By Joel Hammond
JHammond@pigskinpodcast.com
Anyone who knows me or is a fan of this podcast knows this truth to be self evident: I don't particularly care for Florida coach Urban Meyer.
May I present Exhibit A?
You can guess, then, my reaction when I flipped on the tube after a Saturday afternoon nap and saw the Gators had lost to Houston Nutt's boys, well, I cackled heartily. Guffawed, even.
By Erik Bell
EBell@pigskinpodcast.com
Last week, I examined which mid-major teams had the best chance to crash the BCS bowl party. But let's get down to business this week.
Amazingly, we are almost halfway through the college football regular season. There are nine teams in the top 11 left unbeaten, and one of those is BYU, which I doubt has a chance to make it to the BCS championship game playing in the Mountain West Conference. (That's a different debate for a different day).
So which teams are set up the best to run the table and make it to the BCS title game? (Teams listed in order of probability of going undefeated.)
So much for a more sane college football season: Four of the top 10 in last week's PigskinPodcast.com top 25 lost, meaning we've got a new No. 1 and plenty of new faces in this week's top 10.
Next weekend has a weaker slate of games, so it should be calmer. It should be calmer. But that doesn't mean it will be.
Every Friday, we'll get you set for the weekend's football action, with quick-hitting previews -- including handy-dandy spreads for you gamblers! -- of the top games.
Before we do that, make a quick note in your schedule: On Tuesday's show, we'll have Kyle King from Dawg Sports and Todd Jones from Roll Bama Roll to dissect Saturday's clash between Georgia and Alabama.
Have a great weekend!
Did ya hear? Southern Cal, in another Thursday night thriller, was upset by Oregon State in Corvallis last night, the second time in three years the Beavers have knocked off the Trojans.
(Quick question: Does this negate Andy Barch's argument on today's show that Penn State has played four cupcakes, the Beavers included? The Nittany Lions whipped Oregon State, 45-14.)
The beauty of this here Internet is that we can bring you instant analysis, and here's a taste of what folks from across the country are saying:
Each week, we'll post the results from the previous week's games, monitoring the favorites for the Pigskin Podcast's first picks crown (and the accompanying $100 gift card).
It becomes an especially tricky proposition when Miami beats up on New England and there's generally so much parity in the league.
By Andy Barch
ABarch@pigskinpodcast.com
It's not too often that you see a 1-2 team crack the top 10 in any set of NFL power rankings, but I slotted the Chargers at No. 10 this week in my power rankings this week.
Why? I think this team is actually better this year than they were last year, and even the year before when they were 14-2. Its obvious to me that this team is in much better shape than the other three who have been deemed the cream of the AFC crop.
Over the past few weeks, I've started a rundown of the three greatest players from each team in each of the six BCS conferences, based primarily on the players' accomplishments in college.
Feel free to agree or disagree by sending us an e-mail. We may even use your e-mail and response on an upcoming show! We'll continue this week with the Big East.
(Archive: Big Ten I; Big Ten II; ACC I; ACC II; Big XII I; Big XII II)
Another week, another unanimous No. 1 selection for the Dallas Cowboys, who are rolling after beating two of their top rivals, Green Bay and Philadelphia, in successive weeks.
There was more movement in both sets this week - including a six-spot jump by the Philadelphia Eagles -- so I thought it might be interest to see how we stack up against the power rankings at ESPN.com and Sportsline.com. (SI.com apparently publishes theirs on Wednesday, too.)
For my work blog on Monday, I did a Browns-themed version of "Pardon The Interruption's" oddsmakers segment, tackling the odds that Romeo Crennel lasts the season, Brady Quinn starts this week at Cincinnati, the Browns ever again spend $80 million on two defensive linemen and Cleveland ever again has as unproductive a draft as it did this year.
I liked it so much that I thought I'd adapt it for the Pigskin Podcast, tackling a lucky seven of NFL topics in oddsmaker format. Here we go!
What are the chances that ...
By Erik Bell
EBell@pigskinpodcast.com
The non-conference season in college football is all but over, save for a few games sprinkled in here and there. Since the non-conference slate is typically the part of the season where mid-major teams have their BCS bubbles burst, it's time to look at which teams are left standing and who has the best chance to sneak into a BCS bowl game.
With Fresno State's loss to Wisconsin last week, East Carolina's loss to N.C. State and Troy's setback to Ohio State, some of the contenders have been taken out of the running. There are only six undefeated teams left in the WAC, Mountain West, MAC and Conference USA. After Troy's loss, no one is unbeaten in the Sun Belt. So which of these six teams have a legitimate shot to end up in a BCS bowl?
There wasn't much change at the top this week, but Florida, on the strength of another big win over Tennessee -- and we'll have someone from Rocky Top on the show tomorrow morning to talk about the Vols and the rest of the SEC -- moved up a spot, while another SEC newsmaker, Alabama, vaulted three to No. 9 after an impressive win over Arkansas.
Meanwhile, three newcomers join the poll: Boise State at No. 20, after another stellar win, at Oregon; Virginia Tech, which regained some of its mojo by beating ACC upstart North Carolina; and Fresno State, which nearly beat No. 7 Wisconsin a week before, and held on at Toledo Saturday night in a thriller.
Every Friday, we'll get you set for the weekend's football action, with quick-hitting previews -- including handy-dandy spreads for you gamblers! -- of the top games.
Have a great weekend!
By Joel Hammond
JHammond@pigskinpodcast.com
There are some major early season matchups in the Atlantic Coast Conference this weekend, which begs the question: Is the ACC deserving of all the insults and one-liners, the mockery and the belittling that it's taken so far this season?
As Wake Forest and Florida State get set to square off in a key Atlantic Division tilt, I'll give you two examples that we here at the Pigskin Podcast missed that illustrate, in my opinion, just how wide open -- and yes, bad -- the conference is.
Both examples comes to you from Blacksburg, Va., home of the Virginia Tech Hokies, who play in another important ACC matchup this weekend -- in Chapel Hill against the suddenly surging Tar Heels and Erik Bell's boy Butch Davis.
Each week, we'll post the results from the previous week's games, monitoring the favorites for the Pigskin Podcast's first picks crown (and the accompanying $100 gift card).
As I said last week, picking against the spread is a tough thing to do, as evidenced by some poor weeks among our Week 1 leaders.
Here are Week 2 results, followed by overall standings; nice work by the Pigskin Podcast's Andy Barch, who followed a 12-point first week with 11 in the second.
By Andy Barch
ABarch@pigskinpodcast.com
On Wednesday afternoon, it was a quarterback -- not a coach -- who paid the price for a very slow start. In a move for which many in Minnesota lobbied a long time, head coach Brad Childress decided to bench young quarterback Tarvaris Jackson for Gus Frerotte, who made himself famous by head-butting a wall after scoring a touchdown many years ago.
All joking aside, if Minnesota is going to be effective on offense, then they need to be able to throw a little bit, and this move should help them do that.
As a Packers fan, I was hoping that the Vikings would keep Jackson behind center, simply because that offense was one-dimensional with the third-year player at the helm. I was a little surprised, simply because Jackson is Childress' boy, and the coach stuck with Jackson over the last two seasons, despite his complete ineffectiveness.
Over the past few weeks, I've started a rundown of the three greatest players from each team in each of the six BCS conferences, based primarily on the players' accomplishments in college.
Feel free to agree or disagree by sending us an e-mail. We may even use your e-mail and response on an upcoming show! We'll continue this week with Part 2 of the Big XII.
(Archive: Big Ten I; Big Ten II; ACC I; ACC II; Big XII I)
A wild weekend of NFL action -- which we recapped here -- is in the books, and we're expecting another wild weekend with a host of premier college and NFL matchups this weekend. (Check back Friday morning for our weekend preview, featuring top fantasy players, the NFL's disappointments and surprises and our weekly picks.)
One of that upcoming matchups features the top two teams in our newest NFL Terrific Ten, the Cowboys and Packers. Dallas has beaten two highly regarded teams, the Browns and Eagles -- and for the second straight week, is the unanimous No. 1 in our poll -- and the Packers haven't missed a beat with Aaron Rodgers behind center.
Meanwhile, the Terrific 10 features THREE new teams -- we told you it was a wild weekend -- the Bills, Panthers and Cardinals, and the Fearful Five has two newcomers: the Seahawks and Chiefs, the latter of whom weren't ranked in that area last week. A 23-8 loss to Oakland will do that to you, I guess.
By Joel Hammond
JHammond@pigskinpodcast.com
We're two weeks into the National Football League season, and there already has been plenty of action. Week 2 saw drama all over the league, from Monday night's back-and-forth barnburner between the Cowboys and Eagles to the Colts' comeback and overtime in Seattle.
And there was, I heard, some excitement in the Broncos' win over San Diego. Anyone heard anything about that?
The first two weeks have also included plenty of stinkers, too, and the coaches responsible for those stinkers are already feeling a little heat. Why not take an updated look at the NFL coaching hot seat?
Why, I thought you'd never ask!
Observations after USC's 35-3 drubbing of Ohio State ...
A LOT OF PUNDITS have pointed to Ohio State's lack of speed for the Trojans' decisive victory. A lot have pointed the finger at coach Jim Tressel and his staff. Even more have criticized Todd Boeckman for his play. The reality is that the whole team is to blame. Yeah I know, it's a cliché to say you win as a team and lose as a team, but that is absolutely the case here. No facet of the Buckeyes' performance was good, and everyone deserves to be criticized for this mess.
We asked TheClevelandFan.com's Jesse Lamovsky, who was with us on Friday's show to break down the Southern Cal-Ohio State matchup, whether it was worth it for these powerhouses to play each other.
In Ohio State's case, and as Jesse said, that answer would be a resounding 'no.' The Buckeyes took on the challenge, flew across the country and, yes, got whipped.
And they paid for it.
Each Friday during the football season, we'll give you the lowdown on what to watch over the weekend.
COLLEGE
Friday
Kansas (+3.5) at South Florida: Kansas is getting a bad rap early, I believe, and while I was high on South Florida at the start of the season -- I picked the Bulls to win the Big East in our college preview show -- I'm a little scared by the close win over Central Florida.
Picking against the spread is a difficult endeavor, but we had some successes in Week 1.
Each week on Friday, we'll post the results from the previous week's games, monitoring the favorites for the Pigskin Podcast's first picks crown (and the accompanying $100 gift card).
By Andy Barch
ABarch@pigskinpodcast.com
First and foremost, I'm really looking forward to making my first appearance on the podcast in nearly two months. I'll be back in the rotation, and I'll have a stronger presence on our shows from here on out.
Now, do me a favor: Admit it. You talk to yourself, and you do it a lot. I likely do it more than most, because I talk to myself on the air for three hours a night during the minor league baseball games that I call. The difference is, everyone hears when I speak to myself, while the rest of you get to keep it to yourselves.
Week One always poses a lot of questions, most of which we need weeks or months to answer. So here is a series of questions I began asking myself the day after Week One was complete, and a few answers to go along with them.
By Brian George
BGeorge@pigskinpodcast.com
Over the past few weeks, I've started a rundown of the three greatest players from each team in each of the six BCS conferences, based primarily on the players' accomplishments in college.
Feel free to agree or disagree by sending us an e-mail. We may even use your e-mail and response on an upcoming show! We'll continue this week with Part 1 of the Big XII.
(Archive: Big Ten 1; Big Ten II; ACC I; ACC II.)
I felt like I was watching college football on Sunday, with topsy-turvy action turning the NFL on its head.
That craziness is reflected in our new power rankings, where six teams in the Terrific 10 moved at least five spots, either up or down. Dallas is the first unanimous No. 1 choice in Pigskin Podcast history, so congratulations to the Cowboys. We'll be sending the plaque this week.
The fearful 5, too, took part in the wild weekend, as two new members -- Oakland and St. Louis -- have joined the party.
If the rest of the season is like the first weekend, you'd better buckle up.
By Erik Bell
EBell@pigskinpodcast.com
A few thoughts on the Browns before I preview Saturday's mammoth Ohio State-USC matchup:
IF YOU QUESTIONED why I included Romeo Crennel as one of the five people who were crucial for the Browns to return to the playoffs, you should have a better idea after watching the Browns' loss to Dallas. Stupid penalties, as well as conservative offensive and defensive game plans, plagued the Browns. More egregiously, down 28-7 with 10:13 left, why would you kick a field goal and not go for it on fourth down? What exactly do three points give you there? It's decisions like that that make me question Crennel's ability to be a championship head coach. While he might be a great defensive coordinator, the guy is in over his head as a head coach.
By Joel Hammond
JHammond@pigskinpodcast.com
I wish NFL and college football officials -- referees and rulemakers -- would take what I'm about to say and write it in their underwear, post it in their lockers, tattoo it on their foreheads or anything else that will help them remember:
The game is not about you.
The fans are not there to see you.
The game is about the players; the fans, in turn, are there to see the players.
The Pigskin Podcast college top 25 voters are sending a clear message: Don't lose to a lesser team, or else we'll drop you like a horrible habit; and if you beat two top 20 teams in a row, we'll reward you.
That's the plight of West Virginia -- and the delight of East Carolina -- this week, as the Mountaineers fell 14 spots after a 24-3 embarrassment to suddenly surging ECU, which had beaten Virginia Tech the week before. The Pirates entered our poll this week at No. 13. Impressive!
Each Friday during the football season, we'll give you the lowdown on what to watch over the weekend.
We kicked it off last Friday for the first week of the college season, and as the NFL kicks into gear this weekend, here's our Week 2 preview:
By Nick Seuberling
Seubs@pigskinpodcast.com
We're in the predictions business, and here are my best guesses for the season ahead:
1. The Browns will not make the playoffs in 2008.
The Browns are the chic team to make the postseason, but, unfortunately for Brownies backers, I just don't see that happening.
By Andy Barch
ABarch@pigskinpodcast.com
I love defense. I've been a big fan of defense ever since I began watching football.
When I played -- and yes, I sucked -- I hated playing offense, and I always enjoyed being a defensive end. There was nothing better than breaking through the line and smashing the quarterback, which I did just a few times when I played in high school and junior high. I'm not the fastest or the biggest, and I certainly lack coordination.
(As a matter of fact, my buddy Nick Seuberling says I look like Mary Katherine Gallagher of Saturady Night Live "Superstar" fame when I drive in for a lay-up in basketball. No, there is no YouTube footage of this, so stop searching!)
By Brian George
BGeorge@pigskinpodcast.com
Over the past few weeks, I've started a rundown of the three greatest players from each team in each of the six BCS conferences, based primarily on the players' accomplishments in college.
(Quick archive: Big Ten Part 1; Big Ten Part II; ACC part I)
Feel free to agree or disagree by sending us an e-mail. We may even use your e-mail and response on an upcoming show! We'll continue this week with Part 2 of the ACC.
Any site that claims it's an authority on football must compile rankings, right?
We did it with college -- preseason and post-Week 1 -- and here, on the eve of the NFL season opener, we unveil our NFL Terrific 10 and Fearful 5, which we'll release each Wednesday morning during the NFL season:
By Joel Hammond
JHammond@pigskinpodcast.com
I've been high on the New Orleans Saints' offseason moves to shore up their defense, and it seems I'm not the only one.
On NFL.com last week, Vic Carucci analyzes the trend of more teams bulking up their defenses, a trend spurred on by the Giants' dominating defensive performance against the New England Patriots in February. As Carucci writes, the Giants were "the ninth team to win a Super Bowl in the last 12 years with a top-10 defense."
Carucci identifies seven teams, including the Saints, who were especially active on that side of the ball this offseason; allow me to take a closer look and grade them.
The Pigskin Podcast, thanks to your votes, has overwhelmingly won the inaugural PressRow.net Access Award.
The final vote tally:
Pigskin Podcast: 71% (323 votes)
Bob Mantz Blitz: 13% (60 votes)
Sports Agent Blog: 7% (32 votes)
Hoops Addict: 7% (30 votes)
Sports Biz: 2% (8 votes)
See story here, and thanks for your support!
By Erik Bell
EBell@pigskinpodcast.com
Before I get to the Browns, who open their season this Sunday against Dallas, a couple of thoughts from the first weekend of college football.
First of all, how nice was it to get up on Saturday, turn on College Gameday, and settle in for a full day of football?
It was a topsy-turvy first weekend, leading me to believe the craziness of last year might be the norm, rather than the exception.
Bowling Green had a big win, over Pitt at Heinz Field, and Clemson was run off the field in Atlanta.
East Carolina beat Virginia Tech in Charlotte, while Missouri outslugged Illinois in St. Louis. Michigan's early-season nightmares continued, with a home loss to Utah.
How'd all these games affect our top 25, which is actually 26 this week because of a tie for 25th? Read on.
