Oregon and Ohio St. Try to dethrone the Crimson Tide

Another college football season is upon us and the only question anyone wants to know is if someone can stop the SEC from winning another title?  Alabama has won the last two and are loaded to do it again.  They have the best leader in the game in Nick Saban. They have the veteran quarterback on offense and defense. They have a dynamic player in T.Y.  and  more top players sitting on the bench than the dream team.  They have a tough opener against Virginia Tech, but they are chomping at the bit to play Texas A&M on September 14th. If they get through those games, the annual tilt with LSU and Georgia could determine their fates. No one expects them to be tested. This is the SEC though. Texas A&M showed them that last year. The SEC is loaded. South Carolina is good.  Florida is quietly lurking in the swamp. Georgia has top five talent. L.S.U. does too. The story though is A&M and quarterback Johnny Manziel.  Manziel is being investigated for receiving improper benefits from signing autographs. He is the reigning He is an trophy winner. He has had the off season for ages. Court side seats at Heat games. Appearances at other sporting events, concerts, talk shows, other universities have made every either love him or hate him. He should be suspended if he did something wrong. We will save my thoughts on him till later.  If he plays all season the aggies will be a formidable opponent.  The SEC is ready for war. Let's see who can challenge them.
Every year I say that the Pac-12 conference has the team to dethrone the SEC and it never comes to fruition. USC every year has as much talent as anyone in the nation and just can't seem to get out of their own way. Stanford is the most physical team in the conference but every year loses or play down to a team like San Jose st and falls out of title picture. UCLA has a real good quarterback in Hundley but can they handle being the kings of L.A.? So that leaves only one team. Oregon. Oregon has a dynamic duo in Mariota and Thomas. They will score 500 points but can they stop anyone? Stanford punched them in the mouth last year and showed them the meaning of toughness. They have a favorable schedule. They have the speed to run with Alabama. Do they have the heart? A new coach may be what the doctor ordered.
The ACC has Five good teams that won't back down from a fight. Clemson has been underachieving over the last two seasons. They can play with anyone. Boyd and Watkins are a combo worth watching. They open with Georgia. This will make or break their season. A close win or loss may give them the confidence to go all the way. A blowout loss will crush them. FSU is starting a super phenom freshman so there will be great highs and lows. Virginia Tech has a NFL ready quarterback in Thomas. He had to play like one. Opening against Alabama will show far he has come. The Hokies want to be back on national stage. Miami has to get back to dominant defense days. If they can they have weapons on offense who can do damage. North Carolina has NFL quality on defense. The question is can they score enough to compete. South Carolina on opening night will answer some questions.  The ACC is taking on the big dogs to start the year. If they come out unscathed then we're mash have a something here. No one expects them to win a single game. I think Clemson will. Tech won't lie down for Alabama.
The big 12 has Oklahoma and revitalized Texas program. K-state shocked everyone last year. Coach Snyder is a living legend. Oklahoma St. Always finds a quarterback and a receiver that lights up the scoreboard. Can anyone in this conference play defense? Oklahoma and Texas used to win with balanced attacks on both offense and defense. A showdown with Notre Dame  will put them back on the map with a win. A down year for this conference.
The big east is all about Louisville. Teddy Bridgewater has the burden of carrying a conference that just simply does not have enough quality teams.  Louisville will be favored in every game by 10 points or more. They may unbeaten and not play in the title game. That's a shame...
The big ten is loaded and angry. Everyone picks on this conference because every year they have quality teams who get embarrassed in big national games. Ohio st. Is the pick to play for the title. They went unbeaten last year and a ton of people returned this year. Braxton Miller is the best player on the team and will win the He is an if they go undefeated. He is that good. No team in the big ten has as much talent returning like Ohio st. Michigan on offenses will be explosive, defensively they have a lot of new faces and unpredictable. Michigan st. Always finds a way to shoot itself in the foot. They will find a running attack but the quarterback position is a weakness. They play good defense. Penn st. Is still one big signing year away from getting back to the top. Nebraska is trying to erase the memory of the championship game. Wisconsin knows who they are and have the team to sneak up and bite someone.  The Buckeyes should rule this conference.
Notre Dame had a lot of success last year. They beat you with defense one week. They beat you with ball control the next. Not having Golston will hurt them. Tommy Rees is a backup. Their defense is great on the defensive line. They have a brutal schedule as they do every year. Revenge is on the minds of Stanford,USC and Michigan. Should be fascinating.
Overall there are four teams that can challenge the SEC for the title. Ohio st. Must be solid on defense or they won't have chance. Stanford needs to find a play maker on offense who is a security blanket for the quarterback. Oregon has to stop someone and not turn the ball over playing too fast. Clemson has to compete for four quarters and BELIEVE they belong at the adult table. I think Ohio st. Will get it done.... The south has risen again, but it is time for the rest of the country to step up and be heard..

Athlete says what most probaly are thinking

Finally someone says the sad truth..

Today I heard a college athlete at a "prestigiuos" athletic university say something that I am sure that most people in this country think. Cardele Jones, third string quarterback at Ohio St. University is being quoted as saying," why should we have to go to class if we came here to play football, we aint come here to play school, classes are pointless"!!! Now I added the exclamation points for emphasis. Clearly most people will point out the poor word choice and lack of grammatical integrity in his statement as a reason why he needs to go to school. The fact remains though many people around the college athletic profession I am certain have heard that sentiment. Most of these athletes are not going to college to get an education. They are going to school to enhance their ability to play professional sports. The unfortuneate reality is that not everyone gets an opportunity to play professional sports.

Espn aired a documentary called "broke" this week and the timing of the statement could not be better to explain why you need a college degree. Most young athletes think that they are going to be rich forever when they sign that contract and it is not the case. The NBA and NFL have put rules in place that limit the amount of money the rookies can make and have made contract improvements or raises only implemented after 3 or 4 years in each league. Gone are the days when a rookie can come into the league and get a 8 year, 60 million dollar contract. The new collective bargaining agreement has put a crimp into that. What Mr. Jones does not realize that is the average NFL career is 3and 1/2 years and the only money that is guranteed is a signing bonus. There are several sad tales of athletes who got paid under the old system and don't have any money left to live off of because of frivilous and loose spending. Iam not going to name names, but ESPN put out a list of athletes who filed for bankruptcy over the past 15 years and the list is shocking. Not everyone is Shaquille Oneal, Micheal Jordan or Cal Ripken. LLife does not end after your athletic career is over. You need to be able to take care of yourself and you family beyond your twenties and thirties.

Universities are now being punished for not graduating players. The NCAA passed a rule a couple of years ago that if you are below standards, you will not be able to play in the NCAA basketball tournament or benefit financially from the success of that. Some people speculate that Connecticut being placed on that list for this upcoming season is one of the reasons why Jim Calhoun retired. I laugh at the basketball portion of the NCAA because they allow for athletes to leave college when they 19 years old to pursue professional careers. Most athletes that know that they are going to leave school early stop going to class after spring break or the NCAA tournament. Why should they go to class if they know that next year they are not going to be there right?

YOU need to go to class young fella!!! Most adults will tell you the hardest part about life is that nothing last forever and you have to spend a lot of your life re-inventing yourself and finding out ways to earn money. The documentary "broke" showed the after affects of playing football for some of these guys because they were not only financially "broke", but spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically "broke" as well. Enjoy being a young man. Enjoy learning about life instead being forced to live life. I hope someone can reach him and tell him that he is one tackle in practice away from working at a clothing store or McDonalds. There is nothing wrong with those jobs, but I gurantee you he did not go Ohio St. to do that.

My final football post of the pre season..

So lets finish the discussion about football before thegames begin in both College and the NFL.  They stories in College are extremely intriguing.  What kind of season will Penn St. have?  They will be the most scrutinized team this year and now the story wont go away.  I blogged how disappointed I was that the school did not fight for their rights, and now the members of the trustees are finally stepping up and in.  It is bad for the school because everyone just wants to sweep the situation under the "football rug". The school is uniting in  all sports  to show that Penn St. has moved forward and cannot control what happens off the field.  The students make the University and hopefull this fall they will represent their families, friends, and themselves with class and dignity.  I feel for the victims, but no one can fix what happened.  Good Luck Penn St.
Another story is several college athletes came back to college for one more year for a chance at a title.  Matt Barkeley would have been a first round pick.  Montee Ball and Landry Jones too. They have the world on their shoulders this season and relish the opportunity to get it done this fall.  Expectations are extremely high at those Universities this fall.   Tyrann Matthieu came back as well but addiction has ruined his college career.  It is tragic and hopefully he will get the help he needs. 
Speaking of the SEC will they win another BCS title?  Georgia, is joining the fray this year as they have the quarterback in Murray to compete with the big boys. If South Carolina can control their turnover problems of years past they will be their as well.  USC, Clemson, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon feel like they have enough to end the run of the SEC.  Florida St. and Virginia Tech always possess potent defenses and good enough players to play with the SEC schools.  I think the reign comes to an end this year.
I think the title game will be USC and Oklahoma. Bama and LSU have a lot of unanswered questions on both sides of the ball.  They are both giving way too many new players an opportunity to be great this year.  Look out next year though..
Denard Robinson will win the Heisman.  He will combine for more than 50 touchdowns this year.  Geno Smith in West Virginia may as well. West Virginia is a sleep team to win the title as well.  they have a sick offense coming back.  They scored 70 points in a bowl game last year and were just in year 1 of learning the offense of the new coaching staff.  I cannot wait to see how it unfolds..
How about teams changing leagues just to make more money and a chance toplay for a title.  Texas A&M in the SEC. Boise St. to the Big East.  Missouri in the SEC. Just to name a few.  Doesn't Pittsburgh, Syracuse move to the ACC soon? How about new coaches at schools?  Charlie Weiss in Kansas? Kevin Sumlin in Texas A&M.  Mike Leach at WSU? Bill Obrien at Penn St.? Urban Meyer at Ohio St.? Who will win more games?  Ohio St. has sanctions coming.  Can Texas rebound from last years meltdown?  Notre Dame is playing the most brutal schedule I have ever seen.  No cupcakes anywhere.  They start the year in Ireland against Navy and then all breaks loose with their schedule. 
In the NFL.. I gave you my predictions of who will win the divisions.  I think New England, Baltimore, Houston, and Denver should prevail in AFC with Pittsburgh and San Diego making the playoffs.  I think that Houston and New England will play for AFC title and Houston will emerge as champion.  Houston has the defense and schedule to be really good this year.  Home field advantage will be their launching pad to the Super Bowl. 
I think Andrew Luck will be AFC rookie of the year and will not disappoint.
The NFC I think that the Niners, Giants, Packers, Saints win divisions.  I think Philly and Chicago get wild cards.  I am wavering on the wild card picks because Atlanta is very good.  Detroit is as well.  I just think Atlanta has the wrong success model.  They keep bringing in the wrong veteran players.  Asante Samuel has been on three teams now in the last five years because he cannot cover like he believes he can.  The Falcons can score with anyone. can they stop anyone? Detroit needs a running game to gurantee that Stafford will be on the field this year for 16 games.  He showed last year that if healthy he can put up huge numbers and be a superstar.  I think that their defense is one year away from greatness but off the field matters will haunt this team.  This team will be great in 2013 mark my word.  Maturity wins titles.  They will be forced to grow up pretty quickly.  The NFC is much better than the AFC this year.  There are more teams that have playoff ability in that conference.  Dallas is better than most AFC teams and will be at home watching the post season.  I already mentioned Atlanta and Detroit.  Carolina is up and coming and Seattle will be a pleasant surprise.  The final two in the NFC will be Green Bay v New Orleans.  New Orleans will become the first team to host the super bowl. 
The referee lockout is a disgrace to the league.  The NFL make 9 billion dollars a year and they do not want give a raise to the men who give the games its integrity? The replacement refs will do a good enough job that wont cause a calamity, but why risk it?  Yes every week we hear the pundits criticzie the refs for blown calls and it repercussions for teams, coaches and players.  I understand that noone is perfect but at least we kindof understand when a ref misses a call. We dont understand when a ref misses a basic rule.  the replacement refs had a game this preseason where they thought the 4 yard line was the end zone line.  They marked a penalty 11 yards that was to be 15 or cannot explain why a call was made to the audience.  They have even faced the wrong way talking to the camera.  I wonder what is going to happen if in week 1 the Niners play Green Bay and blown call gives the game to one team and they lose out on homefield advantage 15 weeks down the road.  A hefty price to pay when the refs are only asking to be compensated because everyone else involved in football is getting raises.  We hope the best even though we know this is going to be ugly..
My super bowl of Houston and New Orleans will be fun to bet on and attend.  The Saints will win and tell the league to kiss their *** when they are praising Sean Payton for organizing such a fine team.  Brees is your M.V.P. .. Let the games begin