Oklahoma to the Pac-12?

According the ESPN there is a lot of leadership at Oklahoma that is still interested in moving to the Pac-12 from their current conference the Big 12.  They are also reporting that Texas officials met with Oklahoma big wigs and they left Norman feeling very doubtful that Oklahoma would be staying.  What does this mean for the Big 12?  Well there are a whole lot of situations at this point the worst one of which being that both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State move over to the Pac-12.  That would leave the Big 12 in a very bad position.  Texas has already made it clear that it would not consider a 7 team Big 12 viable.  We all know what has happened since last year when Colorado and Nebraska decided to go elsewhere.  Now Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are all looking elsewhere while everyone else in the conference minus Texas is talking possible lawsuit against everyone leaving the conference.  If you are a Texas fan like us, you are just sitting and waiting for everything to unfold. Lets be honest with each other, short of a death penalty there is not a whole lot that could really hurt Texas athletic program.  Texas A&M will not get in if there are

Why Oklahoma will not win the National Championship in 2011

So I know you have all heard by now that Oklahoma is #1 overall in all polls so far.  I have honestly learned that you cannot rely on the preseason polls for the most part.  While I have to admit, most of the Top 25 teams tend to stay about the same every single season, they are almost never right about who is number at the end of the season.  Oklahoma will play their second game at Florida State (a team who has been waiting to rip open a top 5 team).  It seems the loss of Bobby Bowden has not hurt expectations of the Seminoles as they are once again a Top 10 team preseason even though they barely finished in the Top 25 last season.  Well Florida State will already have two games under their belt while Oklahoma will just have one.  So what does this mean for Oklahoma?  It could be nothing honestly and Oklahoma could come out and stomp on Florida State but my gut tells me this is going to be a huge win for the ACC and a catastrophe for the Big 12.  If Oklahoma loses to Florida State early on, I cannot imagine a scenario in which Oklahoma can get back into the National Championship spotlight.  We have seen in years past that early losses really are not that big of a deal as long as it happens before the BCS polls come out.  Even if they somehow manage to get past #6 Florida State  with #21 Missouri right after, they will still need to get past a hot and bothered #8 Texas A&M along with long time rival #9 Oklahoma State (@ Oklahoma State).  This does not bode well for a quarterback who takes a pounding at times.  To be honest with you I would not be surprised if A&M showed us something special this season because of how angry they are with the rest of the country.  I cannot imagine how it feels to be an Aggie fan right now with the fate of your school or alma mater set in stone.  I will make a bold prediction right now in saying that Oklahoma will not play in the, let alone win, the National Championship this season.

SidelineBlog Preseason Top 25 Rankings

First of all I would like to tell you how good it personally feels to see USC not in the Top 25 this season due to their slight death penalty.  However, I do not like how the Big 12 really got screwed in the USA Today Poll.  We here at SidelineBlog have created my own Top 25 that in my opinion is more realistic because you are kididing yourself if you think that Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and more have given up because teams are leaving.  Texas is put at #1 because their program consistently puts together the best team possible out on the field and this season it just so happens to be the best in the nation.  Now whether or not they live up to those expectations is very doubtful if you look at their past (minus the win against USC with Vince Young).  I am excited to see how the Top 25 ends up in the end and how close I am right now to predicting it.  We will be monitoring the situation all season and will have updates periodically (More than likely on a weekly to bi-weekly basis).  Without further ado, here is our Top 25 preseason rankings:

Rank	Team	Record
1	Texas	0-0
2	Alabama	0-0
3	Ohio State	0-0
4	Florida	0-0
5	TCU	0-0
6	Nebraska	0-0
7	Miami U (FL)	0-0
8	Boise State	0-0
9	Wisconsin	0-0
10	Oklahoma	0-0
11	Iowa	0-0
12	Virginia Tech	0-0
13	LSU	0-0
14	Penn State	0-0
15	Florida State	0-0
16	Pittsburgh	0-0
17	Georgia Tech	0-0
18	North Carolina	0-0
19	Arkansas	0-0
20	Houston	0-0
21	Oregon State	0-0
22	Cincinnati	0-0
23	Oklahoma State	0-0
24	Oregon	0-0
25	Missouri	0-0

Is the Big 12 overrated this season?

With Texas being the only team that is undefeated left in the Big 12, people are starting to talk about how the Big 12 is overrated this season.  Oklahoma has dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2005.  They barely stayed in the AP poll only because they only lost my three points to Texas this past weekend.   The real question here is whether or not the Big 12 is overrated.  I say its not for a lot of reasons.  First reason is that Oklahoma has three losses.  If you disect those losses Bradford got hurt in the BYU game, did not play at all in the Miami game, and got hurt 8 plays into the Texas game.  So you tell me that Oklahoma is horrible having shut out two other teams without Bradford.  They might not be able to step up against the likes of Miami and Texas, but they are still no pushover, they will be in a highly anticipated bowl game (more than likely either the Cotton Bowl, Alamo Bowl or Holiday Bowl).  Yes sir, when it comes down to it, I dont think I would like to face any of the top 6 teams in the Big 12.  I don’t think any team could call it an automatic win.

Secondly, even though the Big 12 only has 3 teams in the top 25, they have three teams just outside the top 25 and next week, if all those teams win, they will more than likely be right back up in the top 25.  There are two teams with one loss and 3 teams with two losses.  In fact, there is only one team in the Big 12 that has a losing record at this point and thats Colorado.  They are coming off a huge win against a top 25 opponent and long time rival Kansas handing them their first loss.  My point is that even Texas A&M (which in the past few years has kind of been a joke in the Big 12) is putting up huge numbers against teams.   They started out great with three huge wins against some decent teams, but has hit a rough patch going 0-3 in the past three games and being outscored 145-64 in those games.  Thats a crazy stat considering they outscored their opponents 135-54 for the first three games of the season.  Wake up boys, thats all I have to say.  You need to step it up and make the Big 12 proud.  I look forward to the Texas-Texas A&M game at the end o the season because both teams have the potential to put up some crazy numbers.  All in all I would have to say that the SEC wont look as pretty as they do at the end of the season either because they are all going to have to beat up on each other.  We might have lost one of our giants in Oklahoma, but to be honest with you, I am pretty sure most of the Big 12 teams could hold their own against SEC opponents.  I look forward to the Cotton Bowl this season as I plan to attend and watch the Big 12 battle the SEC in a high profile bowl game.  The Big 12 is not going away people.  They are here to stay.

Top Reasons Bowl Games Suck

So I have pretty much watched every single bowl game so far.  In fact I even took the effort to go to the Alamo Bowl which will probably go down as one of the best bowl games of this season.  The problem I have is the number of bowl games is rediculous.  More than half the teams in Division 1 make a bowl game.   As of this season, there are only 119 schools that are in the Division 1 FBS league.  There are 34 bowl games with 68 schools participating.   This does not make sense to me only because I thought bowl games we supposed to mean something.  If you make it to a bowl game these days, it just meant that you had above a .500 record.  I mean seriously?  Is that what this world has come to?  Do we really have to deal with this?  I want to know how many of these bowl games were sold out because the Alamo Bowl (which is supposed to be a second tier bowl to the actual BCS games) was most definately sold out and I paid 19 dollars for a ticket 34 rows up…not a bad deal eh?

Too bad I was wearing a yellow shirt in a sea of purple.  I was given pretty dirty looks the whole time.  I just couldnt believe the game was not sold out.  Especially since it went into overtime (even though people couldnt possibly know that) it was probably the best game so far in the Bowl series.  I thought Utah and Alabama would be a better game but Utah took care of that.  The problem I have is now they are asking the question whether or not Utah deserves a share of the national championship.  Thats not the worst part though.  The worst part is that 65 percent of the United States belives that they should.  Come on people, they dont play near the schedule any other team does.  Yes, they went undefeated and I congradulate them on that great accomplishment, and maybe they deserve to be in the top 5, but they most certainly do not deserve the number 1 spot.  To even be considered is rediculous.  The sad part is that the AP poll will more than likely give them a share if Florida loses to Oklahoma.   The point is that the Texas Longhorns got screwed out of a national championship.  Oklahoma has a chance to redeem that for the Big 12.  The problem is that I doubt Oklahoma is going to be able to play with Florida and if they can, then great I am excited for them, but if they cant…the Big 12 loses all respect because Texas Tech just lost to Ole Miss.  Good luck to all those still in this thing.

Sam Bradford looks hungover in ESPN Interview

This looks great for the Big 12 as far as National Champions go.  Sam Bradford, coming off his big Heisman Trophy win, goes into ESPN First Take for an interview where he has obviously not gone to sleep yet, looks like he has been hammering beers and shots all night, and it looks like at any moment he could hurl all over the camera dude and the note cards.  Colt would probably just have had some strippers over or something, I dont think he is a big drinker.  Anyways, I hope that everything works out in the end, but I have a feeling that Florida is going to make Oklahoma look stupid.  Sam Bradford could pretty much make the Big 12 look worthless if Florida is able to go out and slaughter them.  He seriously looks like I look when I get up in the morning after a long night of partying.  Its how I feel right before I walk into my bathroom and hurl into the toilet.

Texas Tech weakest #2 since 2006

Texas Tech fans are in uproar because they were not voted #1 this week after beating the #1 team in the land.  We all remember ealier this season when Texas jumped from #5 to #1 after beating Oklahoma.  I would like to remind them that this is actually a larger leap than that.  Plus, I am still not convinced that Texas Tech can get it done against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma two games in a row (even if one of them is a home game).  I dont think they deserve the #2 spot ahead of Penn State after barely beating Texas.  I think they need to prove themselves against OU and OK State before they get my total respect.  They get through the next two games unscathed, then they will get my respect.  For now I think they are the weakest #2 since Notre Dame had it back in Week 2 of the 2006 season (they ended up 17th after getting wallyflopped by LSU in the Sugar Bowl).  Here are the highlights:

Its BCS Time…BCS Top 25

Over the past few years there has been a lot of concern for the rankings of college football to be determined by a computer system.  Personally I am all for it and all for exploiting the computer world, but I too, have had problems in the past with its decisions.  The two incidences that I am referring to are the 2003 season when USC was ranked #1 in both polls but when the final BCS Standings came out, they were ranked 3rd and out of the championship.  Personally since then I have felt that USC has gotten a lot of votes when they should not have.  After they won their bowl game they were forced to share the #1 status with LSU which created a lot of controversy.  In 2006 Boise State was denied a spot in the championship game after going undefeated the entire season and ended up having to play in the Fiesta Bowl and beat Oklahoma in overtime 43-42 (my favorite bowl game of the year).  To me, I dont think you should even be given a chance in the case of Boise State unless they are willing to play heavy hitting teams throughout the season.  There is no chance they make it in this year because of the schedules the Big 12, SEC, and Big 10.  Even though the BCS has had its controversial subjects, its still better than the alternative which would be biased votes from across the country like the AP Poll which this season I have had a lot of problems with.  I am just glad that Texas is at the top where they should be at this point.  A lot of Alabama fans are pissed they are not #1 and all I have to say about that is look at what has happened the past couple of seasons with the #1 spot.  They seem to lose all the time so I wouldn’t worry too much about it because you guys don’t have much of a schedule left. Anyways, without further blabbing, here is the first BCS Standings of the 2008 season:

1. Texas 7-0
2. Alabama 7-0
3. Penn State 8-0
4. Oklahoma 6-1
5. USC 5-1
6. Oklahoma State 7-0
7. Georgia 6-1
8. Texas Tech 7-0
9. Ohio State 7-1
10. Florida 5-1
11. Utah 8-0
12. Boise State 6-0
13. LSU 5-1
14. TCU 7-1
15. Missouri 5-2
16. South Florida 6-1
17. Pitt 5-1
18. Georgia Tech 6-1
19. Tulsa 7-0
20. Ball State 7-0
21. BYU 6-1
22. Northwestern 6-1
23. Kansas 5-2
24. Minnesota 6-1
25. Florida State 5-1

David vs. Goliath part 2

I hate to admit it, but I feel as if Texas has no chance this weekend after hearing some of the things I have read and heard on the radio.  Its like no one has respect for what Texas has done this year.  I am tired of hearing that Texas is flying under the radar this season and “they think they are going to sneak up on Oklahoma.”  Texas football is what it is…Texas Football.  What I mean is Texas is never going to sneak up on anyone in any conference.  Even the SEC fans are giving Texas a little respect this season after the put a whoopin on Arkansas.  Mike Goodman, an Oklahoma sports writer of all papers, puts it perfectly when he says, “Texas has somewhat flown under the radar this season, but when you’re Texas and you’re undefeated, it doesn’t take long to get back in the spotlight. McCoy, the nation’s fourth-rated passer, has completed 103 of 130 passes for 1,280 yards and 16 TDs. He’s also rushed for 317 yards on only 45 carries, with four TDs.”  Texas, whether they have flown under the radar or not this season, is obviously back in the spotlight and is not going to ruin this chance to move to the top of the pack.  Mack Brown does not want to lose his job, and I think fear of letting everyone down will actually cause him to be on top of his game.  I just did a poll on ESPN and everything points towards Oklahoma winning this game hands down.  Are the Longhorns going to lose?  That was the closest poll…with 59% of the nation thinking that Texas is going to lose this weekend.  It just makes no sense to me, I think Texas is the better team.  I would give talent to Oklahoma more than likely but I think Colt Mccoy will be ready for this game and as long as he is there to give confidence, Texas will have no problem with Oklahoma.

I said a few weeks ago that Texas would be undefeated when they got to Oklahoma, and I will say this again.  Oklahoma is not going to be able to just manhandle the Texas defense.  I think that this is how it lays out.  Oklahoma has a better offense, and Texas has a better defense, but I think that Texas’ defense is better than Oklahoma’s offense.  Yes, thats how good I think they are, I think the youngins in the back field are up to the challenge they have coming up this weekend.  My take is Texas by 5 points…under 47.

Texas Will be undefeated by the time they get to Oklahoma.

You heard it here first.  I am telling you right now that the Texas Longhorns are going to blow through the Arkansas game (I dont care how bad you think it is to just breeze through a game especially against the SEC) and will have a hard fought nose to nose battle with the Buffaloes of Colorado.  Texas is coming off a 52-10 victory against Rice while Arkansas got embarrased by Alabama.  I have been talking to quite a few people who have been quite adamant about Arkansas putting it to Texas, but I am here to tell you right now, that I will shut my blog down if Texas loses to Arkansas, because if Texas loses, then Hell must be freezing over and I need to get on the first Google space craft out of here.

The real question here is whether or not Cody Johnson is the man behind Colt Mccoy.  Will he be lining up in the Running Back position or will one of the other numerous running back choices come in?  I will be the last person to tell you that Texas has a great running back situation because they dont.  I would love to see them have a guy who ran for 200 plus yards a game, but they do have depth.   Colt Mccoy is the leading rusher at 194 yards and averaging about 8 yards a carry.   Cody Johnson, Vondrell McGee, and Foswhitt Whittaker will surely be sleeping a lot less before game day as Mack Brown has stated that its going to be a game time decision.   When it comes to the SEC and Big 12 I only have one solid answer for you…

2008 Big 12 Conference Leaders

Passing
G. Harrell, – Texas Tech 1573 Yards
C. Daniel, – Missouri 1412 Yards
T. Reesing, – Kansas 1397 Yards

Rushing

K. Hunter – Oklahoma State 449 Yards
D. Washington – Missouri 361 Yards
R. Griffin – Baylor 334 Yards

2008 SEC Conference Leaders

Passing
M. Stafford – Georgia 919 Yards
J. Snead – Ole Miss 844 Yards (PS…was 3rd string QB for Texas in 2006)
C. Dick – Arkansas 831 Yards

Rushing
K. Moreno – Georgia 455 Yards
G. Coffee – Alabama 404 Yards
C. Scott – LSU 394 Yards

Basically what I am trying to say is…Bring it Arkansas…

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