Spring college football practices are starting...

[Black Lushus 0]

I haven't seen Nebraska on those lists yet...you're shitting me, right?

[teke184 0]

I haven't seen Nebraska on those lists yet...you're shitting me, right?

 

Everyone in the media thinks that this will be the year that Nebraska finally grasps the West Coast Offense.

 

 

 

The only thing I say is in Nebraska's favor is that they're playing a schedule that, *for the most part*, is pretty weak.

 

They could easily go 9-3 on it.

 

 

 

Numbers in parenthesis are the pre-season ratings given by Fox Sports, except in the case of I-AA Nicholls State University.

 

Nebraska's own pre-season rating there is #17.

 

 

OOC games- Louisiana Tech (86) , Nicholls State (DI-AA), USC (2), Troy (112)

 

Big 12 North- Kansas (45), Iowa State (39), Kansas State (53), Missouri (33), Colorado (27)

 

Big 12 South- Texas (1), Texas A&M (46), Oklahoma State (63)

 

 

 

Given the quality (or lack thereof) of most of their opponents, I'd say a 9-3 or 10-2 is certainly attainable IF the pieces fall in place.

[Guest]

It's not entirely out of the question to see them go 11-1 in the regular season either. They play at USC with SC coming off a bye, and they play Texas at home. The rest of their schedule is cake.

 

The Big XII North is and has been horrendous, which sheds a bad light on the rest of the conference.

[Urban Warfare 0]

[therealworldschampion 0]

It's obvious that he wants to say his son. Think about it, since Mark Richt left for Georgia in 2001, their offense has fallen off from the glory years of 1991-2000...

[Bored 0]

CFN Preseason 20 thru 11.

 

20. Arizona State

19. Georgia

18. Notre Dame

17. Nebraska

16. Virginia Tech

15. West Virginia

14. Louisville

13. Michigan

12. Clemson

11. Florida State

 

I agree that Notre Dame is overrated in those preseason publications that have them #1, mostly just to sell the magazine, but wow #18? Of course CFN could be doing this just to get a ton of hits from angry Irish fans.

[teke184 0]

The main justifications that can be given for ND's low ranking would be the schedule, which is *usually* one of the toughest in the country, as well as the "Sophmore Slump" that has been seen there under Davie and Whittingham.

 

(Davie and Whittingham started off with their best years and went quickly downhill IIRC. Not sure if Davie ever had a GOOD year, but Ty went from a BCS bowl to getting ass-raped on a weekly basis on national TV.)

[Guest]

Realistically, that's around where Notre Dame is going to finish. The beginning of that schedule is not easy. At Georgia Tech, Penn St., Michigan and at Michigan St. to start, that's tossing a team into the fire early. Of course, that schedule has nothing on Florida's.

[yankovic fan 0]

I haven't seen Nebraska on those lists yet...you're shitting me, right?

 

Everyone in the media thinks that this will be the year that Nebraska finally grasps the West Coast Offense.

 

 

 

The only thing I say is in Nebraska's favor is that they're playing a schedule that, *for the most part*, is pretty weak.

 

They could easily go 9-3 on it.

 

 

 

Numbers in parenthesis are the pre-season ratings given by Fox Sports, except in the case of I-AA Nicholls State University.

 

Nebraska's own pre-season rating there is #17.

 

 

OOC games- Louisiana Tech (86) , Nicholls State (DI-AA), USC (2), Troy (112)

 

Big 12 North- Kansas (45), Iowa State (39), Kansas State (53), Missouri (33), Colorado (27)

 

Big 12 South- Texas (1), Texas A&M (46), Oklahoma State (63)

 

 

 

Given the quality (or lack thereof) of most of their opponents, I'd say a 9-3 or 10-2 is certainly attainable IF the pieces fall in place.

 

 

I'm predicting Nicholls State upsetting Nebraska only because I'm a NSU graduate.

 

 

Yeah yeah, I'm going back to my hole.

[therealworldschampion 0]

Realistically, that's around where Notre Dame is going to finish. The beginning of that schedule is not easy. At Georgia Tech, Penn St., Michigan and at Michigan St. to start, that's tossing a team into the fire early. Of course, that schedule has nothing on Florida's.

 

I'm thinking the opposite there. GT beat Auburn last year in the opener, but Auburn was also breaking in a new QB and RB and it still was a close game, along with Reggie Ball getting worse as the year went along, and GT has had some injuries in their secondary.

 

The PSU game depends on how Morelli plays against Akron in the opener. If he does well and gets time in the pocket against ND, that has the makings of a major shootout.

 

LLLloyd Carr has never won in South Bend(Michigan hasn't won there since 1994), and it's also Michigan's road opener, so recent history says go against UM in those circumstances.

 

Michigan State is on the road, but it's a revenge game for ND due to last year's upset, and ND has won the last 2 times in East Lansing.

 

In guessing the likeihood of ND losing in the first 4 games, I'd go like this:

 

PSU most likely

GT

UM

MSU least likely

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I missed GT at #23. That's a little less bad than having them in the top 20. I see them as a reasonable top 30-35 team, so that's fine. Clemson at #12 is fucking hilarious. If they finish better than 8-4, I will be extremely surprised. They go on runs at the end of the season, play well in their bowls, and then underachieve for the first six games. And this year, they're doing it with a brand new quarterback. Not going anywhere fast, them Tigers.

[Guest]

Realistically, that's around where Notre Dame is going to finish. The beginning of that schedule is not easy. At Georgia Tech, Penn St., Michigan and at Michigan St. to start, that's tossing a team into the fire early. Of course, that schedule has nothing on Florida's.

 

I'm thinking the opposite there. GT beat Auburn last year in the opener, but Auburn was also breaking in a new QB and RB and it still was a close game, along with Reggie Ball getting worse as the year went along, and GT has had some injuries in their secondary.

 

The PSU game depends on how Morelli plays against Akron in the opener. If he does well and gets time in the pocket against ND, that has the makings of a major shootout.

 

LLLloyd Carr has never won in South Bend(Michigan hasn't won there since 1994), and it's also Michigan's road opener, so recent history says go against UM in those circumstances.

 

Michigan State is on the road, but it's a revenge game for ND due to last year's upset, and ND has won the last 2 times in East Lansing.

 

In guessing the likeihood of ND losing in the first 4 games, I'd go like this:

 

PSU most likely

GT

UM

MSU least likely

I've got it like this:

 

MSU

PSU

UM

GT

 

If Georgia Tech can find ways to get the ball to Calvin Johnson, things change drastically and the weather could be an issue for that game. The reason I have Michigan St as the most likely is because they matchup well, not because they're better than them. Honestly, it's going to be hard to get through those 4 without screwing up.

[Damaramu 0]

Wait I just saw Mizzou in the top 25. You're shitting me there right? They lose one of their best players ever(Brad Smith) and still have a shitty coach.....and they're Top 25?

[teke184 0]

Wait I just saw Mizzou in the top 25. You're shitting me there right? They lose one of their best players ever(Brad Smith) and still have a shitty coach.....and they're Top 25?

 

Don't worry, they won't be there long once the season starts.

 

 

Mizzou is one of those teams that people always think will reach "the next level" and never quite makes it.

 

I guess it's residual goodwill leftover from the 5th Down game.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The biggest thing in Notre Dame's favor, is Charlie Weiss is the better head coach than of the other four coaches.

[Damaramu 0]

Wait I just saw Mizzou in the top 25. You're shitting me there right? They lose one of their best players ever(Brad Smith) and still have a shitty coach.....and they're Top 25?

 

Don't worry, they won't be there long once the season starts.

 

 

Mizzou is one of those teams that people always think will reach "the next level" and never quite makes it.

 

I guess it's residual goodwill leftover from the 5th Down game.

 

 

Mizzou has to be the only team that is constantly picked high in both big sports(football and basketball) and fails hard in both. I'm not talking about a team picked in the Top 10 that falls to like 26-30. I'm talking about being picked in the Top 25 and falling completely off the radar and out of the Top 50-60.

[gWIL 0]

The biggest thing in Notre Dame's favor, is Charlie Weiss is the better head coach than of the other four coaches.

 

This is yet to really be proven. As a South Bend boy, with all this hype Notre Dame is going to crash and burn. I want to see them do well, but it won't happen.

[therealworldschampion 0]

It's not like he's facing Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, Tommy Tuberville, and Mark Richt in the first 4 games. Chan Gailey is a consistent 7-5 coach, Paterno more or less relies on his assistants now, Lloyd Carr got outcoached by Willingham 2 of 3 times, and John L. Smith isn't exactly great shakes either. Weis pretty much coached circles around Dave Wannstedt, Carr, Joe Tiller and others last year, and did a great job against Carroll, he'll be fine.

[Guest]

Ramonce Taylor is transferring from Texas.

[Damaramu 0]

Why? Isn't he the one that got busted with weed?

[Bored 0]

Not surprisingly the ACC is changing it's bowl selection process including officially making the Peach Bowl it's #2 game.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2528025

The league is expected to announce a new bowl order Tuesday during its annual ACC Kickoff news conferences at Sawgrass Resort & Beach Club. According to bowl game officials familiar with the order, the lineup will go something like this: ACC champion to the Bowl Championship Series, No. 2 selection to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, No. 3 to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, No. 4 to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, No. 5 to the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville, No. 6 to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., No. 7 to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco and No. 8 to the MPC Computers Bowl.

 

Under the new agreement, the ACC championship game loser can't fall below the Music City Bowl, and a bowl game can bypass a team for another team with a lesser record only if the teams are within one game of each other in the ACC standings.

 

So if the new agreement were in place last season, for instance, the Music City and Meineke Car Care bowls couldn't have selected Virginia and NC State, which both finished with 3-5 ACC marks, over Boston College and Georgia Tech, which were both 5-3 in league play.

 

And here's the ACC Media Preseason Poll

 

Atlantic Division

 

1. Florida State (49)

2. Clemson (13)

3. Boston College (3)

4. Maryland

5. N.C. State

6. Wake Forest

 

Coastal Division

 

1. Miami (52)

2. Virginia Tech (10)

3. Georgia Tech (3)

4. Virginia

5. North Carolina

6. Duke

[Bored 0]

CFN Preseason Top 10

 

10. Tennessee

9. Florida

8. California

7. LSU

6. Auburn

5. Miami

4. Oklahoma

3. Ohio State

2. Texas

1. USC

[Guest]

HA. Apparently someone agrees with the info I've gathered and what I've seen with my own two eyes.

 

However, I'd have Ohio St. at #1 and SC at #2.

[Damaramu 0]

Isn't that the same Top 4 most people had last year? In that order? CFN is nutty. SC won't be Top 3 and neither will Texas.

[iggymcfly 0]

I don't see how anyone can make an argument that USC is the best team in the country talent-wise. It's not even close. It's not like they just lost Leinart, Bush, and White. They lost most of their offensive line as well, and their defense was never really a strong suit to begin with.

 

However, with that being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish the regular season undefeated. Remember all those close calls they had last year? What did they have in common? They were all on the road. Well, guess what. This year, all those tough games are at home. The four toughest teams on USC's schedule (Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame, and Arizona State) all have to come to Los Angeles. The toughest road game they play all season is at Oregon State.

 

I was originally really high on Ohio State as well, but with only 11 starters coming back, I'm not so sure. I kind of have the feeling that all the advancements they make on offense will be undone on the defensive side of the ball. Add in the tough Big Ten schedule, and I see them picking up at least one loss, maybe two. This could easily change before the season starts, but if you pressed me to pick a national cahmpionship game right now, I'd have to take USC over Louisville. I don't think the Cardinals have what it takes to win it all, but they do have a very favorable schedule with both Miami and WVU at home, and I could easily see them getting through the regular season undefeated.

[Vern Gagne 0]

USC probably is still the most talented team in football. That doesn't mean anything, if they don't have much on-field experience.

[Guest]

The defense is really good, especially the linebacking corps. I'm worried about QB, but only if Booty starts. I can't wait to see Stafon Johnson play a game at the collegiate level. Outside of those comments, I'm keeping my mouth shut.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Minnesota will be horrible this year.

 

Maroney and Russell are gone.

 

Eslinger and Setterstrom are gone.

 

If Mason is good at anything it's putting together a good OL, and running game.

 

10th year SR, Bryan Cupito needs to step it up this season.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Florida's ranking is pretty accurate. LSU and Auburn will both play better. Tennessee has no business above #20 until they beat Cal, I think.

[Urban Warfare 0]

I really have high hopes for Florida this year, but in reality, another 9-3 season would be great, considering the schedule.

 

The front seven is one of the best in the SEC but the secondary is weak, and inexpirienced. I'm guessing Leak will have a good season, now that the pressure is on from the fans and media to bring in Tebow.

 

As for USC at number one, I have no problems, as I see Ohio State as being very overrated. I like Oklahoma, but not at number four. And Miami at #5? Huh?