Pac 12 South Preview: The Odyssey and Other Familiar Stories of Personal Relevance

Already blabbered about: SEC West, SEC East, ACC Coastal, ACC Atlantic, Big 12 (Part 1), Big 12 (Part 2), Pac 12 North 

So, I got a little lazy last week and decided not to finish the Pac 12 preview in a timely fashion. With that said, this will probably be the last preview, because the time spent to page views ratio is pretty grim, not unlike Nick Sheridan's completion percentage on passes going farther than five yards past the line of scrimmage. Yeah, that means no Big East preview (or worse, MAC, Conference USA, etc.). I have my limits. 

After this post, I promise that it'll be all Michigan the rest of the way until 9/1. No more of this "talking about other teams" business. I will do this in spite of the fact that there is really nothing Michigan-centric to discuss/write about right now other than maybe some Denard Robinson fan fiction and possibly a season overview that features some variation of the following: "the 2012 team will have a worse record than last year's team but will actually be better." You know, mostly annoying things. Anyway, here's some stuff about the Pac 12 South for all you tens of search engine wayfarers getting ensnared in this shoddy SEO web. 

This man wears sunglasses inside--at least, I think it's inside, but since it's the Pac 12 he might also be on the top of a mountain somewhere getting all zen and whatnot--and might actually be good at coaching football, which flies in the face of pretty much every pre-conceived notion regarding Lane Kiffin that you've ever had. 

Prologue 
The 2011 season in the Pac 12 South was like when you're watching Jeopardy and you're just killing it, getting every answer right and generally making your friends look like they're operating on a plane of existence several levels beneath yours. After a while it just gets sad, and you just sit out a round to let somebody else shine for a little while. You jump in and nail that question about Rachmaninoff just to remind everyone who the boss is, but you generally let your weaker peers fight for second best. 

Anyway, don't pretend like you didn't cheat on a few of those questions...yeah, I'm looking at you, USC. You know what I'm talking about, the 'ol "mouth the answer right as the guy on TV says it, pretending like you knew it before but just wanted the pleasure of feeling like you came to the realization of that answer at the same exact time as this ridiculous dude with the encyclopedic brain" maneuver. We've all done it. Hey, I've done it, and I'm not proud of it but dangit not getting a single question before Trebek takes you into that first mid-round commercial break is not a good look, man. 

Pac 12 North Preview: Vitalogy

Already blabbered about: SEC West, SEC East, ACC Coastal, ACC Atlantic, Big 12 (Part 1), Big 12 (Part 2) 


Three major conferences down, only 1-3 to go (by that I mean that I'm not sure that I'm going to do a Big Ten preview because you probably know enough about the B1G, and I'm not sure that the Big East is a major conference anymore). Anyway, today let's take a look at the Pac 12 North: Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State. The division is exceptionally strong, and 2012 figures to be an exciting year for this group of teams.

Washington QB Keith Price might just be my favorite current college football player not wearing a winged helmet. 

Prologue 
As a denizen of the East Coast time zone, I, like most of you, have probably seen the least of the Pac 12 conference compared to the other major conferences. However, one team that everyone is familiar with is, of course, the Oregon Ducks, the class of the conference in recent years.

In 2011, the Ducks had another wildly successful season, going 12-2 with a conference championship game thumping of UCLA, who at 6-6 deserved to be there about as much as much as anybody deserves to be strapped to a chair with their eyelids taped open with a First Take marathon playing on TV (hint: nobody deserves that). The Ducks then went on to outpace the Badgers in the Rose Bowl, faring much better than they did against Ohio State in the 2010 Rose Bowl game.

It wasn't all good, however. The Ducks probably preemptively shot themselves in the foot by scheduling LSU for the opener, a game in which Oregon outgained LSU 335 to 273 but turned it over four times, including one fumble that was returned three yards for a TD by Tyrann Mathieu. It was reminiscent of those games during the Rich Rod era when Michigan would move the ball relatively well but would intermittently shoot themselves in the foot, leading to a nice shiny yardage total but less points on the boards than one would hope for under the circumstances. LSU was clearly better, but it was a bitter 40-27 loss for the Ducks, another scalp for the SEC and another knock against the Oregon offense's efficacy against elite defenses.

Luckily, Oregon then went on cruise control, setting its Death Star of an offense's sights on everybody, including Stanford, whom they beat 53-30 at Stanford. However, hours after Michigan had handled the Huskers, Oregon then lost to USC at home by 3 after kicker Alejandro Maldonado missed a 37-yarder to tie it as the clock ran out. At that point, Oregon's hopes of making a second trip to the national title game in as many years were summarily quashed. It is quite possible that Oregon's 2011 team was actually better than its 2010 iteration, but, unfortunately for Chip Kelly, his first loss at Autzen Stadium came at the worst possible time.

The rest of the division wasn't even in the same stratosphere as Oregon. Starting from the bottom, Washington State and Oregon State went 4-8 and 3-9 respectively. The Cougars have been wandering in the wasteland ever since Mike Price's departure in 2002. After winning 10 in 2003, the Cougs have gone on to win 3.6 games per season since, and last year's 4-8 mark led to the firing of head coach Paul Wulff. Enter Mike Leach, who had been doing his own wandering in the last few years, and now there is hope again in Pullman.

Big 12 Preview (Part 2): Intruder(s) In the Dust

Already blabbered about: SEC West, SEC East, ACC Coastal, Big 12 (Part 1) 


It's time to finish up the Big 12 by taking a look at Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, and West Virginia. Yes, West Virginia in the Big 12 is still not something that I have completely assimilated into my college football worldview. 

Say, man, you got a bad defense? It'd be a lot cooler if you did. 

Prologue 
The 2011 season for the Oklahoma State Cowboys might have been its most exhilarating and disappointing season at the same time. As for the exhilarating part, the Cowboys went 12-1, winning a Big 12 championship along the way for the first time since the league formed in 1996. Excluding the 2010 season, it was their first double-digit win total since 1988. It was a wildly successful season built on the back of a juggernaut of an offense that didn't miss a beat at all even with OC Dana Holgorsen's departure for Morgantown. New OC Todd Monken called the plays for an offense that finished 3rd in total offense (behind only Houston and Baylor) and second in scoring offense (behind only Houston). Led by AARP member Brandon Weeden (GET IT BECAUSE HE WAS 28 AND THAT'S OLD FOR A COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER), receiver Justin Blackmon, and tailback Joseph Randle, the offense essentially was an athletic refurbishing of Russia's "scorched earth" policy. Only, instead of scorching its own earth, they, you know, incinerated Big 12 defenses instead. 

As for the disappointing part, I think you know what I mean. Their one loss on the road against Iowa State, combined with an SEC favoritism built on the back of the previous five seasons, led to the Cowboys getting passed up by Alabama for the second national title berth. It's difficult to argue that Alabama did not have the look and feel of a national title team, but the strange, labyrinthine non-logic of college football would seem to do away with the notion that a "best" team could ever truly be decided. By that I of course mean that maybe the Cowboys would not have fared better against LSU than Alabama did, but I see no reason why they should have been denied the chance. 

In lieu of criticism of Oklahoma State's defense--and by extension Big 12 defense as a whole--mostly finding its source in Dixie, the most under-the-radar stat of the 2011 season was the fact that OSU ended the season with the #1 turnover margin. I don't remember people offering undue criticism to Auburn in 2010 for having a less than stellar defense, so I still don't understand why OSU was hammered for not putting up the same defensive stats that teams like LSU and Alabama did. Regardless, it was a wildly successful season for Mike Gundy, one that will be remembered for many years to come in Stillwater. 

The Texas teams presented a bit of a mixed bag. Mack Brown's Longhorns bounced back after a horrible 5-7 season in 2010 to go 8-5 last season. However, it was still a disappointing season for Texas in a number of ways. Despite having a ferocious defense and a pair of very good tailbacks in Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron, the Longorns's quarterback play let them down. Its been two seasons since Colt McCoy left for the NFL, and Mack Brown is still looking for a capable signal caller. After the collapse of the Garett Gilbert experiment in 2010 (and his ensuing transfer), the position shifted its focus to two youngsters in Case McCoy and David Ash. Ash put up better numbers across the boards but didn't exactly separate himself from McCoy in the race to secure the position. 

Despite the much-maligned Greg Davis's resignation in 2010, the 2011 offense wasn't much better, co-coordinated by former UT QB Major Applewhite and Bryan Harsin. The Longhorns finished 55th in scoring, 54th in total offense, and 89th in passing efficiency. With most of 2011's staunch defense and Bergeron and Brown both returning, its fairly clear that one of these two quarterbacks will need to seize the position and provide at minimum reliable play if this team is going to approach its former formidability. 

Texas Tech, on the other hand, was quite the opposite in almost every way. Quarterback Seth Doege put up monster numbers all season, most notably against Oklahoma in what was the Sooners' home loss since 2005. Unfortunately, the defense was still the sieve that you would imagine it to be. The Red Raiders finished 144th in total defense and near the very bottom in scoring defense (117th). No matter how potent your offense is--a notion that is still kind of amusing when attached to a head coach of Tommy Tuberville's decidedly conservative offensive reputation--you are not going to win very many games. And, in 2011, they didn't. After the Oklahoma upset took them to 5-2, TTU lost out, finishing 5-7, their first sub-.500 season since 1992. 

Next, we have the newcomers from Fort Worth. TCU started the season with a disheartening loss at Baylor that officially set RGIII mania into motion and also forced people to ask questions about what used to be an indomitable defense. Fortunately, on the back of QB Casey Pachall, the Horned Frogs finished what was otherwise a strong season. After a slip up in OT against SMU, TCU won out, including wins against Boise State and a bowl win against a sneakily solid Louisian Tech team. It is probably a testament to Gary Patterson's coaching acumen that an 11-2 (7-0) season could even be slightly painted with the brush of disappointment. With that said, while TCU was not exactly terrible on defense last season (as mentioned yesterday, most of the important metrics put them right on the fringe of the top third in the country), they will need to return to their defensively elite ways if they want to hope to keep the offenses in their new conference in check. 

Lastly, we have West Virginia, coming to the conference fresh of a national humiliation of Clemson during bowl season. Despite a puzzling 26-point loss at Syracuse in October and another loss at home against an improving but not exactly fearsome Louisville team, WVU proved themselves to be a team worthy of serious recognition by season's end. Additionally, despite losing by 26 to LSU at home, it was arguably one of the "closest" 26-point losses that I've ever seen (as I mentioned yesterday). The fact that Oklahoma State ran basically the same offense last season that they did when Holgorsen was in town lends some credence to the fact that the Cowboys would have had more success against LSU then SEC partisans would have led you to believe. 

In short, while the Big 12 still does not have enough teams for a conference championship game, this will yet again be the most exciting conference in America for the offensively inclined. It can be argued that the TCU and WVU additions were just as strong as the SEC's chosen pair of newcomers, but that will be proven or disproven in the years to come. 

Big 12 Preview (Part 1): Old Faces In Changing Times

Already blabbered about: SEC West, SEC East, ACC Coastal, ACC Atlantic

Among many other things, 2011 gave us the Stoops face. I know that feel, Bob. 

I've covered the SEC and ACC at length already, coming to the conclusion that we're looking at LSU-Georgia and Virginia Tech-Florida State title games this season (despite my better judgment after jumping on the FSU bandwagon last pre-season). Now it's time to venture out westward to the new look Big 12. Since the conference no longer has enough teams for a conference title game as of last year, there are no divisions. So, I'm just going to break these previews down into two groups of five, alphabetically. Today I'll take a look at Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma.

ACC Atlantic Preview: The Unpredictable Ones

Already blabbered about: SEC West, SEC East, ACC Coastal 
I took on the fairly straightforward Coastal division yesterday, where everything's coming up Milhouse Virginia Tech. Let's talk a little bit about the Atlantic division, if for no other reason than to help me (and you) commit to memory which teams are in which division (don't lie, you don't know either). 


Prologue
Florida State, after winning 10 games in 2010, entered the 2011 season with the standard amount of hype. This time, however, there was a pervading sense that maybe just maybe this time it was for real, that on the back of a stout defense and EJ Manuel's play at quarterback, the Noles would be a legitimate national contender once again. This was yours truly circa last August:

This might end up making me look really stupid but I think this is FINALLY the year that Florida State is legitimate once again. Replacing Ponder might be an issue, but EJ Manuel is not exactly chopped liver (talent-wise, at least). He will have to grow up fast with a home date against the Sooners coming in the third week of the schedule. The ACC is fairly mediocre once again, and with no Virginia Tech on the regular season schedule, the Seminoles have an outside shot at a BCS title game berth in my humble opinion. Plus, second year coaches and whatnot. 

That didn't exactly work out. I'm not sure why I decided to trust in Florida State last season, but it predictably backfired, as the Noles, after losing a close primetime game at home against Oklahoma (who turned out to be good but not exactly transcendent), went on to lose two more, @ Clemson and more embarrassingly @Wake Forest. FSU as developed a strange habit out of losing to Wake Forest of late, one that I can't really explain. That's been FSU of the last decade or so, though: incredibly inconsistent, prone to fiery epic collapses while still remaining one of the most talented teams around (according to the scouting services, at least). This sounds very familiar.

Luckily for the Noles, they went on to win out save for a one-point home loss on November 19th against Mike London's improved Cavaliers. Although FSU recovered nicely last season, the home loss against UVA further underscored the fact that the patina of invincibility that once seemed to emanate from the field at Doak Walker has completely worn away over time; the Cavaliers had not won at Doak in their previous eight trips before last season's late game triumph.

For all the e-ink spilled regarding FSU, it was Clemson that won the Atlantic division in 2011. Yes, the always entertaining nexus of EDSBS commenters' faux ire verging on ironic approval. For years, Clemson has been known as the talented but incredibly underachieving team. Clemson has always struck me and many others as the most SEC-esque of all the ACC schools in a number of ways. However, the Tigers have not been able to position themselves as a team that can make noise on the national stage as Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida have in the last six years. After Dabo Swinney took over for Tommy Bowden midway through the 2008 season, he led Clemson to 9-5 and 6-7 records in his first two full seasons in town before leading the Tigers to a 10-4 record and their first ACC championship since 1991 last season.

Clemson started off 8-0, and like many, each week I had to make some sort of "Clemson is still somehow undefeated" comment during my weekly ranking post. Things fell apart near the end, as the Tigers lost by two touchdowns at Georgia Tech, then got killed in consecutive weeks on the road at N.C. State and South Carolina, the former being one of the more perplexing losses of the season for any team, anywhere. On the bright side, the Tigers finally broke through and won the conference and made it to a BCS game. Whether Dabo Swinney can take this program any further remains to be seen, but Clemson is certainly paying its coordinators--OC Chad Morris and new DC Brent Venables--enough to indicate that they are serious about winning.

Also Clemson-related, but since I don't know where else to put this, please look at the caption under the picture on Swinney Wikipedia profile: tremendous and likely accurate. This is why the young people look to Wikipedia first for their most rigorous scholastic exertions.

The rest of the division is a sea of teams existing anywhere on the spectrum from outright horrible (Maryland) to mediocre (N.C. State). Maryland was simply horrific in every facet of the game, including their choice of jersey design. They finished 2-10 (1-7), with their only meaningful win coming at home to start the season on a Monday night against Miami; the other win came against Towson. To make things worse, QB1 Danny O'Brien transferred out to Wisconsin.

Boston College was similarly bad, going 4-8 (3-5) under third year HC Frank Spaziani, who is, if you look really hard, basically just a strange combination of Stan Van Gundy and Tom Selleck.
    += 

Wake Forest and N.C. State are the interesting teams to watch in this division outside of the obvious favorites (Clemson and FSU). Under long time head coach Jim Grobe, the Demon Deacons went 6-7 en route to a topsy turvy season that sent them to a bowl game for the first time since 2008. I say topsy turvy because without having watched the games and looking at their 2011 results, you'd be liable to think that somebody was just picking scores out of a hat for this WF team. After starting the season with an OT loss at Syracuse, WF rattled off four straight wins before getting thumped at Virginia Tech. Things fell apart after that, as they went 2-4 the rest of the way, not including the bowl game loss against Mississippi State. They were able to beat divisional foes FSU and N.C. State but got destroyed at UNC and somehow lost to Vanderbilt at home 41-7 to close out the regular season.

In the same vein, Tom O'Brien's Wolfpack also were somewhat of a wild card, beating the Cavaliers in Charlottesville and completely flummoxing Clemson at home, 37-13, when the Tigers were ranked #8 in the country. They also lost to Wake Forest, Boston College, and at Cincinnati, 44-14.

Comings and Goings 
I didn't do this for the first three previews, but I will from now on: all NFL draftees will henceforth appear in bold. Departures of note:

• FSU-Bert Reed-WR, Beau Reliford-TE, Ja'Baris Little-TE, Zebrie Sanders-OT, Nigel Bradham-WLB, Terrance Parks-SS, Mike Harris-CB, Andrew Datko-OT

• Clemson-OT Phillip Price, OT Landon Walker, TE Dwayne Allen, NG Brandon Thompson, DT Rennie Moore, DE Andre Branch, CB Coty Sensabaugh 

• Wake Forest-Tristan Dorty-DE, Kyle Wilber-OLB, Cyhl Quarles-SS, Josh Bush-FS, Chris Givens-WR, Joe Looney-OG, Cameron Ford-TE, Doug Weaver-OT 

• N.C. State-T.J. Graham-WR, Terrell Manning-OLB, Audie Cole-ILB, J.R. Sweezy-DT, Markus Kuhn-DT, Jay Smith-WR, George Bryan-TE

• Maryland-QB Danny O'Brien (transfer), Davin Meggett-RB, Cameron Chism-CB, Trenton Hughes-CB, Tony Logan-WR, Quintin McCree-WR

• Boston College-Luke Kuechly-ILB, Mark Spinney-C, Donnie Fletcher-CB, Montel Harris-RB* (dismissed from team), Ifeanyi Momah-TE

By numbers of returning starters (including special teams): 1) Florida State-18 2) Boston College-17 3) Maryland-17 4) N.C. State-16 5) Clemson-15 6) Wake Forest-12

Although I mentioned yesterday that the odds of a VT-Clemson conference title game are pretty good, FSU has to be the Atlantic favorite on paper. Eighteen returning starters, including starting quarterback EJ Manuel and a nasty defense that returns the starting front four completely intact and loses only two in the back seven. Starting tailback Devonta Freeman is also back after a decent 2011; back-up Jermaine Thomas is off to the NFL and I haven't really heard anything of late regarding James Wilder Jr.'s legal issues. If Freeman can carry the load and take some pressure off of Manuel, this could be a team in contention for a national title game appearance in November. I'm only committing to "could", however, after getting burned by the Noles last season. 

This Clemson team kind of reminds me of the 2008 iteration on offense: talented skill players, good bit of offensive linemen to replace. As we all know, a sub-par OL can make even the most talented skill players look like nobodies. Clemson has to replace three 2011 starters this year, just like they did in '08. Defensively, the Tigers need to replace 75% of the DL, but the back seven returns intact. As a whole, the defense should improve under new DC Brent Venables.  

Intra-Division Games To Watch 
Once again, here's the helmet schedule.


1) Clemson-Florida State, September 22nd. This is the obvious choice for #1 in the Atlantic division.  Both teams have high hopes, some built on reality and some built on vague notions of talent and, in FSU's case, the omnipresent shadow of history and past success. After rattling off 11 straight wins against Clemson between 1992 and 2002, the Noles have gone 3-6 against the Tigers since. On the bright side for FSU, the home team as won this game the last four times they've met.

2) Clemson-N.C. State, November 17th. There's a big drop-off after #1 on this list, but this is still an important game, especially for Clemson. Last year's loss in Raleigh was one of the more surprising losses of the season, which is sort of a testament to how much good faith Clemson had built up to that point (i.e. that such a loss was surprising at all). This is Clemson's last conference game before taking on the Gamecocks at home. Luckily, the Tigers also get the Wolfpack at home this time.

3) Florida State-Wake Forest, September 15th. Okay, don't laugh, but FSU has somehow gone 2-4 against WF in their last six meetings. The Demon Deacons are clearly the Seminoles' IT'S A TRAP game, although it shouldn't be so much of a trap anymore for FSU, you would think. Also, this game takes place a week before the FSU-Clemson showdown, so there is classic letdown potential yada yada yada.

4) Florida State-N.C. State, October 6th. Don't have much in the way of specifics to say about this one other than that this is the next permutation in the Clemson-FSU-N.C. State triumvirate. This is the Wolfpack's first divisional game of the season; if they want to be taken seriously in the division, taking out the Noles at home

5) Wake Forest-Clemson, October 25th. Looking at WF's schedule, if they split their trips to FSU and Virgina, they could very easily be 6-1 heading into this game, a Thursday night matchup at home. Needless to say, if all goes according to plan, an upset win here would improbably put the Demon Deacons at or near the top of the division. This is admittedly a best case scenario sort of thing for Wake, but the other conference games in the lead up to the Clemson game, other than the aforementioned FSU and UVA games, are: UNC, Duke, and Maryland. Even for WF, that is extremely manageable.

LAZY NARRATIVES GALORE 

• FSU and Clemson herpin' and derpin'. Is this the year that either Clemson or FSU finally run through the schedule without an unexpected derp or two? Both have programs with fan bases that expect much more (see "national championships"), which might not be so realistic in Clemson's case but hey, who am I to cut down someone's dreams? With that said, Clemson did a good job of avoiding its own brand of Sparty No! moments up until November last season. The next step is to avoid those losses and at least put yourself in the picture of a national title game berth. On the other hand, FSU needs to avoid the lethargic start that it experienced last season. 
• N.C. State: on the way up? After three sub-.500 seasons to start the O'Brien era, the Wolfpack have won 9 and 8 games in 2010 and 2011, respectively. They even picked off eventual conference champion Clemson. Sixteen returning starters is enough to allow for expectations to build a little bit. The Wolfpack start the season in Atlanta against Tennessee; that should be a solid initial indicator of whether or not this is the same old forgettable Wolfpack or if this is a team worth paying attention to. 
• Clemson déjà vu. Like I mentioned earlier, Clemson's 2012 team kind of reminds me of what it had in 2008: a lot of skill position talent with several holes on the offensive line. Everyody wants to talk about Sammy Watkins and Tajh Boyd, but the Tigers need to replace 3 starters on the OL or Boyd won't have time to find anybody, especially against a fast and talented defense like FSU's. 

Obligatory Heisman Candidate Section That Nobody Cares About But Here It is Anyway 
1) Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson
2) EJ Manuel, QB, FSU
3) Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson
4) Mike Glennon, QB, N.C. State


OFFICIAL MEANINGLESS PREDICTION
Whatever happens, with Clemson and FSU being the favorites, this division should, at the very least, be fairly exciting. Both teams have a penchant for losing to teams with way less talent, a trend that has developed over much of the last decade. Even last year, Clemson won the division and still had a few stinkers against N.C. State and Georgia Tech, and that's not even mentioning a loss against South Carolina that could have been considered hotly contested when juxtaposed with the Orange Bowl box score.

Regardless, this Clemson team should be more 2011 Clemson than the Clemson we've come to know in practically every other year this side of the new millennium. The Tigers have to replace a not insignificant amount of talent, particularly on the offensive and defensive lines. Like always, Clemson has the skill, with Tajh Boyd at QB, Sammy Watkins at wideout, and senior Andre Ellington at tailback. The question, as it has been before, is whether or not Clemson has the quality in the trenches. Swinney's recruiting has been strong, so we will see how well those losses are replaced; success would indicate that this program has matured greatly since Swinney took over back in 2008.

Much of the same could be said for Florida State. After going along with the people that had FSU as a darkhorse NC contender in 2011, I am understandably skeptical. After last year's 3-game losing streak early on (Oklahoma-Clemson-Wake Forest), it's hard not to look at the 4-week stretch of WF-Clemson-@USF-@N.C. State with a little bit of suspicion. Would a 1-3 record during that stretch really surprise you? No? That's exactly the problem. That said, E.J. Manuel will be a 5th-year senior and most of what was one of the most dominant defenses not based in Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa last season returns this year.

Otherwise, you will find that N.C. State is the trendy darkhorse pick in the division. Mike Glennon is one of the more underrated QBs in the country, but I'm not sue that this team is strong enough from top to bottom to make a serious push for the divisional crown. Similarly, Wake Forest is a team with upset potential; however, I'm no sure that they have enough to make a serious push. On the positive side, as I mentioned earlier, their first seven games are navigable, with games against UNC, FSU, @UVA being the key tilts. If Wake can manage to go at least 1-2 in that trio of games and somehow upset Clemson at home, then as Cosmo Kramer would say: giddy up.

Like Duke, Maryland and Boston College are probably not worth discussing at length. If you are still interested in learning more about them, then: a) you must be really, really bored and b) here are the Pre-Snap Read preview posts for Maryland and BC.


As much as it pains me to do after last season, I'm writing FSU in for the Atlantic division title this season. This is one of those decisions that you make and constantly regret before anything even happens, but so it goes. I like FSU's defense, and although Clemson probably has better non-QB skill players, FSU's are more than capable. Throw in Clemson's OL/DL issues and I think that FSU is a cut above the Tigers this season.

Dangit, I knew this was going to happen and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Well FSU, don't make me look stupid again for trusting you, please.

ACC Atlantic Standings 
1) Florida State
2) Clemson
3) N.C. State
4) Wake Forest
5) Boston College
6) Maryland

ACC Coastal Preview: Rise and Fall

Already blabbered about: SEC West, SEC East

I took a look at college football's overlord, the SEC West, and the also impressive but not quite overlord-y/more Darth Vader-esque right-hand man that is the SEC East last week. This offseason preview effort in the weeks leading up to fall camp that isn't a complete waste of time that nobody will read no not at all now shifts its focus to the nebulous yet mostly static world of the ACC.

As you probably know, the conference's very existence has come under fire this offseason. With the New World Order that is the much clamored for by bloggers college football playoff coming into play, John Swofford had to make some sort of moves to keep the conference afloat as the flotsam and jetsam of college football shifted conferences with alacrity. This was an especially urgent situation, as various college football folks, in lieu of all the playoff debates, built up the viability and/or necessity of the eventual existence of four superconferences to rule them all. With the Big Ten, Pac 12, and SEC being stable, intact, and ready for the new college football order (and the Big 12 having seemingly survived the departures of Texas A&M and Missouri by adding WVU and TCU), the ACC was in a precarious position: it was perhaps just a step or two away from potential irrelevance.

The ACC added traditional basketball powers Syracuse and Pitt last fall, but they won't be joining the fray until 2013. For now, the ACC is still a player, as the BCS still has two more years to go before it is finally put down forever. However, after that point, things become much murkier for the ACC.

More importantly, for all the criticism that the B1G gets for not performing at the BCS level and not producing teams that can compete for and win a national championship, the ACC has been much, much worse. After the Virginia Tech and Clemson losses this past bowl season, the ACC dropped to 2-13 in BCS games. For some perspective, if you count Ohio State's vacated Sugar Bowl victory against Arkansas, the B1G is 12-13 in BCS games, a record which hardly seems so bad when juxtaposed with the ACC's mark. With Miami and FSU not being what they once were, Virginia Tech has carried the banner for the ACC. As a fan of college football, I really enjoy watching the Hokies play (the Sugar Bowl only increased this appreciation), but they have consistently been just a cut or two below the quality of a true national contender.

Probably not about to be sacked due to being, you know, not that much smaller than RVB,  A STRONG SIDE DEFENSIVE END. 

(HT: Mike DeSimone)

SEC West Preview: Guess Who's Back, Back Again

As I've mentioned approximately 842 times within the last few months: there's not a whole lot going on right now. Michigan's fall camp won't be underway for a couple weeks, so this a good time to survey the vast and completely sensical landscape of college football that exists outside of the Big Ten's non-Rutgers-including-footprint. I'll still be working on the basketball player previews as well, but I'll also attempt to take a semi-thorough look at the other major conferences so that you can orient yourself and be well-informed at tailgates and other social functions in the coming months. I mean, is there anything better in life than being able to rattle off mostly useless college football information to your friends, who, in turn, are completely unimpressed impressed as a result? I don't think so.

I'm going to take a look at the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Pac 12, and maaaybe the Big East if I'm feeling charitable and/or have time. Probably not the Big East, though. Anyway, this week I'll start with the SEC, the recent dominion of ALL THE CHAMPIONS, Golden Flake potato chips, and the banana republic that is contemporary Tennessee football.

For the sake of readability, I'll divide this into multiple posts. Today, let's take a look at the SEC West, the toughest division in college football.

An SEC West football coach.