Mythical National Championship Odds For 2008

The top contenders nationally:

Southern Cal +300
Florida +600
Georgia +900
LSU +1000
Ohio State +1000
Oklahoma +1000
Texas +1200
West Virginia +1400
Virginia Tech +1400
Missouri +1400

A couple things jump out: Florida at 6:1 and UGA 9:1? With the amount of love Gergia is getting from the media, I would have thought those would be switched. Besides that, the game between these two is a home game for the Bulldogs.

Secondly, I would have though Ohio State would be closer to the top. I know there is a rather large backlash from the back-to-back losses, but they still got to the BCS MNC and are, without question, the most talented team in the Big Ten. An early game at Southern Cal will be a difficult game, and a loss will hurt their chances of finishing in the Top 2, however wins are still king and, even with a loss to SC, running the Big Ten table will probably still land them in the big game; and once you're there anything can happen. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that they get Penn State and Michigan at home.

Anyway, the top Big X contenders:

OHIO STATE +1000
ILLINOIS +3000
WISCONSIN +4000
PENN STATE +5000
MICHIGAN STATE +7000
IOWA +10000

After seeing several Way Too Early Pre-Summer Polls that have Michigan State ranked ahead of PSU, this is a bit of a relief. There is always the risk that your homerism and blinders mean you don't quite know how good or bad your team will be, but even without Lee I just can't imagine a situation where we would finish behind MSU, who plays @Cal, @Ohio State and @Penn State. All in all, though, this is about what I expected. We really weren't very good last year despite winning some big games again Wisconsin and A&M, from an outsiders perception I can understand being ranked fourth in the Big Ten, especially with our five week stretch that include Illinois, @Purdue, @Wisconsin, Michigan, @Ohio State....that is brutal.

I still am shocked at how many people are on the Zooker bandwagon. They play Missouri at a neutral site (I think, definitely not home), and then play @Penn State and @Michigan in back to back weeks (although I guess Michigan could be pretty bad this year). I also don't think people realize how good Rashard Mendenhall really was. Besides rushing for almost 1700 yards, he also was the second leading receiver in terms of catchings and the third in terms of yardage. Oh, and the whole USC/Rose Bowl thing last year doesn't usually help your public perception.

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

By The Time This Gets To Your Reader

Terrelle Pryor will have pulled off the greatest mind-fuck of all time. Committing to Ohio State despite our greatest efforts to convince ourselves Penn State had a shot. The OSU Media Relations program is eagerly awaiting his enrollment in courses.

There are rumors he delayed his decision in order to soften his reception at the BJC during his high school playoff run. While this makes sense at first, most of the students were on break over the weekend. Although the fact that he never took his 'official' to Penn State or Oregon does lend some credibility to this.

I was never concerned about not getting Pryor as a commitment, the issue is that I don't know if I really want to watch Penn State play against him.

ESPN's Recruiting Update, Part I

Why is FSU not suing ESPN for using their logo?

ESPN sent one of their child stalkers out to grade the Big Ten recruiting classes. I'm doing this is pieces because all this work warrants more than one post. Eleven quotes and one liners, First half:

Ohio State: "The Buckeyes currently have 18 total prospects heading into signing day with close to half claiming spots in the ESPN 150....Arguably one the better offensive lines assembled in the Class of 2008 and maybe in the past few years."

Big 11th Says... Nothing sucks worse than seeing Ohio State rack up damn near USC type talent, but now that they've been doing this for several years I'm getting used to it. The offense line thing scares me, though.


Illinois: "Not an overly flashy class with just one ESPN 150 member....The skill positions were emphasized in this class after last year saw a focus on the offensive and defensive lines."

Big 11th Says...If you want proof that the football world is upside down and that Paterno is no longer effective on the trail, look at how far ahead Illinois is landing talented players.


Michigan: "Lloyd Carr certainly established a top-15 class before announcing his retirement, but the big question for Wolverine fans is whether recently hired Rich Rodriguez can add some weapons before signing day to fit his explosive spread offense run at West Virginia...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor..."

Big 11th Says...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor.


Wisconsin: "Much of last fall's struggles stemmed from a disappointing defense that led the Big Ten in 2006; four top-25 positional prospects should help...[qb recruit's] dual-threat abilities could open things up a bit more in Madison with [recruit] at the helm."

Big 11th Says...Wiscy never seems to make much noise, but everything seems to turn out fine. The opposite of PSU, really. They were vastly over-rated during the 2007 preseason, but did establish themselves as a respectable program and seem to be upping the talent level there.


Iowa: "As long as Kirk Ferentz is at the helm, Iowa should continue to bring in good prospects that my lack the ideal measureable that garner elite status but fit his system well...[also arriving is the] son of Kirk and a good player in his own right."

Big 11th Says... Iowa bringing in undersized players is not news. Also, in case you wanted to know, this is what little Ferentz looks like.


Second half, including Penn State, later today.