Sunday, September 7, 2008

What I learned by watching television...

What I Learned by Watching Television:

We reflect on a busy week of college football that saw Jake's team (Arizona State) romp, Ian's team (SMU) rebound and my team (Boston College) reveal itself as not having a very good offense.

Georgia RB Knowshown Moreno is an absolute beast and, in my eyes, the new kid to beat in the Heisman race. In a drubbing of Central Michigan, he locomotived his way to an almost casual 168 yards and three scores. Georgia is so very good (as is the rest of the SEC). The College GameDay guys should buy a time-share in the southeastern U.S. because that's where the action is this year.

Miami, Fla. is going to be scary good... in three years. They may not be anything special now, especially after their pounding at the hands of Florida. But this team, stacked full of freshmen and sophomores, offers hope for the 'Canes. Against Florida, they showed poise and athleticism. Make no mistake: Miami is on the rise.

The Pac-10 is clearly the nation's second best conference: A half-dozen teams in the conference could hang with anyone from the SEC: USC, Arizona State, Oregon, Arizona, California, UCLA. Yes, USC is the jewel in the tiara, but all those other teams are wickedly good, too.

Let's spot Ohio State four touchdowns now. The Big Ten is not very good, comparatively, and I'm afraid it's going to show on Saturday when Ohio State travels to USC. If Beanie Wells doesn't play for the Buckeyes, they have no shot against the Trojans. None.

What's up with East Carolina? Talk about random success. Who on earth might have predicted the success of this team early on in the season? It's equal parts a nice story and a commentary on the sad state of East Coast football.

Reflections:

The Crystal Ball has a Sixth Sense:

"Washington gives BYU a run for its money, but loses."

"Wake Forest, its misdirection plays neutralized by SEC speed, nevertheless squeaks one out at home against Ole Miss."

The Crystal Ball was kind of right:

"Cincinnati keeps it close against Oklahoma... in the first half."

"Florida absolutely crushes Miami in the Swamp, sinking the ACC even lower than it already is. Gator Percy Harvin runs buck wild."

"Texas Tech plays a closer than expected one at Nevada."

The Crystal Ball was kind of wrong:

"Stanford keeps things competitive but ultimately loses against Jake's boys from Arizona State."

"Ian's gang SMU rebounds and runs up the score June Jones-style against Texas State."

The Crystal Ball was sniffing glue:

"Bowling Green beats Minnesota and skirts the Top 25."

1 comment:

Jake Batsell said...

Pretty good prognostications here ... sorry about BC. At least Matt Ryan had a nice debut for Atlanta.