Let's Get This Out Of The Way

So I've spent the morning trying to write something that "puts things in perspective" and sheds some optimism on the situation, but I simply can't: losing Lee is devastating.

Reason One: Talent
I commented on this before, but I really think it's true: the guy probably is now (and definitely will be) better than both Poz and Connor.

Reason Two: Leadership
Has any team in any sport, in the history of time, ever needed leadership like PSU does right now? I'm not going to rehash the last four months six months ten months of posts regarding fights, DUI's and yelling back at Michigan fans like a five year old, but let's just all agree that the only way the program is going to straighten out is if the players decide to do it. The coaches and admins appear to busy worrying what will become of their legacy, son, cash cow and, in many cases, young coaching career.

Reason Three: He Is Totally Irreplaceable
I know I should put this under #1 but I think it's different. We've always had a leader in the LB spot, and they've always been good. Poz became that guy, Connor naturally followed, and now Lee seems like the undisputed heir...we'll I'm looking around and who's after Lee? I'm sure there is a guy but whoever they are they aren't ready.

Or maybe they are, I don't know. I guess will find out when this off-season for the ages (in a bad way) ends and we actually get to watch football games.

Hooray Free Agency: Michigan OL to Ohio State?

Ohio State has beaten Michigan four years in a row now, six of the last seven. They've been to two MNC's in a row. Pryor appeared a lock to follow DickRod to Michigan until Ohio State decided they'd take him instead.

Besides the nation's #1 recruit, they also landed the #1 and #4 offensive tackle, overall the #4 class nationally. Hell, they already have five of the Rival's 2009 Top 100 prospects committed.

So what do they do? Well, become the likely tranferee of one of Michigan's best lineman. He needs a new car thought the Michigan program has lost its "family values".

"We haven't talked to anyone," Mike Boren said Thursday about transfer possibilities. "We probably got 100 phone calls from schools, I-AA to Notre Dame.

So it's no lock, but the killer is that this kid comes with a bonus prize, his little brother Zack Boren. A lineback being recruited by Michigan, Ohio State and, you guessed it, Penn State.

Said his father:

"I'm not going to have two kids at two universities."

HT: The Wizard of Odds

ESPN Pre-Spring Top 25, Bring On The Nonsense!

Giving bullshit predictions since 1792

The interesting thing about Pre-Spring Top 25s is that they are actually a fairly good indicator of what the pre-season rankings will look like. Spring games are a great excuse to get drunk but they really don't tell us much when it comes to comparing different teams.

It's also interesting to note which programs will get the ultra-hype this summer and therefore have the chance to really screw an equally deserving team later in the year because of media bias.

The Big Ten on Schlabach's list follow. I already did a three sentence what's good/what’s bad last week, so instead of doing the exact same thing I’ll take a different approach. Are they better than the team directly above them?:

(1. UGA 2. Oklahoma)

3. Ohio State: Are they better than Oklahoma? - I think so. Oklahoma looked like garbage in their BCS game against a coachless team and also somehow lost to Colorado and TTU. To end up in the top 3 you need to beat crappy teams; OSU has done this for several years now, OU has not.

The Buckeyes are getting punished here for losing in the MNC (again), but when you take an objective look, it's hard to deny how good they are. They return an average yet efficient quarterback, have a Heisman candidate in the backfield, and their defense is solid. Main concern: Can they stop the spread offense? Illinois beat them with it last year, but Michigan and Penn State are both going to be attacking with it in 2008 and probably will show up with more talent than Zook did.

(4. USC 5. Missu 6. Texas 7. Florida 8. LSU 9. Clemson 10. Az St (?!) 11. VT 12. Texas Tech)

13. Wisconsin: Are they better than Texas Tech? - Probably not, although it's hard to say, but I'll go with no. TT brings back 18 starters (although this is the most overused argument in sports...and ask UCLA about how much correlation it has). The thing TT does bring to the table is a very good passing game, one that means they are in striking distance even when several scores behind.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, is looking to have another "mea" yet efficient season. They aren't much of a threat to every win it all, but they manage to be solid enough at every position to compete with just about everyone on the schedule. The Badgers are bringing in a rookie qb, however, and Hill always seem to be hurt.

(14. Tenn 15. Kansas 16. Auburn)

17. Penn State: Are they better than Auburn? - There aren't very many reference points here, but because I'm a pretty big homer I'm going to say yes.

Why? Auburn doesn't know who their QB will be (neither does PSU). Auburn had several key losses on defense (so does PSU). Auburn has a hard time competing with the top teams in their conference (um, ya). PSU wins, hands down.

(18. Oregon 19. BYU 20. WVU 21. UVA 22. Pitt)

23. Illinois: Are they better than Pitt? - Yes, Yes, one thousand times Yes. Pitt lost to Navy last year, everyone realized that, right? At home? How one ESPN talking head has justified Pitt at 22 in the nation, while another has them as the 6th best team in their conference (out of 8, mind you) is beyond me.

(24. South Carolina 25. Fresno)


All in all, that's four Big Ten schools, compared to the leaders, the SEC, with six. The Big XII has three of the top six spots. The highest ACC member is at #9, the highest Big East program at #20. Two non-BCS programs.

Best State Ever!!11!!1!

You know what's really dumb? Trying to determine the best "In State Tandem" CFB teams. That's something you might be able to get away with in August when the football well is dryer than my mouth the morning after a night of hard liquor and bad decisions, but not 48 hours after Signing Day.

You know what's even more moronic? Using all time MNC's as the metric.

Have you ever been to this site? If not, you should, it's awesome. It explains how ND claims MNC's any time their team doesn't suck and that their status as a fan favorite skewed many year end polls. It's a lot harder to get away with this kind of thing now, but you would be surprised to hear how many schools have been hosed because of the ND bias.

However, not to be outdone, check out Bama's fetish for made up championships.

Penn State has been short changed many times, one such occasion inspired the name of one of my favorite blogs (I think?). However, I've yet to see a coffee mug or license plate cover that claims JoePa has multiple MNC's that he doesn't. The polls suck, I know, but they are the rules we play by. And until the Playoff Revolution we can't all run around pretending we won things we really didn't.

Getting back to the point, what the hell is the point? The state of Alabama has faked more MNC's than any other state? Is that what you are getting at? Also, if MNC's is the only metric you are using to claim who is the best 'Tandem', shouldn't both teams involved be required to win at least once? ND and Indiana(?!) can't qualify if Indiana sucks, sorry.

I'm just going to stop here.

Someone save me, I'm not ready for 8 months of this stuff.