Lessons in PR

By the way, the person he is attacking in the post-game press conference is a female reporter...and they won the game

Week 4 Preview (Cliff's Notes Version)

Abbreviated preview of this weekend's action as I am off to Madison to do this...



Lots of good conference matchups this week. Among the more interesting:

Penn St (Easty) at Michigan (0-0 in Big Ten, Goldy)

The Wolverines get to "start over" with their Big Ten opener.

South Carolina (Easty) at LSU (Bart)

LSU and USC are already trading "Who's Number 1?" back and forth on a weekly basis, But all that really matters is "Who's Number 1 or 2?" and every week is a challenge in the SEC. Expect a big play to decide a low scoring game.

Kentucky (Baradel) at Arkansas (Hensh)

Kentucky looked great in finishing off Louisville (great strategy to take an unsportsmanlike penalty to set up the winning TD). The Hogs lost steam late against 'Bama--maybe using McFadden every play isn't the best idea in the world....

Georgia (Brock) at Alabama (Baradel)

Nick Saban has another tough test at home. And it has to entrust his offense to a QB named John Parker Wilson. Sounds like a Hardy Boy.

Washington (Goldy) at UCLA (Coleman)

UCLA's loss to Utah was bizarre, and now they have a new and improved Washington team coming to town. Huskies for my upset special again.

Got to go, my brats are waiting.....

Week 3 Preview (Part 2)

Florida Int'l (free agent) at Miami-Fl (Goldy)

Remember this...



Too bad there won't be enough scoring in this one to rile up emotions...

Arkansas (Hensh) at Alabama (Baradel)

The SEC is going to be fun to watch this year. Coach Saban's first real test at 'Bama, and hopefully Coach Nutt won't be distracted with any sideline texting this season.

Louisville (Goggles) at Kentucky (Baradel)

My upset special for the week. The game may come down to dueling Heisman contenders Brian Brohm and Andre' Woodson trading TDs. Woodson's three from the corner at the buzzer gives the Wildcats the win.

Boston College (Baradel) at Georgia Tech (Charlie)

Given the ACC's demise this year, this game seems destined to be replayed in Jacksonville for the conference title in December. I guess you have to give GT the advantage for actually winning a game out-of-conference already.

USC (Goggles) at Nebraska (Brock)

The Trojans' lead in the polls narrowed significantly this week after LSU's impressive performance against Va Tech. And as Tim Griffin reports, Bill Callahan is looking for a statement game to open his tenure in Lincoln. Game on

Week 3 Preview (Part 1)

Are we in for another weekend of blowouts? Traditional powerhouses Notre Dame, Michigan, Virginia Tech and Miami, and West Virginia Tech, (seriously, did you see this box score with four special teams/defensive TDs in the 1st Quarter for Western Kentucky???) all got taken out to the woodshed.

Let's hope for a bit more drama and suspense this week...

West Virginia (Coleman) at Maryland (Goldy)

Coach Friedgen is still living down the "non-recruitment" of Steve Slaton, and the Mountaineers have dominated the series recently. But if it takes West Virginia 2 1/2 quarters to get going like it did last week against Marshall, the Terps could take over clock management and take this one to the wire.

TCU (Goldy) at Air Force (Goldy)

I don't see how Goldy can come away empty handed from this one, but stranger things have happened. TCU had Texas on the ropes last week but couldn't close the deal.

Tennessee (Jerry) at Florida (Jerry)

Again, a no-lose situation. I predict this is the game Tim Tebow stakes his claim for Heisman candidacy. awarded this year for the best passer and preacher.

Notre Dame (Baradel) at Michigan (Goldy)

In many ways, this game is bigger than usual and more dramatic. The Big House will be full of rubberneckers, trying to get a better glimpse of the scene of the accident.

Ohio St (Jerry) at Washington (Goldy)

I like Washington at $1 for best value this year. Remember the name Jake Locker. If the Huskies can pull the upset, he'll be the reason why.

The State University of New Jersey

As reported on NJ.com:

The play came late in the game, when Rutgers expanded its lead over Navy to a comfortable level after a tight three quarters.

Navy's Reggie Campbell took the kickoff and ran full speed ahead up the middle with all the force his 168-pound body could generate. Campbell, almost always the smallest and fastest man on the field, hit a wall of XXXL-sized scarlet jerseys and was slammed to the ground at the bottom of the pile. He got up slowly, limping off. This gutsy kid, a slotback who already spent three quarters being chased and tackled by gangs of defensive linemen and linebackers, all weighing at least 100 pounds more than him, was then given a dose of Rutgers' student section class.

''You got f---ed up. You got f---ed up. You got f--ed-up," they chanted.

Reggie Campbell is a senior. After graduation in June he has a five-year commitment to the American military, which, like it or not, is at war.

"This is how you treat people who may die for this country?" said Bill Squires, an Annapolis graduate (Class of'75) who was on the sidelines for the Friday night game in Piscataway and was shocked by the obscene chants directed at the Navy players and fans throughout the game. "It was the most classless thing I've seen..."

ACC You Later

In the spirit of tough times in college football, let's not expend all our energy reporting the squalor in Ann Arbor and South Bend and rather focus on the demise of an entire conference: the ACC. It was not so long ago that we heralded the expansion of the ACC as their arrival into the big time. Adding Virginia Tech. Miami, and Boston College supposedly transformed it from a "football is what we watch while biding our time for hoops" league into a theoretical rival to the Big 10, Big XII, Pac-10 and SEC.

What happened?

Virginia 3 Wyoming 23
NC State 23 Central Florida 25
Duke 14 Connecticut 45
North Carolina 31 East Carolina 34

is what. And that doesn't even count 38- and 41- point losses to real teams. Let's just say these aren't your father's Hurricanes.

Season Preview

For posterity, here is my post-draft analysis from August. Note the prescient comments...

As always at College Football Analysis Central, we like to inject some public service into the presentation. So since college football is truly a uniting influence in America, from the spires of Chestnut Hill to the breaking waves near Aloha Stadium, from the Big House to the Grove, from raucous Autzen to the world's biggest cocktail party, I present this year's draft in the context of the 2008 Presidential race.

Goldy: Barack Obama

What does he want to be? A dyed-in-the-wool Ohioan spending $34 on Michigan? Headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer today: "Goldy Chooses UM; Asked To Turn In State ID Card By Noon". Looking for the feelgood story of the year, but really just grasping for straws with his last 12-13 picks. Truly The Audacity of Hope.

Jerry: John McCain

Last year's team. $68 on last year's Title Game participants is living in the past, as the Buckeyes were utterly exposed in the BCS while Florida's luck will run out sooner or later. South Florida at $9 could be the steal of the draft, but it won't stop him from dropping out of contention by November.

Coleman: Hillary Clinton

Current front runner with all the bases covered: Title contender (WVU), Solid BCS depth, breakout potential. But don't you get the feeling that Coleman will find some way to screw this up? Who knows what skeletons are in Coleman's closet?

Baradel: Fred Thompson

Very recognizable but the bottom line is chances are slim. Cal is set up for a fall and Alabama and Notre Dame will pay their coaches a lot of money and play on TV, but substance is lacking.

Easty: Mike Bloomberg

Savvy planning will set this team up for a late run. Does anyone remember who coaches South Carolina? That's right--The Ol' Ball Coach. Spurrier has proven that he can play with the big boys in the SEC on the road (and he's going to have to this year). And don't count out Joe Pa from going out in a blaze of glory.

Charlie/Kevin: John Edwards

All that money for nothing. I do propose a lifetime ban on Kevin (before he was ever officially part of the pool) if this team wins, but that ain't happening. Hawaii and Florida State do have some nice upside, but he actually overspent for some very bad teams (GT, UVA)

Hensh: Mitt Romney

The Commonwealth's finest, nice mix of public and private sector accomplishment, but there is that lurking sceptre of unwinnability. It's true that Iowa does not have to play Ohio St or Michigan this year (did Hensh mention that?), but they still have to beat somebody and aren't very good. Hopes rest on riding the emotional Va Tech wave--that crest may break early.

Bart: Rudy Giuliani

Feisty, combative, always in the mix. Rutgers looks like great value at $19 compared to $41 each for WV/Louisville. However the Big East may be overvalued this year and suffer crippling upsets. Boise State is an interesting case this year--would rather have them than Hawaii. An LSU loss or two would make it really tough for Bart to win though.

Goggles: Al Gore

The Inconvenient Truth is that Goggles has very little mathematical chance of winning. I think we all have to root for USC so that they suck away valuable points that others may take. And can somebody buy Googles a TiVo (or at least a VCR recorder)?

Brock: Tommy Thompson

Has only lately figured out that putting all your eggs in Wisconsin's basket is not a winning strategy. True, if this were the State Championship of the Badgers, Brock would win every year. But they count votes from the "Other 49", so Brock is forced to consider other schools. Nebraska at $18 could be good value, if only they didn't have to play the Big XII title game.

I was very impressed that 97 teams were chosen (94 not by Goggles), but since only 40-45 will score points, that depth is illusatory. Good luck to all--looking forward to the journey.