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| College Football Stuff https://mail.chicagofanatics.com/viewtopic.php?f=129&t=5833 |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:48 pm ] |
| Post subject: | College Football Stuff |
Haven't seen anything in Chicago media about this, so thought I'd share these with you. This year's rule changes in college football: 1.No more Darth Vader tinted eye shields in college football. This was standard equipment for a few QBs around the country. The main reason for the rule change is that a QB wearing an eyeshield is at an advantage because the linebackers and DB's aren't able to read his eyes. Clear eye shields will be permitted. So QBs will have to beware of those tells. 2. The game clock will start when the foot touches the ball on a kickoff, not when it is first touched by a return player. It's another attempt to shorten games. However, it could be significant in kickoffs at the end of halves or games. Instead of a team getting maybe one or two plays off after a kickoff, they may not get any. 3. If a team wants a play reviewed, a coach must first call a timeout. If the play is reviewed and overturned the timeout will be given back to the team. But they lose their timeout if it's not overturned. However, what makes this a muddy rule is determining which plays are considered reviewable and which plays aren't? If a coach calls a timeout and the ref considers the play unreviewable, the play is not reviewed and the team is still charged a timeout. The question with all of this is will a referee be able to communicate to a coach which plays are reviewable fast enough before they call a timeout or before the other team runs a play? The other thing is that coaches will want to save timeouts. No timeout available, no review possible. 4.Kickers must use a one inch tee, instead of a two inch tee, for all kicks. The rationale here is an attempt to lessen the number of touchbacks and add more excitement to the game. It also helps prepare kickers for the NFL, which uses the one-inch tee. Look for shorter kickoffs and longer runbacks. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Sun Jul 16, 2006 6:26 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Auburn is Going To Get Their Salad Tossed |
Things are stirring in the smallest little village on the Plains. Seems a bunch of Auburn football players took one-on-one sociology courses from the same professor who apparently gave them good grades for doing not much at all. And as a result, Auburn is getting a higher rating than Vanderbilt for grade point averages of football teams. That more than a little pissed off the Chancellor of Vandy. Auburn is generally regarded as the weakest academic school and also has the longest history of cheating in the SEC. So when this kind of stuff happens, few are surprised. You can imagine the story or read it in the New York Times. But you might enjoy this typical take from a Southern newspaper... ----------------------- Auburn football is in the news after making the front page of The New York Times sports section for the blatantly obvious fact that several of its football players.... wait for it.... actually took an easy class that allowed them to make a good grade without having to show up. Wow. What a complete shock. Seems like those Yankees aren't really sure what southern football is all about. Down here in the South, we worship football as a religion. So what if 18 Auburn players have only completed 98 total hours of college? (that's combined by the way) They went undefeated in 2004; did you expect them to accomplish this while going to class? While the sad reality of college athletics may surprise some people, it doesn't surprise me. These student athletes are going to college for one purpose, to make an NFL roster while experiencing a small taste of the party atmosphere that surrounds most schools. Sure there are some athletes, mainly in other sports besides football and basketball, who are actually in school to learn, but that's just because they aren't good enough to play professionally. Right? Well that's what we're programmed to believe. The only team in the SEC that actually puts an emphasis on academics is Vanderbilt, and boy were they surprised to find themselves listed below Auburn in a recent academic evaluation. But that's why Vanderbilt is a perennial cellar-dweller. You can't get by on your athletic ability there, you have to open schoolbooks and write down notes and stuff. While this has all come down on Auburn, much to the delight of Alabama fans, other schools should watch out. There isn't one other school with a competitive football program that doesn't give its players an easier road than everyone else. Most even give their entire student body an easier chance to succeed as evidenced by the non-football players, totaling 94 percent, who also took these easy classes at Auburn. And while some, Alabama fans again, are hoping Auburn will get some kind of penalty, it's not going to happen. The NCAA doesn't care too much about academics, because if it had to actually police players' grades, they would have to increase the size of their staff ten fold. They would find so many schools with problems that we might actually see a national championship between Duke and Vanderbilt. I personally think the smart school would win that one. While this would easily clean up the BCS mess that has caused so much controversy in recent years, it sure wouldn't give fans an entertaining match up. Most of the school's fans probably wouldn't even show up because they would be studying for a test that was weeks away. So while students from these so called "academic" universities may well end up being our boss or owning the company we work for, at least we can still root on our team on Saturdays, assuming they let us off. --------------------------- There's no time like the present for some old Auburn jokes. I recall Spurrier lamenting that a fire once burned a bunch of books in the Auburn library. Spurrier said that "the real tragedy is that a lot of them hadn't been colored in yet." Now a true story. I had a guy from Auburn send me a resume once. He was supposedly an honors graduate. Besides the dozen or so typos, incomplete sentences and generally horrible grammar, his resume was a fine example of a quality Southern education. Uh no. He didn't get the job. Which leads me to this question: What is the weakest academic school in the Big Ten? What is the easiest school for average (C) students to be accepted? What is the easiest school for athletes to stay eligible without really having to work/study as at most schools? I have my ideas, but I'd be interested in other opinions. My "bottom four" are: Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Indiana. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Sun Jul 16, 2006 7:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Conference Championship Futures |
Odds to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Boston College +800 Clemson +600 Duke +8000 Florida State +160 Georgia Tech +1200 Maryland +1400 Miami FL +180 N.C. State +1500 North Carolina +2000 Virginia +2000 Virginia Tech +500 Wake Forest +500 Odds to win the Big 12 Conference Championship Baylor +5000 Colorado +1000 Iowa State +700 Kansas +1500 Kansas State +2000 Missouri +1400 Nebraska +550 Oklahoma +120 Oklahoma State +5000 Texas +175 Texas A&M +1800 Texas Tech +700 Odds to win the Big 10 Conference Championship Illinois +10000 Indiana +8000 Iowa +600 Michigan +200 Michigan State +1000 Minnesota +1200 Northwestern +2000 Ohio State +100 Penn State +300 Purdue +2000 Wisconsin +800 Odds to win the Pac 10 Conference Championship Arizona +1500 Arizona State +700 California +350 Oregon +450 Oregon State +2000 Stanford +4000 UCLA +600 USC -300 Washington +4500 Washington State +2500 Odds to win the SEC Championship Alabama +800 Arkansas +3000 Auburn +200 Florida +160 Georgia +600 Kentucky +20000 LSU +220 Mississippi +2000 Mississippi State +10000 South Carolina +800 Tennessee +750 Vanderbilt +10000 -------------------- My looks: Iowa at 6-1, Cal at 3.5-1, Tenn. at 7.5-1 and Arkansas at 30-1. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Sun Jul 16, 2006 7:57 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Odds To Win The Heisman Trophy |
Odds To Win 2006 Heisman Trophy 101 Brady Quinn (Notre Dame) +297 102 Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma) +450 103 Troy Smith (Ohio State) +1000 104 Steve Slaton (West Virginia) +1500 105 Chris Leak (Florida) +1800 106 Mike Hart (Michigan) +2000 107 Darius Walker (Notre Dame) +2200 108 Ted Ginn (Ohio State) +2300 109 Michael Bush (Louisville) +2500 110 Marshawn Lynch (Cal) +3500 111 Kenny Irons (Auburn) +3500 112 Chad Henne (Michigan) +3700 113 Drew Tate (Iowa) +3700 114 Brian Brohm (Louisville) +4325 115 Kenneth Darby (Alabama) +5000 116 Kyle Wright (Miami) +5499 117 Blake Mitchell (South Carolina) +5999 118 Drew Weatherford (Florida State) +5999 119 Drew Stanton (Michigan State) +6499 120 JaMarcus Russell (LSU) +7999 121 Reggie Ball (Georgia Tech) +7999 --------- Midwesterners generally have a huge advantage in the Heisman, which lately has become a regional popularity contest. The number of voters in the mideast and midwest surpass the number of voters in the east, south and western regions. Add the national popularity of ND among many media types who vote and you have a recipe for another ND Heisman. If ND has a nearly undefeated season, I could see Quinn collecting the trophy. And that's why he's the favorite. He doesn't need an undefeated season to win the Heisman. Most other candidates do. Peterson may be the best football player in the land this year, but he's going to need a lot of votes from the east and west to win this thing. And that won't happen against a candidate from Notre Dame. Quinn's a nice player, but I need more than 3-1 to tie up my money on him for five months. |
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| Author: | reents [ Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | conference |
I already put money on LSU to win the Sec. I'm a Canes fan, so there my pick for the ACC. My shocker pick is for Arizona to win the Pac 10. On Heisman, If a Notre Dame player has a good chance he will get more votes than he should. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Wed Jul 19, 2006 12:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Odds to Win 2007 BCS National Championship Game 1 Ohio State +700 2 Notre Dame +690 3 Oklahoma +738 4 West Virginia +750 5 Florida +1500 6 Texas +1200 7 Florida State +2000 8 Southern Cal +1128 9 Miami +1800 10 LSU +2000 11 Auburn +1500 12 Michigan +2933 13 California +3195 14 Iowa +3195 15 Louisville +2837 16 UCLA +5547 17 Penn State +4346 18 Georgia +4940 19 Tennessee +5547 20 Nebraska +6800 21 Oregon +6800 22 Arizona State +6800 23 Virginia Tech +6800 24 Alabama +8000 25 Clemson +8000 26 Michigan State +12000 27 Boston College +12000 Here are a couple of long shots to win it all: Iowa at 32-1 and Louisville at 28-1. Iowa has a three-year starter at QB, a strong running game, solid lines and has their toughest opponent, Ohio State, at home. They have to go to Michigan, but Ferentz has gotten the best of Carr lately and has shown they can handle the Wolves in the Big House. Louisville has a two game schedule. The rest of their games are almost gimmes. And those two tough games, West Virginia and Miami, are at home. This schedule reminds me a lot of Penn State's last year. It sets up nicely for a possible undefeated season. And unless there are two unbeaten teams from major conferences after the conf. champ. games (which doesn't happen too often), an undefeated Louie team will likely be in the BCS title game. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Sat Jul 22, 2006 2:05 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I didn't get ALL of the rules changes in the above article. There is another one related to the clock that will likely reduce the number of possessions in college games and could lead to lower scores. In previous years, the clock started when the ball was snapped after a change of possession. Now the clock will start once it is spotted. In addition, the clock will start when a ball is kicked on kickoffs, not when it is touched by the receiving team. Some people believe these new rules could trim around six minutes of the clock compared to previous seasons. One prominent handicapper thinks it could mean two less possessions per game, which might mean scoring could be down 3-7 points depending on the team. Master linesmaker Ken White at LVSC, which gives out line recommendations on all games to most sports books in Vegas, says he will make adjustments on totals. The whole point of the changes is to shorten games. If these changes are successful at accomplishing that, they likely will shorten scores too. |
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| Author: | Spaulding [ Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Coast2Coast, Thank you for the rule change info. My husband and I are Big 10 fans and go to a game or 2 per year. I'm sure I would have been wondering about clock startage/stoppage if I hadn't come across your post. I'd say OSU and IU have the reputation of having the weakest academic programs and I believe they have earned it. |
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| Author: | Hawkeye Vince [ Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Coast2Coast wrote: Here are a couple of long shots to win it all: Iowa at 32-1 and Louisville at 28-1. Iowa has a three-year starter at QB, a strong running game, solid lines and has their toughest opponent, Ohio State, at home. They have to go to Michigan, but Ferentz has gotten the best of Carr lately and has shown they can handle the Wolves in the Big House.
As an Iowa fan, I expect them to lose a game in the first few weeks of the season ending the hopes of a national title. They will be a better bet next year when they lose OSU and Michigan on the schedule. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Wed Aug 02, 2006 2:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops today kicked OU QB Bomar (and a starting offensive lineman) off the team. That will certainly affect OU's chances at a national title. Guess there is some integrity among some coaches. Anybody think Bobby Bowden would have done this? Not a chance. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2537332 |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I'm putting together my annual update on best and worst college coaches vs. the spread. I believe this is important data that shows which coaches have a history of exceeding or failing to meet public expectations, as expressed in the betting line. I'll put the info up in the next few days. Any guesses? |
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| Author: | reents [ Wed Aug 09, 2006 6:20 pm ] |
| Post subject: | coaches |
I have always heard Mac say that Spurrier seems to know the number when he was at Florida by passing the ball when the Gators were still up big. My own thought for a coach is Kirk Ferentz from Iowa, I usually have good luck when I go with the Hawkeyes. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:13 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Reents...you know your college coaches. Spurrier historically has been a profitable coach to back, but he was never in the very top echelon, even at Florida. You are right on it that Ferentz is money. His 63% mark ATS is in the top three of college coaches who have coached at their schools for at least three years. There are two slightly better though. But you better have some large cahones to go against a Ferentz-coached team in any situation. On the othe hand, there are two college coaches who have coached at their school for at least three years who have lost more than 60% of their games against the spread. Back their teams at your peril. There also is one Big Ten coach who is an absolute go against when his team is a dog on the road. His 3-14 ATS mark as a road dog is evidence that he cannot get his teams to play to their capabilities or expectations when they play better teams on the road. Answers tomorrow. |
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| Author: | good dolphin [ Thu Aug 10, 2006 8:04 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
I'll go with Lloyd Carr as the Big Ten coach. |
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| Author: | Coast2Coast [ Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:32 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Good guess, Dolphin, as Carr has a losing record ATS overall and is a good go against as a road favorite (15-25). But Carr actually has a winning record as a road dog (9-4 ATS). The coach in question who has failed miserably as a road dog is Cowboy Joe Tiller. While he is a 64% ATS coach at home and 52% ATS overall, his teams have gone 3-14 ATS (17%) as road dogs. The two coaches with the best overall ATS records? Johnson of Navy and Petrino of Louisville. The two worst? Franchione of A&M and Doba of Washington State. Here is the data........ Top College Coaches Against The Spread (Minimum Three Seasons at their school) Eight Coaches Above 60% ATS Johnson Navy 27 14 65.85% Petrino Louisville 22 12 64.71% Ferentz Iowa 49 28 63.64% Morriss Baylor 19 11 63.33% Carroll USC 37 22 62.71% Friedgen Maryland 34 22 60.71% Kragthorpe Tulsa 20 13 60.61% Edsall Connecticut 35 23 60.34% Worst Coaches Against The Spread (Minimum Three Seasons) 7 coaches below 45%, 2 below 40% Coker Miami 25 31 44.64% Bennett SMU 20 26 43.48% O'Leary UCF 10 13 43.48% Smith Mich State 15 20 42.86% Shula Alabama 14 19 42.42% Franchione Texas A&M 13 20 39.39% Doba Wash. State 13 20 39.39% 80% + Angles Against the Spread (Minimum 10 games that fit the angle) Chuck Amato of NC State (47% overall) is 13-1 (93%) as a road dog. Dennis Franchione of A&M (39% overall) is 2-9 (18%) as a road dog. Joe Tiller of Purdue (52% overall) is 3-14 (17%) as a road dog. Rich Rodriguez of West Virginia (56% overall) is 9-2 (82%) as a road favorite. Sonny Lubick, Colo. State (55% overall) is 9-2 (82%) as a home dog. Al Groh of Virginia (55% overall) is 9-2 (82%) as a home dog. Big Ten Coaches Against The Spread Ferentz Iowa 49 28 63.64% Mason Minnesota 54 44 55.10% Paterno Penn State 202 175 53.58% Tressel Ohio State 30 27 52.63% Tiller Purdue 50 46 52.08% Carr Michigan 58 65 47.15% Smith Mich State 15 20 42.86% Zook Illinois 4 7 36.36% Hoeppner Indiana 3 6 33.33% |
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