An Early Look At Pageantry

Because it’s a rainy Wednesday and I need to go to my happy place. Here is a quick look at the 2006-07 college football season. Of course I will have a much more in-depth look in August when the season comes closer but for now here’s what to look for…



Consensus Preseason No.1: The Ohio State University, does not play Vince Young in September, plays Penn State at home, Michigan is not a threat this year.



Team with most holes to fill from 2005: The Ohio State University (must replace 9 starters on defense, including all three linebackers) also USC and Florida State



Biggest Shoes to Fill: Vince Young’s replacement at Quarterback for Texas, Colt McCoy. I did not make that up. They are not making “Necessary Roughness 2”. That is his real name.



Finalists for the Heisman Trophy: Notre Dame Quarterback Brady Quinn, Oklahoma Running Back Adrian Peterson, Ohio State Quarterback Troy Smith, Northern Illinois Running Back Garret Wolfe.



Trendy National Championship Pick to Avoid the Hype: West Virginia



Sleeper National Championship Pick to Get Behind Now: Cal



Best Reason to Hope for Syracuse Fans: Bill Callahan will have Nebraska back in the Top 25 in his third year replacing the Option Offense with the West Coast Offense.



Second Best Reason to Hope for Syracuse Fans: Six winnable games this season. At Wake Forest, at Illinois, Miami (OH), Wyoming, at Cincinnati, Connecticut. If they win three that’s a 200% improvement over last year :)



Controversy of the Year: The new “BCS Championship Game” which has served to piss off college football purists and playoff advocates alike. It will be difficult to describe at weddings, that’s for sure. For now all it is is another BCS bowl meant to appease Fox which is taking over the rights to the BCS bowls except for the Rose Bowl. Of course the BCS couldn’t sell the rights to a fewer amount of games for more money so they threw in this game and the “double-hosting” model. The first “BCS Championship Game” which still doesn’t have a name or a sponsor will be played in Glendale, Arizona which will also host the Fiesta Bowl one week before. The No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams at the end of the REGULAR SEASON will be sent to this game. The other four BCS bowls will compose of conference champions and four at-large teams. Skeptics think the “BCS Championship Game” will be used for the “And-1” model, a championship game that would be played AFTER the bowls are over and could be even more controversial than the system in place now.