College Football at Midseason

I thought about writing some type of hate post today because of how pissed I am about what happened to the Dodgers last night. As an effort to help me feel better, here are my thoughts about college football at midseason.


Best Player - Colt McCoy, Texas. It’s tough for me to pick McCoy over Sam Bradford of Oklahoma, but McCoy has been amazing. He is completing over 79% of his passes and has a TD-Int ratio of 17-3. Colt also has his team ranked at the top of the polls after beating Oklahoma. McCoy doesn’t have amazing yardage numbers because he has sat out the 4th so many times. McCoy also averages 5.9ypc, which is all the more impressive when you look at the fact that this statistic includes lost yardage due to sacks.

Most Impressive Team - This one is tough. Penn State, Texas, and Alabama have all been very impressive. I picked Oklahoma as the National Champ before the season started, so Texas beating them last week looks huge to me. Alabama won big at Georgia. The Clemson win isn’t looking so hot now that the Tigers went all Clemson on us by losing to teams they should beat. I have to go with Penn State on this because they have destroyed everyone they’ve played, including Oregon State (45-14), Illinois (38-24), and Wisconsin (48-7). If they get past Ohio State, Michigan State is the only team standing in their way of getting to the BCS Title game. I don’t think Penn State is the best team in the country, but they’ve been the most impressive so far.

Biggest Surprise - Penn State. I saw one preseason magazine pick them 7th in the Big Eleven. They had to break in a new quarterback and running back. With six offseason suspensions and questions about Paterno dying at any time, what they have done has to be considered a huge surprise. Don't old people always point with that finger?

Biggest Bust - There are four teams in contention for this title - Auburn, Clemson, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Auburn is 4-3, with losses to Vanderbilt and Arkansas. Clemson is 3-3 after being ranked in the preseason top 10 by everyone. Tennessee flat-out sucks - losing to UCLA is enough to verify that statement as doctrine. WV has lost to East Carolina and Colorado. I have to give the nod here to Tennessee, even though they weren’t in the preseason top 10 like the other three. Fulmer’s job is in some serious jeopardy after a 2-4 start. In the SEC that will lead to the student section going soccer/Raider fan on him and lobbing some urine balloons his way.

Most Impressive Win - The best win this year was Alabama’s destruction of Georgia on their own home field. Bama was up 31-0 at the half against the preseason #1 team in the country. That is awesome. I still think Nick Saban is a tremendous prick and I hope Bama doesn’t get anywhere near the SEC title game, let alone the BCS title game, but that win was impressive.

Best Non-BCS Team - Utah/BYU. I know this is a copout, but have watched both teams all season and cannot decide which team is better. At this point I would say that BYU passes the eyeball test while Utah has the more impressive resume at this point. After what I have seen happen over and over again this year, either of these teams being undefeated when they play each other at the end of the year should be considered extremely impressive. If this game were happening tomorrow and I were betting man, my money would be on Utah.

Fattest Coach - Ralph Friedgen, Maryland, and Mark Mangino, Kansas - tie. Both of these guys have to weigh in at over four bills. The fridge appears to have actually lost some weight, but he is still the size of a mail truck. Mangino looks like a walrus in many ways. This category makes no sense, but I needed a reason to put up a picture of this fan. Brilliant.


Most Overrated Player - Rey Maualuga, USC. Watch College Football Gameday and see how the broadcasters nearly reach climax while hyping Maualuga as if he is some kind of deity. The next time USC is on, watch Rey and see if he does much. He makes one or two big plays a game but disappears the rest of the time. However, he has done one thing that is absolutely classic. This picture of him at practice in a thong makes him an All-American in my book. When asked where he got the thong he said he got it from Brian Cushing's locker. Epic.

What the F Moment - Oregon State beating USC. I still can’t believe that happened. That’s what is great about college football, though. Anyone can lose at any time.




Random Thoughts:
I just want to point out that three of my five potential sleepers (from my preview post) are in the top 25: North Carolina, Oklahoma State, and Pittsburgh. Another one of my picks, Oregon State, beat the mighty Men of Troy. Maybe the Beavers aren’t as good as I thought they’d be, but at least they did something.

After touting my predicting abilities, I must mention my major failure. I listed Texas and Alabama each as teams getting too much hype. They happen to be ranked 1 and 2 right now. I suck.

Even though they are ranked #1 right now I still think Texas loses two games. They still play Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and possibly the Big 12 Title game. They’ll lose two of those.

Enjoy watching Rick Neuheisel suck at UCLA this year. It won’t last long. Same goes for Rich Rodriguez at Michigan. Both of these schools will be perennial powers under those guys.

The Big East sucks.

The Big 12 is a better conference top to bottom than the SEC. I said it.

If it weren't for an injury, Beanie Wells would be the best player in college football. He has averaged over 7ypc in 3 of the 4 games he has played. He's the next Adrian Peterson - puts up huge numbers but is always banged up.

I get the feeling that even though USC lost to Oregon State, the Trojans will make it to the National Title game.