sooner n houston
9/28/2007, 07:09 AM
From KIRK BOHLS in the Austin American-Statesman!!!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
College football has evened out.
With the reduction of scholarships, the fact that nearly all of the 119 Division I-A football teams are on television somewhere at some time and the desire of recruits who want immediate playing time, there's certainly a noticeable trend in the Big 12.
It's parody.
Our conference is doing a great imitation of the worst conference in college football.
Oh, there's parity, too. Except for Oklahoma, which unbalances an otherwise level playing field, the Big 12 has shown itself as one of the most mediocre of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences. But please don't tell this to Mike Gundy. He's got this anger thing going. We're just wishing he would have turned it on Troy.
But as we said, there is parity. On any given day, our Big 12 teams can lose to anybody in the nation.
Like Troy. Like Toledo, Northern Iowa and Kent State. Like an unranked Miami. Almost like Ball State. Hey, if the classy fans in Lincoln are booing their Cornhuskers off the field, you know it's a bad year.
Consider that Big 12 teams are a pitiful 1-4 against ranked teams, with lone win being Texas' victory over a TCU team that is now unranked and 2-2.
The belittled North Division has held its own against the big boys, going 4-4 versus other BCS conference teams. Granted, even the victories are a bit suspect, coming as they did against Iowa, Wake Forest, Illinois and Ole Miss.
But the mighty South is only 1-2, in part because those teams don't play anybody really good. The Sooners spanked the Hurricanes, but Oklahoma State fell to Georgia and Texas A&M was pathetic against that same Miami team.
We apologize, OU, for not holding up our end. Yes, Texas remains in the top 10 and is unbeaten, but we're waiting to be impressed.
According to the Sagarin ratings, the Pac 10 is the top-ranked league, followed by the Southeastern Conference, Big East, Big 12, Atlantic Coast and Big Ten in that order, although the Mountain West is pushing the Big Ten. I'd still take the SEC, which has a 21-3 non-conference record and boasted national rankings for nine teams in at least one poll this season.
Thankfully, dreary non-conference play is almost finished. With league action gearing up, here's our pre-league awards:
At this point, the MVP award goes to Sam Bradford, OU's precocious redshirt freshman quarterback who's completing 78 percent of his passes, has thrown 14 touchdown passes with only two interceptions and still shot a 63 at Lake Hefner's muni course. He gets a big assist from an offensive line that's allowed two sacks in four games.
Our runner-up is Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who leads the nation in receptions with 13 per game and yardage with almost 194 each week. Of course, he did drop the go-ahead touchdown pass that would have beaten Okie State last week. Mad flinger Graham Harrell is another prime candidate.
The defensive MVP is a tie between OU linebacker Curtis Lofton and Colorado linebacker Jordan Dizon. The latter leads all of college football with 13.8 tackles per game. Lofton has 42 tackles, two more than he had in the last two seasons, and edges out teammates Nic Harris and Reggie Smith for this honor.
Coach of the Year?
Take a bow, Bob Stoops. After falling to Boise State and starting a new quarterback, his Sooners have regained their swagger and are on pace for a fifth Big 12 championship in nine seasons.
Un-coach of the Year?
Another tie, this one between offensive-challenged rookie head coach Gene Chizik, whose Iowa State Fighting Chiziks have lost to I-AA Northern Iowa and a previously 0-3 Toledo team, and Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione, who forgot he had a running back bigger than the national deficit and has shown precious little progress in five seasons.
Chizik will survive, but if Fran keeps up his level of mediocrity, you can expect look for A&M athletic director Bill Byrne to look hard at Texans offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville — both are former Aggie assistants — and Boise State's Chris Petersen. Or rather, you can hope he does.
Rookie of the Year?
Since we'll omit Bradford and Crabtree, let's take another redshirt freshman and pick OU's DeMarco Murray, the next Darren McFadden.
Best Quote of the Year?
Anything from Mike Leach.
Worst Quote of the Year?
A late entry from Baylor's Guy Morriss at a school where a basketball player was murdered by a teammate: "I'd like to see us put the knife in somebody and give it a good twist." Any more quotes like these and losses like those responsible for his 18-32 record, and you can expect the Bears to start eyeing former Baylor great Mike Singletary as a replacement.
Runner-up is Texas linebacker Scott Derry's equally ill-timed, self-inflicted quote: "We just need to stay grounded and stick to our guns."
Thursday, September 27, 2007
College football has evened out.
With the reduction of scholarships, the fact that nearly all of the 119 Division I-A football teams are on television somewhere at some time and the desire of recruits who want immediate playing time, there's certainly a noticeable trend in the Big 12.
It's parody.
Our conference is doing a great imitation of the worst conference in college football.
Oh, there's parity, too. Except for Oklahoma, which unbalances an otherwise level playing field, the Big 12 has shown itself as one of the most mediocre of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences. But please don't tell this to Mike Gundy. He's got this anger thing going. We're just wishing he would have turned it on Troy.
But as we said, there is parity. On any given day, our Big 12 teams can lose to anybody in the nation.
Like Troy. Like Toledo, Northern Iowa and Kent State. Like an unranked Miami. Almost like Ball State. Hey, if the classy fans in Lincoln are booing their Cornhuskers off the field, you know it's a bad year.
Consider that Big 12 teams are a pitiful 1-4 against ranked teams, with lone win being Texas' victory over a TCU team that is now unranked and 2-2.
The belittled North Division has held its own against the big boys, going 4-4 versus other BCS conference teams. Granted, even the victories are a bit suspect, coming as they did against Iowa, Wake Forest, Illinois and Ole Miss.
But the mighty South is only 1-2, in part because those teams don't play anybody really good. The Sooners spanked the Hurricanes, but Oklahoma State fell to Georgia and Texas A&M was pathetic against that same Miami team.
We apologize, OU, for not holding up our end. Yes, Texas remains in the top 10 and is unbeaten, but we're waiting to be impressed.
According to the Sagarin ratings, the Pac 10 is the top-ranked league, followed by the Southeastern Conference, Big East, Big 12, Atlantic Coast and Big Ten in that order, although the Mountain West is pushing the Big Ten. I'd still take the SEC, which has a 21-3 non-conference record and boasted national rankings for nine teams in at least one poll this season.
Thankfully, dreary non-conference play is almost finished. With league action gearing up, here's our pre-league awards:
At this point, the MVP award goes to Sam Bradford, OU's precocious redshirt freshman quarterback who's completing 78 percent of his passes, has thrown 14 touchdown passes with only two interceptions and still shot a 63 at Lake Hefner's muni course. He gets a big assist from an offensive line that's allowed two sacks in four games.
Our runner-up is Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who leads the nation in receptions with 13 per game and yardage with almost 194 each week. Of course, he did drop the go-ahead touchdown pass that would have beaten Okie State last week. Mad flinger Graham Harrell is another prime candidate.
The defensive MVP is a tie between OU linebacker Curtis Lofton and Colorado linebacker Jordan Dizon. The latter leads all of college football with 13.8 tackles per game. Lofton has 42 tackles, two more than he had in the last two seasons, and edges out teammates Nic Harris and Reggie Smith for this honor.
Coach of the Year?
Take a bow, Bob Stoops. After falling to Boise State and starting a new quarterback, his Sooners have regained their swagger and are on pace for a fifth Big 12 championship in nine seasons.
Un-coach of the Year?
Another tie, this one between offensive-challenged rookie head coach Gene Chizik, whose Iowa State Fighting Chiziks have lost to I-AA Northern Iowa and a previously 0-3 Toledo team, and Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione, who forgot he had a running back bigger than the national deficit and has shown precious little progress in five seasons.
Chizik will survive, but if Fran keeps up his level of mediocrity, you can expect look for A&M athletic director Bill Byrne to look hard at Texans offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville — both are former Aggie assistants — and Boise State's Chris Petersen. Or rather, you can hope he does.
Rookie of the Year?
Since we'll omit Bradford and Crabtree, let's take another redshirt freshman and pick OU's DeMarco Murray, the next Darren McFadden.
Best Quote of the Year?
Anything from Mike Leach.
Worst Quote of the Year?
A late entry from Baylor's Guy Morriss at a school where a basketball player was murdered by a teammate: "I'd like to see us put the knife in somebody and give it a good twist." Any more quotes like these and losses like those responsible for his 18-32 record, and you can expect the Bears to start eyeing former Baylor great Mike Singletary as a replacement.
Runner-up is Texas linebacker Scott Derry's equally ill-timed, self-inflicted quote: "We just need to stay grounded and stick to our guns."