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Ball has emphatically stated that he was not involved in any earlier fight (while remaining mum on whether there was an earlier fight at all, though there seems to be little doubt of that at this point); however, TMZ is running a picture of a guy's busted tongue that allegedly came courtesy of Ball himself.
Doesn't seem like this is going to end well for the Badgers.
Arkansas State
Fresno State
Tennessee Tech
Arizona
Washington State
Washington
Arizona State
Colorado
USC
California
Stanford
Oregon State
Alabama plays three teams in coaches poll top 10 (not including South Carolina or Georgia)...
I say that in complete agreement with your commentary on this issue previously.
I'll be really interested to see how Muschamp and Brent Pease handle the Jeff Driskel/Jacoby Brissett battle in fall practice and the early games, two of which come against SEC opponents. This is fairly uncharted territory for the Gators: both kids are sophomores, and the loser is almost certain to transfer.
This is the 3rd failed test that we know about. I'd have to say he probably failed a few more that were kept in house. This is the SEC for God's sake and Les Miles to boot. I don't really care if the kids are smoking dope after they turn 18, but its current illegal status being what it is, you'd think the kids could abstain for the month or so around the testing. I'm sure the testing isn't super secret, the players probably get tested at the start of camp and maybe once or twice during the season. You'd think he could figure out a way to abstain for a month or so at a time, or procure some clean piss.
I agree with this. And the PAC-12 will get better, just probably not soon enough this year to slow down Oregon. I'd take USC over them though.
Luckily two of their easiest games (Navy and Purdue) are up front. They need time to figure out their QB situation.
And their defensive line, since Lynch left. I have to say, I didn't think year 3 of Brian Kelly's time at ND would involve such a thin roster with so many question marks.
LSU has kicked Tyron Mathieu off the team. Huge.
I agree it's huge, but LSU is probably uniquely situated to weather his loss. Still, in a deep SEC West and a rebuilt SEC East, he could be the difference in a few games but I really only see three or four games that I can even picture LSU losing.
So can he transfer and play this year?
Nah, the D line remains a strength. Lynch was only the second best freshman on the unit last year. The CB situation is quite worrisome though.
So can he transfer and play this year?
I think he will have to go to a non-FBS program to play right away.
That's right, I remember reading that they lost a lot in the secondary last year. What record keeps Brian Kelly at ND? Does 8-4 against the toughest schedule do it? It would be the third year in a row with 8 wins. Does he have to win 9 games to survive? I really have no beat on this other than I know ND fans are unhappy.
I think he will have to go to a non-FBS program to play right away.
Lame. I thought dismissals were different (based entirely on what happened with Massoli (sp?) at Oregon and Ole Miss). Well, if he goes to a FCS school he can dominate even more, have less of a risk of injury and still be drafted pretty darn high next spring.
Notre Dame hasn't had three consecutive eight win seasons in about two decades. Some ND fans are unhappy but that is their natural state.
Yes it was. And then got abused in the championship game. LSU is very thin/young at CB...but LSU should be able to survive the loss.
when I first read that, I thought, "no, that can't be right". But sure enuff, it's been since 91-93 that ND has had 3 consecutive 8-win seasons
Ah, good to know, thanks!
Notre Dame hasn't had three consecutive eight win seasons in about two decades. Some ND fans are unhappy but that is their natural state.
Holy smokes, that's crazy.
For Kelly to get fired, Notre Dame would have to win at most 5 games. More likely 3 or less.
OK, cool. I still think Kelly has done a pretty good job given what Weiss left him. Not a great job, but a good one. He's still a good coach and I think it would interesting to experience college football with a legitimately good Notre Dame team. I think keeping Kelly there is going to make that happen.
The fanbase's expectations to the contrary are what makes it really good. I can't think of a group more unable to accept reality.
QFT
1000 people were asked whether it was true or false that joe paterno was accused of molesting children. 28% said it was true. 15% were unsure.
and 8% said "It wasn't Paterno, it was Posnanski"
I don't really agree. What was posted so far just seems like reporting of what Paterno was feeling. There's no context given about how Posnanski and the other people around viewed Paterno's reaction. Plus, although Paterno was partially crying because of the loss of his job, the last quote seems to show that he knew he had irrevocably destroyed his reputation. Maybe he viewed himself as only a scapegoat but we need more information. Plus we need to see how Posnanski reacts to that view, if that is how Paterno felt.
Yeah, he never cared about the all time wins record.
ACC:
Coastal: Tech
Atlantic: NC State
Champ: NC State
Big East:
Louisville
Big 12:
WVU (Can't pick against my boys with OU coming to Morgantown!). Austin for Heisman! Geno for Heisman!
Big Ten:
Douches: MSU
Tools: Wisconsin
Champ: MSU, finally
Pac-12:
North: Oregon
South: USC
Champ: Oregon
SEC:
East: South Carolina
West: LSU
Champ: USCe (the east shall rise again)
Heisman: Lattimore
What else should we pick? BCS bowls? Non-BCS conference champs (I've got Marshall in C-USA and Boise, everything else I will have to do some research)?
Wazzu at BYU thurs late, can't wait for that, I like the total over 60.
ACC: VaTech w losses, just don't trust FSU.
XII: OU w loss
BIG: MSU w losses
PAC: USC no losses
SEC: Bama w loss (though So Car. might have the stars aligned)
Lattimore is definitely one of the 3 best players in CFB, but I'm conditioned to expect he'll get hurt.
And you're worthless.
was looking at the TV schedule for the week, lotsa interesting stuff, Thur through Monday.
Yeah, I love that there are games on all weekend. I usually end up missing games I want to see when they are all squeezed in on Saturday. Not this weekend though!
BIG: MSU w losses
I've seen a lot of people sort of ignore the Spartans. But they've got the best defense in the conference and I think Wisconsin takes a step back while Michigan is at least a year away from beating them.
Lattimore is definitely one of the 3 best players in CFB, but I'm conditioned to expect he'll get hurt.
We will see. South Carolina has been slowly building to something. If they can stop losing to teams they should beat, they should come out of the season with one loss (at LSU). Lattimore staying healthy plus no more Garcia could get them over the hump.
Then i wake up from my dream. That achedule is just too tough
Thx.
I'm looking forward to somehow watching Minnesota at UNLV late Thursday night, BSU/MSU on Friday, then ND getting beat early morning and more games all day long.
ACC: Virginia Tech
Big 12: West Virginia
Big East: South Florida
Big Ten: Nebraska
PAC-12: USC
SEC: Alabama
National title game: Alabama vs. USC
Big 12: Texas (criminally underrated this year)
Big East: TL; DR
Big Ten: Bottom of the current down era. MSU has no offense. Michigan's talent is still down. Wisconsin isn't as strong as last year, but still pretty solid. OSU is TATOOED. Nebraska sucks. Penn State enables kiddie rape. Someone wins by default, I guess.
PAC-12: USC
SEC: Alabama
Wisconsin lost plenty too. And a good deal of their coaches. And Michigan is still, I think rebuilding.
MSU's defense may not be Alabama, but they are a mean, physical D with a ton of talent. It's easily going to be the class of the Big Ten and D'Antonio is an excellent coach with a great background.
Of course, if Michigan goes out and hangs with Alabama and MSU gets clobbered by a rebuilding Boise, then I will look pretty silly.
I guess I am not buying the South Carolina hype. They have talent, but also some major holes. I can see them winning 8-9 games this year.
One of the reasons I picked USCe instead of the obvious favorites Bama and LSU, was in part to have a different pick. Obviously which ever of the two (Bama and LSU) wins the west will be the favorite. But USCe get Georgia and Arkansas at home and I don't believe in Florida. I could see them losing to LSU, Georgia, Arkansas and, say Clemson, or Vandy this week. But I think they've got enough to get to the Championship game and Lattimore is the kind of player who could have a monster game to beat either of the better teams out west. I wouldn't bet on it or anything, but these picks are for fun, and I thought I'd go with a dark horse with a great tailback.
I'll give you mean and physical, and D'Antonio is an excellent defensive coach, but they don't have a ton of talent. Not only is MSU not Alabama, they're not even a poor man's Alabama. And their offense has been gutted, to a far greater degree than Wisconsin's (who slots in yet another transfer at QB and still has corn-fed lineman and a decent back to run behind them). MSU's QB situation is a smoldering black hole of suck. @UM/@Wisc back to back is brutal, as far as conference B1G scheduling goes, and the non-conference schedules is tough as well (BSU & ND). I think last year was MSU's year.
I thought both MSU's (Miss St the other) have done a heckuva job in the 3 or 4 games v Dennard in keeping him down. I'm pretty comfortable in saying Bama can handle him.
any defensive coordinator who has his defense struggle should be embarrassed when facing a player whose idea of a forward pass is a wobbly jump ball travelling at 10 mph
This would be my pick if I weren't a WVU fan. OU has injury issues on both lines and Landry Jones is all hype, OU is massively overrated. Texas is incredible on both sides of the line and has great talent and solid depth just about everywhere but QB. And they get WVU at home.
I'll give you mean and physical, and D'Antonio is an excellent defensive coach, but they don't have a ton of talent.
You know the Big Ten better than I do but Gholston (who is insanely aggressive to the point that he might be insane) and Adams are pretty fantastic talents. This article suggests they have another 5 NFL draft picks on defense.
I think last year was MSU's year.
Could be. It wouldn't surprise me to see Michigan overtake them. I would be surprised to see Wisconsin win the conference again, after losing Chryst. And while Danny O'Brien is a good QB, but he's not Russell Wilson.
Am i crazy to think that mich can beat bama when they play? Being a nd fan iv seen robinson just absolutly destroy teams with unreal performances
I think you are crazy. Bama is going to beat the snot out of Denard within two offensive possessions. As noted above, MSU took care of him pretty handily last year and Bama's D, even after reloading, will probably be better than that. If Michigan is going to move the ball, it's going to be with their tailbacks.
IIRC, Michigan suspended one of their tailbacks for the opener right? I don't think they will be able to hang with Bama for four quarters, as much as I want them to. I could see it being kinda close through the half, but I think Michigan will really struggle to score and Bama's O-Line should wear down Michigna's D as the game goes on.
the badgers have been running a variation of the same offense since the late 90's. but someone was taking these kids and teaching them great technique for offensive line play.
wisconsin's head coach is intensely disliked by the big ten media, and for good reaeson as the guy is a jerk, so other teams in teh league get hyped over wisconsin. i am not complaining because brett has earned this all on his own. i would feel a bit better if he could avoid getting outcoached in rose bowls but i didn't get a vote on the pick
notre dame is a joke of a program. beating that team is nothing
They had an awful new QB last year too.
Harvey, one of my good friends is a diehard Badgers fan. My impression from him was the before Chryst, the Badgers could always run the way they do. But Chryst added effective QB play (of course, it depends on the week I asked my friend about the QB play). Both Wilson and the guy before Wilson (Tolzien?) had great years under Chryst and I'm under the impression those were some of the better years ever put up by a Wisky QB. I suppose it may not be fair to give him credit for Wilson's success.
revisionist history.
the guy can coach. but he was not the engine that made things go.
since barry arrived the following have always been true about wisconsin's offense:
--the badgers will run and stick to the run
--the badgers will find guys who can play tight end and be really good at it
--the badgers will struggle at clock management
--the badgers won't commit penalties and won't turn the ball over
--the badgers will struggle with blitzes against teams that can provide legit press coverage at the line
--the badgers will beat you up physically
--the stretch run is their go to play
--all wisconsin qbs must be good at play action or not play
FTFY.
Gholston is pheneomenal, though he's got more than a bit of Vontaze Burfict in him and his brother peaked at age 20. That doesn't make him any less of a kick-ass college player, though. The rest of the team is a bunch of 3-stars that Dantonio has coached-up; they're very good, but it's not "talent" as I think of it (i.e., USC or LSU with a stable of superior athletes waiting to get a turn to play). MSU isn't going to out-talent most of the teams it plays; it wins because Dantonio has the guys playing balls-out and knows how to coach D. IMO.
Also, citing to a Stew Mandel column is the Godwin's Law of CFB debates.
the big ten's overall quality stinks. folks need to grasp that basic fact
this. I do think this might be a bottoming out though. Doesn't mean the conference will turn it around over night, but tOSU and UM at the very least do have some good things going for it. PSU and IU, that's going to be an interesting prop. on who wins more over the next decade. I'd still bank on PSU.
My alma mater has been spinning wheels for awhile, though they did stop the Callahan bleeding faster than I thought. As long as they have a WR playing QB, they won't be ready for prime time. Pelini's gonna start feeling some more heat. Lincoln is the ultimate fish bowl in college football, the amount of coverage and attention paid to the program is off the charts for a college program (granted small state). Expectations are outsized at this time. The idea that they can resume the standard like they had from '93-'01 is myopic.
I only pick MSU, because I'm convinced the Ms and N division is going to end with a 3 way tie and they'll get it and then simply beat UW in Indy based on a guess. Agree, UW lost more than PC, plus they have a new QB, the idea that it is plug and play for O'brien isn't fair to him, he's not Wilson. BTW: will there be a bigger stunner if a team other than UW wins the other division?
do not underestimate brett's ability to not exploit an advantage.
I agree that they aren't USC or LSU, but in the Big Ten, they are as good a D as there is in the conference and while they are coached up, as all Dantonio teams are, there's also some significant talent. I wouldn't be surprised if both Michigan and Ohio State have more raw talent on that side of the ball, but for now MSU is the best combination of talent and experience.
I don't know whether you think much of the ESPN Big Ten analysts but ESPN's Top 25 Players in The Big Ten has two MSU linebackers plus Adams and I assume eventually Gholston. By my count, only Purdue and Illinois have two defensive players listed, no one else has more than one (yet). So I may have overstated when I said a ton of talent, but they've got more experienced playmakers on that side of the ball than any of their conference opponents.
Also, citing to a Stew Mandel column is the Godwin's Law of CFB debates.
Never heard that before. I personally like Mandel, he's not the best analyst in the world but he's an entertaining writer.
every time michigan state faced a team with a real offense michigan state gave up a ton of yards and points.
I don't think anyone is ready to pick a Big Ten in the championship game, or probably even in a BCS game unless they get the ACC champ again. Maybe in a couple of years when Hoke gets Michigan really going and Meyer has been at OSU enough to get his program up. But for now, I feel comfortable saying MSU has the best defense in the conference. I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan or OSU passes them by during the season, but going into the year, I think they have a significant edge there.
No one's denying this - the question is whether they have a defense good enough to survive an offense that looks terrible. They're not going to pitch shutouts at UM or Wisc. They need to score points. And they're not in Wisc's cripple-fight division, so while the B1G as a whole is weak, MSU actually has some competition and is facing the two best teams on the schedule (IMO, YMMV w/r/t ND) on the road.
Well, to be fair, Notre Dame sucks.
MSU's defense was pretty good last year. They thoroughly dominated Michigan last year even though they were super-dirty (Gholston being one of many culprits).
I don't know how interesting it is, but Auburn has what appears to me at least as tough schedule - 5 games against the preseason Top 15.
Schedule 2012
Date Opponent Result / Time
9/1 vs. 14 Clemson 6:00 CT
9/8 at Mississippi State 11:00 CT
9/15 vs. Louisiana-Monroe 11:21 CT
9/22 vs. 3 LSU TBA
10/6 vs. 10 Arkansas TBA
10/13 at Mississippi TBA
10/20 at Vanderbilt TBA
10/27 vs. Texas A&M TBA
11/3 vs. New Mexico State TBA
11/10 vs. 6 Georgia TBA
11/17 vs. Alabama A&M TBA
11/24 at 2 Alabama TBA
great defenses at least play well against event the best offenses. they don't get rolled like the town drunk by a bunch of 15 years old being mean
give me a break.
and i am not extolling wisconsin's positives. i am mocking the notion that msu is anything but the tallest midget.
Big 12: West Virginia
Big East: Louisville
Big Ten: Michigan St.
PAC-12: Oregon
SEC: Alabama
National title game: Alabama defeats Oregon
I think Denard is probably a bit too effective to be called a terrible QB. He's a terrible pro style QB no doubt, but causing defensive breakdown allowing for easy floater type passes to be completed is a virtue in itself.
As far as MSU's defense, everyone but LSU and Alabama got taken apart at least once last year. Bit of a harsh standard.
If that were true, Borges wouldn't have moved Devin Gardner to WR.
But 4 of the 5 are @ Auburn - nice draw, that.
and giving up all the points to georgia?
beating up on big 10 wimps does not impress
here is the box score link
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=320020061
i will refrain from any sarcasm
Big 12: Texas
Big East: Boise State
Big 10: Wisconsin
Pac 12: USC
SEC: Alabama
Championship: Alabama over USC
The Pac-12 is extremely annoying, because it's fairly difficult to see how the loser of Oregon/USC will lose a game.
It's also annoying that there are 3 Big 10 teams and 2 ACC schools ranked above UT.
Oregon (or USC, if they were to lose to Oregon) drops 40+ against whomever wins the Big 10.
Probably the only real chance would be in a rematch.
And I do like how still losing a game in which the other QB was gladly turning the ball over is "beating [them] up". 15 points came on a safety, a punt return, and 2 drives that totaled negative 8 yards. Michigan State's defense did not give "up all the points"
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