down Sanzenbacher. That's a good sign for the Duck defense.

4:21--LS--Lookin' sharp in those berets, OSU band

4:16--EL--What a love about that drive is not the awesome 4th down conversion (OK, I do), but bringing in Blount on the 1 and then faking it to him. Great play call. Give Ohio St. credit though--they are making Oregon work very hard to get their running yards. Give Oregon credit for being willing to shove it down their throats.

4:15--LS--The lead...finally.... A really nice drive, overall, and Erik's note on halftime adjustments is exactly right.

Halftime Update--EL--Not a huge deal with that last FG, but it hurts a little. Oregon was driving, tipped pass and pick. Down 16-10. Oregon has done an excellent job all year making halftime adjustments and dominating the 3rd quarter. They will need to do so again, particularly on offense. A bit concerned that Pryor is passing so well, though Oregon has gotten excellent pressure on him. I still feel very good about this game--Oregon gets the ball in the second half and I expect a good 2nd half from them.

3:47--LS--Some hot marimba work in this halftime show!

3:45--LS--Tough half. OSU is playing really strong, though that final Pryor pass was definitely grounding. Second half is Oregon's though, no doubt about it.

3:25--LS--Lucky to be 13-10, but that should have been a pick. A minute is enough for a TD. No fumble; no way.

3:10--EL--10-10. It doesn't take long for the Ducks to come back. Huge 4th & 9 conversion. Awesome pounding TD run for LaGarette Blount. Glad to see him have the shot to do it. Boom!

3:00--LS--Those are the exact kind of contain defenses we need to see. Make Pryor work for it.

2:49--Lyrad Simool--A good goal line stop, though, and now we're in the red zone...hook 'em Ducks!

2:46--Ohio St. offensive game plan also going very well. As I said earlier, if Pryor passes effectively, Oregon will have trouble stopping them. Indeed, that has been the case through one quarter. I kind of feel lucky to only be down 10-0.

2:40--Ohio St. clearly doing a great job. Again, it's very early and Oregon can score quickly, but the Ohio St. defensive game plan is working quite well. The Oregon offensive line is young and Ohio St. might be able to overwhelm them. If that's the case, things will be very difficult for Oregon.

This is the open thread for the Oregon-Ohio St. Rose Bowl. Perhaps Trend and/or Lyrad would like to join in. For casual readers, I am an Oregon alum and Trend is an Ohio St. partisan. Meaning that it's Civil War here!

A few notes to begin:

1. It's interesting--the nation believes in Oregon but Ohio St. fans are completely dismissive of the Ducks. The latter is interesting because Ohio St. can never win a big game and because it's reflective of their belief in football played as if it was 1954. That the country believes in Oregon I also find a bit strange because they are not the traditional power that the Buckeyes are.

2. The key of the game is the Oregon offense versus the Ohio St. defense. Neither team has faced an opponent like this. Ohio St. fans call Oregon's offense a gimmick. That's a perjorative, but whatever, we win with it. It's also in many ways a very traditional offense that just looks funny. Can Ohio St. maintain the discipline against the zone read for the entire game? No one else has except Boise St., which is a lifetime ago. On the other hand, Ohio St. does have a great defense, though against the "offenses" of the Big 10, I'm not sure what that means.

3. I think equally important is the play of Terrelle Pryor. That's the biggest wildcard. If Pryor can throw decently, it makes things much tougher for Oregon. Ohio St. fans have slammed on Oregon's defense by saying the Ducks give up a lot of yards, but that's the equivalent of relying on batting average to say who is the best hitter in baseball. Oregon gives up a lot of yards because the offense scores in 4 plays half the time. The defense is on the field the entire game. So we need a different set of statistics to judge Oregon. Oregon's defense is entirely decent and carried the team early on.

4. The other wild card are Oregon turnovers. Sometimes Masoli gets a little careless. Fumbles could be huge. But if Oregon falls behind 10-0 or something like that, the game is far from over. Oregon can score very quickly. Of course, falling behind to Ohio St. is not like falling behind to Arizona or Oregon St., but this team has come back before and I feel Ohio St. needs a 3 TD lead to feel comfortable.

5. Final score--Oregon 30, Ohio St. 24

Updates to continue throughout the game.

Why I Hate Notre Dame Football

There's actually many reasons. But this, from the Chicago Sun-Times, is one really good reason:

Notre Dame fans want the best coach possible, yet they keep scratching all the top candidates off their list. Mike Leach is a Mormon. Jim Harbaugh is divorced. Jon Gruden had a DUI. Randy Edsall hasn't won enough, Pat Fitzgerald isn't old enough and Skip Holtz doesn't recruit well enough. Then there's the latest controversy that's lighting up the message boards of what might be the most plugged-in fan base in the nation: Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly is said to be pro-choice. Where precisely Kelly stands on what should be a private issue is uncertain, and frankly nobody's business, but if true it could be a deal-breaker for many on the Catholic university's campus.

God, I hope they fail forever.