So far we have had some great games in week 1. As many of you know , I am against polls and rankings until the day after week 3. The reason is, and I wont go in to a ton of details is you just do not know enough about the team, all you have is what you think. Why should you be ranked on a perspective, without even playing a game or so to really show what you are?
Clemson vs. Ga. might have been one of the best games in the land. On the road Ga. hung in there and played a close one but lost to a lesser ranked Clemson. This is a great case study, Clemson in theory was worse than Ga. but playing at night in Death Valley they win. Is that to say Georgia is worse? Or is it because Georgia opened the season in a hostile environment? How about Nebraska at home, they won by 3 against unranked Wyoming. Everyone knows that Nebraska is tough at home, and while they were ranked 18 and won, are they really a top 25 when they “escape ” vs. Wyoming? I am not sure I think so. I also am a fan of a top 20, not a top 25.
TCU played LSU tough in a neutral site, that was filled with Tiger backers. LSU travels well and TCU hung with them longer than I thought. I think my beloved Horned Frogs are still a season away.
Oklahoma State won, in Houston in another Neutral site game, and while putting up 21 they spit and sputtered some. At this point, I am not sure what to think of them, but the Big 12 is soft this season and in theory they should only get better. With new coordinators on both sides of the ball, they should continue to grow, mature and hopefully be a force.
SEC fans will hate this, but it is true. There is a SEC biased based on the fans, the media in a forms ( print, tv, internet and radio) and success. You always hear how great the SEC is, but lets look briefly at some other factors. Yes they have won a bunch of championships in recent seasons, but what about the fact that if a SEC team wins, you rarely hear Yea LSU !! or Roll Tide !!! What do you hear? You hear Whoo Hoo !!! SEC !!!! It is a crock, but it feeds into the casual fan base, it feeds into the unfamiliar fan base, and feeds the media. I have news for you, it is not the SEC that won, it is LSU, or it is “Bama, or it is Florida. What happens is if they self promote constantly, pretty soon the whole world thinks they are the best, and while I am not trying to take away from their triumphs, I am just pointing out that it artificially inflates everything and makes them bigger than they are. If you tell a gal, she is a 10, and constantly tell her this, it does not matter that she is a 7.5. There is nothing wrong with being a 7.5, I would love to have one, but if she thinks she is a 10 and the whole country constantly hears she is a 10, guess what come poll day, she is a 10. That is wrong. Two years in a row we have seen our National Champion lose a game at home. One season we saw them actually get a re match. Does that sound like everyone is getting a fair shake? Hell No it doesn’t. While I am not naïve when I say this, you could make a partial argument that the mid tier Big 12 team went into the SEC and kicked ass last year, including beating Alabama. It is all because the fans come from states that do not have as much going for them in a lot of places, so they rally around the whole conference like a union for fans with inherently low self esteem. That is bad for College Football. When Ohio State and Michigan almost had a rematch in the early 2000’s SEC fans freaked, but yet supported it for LSU vs. Bama. Its a crock.

 
I liked the old school “tint” to the ND uniforms yesterday and despite thinking Brian Kelly should have been held much more accountable than he was in that guys death, I was glad to see them give him a extension. If he is at Notre Dame, then they are relevant, which is better than what we went through in the post Lou Holtz era.
I was glad to see South Carolinas success, because as you know I am a huge Steve Spurrier guy, but Clowney took a lot of plays off. That should be watched early on this season.
I think James Franklin is a arrogant guy and not real trust worthy, but I was glad to see Vandy play tough, even though they lost.
Texas Tech has some work to do, and while I do not think KK was the best guy available, he did help ease some pain from a fan base that while not all, for the most part misses Mike Leach.
I was glad to see Washington State play well though they lost on the road. I want to see Leach do well because I kind of think he got a screwing in Lubbock.
I like what Charlie Strong is doing at Louisville and at the time of this blog he is up 35-0.
While I know he is the ultimate in don’t trust him, I still like Bobby Petrino and he made his return to the sidelines in nice fashion. Enjoy him WKU, because I do not see him even being there 4 years. So Freshman, you will realistically play for two coaches in your career, and while I do not know the Red Shirting policies of smaller schools I can assure you, if you just graduated HS in May, and are red shirting this season, you have 0 chance of him being there. What I did find interesting is the stat line for WKU under Bobby P. 271 yards passing that is admirable. 216 yards rushing, that is great. But here are some numbers that stood out for me. He only threw 34 times, he RAN 41 times, that is incredibly balanced for a guy that is such a believer in 3 and 4 receiver sets. His spread is not a traditional Run -N- Shoot, and it is not as full of gas as say a Mike Leach, but it is not a bubble gum like say what a true spread is, like say Auburn, or the Pistol/ read option that is gaining so much ground in recent times. It is probably closer to the famous K-Gun that Jim Kelly had in Buffalo, with maybe a little less emphasis on the run. the other stat I noticed was the 2-10 on 3rd downs, that has to be improved, but all in all be served on notice, that he can coach, and while I hate to predict a record based on opponents I know little about like Troy, Texas State, or Louisana Lafy. He might go 8-4 or 9-3. Now this could call change because I do not know the opponents, but I know he beat Kentucky, and while I do not see him beating Tenn. because of pure talent level, plenty of teams on his schedule including Army have a similar talent level, and Bobby is probably worth 7 points as a coach against the guys he is going up against.
Michigan won big as expected, I think they are better than the pre season ranking which here again is why there should not be pre season rankings.
I need to run for now, but enjoy and if you have questions or comments give me a yell.