Another relaxing enjoyable football bender is in the books. Here are 20 random thoughts related to both college and pro football. College 1) I’ve been touting the Big 12 as the best conference in college football since last year. Although their top 2 teams lost this weekend, its clear that this conference is a lot deeper in elite teams than just Missouri and Oklahoma. I would say with 1/2 the top 8 and 5 teams in the top 11, my arguement is looking really good right now. A lot of analysts actually mocked the prediction, and whilte it’s early I think the Big 12 just passed the SEC.
2) Colt McCoy for Heisman at 30-1 wasn’t the worst investment. 3) Chase Daniels wearing number 25 was confusing but for a good cause. Too bad it will be associated with a loss. 4) The idea that Arizona State was resurrected via Dennis Erickson was a farce. 4 losses in a row and 6 losses out of their last 9. 5) Last year the big boys table at the Big Ten consisted of Ohio State with Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois all making appereances. Michigan and Wisconsin look god awful while Illinois is racking up some ugly losses. The Big 10 is down, but will get a little more exciting as the Buckeyes take on Michigan State and Penn State coming up. 6) Don’t get too comfortable with the Longhorns at number one. Take a look at what’s on the horizon for them. You ever seen a tougher stretch of games. Looking to have teams ranked int the top 11, four games in a row. Kansas also looms in Mid November.
7) Jim Tressel may have made a big mistake in not taking off the training wheels off of Pryor and the Buckeye passing game. Would have been nice to establish some momentum and chemistry with games agaisnt Michigan State and Wisconsin coming up. Less than a 100 yards passing.
8) Worst BCS conference team in football? How about the Washington State?. Just how bad are they? They have only scored 63 points agaisnt D1 teams. Shockingly 3x this year they have actually yielded 63 or more points. Besides their 1 win agaisnt D2 Portland State, the Cougars have been outscored 307-63…..
9) Its unclear how staunch that middle of the SEC is with Tennessee, Auburn, and Vanderbilt beginning to slip. In fact, Auburn and Tennessee’s rough starts have people talking about their coaches futures.
7) Jim Harbaugh is doing a nice job at Stanford. Quitely the Cardinal are 3-1 in the conference.
NFL
1- Matt Ryan is legit. Wasn’t a sexy pick, but is already panning out as a smart selection.
2- Lots of teams are off the to a bad start but I would probably handicap the Lions, Bengals, Rams, Raiders, and Chiefs as the most likely “earn” the top pick in next year’s draft (in that order). Not a lot of gamebreakers to be had in this seniors class although the below list does not account for guys going pro early.
3- The Lions lost yet again, but this time in a squeaker to the Vikings. What was the difference this time? Backup QB, Dan Orlovsky running out of the back of the end zone unforced on a roll out. It was horrible yet hilarious to watch.
4- With the rest of the division having 4 losses, the Arizona Cardinal look poised to win the division. The first time since????? Wikipedia cannot confirm, but I may have not have even been born.
5- This is how they produce DirectTV Red Zone channel. What a job. (taken during technical snafu)
6- NFC South is getting pretty interesting despite some second tier teams. The Panthers, Falcons, and Bucs are all 4-2 with the Saints lurking at 3-3.
7- Statistical enomoly of the day has to go to Dolphins FB Patrick Cobbs who was second in the nfl in receiving yards with 138. Before today Cobbs has 32 for his career. Lived every fullbacks dream today.
8- Patrick Willis = best linebacker in NFL? Willis = best defensive player in the NFL? If he wasn’t on the niners I think it wouldn’t seem so ridiculous.
9- Drew Brees tore it up today with only 4 incompletions. Between him McNabb, Manning, and Romo, its pretty hard to give the nod to the best qb in the NFC. I’ll go with Brees if its on turf though.
10- Jason Elam is still pounding kicks but for the Falcons this year. Elam is 5th in all time scorers and is creeping up towards number 4. Also suprised to see Jason Hanson on that list at number 10, but in retrospect that’s not really that surprising.
