Fisking the ESPN Prestige Rankings

ESPN has put together a "prestige ranking" of all the I-AA college football programs. "ESPN's Prestige Rankings are a numerical method of ranking the best FBS college football programs since the 1936 season." Obviously, this is more of an exercise that is just for fun and not to be taken too seriously. But at times, I like to take frivolous things more seriously. It's the nerdy statistician in me. So let's take a look at what they did and where they may have erred.

Their system:
National Title: 25 points
Major bowl berth: 10
Major bowl win: 10
Conference Championship: 10
AP Top 5 Finish: 10
AP 6-10 Finish: 6
AP 11-25 Finish: 4
Heisman Winner: 8
Bowl Appearance: 3
Bowl Win: 3
10-win Season: 2
Week as AP #1: 2
Win over AP #1: 1
Each All-American: 1
First Round NFL Pick (since 1970): 1
Losing season: -2
TV Ban year: -1
Bowl Ban year: -2
Probation year: -1
Financial-aid Penalty year: -1
Recruiting Penalties year: -1
Each penalty of "show cause action:" -2

What they definitely got right:

• 25 points for a National Title is dead on.
• They handled the conference championship perfectly, and have the right amount of points on it (see their page for details or just trust me).
• 8 points for a Heisman trophy is probably right. Perhaps it could go to 10, but it is a major aspect of the sport, even if you disagree with it.
• The AP finish rankings are pretty much perfect.
• When it comes to one point for each All-American, you could debate that this isn't important and that team success should supersede everything. But everywhere I went, the great players were integral to the thoughts and feelings that everyone expressed to me. At LSU, I heard no less than 40 renditions of Billy Cannon's punt return vs. Ole Miss. Even the youngest Dawgs wanted to discuss Herschel Walker's amazing freshman season. Tommie Frazier could run for governor of Nebraska one day and win in a landslide. When talking about prestige, certainly the great players who made the great plays matter. Do offensive linemen really belong in this category? Maybe not, but to keep the methodology consistent, you have to include them.

What they got wrong:

• Including points for a 10-win season is very problematic. It inherently means less than it used to, thanks to the additional games on the schedule and the fact that those additional games are almost exclusively facing the weakest competition available. I don't think that beating Georgia Southern really improved Georgia's prestige any, but it did get them to 10 wins this season. Furthermore, it shouldn't be included because it is redundant with all the other measures. In statistics, it's akin to what we'd call an overspecified model.
• Including each week ranked as the AP#1 and giving it two points, yet counting a victory over the AP#1 with only one point seems totally backwards to me. Alabama held their #1 ranking the week they beat Mississippi State. Did that really add to the program's prestige in any way? The sport of College Football is inherently about the big moments. And there is no bigger moment in the sport than taking down the #1 team in the country. This should be worth 10 points on its own. Just ask Texas Tech fans. Crabtree's touchdown against #1 Texas trumps any prestigious moment in the history of the program and will until they win the conference (and even then, there will be some who argue that this was bigger).
• Strength of Schedule is basically absent outside of the one point for taking down the AP #1. It's a part of the game (well, it used to be anyway). I realize it would be hard to include this, but the "big games" are important. Perhaps including nationally televised broadcasts would have been good (though quite unfairly skewed as well). Or at least a point for every win over an AP ranked team.
• First round NFL Pick doesn't belong here. Does Ryan Leaf's NFL experience add to the prestige of Washington State? He was chosen 3rd overall. Also, since it only goes back to 1970, it will skew the data to more recent success. ESPN still has trouble understanding that the two sports are not the same. Also it's relatively redundant with the All Americans.

What's missing?

• Part of a program's prestige has always been wrapped up in its all-time great coaches. Can you think of Ohio State without Woody Hayes? Or Alabama without Bear Bryant? It would not have been hard to include points for any coach that was with a school for at least ten years and had at least a .700 winning percentage. For Penn State, give Paterno credit for each decade of tenure.
• Because their system goes season by season, there is nothing for all-time records. For most fans, this certainly plays into the argument for the prestige of their school. It would not have been hard to include a certain number of points for every 100 wins all time. Yes, there would be some redundancy, so perhaps this is not needed.
• Nothing for attendance? Shouldn't Miami should be penalized for their lousy fan base? Fans are a part of the game, too, and certainly affect the prestige of a program.

1936?
They actually address this issue, saying:

The AP poll was introduced that season, making it the first time the longest-standing news organization in the United States began ranking teams and crowning a national champion. Starting in 1937, the NCAA began recognizing "major college programs" (now known as the FBS). To accrue points, a program had to be recognized as one of these major programs by the NCAA.

This is a curious decision to me. When we are talking about "prestige", that doesn't precisely equate with "history", but they're certainly related. To begin in 1936 is to begin after the death of Knute Rockne. In these rankings, we have no Four Horsemen, no Red Grange, none of the "point a minute" Fielding Yost teams, and none of the great Army teams from that era. However, all these seasons matter to many fans today, and are talked about specifically in terms of prestige. Go to South Bend sometime and see if nobody quotes Grantland Rice to you. I promise you it's not possible.

The omission of all early seasons will knock down Michigan and Notre Dame at the least. Perhaps this is by design? As I learned on the road last season, Notre Dame is universally resented around the nation. Michigan is coming off a down year. They have two of the most active internet fan bases and will surely be irate about a lower ranking, causing them to talk about this endeavor that much more. Uhh... kinda like I'm doing right now. It seems like their rationale here doesn't really meet with the overall goal of the project, so I find myself skeptical about the decision. I mean, shouldn't Michigan beating Stanford 45-0 in the very first bowl game add to its prestige a bit? We'll see how things net out as they reveal 1-10 over the next two days. So far, #s 11-119 feel pretty accurate.

Overall, these rankings make a lot more sense in the pre-BCS, pre-horrendous scheduling era. If anything, they point out how much of the tradition has eroded in the last ten years. If I had to bet, my money would be on Nebraska or Oklahoma to take the title. Those "bonus" scholarship players and years of beating up on the other 6 teams in their conference are going to pile up the points.

Like Sands Through the Hourglass

It feels like so many aspects of college football have been changing lately. It's been over a year since I finished my big journey, and in that time, we've become acquainted with so many new names, teams, and rules. A few weeks ago, the folks from Stone Station made their annual trek to Salem, VA for the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. In 2007, even though my itinerary was complete, I decided to brave the winter weather and make an extra road trip to Virginia at their invitation. Obviously, that would have been darn near impossible from Buenos Aires this season. I chose to only be there in spirit.

Hmmmm. These teams look familiar.

At Auburn, the richest boosters finally got rid of Tommy Tuberville, and not because he nearly trampled me at the Iron Bowl. Apparently, Tommy never licked the right boots in Auburn, but as the trees at Toomer's Corner were loaded with toilet paper, no one in attentance could have imagined that he'd be gone a year later.

Tommy's second-to-last Iron Bowl

Meanwhile, across the nation, everyone from Barack Obama to the lowliest intern at ESPN has been weighing in on whether we need a playoff. Blah blah blah. So maybe things haven't changed so much. Actually, my opinion has been altered a bit since I wrote about the topic last time, partly due to my interview with Lloyd Carr. His main point - right now, we're deciding a champion, but not letting it be decided by what happens on the field. And that's pretty right, especially to fans who today happen to be in Austin and South Central.

Still, I can't help but be filled with uneasy trepidation about the topic. When at Wisconsin, I interviewed a man named Ken Simmons who'd played for the Badgers as a walk-on. He'd been a part of the team during their only winning season between 1963 and 1981 when they managed a 7-4 record in 1974. Decades later, he was able to see his son walk on and a daughter play for the softball team. He continues to work with the athletic department. Like many veterans of the game, he held a long perspective on things. The last thing he said to me in our interview was "Look at why there is the passion there is for college football. You don’t want to change that a whole lot. I think that’s why they’re moving as slowly as they are."

Not Ken Simmons

Over at SI.com, Stewart Mandel recently recounted the story of his first trip to the Rose Bowl. It was a visceral reminder of mine two years later. That's a tale I've planned to tell in this space for a while now. I hope to share it soon. Needless to say, it was one of the highlights of my life. The point is, so many of the people who offer their expert opinion on bowls, playoffs, and championships don't really know anything about college football. It's not the NFL. And in fact, that's a big part of why we like it.

Clearly the BCS isn't working. We were told it would provide a definitive answer on the National Championship. Like many newfangled doo-dads, it failed to deliver on its promises, but we all should have known they were too good to be true. Now fans are left with unattainable expectations. One day, the NCAA will institute a playoff. It is inevitable in the long run. But since they have totally botched the BCS since its inception, do we have any faith in the idea that they won't completely botch a playoff, too? The BCS is terrible, but it's still better than a wrong playoff would be. 16 teams? Welcome to the NFL minor league. As Ken said, if they're not careful, they could ruin the game completely. With ESPN and Fox having as much control as they do, it's more fragile than you think. Besides, if the NCAA isn't going to address the issue of cupcake non-conference scheduling, then I don't trust them to tackle this with the good of the game in mind either.

When you see the games live and in person, you catch a lot more than you can over TV. That's just the way it is. It's how I was able to identify Ohio State's weaknesses on defense just days before Illinois exploited them last year. But when you can't see the games at all, it's like you're watching everything underwater, depending on blogs and youtubes and choppy Slingbox connections to capture the moments for you. You're that much farther removed. That's how this season has been for me. Honestly, I miss Saturday. And whatever changes occurred were far away. With Michigan this year, maybe it was for the best. But it's still my favorite sport, the game I can't get enough of. It's been hard not to be close to it after my year "on the ground." But with a National Championship(ish?) game to be played tonight, let's just pause a second to remember how special it is. No amount of controversy, even it comes via executive signing statement from the White House, can trample that.

Mike Slive Interview

In some ways on this past season, I felt like William Miller in Almost Famous. Not only was I touring the nation, I was able to see sports at a level I never expected. This included press box seating near such big names as Stewart Mandel, Roy Kramer, and Barry Alvarez. It even included a head coach inviting me over to his house for breakfast, but you’ll have to wait for the book to hear that tale. Several months ago, I was fortunate enough to interview SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. Below is an excerpt of our conversation. Remember that this project of mine was always focused on the fans, so that’s the nature of the majority of these questions. To be sure, I could have pressed him on a few of these issues and wish I had done more of that. Here's what he had to say.

How would you describe the typical SEC football fan?
There’s no such thing. I think more about the fans as a group than I do as individuals, and I think they share common characteristics. When I think of an SEC fan, I think of loyalty, passion, knowledge, concern and abiding interest in their institution and in their athletic programs. And it matters not whether they’re graduates. A fan base is made up of people from all walks of life. People with all different backgrounds.

One of the things I’ve often watched and really marveled at and enjoyed is the fact that in our league, our institutions and athletic programs have a definite family orientation. It’s not unusual to see three generations of a family attend, for example, a football game together You often see Mom and Dad, children and grandma and grandpa. And you realize that it wasn’t long ago that the grandma and grandpa were mom and dad. And before that, they were the children. The family shares an experience – they look forward to it as part of their family rituals, family events, family life cycle events. It’s always very heartwarming when you walk through a stadium and you see that.

Coaches salaries seem to be increasing at a rapid rate. What do you think about that?
I approach it first from the point of view that the conference or the NCAA can’t control salaries by law. The last time the NCAA tried to do that, they settled a case for 53 million dollars. There isn’t anything we can do about it. These are institutional decisions and have been driven by the marketplace for coaches, which is impacted by the NFL and also by the importance of success at all of these institutions. I am concerned about increasing costs, of which salaries are a part, and the ability for revenue to keep pace with the cost. So yes, it’s a concern as an overall part of the health. As I understand, the number for salaries is about 3% of an institution’s overall budget and that hasn’t changed in 15 years. The visibility has made it a significant issue. I think our presidents have been looking at this issue. They are subsidizing athletics.

In the final analysis, what’s the nature of the question – are we asking whether or not it’s a fiscal issue, moral issue. Given the way athletic departments are required to fund themselves by our major institutions and to the extent that football revenue can support 20 other sports. Should a president make more than a football coach? In a perfect world yes, in the way intercollegiate athletics has grown up as an auxiliary enterprise w/o university funding, the generation of that income becomes imperative.

Being commissioner, is it harder to be a fan?
This is my standard answer. When I go to a conference game, I’m neutral – I just hope the officiating goes well. During bowl games, I become a fan. The anxiety that one feels in being a fan is hell. Because it’s exciting and fun, but it’s a very different experience for a commissioner when a team is playing a national championship game versus a conference game. You just become a fan.

Regarding the playoff debate, does the SEC have an official position?
In our annual spring meeting, our presidents met, and last year when Dr. Matching brought up the concept – our presidents and chancellors talked about it. They overwhelmingly said that they were not interested in a playoff, but at that time authorized Dr. Kian at Ole Miss and me to explore other formats in the context of the BCS. Our exploration has been more in the area of a plus one within the context of the BCS.

When I ask fans what they wish was different about the game, the only complaint on which everyone agreed was the way non-conference games keep getting less and less competitive. This came up again and again. What’s your take on the issue?
I have been outspoken from here, not having to coach these teams and not having to produce the revenue – it has always been my hope that we will play more significant inter-conference games on a home and home basis for the fans, and selfishly for the conference because the more high quality home-and-home games that we play gives us much better inventory to negotiate with when it comes to talking with television. With a home-and-home, every other year gives us a better schedule for our television folks. Right from the beginning when we went to twelve games, it has been my goal to improve the non-conference schedules. That’s one issue where I totally agree.

When I was at Tennessee, a couple of fans suggested that we create an SEC-Big Ten Challenge, similar to the ACC-Big Ten challenge in basketball. Take one weekend early in the season and match up home-and-homes with the strongest teams playing one another. Then switch the teams every two years. Is there any chance we can get this to happen?
I have heard such a suggestion before, and the positives are very clear. It is an interesting idea, one we would look at, but at first blush some of the obstacles may be insurmountable.

What do you like best about college football?
Oh boy, I like a lot of things about it. There’s just the same experience you have. When you drive up to a stadium and feel the pulse and the excitement and see the tailgating and the recreational vehicles and the colors and the anticipation, and in our league, the stadiums are full, the weather’s usually good. The anticipation is great. And the games have been fabulous in our league. They’re so competitive and so unpredictable. There’s something special about a football weekend, the Friday night leading up to it, the Saturday game. Also the institution is the focus of attention. It’s a rallying point for alumni, friends, and administrators. There are so many offshoots of the game itself that can be very positive for the institution. That’s really a very difficult atmosphere to duplicate in other sports and at other level of competition.

Do you have a favorite memory?
It’s hard to duplicate winning the National Championship two years in a row and being on the field and being on the podium and sharing the excitement. But I will tell you this, that’s exciting, but it’s no more exciting than that same experience at the SEC championship game. Our championship game has all the same trappings of the NC game. Same, if not more intense fan support b/c it’s both our teams. It’s sold out in the wintertime before anybody knows who’s playing. Our people will tell you it’s as good as any bowl game if not better. It’s as good as any NC game. Sharing with them the other ecstasy and sense of accomplishment that they feel at that moment.

Looking Back, Part II

Of course I meant to have this up earlier, but things have been extremely busy 'round here at Road Games HQ. A couple weeks ago, I covered some of the highlights of the season's visits, accomplishments, and experiences, handing out awards for various categories. So let's keep it rolling. Remember, whenever possible, these are based completely on the thoughts of the fans I encountered and not my own opinions.

Most arrogant fans
I was nervous when I visited Ohio State. Nervous because they tend not to look kindly upon people who graduated from that school up north. My concern was enhanced by the fact that nearly every place I went, fans relayed their Buckeye horror stories. I decided that I would have an "ask and I'll tell" policy regarding the site of my education. The funny thing was, I had nothing to worry about. Not one person asked me about it the entire weekend. This was a major surprise. Every place I visited had its share of bragging and arrogance, but in Columbus, they took this to another level. They were #1 in the country at the time, but the fact that they weren't the least bit interested in any other programs speaks volumes. People treated me as nicely as they did anywhere else, but a certain air of superiority was present, particularly with the older fans. At the end of the weekend, I concluded that not only are the they most arrogant folks around, they'd be proud to hear me say so.

#33 looks hungry - and is apparently the TV Title Holder.

Hottest Girls
I should preface this award by stating that there is a clear correlation between the calendar and attractiveness of the women. Tennessee didn't fare all that well in this category, but because it was an 11:30 am kickoff late in the season the deck was stacked against them. (And people kept claiming it was cold. Clearly none of them have lived through a Chicago winter.) Furthermore, the excitement of a home opener seems to bring out the latest sundress technology. While I was extremely impressed by the talent on display at Georgia, USC, Texas, LSU and even Michigan (in freezing cold weather!), Clemson took the cake for me. Maybe it was just 'cause it was my first southern football game, or maybe I spent enough time with the right sororities, but there's a reason SIOC kept using this picture over and over again:

I have no idea what these girls' names are.

Loudest Fans
This is without question LSU. Clemson folks proudly claim that they have the loudest decibel rating on record. That may be the case, but I've never heard anything quite like that LSU crowd. They beat Virginia Tech 48-7, and screamed relentlessly right up to the last seconds ticking off the clock. Kids, old folks, boys and girls all got into the act. My favorite moment was when they showed the Alabama score and the nine year old kid sitting behind me hollered, "I HATE NICK SAYBAHN!" His four year old brother added, "I hate Nick Saybahn, too."Drunkest Fans
The oft-heard cheer goes, "When you say Wiiiiiisconsin, you've said it all." That the brief chant is taken from a Budweiser commercial is only fitting. Well, kinda. They brew Bud in St. Louis not Milwaukee. But anyway, when Wisconsin hosted Iowa in their Big Ten opener, I was blown away by the raw amount of drunkenness on display, particularly by the students. People party at games all across the country, but nobody drinks more aggressively than the students in Madison. It was named Playboy's #1 party school in the country for a reason. I mean, look at how this guy ended up:

That's right. They were playing Iowa.

Best Marching Band
With all due respect to the Wisconsin band and their festive fifth quarter, they didn't manage to win this award. As mentioned in my post the other day, I love fight songs more than ever, and have an even greater appreciation for the sweat these often unrecognized college kids put in every week of the fall. Almost all the bands sounded great and blasted their exhortations with verve. But one did manage to outdo the others. The kids at Ohio State don't just get the crowd whipped into a frenzy, they high-step their way with such technical precision that it appears they are all operating with the same brain. It's truly a thing of beauty. So congrats to the Buckeye band, even if you did get the Script Ohio idea from Michigan.

Best Beef
The most oft-heard phrase in Lincoln at stop #4 was "Tommie Frazier," but right behind that was "corn-fed beef." I had my fair share of red meat that day, but nothing compared to Vaughan Blum's steak sandwiches. He and his compatriots brought 300 pounds of steak and freshly baked french rolls. It was enough to feed the whole team! Tasty, delicious, and succulent all at once, it will always be one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Lincoln.
Best Individual Item I Ate
Believe me, I have never had a time where I was consistently treated to more quality eats in my life. At nearly every stop, people who had labored hard over their best outdoor culinary efforts brought a smile to my lips and warmth to my belly. I am surprised by my choice for this award, but I have to admit, there is one particular item that stands out to this day. I can still recall every detail of its flavor and texture and how absolutely glorious it was. No surprise that it was likely the least healthy thing I consumed. However, the fact that it was served in a cardboard racecar I could never have predicted. That item was deep fried cookie dough procured at the State Fair of Texas. Hot, sweet, and rich with chocolaty goodness, it surpassed all expectations.

I could see in its eyes that this turkey would have loved a taste.

Least Friendly Fans
I don't want to be misinterpreted here, because everywhere I went, I was met with politeness. But outside of the gang at the Beershoes tailgate, the University of Washington tailgates were a series of nice, but somewhat reserved folks. It was easily the hardest I had to work over the course of this trip, and even after I nudged my way into parties, people were not all that forthcoming with information. Everyone was very nice, but they didn't even seem that interested in neighboring tailgates. The fans are every bit as passionate there. I am told by friends in the know that it's simply how things are in Seattle.

These guys were awesome, though.

Prettiest Campus
Let me be clear, I didn't go to a single ugly campus (well, OK, the Rutgers Piscataway campus is considerably dumpy, but New Brunswick has a rustic, urban-lite charm). Clemson, nestled in the Appalachian hills, Georgia, with its pretty downtown section, Notre Dame, particularly by the grotto, Tennessee, the Hill on the river, Bridgewater, with its quaint small-town charm, and Wisconsin, perched on two lakes all left lasting impressions. But USC really takes things to a whole new level. The surrounding area is a typical Los Angeles urban environment (read: GTA San Andreas). But the campus itself has clearly had truckloads of money poured into it. From the Romanesque facades to the perfectly manicured greens and flower beds, it was unlike any other campus I visited. No wonder they get all those recruits.

This is a school? Looks like the Hearst mansion.

Best Scotch
"Shag" Shaugnessy, Harvard alum and team captain from 1958, tailgates at every Crimson home game. After the team dispatched Princeton, he arrayed a series of bottles of the good stuff under his tent. I can't recall which brand I sampled, but it was excellent. The most memorable moment happened when he tried to get a senior student to give it a taste. The young man couldn't handle the intensity and returned to his Miller Lite.

Shag holds court at postgame.

Random thing that brought the biggest smile to my face
As it turned out, nearly all the games I hit ended up being evening kickoffs, and at the Iron Bowl, that meant extra time to party. At one point, I crossed paths with a family rounding a corner between tailgate lots. Straggling behind was grandma, looking a tad disoriented and holding in a small plastic cup the Auburn blue remnants of the jello shot she had clearly just consumed. I can't begin to describe how happy this made me.

Didn't get a photo of grandma. These cheerleaders made me smile, too.

My favorite "from the car" photo
I'm going to have an upcoming posting that's all photos and captions because I have so many good ones. But this is the only one I tried to make artistic. I thought it turned out pretty well, no?

My favorite game photo
My camera certainly showed its prowess at capturing the beauty of coeds around the nation. But action shots were where it faltered a bit. There were many decent ones, but I dig this shot from the Red River Shootout the most. Nobody's really moving yet, but you see some horns in the air and can imagine how much more difficult it was for Oklahoma's offense to deal with crowd noise at this end of the stadium.
Best game I saw in person
Before the trip began I of course envisioned seeing upsets or dramatic finishes every week. But that's just not how college football works. Your expectations are often dashed (just ask all the fine folks I met in Lincoln before USC's offensive line put the hurt on 'em). Still, I was able to catch my fair share of quality contests: FSU/Clemson, Iowa/Wisconsin, USC/Washington, Rutgers/South Florida, and Florida/Georgia were all competitive and exciting in their own regard. But nothing compared to the drama and thrills of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. When Justin Beaver scampered for 70 yards to seal the upset and National Championship with just minutes to play, I have to admit, I lost my mind a bit (and joyously hollered the word "Beaver!" over and over again). It was a tremendous way for me to finish the season. Check out these highlights if you don't believe me.

Most Satisfying Experience
Gosh, here's where I get humble and proud at the same time. I can't remember if I've written this before, but on my way home from the west coast - after the USC game, I had a somewhat bizarre epiphany somewhere between Salt Lake City and Cheyenne. It was before the nasty weather pummeled me across the plains. I thought about all the fun I'd had, and all the sights I'd seen, and all the people I'd met - old friends and new. I became a bit overwhelmed. Maybe it was the first time I had a moment to step back and think about the big picture. I can think about all the games and all those people - every hilarious comment, generously donated beverage, and comfortable home. But I guess what this trip has truly given me above anything else is a renewed appreciation for my country. The stunning sites we have to visit are only surpassed by all the wonderful people that call this place home. I have always known this, but now I really get it. Now it's a part of me. I can't pinpoint any one moment that sums this up (though if you could put the Grand Canyon, screaming LSU fans, Shag's Scotch collection, a pile of barbecue, and Tiger Rag in the living room of my college house, you'd be a third of the way there). I guess what I'm saying is, thank you to everyone I met along the way. It was the most exciting time of my entire life and I owe you all a lot more than the feeble praise I write in this space.

One last thing I want to mention today. I came across a blog of another guy who's doing a cross-country trip. His name is Daniel, an Army veteran who lost his right arm in Afghanistan. Check out his blog here. A bit more inspiring than my journey, perhaps, but I know at the end of his road, he'll surely have many of the same feelings I do.

I'll have at least one very big announcement here very soon, but I'm not tipping my hand on it just yet. Until then, I keep sparring with my own prose, doing my best to put together something people will want to read. Shoot me a note if it's been a while or ya just want to say hello.

Blogger Awards

For anyone who writes one, it is a commonly held belief that blogging is its own reward. It won't make you famous. It likely won't earn you any money. It certainly won't get you any chicks. I can personally attest that this is all true.

However, the one thing it may get you is the admiration of your peers. The community of college football bloggers is one that is supportive and friendly. I was able to experience this as well as anyone while out on the road. I once again urge you to visit the Friends of the Program at the top right. For the second year in a row, the community is trying to honor bloggers who gave it their all this season and produced tears of laughter, empathy, or just plain insightful content. Full detail of this endeavor can be found here. Readers are encouraged to submit nominations for any college football blogs, and Brian has set up an easy-to-use gizmo. Please don't get the gizmo wet or feed it after midnight. Also, do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.

Without further ado, here are the Road Games nominations for the 2007 CFBA:

Funniest Blog
Danny Ford is God - Totally irreverent and partisan in the best possible way. They'll hate on the opponent's mascot if they have to. "Dumb Shit on Tigernet" is an excellent ongoing feature, and they always manage to dig up ridiculous random hilarity like this, this, and unfortunately this.

Also, Every Day Should Be Saturday for all the obvious reasons (though they're not eligible as they won the category last year).

Best Community
d3football.com - I am sure that most D-I blogs have not given D-III much thought beyond Trinity's 15 lateral astonishing finish. However, if there is any justice, d3football.com will win this award going away. Their Post Patterns message board is one of the main ways that fans around the country get news on other teams. There is no D-III Sportscenter, after all. I spoke above about the blogging community being a brotherhood of sorts. The same could be said for D-III football fans. Post Patterns is merely a starting place for many of them. Long-term friendships have followed. Lucky for me, I was able to attend this year's Stagg Bowl, the D-III championship game, and met scores of fans who wouldn't have been there if it weren't for the message boards. It's a whole different level of community.

Nine teams are represented in this photo alone

Best Youtube
I have to go with Autumn Thunder's Mike Hart for Heisman video. Cracked me up again and again, especially the shot of him holding pizzas.

That and absolutely everything LSU Freek did, wherever the heck he's located.

The Job Award
Midwest Coast Bias has chugged along, continuing to put out quality content and podcasts in the face of the most trying season Nebraska has likely ever endured. Unlike Notre Dame, Nebraska has been completely ignored by the community at large, and with good reason. They've been an awful team this year. But MCB has kept things rolling for the entire decline into irrelevancy. They've covered the ongoing malaise in Lincoln with equal parts incredulity and optimism, always coming with a direct attitude. I don't think anyone's stuck it out better in a worse situation in '07. Cheers to them for soldiering on.

Why We Do This

With preemptive apologies to all the Indiana fans (sorry Joe), check this one out:

(HT: mgoblog)

I love this play more now than I ever did before. In 17 games, I was fortunate to meet passionate people from every corner of this country, all of them in love with this game. Over the course of the season, I became addicted to that passion, especially to the cheers erupting in stadiums on every big play. I miss it already.

When I attended Michigan I of course became a fan as soon as I arrived on campus. This play is way before my time, yet has been in my memory for well over a decade. I happened to watch it again the night before I drove to Ann Arbor. It was my fourteenth game of the season - my personal homecoming. Seeing the play again after everything I'd experienced this year, I latched on to something in the footage I'd never noticed, or at least never cared about. When Anthony Carter scores that touchdown, a fan, security guard or just some random dude in a yellow jacket who was lucky enough to be in the back of that endzone runs over and jumps up and down with him in unbridled euphoria.

I realized that I may get to have that same feeling, for my team this time, the following day. Sadly, Michigan didn't score a touchdown vs. Ohio State, preventing me from the opportunity for even a modest jumping-up-and-down. I'd have to wait until watching the Citrus Bowl on television, which is like so much methadone.

That little guy in the yellow jacket is the reason we even bother. That guy is all of us - at least sometimes. He's why we're in it. He's all over Louisiana right now, and come September 1st, we're all going to be looking for him within ourselves again.

I can't watch this clip nowadays without getting nostalgic. Not for this particular play, but for all the plays. The Michigan ones I saw where I got to be this guy right then and there. The countless ones I watched with random folks from around the country this year. Heck, for all the moments yet to come. That little guy makes everything worthwhile.

Road Games Top 25 Ballot

In this ridiculously crazy season, it’s nearly impossible to come up with a list of the top 25 teams. Actually, it is impossible. But rather than complain about how the AP writers and coaches got things wrong (and there is much to complain about), I thought I would give it a crack myself. My perspective is going to be somewhat unique in that I was actually able to see most of these teams play in person. However, because of that, I rarely got to see the remaining slate of games on any given Saturday. So take everything with a grain of salt. I just found this a unique challenge so I gave it a shot. Note that these rankings are based on season-long performance, not “who would win right now.” Because that would be an exercise in conjecture and inherently debatable.

1) LSU
2) West Virginia
3) Georgia
4) USC
5) Missouri
6) Kansas
7) Ohio State
8) Oklahoma
9) Virginia Tech
10) Oregon
11) Auburn
12) Boston College
13) Texas
14) Cincinnati
15) Clemson
16) Arizona State
17) Michigan
18) Florida
19) Illinois
20) Oregon State
21) Wisconsin
22) Kentucky
23) BYU
24) Texas Tech
25) Penn State

Notes: LSU is the clear number 1. In fact, that is the only clear thing here. They easily performed the best this season. Sure, I was there for the Virginia Tech game, which was a blowout, but there's no other team whose resume comes close. OK, the other clear thing is that Michigan should be ranked ahead of Illinois, no matter what the other polls say.

I was extremely torn on Georgia/WVU. I’d like to call it a tie, but that’s chickening out. It was a very close call. WVU had the better resume by a whisker in my opinion.

I may be penalizing USC a bit because I saw them play three times and they never looked that strong to me in any of the games. That and they lost to Stanford. They were unfortunately given a bowl opponent who had no business in the BCS, so they didn’t truly have an opportunity to be tested like other teams. Same could be said for Georgia, actually. It’s not their fault, but there’s also nothing we can do about it.

Handling the Big 12 top three is more impossibility. Oklahoma doesn’t deserve a top ranking based on their season, and they only looked so-so when I saw them beat Texas. But they beat Missouri two times. I eventually opted to treat each team’s opponents as faceless entities and ended up with what you see. An argument could be made any which way, and they’d all be correct. And all wrong, too.

Normally I don’t believe in it, but because this year has so much randomness, I gave a few teams benefit of the doubt in injury situations. This includes Michigan (ranked above Wisconsin) and Oregon (ranked as highly as they are).

Whither Hawaii? They squeaked by again and again this season. Had they put up a fight against Georgia, they’d have made the list. But they didn’t. Strongest win for them this year was beating 4-9 Washington thanks to a fluke carom at the end of regulation. I believe any of the above teams would have easily beaten them at any point in the season.

Disagree? Comment away. I may even revise if the arguments are compelling enough.

In Defense of the Bowl System

It is officially the season of the outraged interloper in college football. Pundits from all corners of the sports journalism profession love to spend their holidays complaining about the game so many of us hold dear. Whether they have written about or discussed the game at any point during the season is irrelevant and it’s time for everyone to jump on their soapbox. Permit me a moment to climb atop mine.

At the end of the most surprising and remarkable year on record, many have claimed that the bowl matchups leave much to be desired and that playoff brackets are the only solution. Even my friends over at SI.com devoted a series of columns addressing this supposedly broken system. Several weeks ago, they stated that pretty much every college football fan in the nation can agree on at least one thing: The BCS needs a makeover. What followed was an online symposium on how to fix it. But I must beg the question, how broken is this system?

First of all, we do have a playoff. It is a one game, two team playoff for which all I-A teams are eligible. As many people have pointed out, no matter where you draw the line, someone will gripe about their relative worth, saying they deserved to be above the cut line. The greater the number of teams included in a playoff, the more teams can reasonably argue that they belong. The BCS is now ten years old. In those ten years, there has been one and only one team that had a legitimate gripe at their exclusion. In 2004, Auburn went undefeated and finished third. Every other team that was “shut out” lost a game somewhere along the way. If they wanted to point fingers, honest people would have to start with themselves. Did Auburn “get screwed”? Probably. One can only assume they would have fared better against USC than Oklahoma did. But at least their fans didn’t have to sit through Ashlee Simpson’s halftime performance. Small consolation, I know. Adding even two more teams to the mix makes choosing the participants that much more complicated. If there were four this year, who would the other two be? Virginia Tech, USC, Georgia, Hawaii, Oklahoma, Kansas…? You get my point.

Due to its remarkable nature, this season should not be used to make any long-term decisions. That said, didn’t the BCS get it right? Does anyone really have a clear case ahead of the two teams we ended up with? Ohio State lost by one score to an (ahem) BCS bowl-bound team. LSU lost two games in triple overtime and has some pretty darn good wins on their resume. An argument for any other team would require some rather tortured logic.

Both SI.com and ESPN.com had a users “pickoff” where they set up playoff brackets and had people choose who would win hypothetical games. On SI.com, USC defeated Oklahoma. ESPN had the Sooners winning. Let’s say that this is what actually occurred. USC would have become the only team in college football history to win a national championship despite having lost a game at home in which they were favored by 42 points. Oklahoma's resume is hardly championship caliber either. My point is that allowing more teams a crack at ultimate victory is a fundamental change to a sport that has been awarding titles for over 100 years. To institute a playoff with more than two teams means that we are no longer awarding the title to the team that has had the best season, but rather the one that has had a good enough season and is playing the best at the end of the year. Like them or not (and most of you don’t like them), USC is not a title-worthy team. Not according to what the college football national title has meant for the last century. We’ll come back to this point.

In the course of my travels, I’ve met fans from 24 different I-A programs. I’ve been able to note some overarching trends. Regarding the prospect of playoffs, every single person I spoke with aged 28 and under avowed that “we need a playoff.” Fans 29 and older were split, with roughly 70% of them in favor of the current system and 30% demanding playoffs. (Note: At Auburn, it was pretty much 100% playoffs for obvious reasons.) What can we glean from this? Jon from Tennessee pointed out that when the BCS came into existence, people from the younger group were 18 at the oldest. They have essentially been raised in the era of the BCS. However, they’ve also been raised in the era of outraged interlopers. Have they been brought up as frustrated, tortured fans, or has the media persuaded them to be frustrated? Have they really given the concept proper consideration or are they simply repeating what Skip Bayless and Michael Wilbon have told them? It’s a chicken or egg thing to be sure.

A comment I heard frequently from pro-playoff fans was, “Look at the NCAA basketball tournament. It’s great! Who doesn’t think a football tournament would be great?” Certainly, a bracket full of football teams would be exciting. However, no one ever seem to mention the flip side to that coin. What about the basketball regular season? It’s on right now. Are you watching it? Does any of it matter? Compared to say, Rutgers/South Florida? Are you going to watch the Rutgers/South Florida basketball game this year? March Madness gives us all three weeks of excitement and makes Vegas a fortune. But its impact on the regular season cannot be underestimated. I was at LSU/Virginia Tech in Week 2. If we had an eight-team playoff, that game wouldn’t have really mattered. With the BCS, it served as the Hokies’ elimination. You don’t think that added to the excitement level?

What of the Northwesterns, Arizona States, and South Carolinas? Let’s be realistic. These teams will rarely, if ever make a playoff slate of 16 teams. A bowl game is their goal, and if they somehow make it to New Years Day, they’ve had a heckuva season. With a playoff tournament, the lower-tiered bowls would not only lose the small level of relevance they currently hold, the money for them would shrink to the point where we would lose them. Northwestern would have little to play for and their program would likely dry up. If you believe people would still tune in for bowl matchups, my counterpoint to you would be the NIT. It is completely ignored – a consolation game relevant to no one.

I close by simply stating, this is college football. It is different. Every game matters. It’s the difference that makes it the greatest sport on the planet. With even a four team playoff, Ohio State vs Michigan last year would have been just another rivalry game. Kansas vs Missouri this year would have merely been another border war. Ho hum. Interlopers may not understand that it is precisely what differentiates this sport from the others that makes it so incredible. But that’s because they don’t watch it. Not like we do.

Finally, check out this recent article from the Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein in support of the same argument.

Please feel free to refute, discuss, and argue in the comments section.

Thanks For All The Giving and You're All Wrong

Odometer: 14,436
Location: Cincinnati, OH
States Visited: Ohio

Over the course of this trip, I have found myself extraordinarily grateful for the hospitality so many people have shown me. From tailgaters who share food and drink to athletic departments who provide learned resources for interviews to bloggers who take time out to speak with me. But I am especially grateful for those who have housed me along the way. Nobody has done this more than my aunt and uncle who are quite literally putting me through college. I am currently in the house where I spent every Thanksgiving as a child, and unfortunately have to hit the road on Thursday morning. But again I am fortunate because I am joining Erik and Chrissy in Atlanta for dinner. Actually, they’ve come darn close to matching the care and support that my aunt and uncle have provided. This will be my third trip to visit them in their new digs. So seriously – a sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s helped me so far. I couldn’t have done this without you.

Back to football… Clearly, this is the most surprising college football year on record. The season began with Appalachian State defeating Michigan and hasn’t been normal since. South Florida beat Auburn, Syracuse upended Louisville, Kansas State throttled Texas as Colorado came back to beat Oklahoma, Stanford won at USC, Vanderbilt surprised South Carolina, and now Arizona topples Oregon and Louisiana Monroe beats Alabama. Meanwhile, Mississippi State is decent and Kansas is the lone undefeated major conference team. What are we to make of all this?

The short answer you hear on ESPN and in various other places is parity. It’s the age of parity, right? Historically, college football is the most static sport in terms of who’s good and who’s not. If you looked at the top teams from 50 years ago, you’d get the same list of teams we expect to be good now. There are certainly exceptions, but for the most part, the teams that can win a national title at the start of any given year are Texas, USC, Florida State, etc. As we know all too well, 2007 is not any given year. This is the rarest of years no matter who you ask (and I’ve asked a lot). The conventional wisdom says that this is a new era of college football where parity will reign on into the future.

Not so fast my friend. Instead of this year being about parity, isn’t it possible that the senior class just isn’t that great? Look at the Heisman race. The only seniors involved at any point have been Dennis Dixon, Matt Ryan, and Mike Hart. Two of those players have sustained injures that affected their teams’ success. It is pretty darn clear that Tim Tebow, a sophomore, is going to win the award. In its 70 year history, that has never happened. But let’s delve deeper. The best receiver in the country is a freshman, Michael Crabtree. The best return man is a freshman, Jeremy Maclin. The best running back? Nobody can definitively say, but odds are he’s not a senior. When 2007 is in the books, we’ll look back on a season where a lot of crazy stuff happened, and there wasn’t any dominant team.* This season is an anomaly and not the sign of a larger trend. Many point to the 85 scholarships as the reason for parity, but we’ve been down to 85 for thirteen years now. Would it really take this long for Appalachian State and Stanford to happen?

The truth is, wild upsets happen every single year. It’s one of the reasons we love this game. We’re just not used to so many of them. The word parity is clearly originating from the NFL, where it’s been a goal of the league for some time now. Teams with good records are penalized the following year with a tougher schedule. The best draft picks go to the worst teams. College football still has its pecking order and nothing’s changed that. The top programs get the best recruits. Teams that go to bowl games get an extra month of practice. The major leagues have more money to throw around for better facilities. None of this has changed. With the minor exception of teams like Boise State and Utah making BCS bowls, none of it is going to change. Kansas’ stadium still only holds 46,000 people. Mangino will eventually be hired away to a big name program if his ticker keeps working. And it will all go back to normal, no matter what they think on PTI.

Whether that’s a good thing is certainly debatable. For now, it’s best to appreciate this crazy season because we’re not going to see anything like it ever again. LSU’s just lucky they’re not playing Troy this week. In 2007, no game is a gimmie.

*If Kansas blows out Missouri, Oklahoma and LSU, I will obviously rescind the above comment.

I’m off to the Iron Bowl which does not take place in Pittsburgh. For a brief overview loaded with highlights, I present a man after my own heart:

Roll Tide! War Eagle! And everything else...

The School Up North

Odometer: 13,056
Location: Cincinnati, OH

On one hand, it feels like just yesterday when I spent a quick night here at my aunt and uncle’s house. It was between games at Notre Dame and Clemson just two days into this road trip. On the other, I can’t believe that was even this same season. Just setting out in the world on my own, I was such a different person then… Daylight savings did little for me as I was up very late, reveling in the celebration of a happy couple tying the knot. The shortest drive of my trek was also one of the most arduous due to lack of sleep and a path headed straight toward the setting sun. Fall is well past full on now, and it seems clear that winter will arrive any day now. At least I’m driving south.

Time for me to put my winged hat on for just this one posting. I watched the Ohio State/Wisconsin game from the press box where I spotted such dignitaries as Barry Alvarez (who is very imposing in person) and John Cooper wearing an Ohio State sweater (not imposing in the least). Perhaps I was shirking my duties by not joining the fans, but tickets were extremely hard to come by and I gladly utilized the pass. I’m not a big-time Xs and Os guy, and I’ve never played organized tackle football, but I did watch the game intently. And I firmly believe you can see things in person that are not discernable on a TV broadcast. I’ve seen more Wisconsin football in person than I have any other team (two games). This is my first real look at the Buckeyes, but considering it was one of their two biggest games this season, I gathered a bucketful of insights.

Wisconsin Offense – I think they played their best game, but only for about two and a half quarters. To perform this well with their third-string running back in the game deserves attention. They tried their best to run, but holes were somewhat scarce and while Zach Brown was aggressive, he’s not shifty and had trouble creating his own yardage. Tyler Donovan played a gutty game, getting popped early and often. Upon the first real hit, someone next to me said, “He’s going to get injured in this game,” but he played pretty well throughout, and didn’t force any foolish throws despite constant pressure. Most of his passes were pretty on-target, including a laser to the back of the endzone after a 15-yard penalty pushed them back. The Wisconsin folks around me felt he had one of the best games of his career, so perhaps it was an anomaly – or maybe with an ineffective running game, he simply stepped it up. Note that The Badgers' second-string running back is only suspended for road games, a punishment that seems ridiculous to everyone, regardless of affiliation. If PJ Hill can’t play this week, sophomore Lance Smith-Williams will be taking the handoffs. I know nothing about the guy beyond his suspension issue.

Wisconsin Defense – Their unit which looked merely so-so against an inept Iowa offense is clearly much improved, but still nothing to write home about. Michigan should be able to gain yardage if they can establish a run game. It took Ohio State until late in the third quarter to do so, but I think that was likely for lack of trying. Cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu is the real deal – probably the best DB in the Big Ten. Buckeye receivers under his watch were nearly always blanketed. In the rare instances where they did manage a step on him, only a pinpoint pass would have connected, and Boeckman couldn’t deliver them. Granted, Manningham is likely a tougher cover, Ikegwuonu will definitely take some things away. With some injuries to Wisconsin’s defense (Jason Chapman’s looked particularly bad – he was injured, came back for a couple plays and then had to be helped off the field), pounding the ball up front is probably the way to go.

Wisconsin Summary – Having Mike Hart at our disposal will make a large difference. Wisconsin’s offense has the ability to make plays when necessary – I’d like to see Michigan put this game away early by overpowering the Badger defense, and that just happens to be Mike Hart’s specialty. If he’s not available, that strategy would still be the best option. Early in the game, Ohio State was able to drive for an easy touchdown by spreading their receivers out and winging out passes (let’s all pray that Paul Maguire isn’t there to repeat this fact over and over and over again, not that we need special reason to wish for Maguire’s absence). They quickly made the necessary adjustments and the Buckeye offense was stuck in neutral until late in the third quarter. It’s hard to adjust for a team that’s overpowering you. I think we win, but if Hart is not available, it’ll be a very tough game.

Ohio State Offense – They spread their guys out. Their receivers don’t have the athleticism of those who recently left, but they have sure hands, end up in the right places and make plays. Can Michigan finally handle this strategy? Strong efforts versus Purdue and Illinois would indicate that the defense has turned a corner, but neither of those teams had a tailback as explosive as Beanie Wells. When running free, he is a monster. Michigan can not allow the breakdowns that occurred in last year’s game. I figure he’ll bust free at least once, but Michigan must limit it to just once. Boeckman runs a good offense, generally making good decisions. He’s a big dude and while not speedy, knows when to take off and get yardage. I doubt he will fumble on the run, either. I can’t see Michigan’s defense shutting this unit down. They’re going to score some points, be it on big runs from Wells or dink and dunk short routes from their wideouts. I don’t know exactly what alterations Wisconsin made to change their fortunes in the middle of the game, but English had better take a look and be ready to do something similar. It didn’t last for Wisconsin because Wells ripped through their line for 30-yard touchdown runs on three occasions.

Ohio State Defense – In my opinion, this is where the game will be won for one side or another. Their front seven comes after the QB. I still think that Henne has trouble with pressure, albeit less than he used to. If he can, instead of taking off at the first sign of trouble, buy himself some time and still look downfield, he could have a huge day because… the Wisconsin wideouts were open all day long. I have to think if the Badger receivers can find that much space, Manningham and Arrington are going to be available to Henne provided he has enough time. According to the Wisconsin student newspaper guy sitting next to me, Donovan has been bad about locking into receivers and not checking to find the open ones. But that was not a problem in this game because everyone was open. With their third-string freshman tailback running the ball, I'm not sure anything relevant could be learned about Ohio State's run defense.

Ohio State Summary – Can the offensive line block like they did at the end of the Michigan State game? If so, Michigan has a chance as long as their defense is able to slow down the Buckeye offense. That spread is deadly with a guy like Wells carrying the ball. Michigan is going to have to score a lot of points, but I think they can as long as Henne has some time back there. Emotion is such a big part of college football. This will be the ultimate redemption game for Michigan. Beat their nemesis. Erase the Appalachian State debacle. Be America’s team for just one day (the entire country will be pulling for Michigan in this one). I’m not going to predict that Michigan wins, but I think we have a chance. Playing at home in the greatest rivalry of all time… 2007… up is down… fingers crossed…. I think we’ve got a chance.

It’s a bit hard to tell what to think in sum, particularly because 2007 is the “year where all you know is wrong.” I saw USC take apart a Nebraska team that up to that point had looked pretty good. I thought I had just witnessed an excellent, but flawed team destroy a pretty decent, but flawed team. In hindsight, I saw a decent, but flawed team destroy an awful team. Has Wisconsin improved to the point where they’re pretty good? If so, OSU is great, and we’re likely in big trouble for both games. If Wisconsin is actually a pseudo-fraudulent team that isn’t very good at all, then I like our chances on the 17th. I guess this week’s game in Madison will tell us more about next week’s game as well. Until then – Go Blue!

Black is White, Green is Red, Mauve is Purple

Odometer: 8644
Location: Garland, TX

Seriously, what in God’s green earth is going on this season? If anyone can tell you they know what surprises lay in front of us, they’re lying. All we thought we knew we do not know. One of the many wondrous things about this game is that every season has different stories, different themes, and different heroes. The game will always provide its own drama. For all the glory showered on Boise State’s defeat of Oklahoma last year, no one could have predicted the excitement that game would produce. Those of us who saw it live experienced the icing on the cake of another totally unique year in college football.

Comparisons can be made of different teams, and people can try to apply labels to the story, but they can’t control any of it. The House of Mouse labeled this past weekend “Gutcheck Saturday” and was widely mocked across the internet for doing so. Because they can’t paint a weekend before it happens. For all their talk of gut checks, and despite an intense, fantastic game played by LSU and Florida, the biggest game of the week was one nobody paid mind to until it was over. After seeing USC play twice in person, I’d been telling people that there was no way they would go undefeated. That their wideouts drop too many passes. That their defense can make some plays, but can’t consistently shut opponents down. That the Pac Ten is just too tough for them to run the table this year. But never in a million years did I think they would lose to 41 point underdog Stanford.

A while back, I had a conversation with Brandon from MWCB and he said, “This has been one of the most exciting seasons I’ve seen in my life.” That was two weeks into the season. Before Oklahoma lost at Colorado. Before Auburn upset Florida. Before South Florida started the first half of their season undefeated. Before Cal and Oregon went down to the last few inches in the last few seconds. And before USC lost their first home game since September of 2001. And nobody knows what’s going to happen next.

Trojan fans, your Michigan counterparts know how you feel. You’re stunned. You don’t even know if this is really happening right now. It’s exactly like that time your first real girlfriend dumped you – seemingly out of the blue. You thought everything was fine, and you were at least going to last through to the next month or two. And then suddenly, it was over. All that time you put in, you thought you were really building to something. After the shock wore off, in the back of your mind, you started to understand that you should have seen it coming. The signs were there – you just didn’t want to notice them. So you said, “I can get over this. I can move forward and things will be OK.” Unfortunately for us, Oregon came to town and beat the holy hell out of Michigan – which of course was exactly like seeing that same girlfriend at the movies with the point guard on the basketball team just a week later, knocking us further down the ladder of despair. But eventually, you heal a bit. You bounce back and start believing a little more with each passing week. Of course, that’s only if your team manages to go back to winning. Lucky for you, Arizona is coming to down. According to Jeff Sagarin, they’re worse than both Stanford and Appalachian State, and I believe him.

Before anyone decides to label this the “Year of the Upset”, bear in mind that the season is only half over. We don’t have the first clue about what’s going to happen next. And that’s just one of the things that make this sport so special. No matter what the experts say, we’re in for a wild ride to the end of this one. I for one am happy to be paying attention no matter what they choose to call it.