2008 College Football

[EHK for Darwin]

Yes, they should be awesome with a bunch of guys returning from a team that went 3-9. stunned.gif #45 is probably generous, if you want my honest opinion. Because I truly don't think they're in the top 50% of college football teams. I couldn't care less what someone's recruiting class is ranked. Ask Al Groh and UVA - several years of "Top 10" recruiting classes, and they are decidedly average. Are recruiting rankings totally meaningless? No - because you can correlate the highly ranked classes at such places like USC and Texas and so forth to their success on the field. However, it's a known fact that high school players get their "stars" bumped up just because certain teams are recruiting them. In other words, take the same exact class that USC is recruiting and put them all at Western Michigan - the class isn't going to rank as high. The whole recruiting process is a little silly.

And even if (and that's a big IF) Notre Dame is getting a bunch of high school phenoms that will be good down the road - it's the rare true freshman that contributes significantly to a team's success. I don't expect much more out of ND than they did last year, and the book is still out on Weiss in my opinion.

.................

BAH!

[Celtigo]

Heres Mandel's Top 25 for a little compare and contrast. He seems to have played around with a number of teams after players leaving early came through. Its interesting as well that once again there isn't really a clear cut favorite for the national title. The top 5 in each poll seem like they all could easily drop two games on the schedule.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...ings/index.html

[S John]

Heres Mandel's Top 25 for a little compare and contrast. He seems to have played around with a number of teams after players leaving early came through. Its interesting as well that once again there isn't really a clear cut favorite for the national title. The top 5 in each poll seem like they all could easily drop two games on the schedule.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...ings/index.html

Damnit. All signs point to Pitt being actually legit next year. I hate those guys.

[WarGalley]

I like Mandel's top 10, but Texas Tech at 10? They've never performed to expectation, except maybe when they beat Cal in the Holiday? Bowl (when Cal lost the Rose Bowl bid to the VY-Texas team). I really don't see them staying in the top 10 for long unless teams above them start to lose before they do.

Mizzou at 5 huh? They'll have a better shot at the title next year then they did this year.

Almost every year for the last 4 years Auburn has been a NC caliber team.. and then they shit a brick against a team they should not have to worry too much about. I might be looking forward to their schedule as a whole then any other. West Virginia, LSU, Tennessee (which will be the least anticipated of the major games, but should still be entertaining), Georgia and Alabama (which I'll be interested to see how well they improve under Saban).

I like Wisconsin to move up in the ranks though mostly because I see another mediocre year for the Big 10. I figure 2009 we'll be back in top form.

I'm laughing at the thought that if OSU goes undefeated (which will include a win over USC which, granted, is no guarantee) they'll get into a 3rd straight NC game. I can just picture the outrage from all over the country. A few consecutive years of disputed NC game participants has got to destroy the BCS, right? I've only been a fan of CFB since the 2002 season, but isn't that why the Bowl games were started in the first place? Because of all the split national champions who never even played each other?

[S John]

This is officially out of hand. Link.

[Lukkake]

This is officially out of hand. Link.

Just when I thought feudin' went out of style with the Hatfields and McCoys, here comes WVU....

Seriously though, who are we supposed to believe? Both sides are telling different stories that serve their own interests and there is zero evidence to prove either one. Possibly because that evidence was destroyed. I get the feeling the AD at West Virginia will have to be fired over this. Sticking by your guy may feel like the good thing to do now if they believe he did nothing wrong, but it isn't worth the hit to the schools rep. Allegations of this kind will affect the schools ability to get students of all kinds, not just football players.

[S John]

Just when I thought feudin' went out of style with the Hatfields and McCoys, here comes WVU....

Seriously though, who are we supposed to believe? Both sides are telling different stories that serve their own interests and there is zero evidence to prove either one. Possibly because that evidence was destroyed. I get the feeling the AD at West Virginia will have to be fired over this. Sticking by your guy may feel like the good thing to do now if they believe he did nothing wrong, but it isn't worth the hit to the schools rep. Allegations of this kind will affect the schools ability to get students of all kinds, not just football players.

Yep. The main reason I posted was to get others thoughts on it, cause I'm obviously biased. I just think it's funny that this comes out now and didnt come out sooner. I also think it's funny that nobody will name this mystery 'rascist' lurking around WVU's athletic department. It's a little bit stange that this rascist institution has more blacks on the new coaching staff than they did previously. I mean, what an injustice that Magee wasnt immediately offered the HC job after standing next to Rich Rodriguez in Ann Arbor and being introduced as the new offensive coordinator at Michigan. Maybe its just a little bit odd that Magee himself has said nothing and these accusations came from his agent... who is also Rich Rodriguez's agent. I'll bet this has absolutely nothing to do with a certain $4 million dollar lawsuit that goes to court this week....

I'm not claiming WVU is completely innocent here... but I cannot believe that Michigan, with it's massive alumni support has not just paid the 4 million to make this go away. You cannot pull the race card and just say, 'yea it was just some guy at West Virginia that said this. That proves it, theyre all rascists hicks, we shouldnt have to pay.'

Name some names, put up or shut up.

[TheHoundRules]

Here is an interesting article by Mandel.

I think both RR and WVU need to drop everything and move on. Both benefited from the other. Get over it. I could understand being upset for about a week, but this is plain silly. Neither looks good at this time.

[S John]

Here is an interesting article by Mandel.

I think both RR and WVU need to drop everything and move on. Both benefited from the other. Get over it. I could understand being upset for about a week, but this is plain silly. Neither looks good at this time.

I agree, I'm sick to death of this story. Move on? Fine, please, lets do that. This whole spat is over the $4 million, just pay the money. Since UM is such a prestigious program I'll bet they could scrape it together....in about 24 hours. Psycho ex-girlfriend? Yea, I'd be pretty psycho too if my ex owed me 4 million dollars. At this rate when it's all said and done $4 million might look puny next to the legal fees.

[Brandon Stark]

I was happy to hear about the RR hire, but man has this turned into a mess. I really think its either a mistake or a smear tactic, which I can't blame WVU for instituting if it is. The fact that he handled his business so poorly on the way out the door certainly didn't help matters, and I've got some serious reservations about whether he does things the right way now.

As far as the recruiting rankings go, how much impact will Pryor have on those? It sounds like the OSU/U of M war is being fought on that front, too.

I can't believe Florida isn't the number #1 team with what they're bringing back though.

[TheHoundRules]

I can't believe Florida isn't the number #1 team with what they're bringing back though.

It is hard to believe. They had 11 players on defense that could not stop anyone. They lose their top defender to the draft. So they will fill that with a back up that was not good enough to start on a defense that was not very good. Let's bring back a bunch of guys on a defense that improved ZERO during the year and say they will be great next year. Number 1 baby. Wait. There are a lot of other teams that are bring back as much if not more people that could actually play some defense.

Next year is a toss up. Lots of teams bring back talent. Not saying Florida will not be good, but I am going to say their defense is weak until they prove otherwise.

Their offense......I want nothing to do with. Should be better with a real RB playing next year.

[S John]

It is hard to believe. They had 11 players on defense that could not stop anyone. They lose their top defender to the draft. So they will fill that with a back up that was not good enough to start on a defense that was not very good. Let's bring back a bunch of guys on a defense that improved ZERO during the year and say they will be great next year. Number 1 baby. Wait. There are a lot of other teams that are bring back as much if not more people that could actually play some defense.

Next year is a toss up. Lots of teams bring back talent. Not saying Florida will not be good, but I am going to say their defense is weak until they prove otherwise.

Their offense......I want nothing to do with. Should be better with a real RB playing next year.

I don't know. All I'll say is that I'm looking forward to next years Georgia / Florida game. That said, before this most recent season started everyone thought that Louisville/ WVU was going to be a battle of the undefeateds and it wasnt. Pre-season speculation about how good a team will be, while entertaining, is pretty much trash. Personally, I think WVU will be better than #14. I think texas Tech will be worse than #10, I think Wisconsin will be worse than #9, Kansas will be worse than #11, and Clemson will hang around the top #25 but won't wow anybody. I'm semi-confident in that but not much else.

[HokieStone]

I've heard some real interesting rumors about the Rich Rod/WVU fiasco. Now, take it for what it's worth, which is probably next to nothing, because it's one of those "a friend of a friend was told by a big time WVU booster" kind of things.

The two things I've seen are that Mrs. Rich Rod threatened divorce and lawsuit if they didn't leave Motown, and had some leverage because of some little Rich Rod's running around that did not spring from her loins. That one I find way too National Enquire-esque to be remotely believable. The other is that a friend/acquaintance made some serious cash off of the WVU/Pitt game because he knew that Rich Rod was going to throw the game in order to make his leaving for Michigan a little easier. I put the odds of this one at just south of 1% as well ... but hey it's the offseason, and these are juicy stories about a program I hate.

[S John]

I've heard some real interesting rumors about the Rich Rod/WVU fiasco. Now, take it for what it's worth, which is probably next to nothing, because it's one of those "a friend of a friend was told by a big time WVU booster" kind of things.

The two things I've seen are that Mrs. Rich Rod threatened divorce and lawsuit if they didn't leave Motown, and had some leverage because of some little Rich Rod's running around that did not spring from her loins. That one I find way too National Enquire-esque to be remotely believable. The other is that a friend/acquaintance made some serious cash off of the WVU/Pitt game because he knew that Rich Rod was going to throw the game in order to make his leaving for Michigan a little easier. I put the odds of this one at just south of 1% as well ... but hey it's the offseason, and these are juicy stories about a program I hate.

I've heard both of those. In fact, the little Rich Rods running around Morgantown rumor has been around long before this whole fiasco. A WVU cheerleader is the baby's momma supposedly. Might be true, might not be... but that just reflects negatively on Rodriguez who is dead to me so I don't care.

The Pitt game rumor is interesting but I doubt its true. In my mind though, two things went wrong. 1. Pat White out, 2. Playcalling. I've said before that I didnt watch that whole game, but everyone I've talked to said that the playcalling was horrendous. Bubble screen left, bubble screen right, QB keeper up the middle, repeat. The same thing happened with USF. I was at the Louisville game which was way closer than it should have been. That one was snatched from the jaws of defeat becuase Pat White escaped and took one 50 yards at the last minute.

Even before he left a lot of WVU fans critisized RR for his playcalling. He gets very stubborn, and I think he got to where he was banking too much on the playmaking ability of White/Devine/Slaton. Thats why you got the bubble screens and the keepers... I guess he figured you run them enough times and eventually one of those guys is going to bust a big one. Problem was that both Pitt and USF prevented that big play from ever happening. Also throwing a game that would ultimately lead a National Championship appearance, as an HC, would be unbelievably stupid for any amount of money. The only shady thing about the Pitt loss, imo, is if he were in contact with Michigan before the game then his head wasnt in game-planning and may have contributed to the loss.

Ah whatever, bygones...

[WarGalley]

So Norm Chow is the new OC for UCLA. That's a great catch and I'm a little surprised that Chow didn't get/take a HC position for another school (even a lower tier one). Between Neuheisel and Chow, UCLA should be able to some damage to the Pac-10 as soon as next year. They already have good talent. Neuheisel should be able to do things "cleanly" and still take the program farther than Dorrell did.

[dornish prince]

This is a big hire. UCLA is one of those sleeping giants. A program that has the potential to be huge. There is enough talent in Southern Cal to support two juggernauts.

Terell Pryor, the #1 high school player in the nation from Jeanette, PA is visiting Oregon this weekend. He says on a diary/journal type of thing "I wouldn't leave Oregon out of this thing."

i'm still firmly convinced that pryor is gonna pick michigan, though. in any case, good luck...he appears to have all the makings of a great qb; especially in a spread offense.

[Brandon Stark]

Motown

As a Detroit-area native, I'd like to request that regardless of what WV-ers call it, you not take the one thing our town has left for your own.

[S John]

I very very seriously doubt Pryor would go to WVU but there is some speculation. Man, there would be a lot of people who would shit themselves if TP came to Morgantown.

I'm beginning to feel pretty good about the Stewart hire despite being a little dubious at first. In addition to a superb gameplan in the Fiesta Bowl, he's put together a pretty killer staff:

Jeff Mullen (from Wake Forest) - OC/QB

Jeff Casteel (holdover from RR's staff) - DC

Doc Holliday (from Florida) - Associate HC/Recruiting Coordinator/TE-FB

Steve Dunlap (from Marshal) - Assistant HC/S

Bill Kirelawich (holdvoer from RR's staff) - DL

David Johnson (from Georgia) - OL

David Lockwood (from Kentucky) - CB

Chris Beatty (from Northern Illinois) - RB

I was worried we were screwed when RR took half the staff with him, but I like these hires. I think we're going to come out of it alright.

[Lukkake]

This is a big hire. UCLA is one of those sleeping giants. A program that has the potential to be huge. There is enough talent in Southern Cal to support two juggernauts.

Terell Pryor, the #1 high school player in the nation from Jeanette, PA is visiting Oregon this weekend. He says on a diary/journal type of thing "I wouldn't leave Oregon out of this thing."

In the same diary he says "If I want to win a national title, I'm going to have to work out and lift weights in the offseason. Maybe even go over films."

He might watch film? What steal! It might not be game film or anything, but what can you do? He's a just a kid.

[S John]

In the same diary he says "If I want to win a national title, I'm going to have to work out and lift weights in the offseason. Maybe even go over films."

He might watch film? What steal! It might not be game film or anything, but what can you do? He's a just a kid.

I sure as hell wouldnt mind landing him, but I'm growing tired of him. One day in a Michigan hat, Ohio State the next. Theres so much hype around him, more than I can remember from any recruit ever. I can't help but wonder if he might end up being a flop.