The College Football Thread

[Commander Vaughn]

Hopefully your Ducks can get the Trojans this year. It should be an interesting game, with USC going through as much reloading as a school like USC is going to go through, and with Oregon replacing quite a few players as well. I'm already getting excited for football season, and it's still July!

The Big Ten had its media day today, and Ohio State was picked to win the league. Blah. I hope they're wrong.

 

[Mallory]

I hope the Ducks win too, just to be able to taunt Digits for another year.

 

[1001001]

I hope the Ducks win too, just to be able to taunt Digits for another year.

Dream on, Mr. Quackers!

 

[Commander Vaughn]

The season is definitely getting close now. I'll do a bit of cross promotion and talk about the pick'ems as well. The more people we have doing these, the more fun it is.

Here's the info...

College Football Pick'em
Link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo....ster/joingroup
Group #: 440
Password: football

Join up! It's a lot of fun. Basically, you choose the winner of every Top 25 game every week. We are picking against the spread, so the favored team needs to win by more than X number of points (the exact number of points is listed before each game) in order for the pick to be correct.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

I hate bumping my own thread, but I'm pleased with how today's football turned out. It was a Division II game, but it was still a pretty good matchup. Grand Valley (my school!) went in a preseason #1 against #11 West Texas A&M. It was a road game too, so that was working in West Texas's favor.

The first half was pretty close, with Grand Valley getting a late touchdown to go up 14-9. The second half was dominated by Grand Valley, and they won 37-23. It may not have meant much to most people, but I was glad to see college football season get off to a fun start.

The Big 10 starts playing next week, and then college football is officially in full swing! Excitement may now ensue...

 

[Thestral]

Good for your Lakers. Speaking of D2, my hometown #9 Carson-Newman Eagles (2 blocks away) didn't fare so well at Winona State with a late rally that wasn't enough, and now we get to go on the road again to #5 North Alabama. Hopefully the offense gets on track earlier next week.

Next week: Let's go Vols! Eric Berry for Heisman!

 

[Mallory]

Oregon is at Boise State Thursday night (on ESPN) to help get the Division I schedule rolling.

 

[TheBrew]

Plus seeing the Trojans lose never really seems to get old.

It also happens so rarely....



I don't know what to think about this year's team. It should be interesting. A lot of tough road games this year.

Yeah, especially against Oregon and Cal, both tough places to play. I am rooting for my Golden Bears, but I always keep my expectations low. As long as the number on the left is bigger than the number on the right, I am happy.

 

[tomalak301]

So many pundits are predicting Cal as the closest team to knock USC off of that perch in the Pac-10. Am I the only one who remembers Jeff Tedford as a coach who has never, or barely won any big games? Just because you have a Heisman candidate, doesn't mean you're going to be that good. I hope they are, but it's really a wait and see. Not really sure about Riley as QB but I just hope it's a better season than last year. Looking forward to the much hyped and much deserved hyped USC/Cal or Stanford match up.

 

[1001001]

Plus seeing the Trojans lose never really seems to get old.

It also happens so rarely....



I don't know what to think about this year's team. It should be interesting. A lot of tough road games this year.

Yeah, especially against Oregon and Cal, both tough places to play. I am rooting for my Golden Bears, but I always keep my expectations low. As long as the number on the left is bigger than the number on the right, I am happy.

USC also plays at Ohio State and Notre Dame (who should be better this year).

With the injuries USC has suffered in pre-season, and with starting a true freshman for the first time in school history, it should be a very challenging year for the Trojans.

I could honestly see a 9-3 or even 8-4 year.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

I'm kind of surprised no one here as mentioned this yet. Michigan is investigating allegations that the workout regimines that coaches have been putting players through in the offseason are about seven or eight times what the NCAA allows.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4432956

What does everyone else think about this? I'm not too big on breaking the rules. It's not really something the program really needs right now. It makes it less fun to root for a team when it has a cloud hanging over it, especially if their success can be traced back violating the rules.

It's still early, but for now I kind of have to say boo Michigan for cheating. I hope everything works out okay in the end.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I was wondering what that was about. I saw the headline on TV at work, but the sound wasn't on, so I couldn't know more than the headline. Since the allegation came from players, I wonder if this will turn into a locker room nightmare more than a discipline issue (it could be both, of course).

 

[Commander Vaughn]

Judging by how many players have left the program since Rich Rod took over, I don't think it'll be a big locker room thing. Most people who really objected have already left. Still, it's not a distraction the program needs right now, coming off a 3-9 season.

 

[Mallory]

What does everyone else think about this? I'm not too big on breaking the rules. It's not really something the program really needs right now. It makes it less fun to root for a team when it has a cloud hanging over it, especially if their success can be traced back violating the rules.

It will be even less fun if the allegations turn out to be true and the NCAA slaps the program with some sanctions. I hope for the sake of the players it turns out to be nothing more than allegations.

 

[Starbreaker]

UGA Bulldogs!

My alma mater, the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (FCS) are postseason ineligible due to grade for the next three seasons... so I really have no interest. I was planning on going to either the game against GA Tech or FSU, but I couldn't give a crap now.

 

[Neroon]

What does everyone else think about this? I'm not too big on breaking the rules. It's not really something the program really needs right now. It makes it less fun to root for a team when it has a cloud hanging over it, especially if their success can be traced back violating the rules.

It will be even less fun if the allegations turn out to be true and the NCAA slaps the program with some sanctions. I hope for the sake of the players it turns out to be nothing more than allegations.

My first reaction to the story was "Could this simply be a function of today's athletes being more 'coddled' and less tough?" I am no fan of RichRod's but neither am I an enemy. What I know of him is that he runs tough, hard practices, because his system depends on lean, fast and mobile players. It's not that complex on the drawing board, but it demands the player be able to move and outmaneuver on demand. Consequently, the player is going to go though drills and such that define the word "brutal".

 

[Mallory]

Everything I've read so far has had to do with the program exceeding the maximum practice times such as mandatory 40 hour weeks when the NCAA limit is 20 hours, nothing to do with the practices themselves. But these are all alleged infractions for now, so until someone actually investigates we won't know the truth.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

I'm not really sure what to expect from this investigation. It's going to be hard to prove that all the extra practices were "mandatory", even though they practically were if you wanted to make the team. I'm curious to see how it all plays out.

Otherwise, the countdown to DI football is now just two days...

 

[ToddPence]

That news clip was hilarious. Fraudriguez sounded just like Renault in "Casablanca". Here's hoping he has another terrible season, gets fired, and has trouble getting a job as a waterboy.

 

[Commander Vaughn]

^Fraudriguez eh? Ouch. I'm wouldn't go that far yet, but it's definitely not good to have allegations swirling around the guy...

The Oregon-Boise State game is kind of interesting. I came into the game at the half, and Boise State has scored a touchdown, converted a 2 point conversion, gotten a safety, and kicked a field goal. A strange combination.

And Oregon has new jerseys that are less ugly than the old ones. But those weird shoulder pad necklace things are strange looking.