Lane Lands in Los Angeles

I was at trivia tonight, getting my brains beaten in because one of the categories was vague-as-it-sounds "classic cars" when I noticed the TV showing some breaking news.

Lane Kiffin will succeed Pete Carroll at USC.

Wow. That's a surprise. Kiffin had only been at Tennessee for a year, and I figured that with all of the posturing and trash-talking that he'd done in his short time in Knoxville, he'd be around for the long haul.

Apparently not.

In just about every sense, this move works for the Trojans. Mike Garrett, USC's AD, has come out smelling like a rose despite the fact that he's fumbled the twin NCAA investigations on his campus right now. Kiffin brings a sense of familiarity and comfort to the USC program. Though he hasn't been on campus since 2006, he knows what it takes to win at USC and was a good coordinator for Carroll until he departed to become head coach of the Oakland Raiders. The transition should be a seamless one for USC.

Though it's true that we're not entirely sure how good of a coach Kiffin is due to the small sample size with which we've been provided, I'm impressed with the staff he's putting together. Norm Chow, the revered offensive whiz, is leaving crosstown rival UCLA to come back to USC, where he coached from 2001-2004; Monte Kiffin, Lane's dad, is a highly-respected defensive mind and will follow his son to L.A.; Ed Orgeron, a valuable assistant who is noted for his terrific recruiting abilities, will also go with Kiffin to USC. Considering that offense, defense, and recruiting are the big three components of any college team, Lane has done a great job of filling those needs. The position coaches will be named later, but with the leadership of the aforementioned guys, the Trojans should keep on rolling.

Where does Tennessee go from here? I have no idea, but I think it's funny that Lane Kiffin treated them like a mid-major school. After the Volunteers unceremoniously dumped one of the most winningest coach in their program's history, Phillip Fulmer, they thought they had a young guy that would lead them to the promised land again and again in Kiffin. Instead, he dumps them for a hotter girl in a different part of town and leaves them heartbroken and confused. I hate to say what goes around comes around, but it's kinda funny. I would be laughing harder, but I see the same thing happening to my beloved Seminoles in the near future...but I hope I'm wrong. If I'm the Vols, I just repeat what I did when I fired Fulmer: find the best coach available. Forget about looking in the Tennessee family, forget about trying to get creative; just find the best coach. My first call would be to Kevin Sumlin, the current head coach at Houston. He's shown the ability to put productive offenses on the field, and was a valued commodity at offensive coordinator at Oklahoma prior to that. He knows what to do with expectations and would be a good fit for the program. The ball is in your court, Vols.

Lane Kiffin will be a good fit at USC; mark it down. The only question is, can he win at the level Pete Carroll did? Considering few coaches have won at Carroll's rate in the history of college football, I'm skeptical; but given the hand they were dealt, the Trojans did about as well as could be expected with their hire.

Can Tennessee do the same?

~~ Lank

Army-Navy, Edition #110

Fortunately for America (and also readers of Skip To My Lank), my homeboy, Lefty, is a proud member of the United States Navy. As a member of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Lefty has gotten to do some amazing things, some of which include great road trips to Navy football games. I asked him if he'd do a recap of his attendance at the Army-Navy game, and luckily he agreed to do so. The following is his report. Lefty, thanks for the material, but more importantly, thanks for being a part of the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen. We all owe you one.

For most of America, the Army-Navy game is an event of slight note – something you hear about every year, that you might watch (depending on how much you like sports), but that doesn’t have much affect on mainstream life. I’m hear to let y’all know that it is an entirely different experience when you go to the Naval Academy (and I assume it’s similar at the Military Academy (no, their official name is not actually West Point, that’s just where it is; and yes, I just used parentheses inside of parentheses)).

For us, it doesn’t start a day, week, or even month before the game. For us (by the way, the “us” at the Naval Academy are referred to as Midshipmen, NOT lowly cadets. “Middies” ain’t that cool either. “Mids” works best. I’m here to entertain and educate), it starts when we first show up to the Academy for Plebe Summer, and we’re taught how to “chop.” Chopping is what plebes (freshmen for the uninitiated) have to do inside Bancroft Hall (the “dorm” where all 4,500 of us live – work with me on the parenthetical references, there’s a lot of jargon). It consists of running down the middle of the hallway wherever you may be inside Bancroft, greeting everyone that’s not a plebe with “Good (morning/afternoon/evening) (sir/ma’am)” and squaring corners. Squaring a corner hopefully sounds like what it actually is: whenever you make a turn, you turn at a 90 degree angle. When you do, you have to yell out either “Go Navy, sir” or “BEAT ARMY, sir.” From day #1, we all want to beat Army.

The week before the game is known as “Beat Army week,” or just “Army week.” The stated purpose of Army week is to raise the spirit of the Brigade (that means all of us Mids) in the week leading up to the game, but that is far from what happens. Mostly, it’s just college kids that are stuck on the Yard (the campus/base) 4-6 days per week cutting loose and doing crazy stuff, such as water balloon/condiment/actual fights in the Hall, sometimes even stuff that’s not mentionable with Baseball Mom possibly skimming this. Plus there are the King Hall antics (King Hall is where we all gather to eat 3 times a day. It fits 4500+, so keep in mind that it’s huge.). Wildmans are most popular (someone, usually a plebe, dumps water on an upperclassman’s head, then runs like hell, because if they get caught before they get back to their room, they’re in trouble), with “Beat Armys” a close second (upperclassmen mix whatever they can find at the table in a cup, a plebe stands on their chair and tries to gulp it all down as everyone cheers them on and hopes that they fail in spectacular fashion). Don’t get me wrong, there are good-hearted pranks in there too, like stealing all of a woop’s (see #4 here) uniforms, forcing them to wear whiteworks, the plebe summer uniform (basically what you would make someone wear if you wanted them to look like a complete idiot). In short, it’s a crazy week. Especailly now that the actual game has been pushed back from the first weekend in December to the second, so that we don’t have to compete with the conference championship games, and thus Army week is now the same as the last week of classes. Nothing like trying to bang out that last paper with madness reigning in the Hall.

The pregame festivities usually have some juice, but I was really disappointed this year. One of the annual staples is the entrance of the Leapfrogs (Navy SEALs) and whatever-the-hell-the-Army-calls-their-parachuting-team. The real fun of this is how much each side is invested in their landings. If one of our guys comes in for a sweet landing, we roar our approval. If one of their’s rolls like a tumbleweed, we again roar our approval, in as mocking of a way as possible. The problem this year was that we had 3 jumpers, and they had about 46. Ok, 46 is hyperbole, but you get the idea. It made no sense. Of course, the flyovers are the real spectacle anyway, so it was all good. Or at least it should have been. For reasons beyond me, there was no F/A-18 (what I want to fly, no less) flyover as scheduled. I was more disappointed than Baron Davis when Elton Brand left him at the altar (keep in mind this was before Brand showed how washed-up he is by scoring 6 fewer points and grabbing 3 fewer boards per game than his career averages – and if you don’t know what that’s talking about, just know that I was really disappointed. Like when your grandma buys you an ice cream cone, only you’re a kid so you run around and drop the ice cream on the ground).

Given that this whole thing revolves around a sporting event, you were probably expecting some kind of insider description of the contest from someone that was there. So here it is: it was boring as hell. More so than usual for a team that has not thrown a single pass in two separate games in the past two years (granted it was pouring rain for both games, and coach Ken Niumatalolo is scared to pass when the weather is perfect, but c’mon – we didn’t throw once, in 2 hours of game time!). It was 3-0 Army at halftime. The teams combined for 434 yards of offense, 324 yards below the per game median across the nation. The teams combined for 10/28 passing (a whopping 36% completion percentage), for 138 yards, 1 TD, and 2 interceptions. At least the running was spectacular, right? WRONG. Exactly one person averaged more than 4 yards per carry. That player, Navy’s Marcus Curry, provided both the longest run and pass reception of the game, at 16 and 25 yards, respectively. This game was more conservative and boring than the Fox News Channel. Don’t get me wrong, I was elated that our boys stuck it to Army for the eighth year in a row (we’re at 7 in a row against Air Force, by the way), and we got to taunt the Cadets again. There’s no feeling quite like all of us Mids chanting “WATCH OUR BOWL GAME!” in unison at the cadets, especially when we denied them their first bowl bid since ’96, along with singing Blue & Gold (our alma mater) at the top of our lungs after the game. I’m just saying that the actual game was overwhelmingly forgettable.

Next year is my last at the Naval Academy, and thus my last Army-Navy game as a Mid. Now I can’t promise a close contest, or even any football worth watching (this year’s game could happen again. Could). All I ask is that if you haven’t before, give Army-Navy a shot. If the game is boring, you can easily move on with your life. December 11th, 2010, probably at 2:30 again, on CBS as always. Who knows, maybe you’ll catch me in the crowd.

~~ Lefty

P.S. If you do watch, make sure you catch the flyover. Nothing like the roar of four F/A-18s rolling by. Also, don’t expect much from our marching. We really don’t care. USMA does, but we’ve figured out that marching in line became useless when our forefathers decided to run around and duck behind trees for cover to repel the Redcoats.

Can I Get A Do-Over?

You don’t want to say it? Fine, I’ll say it.

Last night’s BCS National Championship game was a huge ball of disappointment.

Obviously, the disappointment comes from Colt McCoy’s injury. Considering he had Texas down on the goal line on their first drive of the game, it’s fair to think that the score wouldn’t have been 24-6 in Alabama’s favor for much of the game had he been able to go the distance. I’m not normally one to deal in definites like “oh, if this-and-this had happened, then that-and-than would’ve happened.” However, I think it’s pretty clear that if Colt McCoy plays 60 minutes, Texas wins the national title.

Consider this: Alabama’s quarterback, Greg McElroy, completed six passes all night. Yes, 6. S-i-x. The Tide gained a total of 263 yards, 205 of which came on the ground. Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson were fantastic for Alabama and I’m not taking anything away from their performances, but the Tide offense wasn’t exactly rolling last night (no pun intended). Texas turned the ball over 5 times (4 Garrett Gilbert picks and a Gilbert fumble), yet Alabama was only up three midway through the 4th quarter. Can you honestly tell me that you think McCoy would’ve turned the ball over even half that much? He certainly wouldn’t have thrown the shovel-pass-turned-interception-for-a-touchdown right before the end of the first half. As easily as Gilbert began moving the chains once he was able to clean the urine from the inside of his pants, do you think McCoy wouldn’t have been able to do the same thing for longer than the quarter that Gilbert did?

Another aspect of this is that Alabama held the ball for nearly 34 minutes. Not a huge disparity in time of possession, but it’s more than the totals; it’s the length of possessions. Here are the times of Texas’ drives in the first half after McCoy went out with his injury: 1:07, 1:44, 1:49, 0:55, 0:47, 1:30, 0:26. All told, the Longhorns had 10 drives in the game that lasted LESS than 1 minute and 10 seconds. The defense constantly had to run back out on the field after getting a less than 70-second break. This fed right into Alabama’s gameplan of running the ball with Ingram and Richardson, and going on prolonged marches down the field. Had McCoy played, it’s fair to say the defense would have been a lot more rested. Would that have slowed the running of the Tide’s two great backs? It’s hard to say for sure, but it would have been interesting to see. Especially since slowing the running game down would have forced McElroy to throw more often; and he was sacked 5 times in the game while, again, only completing 6 passes. I like Texas’ chances if they get to see more of that.

At the end of the day, Alabama is the 2009 national champion and the history books will show as much. Nick Saban and his team had a terrific season and should be respected as champions. For those of us who watched the game, there will always be a huge “what if” attached to the outcome, but that shouldn’t take away from the accomplishments of the Crimson Tide. Based on the results, Alabama is the best team in college football.

As long as Colt McCoy isn’t playing.

~~ Lank

Texas Tech Gets Messy

Talk about a story that keeps getting weirder and weirder. The Mike Leach fiasco at Texas Tech reached an apex today when the university fired their successful football coach “with cause”, amidst reports that Leach mistreated a member of his football team by placing him in an electrical closet during practice after the player had mentioned suffering a concussion.

Oh, and did I mention that this player is Adam James, the son of ESPN analyst Craig James? If you don’t think that had anything to do with the magnitude of this story, then I have some residential property in Las Vegas I’d like to sell you.

Adam James is a little-used wide receiver and was supposedly frustrated with his playing time. Needless to say, he and Coach Leach probably didn’t have the best of relationships; especially if James had a girlfriend. When whatever happened happened (and the details are still coming out. Leach admits to keeping James away from the team during practice, but in an air-conditioned facility that was near the practice fields. Either way, it’s one man’s word against another and the truth will likely never be known), James probably took it extremely hard, considering the incident was coupled with the frustration of not playing on a regular basis.

Adding a further layer to the story is the fact that Texas Tech and Leach had a very testy contract renegotiation last summer, and haven’t been on the same page ever since. Leach and AD Gerald Myers have a relatively frosty relationship, making it all the more unsurprising that Leach was fired. As soon as word about the incident emerged, I was pretty sure that the end result would be a parting of ways of some kind. That’s not to say that there was conspiracy against Leach by the administration or anything, but he was on a short leash, to say the least. When you get accused of putting a player in an electrical closet as punishment (for an injury, no less), that tends to violate a “short leash”. I’m just saying.

According to reports, the players aren’t in complete agreement about the decision. Some are defending James and saying that they’re happier now that Leach is gone. Others have questioned James’ work ethic and the validity of his story. Defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeil has taken over as interim head coach, and does not appear to have been involved in any of the episodes that occurred at Texas Tech during this period. With all of this in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how the Red Raiders perform in the Alamo Bowl against Michigan State (January 2nd, ESPN, 9 pm). Will they unite during the turmoil and put on a good performance? Or will they fall prey to all of the distractions and come out looking rattled? They’re better than Michigan State, so the only thing affecting the outcome of this game is Texas Tech’s mindset.

It’s hard to say what’s next for Mike Leach. He’s regarded as a brilliant offensive mind, as evidenced by the fact that his teams regularly score some of the highest point totals in the country. However, in today’s politically correct world, the mishandling of a player is a scarlet letter of sorts for coaches. It’s ok to lie to athletics directors, switch schools at the drop of a hat, and violate recruiting bylaws. But if you mistreat a player, whew boy, you’re considered a bad person. My best guess is that he’ll resurface at the mid-major level, keep his nose clean for a few years, and then get another big-time gig. His behavior at Texas Tech has always been quirky, but never abrasive, so future employers will be willing to overlook this incident so long as it seems to be an isolated occurrence. Besides, America is all about giving coaches with questionable ethics second chances.

Just ask Nick Saban.

~~ Lank

Billy Donovan, Er, Urban Meyer Was Just Kidding

Seriously, is there something in the water down in Gainesville? Two high-profile coaches, two successful coaches, two relatively young coaches, two “never mind, I take it back” decisions.

And they just so happen to both be coaches at the University of Florida.

When men’s basketball coach Billy Donovan decided to go to the Orlando Magic, I was, admittedly, a little surprised. He seemed to have everything going for him at Florida and his program had just racked up two national titles in a row. His decision to return to Florida about 17 minutes later was a bit more surprising because I hadn’t really heard of such an about-face in the coaching profession. I agreed with it and thought it was the correct thing to do, but the circumstances were just odd.

In recent years, coaches like Dana Altman at Creighton and Gregg Marshall at Winthrop spurned gigs at Arkansas and College of Charleston, respectively, to stay where they were (Marshall has since moved to Wichita State). So I guess it’s not all too uncommon, but it certainly doesn’t make it any more sensible. I realize the “leaving was harder than I thought” angle is certainly in play with decisions like these, but didn’t they think about that prior to taking the other job?

But I digress. Back to Pope Urban.

Meyer’s situation is a bit more confusing than all of the aforementioned situations (and even Bill Belichick’s decision to resign from the New York Jets after a few days in order to take the Patriots job) because it’s health-related. No one can deny that he has a few issues to deal with; he has a cyst on his brain and a heart muscle defect. After the details of his apparent resignation surfaced, the decision made sense to me, and I actually admired (admeyered?) Urban’s call. The wherewithal to make such a choice in the midst of such a successful run really took some courage. It’s easier to walk away from an uncertain situation than a prosperous one, but Meyer was doing the opposite.

For a few hours, at least.

Now that he’s back at Florida (and make no mistake, by saying he hopes to be on the sideline for the 2010 opener, he’s essentially saying that he’ll be there without a doubt), I’m concerned for him. His health problems aren’t going to get better, his family is still going to miss him immensely, and the high-stress atmosphere of coaching in the SEC won’t get any easier. What happens to Meyer now if winning all sorts of titles with one of the best runs in college football history made him feel terrible? I’m scared that one day we’ll be looking back on this decision as the one that ultimately backfired on Meyer. Instead of riding off into the sunset with a handful of accomplishments and all of his health, he’ll instead be given a much less happy ending.

Ironic, right? Especially since everyone thought LEAVING Florida was the wrong move.

~~ Lank

What's Next For Florida?

Here I was, sleeping through the Meineke Car Care Bowl when all of a sudden Big Brother said, "Lank, GET UP!" I was worried either somebody was breaking into his apartment, a relative had died, or something else serious happened. It turns out that something serious did happen.

Urban Meyer resigned as head coach of the Florida Gators.

Sure, to most normal families, this wouldn't qualify as "something serious". However, my family isn't quite normal when it comes to our passion for sport. I immediately picked up the computer and began looking for answers. Why? What spurred this? When did he decide? But no one had any answers. Outside of the TV report on ESPN, there were no further details.

Now that the smoke has somewhat settled, a few more things are becoming clear (heck, that article will probably be updated between the time I post it and the time you read it). Meyer has had health problems and they are interfering with his coaching ability. The high-stress occupation of coaching triggers headaches for Meyer, as documented in a story in Sports Illustrated before the SEC Championship Game earlier this month. A cyst on his brain has made him keel over in pain when his stress levels get too high, causing him to feel as if a knife is being stuck into his head repeatedly.

As you can probably imagine, that doesn't sound very fun.

The reward of coaching players and winning titles just isn't worth the pain and effort anymore, so Meyer is hanging up his whistle...for the time being. It should be noted that none of the (early) information mentions this being permanent, so maybe Meyer is looking for a few years of tranquility to get his health problems under control before putting on the headset again. Regardless, we all hope for the best for Urban Meyer and his family. Health problems are nothing to mess around with, so hopefully he can get things back to normal and will no longer have to deal with his aches and pains.

Not to be overly callous, but another question that must be answered is, Now who will take over as Florida head coach? Because I get paid the big bucks at STML, I'll attempt to answer that question for you. Here are my five best guesses, in order, in terms of feasibility. Obviously, Bill Cowher would be a great move for the Gators, but I just don't see him coaching college football...ever. Keep in mind that these guesses are coming a half hour after the story first broke, so if I turn out to be wrong, I'll use that as my excuse. But if I turn out to be right...well, you'll never hear the end of it. Ok, let's get started.

1.) Dan Mullen, Mississippi State head coach - I know that Mullen has only been with the Bulldogs for a season, and hasn't really proven himself as a head coach yet. However, he was Meyer's offensive coordinator at Florida from 2005-2008 and proved to be a quite capable assistant. After to moving to Starkville this season, he took the Bulldogs to a better-than-expected 5-7 record, and gave them a spark on offense that wasn't seen under former coach Sylvester Croom. He knows what it takes to win at Florida and, from all accounts, had a great relationship with his players. If Florida wants to make the best of this unfortunate situation, hiring Mullen is the way to go. Will he leave MSU after only one season? Eh, I'm not sure. Nobody likes to look like a snake, but getting a job like Florida's is the reason that you take a job like Mississippi State's. I'm just sayin', it'd be a hard opportunity to pass up.

2.) Bob Stoops, Oklahoma head coach - It seems like Stoops' name gets thrown around for every big opening, but there's a reason for that. He's done great work in his days in Norman, but you get the feeling that he and the Sooner faithful are growing tired of one another. He's been there since 1999 and sometimes a change of scenery is the best thing for someone. Having been the defensive coordinator at Florida under Steve Spurrier, Stoops is aware of the pressures of coaching at Florida (similar to the pressures at Oklahoma, obviously) and would not be daunted by the task. If the pitch and price are right, I could see Stoops making the move to the Sunshine State.

3.) Mike Shanahan, former NFL head coach - I'm obligated to throw out Shanahan's name simply because he has ties to Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley. Shanahan was mentioned during the 2001 offseason when Steve Spurrier resigned as the Gators' head coach and the search was on for a replacement. At that time, it just didn't make sense because Shanahan was firmly ensconced at Denver and had his eye on another Super Bowl ring. Now? Shanahan is unemployed and looking for the right opportunity to get back into coaching. He's been bandied about with regards to the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, among others, but I'm not sure if those situations would be right for him (read: meddling owners). At Florida, he would be THE MAN, and could do whatever he wanted with the program. That may be a more attractive option to Shanahan than having a power struggle with an NFL owner.

4.) Jon Gruden, former NFL head coach - Currently an analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football, Gruden seems to be relaxed in the booth calling the action on the field, but you can tell he misses the action on the field as a coach, too. An x's and o's master, Gruden would be a solid fit in college due to his personality and offensive schemes. However, he's always struck me as a pro coach, so that, combined with his contract renewal at ESPN, make him a longshot. Sure, the contract was signed while Florida still had a head coach (Gruden lives in Tampa), but I don't know if the allure of coaching the Gators will be enough to pull him out of the booth right now.

5.) Charlie Strong, Louisville head coach - The least likely of the five names mentioned here, Strong was Meyer's defensive coordinator at Florida. However, he recently took the head coaching job at Louisville, so it's unlikely that he'd do an about-face after taking over as the Cardinals' head man. Sure, the Florida job is a much better job than the Louisville job, but the PR nightmare that would ensue for both Strong and Florida (for taking someone else's newly-minted coach) might be too much of a risk. I do think that Strong will be a good head coach someday, but you can't take that risk on a guy who has never been a head coach before.

Obviously, these names are all guesses as no information about a successor has been made public. I'm sure AD Jeremy Foley is already working the phones and getting a list in order, but for the time being, your guesses are as good as mine. If Florida follows a logical decision-making process, and I think they will, then these five guys are about the best they can hope for. My opinion? Get Mullen, apologize to Mississippi State, send them a few tickets to Disney World and the Final Four, keep the rest of the staff intact, and get ready for a few more SEC titles.

~~ Lank

College Bowl Game Predictions

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno State over Wyoming

St. Petersburg Bowl: Rutgers over UCF

New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss over Middle Tennessee

Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State over BYU

Poinsettia Bowl: California over Utah

Hawaii Bowl: Nevada over SMU

Little Caesars Bowl: Ohio over Marshall

Meineke Car Care Bowl: North Carolina over Pittsburgh

Emerald Bowl: USC over Boston College

Music City Bowl: Clemson over Kentucky

Independence Bowl: Georgia over Texas A&M

EagleBank Bowl: UCLA over Temple

Champs Sports Bowl: Miami over Wisconsin

Humanitarian Bowl: Bowling Green over Idaho

Holiday Bowl: Arizona over Nebraska

Armed Forces Bowl: Houston over Air Force

Sun Bowl: Stanford over Oklahoma

Texas Bowl: Missouri over Navy

Insight Bowl: Minnesota over Iowa State

Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Virginia Tech over Tennessee

Outback Bowl: Auburn over Northwestern

Capital One Bowl: LSU over Penn State

Gator Bowl: Florida State over West Virginia

Rose Bowl: Oregon over Ohio State

Sugar Bowl: Florida over Cincinnati

International Bowl: South Florida over Northern Illinois

Cotton Bowl: Oklahoma State over Ole Miss

Papajohns.com Bowl: South Carolina over Connecticut

Liberty Bowl: Arkansas over East Carolina (sorry, 'Moo)

Alamo Bowl: Texas Tech over Michigan State

Fiesta Bowl: TCU over Boise State

Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech over Iowa

GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan over Troy

BCS National Championship Game: Texas over Alabama

~~ Lank

Lank's Take on the Heisman Vote

As many of you know, Alabama RB Mark Ingram won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in the closest vote in award history. This irked me for a number of reasons. I'm going to organize them for you to make my opinion look more professional because, you know, it makes me more believable. Right?

1.) Toby Gerhart had a better season - Let's just get to the main reason the decision irritated me. If you're going to go with a running back, why not go with the guy who led the nation in rushing and rushing touchdowns? It's not like Gerhart was playing in some chump conference; he played in the freakin' Pac-10. Gerhart's lowest yardage output of the year was 82 yards (on only 17 carries), and he reached 100 yards in every game except for two. The consistency was there, the production was there, the big games were there (223 yards, 3 TD vs. Oregon; 178 yards, 3 TD vs. USC; 136 yards, 4 TD vs. Cal), and the workhorse factor was there. Gerhart was clearly the best player on his team, was THE reason for their resurgence. Yes, Andrew Luck played well as a freshman QB and coach Jim Harbaugh has done wonders in Palo Alto, but everything started and ended with Gerhart. There were only THREE games this year in which Gerhart didn't have at least 2 touchdowns. That's just ridiculous.

2.) Mark Ingram wasn't the best player on his team - Despite rushing for nearly 200 yards less than Gerhart and scoring 11 fewer touchdowns (in 13 games to Gerhart's 12, no less), there's something else working against Ingram here: he wasn't the best Alabama player this year. Hook them up to a lie detector test, and 'Bama coaches and players will tell you that DT Terrence Cody and LB Rolando McClain were better for them this season than Ingram; and they'd probably make an argument for WR Julio Jones. I know, I know, those guys, due to their positions and class, wouldn't have won in a million years. But when you can honestly say that a guy wasn't the best player on his team, he should have no business winning the most prestigious award in the sport.

3.) Trent Richardson did much of the same things as Ingram when given the chance - The freshman sensation certainly didn't disappoint this year, rushing for over 600 yards and 6 touchdowns this year. When Ingram came out, there was absolutely no drop-off in the rushing attack because of Richardson's brilliance. This isn't a knock on Ingram, so much as it's a testament to Richardson and the offensive line at Alabama; basically, if given the chance, Richardson would have put up Ingram's numbers this year. Gerhart was the only person on that Stanford team (and probably in that conference) that could've done what the did for the Cardinal this year.

4.) People said that losing 4 games this year hurt Gerhart's chances - Really? That's your justification? A guy's team loses a few games despite his tremendous performances and you dock him because of that? Sorry, I was actually watching the games, so I knew it wasn't Gerhart's fault that Stanford was losing. Those who simply look at results and not individual performances probably assumed that Gerhart had a bad game every time Stanford lost. Here are Gerhart's numbers in those four losses: 17 rush, 82 yards, 0 TD; 20 rush, 96 yards, 2 TD; 28 rush, 123 yards, 2 TD; 20 rush, 136 yards, 4 TD. Outside of the unimpressive performance against Wake Forest (the 82-yard game), what exactly did Gerhart need to do better?

At the end of the day, the Heisman vote was, once again, reduced to voting for the most recognizable player on the best team. Think Eric Crouch. Or Gino Toretta. Or Jason White. I hate to lump Mark Ingram in with those guys because it sells his season short, but I don't get the feeling that I'm going to be telling my kids about Mark Ingram's historic 2009 season.

Mainly because there was nothing historic about it.

~~ Lank

A Letter To Bobby Bowden

Dear Bobby,

I got word today that you're retiring from Florida State after 34 seasons as head football coach. This makes me sad. Very sad. As a Florida State fan for as long as I can remember, I came to both admire and respect you. Even when your program came under investigation for improprieties, you held your head high and never tried to cover up anything. Your honesty and class as a person made you one of the more memorable personalities in college football history, and there is no doubt that you will never be forgotten -- by anyone.

Yes, in recent years, the results on the field have slumped and the impossible standard that you set in the 1990s -- 14 straight years with 10 wins and Top-5 finish in the polls -- came back to haunt you. No program in history has been able to achieve such things, yet for some reason, people (both FSU fans and non-FSU fans) expected you to maintain that standard forever. When you didn't, and let's face it, no one could, people began calling for your head. They said that you were too old, that the game had passed you by, and that some "new blood" was needed in Tallahassee. Personally, I refrained from any such talk because I knew, no matter what, you deserved to be the head football coach at Florida State University.

The accomplishments and accolades speak for themselves, but it was more than numbers with you. Your charm, class, and ability to maintain your belief in faith and family above all else, including football, made you a better person than football coach...which is saying something since you have the second-most wins in college football history. Your two national championships are fantastic, but the way you were always there to encourage players, tutor young coaches, and take the heat away from your assistants was even better. These are the things I will miss most; not the winning and titles (which will be missed as well, obviously), but the fact that I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that a man of class and integrity was leading my favorite program.

I hope you enjoy your retirement and all of the endeavors that follow your coaching career. I'm sure you will still make public appearances and the like, but I know you will take advantage of all the family time you will get now that the demands on your time are significantly decreased. I hope I'll still see you some, whether on TV for interviews or analysis, but in case I don't, let me just say thank you. Thank you for your accomplishments as a coach; thank you for your example as a person; and thank you for showing people how to do things the right way and stay loyal to who you are.

We will miss you, Bobby; far more than you'll miss any of us.

~~ Lank

My Top 25 Poll: November 15th

We're getting closer and closer to the end of the year, and the undefeated teams are still fairly large in number. Considering most of them are from different conferences, there's a distinct possibility that we'll have several undefeated teams at the end of the season. The good news is that two of those undefeateds could possibly be mid-major teams, so their argument for a title is pretty flimsy. We all know what happens when Boise State plays in a bowl game. However, the interesting thing will be to see what happens with Cincinnati. They have a pretty good resume, but the stigma of playing in the Big East will likely catch up to them should the SEC winner and Texas both go undefeated. I say all that to say this: enjoy my Top 25 this week.

1.) Florida

2.) Texas

3.) Alabama

4.) TCU

5.) Cincinnati

6.) Boise State

7.) Georgia Tech

8.) Ohio State

9.) Oregon

10.) Pittsburgh

11.) LSU

12.) Iowa

13.) Wisconsin

14.) Penn State

15.) Oklahoma State

16.) Stanford

17.) USC

18.) North Carolina

19.) Virginia Tech

20.) Clemson

21.) Miami (FL)

22.) Arizona

23.) Oregon State

24.) Utah

25.) BYU

It appears that nobody wanted to be ranked today outside of Stanford and North Carolina. If you look at last week's rankings, 6 of the Top 20 lost on Saturday to teams ranked below them. Yeesh. These things have a way of sorting themselves out, though, so we'll see what goes down next week.

~~ Lank

Friday Night Picks: November 13th

Ole Miss (-3) vs. Tennessee

Indiana (+22) at Penn State

Michigan State (pick) at Purdue

Missouri (+2.5) at Kansas State

Stanford (+11.5) at USC

Atlanta (-1) at Carolina

Miami (-10) vs. Tampa Bay

New Orleans (-14) at St. Louis

Denver (-4.5) at Washington

Baltimore (-12) at Cleveland (Monday Night)

~~ Lank

BCS: As In, "Boring College Season"

I’ve never felt this way about a college football season before. Ever.

Usually when somebody says that, they’re referring to an unusual amount of excitement or drama or something else positive. I’m saying that because I’ve been bored by this year’s college football season.

Yes, you read that right. Lank. Bored. With college football. Who would’ve ever thought?

How did we get here? I have no idea. I think it has something to do with the best teams in the country all looking lame at various times. Were it not for some blocked field goals, timely penalties on the opposition, and sprained AC joints, Alabama, Florida, and Texas would all probably have a loss (or two) right now. Texas may not play a ranked team all season, Florida and Alabama have had their divisions clinched for like a month (or does it just feel that way?), and there have been no stories to replace theirs to get me charged up.

Iowa? Everybody knows I respect the heck out of the Hawkeyes, but watching them play every week (and I have), we all knew there was a loss coming.

TCU? They’re legit; it’s just that with the Mountain West conference’s ridiculous TV deal, I only get to see a handful of their games. So am I supposed to get excited about watching TCU’s gamecasts online each week? At least they’re on CBSCSTV (no really, that’s an actual channel) this week against Utah.

Cincinnati? Ah, finally a story I can get behind. I picked them to win the Big East because of Brian Kelly, and he hasn’t failed to disappoint. While Oklahoma has been complaining about playing a backup quarterback all year, the Bearcats have used theirs to continue their winning streak. Nice work, sir.

Conference races? Sure, there are some exciting races going on, but it’s hard to get excited about a bunch of 6-3 teams trying to get the crown. When you expect greatness and get mediocrity, it sucks. No, not every conference can be good, and I realize that, but what exactly do I have to do to get a strong team that takes pride in going for a conference championship and doesn’t lose games it shouldn’t (Oregon, Virginia Tech, Miami, Ohio State, all Big 12 teams not named Texas; you’re on this list).

Some people might think that the anarchy occurring in Tallahassee has dampened my college football spirit, but that’s not true. I’ve been dealing with ridiculousness coming from the Florida panhandle for 5 years now. I’m quite used to it.

Quick, name the best game of the year. I’ll wait…

...ready? What’s your answer? Oh, you couldn’t think of one? Why not, were there so many great games that you couldn’t narrow it down? No? There just weren’t any good ones to choose from? Oh, that sucks. For the record, my vote goes to Florida State-Miami…which just so happened to take place in Week 1. Sign of the times, I guess.

And I think that’s the problem: there has been no excitement to this season. No epic clashes, no memorable player performances (does anyone want the Heisman? Anyone?), no hateable teams or players (besides Notre Dame, obviously), no juggernauts we’ll be telling our kids about (thanks, Urban; no really, thanks for taking your wonderful offense down to a GED level and making me sit through a bunch of 24-13 games. I appreciate it). When they throw together those season-long highlight reels at the end of the season, I love them. Recounting all of the great moments and big games from the year is always a treat. I just have no idea how they’ll fill that space at the end of this season; nothing of note has happened.

It’s gotten so bad that I haven’t even written a “The Weekend That Was” post in like three weeks. No, I hadn’t forgotten, I just couldn’t fake writing about storylines and happenings in the college football world that I didn’t give a crap about. When I first started writing those posts, it was fun, because the season was just beginning and there were a million directions in which it could head.

Unfortunately, the 2009 college football season went in the one direction that I never thought it'd go: boring.

~~ Lank

My Top 25 Poll: November 8th

Ok, I'm gonna be honest: I have no idea what to do with this poll. Between Oregon, Iowa, and and Penn State going down; and Houston, Georgia Tech, and Cincinnati winning closer than expected, it's all guesswork for now. However, I assure you that these rankings are based on what I've seen thus far from every team in the country (I've seen at least 90 teams play a game, and a large percentage of those 90 in more than one game). No preseason expectations or biases are in play here, just what I've seen on the field. Now that that disclaimer is finished, I present to you my Top 25...

1.) Florida

2.) Texas

3.) Alabama

4.) TCU

5.) Cincinnati

6.) Boise State

7.) Georgia Tech

8.) Oregon

9.) USC

10.) Iowa

11.) Ohio State

12.) LSU

13.) Pittsburgh

14.) Miami (FL)

15.) Arizona

16.) Houston

17.) Utah

18.) Oklahoma State

19.) Wisconsin

20.) Virginia Tech

21.) Stanford

22.) Penn State

23.) Oregon State

24.) BYU

25.) South Florida

I think. It could change by Wednesday, as no teams have really separated themselves outside of the Top 10 or so. I don't exactly have a lot of faith in Ohio State, LSU, or Pittsburgh, yet the all sit just outside of my Top 10. Sheesh. Stay tuned, this college football season, while boring, has been somewhat unpredictable. Things could change after next week's game...and probably will.

~~ Lank

Friday Night Picks: November 6th

Minnesota (-6) vs. Illinois

Northwestern (+17.5) at Iowa

Kansas (-2.5) at Kansas State

California (-6) vs. Oregon State

San Diego State (+24) vs. TCU

Atlanta (-10) vs. Washington

Houston (+9) at Indianapolis

Green Bay (-10.5) at Tampa Bay

Seattle (-10) vs. Detroit

Philadelphia (-3) vs. Dallas

~~ Lank

My Top 25 Poll: November 1st

Some teams are 2/3 of the way through their seasons already, so we're starting to get some clarity to the season...albeit slowly. There are a lot of question marks abound, but we're getting a better feel for who's elite within their conferences. That helps a lot when trying to rank teams not only against conference foes, but against the rest of the country as well. Here's what I've cooked up for this week...subject to change in 7 days, of course.

1.) Florida
2.) Texas
3.) Alabama
4.) TCU
5.) Cincinnati
6.) Iowa
7.) Boise State
8.) Oregon
9.) Georgia Tech
10.) USC
11.) LSU
12.) Penn State
13.) Houston
14.) Ohio State
15.) Virginia Tech
16.) Oklahoma State
17.) Pittsburgh
18.) Miami (FL)
19.) California
20.) Notre Dame
21.) Wisconsin
22.) Arizona
23.) Oklahoma
24.) Utah
25.) Duke

I know the inclusion of Duke will probably cause some bewilderment amongst some readers, but the fact remains that they're 3-1 in the ACC, one of only two teams with one loss in the conference. Are they going to remain that way? With North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Wake Forest on the slate, probably not. However, for the time being, there aren't a lot of good resumes out there, and the fact that they've overcome an early bad loss to Richmond to win four of their last five games merits a Top 25 vote in my book. I looked far and wide for teams to fill the 21-25 spots, and there just wasn't much to choose from. Kansas is choking their season away; West Virginia got outclassed by South Florida; South Carolina embarrassed themselves in Knoxville; I mean, there just aren't very many good teams out there right now. So, congratulations, Duke; keep up the good work and I'll keep you in my poll. Please try to contain your excitement, Blue Devils fans.

~~ Lank

Friday Night Picks: October 30th

Wisconsin (-7) vs. Purdue

Indiana (+17.5) at Iowa

Oregon State (-8.5) vs. UCLA

UNLV (+33) at TCU

Oklahoma State (+9) vs. Texas

New Orleans (-10) vs. Atlanta

Jacksonville (+3) at Tennessee

Miami (+4) at New York Jets

Seattle (+11) at Dallas

Houston (-3) at Buffalo

~~ Lank

One Loss? No Biggie

As with most years in college football, 2009 has brought us losses by some highly-ranked teams relatively early in the season. Several teams are only halfway through their season, yet they already have a (number)-1 record. It is not uncommon for a one-loss team to find their way to the national title game (see: 2008 Florida, 2006 Florida, 2008 Oklahoma, and 2007 Ohio State), so in order to predict who is going to meet the SEC Champion in Pasadena in January, we need to figure out the chances of the one-loss teams going on a run. I don't want to curse any of the undefeated teams by projecting their chances of getting in after a hypothetical loss, so I won't include them right now. But if you guys like the recap of the situation, I'll be more than happy to update it periodically throughout the remainder of the season. Now, onto the business...

(teams listed in order of the most recent Skip To My Lank Top 25)

USC - Everyone's favorite one-loss team come December, the Trojans have a history of losing early games in which they're favored, and then coming on like gangbusters in November before ultimately coming up just shy of the championship game. Will that happen this year? Unlikely. Because their loss occurred so early (even by their standards), they've been able to climb their way back the polls already (they're the highest-ranked one-loss team in the BCS Standings as of this writing). With remaining games against Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State, and Arizona (combined 7 losses), their schedule strength will remain strong and the computers will come around to love them, too. As long as they don't drop another game the rest of the way, they'll be the highest-ranked one-loss team at the end of the year.

Oregon - The Ducks have responded impressively to their opening game disaster against Boise State. Winners of 5 straight games, Oregon is the only remaining undefeated team in the Pac-10. Should they keep the streak alive (and beat USC along the way, obviously), they will be in the driver's seat of one-loss teams. An undefeated Pac-10 record and 11-game winning streak would be too hard to ignore? Is it likely? No. Road games at Stanford and Arizona, in addition the home date with USC, will prove too tough for the Ducks to overcome. A return trip to the Holiday Bowl will be a nice consolation gift, though.

Georgia Tech - I'm gonna be honest; I have no idea what to do with the Jackets. On one hand, it's unlikely anyone is going to stop their triple-option offense any time soon. Miami stoned them, but that only came after the Hurricanes got time off to prepare. On the other hand, QB Josh Nesbitt doesn't scare anyone as a passer (he completed ONE pass in the win over Virginia Tech. No, really, one.) If the running game struggles unexpectedly, there could be an issue. However, the remaining schedule is at Virginia, at Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, at Duke, and Georgia. If the Yellow Jackets beat the Bulldogs, they could certainly make things interesting. They'd need more losses from the teams ahead of them, though, due to the lackluster play of the ACC in general.

Miami - Hi, Miami; good to see you here again. Unfortunately, I still don't know what to make of you. The Hurricanes looked terrific against Georgia Tech, but looked awful against Virginia Tech. Their remaining schedule is super light, but one game in which they don't show up mentally seems possible. They also have the ACC stigma (much like GT), but their brand name could trump that, as could their wins over Oklahoma and Georgia Tech. Keep an eye on these guys.

Oklahoma State - I love Mike Gundy. In light of the Dez Bryant situation, Kendall Hunter's injuries, and a seemingly nervous Zac Robinson, he's got the Cowboys sitting pretty with only one (out of conference) loss. They still have to play Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma, but only the Oklahoma game is on the road. It'd be hard to overlook a one-loss team from the Big 12 that went through the conference unscathed, but due to a poor ranking currently, they'll need some help to move up. Let's say this: keep winning, and we'll talk.

Penn State - They've played no one in the non-conference schedule, they lost to the one good team they played (Iowa), and they're not likely to beat Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State, all of whom remain on their schedule. Maybe they can steal a Rose Bowl bid, but they have virtually no shot of making the Big One. If all chaos breaks loose, they can pull a 2007 Ohio State and backdoor their way into the show. But only then.

LSU - The Tigers are only on here because they have one loss. Remaining games against Alabama, Ole Miss, and Arkansas mean it's unlikely that LSU will finish with only one loss. Sure, if they win out (including the SEC Title game), they'll be in Pasadena for the whole ball of wax. But, they won't win out. Done and done.

West Virginia - The Mountaineers only have one loss, but they're not going to finish that way. Road games against South Florida, Cincinnati, and Rutgers, in addition to a home rivalry game against Pittsburgh will make sure of that. A good season would probably be 9-3, but anything more than that seems unrealistic.

Kansas - Seriously, Jayhawks? You lost to Colorado? Goodness. You're in trouble for that, but if you win out, that will mean wins over Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, and Nebraska. And then one of the better South teams in the Big 12 Title game. Take care of all that and I'll let you into the group with all the cool kids. Any loss, however, and you're back to the little boys' table. Colorado? Really?

South Florida - Remaining games against Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and Miami mean that there are opportunities to right the ship (you know, the big ship that sits in their stadium in Tampa). However, getting a one-loss Big East team into the Big Show is going to take some effort in front of them. They won't get any benefit of any doubt, but if they are one of two teams remaining with one-loss at the end of the season, they could sneak in with some signature wins on their resume. Basically, the Bulls aren't a threat; I hope no USF fans have booked tickets to Southern California in January. The good news is that it'll be just as warm in Tampa as LA.

Those are the facts, people. The cold, hard truth about one-loss teams and their chances of getting into the BCS National Championship Game. Don't blame me, blame your favorite team for not winning every single game and leaving nothing up to chance. Best of luck to you and yours, I'll see you again in a few weeks.

~~ Lank

My (Updated) Top 25 Poll

Well, this is getting interesting. After several Top 10 teams were upended this week, there is a lot of confusion as to who should be ranked where. This is just one man's opinion...but at least it's one man who actually watches the games.

1.) Florida

2.) Alabama

(this space shall remain empty to show the distance between the Tide and Gators and everyone else).

3.) Texas

4.) Iowa

5.) Cincinnati

6.) TCU

7.) USC

8.) Boise State

9.) Oregon

10.) Georgia Tech

11.) Virginia Tech

12.) Miami

13.) Oklahoma State

14.) Ohio State

15.) Penn State

16.) LSU

17.) BYU

18.) Notre Dame

19.) Oklahoma

20.) Houston

21.) Utah

22.) West Virginia

23.) Wisconsin

24.) Kansas

25.) South Florida

It goes to show you how bad some of these supposed "top teams" are that I have teams ranked that lost to Colorado, UTEP, and Florida State in my Top 25. However, there just isn't much left to throw into the mix. The final 10 spots are usually a toss-up anyway (4-2 teams look a lot alike after a while), so don't be offended if your team is 20th; it could easily be 17th or 25th. We'll see how things play out the rest of the year, but right now, it's clear that there are two really good teams and some others that are trying to get a chance to play them in the title game. Who's gonna step up and become a great team? Not sure, but it's gonna be fun to find out.

~~ Lank

Friday Night Picks: October 16th

California (-4) at UCLA

Arkansas (+24) at Florida

Minnesota (+16) at Penn State

Indiana (+3) vs. Illinois

Kansas (-9) at Colorado

Green Bay (-11.5) vs. Detroit

Pittsburgh (-13.5) vs. Cleveland

Carolina (-3.5) at Tampa Bay

Seattle (-3) vs. Arizona

New York Jets (-9.5) vs. Buffalo

~~ Lank

The Weekend That Was: October 10th

LSU-Florida was a snoozefest - Seriously, was there anyone out there not wearing purple and gold (or maybe even those wearing purple and gold) who thought LSU would cross the goal line? Ever? I mean, that game could've gone two weeks and Jordan Jefferson wouldn't have gotten the Tigers anywhere near a touchdown. Despite a conservative Florida gameplan, a couple of Gator turnovers, and a home crowd that was encouraging them on with everything they had, LSU's offense looked downright inept. You know, just like it has the rest of the season. Urban Meyer, I've always admired your work, but this conservative style sucks. I know your receivers are terrible and your defense is next-level good. But would it kill you to throw more than 20 yards down the field more than once a game? Just for fun? Like I said, it's not like LSU was ever going to score, so why the need to button it up? Goodness.

Florida State isn't going bowling - As a diehard Seminole fan, it pains me to say this, but here are the facts: They have 4 losses already, and remaining road games against Florida, North Carolina, Clemson, and Wake Forest. Can they win two of those? Sure. But who's to say they can win two of those and hold serve at home, where they haven't beaten a D-1A opponent since November 8, 2008? The offensive is explosive when it doesn't turn the ball over, but the defense gives up big play after big play after big play, and there doesn't seem to be any hope on the way. This is a lost season, and it may only get worse. Damn it all.

Arkansas is fun to watch - Here's the recipe for a fun team to watch: good offense, bad defense. That's it. Well, the Razorbacks check out well in both spots. Their offense is capable of lighting up anyone (except Alabama, it seems), but the defense can't stop me and 10 of my best friends (yes, I have tremendous hands and quickness on the outside, but still). QB Ryan Mallett has been exceptional this year, and I am VERY interested to see how he does against Florida's defense. You know, that defense that refuses to let anyone score. They've given up 2 touchdowns in 60 possessions this season. That's silly.

Jevan Snead sucks - Remember the big stink when Steve Spurrier "accidentally" voted for Snead over Tim Tebow for preseason All-SEC quarterback? Well, it looks even worse now. Snead has been an interception machine this season, showing that it's a lot harder for some guys to play when expectations have been raised. Anyone who thought Ole Miss was a Top 10 team was crazy to begin with, but even I didn't expect them to look this inept. Maybe Arkansas knew what it was doing when it forced out coach Houston Nutt, precipitating his move to the Grove.

The Big Ten race is wide open - Iowa is good, but they're going to lose a few games. Any team that plays everything that close to the vest is bound to get bit at some point (especially with road games at Wisconsin and Michigan State coming up before their trip to Columbus). Ohio State was thoroughly outplayed by Wisconsin, but by virtue of two interception-return TDs and a kickoff return TD, they won by a substantial margin. The aforementioned Badgers are very good, but can't seem to get out of their own way in some games (the Ohio State game obviously, but the Fresno State win was much too close as well). Heck, I haven't even mentioned Penn State, who keeps beating really bad football teams but losing to the only good one they've played (Iowa). I assume the Buckeyes will win the conference due to having superior talent, but I wouldn't bet a dime on it.

Jimmy Clausen, your table is ready - Over the first two years of his career, Clausen got a lot of hate from a lot of people (myself included), and rightfully so. He was erratic and never looked comfortable in the pocket (mainly because his line was atrocious). However, this season he's been a godsend to the Fighting Irish, who are 4-1 thanks to #7's last-minute heroics time and time again. Even in their lone loss to Michigan, Clausen put them in a position to win until the defense allowed the Wolverines to march down the field for the winning touchdown. Clausen's biggest test of the season will come this weekend when the USC Trojans roll into South Bend. The USC defense is good, but not great, and if Clausen really is elite, he'll hang with USC and force Matt Barkley to make a few plays to win. This game is, undoubtedly, the most intriguing of this weekend's matchups...yes, better than Texas-Oklahoma.

Teams that impressed me - Arkansas, Washington, Oregon State, Oregon, Virginia Tech, Duke

Teams that disappointed me - Indiana (really? sigh), Ohio State, Georgia, Northwestern, Kansas (not the offense, though), East Carolina

Games I'm looking forward to this weekend - USC at Notre Dame, Texas vs. Oklahoma, Cincinnati at South Florida (Thursday), Iowa at Wisconsin, Arkansas at Florida, Missouri at Oklahoma State

~~ Lank