Preseason Coaches Poll:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/polls/coaches-poll/?sf15615474=1

UGA #5
ND #11
LSU #13
Malachi #18
harry #21

If UGA makes it through September (Clemson, South Carolina and LSU) its pretty smooth sailing to Atlanta and the SECCG.

Big if.

I like #13 as a starting position. Problem is, LSU plays 4 pre-season top ten teams. Check Bama's schedule.

I have no issues with the Huskers ranking, I would even state that they shouldn't be ranked any higher than #21 to start the year, but there are a few teams above them that I believe are destined for a precipitous decline throughout the season.
I'd lean toward saying Oregon, ND and A&M.

P.S. Nebraska is an early 7.5pt home favorite against UCLA. The game has an early start time, which might have an adverse effect on the Bruins.

More like Johnny Freefall, AMIRITE?

Srsly.

Unless this is resolved quickly (NCAA is slow as molasses), he should be suspended indefinitely. If he plays while it's under investigation, and is found guilty, then any games A&M won would be forfeited and their season ruined.

The same scenario happened with AJ Green and him selling a jersey. He only got suspended 2 games but was held out 4 because it was unresolved during the first 2 games of the season.

I haven't really minded any of his hijinks but that ESPN mag article makes him come off as your basic asshole.

Oh and as for the Dawgs this year, every day I get a little more optimistic. Pre-season polls aren't worth the bandwidth they take up on a computer screen. That said, I think the offense has the potential to be one of the best in the country. Todd Gurley is a possible Heisman candidate and Aaron Murray is the most overlooked QB in college football. Defense is young, hungry, super talented but inexperienced at some key positions.

I just can't let myself believe yet. That September is brutal. Maybe the toughest of any team in CFB for that month.

Yeah, but let's face it, they ain't winning shit without him, so they might as well roll the dice and see if he can Cam Newton his way off the hook. If they get everything forfeited after the fact, it's not like they ruined what would have been an otherwise flawless season. AT BEST, they win 7 without him, and that's pretty much a pipe dream as it is.

Todd Gurley is a possible Heisman candidate and Aaron Murray is the most overlooked QB in college football. Defense is young, hungry, super talented but inexperienced at some key positions.

Oregon's offense is scary good.

I had a glimmer of hope for UW beating them this year but it looks like the streak will likely go to 10

The Huskers gave me more than a glimmer of hope in the first half today, and then they proceeded to shit the bed. I don't know if Jim Mora made any serious halftime adjustments to lead the Bruins to that huge third quarter scoring onslaught, but Pelini and Co. certainly managed to find away to look utterly hapless in the second half.

Yeah, that was a pretty brutal showing, Prom. It could be worse though: you could be Tennessee.

Observations:

Guys, Tennessee is at a 100 year horrific low. Don't read too much into that. Oregon looks good but we've seen this before early in the year.

Manziel is unreal. TAMU's D lost that game not the O. I stand by JM is a punk but I now concede kid can ball.

Listen to the sirens Mack Brown. They ring for you.

Biggest halftime adjustment: UCLA

Vandy lost, but I'm still worried about 'em.

Letdown game: Michigan

Still not sold on FSU, LSU.

Yet you picked the Vols to cover @ Autzen in the College Pickem.

I'd be surprised if this Oregon offense scores < 40 points in any game this season. I don't think they'll lose a game prior to the National Title game. And they'll put up at least 30 on whoever they play in that one.

And that being said, I hope I'm wrong. I hate the Ducks.

They may drop 100 on the Beavs in the Civil War... Hate

Oregon's new unis are the color of my pee after I take a B-Complex vitamin.

I thought Manziel's turnovers (especially the TAINT) were as important as the defensive shortcomings. That game was a shootout. Dude can fucking ball though.

I thought Wisconsin got hosed at the end of that Arizona St. game but they should have never run that last play. Don't ask me why I was awake at 2AM to see that but I was.

thank you

in the college ranks. even the morphed talents of skin flutie & rev. tebow won't translate in the Bigs. at least i don't want it to

who's this guy hunting with? been more like a constant 8-yr funeral toll everywhere outside of UT admin offices

has to be a tough one for Prometheus to.. consume

they are who we thought they were. i'd lump ohio/urban state, oregon & their powder puff scheds into a similar letdown category

what is acc football for? if lsu blemishes bama's record, will it be too late in the year for bama to regain traction & make the championship to kick the fuck out of ducks? hope so. not a fan of the tide, but i dislike les miles more

Big 10 & 12 conferences should just shut it down the rest of the season.

That was terrible officiating.

I would be in a much worse mood today if the Huskers lost the same way Wisconsin did, since I'd be more apt to blame the coaching staff and Taylor Martinez than any referee for not kicking a field goal when they had a chance, and it would be eerily similar to the loss to Texas in the 2009 Big 12 title game.
As for the UCLA loss. It became pretty laughable after the Bruins took the lead and the Husker offense continued to be off the field in under a minute after yet another three and out.
The failed fake punt and fumble in the red zone were simply icing on the cake. I would have liked to see the look on the faces of the coaching staff when they went down by eighteen points, but alas I was at work and forced to listen to it on the radio.

Nebraska is still a work in progress this year... I'd like to claim that the end result wasn't just a result of Huskers' collapse, but rather the guts and skill of a UCLA team that is on the way to playing a role in the national championship. I know, I know... fan bullshit. But folks Hundley is an NFL QB, Barr is an NFL LB, 3-4 lineman will play on Sunday... this team has speed and talent and a coaching staff that is the best since Donahue staffs in the 80's. Not sure if the backstory on Bruins' week was on the radar... but a very popular walk-on was killed in a car accident and it absorbed all the energy this week. Nebraska showed it was the classiest fan-base in the country with the way they responded to the tragedy.

But UCLA won (starting in the second quarter, NOT halftime adjustment...) by being bigger, stronger, faster... MUCH better conditioned (Huskers were dying at the end of the third quarter, Bruins were dancing..) .. with a coaching staff that knows how to coach. This is year 2 of the Mora era... we were the better team in the second loss against Stanford last year and totally choked in the bowl game against a Baylor program that apparently is pretty good. We play both Oregon and Stanford on the road, and it would NOT be an upset to win either game. We will see... but this Bruin team is for real.

Prom, again, kudos to Nebraska for a quality football program with class all the way around... now if the state could only get its politics right.

Awful officiating but why not spike the ball to stop the clock. I guess he tried to center the ball a bit for the kicker, but still.

UCLA didn't choke in the Holiday Bowl... they were severely outplayed in every facet of the game for 60 minutes, even with a gift 7 points at the final gun. I was there and it was glorious! They lost by 30. You don't choke when you lose by 4+ TDs.

Baylor has a chance to win the Big 12 because it is way down. The offense is the best in the nation and the defense is seemingly much improved as Phil Bennett finally has some of his own recruits on the field. They are way underrated at #19/#20 in the recent polls.

No, we totally choked. I watched every minute of the season and there were two games (Cal and the Holiday Bowl) where UCLA played with no energy, didn't execute, listless inattention... Cal sucked as a team, Baylor was (is) very good... but we totally choked. Disappointment in not beating Stanford in the Pac 12 Championship game, even though we outplayed them.

And, yes, the TD at the end was a completely bullshit call... should not have been allowed. (Although I find it curious that the Baylor fan base was/is so obssessed with the bad call).

Go Baylor! I hope you guys win all your games this year.

It's because 49-19 is more aesthetically pleasing than 49-26 I guess. I just find officiating on the college level an abortion... football and basketball had horrendous seasons last year especially. The vast majority of Baylor (Texas) fans are an obnoxious sort... perhaps it's the decades of not being a bridesmaid but, even worse, being left out of the bridal party altogether. We have to enjoy these recent successes because who knows if they'll last.

The Holiday bowl final line was UCLA -2.5 or -3 IIRC (in fact, I remember BU opening as slight favorites) but, as you said, were smarting after the PAC Championship. Baylor rolled then #1 KSU and then put up 52 against TTU, 41 against OSU and were on a nice streak going in. Was I shocked at the outcome? Absolutely. But I don't consider that a choke job since I didn't consider UCLA a far superior team... and neither did Vegas. If the line was -10 or greater... maybe you could say that.

But, this year is wide open for both our schools. As long as it isn't A&M in the title hunt, I am a happy dude! Good luck to you too!