SEC

EAST                                 WEST

Florida 9-3                          LSU 10-2

South Carolina 9-3               Alabama 10-2

Georgia 9-3                         Auburn 8-4

Tennessee 6-6                     Arkansas 8-4

Kentucky 4-8                       Mississippi State 6-6

Vanderbilt 1-11                    Mississippi 6-6

BIG TEN 

Iowa 11-1

Ohio State 10-2

Michigan State 9-3

Penn State 8-4

Wisconsin 8-4

Northwestern 8-4

Michigan 7-5

Purdue 6-6

Indiana 5-7

Illinois 4-8

Minnesota 3-9

BIG 12

NORTH                               SOUTH

Oklahoma 11-1                 Nebraska 10-2

Texas Tech 10-2               Missouri 8-4

Texas 9-3                           Colorado 5-7

Texas A&M 8-4                  Kansas 5-7

Baylor 5-7                           Iowa State 4-8

Oklahoma State 5-7         Kansas State 3-9

ACC

ATLANTIC                   COASTAL

Boston College 10-2     Miami (FL) 11-1

Florida State 8-4          Virginia Tech 10-2

Clemson 6-6                Georgia Tech 8-4

Wake Forest 6-6          North Carolina 8-4

Maryland 5-7               Duke 3-9

NC State 5-7               Virginia 3-9

PAC-10

Oregon State 10-2

Oregon 10-2

Arizona 9-3

USC 9-4

California 8-4

Stanford 6-6

Washington 6-6

UCLA 5-7

Arizona State 5-7

Washington State 1-11

BIG EAST

West Virginia 9-3

Cincinnati 9-3

South Florida 8-4

Connecticutt 8-4

Pittsburgh 7-5

Rutgers 7-5

Syracuse 4-8

Louisville 4-8

MOUNTAIN WEST

TCU

Utah

Air Force

BYU

San Diego State

Wyoming

UNLV

Colorado State

New Mexico

WAC

Boise State

Nevada

Fresno State

Hawaii

Louisiana Tech

Utah State

Idaho

New Mexico State

San Jose State

CONFERENCE USA

EAST                      WEST

UCF                        Houston

Southern Miss          SMU

East Carolina           UTEP

UAB                        Tulsa

Marshall                  Rice

Memphis                  Tulane

MAC

EAST                    WEST

Temple                  Northern Illinois

Kent State             Western Michigan

Ohio                      Toledo

Buffalo                   Ball State

Bowling Green        Central Michigan

Miami (OH)             Eastern Michigan

Akron

SUN BELT

Middle Tennessee State

Troy

Florida Atlantic

Arkansas State

Florida International

North Texas

Louisiana

Louisiana-Monroe

Western Kentucky

INDEPENDENTS

Notre Dame 8-4

Navy 8-4

Army 4-8

BCS BOWL GAMES

ORANGE BOWL- VIRGINIA TECH VS. ALABAMA 

FIESTA BOWL- OHIO STATE VS. NEBRASKA

SUGAR BOWL- LSU VS. WEST VIRGINIA

ROSE BOWL- IOWA VS. OREGON STATE

BCS TITLE GAME- MIAMI (FL) VS. OKLAHOMA

 

So the Big 10 with 12 teams made their great divide last night.  One of the most tradition-rich conferences in football is catching up with the rest of the college football world by dividing into divisions and playing a title game at the end of the season.

Unfortunately that meant ending some annual rivalries, but such is life.  Most of the focus has been on Michigan-Ohio State, both their seperation and the date they would play.  They maintained the end of year match-up which I like, but seperated them, which I don't like.  I'd hate for in the future that both teams have wrapped up their divisions and then be forced to rematch a week later which would basically make the end of season game a mute point.  Money and interest drive this though, so at the expense of rendering the final game potentially useless, they allow the opportunity for a big money rematch in the title game.

Here is the other big problem the Big 12, SEC, ACC, and all conferences that break into divisions face: Uneven, unbalanced, and unequal scheduling.  Every year teams will benefit from avoid the other big boys in the in the other division.  Florida and Alabama haven't played each other in the regular season since 2006.  If you don't think that helped each other then you are fooling yourself.  Scheduling quirks are very common, and become more common when you divide a conference in two. 

I can tell you two teams that will benefit this year.  Oklahoma and Nebraska.  They don't play each other in the regular season, which saves a loss on someone's record bettering their chances at winning their divisions and playing in a Big 12 title game and a BCS bowl game.  Florida and Alabama may eliminate one or the other this year now that they are forced to meet again. 

If you haven't figured it out, I hate conference title games and I hate large conferences that don't play everyone equally.  The Pac-10 and the Big East play uneven home and away because they possess 10 and 8 teams respectively, but at least they determine a true fair champion because you play everyone in your conference once.  A complete round-robin schedule.

Actually the (changing soon) Mountain West and WAC got it right.  The perfect number for a football conference is 9.  8 conference games.  4 home.  4 away.  Perfect.  Of course the MWC is expanding the WAC is falling apart, so that model is dying.

I won't win this battle.  Conference Title games are big money producers.  Fans seem to enjoy them.  It's just not a very fair way to decide a champion.  Then again...neither is the BCS.

So your team isn't ranked in the top 25.  Don't fear, a great year could still be on the horizon. 

In the last 4 years, the BCS has expanded to 5 bowls with the addition of the stand-alone BCS Title game.  So 5 games, 4 years, and 40 teams have been BCS-bound.  Would you believe 20% of the BCS participants started the season...unranked? 

It's true.  8 teams in the last 4 seasons have started the season unranked and played the end of the season in a BCS bowl game.

So who are the unranked teams with the best shot to do it again this year?  I narrowed the potential 2 spots on average for the last 4 years down to 20 teams that I think can "come out of nowhere" to appear in a big dollar game at the end of the season.

Well, one thing that helps is when you don't have many of your conference teams ranked at the start of the year.  The Big East fits that mold perfectly.  The reigning two-time Big East champion, Cincinnati, was unranked the last two seasons.  They are unranked again this year.  I guess the voters haven't caught on.

So Cincinnati, even with new coach Butch Jones, has another legit shot.  Fellow Big East teams USF, UConn, and Rutgers also have a chance to win the conference and represent.

The PAC-10 is more wide open than ever, and the lack of knowing who will take the top spot left just Oregon and Oregon State ranked.  That leaves, Arizona, Cal, Stanford, and Washington all with a shot at winning the conference as the most likely candidates.

The other BCS conferences are toughers because more of their top teams are represented.

Only South Carolina seems like a possibility out of the SEC.  This could be Steve Spurrier's best team, so don't dismiss it.

Michigan State is the only team I think who could pull the trick in the Big Ten.  Their schedule is managible, and the Big Ten almost annually sends 2 teams to the BCS, so the Spartans wouldn't even have to win the conference. 

Texas A&M and Missouri appear to have the best shots in the Big XII.  The Aggies have an explosive offense and defensively are a train wreck.  Missouri has the easier division but would likely have to win at Nebraska for a shot at it.

In the ACC, Boston College and Clemson have the talent and schedules that could get it done.  The ACC has had some suprises in it's recent history and both schools play in the much easier Atlantic division.  FSU is on the rise, but were still a mess defensively last year so it wouldn't shock to see one of these 2 teams get to the title game again and only be one win away from the BCS.

Lastly, the rest of the pack.  Now, the other guys are getting much more respect than they have in previous years, with TCU and Boise State earning not just top 25 rankings, but top 10.  That leaves out these other non-BCS teams as possibilities: Utah, Houston, Southern Miss, and Temple. 

And both Notre Dame and Navy have a shot to surprise this year as well. 

So there are the 20, in addition to the top 25, that I think you will choose from to find your 10 BCS bowl teams this year. 

http://nikeprocombat2010.nikemedia.com/downloads.html

These are the NIKE schools and what they will each wear at some point this upcoming season.  You be the judge.  Some look cool, others...eh, not so much.

Bill Walsh once said the 3 most important positions on a football team were the left tackle, the quarterback, and the backup quarterback. 

Many a teams season has been lost because they didn't have a reliable backup and when the starter went down they were dead in the water.  Of course, carrying a quality reserve can be tricky with the salary cap and all.  It's always nice to know you have a Steve Young or a Jeff Hostetler waiting in the wings, but every once in awhile you find a Kurt Warner or a Matt Cassell that keeps your team afloat. 

The reality is that quarterbacks get hurt (or suspended), and if you don't have a good backup it could derail your entire season.  For some teams, the backup is not much different that the starter, and that isn't a good thing.  It usually means that team isn't going anywhere.  Does it really matter if Josh Freeman can't play and Josh Johnson has to?  Or Sam Bradford has to sit and AJ Feeley has to fill in?  Those teams aren't going anywhere anyway.  There is a large group of teams that fall in-between, but here are the teams in good shape and the ones that could struggle if lightning strikes, and the ones that will fall apart if their starter goes down for too long.

IN GREAT SHAPE

1) Dolphins- Chad Pennington/Tyler Thigpen- Pennington led the Dolphins to a division title two years ago and is a proven winner.  Thigpen played well in his brief tenure with the Chiefs.  Not sure who would take the reigns full-time if Chad Henne were hurt.

2) Titans- Kerry Collins guided the Titans to the best record in the AFC just two seasons ago, and of course also helped the Giants to the Super Bowl. 

3) Eagles- Mike Vick certainly is a much different quarterback than Kevin Kolb, but has the talent to keep the Eagles playoff hopes alive.

4) Chargers- Billy Volek was a fantasy stud down the stretch a few years back with the Titans and can play a little bit. 

5) Cowboys- Jon Kitna actually quarterbacked the Bengals to the playoffs once upon a time, which speaks for itself.  Pleny of experience and would at least keep the ship afloat.

 

YIKES, HOW LONG IS HE OUT FOR?

6) Vikings- Tavaris Jackson has played and started, and could fill in capably for a few games.

7) Jaguars- Luke McCown isn't going to get anyone excited, but it isn't a huge dropoff from David Garrard if you had to ride him for a couple games.

8) Ravens- Marc Bulger has played plenty, but its hard to know how much he has left in the tank.  I don't think the Ravens would be comfortable with it being more than a handful of games.

9) Falcons- Chris Redman had to play last season for 3 games and the team went 1-2, but did lose a 3pt game to the Saints so I'd say he'll pass.

10) 49er's- San Francisco actually has two former #1 overall picks as its QBs.  Alex Smith didn't earn the job back until near midseason last year, and David Carr wouldn't be a dramatic fall-off.

 

OMG, OUR SEASON IS OVER

28) Saints- Drew Brees is so accurate and so good, and Patrick Ramsey is not.

29) Bengals- Carson Palmer is not an elite quarterback in the league anymore, but we've seen what the Bengals look like without him, and it's not good.  He is one of the most indespensable players in the NFL.  Unless you like JT O'Sullivan?

30) Giants- Exit Jim Sorgi (which didn't comfort me), and enter Rhett Bomar?  And if Eli Manning exits, then it's lights out.

31) Patriots- No offense Brian Hoyer, but I don't think you're Matt Cassell.  And I know you aren't Tom Brady.

32) Colts- Curtis Painter was embarrassingly awful last year in mop-up duty.  Imagine that for a whole season.