Conclusions

[Eric]

I never like drawing any conclusions after one game, so 3 should be a good enough start to assess team's preformances:

1. I like what I see from Michigan this year.
Ron English was the best thing that's happened to Michigan football in quite some time. Can you guys say "successor to Lloyd Carr" anytime soon?

2. The ACC has drastically underachieved.
If Coker goes 8-4 this year, he'll get canned because this program has been slightly losing momentum every season. The swagger is gone for the Canes. FSU hasn't looked good at all this year. They beat Miami which is still a pretty good victory, almost lost to Troy, and got beat up more than the score indicates against Clemson. The meat of the conference (Wake, UNC, NC State, Virginia) has not looked impressive in the least.

3. C-USA, MAC, Sun Belt, and MWC races should be interesting this season. The WAC looks decided already.
Every team in C-USA has a shot with the exception of SMU, Tulane, and Rice. Every team in the MAC has a decent enough shot with the exception of Kent State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, and I guess Ohio. Everybody besides FAU is in contention for the Sun Belt crown. The MWC comes down to TCU, BYU, and Utah. I really can't say where to go here because I feel Utah is the best team in the conference, but it's hard to argue TCU after their upset of Texas Tech.

Boise State will win the WAC. I have no problem with that statement because I don't see a challenger! Fresno State is not the Fresno State of last year, or a couple years ago's team for that matter. Boise gets them on the smurf turf anyway. I think Hawaii will be good, but they also go to Boise. Nevada is not as good as last year with out B.J. Mitchell in the backfield (WAC Offensive POY) and Flowers in the WR corps. Utah State stinks, Idaho stinks, SJSU stinks, NMSU while getting better, stinks, Louisiana Tech stinks, and I pretty much covered the whole conference.

4. The Heisman is undecided, unlike last season.
This year, we have a number of competitors. If Auburn can get into the BCS, Kenny Irons should be a strong candidate. Troy Smith is probably in the lead so far although he didn't play great against Cincinnati. It seems like everyone wants to axe Brady Quinn's and A.D.'s chances, but there is so much football left. I think Rudy Carpenter will make a case as the Sun Devils get better down the stretch. Drew Tate, don't forget about him. He's my darkhorse right now. Of course, only if he can get by the Buckeyes.

5. Only a couple major schools should be pressing the panic button.
Those are Colorado, Arizona, Oregon State, Mississippi State and Illinois. I'm sure there are plenty more, but I don't want to get into them all.

[Derek]

I will only comment on one of your points Eric. The Heisman is already decided, and it's Brady Quinn. However with the beating they took from Michigan, maybe that's changed a little.

But no one can argue that it's still a popularity contest, and it's picked by the sportscasters, by them giving converage to their favorites.

If it wasnt about this, the name Slaton would be in the running, but he's not really near the top, so that proves my point.

If you cant tell, I think all the sportscaster are loons, the whole lot of them. No one is perfect and can tell the future, but their voting ND #2 even after their poor showing against GT just goes to show how clueless some people are....I've said it before about our board, I trust our poll more than the AP or the Coaches.

Im done.

[Spence]

I think Slaton or White will be among the leaders before the end of the year.

[bama_girl]

1. michigan looked really good to me, i'll be keeping a better eye on them. i know we give notre dame alot of crap, but i still really think they have a good team and i like their coach. i think he's gonna get them there. maybe just not this year though

2. did you see the canes stomping on the cards logo midfield? their swagger is still there, however unfounded

3. i never gave a rats hiney about these teams til i started coming here and having to try to pick the winners of them thanks for that!

4. i never pay attention to who gets the heisman, individual awards annoy me.

5. i can't remember the question

[Spence]

I don't no if either can win this year. They have a couple of things going against them. The fact that they are sophomore and the fact that it is hard to compete with the pub. machines of Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma. That is part of it, not a good part, but a part.

[Eric]

In order:

1. I'll play devil's advocate and say that Michigan probably is not as good as they looked yesterday. Michigan only got 368 yards to Notre Dame's 273. Usually you don't score 47 points when you only gain 368 yards; usually you don't lose when the other team commits five turnovers. Still, the schedule is there for Michigan to be 11-0 going into the big battle at the Horseshoe.

2. The only team in the ACC that has really underachieved has been Miami. You can slap that tag on NC State and Virginia and (maybe) FSU, but it's hard to think of teams like North Carolina and Duke as being underachievers when they weren't expected to do much in the first place. And Wake... 3-0 is 3-0.

3. Yes, all those races are going to be good. Southern Miss did make a statement last night against NC State and has to be considered the favorite in the East. My guess would be Southern Miss and Houston for the C-USA championship.

4. If Oklahoma goes 11-1 (and they very well could, with the Big 12 down again) then Adrian Peterson should win the Heisman, because he's carrying the team. Even though the passing game has looked better since the UAB game, a lot of that is due to Peterson's presence in the backfield.

5. Arizona and Oregon State are odd teams to put on that list. Yeah, each has one bad loss, but we're not talking about the major problems that Colorado, Illinois, and Mississippi State have. NC State and Virginia should be on the list, but the ACC is so bad this year that you'll see some bad teams sneak into a bowl game with a 6-6 record.

Well, I'm not "buying" into Michigan as much as people are. I still think we're going to be 9-3, but with the upset of ND, 10-2 is a possibility. I don't think there's a way in heck we go to the 'Shoe and win but we did beat the Golden Domers at their place...

As for Wake Forest, they've defeated UConn, Syracuse, and Duke. 3-0 is 3-0 but Uconn, Syracuse, and Duke is UConn, Syracuse, and Duke even though the Huskies are a solid team. I picked Wake to go to a bowl game this year, but even so, they don't look very good. If they beat Ole Miss this week (which they should), Wake needs to win 2 more conference games to be bowl eligible.

I put Arizona on there because even though they upset (in my judgement anyway) BYU, they got creamed at LSU and Stephen F. Austin really gave them a battle. They won 28-10 last week This 2006 Arizona squad will be just a tad improved from last year's. Oregon State couldn't stop Ian Carpenter if their lives depended on it. The run D was the strength of the defense last year and they got steamrolled. I don't think this program can put up with Reilly for very much longer. They've been wallowing in mediocrity for too long.

[Eric]

Yep, I had forgotten about that Liberty game. Speaking of Liberty, was the head coach there crazy or what? Did anybody hear of Samkon Gado who was a starting running back last year for the Green Bay packers (due to injury, primarily)? He was the THIRD string running back at Liberty and got a start in the NFL

So, Wake Forest should be 5-0. Ole Miss is a pushover this season.

[colorado_loves_football]

I never like drawing any conclusions after one game, so 3 should be a good enough start to assess team's preformances:
1. I like what I see from Michigan this year.
Ron English was the best thing that's happened to Michigan football in quite some time. Can you guys say "successor to Lloyd Carr" anytime soon?

I wouldn't be appointing a successor to Lloyd Carr if Michigan can play as well as they did on Saturday, regardless of his credentials. That being said, an impressive performance by Michigan in a game that had national championship ramifications.

2. The ACC has drastically underachieved.

If Coker goes 8-4 this year, he'll get canned because this program has been slightly losing momentum every season. The swagger is gone for the Canes. FSU hasn't looked good at all this year. They beat Miami which is still a pretty good victory, almost lost to Troy, and got beat up more than the score indicates against Clemson. The meat of the conference (Wake, UNC, NC State, Virginia) has not looked impressive in the least.

All in all, I'd say the ACC is doing 'satisfactory' if not a lot better.
Wake Forest beat a Connecticut team, fairly handily, that hadn't lost a game. Duke got beat, but it was against Virginia Tech, who is 3-0.
Miami, FL lost to FSU, and to Louisville, two teams that until last week, were both ranked in the top-10. And it would appear they will play better when it's for the conference title, as last year demonstrated.
Georgia Tech nearly upset Notre Dame. They are clearly a 'good' team, as are Clemson and Boston College. I'm still not 'clear' on NC State.
S. Mississippi has a good football team, as does Akron. Losing to both, isn't 'good' but doesn't mean they (Wolfpack) are bad. Same argument applies to Virginia, who in my opinion lost to a very good MAC school.
I think the jury is still out, at any rate, on how good the conference is.

3. C-USA, MAC, Sun Belt, and MWC races should be interesting this season. The WAC looks decided already.Every team in C-USA has a shot with the exception of SMU, Tulane, and Rice

I belive any team, if they play well, can win the conference. I am impresed, mostly with how C-USA has done with a few exceptions. SMU I believe won last week. Losses to Texas Tech & N. Texas aren't so bad, if you weigh into their home-field advantage. Tulane beat Mississippi St. Rice, I believe will be relieved to begin playing conference games, but they were playing defending NC following a loss.

Every team in the MAC has a decent enough shot with the exception of Kent State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, and I guess Ohio.

Ohio lost at Rutgers, after beating N. Illinois. Kent State beat Miami, OH 16-14. Miami, OH is a good team by most people's standards. Buffalo has been playing a lot better, wins over Temple and OT loss to Bowling Green make them a 'viable' contender, IMO.

Everybody besides FAU is in contention for the Sun Belt crown.

I think the Owls might surprise you. They've had to play some tough games (at Clemson). Sun-Belt is wide-open in my opinion.

The MWC comes down to TCU, BYU, and Utah.

I think given the level of competition, any team could conceivably win the conference. TCU maybe has the 'best' chance, but they don't award conference titles based on your reputation. And, they can't 'hide' under a cloak of unfamiliarity anymore. It's going to be a lot harder for them to win it this year, I think, than last season. Tough road games against Utah and Colorado St. Wyoming looks better, as does SDSU.

I really can't say where to go here because I feel Utah is the best team in the conference, but it's hard to argue TCU after their upset of Texas Tech.

Something that bothered me about TCU's win (not that I'm mad), is they didn't score a TD. It's a reflection on their offensive 'power' which so far has been sporadic. They will need a much better effort against Utah, if they are to win the MWC, outright.

Boise State will win the WAC. I have no problem with that statement because I don't see a challenger! Fresno State is not the Fresno State of last year, or a couple years ago's team for that matter. Boise gets them on the smurf turf anyway. I think Hawaii will be good, but they also go to Boise. Nevada is not as good as last year with out B.J. Mitchell in the backfield (WAC Offensive POY) and Flowers in the WR corps. Utah State stinks, Idaho stinks, SJSU stinks, NMSU while getting better, stinks, Louisiana Tech stinks, and I pretty much covered the whole conference.

I dont agree with everything you say. SJSU, isn't so bad. They've had some problems but they can play good football.
Nevada is pretty good. I don't know about Hawaii. Utah St likely isn't that good neither is NMSU, but they are still 'transitioning'. I was pleasantly surprised with how Idaho did against Michigan St. Boise St, IMO is 'untested'. Fresno St looked pretty good to me, against Nevada.

4. The Heisman is undecided, unlike last season.
This year, we have a number of competitors. If Auburn can get into the BCS, Kenny Irons should be a strong candidate. Troy Smith is probably in the lead so far although he didn't play great against Cincinnati. It seems like everyone wants to axe Brady Quinn's and A.D.'s chances, but there is so much football left. I think Rudy Carpenter will make a case as the Sun Devils get better down the stretch. Drew Tate, don't forget about him. He's my darkhorse right now. Of course, only if he can get by the Buckeyes.

I wouldn't give Carpenter the Heisman based on his performance against Colorado. Drew Tate, I think is a 'wildcard'. Troy Smith woudl appear to be the 'front-runner' at this point. I wouldn't mind a kicker getting it.

5. Only a couple major schools should be pressing the panic button.
Those are Colorado, Arizona, Oregon State, Mississippi State and Illinois. I'm sure there are plenty more, but I don't want to get into them all.

I wouldn't be too quick to jump on the 'bandwagon' for CU. They need to make some improvements, but they played well, generally against ASU.
Arizona lost big. Oregon St, I think simply underestimated Boise St. I don't think BSU was that much better. I saw Mississippi St against S. Carolina. They were shut-out, but they played ok. Still a lot of games.

[Eric]

but Notre Dame was in 'disarray' offensively.

And do you know why? Ron English. The guy is an awesome defensive coach.

I'm writing off Ohio and Buffalo because those teams are bad. Come on, Ohio just got an upset, I'll be suprised if they keep hanging around. SJSU beat Stanford because Stanford is terrible. I think this is a down year for the WAC, it's not going to be good as last year. As I said before, Troy is a bad football team, but they turn it up a notch when they play better competition. Check Missouri, Georgia Tech, LSU, South Carolina, and Florida State. It doesn't mean Troy is any good. And North Texas actually doesn't look all that bad this year. They didn't get beat up as badly against Tulsa did last year. They beat SMU (who is going to be pretty bad, CLF). SMU beat Sam Houston State. I should pencil them in for SEC West champs now (I actually did in the preseason, but they have totally suprised me in how bad they are)

Arizona upset BYU; Arizona isn't going to be any good this year. They got destroyed by LSU (that's not necessarily a bad thing, the Tigers are good but if the Wildcats are any good, it should have been closer than that). They just beat SFA by 18 points

[Eric]

I don't think Virginia is going to be eligible for a bowl game. They look very bad so far. A one point victory over a bad team to begin with that plays terrible on the road in overtime (Wyoming). Then, they get beat by Western Michigan at their place. Al Groh's future is looking dimmer and dimmer by the week.

I don't think the BC pick is all that wacky. Although I think they'll probably be 9-3 or somewhere around there, a bounce here or there, they've got a good shot at the ACC crown considering where the rest of the conference stands.

[Eric]

I think East Carolina is a good team. They handled Memphis last week. If you saw anything during the preseason, I was tooting this team's horn for C-USA champs, but they don't look that good. I think they're going to take care of Virginia and give West Virginia a suprising struggle.