Now that the NCAA Basketball Tournament has ended, this means that it is time for die-hard collegiate sports fans to sway their attention toward another sport. That sport would be, of course, football-for any of you whom haven’t caught on to the sports drift. With only the college football season ending last January, it is never too early to start asking questions about the next upcoming season. The one question all fans will have this year, is of course, who’s the BCS going to get this year?From all of the controversy of last season, it appears that Southern California will be the favorites again this year. This comes as no surprise due to the pipelines of recruits they have flowing into Los Angeles year after year. Although USC has lost five assistant coaches to other coaching jobs in the football world, this should be no worry to Trojan fans across the world. The Heisman Trophy winner is back, Matt Leinart, and by his performance on the field last year, will look to win the trophy again-that is if one of his teammates doesn’t take it from him first. The weapons in which the Trojans have on offense this year should be against NCAA rules. In fact, the only notable offensive player USC has this year in the NFL Draft is Mike Williams, and Williams didn’t even play last season due to him getting jobbed by the NCAA after the NFL refused to letting him enter the 2004 Draft. Other than that, USC got everyone back, and at the moment seems to have no threat on their schedule, especially when the team plays in the Pac-10 Conference.
If it weren’t for the rule of a player having to be three years removed from high school to enter the NFL Draft, then the Oklahoma Sooners would be in a heap of trouble. This is mainly in part due to the return of the Sooners’ sophomore sensation, Adrian Peterson. Coming off one of the biggest collapses in the history of national championship games, and after losing a former Heisman Trophy winner, one would not have much hope for Oklahoma. But one thing will always remain the same, at least fans can rest assure that the team will always have a defense-which at times seems to be the only thing that the Sooners rely on. Every year, it seems as though the only team Oklahoma has to actually worry about is the Texas Longhorns, and with the recent success the Sooners have had against the Longhorns, all things seem to be quite all right in Norman.
The victims of the BCS last year, have in ways, suffered dearly. The Auburn Tigers will no doubt have lost the most talent from the previous year. Who knows how bad the Tigers will hurt from losing seniors Jason Campbell, Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown, Carlos Rogers, and Junior Rosegreen. But with a tremendous wide receiver core returning, and still somewhat of a stellar defense, the Tigers should turn out all right. With what seems to be an easier schedule from last year, anything can happen if the Tigers get a little luck on their side.
Also in the SEC West are the LSU Tigers. The days of being national champions seem long gone now with both most of the champion team gone, and the head coach from the championship year, Nick Saban. With Saban being lured to the NFL, LSU decided to replace the prestigious collegiate coach with Les Miles, formerly with Oklahoma State. The problem for the Tigers last year seemed to be at the quarterback position. With Marcus Randall seemingly not being able to be the leader of an offense, and with young Jamarcus Russell not having any experience at the collegiate level, the Tigers were faced with quite a dilemma. Yet, a year later the offense is now place in the hands of Jamarcus Russell who is placed as one of the young leaders of the team after senior defensive end Marcus Spears left for the NFL Draft. If it weren’t for the loads of recruits coming in from the 2003 championship season, then LSU might have been looking at the bottom of the barrel.
The SEC East brings much intrigue to the college football world for the upcoming 2005 season. The arrival of two new coaches to the division is what will make this the most competitive division in college football this season; one has some familiarity with the conference, Steve Spurrier, and one who is new to the conference, Urban Meyer. Both look to help their respective schools rise to the top. Spurrier, now at South Carolina, will look to install a passing offense which over the years has seemed to have anything but. Down in “Gator Country”, Meyer will be experiencing an intense college atmosphere as he tries to help take Florida back to its glory days as it once had under Spurrier. Georgia and head coach Mark Richt will look to replace the leadership that both David Greene and David Pollack instilled into the team for four years while in Athens. With Greene leaving, D.J. Shockley will take over the offense, which at times last year had experience with doing so as a result of the Richt’s decisions. Tennessee hopefully will try and recover, as along with Georgia, from off the field incidents involving Volunteer players. Tennessee is high on everyone’s preseason radar watch as a team to succeed in its upcoming season.
For Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, the days of three Super Bowls in four years are gone. Now comes the challenge of trying to restore once a notorious college football program, and take them back to their winning ways. As a part of the Notre Dame alum, Weis will no doubt be under the large shadow of the golden dome that casts over South Bend.
Will Vince Young be able to lead his team, the Texas Longhorns, to a national championship for both his team and head coach Mack Brown? The question of Brown not being able to win the “Big One’ is now out the door. Now the only question that remains is, “Can Brown for once beat Stoops?”
What team will Michigan lose to in the first month of the season? The Wolverines always lose one game in September then somehow manage to run the table the rest of the way to move themselves into a BCS slot. How will Ohio State fare with all of the scandals brought on by former freshman sensation Maurice Clarett? Now that Clarett is gone and in the NFL, Tressell is for sure on a short leash due to the scandals that always seem to follow him wherever he goes.
No one knows the answers to these teams’ fates. However, it is more than likely that USC will make it back to the national championship game because of one reason. They’re just that good.
6 replies on “Getting Back Into the Spring of Things”
i only skimmed it, but….. For Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, the days of three Super Bowls in three years are gone.
When did this happen? You mean three super bowls in four years, right?
How will Ohio State fare with all of the scandals brought on by former freshman sensation, Maurice Clarett?
No comma needed.
What team will Michigan lose to in the first month of the season? The Wolverines always lose one game in September then somehow manage to run the table the rest of the way to move themselves into a BCS slot.
Nice observation, but Michigan has only made two BCS Bowls the last 5 seasons, thus negating the second sentence. In addition, “themselves” should be “itself.”
Will Vince Young be able to lead his team, the Texas Longhorns, to possibly a national championship for both his team, and head coach Mack Brown.
Come on man. Read over that sentence and reword it so that it makes sense and doesn’t sound stupid.
One who has some familiarity with the conference, Steve Spurrier, and one who is new to the conference, Urban Meyer, will both look to help their respective schools rise to the top.
Yet again, you know better than that. Reword it so that it is correct and makes sense.
The victims of the BCS last year, have in ways, suffered dearly. The Auburn Tigers will no doubted have lost the most talent from the previous year. Losing your three-headed-senior monster backfield will in ways hurt the Tigers in the upcoming season. Who knows how bad the Tigers will hurt from all of their senior losses of Jason Campbell, Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown, Carlos Rogers, and Junior Rosegreen, but with a tremendous wide receiver core returning, and still somewhat of a stellar defense, the Tigers should pan out all right, but should expect results from a season ago. With what seems an easier schedule from last year, who knows what will happen with a little luck on the Tigers’ side.
Oh my god. Please read over this and the entire article. Almost every sentence does not make sense. It needs to be reworded into English.
This has potential, but reword it so that it is English. Then I will vote it in.
arguing some of your points Please reread the article and make the many corrections so that it makes sense.
Now I am going to argue some of your points.
When did Texas win “The Big One?” Are you talking about the Rose Bowl against a pitiful Michigan team? Come on now! Texas still has not beaten anybody of note under Mack Brown. If Texas loses to OU, A&M, and two other games this season, you can bet your ass Mack Brown is out the door. He could possibly be out the door if he loses those two and one other game.
Let us compare last year Auburn to this year:
Auburn 2004:
9/4 UL Monroe W 31-0
9/11 at Miss State W 43-14
9/18 LSU W 10-9
9/25 The Citadel W 33-3
10/2 at Tennessee W 34-10
10/9 La Tech W 52-7
10/16 Arkansas W 38-20
10/23 Kentucky W 42-10
10/30 at Ole Miss W 35-14
11/13 Georgia W 24-6
11/20 at Alabama W 21-13
Auburn 2005:
9/3 Georgia Tech
9/10 Miss State
9/17 Ball State
9/24 Western Kentucky
10/1 South Carolina
10/15 at Arkansas
10/22 at LSU
10/29 Ole Miss
11/5 at Kentucky
11/12 at Georgia
11/19 Alabama
ULM, The Citadel, and Louisiana Tech. This year it is Ga Tech, Ball State, and WKU. WKU is better than The Citadel was, Ga Tech is much better than La Tech was, and Ball State is slightly better in my opinion than ULM. So far, 2005 is tougher and you cannot argue that so far.
Last year was @ Tennessee, vs. Kentucly. and vs. Georgia. This year they are @ Kentucky, @ Georgia, and vs. South Carolina. @ Kentucky is harder than vs. Kentucky, albeit not by much. @ Georgia is tougher than vs. Georgia, albeit Georgia is not as good as they were last year. But it is close. Let us call that a draw. @ Tennessee is MUCH tougher than vs. Kentucky, especially back when Tennessee was actually good. I’ll give you that one.
Last year, the Tigers played @ Ole Miss, @ MSU, and @ Alabama, the three weak teams in the SEC West. This year those three teams are resurgent, but they play them at home. So that means that last year they had the three worst teams in the SEC West as their three away games! This year their away games are Arkansas and LSU. Gee, I’d rather play at LSU and Arkansas than at Ole Miss, MSU, and a mediocre Alabama team.
Your point that this year’s schedule is easier for the tigers is ludacris.
And how the fuck are they “victims of the BCS?” California is the only “victims of the BCS” and you don’t even mention Cal! Come on! In the old days Auburn would have played Va Tech in the Sugar Bowl. Holy shit! They did! And they still would not have had any piece of the pie by either major poll. Come on!
Cal got fucked hard by the BCS. They got snubbed out of the BCS because they went on the road and they played somebody, unlike Texass who played Arkansas in a down year. Rice and North Texas are surely powerhouses, much more so than the Air Force Academy, right?
Cal earned a trip to the Rose Bowl to whallop on Michigan, winner of the Beenie Ten. Auburn was not one of the “victims of the BCS” but rather a team that got screwed because BGSU dropped it in favor of Oklahoma at the last minute. Don’t blame Auburn’s exclusion on the BCS; blame Cal’s exclusion on the BCS.
Auburn vs. Cal — Don’t tell me Cal got the shaft over Auburn. First, Cal plays in the Pac-10 compared to Auburn playing in the SEC. Second, if Cal can’t beat Texas Tech, then how are they going to beat their opponent in the Rose Bowl. Don’t complain about Auburn’s non-conference schedule when both USC and Cal play second-rate competition every Saturday in their conference.
bsd- i’ll edit this -vin
well – i did the best i could thanks for pointing out the errors, bsd. I think you’re a better editor than I am.
second-rate Cal played terrible against TT because it was upset after losing out on the Rose Bowl birth. Auburn deserved to go to the title game more than Cal, but Auburn was the #3 across the board while Cal was #4 in many publications. It was not the BCS’s fault that Auburn did not play for the title. Rather, it was the BCS’s fault that California did not go to the Rose Bowl (albeit, had it not been for the BCS, USC would have gone to the Rose Bowl).