Saturday, January 22, 2011

Top 10 Recruiting Classes (So Far)

Well Not every top prospect has picked were he will be going to school next year, but plenty have done so already. The off season for college football has started and I believe it is time for some recruiting hype so here is my early Top 10 class rankings. By the way I use ESPN's 150 not Scout.Com.

1. Florida St: Signings 29, ESPN 150 12, Five * 1, Four * 17, Three * 7, Two * 4. Florida St is coming off a very strong season and Jimbo Fisher has really proven himself to the haters. After signing day Jimbo Fisher and his Seminoles deserve to be #1. He showed they can recruit and I expect nothing less then a ACC Ship.

2. Auburn: Signings 25, ESPN 150 8, Five * 1, Four * 15, Three * 10
. Auburn going to have to do a lot of rebuilding in the year to come, but this rock solid recruiting class will help ease there pain a little. Auburn easily has the best OL class in the nation. The possible loss of recruit Kouandjio will sting a little, but they are in good enough shape to succeed next year.

3. Alabama: Signings 24, ESPN 150 10, Five * 0, Four * 15, Three * 6, Two * 3. Nick Saban can always produce on the field as well as in the recruiting game. He picked up several key parts to help out his team for next year. No five * recruits is not really an issue considering they are hard to come by. Nick Saban went after big name guys again and as usual pulled them in. He is becoming one of the most consistent and talented recruiters. Bama is not done yet still racing to pick up No.1 Scout Jadeveon Clowney.

4. USC: Signings 31, ESPN 150 10, Five * 1, Four * 13, Three * 14, Two * 3
. USC once again came up on top of the recruiting rankings. It is just amazing how much talent they get, and to think of how many allegations and investigations went on there I would not want to go there as an athlete. Lane Kiffin just shows how good of a coach he is and how much Tennessee lost out on. Even with all the NCAA stuff floating around, Lane Kiffin scored again with one of the best in the nation.

5. Texas: Signings 22, ESPN 150 7, Five * 1, Four * 13, Three * 8. I think it is unbelievable what Mack Brown does with the Longhorns they had a terrible year this past season, but he can still pull in top recruits to come to Austin. I think it is amazing. The longhorns have to drop signing day came and went nothing changed in their recruits. I still believe Texas will compete well in the Big 12.

6. Georgia: Signings 25, ESPN 150 6, Five * 2, Four * 15, Three * 7, Two * 1. Georgia was one of the big winners nationally today. The SEC will be the toughest it has been in years with teams like Georgia, Bama, Auburn, LSU, and Florida. Georgia can finally show there ready to play with the big Dawgs and get back to those glory days. Oh and by the way if you haven't watched Isaiah Crowell’s way of choosing Georgia you better go watch it now. Priceless.

7. Ohio St.: Signings 22, ESPN 150 6, Five * 0, Four * 14, Three * 7, Two * 1 . The Buckeys like to recruit early and that’s when this class was built. Curtis Grant was a nice add on NSD, but not a big surprise. Jim Tressel once again put together a top 10 recruiting class and the No. 1 class in the Big Ten. This guy knows how to coach and recruit. Ohio St. will still have to play the first 5 games short of key players including Mr. Pryor.

8. Florida: Signings 18, ESPN 150 7, Five * 1, Four * 10, Three * 5, Two * 2. Will Muschamp’s first class hasn’t grabbed as many national headlines as in state rival Florida State, but there’s still a lot to like. Will built a solid foundation for his new program to build on. Not many people have Florida in the Top 10, but I think they are fairly deserving. Urban would be proud of Will's work.

9. Oklahoma: Signings 17, ESPN 150 6, Five * 0, Four * 9, Three * 8 . The Sooners added a few quality kids down the stretch. Oklahoma did most of its work before NSD so all signings were expected. The sooners are going to be back in business and that Red River Rivalry game will be something to watch next year.

10. Clemson: Signings 29, ESPN 150 7, Five * 2, Four * 7, Three * 16, Two * 4. The Tigers did a tremendous job closing today and was one of the day’s biggest winners. NSD belonged to Clemson. Recruits were flying to them from every angle. A battle atop of the ACC will be interesting next season. One more thing the ACC is back.

Just Missing The Cut:
• LSU: Signings 21, ESPN 150 5, Five * 2, Four * 5, Three * 14, Two * 1
• ND: Signings 23, ESPN 150 7, Five * 0, Four * 9, Three * 14
• Tennessee : Signings 27, ESPN 150 6, Five * 0, Four * 9, Three * 12, Two * 6
• Oregon: Signings 24, ESPN 150 5, Five * 0, Four * 10, Three * 8. Two * 5
• North Carolina: Signings 25, ESPN 150 3, Five * 0, Four * 12, Three * 10, Two * 3

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Early Look Ahead To 2011-2012 Season




Top 5 Early Predictions:
1. Alabama- Bama had 22 first time starters this past season. They will lose explosive WR Julio Jones and QB Greg McElroy, but I think both of those can be replaced. Nick Saban is bringing in a quality recruiting class and I know they will have a great new QB in either AJ McCarron or Phillip Sims both will be sophomores next year, but AJ was 30-48 Att. for 389 Yds. Sims did not play in a game this year.
2. Oklahoma- Oklahoma will have a pretty hard schedule ahead, but I think they can manage. Especially when the Sooners return QB Landry Jones and their best WR Ryan Broyles. They do lose their best rusher DeMarco Murray. Bob Stoops can make next season a special thing for Oklahoma.
3. Oregon- Oregon will be in a much better position to try to get back into the National Championship then Auburn will. Chip Kelly, Darron Thomas, and LaMichael James will all be back for next season. That alone could help Oregon out. The ducks will have to replace Offensive line guys and starters on D too, but with a solid recruiting class coming in I think they can do it. Oregon has a favorable schedule with only 4 real road games, but do have a huge showdown with LSU on a neutral site in Texas. Oregon can defiantly be someone next year.
4. LSU- With 10 starters on the O and 8 Starters on the D coming back this might be LSU's year. Obviously loses on the D including Stud Patrick Patterson will hurt the Tigers. Qb Jordan Jefferson will be a much bigger threat. His decision making and accuracy will be a lot better this coming year. The only thing hindering the tigers is there difficult schedule with games against Oregon and in conference @ Bama and @ Miss. St.
5. Oklahoma St- Not many people believed Ok St would be as good as they were this past season after losing there starting QB and best WR. This year both of those position players will stay as Brandon Weeden will lead the offensive attack with his favorite target Justin Blackmon. The Cowboys do lose 6 Defensive starters, there key RB, and their Offensive Coordinator, but I think the Cowboys can do some real damage this year. The Cowboys have a favorable non-conference Schedule with one only tough game Vs. Arizona, but there conference schedule will be brutal with games @ Texas A&M, @ Texas, and @ Missouri. If they Cowboys can take care of business this year I think they are a legit National Title contender.

Breaking News: Jim Harbuagh New 49ers Head Coach


Yes the rumors are true Stanford's now old coach, Jim Harbuagh is taking the Head Coaching job at the 49ers. The 47-year-old Harbaugh went 58-27 overall as a college coach and 29-21 in four seasons at Stanford. He took over a 1-11 team when he was hired in 2006 and quickly turned the program back into a winner and bowl contender. The Cardinal's went 4-8 in his first season, 5-7 the next, then improved to 8-5 and earned a Sun Bowl berth in 2009 the school's first bowl appearance since 2001. This year he went 12-1 and a BCS bowl berth and win in the Orange Bowl. Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh signed a a five-year deal as the new coach of the 49ers that's reportedly worth million. I think this is a great fit for Jim. He completely turned Stanford's program around and now he hopes to do the same at San Fransisco. Jim will also bring 3 of his assitants from Stanford to help on his 49es coaching staff. Personally I think he will be a great NFL coach and I wish him the best of luck.

Friday, January 14, 2011

My Overall Pick Results

Overall I did 8 weeks of picks. 7 of those weeks were during the regular season and the 8th week was bowl game picks. It was fun and next year I hope to do every week of college football. Here are my total results:

Overall 8 Weeks:
216-59 (.789)

Big 12: Overall: 25-13 (.658)

Big East: Overall: 22-3 (.880)

Big Ten: Overall: 25-6 (.806)

Pac 10: Overall: 21-9 (.700)

SEC: Overall: 35-6 (.854)

Non AQ: Overall: 27-7 (.794)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Breaking News: Rich Rod Out-Brady Hoke In


First I would like to apologize for not posting in a very long time. Time has gotten a lot tighter with studying for finals, but after Thursday I will be posting regularly again. A couple days ago Michigan fired Rich Rodriguez He was not producing for the blue. Rich went 15-22 overall and 6-18 in the Big Ten. He went to one bowl, during his tenure. That was this year were his wolverines got lite up by Miss. St. It was the worst loss in a bowl game in Michigan history. Rich was supposed to be a quality coach coming into the big ten. His last five years at West Virginia resulted in BCS bowls, the last three years were wins of that BCS bowl. His WV team finished in the top 10 the last three years he was there. High expectations were put on Rich and well he just did not succeed at all. 6-18 is a terrible record in the Big Ten for three years and I am glad they fired him. There were so many things wrong with Rich besides his record, he had a lot of NCAA troubles. Michigan made one great decision to fire him, but there second decision who they hired was not a good one at all. I have nothing against Brady Hoke, but he is a little guy coming from San Diego St. and Ball St. before that. The Michigan AD could have found a better coach than Brady. Yes Michigan tried hard to get Les Miles and well that did not work out. They also wanted Jim Harbaugh who is a good fit in the NFL and that's why he chose that path. There are not many available coaches that could have taken the job, but I think Michigan could have gotten a much better head coach. Maybe Michigan just is not the dream job it used to be.