|
|
The Weekly Wrapups will look back at the games of the weekend, such as it is, and present my conference power rankings. They get shorter when conference play starts.
The MAC went 6-7 against 13 out of conference teams this weekend, a much better start than they had in 2008. Broken down, the league was 6-0 against FCS teams, 0-1 v. Pac-10, SEC, Sun Belt, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, and independent Army. So it wasn’t great, since nobody in the MAC beat a FBS team. That will change Thursday, no matter what. Let’s look at the games.
Read Post
It was not a pretty night for non-BCS teams across the country last night, particularly those going up against BCS conference schools. It could have been worse- nobody lost to a FCS school, although some tried. A quick rundown of last night’s action follows.
Lots of good stuff lined up for today- Friday night football preview and weekend previews for four conferences, at the very least. Happy College Colors Day. Flags up!
Read Post
We’re halfway through looking at just one night worth of football, and we have 14 weeks of this goodness. Ahh, feels nice, right? Ok, back to your previews. Once again, all times eastern, lines from Vegas.com, and rankings are from the coaches poll.
8:00 PM- Florida Atlantic at UAB: This is the only game of the night featuring two non-BCS opponents going at it. Both teams have question marks, with UAB trying to replace QB Joe Webb, and FAU replacing just about everything but the quarterback. UAB should have a substantial edge here, but these types of games are hard to read in week 1. Line: UAB by 14. That seems generous- for FAU. UAB won the same game last year by 27, and I think they might do it again.
8:00 PM, Regional TV- Northern Illinois at Iowa State: NIU is hoping that this game is the coming out party for a big 2010 season. They’re stacked and the favorite to win the MAC, but ISU won’t be a pushover game just because they aren’t a national power. That said, if the Cyclones are looking ahead to Iowa, they could find themselves in trouble. Line: Iowa State by 4.5. I like NIU’s chances of winning this game a lot. I like their chances of keeping within four even more, I’d take NIU plus the points.
8:00 PM- Southeastern Louisiana (FCS) at Tulane: The SE Louisiana Lions went 6-5 in 2009. Tulane better win this one, because they’re not going to get much of a chance against Ole Miss, Houston, or Rutgers. Or many other teams after that. No line.
Read Post
Today is the day. All the talk of recruiting, GPA, realignment, coaching changes, Senate hearings, lawsuits, transfers, arrests and everything else goes out the window. At least until Tuesday because there’s no games Tuesday. Football is finally ready to kick off.
Here on the Fringe, we attempt to preview any given weeknight game as best we can, and we will have our Weeknight Football preview a little later today. But for now, the first of our weekly features including the BCS Buster Watch and my non-BCS Top 25. So here we go.
BCS Buster Watch
Currently on the watch: Everybody. All 54 teams are presently undefeated. So instead, here are 10 teams besides Boise State, TCU, and Utah that could make a run at the dream season, or at least stay undefeated long enough to garner a little attention. These teams are picked because they could (not will) make it to about 4-0 and do it with a worthwhile resume. In no particular order, except for alphabetical by the order their conference pages are sitting on my desk:
Read Post
The team previews are done, so we’re zooming out a level to look at each conference as a whole, and we’re doing it fast- football is very nearly upon us.
The Mid-American Conference had what might have been a bit of a breakout year in 2009. Both division races went down to the last two weeks, with the East not being decided until the MAC’s now-traditional Thanksgiving Friday season finales. But the football was exciting and competitive all through the season, the league showed up for two of the best bowl games of the year, and Central Michigan ended the year 23 & 24 in the polls.
For 2010, we have two clear favorites and a few question marks right behind them about who will emerge- and someone always does- to push the favorites right to the end of the season. In the West, Northern Illinois is loaded and ready to chase down their first conference championship since 1983. In the East, the resurgent Temple team looks to avenge their final-Friday loss to Ohio and take their place in the title game.
Read Post
Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Northern Illinois came down the stretch with a chance to win the conference in 2009, but couldn’t get past Ohio to set up a winner-take all division final against Central Michigan. CMU won that anyway, and NIU went on to the International Bowl, falling to South Florida and ending the year on a 3 game losing streak.
NIU had the #1 total defense in the MAC in 2009. For 2010, they’re back. All of them (ok, two starters are gone, but replaced by more players with starting experience). On the offensive side, Chandler Harnish returns to lead the team, but will have some key replacements on his offensive line, and Coach Kill (yes, Coach Kill, single greatest college football name ever. His first name is Jerry but that is of little consequence) will need to find another RB to fill that hole.
Read Post
The MAC had an eventful weekend, although it actually all ended by Friday. We knew Central Michigan was on to the conference final, but Ohio has joined them by ending Temple’s impressive win streak at 9 and taking the East division. The rest of the league did wrap up play last week as well, with one team earning their all-important 7th win, and another it’s 12th loss.
Read Post
Here’s our final projection before bowl bids start pouring in. As always, all I have to work with is public information- I have no info on backroom dealings or unofficial alternate arrangements. And as before, I’m making guesses as to the reps from the big leagues, but those are harder since I don’t know as much about the politics involved in each of the big 6.
The At-Large Situation & Notre Dame
We have a few bowls with openings, and a few leagues with extra teams:
Openings:
- EagleBank Bowl (ACC 8th Spot, possibly Army’s spot). CUSA will get one of the openings, the other will be at-large.
- GMAC Bowl (ACC 9th Spot)
- Humanitarian (MWC 5th Spot- MWC has 5 teams, but TCU to the BCS empties a bowl spot)
Overflowing Conferences:
- Southeastern- Right now, 10 eligible teams for 9 spots. 7-5 teams include Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas and Auburn. No 6-6 teams. However, if both Florida and Alabama do go to BCS games, problem solved. Projecting that they will.
- Pac-10- 7 teams for 6 spots, and unlikely to get a second BCS bowl. However, UCLA is 6-6 and cannot be placed ahead of a 7-5 team, and the Pac-10 can’t pick them for a bowl over one of their own, then putting a 7-5 team on the at-large market (NCAA Division I Bylaw 30.9.2.1). So the problem does solve itself, really.
- Mid-American- 5 teams for 3 spots. 7-5 teams are Bowling Green and Northern Illinois. No 6-6 teams.
- WAC- 3 bowls, could have 5 eligible teams. 7-5 teams are Idaho, possibly Fresno State. If Hawaii loses and Boise State goes to the BCS, problem solved.
- Sun Belt- 1 bowl, 2 nine win teams, 2 more at 6-6. Middle Tennessee is 9-3, Louisianas Monroe & Lafayette both 6-6.
So if you project Hawaii to lose and send Boise & Alabama to the BCS, what you’re left with is 9-3 Middle Tennessee, 7-5 Bowling Green and NIU, and a couple 6-6 Sun Belt teams. I think the first three are off to the bowls listed above, while the Belt pair are done for the year. UCLA is also out of luck.
Then there’s the Notre Dame factor. The Gator Bowl has the right to take Notre Dame based on some sort of contractual deal, and if they do, the Big East could have somebody fall down into the at-large pool. Right now, that team looks like it could be UConn, currently at 6-5. They play South Florida this week, putting the non-BCS world in the horribly uncomfortable position of rooting for the Bulls in order to put UConn at 6-6 and out of the way of the 7-5 non-BCS schools. If UConn wins, and the Gator picks ND, consider UConn or USF projected to the Humanitarian bowl, and give my regards to Northern Illinois.
The Sun Bowl also has an agreement with Notre Dame, but that spot is assigned to a Big 12 team, and if ND is picked there, it will drop a 6-6 Kansas State or Texas A&M team down and out of the bowl picture, not threatening our three teams.
As far as I can tell, most bowls won’t be able to pick the Domers without a contract in place, since they’re 6-6, which is why it almost has to be the Gator Bowl. However, the Gator may prefer to have a good team there instead, and they have second pick from the Big East, which means that most likely two of Pitt, Cincinnati, and West Virginia will be available.
BCS Bowls
Boise now just needs favorites to win their conference title games, and they should be in. There is, of course, a bit of a conundrum as a neutral fan of non-BCS teams- if Nebraska upsets Texas, TCU could get a title shot (although Cincinnati could jump them, playing a respectable Pitt team Thursday night), but if that happens, then Boise’s BCS chances are on the rocks. Read Post
Another eventful Saturday across the college football landscape. The top 25 got blown apart, but we had fewer upsets overall on the non-BCS side. A handful of quick hits on the day that was, with more thoughtful recaps to come this week: Read Post
Like C-USA, the MAC has a mix of conference and non-conference games this week. I’ll mention some of the other games, but since nobody here is contending on the national scene, we’ll mostly look at the conference games to keep an eye on tomorrow:
Read Post
|
|