NCAA Football 2008-2009 Season Thread
 

Its being talked about on T.V, Mags are already out. Only 2 months away till the start of the season.

As I did last yr I am doing my preseason top 10 and BCS conf rankings

1. Florida

Pick your poison, Tebow, WR Harvin, and a group of RBs including Emanuel Moody can all run the ball. Defense is solid too. They have a favorable schedule as well as the tougher games are at home. The only tough road game is at Tennesee. Floriida can easily make it 2 National Titles in 3 yrs.

2. Oklahoma

They only lost 2 starters on offense Bradford should have a monster season as he has a variety of running backs and WRs around him. DeMarco Murray has been compared to Reggie Bush. Schedule involves a lot of home cooking with the only possible road block on the road is at Tex A & M. Stoops is known for choking in big games lately however.

3. Georgia

In my opinion Georgia has the most talented team in the nation with Stafford at QB and Knowshon at RB. Unfortaunately Georgia has a BRUTAL schedule (at Arizona St, at South Carolina, at LSU, at Auburn) along with home games against Bama, Tenn, and the cocktail game against Florida. They should make a BCS bowl but I say they should get an L or 2 with that brutal schedule.

4. USC

USC always seems to be in the mix lately. They have a brutal LB core with Maulauga, Cushing, and Maiva. They return their WRs in Patrick ''The Burner'' Turner and Vidal Hazelton. There could be a QB contreversy. Carroll named Mark Sanchez as the starter but he has questionable character issues. They also bring in 2 huge transfers from Arkansas in QB Mitch Mustain and WR Damien Williams. HUGE matchup week 2 vs Ohio St. Only tough road game is UCLA as they face the bulk of the Pac-10 teams at home.

5. Ohio St

They have a shot to make it in their 3rd National Title game in a row. Lauranteis not going pro was a major suprise. They return their entire secondary from last season. The offense returns a lot as Beanie Wells is one of the nations best RBs. Robiskie and Hartline return at WR. Boeckman will be back at QB but highly regarded freshman Terrell Pryor should get some snaps or be a playmaker. They have a tough schedule as they have USC, Wisoconsin, and Illnois all on the road.

6. West Virginia

Pat White can throw for 150 yds and rush for 100 yds. Noel Devine is good and will fill in Slatons role. There were some question marks regarding the hire of Bill Stewart as he was medicore at VMI. They also lost nearly their entire secondary. Big East is deeper this yr but the upper elchon of the Big East games are at home. They do have 2 tough non conf games (at Colorado, and at home vs Auburn)

7. Missouri

They have their weapons. Chase Daniel is a Heisman canidate and Jeremy Macklin is as dangerous as a WR/Returner you can find. Chase Coffman is a good TE and they return most of their defense. They should win the Big 12 North. They have 3 tough games this yr Illnois, at Texas, and Kansas.

8. Clemson

This could be the best Clemson team yet in the Tommy Bowden era. Spiller/Davis might be the best 1-2 RB combo in the nation. Cullen Harper is a great QB. They return their receivers is Aaron Kelly, Tyler Graham, Brandon Clear from MTVs Two A Days fame and TE Michael Palmer. They also return their entire secondary. Favorable schedule with only Alabama and road games vs Florida St and BC as the only tough road games.


9. LSU

The defending national champs have some playmakers at WR in Lafell and Byrd. They also return most of their offensive line. QB is a major concern however as they start a freshman. They also lost 7 of 11 starters from their great defense. Tough road games at Florida and Auburn with Georgia at home.



10. Texas Tech

Graham Harrell to Mike Crabtree will happen a lot this season. Both of them should be on the Heisman balloting. Crabtree had what was considered the best year ever for a freshman WR. They return a lof of starters from last yr. Tough schedule they have as they play at Oklahoma, Texas, and at Kansas.

My preseason Conf Rankings

SEC

1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. LSU
4. Auburn
5. Tennesee
6. Alabama
7. South Carolina
8. Miss St.
9. Kentucky
10. Ole Miss
11. Arkansas
12. Vandy

Big 12

1. Oklahoma
2. Missouri
3. Texas Tech
4. Texas
5. Kansas
6. OK St
7. Tex A & M
8. Colorado
9. Nebraska
10. Kansas St
11. Iowa St.
12. Baylor

Big 10

1. Ohio St.
2. Wisconsin
3. Illinois
4. Penn St.
5. Michigan
6. Mich St
7. Purdue
8. Iowa
9. Northwestern
10. Indiana
11. Minnesota

ACC

1. Clemson
2. Virginia Tech
3. Wake Forest
4. Florida St
5. UNC
6. Miami
7. BC
8. Maryland
9. NC St
10 GT
11. Virginia
12. Duke

Pac 10

1. USC
2. Oregon
3. Arizona St.
4. UCLA
5. Arizona
6. Cal
7. Washington
8. Stanford
9. Wash St
10. Oregon St.

Big East

1. WV
2. So. Fla
3. Cincy
4. Rutgers
5. UCONN
6. Louisville
7. Pitt
8. Syracuse

CLEMSON yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

my only concern for wisconsin is the secondary and qb. ive heard that some are predicting wisconsin to the rose bowl though.

Missouri will be interesting, because they never lost that one game that they should have won last year. Few teams can ever do that, and Missouri will basically have to do the same this year to live up to expectations. Best case scenario — and realistic — 11-1, with the only loss coming at Texas.

Baylor's got some talent. Don't count them out. As does Kansas State.

This is UofA's last chance for a bowl game. Any bowl game.

Actually, last year was their last chance. This year is their chance to sucker punch someone on the way to the mat.

I don't see Ohio State losing a game in the Big 10 this year and I also don't see them beating USC either so I think they will be getting that Rose Bowl bid.

I think USC is gonna be real serious this year. Emanuel Moody, projected starter at Florida, left because USC because he saw the writing on the wall, their backfield is just way too dangerous. Not to mention they got probably the best LB core in the nation along with some great safeties. I don't know too much about their corners though, or how much losing a few guys on the OL and DL is gonna hurt them though. Still I think if they beat Ohio State (which I think they will) they will be in the drivers seat to play for a National Championship. I'm not a USC fan but they just so damn good its crazy, they are just one of those teams I look forward to watching all the time, like how The U was a few years back when they where pumping out 6 or 7 first round picks a year :eek:

i know OSU will be good and a natl championship contender but they do go to madison to play wisconsin this year and it will be a night game too. i think wisconsin has a chance to win that one.

West Virginia vs Florida

Yeah this game terrifies me like no other. Not like the last two years when OSU had night games on the road at Iowa and Purdue and people were all predicting upsets only to have OSU beat the shit out of them. Big Ten is a two team race this year and Wisconsin definitely has the early edge based on scheduling.

HOWEVER, Wisconsin's Big Ten opener is at the Big House the week after Michigan plays Notre Dame so they'll be facing either a team with a ton of momentum or a team that's real pissed off.

I'm glad to see Georgia schedule an out of conference game with Arizona State but it might come back to hurt them in the long run

Nice, my friend and former teammate got named as the defensive captain for Boston College. I think they are gonna struggle this year but still pretty cool

Season has begun! I think the 5 intriging games of Week 1 are Clemson/Bama, UCLA/Tenn, Cal/Mich St, Michigan/Utah, and UK/Louisville.

i think i am going to take clemson this week, not sure how much money though. i heard saban will start up to 20 freshman. almost like saban is making excuses for losing ahead of time.

yeahhh clemson

yeahhh clemson better make me some money saturday.

SEC > *

LSU/App St game moved to 10AM due to contraflow..

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/breaking/27661724.html

Stupid hurricane..

:(

Tennessee will win the National Championship.

Big 12 has the teams, at least from the preseason projections, to contend with the SEC as the best conference this year. Only thing is top to bottom the SEC just has so much talent, so I think the best conference title will again go to the SEC.

<font color=goldenrod>Nice win by UConn on Thursday...it's pretty funny because my high school class president (class of 2007) is one of the backup safeties (forgot which one) and the guy ahead of him on the depth chart is a 5th year senior so who knows, he might get to start next year.

And oddly enough, the former QB of my HS team (graduated class of 2005) is the backup at the other safety position.</font>

I'm picking Clemson to win the National Championship btw.

Purdue is gunna beat OSU this year too.

OSU is going back to the national championship game again

hahaha michigan loses at home to utah.

lol @ yeahhh clemson

motherfuckers

ACC is gonna be hurtin this year, Va Tech lost to ECU too

lol

Juice Williams 26-for-42 for 451 yards 5 TDs :eek:

Too bad they lost 52-42 to Missouri lol

Not a lot of defense in that game, over 1,000 yards of total combined offense

That freshman RB for Bama is a beast..

USC looked tough yesterday..

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former MMA fighter now the strength and conditioning coach at Michigan (was at WVU in that clip)

:love:

I'm sure this went unnoticed and since it's a against a I-AA team it probably doesn't mean much, but Navy RB Shun White carried the ball 19 times for 348 yards and 3 TDs against Towson last week. That's an 18.3 avg.

Damn..

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This guy is the man

Ohio State - Southern Cal tomorrow night. Kinda shitting my pants about it. Beanie Wells is doubtful according to Tressel which I dunno if I believe that but I guess we'll see. Not many people think OSU has a shot. Vegas currently has USC at -10.5 points.

This game is gonna be nuts though. Cheapest tickets on StubHub are going for $330 a piece.

Huge test for the Boilermakers today. Oregon is no joke. If Purdue wins. RANK US BITCHES!

crushing loss. Purdue will go into the tank for the rest of the year now.

Clausen looked great for ND.

bad day for the Big 11 in general

OSU gets stomped, Michigan gets spanked, Purdue can't hang on

sad

at least Iowa won the Cyhawk trophy for the first time in a while

best game of the day by far: Auburn 3 Mississippi State 2

wisconsin pulled out the win at fresno. even with a 13-10 win, wisconsin covered the spread which makes them look good. fresno also was considered a potential bcs bowl player but that hope is gone now. wisconsin should move up to the single digit rankings. maybe auburn goes to 10 and uw goes to 8 or 9 depending on how texas moves.

I hate Ohio State. It looked absolutely terrible against USC. Despite USC being the best team in the nation, Ohio State never looked like a top-10 team playing against them. I'm sure their 11-1 record will still get them into the national championship game though. Sigh.

So you hate Ohio State because of something that's 100% out of their control. Pretty solid logic there.

I'm still kinda pissed about Georgia. Yeah, their win at SC wasn't the most convincing, but playing one of your big rivals in their house never is easy. And now they get dropped to #3? Someone explain to me the bullshit reasoning behind starting #1 and going undefeated thus far and now being #3? I can kinda understand USC jumping them, but Oklahoma? COME ON, put Oklahoma in Georgia's schedule and let's see them pull that one out of their ass.

At this point I can honestly see UGA starting the season as #1, going undefeated and STILL not making the national championship. And I had high hopes for this year too for USC vs UGA title game, which is what it should have been last year.

i can see OSU losing at wisconsin which would definitely put them out of NC contention. After OSU, PSU is the only team standing in wisconsin's way to the rose bowl.

I never said that's why I hate them.

I don't hate Ohio State but they have def been overrated for like 5 years now. How many times do they have to show the BCS that they can't win the big one before they stop getting everything handed to them?

Based on the setup of the BCS, if Ohio State can win its conference with an undefeated conference record it's hard to justify why they shouldn't be in the BCS championship.

That LSU/Auburn game was the best game I've seen so far this year..

I am really not sure who will face Oklahoma in the BCS Title game this year, but it will be one hell of a game.

my brother went to UCF, he now has to buy a BC Eagle's hat and take pictures in it and send them to me...

that and my bookie owes me money going into sunday :)

thanks Boston College!

oklahoma will not be in the NC game. There is like no chance of it, really. It is going to be USC vs UGA/Florida/LSU, whichever one of those wins the SEC.

Also, UGA looked good against Arizona St.

Easily could have been like 50-0, UGA stopped three times on the 1 yard line when they could have easily scored if they gave the ball to Moreno. Plus both of ASU scores came as a result of penalties. UGA even got some bogus 15-yard leaping penalty called on them, first time I have EVER seen that called on anyone. If they can do something about their issue with penalties, they will roll to the title game. They are like 115th in Div-1 in penalties lol.

USC getting molested by Oregon St. The Trojans are down 21-0 at half. I take back what I said about Oklahoma, they'll be playing the SEC champ for the NC.

It's now Oregon St 21-14...

If USC wins this by less than 7 and are still #1 next week, I'm gonna be pissed.

::Is a UGA fan...::

Thanks for playing this season USC

Man why does USC have so many problems at OSU?

Take that USC.

Now, if UGA knocks off Bama, they will be #1. Them and Florida both have more 1st place votes than Oklahoma. Imagine if the Sooners lose too. 1, 2 AND 3 will be SEC teams.

USC seems to always lose to one PAC10 team they have no business getting beaten by. It is their curse the last few years.

Wish I could watch Gameday, but I don't have cable and I can't find a stream. Outside my old dormitory in Athens. Makes me nostalgic.

-edit- Well nevermind. I got one.

It boggles the mind how uniformed college football fans are about how the BCS works. Ohio State has never had anything handed to them. They lost a conference game in week 11 to a team that finished #18 in the final polls who played in the Rose Bowl. Then over the final three weeks of the season, EVERY OTHER TEAM IN FRONT OF THEM LOST. When it was time to pick the bowls, they had the best record in the nation besides Hawaii. Do you really think they didn't deserve to play in the title game?

Who should have made the title game last year instead of Ohio State? USC couldn't beat Stanford at home. Georgia lost to a 6-6 South Carolina team at home. Missouri didn't even win their conference. West Virginia lost at home to a 5-7 Pittsburgh team. Kansas didn't even play in their conference championship game. Oklahoma lost to a 6-7 Colorado team. Texas lost to 7 win Texas A&M and 5 win Kansas State.

The only legitimate case is maybe for Virginia Tech but even then they played in the weak ACC.

But yeah, it's not Ohio State or the BCS' fault that everybody else fucked up.

Also how quickly we forget that just like Ohio State, Oklahoma is 1-2 in BCS title games having lost back to back years in 03 and 04. And in 04 they lost 55-19. Better ban those Sooners from the title game too.

Florida MISSed the OLE extra point.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Oh man...

lol @ Clemson. Bowden's job is really in jeopardy right now. In the 2nd half Maryland started stuffing 8 and a lot of times 9 in the box and tried to make Harper beat them (he couldn't). Not entirely his fault though, just awful play calling in some situations

Penn State keeps rolling. 6-0 baby!

i have a bad feeling PSU will come into madison saturday night and just roll on wisconsin. i think wisconsin will be lucky to get a champs sports bowl or even the motor city bowl.

M-I-Z

LOL

Watching LSU/Gators right now and they just showed Tebow crying after the Ole Miss game..

Hotty Toddy

meh

damn got a 48-7 beatdown at home. that was even with psu using 2nd and 3rd stringers after the first half. at least michigan lost to toledo at home.

Hey, that LSU lineman was right, they did take out Tebow. Florida was up by so much that they put in Tebow's backup.

I can't believe they dismantled LSU's D like that..

Sucks cause now I have to pull for UGA cause I can never allow myself to pull for Bama..

:(

According to PTI the lineman that said that didn't even play in the game..

LOL

:(

ok, V-Tech is ranked 17....
BC is unranked and has no votes..

and bc is favored -2.5...

I assumed V-Tech would be favored and as gonna put a few bucks in the game getting points...

Ohio State vs. Penn State at the Shoe this Saturday. And it's a night game. This is going to be fucking awesome.

In addition we have Oklahoma State vs Texas and LSU vs Georgia. GOD I LOVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Also first BCS rankings are out:

<table class="tablehead" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr class="stathead"><td>BCS Standings</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td> 1. Texas 7-0</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td> 2. Alabama 7-0</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td> 3. Penn State 8-0</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td> 4. Oklahoma 6-1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td> 5. USC 5-1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td> 6. Oklahoma State 7-0</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td> 7. Georgia 6-1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td> 8. Texas Tech 7-0</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td> 9. Ohio State 7-1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>10. Florida 5-1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>11. Utah 8-0</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>12. Boise State 6-0</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>13. LSU 5-1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>14. TCU 7-1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>15. Missouri 5-2</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>16. South Florida 6-1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>17. Pitt 5-1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>18. Georgia Tech 6-1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>19. Tulsa 7-0</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>20. Ball State 7-0</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>21. BYU 6-1</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>22. Northwestern 6-1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>23. Kansas 5-2</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>24. Minnesota 6-1</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>25. Florida State 5-1</td></tr></tbody></table>

If you're keeping track at home, the ACC and Big East each have 2 teams in that list. The Mountain West has 3.

Looks like it's going to be another crazy year in terms of BCS. I like that.

Right now Texas, Bama and Penn State are obviously top dogs, but at least Texas and Alabama will probably drop a game. I'm pretty sure Penn State still plays Ohio State too, right? So it could be a remake of last year, when the top teams kept swapping near the end of the season.

Just as long as it doesn't jump around and end up being a USC-Ohio State championship I'll be fine. I'd just really like to see some other teams this year. Seeing Alabama and/or Penn State in the championship game would be cool.

LSU should be higher than 13..

USC should not be in the top 5 at all..

I really think USC could have a losing season and then still be in the top 10 coming into the next season..

Why should LSU be higher than 13? They're the most recent one loss team to lose and they lost bad. Besides its just the first week. You know if LSU runs the table they'll be back in the title game.

I realize that Florida beat LSU, but they were still ranked at the time, while getting beat by an unranked team the week before (Ole Miss)..

Florida is still in the top ten after losing to an unranked team, then beating a top ten team, while LSU gets booted from the top ten after losing to a top ten team (Florida)..

Just doesn't make sense to me..

In other words, the loss to Ole Miss should have impacted them more, even though it was a close game, than LSU's loss to a ranked team, no matter how one sided the victory..

Specially considering that USC got beaten by an unranked team a few weeks ago, yet is still in the top five..

BCS is gay and this is why I can't get into college football full force..

So are you saying that LSU should be ranked ahead of Florida?

No, but they also should not be out of the top ten..

Rankings are a very imperfect science. For example, the No. 2 team could lose to No. 1 by three points and some people would still move it down because of a loss. What it really comes down to though, is not losing late in the season. USC lost early but if they win out and Texas and Alabama lose their last game USC probably jumps them.

Thing is, if it is a top 5 or 10 ranked team that beats Texas or Bama, that is ridiculous..

I hate the BCS..

I agree with most of the inaccuracies of the BCS, but I have at least been pleased (somewhat) with UGA's placement in it over the AP, since the computer obviously factors in Georgia's loss to #2 Alabama. I would complain about Florida's placement in the AP, but the Bulldogs have the perfect chance this week to make the Gator's ranking a moot point.

And all this stuff in the media about Urban Meyer calling for a gag order on Georgia's "Gator Stomp" last year is just stupid. Like that one celebration somehow made this rivalry "serious" when this rivalry is already one of the biggest in the NCAA.

It will be quite an interesting game to watch for sure. I think Florida has an edge on UGA mainly because of Georgia's beaten up lines, but emotions will be high for sure, so who knows.

I'll admit that I significantly underestimated how good Penn State's defense is. They were unbelievable on Saturday. Pryor's been really struggling with underthrown passes and that hurt more than a couple drives but Penn State was just dominating the whole game.

Ty Willingham stepping down as Washington head coach at season end.

Phillip Fulmer is out. Tommy possibly could be next at Auburn. Some of my inside people are starting to talk about it. They were "talking" about Fulmer about a month ago. They also told me about Saban coming here when he was still coaching in the NFL. Add in the fact that not only has Lowder been wanting TT out for a while, but TT lobbied for the job at Arkansas. Pretty crazy year so far.

PS #1.

Tuberville needs to get out of the SEC. I really think he'd be a great coach in any other conference. He'd be a great fit at Clemson.

Yeah. I want him to stay so we can absolutely drill him the next few years, but he's a good coach. He's a business-like CEO type coach. He hires great assistant coaches (for the most part, lol Tony Franklin though...) and lets them do their thing while he oversees it.

He has his clueless moments though. I could see him succeeding at Clemson.

Kentucky is about to beat UGA..

:eek: