2015 NCAA WEEK 10 – BIG GAMES

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	This is the game of the year to this point although the LSU/Alabama game each year is becoming almost the de facto game of the year! LSU continues to surprise me year in & year out. I think each year is going to be the year they falter & it never seems to happen. To me this game comes down to Brandon Harris & the LSU defense. Bama will take Fournette out of the game so can Harris win it? Can the LSU defense stop Henry?
	I don’t think Florida St. can win this game, but if Everett Golson & Dalvin Cook don’t play then they certainly won’t win. It’s easy to forget that FSU still controls its destiny even with the loss to Georgia Tech as they’d own the tiebreaker with Clemson. The Tigers are too tough though. Deshaun Watson will make a case for the Heisman & Shaq Lawson has been unblockable all season long. Death Valley is becoming just that for the opposition.
	Amazingly enough, Oklahoma St., Oklahoma, TCU & Baylor have managed to avoid one another…..until now. Finally we’ll get some type of separation in the Big XII as one team will endure their first loss of the season. Something tells me that giving up 53 points to Texas Tech doesn’t bode well for the Cowboys when facing Trevone Boykin. OSU’s front-7 is finally going to get a significant test. It’ll be interesting to see if they handle it.
	Navy is one the most overlooked teams in college football & while they don’t have the athletic talent to stay with Memphis’ high octane passing offense guided by Paxton Lynch, the Middies can run on anyone & Keenan Reynolds is as good as they come running the triple option. If Navy’s running attack can grind time of possession, Navy could give Memphis their first loss. Remember, Navy is 6-1 with their only loss at Notre Dame!
	Texas Tech is 5-4 with loss to Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma St. & Oklahoma! West Virginia is 3-4 with losses to Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma St. & Oklahoma. The winner of this game establishes themselves as the 5th best team in the Big XII. That might not seem like much at face value, but given who the top-4 teams are, WVU or Texas Tech could make a pretty convincing argument they are a top-15 team in a tremendous conference!
	With the way Indiana has shot themselves in the foot against teams like Ohio St., Rutgers & Michigan St., you’d think the Hawkeyes don’t have much to worry about, but the fact that Indiana can stick with the Buckeyes & Sparty should show some cause for concern. Iowa should destroy the Hoosiers, but Indiana has proved it can score on anyone. The problem will be IU’s defense stopping Akrum Wadley from running wild.
	This game was a lot more interesting before Pittsburgh dropped a home game to North Carolina last week. Following that loss up with hosting Notre Dame can’t be good for the soul! I really liked this Pitt team coming into the year. I still like them, but maybe the James Conner loss is bigger than I thought. It seems now that Pittsburgh is a solid team, but one that can’t be superior opponents. Pitt has to be careful not to finish 6-6.
	Duke has to be smarting over the disaster last week which resulted in the Blue Devils losing 30-27 to Miami-FL! I think there would be even more outrage if it cost Duke an opportunity to win the Coastal. Luckily it didn’t & Duke controls its own destiny. Win out & Duke goes back to the ACC title game. Lose, and it’s an uphill battle. On the other side, UNC has a chance for a really special season if they can win out & win the Coastal.
	Looking at the evidence, you can argue that Kansas St. is arguably the 2nd worst team in the Big XII, ahead of only Kansas. On the other hand, Bill Snyder is a helluva coach & K-State is playing at home against a Baylor team that just lost their starting QB. All Jarrett Stidham has done this year in relief is complete 86% of his passes for 331yds & 6TD! That’s insane, but Stidham is now the man with his first start on the road.
	Don’t look now but Penn St. is 7-2 & undefeated at home. Let’s say the Nittany Lions pull off a miracle next week & beat Michigan. Let’s also say they beat Northwestern this week. That puts PSU at 9-2 going to East Lansing! The 38-10 loss to Ohio St. is somewhat exposing & a loss in Evanston will show that Penn St. isn’t ready for Ohio St., Michigan St. & Michigan just yet, but they are closer than they have been. A win here proves a lot.
	Since coming back from injury, Cincinnati QB Gunner Kiel has completed 41 of 50 (82%) passes for 646 yards & 7TD in wins over UCF & UConn. That’s hardly the competition they’ll face when Houston throws Greg Ward & Kenneth Farrow at them, but Kiel was once thought to be a future starting NFL QB with a huge arm. The Bearcats will have to play tremendous defense, but Kiel could make it interesting if he’s on his A-game.
	It turns out that Arizona isn’t very good so this is more of an opportunity for USC to showcase their ability & get another big division win to improve their record to 6-3 & put themselves a step closer to getting to the Pac 12 championship game. Remember, the Trojans could end the season 11-3! With the RichRod rumors to Miami-FL/Virginia Tech heating up, there has to be a lot of distractions around the UA program. Terrible timing.
	If he keeps his pace up, Oregon RB Royce Freeman is going to rush for 1700yds/17TD! I think Oregon deserves more attention than they are getting but being inconsistent will do that to you. California started the season 5-0 but have lost 3 straight now that they are playing real football teams. A road game at Oregon is a chance for the Bears to right the ship or fall further away proving Sonny Dykes has a little more work to do at UC.
	This game is probably too low on my importance list. Ole Miss needs to be ready for this one. The Rebels control their own destiny in the West, but last year Arkansas was 4-4 before going 3-1 in their last 4 including a 30-0 win over Ole Miss who was 8-2 at the time. The Hogs have won 2 straight & 3 of their last 4. Alex Collins is heating up so would it be shocking to see Arkansas go 3-1 in their last 4 this year & ruin Ole Miss’ season?
	This doesn’t look like much of a game. Michigan St. comes in 8-0 & ranked in the top-10 while Nebraska is 3-6 coming off a road loss to Purdue! NOT SO FAST MY FRIENDS! Sure Nebraska is 3-6 & you can’t always argue in “What ifs?” but Nebraska’s best case record is 8-1 & if you say the Purdue game was an anomaly then Nebraska can at least make an argument for being close to a 9-0 squad. Michigan St. hasn’t looked sharp so????
	Another tricky game for a team fighting for playoff spots. Washington is 4-4 but you can see the product Chris Petersen is building in Seattle. Jake Browning & Myles Gaskin make for a terrific QB/RB combination & both are freshman. Washington’s defense is underrated especially after what they lost to the NFL Draft. The Huskies might not make huge waves this season, but they are definitely a team I don’t want to play.
	It’s really hard to hold an emotional response for consecutive weeks, but if the Gophers come out & play Ohio St. with the same intensity they played Michigan, then the Minny might really be able to send Jerry Kill a present he won’t soon forget! Kill was an outstanding program builder who had the Minnesota program on the right track. While not as dramatic as Terry Hoeppner’s departure from Indiana, the effects could be similar.
	Given how bad Auburn is, this game doesn’t have much flex, but it is worth mentioning as Auburn’s talent is incredible so you never know what could happen. Texas A&M has a couple of losses so their playoff hopes are dead, but the two losses have come against Ole Miss & Alabama. The Aggies should be 9-2 when they travel to Baton Rouge on Nov. 28th! Still a lot of season to play for with Texas A&M. They could finish 11-2.
	I thought this game had a lot more juice before Washington St. blew it last week against Stanford. If Wazzou wins that game, then the Cougars would be 6-2 with wins over Oregon & Stanford & not USC or Utah remaining on the schedule! How amazing would it have been if WSU went 10-2 with a possible chance at winning the Pac 12!? Arizona St. provides a good test to see if Wazzou gets back on the horse & starts dominating.
	My MAC special!!!! Don’t be surprised if Northern Illinois gets a win here. Toledo has been an incredible story getting to 7-0 with wins over Arkansas & Iowa St., but NIU has been king of the MAC for a VERY long time & I don’t think they are giving up the crown all that soon. The 5-3 record doesn’t seem great but close road losses to Ohio St. & Boston College? It’s forgivable! The one issue is the loss to C.Michigan. What happened there?

2015 NCAA WEEK 9 – BIG GAMES

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	A good game in theory because the Irish are ranked 9th while the Owls come in at #21 & are playing at home. The problem however is that Temple hasn’t seen a team like Notre Dame & they are susceptible to the pass which the Irish will have problems taking advantage of. Will Fuller is averaging 22ypc. Chris Brown & Corey Robinson are big targets. That should open up the running game for CJ Prosise. All of this adds up to a huge blowout win for the Notre Dame.
	Georgia is still looking for any type of validation that they are a competitive football team. They were blown out at home by Bama. Went on the road & lost to Tennessee. Then beat Missouri 9-6? Amazingly enough, UGA could still win the East & potentially the SEC Championship. A win here puts them in 1st & they should win out. This becomes the de facto SEC East championship game. It’s a huge game to be sure, but I don’t know if Georgia can withstand a bad loss here.
	Duke will have something to say about the ACC Coastal, but for the most part, this game will decide who wins the Coastal division. I think it’s amazing nobody is talking about UNC or Pittsburgh. Both are 1-loss teams who avoid Clemson & Florida St.! If they get lucky in the ACC Championship game, it’s possible one of these teams is 12-1. All the Panthers do is win close games while the Tar Heels tend to blow teams out. A little under the radar but a great game.
	Really cool Pac 12 game with a couple of neat story lines. For Cal, this is a chance to beat a legitimate opponent. The Bears feasted on their early schedule to start 5-0 but a couple of weeks ago got Utah & lost. The Trojans are coming off a HUGE win over Utah & they almost beat Notre Dame in South Bend despite the insanity they were going through with the Steve Sarkisian ordeal. The Trojans can still win the Pac 12. They need Utah to lose but it can happen.
	Oklahoma St. comes into game undefeated, but the Red Raiders have only lost to TCU, Baylor & Oklahoma. I still think you can make an argument that Tech should be a top-25 team & beating Oklahoma St. will lend even further proof to that assertion. This is a chance for Texas Tech to say they are a top-4 team in the Big XII. For the Cowboys, this is a HUGE test to see if the undefeated record is more substance that taking advantage of an early soft schedule.
	Don’t look now but Washington St. is 5-2 with both losses being by 7pts or less. They have won 3 straight games & have averaged close to 50PPG in those 3 wins. QB Luke Falk has really turned it on the last 3 games & the Cougars are getting great run support. Wazzou can’t play a lick of defense, but they are at home where crazy things can happen. Stanford had better come to play because if they overlook Washington St., they could easily leave Pullman with a loss.
	I can’t wait to see how Michigan plays after having a week off to stew about the Michigan St. loss. The Gophers can put up a fight if they are inclined & Jerry Kill is a tremendous coach so you know Minnesota will come prepared. The big question is whether it will matter? My guess is that it won’t. The Michigan defense is going to come out with guns blazing & overwhelm the Gophers offense. I wouldn’t be shocked if this game was 14-0 or 58-0. Depends on the offense.
	There hasn’t been a team more unlucky than Tennessee this season. The Vols are 3-4 but their 4 losses have come by a total of 17 points! Tennessee is 1-4 in close games & their “best case” record is 7-0. Kentucky had shown to be a very difficult out until last week when Mississippi St. gave them a pounding in Starkville. I’m interested to see how the Vols finish. They should win out to get to 8-4, but I think Tennessee needs style points to make up for the 4 close losses.
	Auburn has been a disaster from start to finish this season. From Jeremy Johnson not getting it done at QB to the defense being terrible to stud WR D’haquille Williams being thrown off the team, this one of those seasons I’m sure Gus Malzahn could start over. That said, it’s still Auburn & Ole Miss has known to slip (hello Memphis!) in the past. It’s worth noting that if Ole Miss wins out they’ll be SEC West champs. What if Ole Miss goes 11-2 & Memphis goes 13-0?
	Starting over doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Just look at USC & the Miami Dolphins! The Al Golden era finally came to a merciful end & now we’ll get to see how the Hurricanes react. It’s really amazing how good Duke is despite the Coastal containing Virginia Tech & Miami-FL. The Pitt/UNC game is huge of course but Duke could be in line to win their 2nd ACC Coastal division title in 3 years! Crazy. THE U could end that of course if they play like THE U plays.
	This is sort of interesting because West Virginia is a pretty good team & TCU hasn’t been destroying all comers, but it’s in Fort Worth so you can pretty much guess the Frogs are going to score 50-60 points & it won’t matter what WVU does on offense. I really like the Mountaineers and Dana Holgorsen but where is this team going in the Big XII? Trevone Boykin will add to his Heisman resume & then sit back & look on to see if Leonard Fournette matches.
	It seems like this should be a bigger game than what it is, but both teams enter this bout with a 4-3 record. I think this is an interesting test for Arizona State. So far the Sun Devils have only lost to Texas A&M, USC & Utah. You can make an argument from those losses they are still a top-20 type of team & the road win over UCLA is more than solid. Still, a win here would further legitimize the team & give them a chance to win out. ASU could still have a 10-3 season.
	Navy’s first year in the AAC has been an interesting one. Memphis, Houston & Temple have gotten all the attention but the Middies are 5-1 with their only loss coming against Notre Dame. USF isn’t fantastic but they are a solid football team. Navy has a unique system & they’ve handled Air Force, ECU & UConn. Navy gets both Memphis & Houston on the road, but the defense has been outstanding & Keenan Reynolds is amazing so be on the lookout for Navy!
	San Diego St. is another one of those intriguing teams. It’s easy to discount the Aztecs because of their early loss to South Alabama which doesn’t make sense, but they’ve won their first 4 MWC games & destroyed Utah State who destroyed Boise St.! Colorado St. will be another good test especially in Ft. Collins. Many people think this is the best team HC Rocky Long has ever had. They should win out & should get to 10-3 with a MW championship. Watch the defense!
	I’m going FCS with the IVY LEAGUES!!! Dartmouth & Harvard get together in a battle of unbeatens as both teams come into the game 6-0. Harvard is ranked 16th & Dartmouth 22nd. The Big Green haven’t won an Ivy League championship since 1985 while Harvard has won the last 2. Harvard is actually on a 20-game winning streak. They haven’t lost since October 26, 2013 when Princeton came out victorious 51-48 in triple OT! Harvard won last year 23-12.

2015 NCAA WEEK 7 – BIG GAMES

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	This game has the most potential to upend the rankings especially if Texas A&M comes away with a win. If the Aggies can win this game then they have a legitimate shot at being #1 when the dust settles as Utah plays Arizona St. & Florida plays LSU. Keep an eye on the trenches in this one. Texas A&M’s D-Line is one of the most aggressive in the country with Myles Garrett & Daeshon Hall, but the Aggies are suspect against the run. Expect big doses of Derrick Henry to try & neutralize the pass rush & avoid turnovers.
	There isn’t a team in college football more on fire than Michigan is at the moment. The weird part about Michigan is that there was talent on the roster so it’s not completely surprising that Jim Harbaugh could come in and win some games. Statistically speaking Michigan is better in all phases of the game & they are playing at home. There is on thing to look for & it’s turnover margin. Michigan is -1 on the year while Michigan St. is +8. I’d expect a lot of ground & pound but Connor Cook could put Sparty on his back. Michigan St. needs it!
	Losing Will Grier is brutal for the Gators. Florida finally found a leader in their QB for the first time since Tebowmania left Gainesville & now he’s gone. That means Treon Harris has to step up in a big way for Florida to be taken seriously as a playoff threat. A win in Baton Rouge could solidify Florida’s place in the national landscape but while their rush defense has been great, they haven’t faced a rushing offense featuring Leonard Fournette & Derrius Guice. Oddly enough both teams need this for validation.
	This is obviously a huge rivalry game, but USC couldn’t be facing the Irish at a more difficult time. I think it’ll be interesting to see who the Trojans respond with their backs against the wall on the road against a hated rival. Teams can do special things when they have that “us against the world” mentality so Notre Dame has to be careful as another loss could completely ruin what chance they may still have for a spot in the 4-team playoff. There is an awful lot of offensive talent on USC’s side so the Irish better be ready.
	Iowa can wrap up the Big 10 West with a win in Evanston this weekend, but even a loss doesn’t prevent them losing the division as long as they can win the rest of their games & Northwestern slips up one more time (how about in Madison?). I don’t want to see the Hawkeyes back into this one though. This might be the best Iowa team we’ve seen in some time. The defense is very good & RB Jordan Canzeri could get some Heisman buzz should Iowa keep rolling. I think it would be nice for the Big 10 West to be clean. Iowa can do that.
	Arizona St. could find themselves deserving of a very high ranking should they beat Utah in Salt Lake City, something Michigan & California couldn’t manage. Combine this win with a Texas A&M loss & you could make an argument that the Sun Devils are a top-5 team & the best team in the Pac 12. The USC loss would seem distant. The big question then becomes whether an 11-2 Arizona St. team could make the playoffs? A Utah win only reinforces what I already know. The Utes are the best team in college football at the moment.
	It seems like it has been forever since UCLA last played, but despite their loss to Arizona St., the Bruins aren’t in that bad of a position. A win in Pao Alto cures a lot of ills, but it won’t be an easy task as Stanford finds themselves in almost the same position. I think UCLA is playing with house money at this point. Losing Myles Jack & Eddie Vanderdoes is brutal & I’m not sure how UCLA survives it. They also have a frosh QB. Should they expect to make the playoffs? Imagine if Hundley returned & the injuries didn’t happen?
	Memphis can play a little bit. Last year the Tigers were 10-3 & 2 of those 3 losses were close so they could argue they should have been 12-1! Paxton Lynch has made big strides at QB & the Memphis receivers have done a great job at making big plays. Ole Miss’s offense should be able to carve the defense up pretty well but Memphis should be able to score & don’t forget about the Florida game. Lynch could have a game like Will Grier. If Ole Miss gets turnover happy then Memphis could win & the SEC West gets shaken a bit.
	Since Florida St. has started conference play they’ve been somewhat living on the edge. The Seminoles haven’t looked particularly impressive beating Boston College, Wake Forest or Miami-FL over their last 3 games. Now comes Louisville who is coming off a bye & are the winners of 2 straight games. Lamar Jackson has a lot of work to do on his passing game, but he’s a big play threat with his feet & Louisville is THIS CLOSE to being 5-0. It’s a home game for FSU which helps but they are on upset alert.
	This is a solid game for Georgia to get back on their feet after losing back-to-back games to Alabama & Tennessee. Missouri isn’t awful but the game is in Athens & the Tigers will still be without their starting QB Maty Mauk. Georgia isn’t without losses either as star RB Nick Chubb is out with an ACL injury, but it’s not like Georgia won’t be able to run the ball with guys like Sony Michel & Keith Marshall. Georgia isn’t completely out of it considering the Will Grier situation, but they need to win out.
	I still think Boston College is one of the most intriguing teams in college football & I can’t think of a non-contending team I’d want to play less than the Eagles. BC is coming off back-to-back heart breaking losses to Wake Forest & Duke & at some point a few breaks will go their way. Clemson is coming off 3 emotional wins over Louisville, Notre Dame & Georgia Tech. This is sort of a “perfect storm” scenario so Clemson has to watch. If BC had any type of QB confidence, an upset might not be much of an upset.
	Since losing at BYU in Week 2, Boise St. has won 4 straight by the combined score of 203-24! If not for the BYU loss, Boise would be looking at a 13-0 season that might not be difficult to obtain. Their defense is the very definition of ball-hawking. Boise ranks #2 in TO margin at +10 & their 13 interceptions lead the nation. Offensively, the Broncos grind it out behind Jeremy McNichols who is on pace for 1,000yds/24TD! Utah St. is a good football team. If they can avoid mistakes, they’ll make of game of it.
	Oklahoma is coming off a stunning 24-17 loss to Texas & now travel to Manhattan to take on an Kansas St. team that always plays well at home & will be a very tough out for the Sooners. Oklahoma still has a legit shot at the playoffs if they win out, but that is going to be tougher than it looks. Kansas St. probably should have beaten Oklahoma St. & took TCU to the brink last week before losing 52-45. Kansas St. wants to grind out games so it’ll be interesting to see how Oklahoma defends & what they’ll do offensively.
	Can you imagine having West Virginia’s schedule? Their week 5 through week 11 games are: @Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., @Baylor, bye, @TCU, Texas Tech & Texas. West Virginia could be a top-25 team & yet be 3-6 after 9 games. I really like West Virginia & Dana Holgorsen but this is a TALL TEST this week against the Bears. Games like this remind me of the old Big East and how much better it would be if we had that conference. Now teams like WVU, Cincinnati & Pittsburgh seem at a disadvantage.
	This might be one of the best games of the week because of the implications. Before last season when GT went 11-3, won the Coastal & almost upset FSU in the ACC Championship game, the rumors of Paul Johnson’s demise were starting to heat up. After losing 4 straight this year, those rumors are starting to surface yet again. I can’t believe how bad GT has been this season. As for Pitt, a win is amazing. Consider that the only loss on Pittsburgh’s schedule came on the road at Iowa by 3 points.
	After losing back-to-back games against UCLA & Michigan, BYU has bounced back with a couple of solid wins over Connecticut & East Carolina. Cincinnati is an interesting opponent. The Bearcats are 3-2 & coming off a bye & before that they beat Miami-FL. Cincinnati can score although their defense is rough so I’d expect BYU to win the game. This is likely BYU’s toughest test remaining on the schedule. A win here could propel BYU to 10-2 & a bowl win gives them 11, the most they’ve had since 2009.
	Nebraska hasn’t been nationally relevant for close to 15 years. This game will be a pretty cool microcosm for a lot of details. The first is Nebraska moving to the Big 10 was a disaster. In the Big XII North they virtually had a cakewalk to the Big XII title gave every year. The second is that with a Gophers win you can say Nebraska is now behind Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota & Northwestern in the Big 10 West! The third is what coaching does. Minnesota got it right with Jerry Kill. NU got it wrong with Pelini & Callahan.
	With a loss, Oregon can drop to 1-3 in the Pac 12 & 3-4 overall! It sounds wild but Washington still has a legit shot at winning the Pac 12 North. Their only loss is to California but the Bears lost last week to Utah so if Cal loses another, Washington would be ahead. UW’s schedule is nasty, but they could argue they should be 5-0 & Chris Petersen has found a special QB in Jake Browning. I love the juxtaposition of the two programs. Washington seems to be on the rise while Oregon is falling rather quickly.
	Miami-FL still controls their own destiny. The Hurricanes season got off to a good start winning 3 straight including a big win over Nebraska, but Miami has lost their last 2 to Cincinnati & Florida State. The FSU loss isn’t huge & Miami can get back on track with a win over the Hokies. It’ll be interesting to see how Al Golden pulls it together (if he can) because I’m not sure he’s long for the job. It’s time to make a change in Coral Gables, but the real trick will finding the right fit. It hasn’t been easy for “THE U”!
	Auburn is still Auburn but what makes this game interesting is what happens with a Kentucky win. The Wildcats are 4-1 with a couple of surprise wins over Missouri & South Carolina. With the SEC East sort of up in the air, UK has a decent shot if they can defend Lexington! If UK can defend their home turf, then a 9-3/10-2 season could be a real possibility & would 6-2 be good enough to win the SEC East? UK could wind up 11-3!!! A win over Auburn puts them closer & gives UK even more confidence.
	My MAC special! Western Michigan isn’t a good football team, but the Broncos are coming off a 41-39 upset of Central Michigan. There isn’t much WMU does exceptionally well but they can throw behind QB Zach Terrell at times. Ohio is the interesting team here. The Bobcats are 5-1 with their only loss coming at Minnesota in a 27-24 loss to the Gophers. Ohio’s pass defense is great so we might end up with a blowout here. Ohio is a player in the MAC & could wind up with 9-10 wins. Big improvement from last year.

2015 NCAA WEEK 5 – BIG GAMES

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	HUGE GAME!!!! The last time Alabama was completely out of the national championship picture was 2010 when they were 7-2 after 9 games. The Tide could be 3-2 after 5 this year if they lose to the Bulldogs! How amazing is that? I think the key to this game will be UGA QB Greyson Lambert. Georgia leans heavily on RB Nick Chubb (rightfully so) & it’ll be interesting to see if Lambert can carry the team with Alabama & Nick Saban take away part of the offense & force the Bulldogs to go through the air.
	This is such an important game for both squads. The Georgia Tech win looks a lot worse now that they’ve lost to Duke and this is really the only tough road game the Irish will have until the season finale at Stanford. The schedule is even more dire for Clemson who really doesn’t have a tough contest outside of ND & Florida St., both home games. Both teams are respected to be sure. The Irish are #6 while Clemson is #12, but as the season wears on, SOS plays a role which means this game is vital to both squads.
	I’ve been saying it for the past couple of weeks, Texas Tech is for real. They should have won last week against TCU & now they get an opportunity to salve those wounds with a road win over Baylor! I’d expect this game to be a lot like Texas Tech/TCU so get ready for some fireworks! I think a huge part of this game will be pressure because of Baylor’s defensive line. The Bears rank 32nd in the nation in sacks while Texas Tech ranks 3rd in the nation in sacks allowed. If those rankings hold then look out. The Big XII is nuts!
	With so much talk about Northwestern, Michigan St., Michigan & Ohio St., these 2 teams are flying somewhat under the radar but Wisconsin is 3-0 since losing to Alabama having outscored their opponents 114-3! Iowa has quietly put together a 4-0 start with 2 impressive wins over Iowa St. & Pittsburgh. These teams are practically mirror images statistically. A couple of things to watch is the QB battle between Joel Stave & CJ Beathard & the DE/OLB battle between Joe Schobert & Nate Meier. Those are key.
	The Big XII has to be really careful here because last season they ended up missing the playoffs because you could argue the conference was too good with a couple of teams at the top that deserved to be there. West Virginia has been playing like their polar opposite with an amazing defense! There isn’t a weak team in the Big XII at this point outside of Kansas, but the key here is that whoever wins needs to keep carrying that momentum. Baker Mayfield is key in this game. If he has a bad game, OU is done.
	I thought Jim McElwain would make an impact in Gainesville, but the coach has already exceeded expectations with two key divisional wins on the road at Kentucky & then at home against Tennessee. Ole Miss should come away with an easy win here despite historical trends, but a couple of interesting things to watch. Ole Miss didn’t handle being the hunted all that well last season & that Vandy win was uninspiring. Florida so far is 3-0 in close games. Regression is coming possibly but good teams get lucky.
	Great matchup between an incredible D-Line in Texas A&M going up against a veteran SEC starter in Dak Prescott! Prescott is a Heisman candidate that can pad his resume with a big road win against the Aggies. A&M on the other hand rank #2 in the nation in sacks & #4 in the nation in tackles for loss. Last year Mississippi St. came away with a 48-31 win, but in Starkville. This is a tremendous game being overshadowed a bit by UGA/Bama, but the winner here probably moves into the top-10 nationally.
	The Gophers have gone 3-0 since losing the opener to TCU. On one hand that is great because Minnesota lost that opener by 7 & most people have TCU in the top-5 so how good is Minnesota? On the other hand, those 3 wins have come by a combined 9 points against Colorado St., Ohio & Kent St.! How good is Minnesota?! Regardless, this will be a tough game for Northwestern as Jerry Kill is an OUTSTANDING HC & will have the Gophers ready. I think Northwestern rebounds big after the tough Ball St. victory.
	I’m not sure Butch Jones deserves to be on the hot seat, but the storm clouds are aligning in such a manner that Arkansas looks primed to get a victory in Neyland on Saturday. UT is coming off a heartbreaking loss to Florida while Arkansas came THIS CLOSE to beating Texas A&M. The Razorbacks are nowhere near a 1-3 team in my opinion. I think they were a dark horse pick to win the SEC before the season began so that is the talent you are looking at, but UT starting 2-3 with UGA up next? UT needs this one bad!
	Maryland sucks so maybe this isn’t an ideal game to be looking at, but it’s far more intriguing for a couple of reasons than at first glance. The first is that Michigan isn’t sneaking up on anyone now. The 7pt loss to Utah looks amazing & the Wolverines just pasted a BYU team 31-0 that UCLA beat by just a single point. The 2nd reason is watching how Michigan handles being the hunted. With the way the season is playing out, Michigan could be 10-1 when Ohio St. comes to town. Can you imagine Harbaugh in that game!?
	Arizona got waxed by UCLA last week, but this game could be instructive if we wind up with a UCLA/Stanford Pac 12 championship game which seems likely at the moment. Stanford has really turned it on after losing to Northwestern, but their defense has shown the ability to give up some points which could work in Arizona’s favor. Also worth noting is the play of Stanford’s offense. If they show up like they did in Evanston, then this is a game Arizona could easily come away with a win.
	So far Texas stinks. They are 1-3 with their only win coming against Rice. They’ve even lost back-to-back home games against Oklahoma St. & California! However, this game could get interesting. Texas still has more talent than any team in the Big XII. At some point that talent has to show up. Texas BARELY lost to Cal & OK State so if you believe in those teams then maybe the Horns aren’t that bad. Note also that TCU’s defense has been putrid this season & maybe, just maybe Texas could find some magic here.
	Boston College is a helluva team & HC Steve Addazio is fantastic! I’m not sure why Addazio isn’t at a bigger school but he’s going to make waves on Chestnut Hill. I think BC’s 14-0 loss to Florida St. was a warning shot. This team can play. They are gritty. They run the ball & they play outstanding defense. Duke has played extremely well but if BC can get a win here, their toughest game remaining is at Clemson. I think BC could be a player in the Atlantic & they potentially have the team to make a run at 10-2/9-3.
	These games haven’t been blow outs. In 2011, Ohio St. won 34-20. In 2012 it was 52-49. Two years ago it was 42-14 & last year it was 42-27. Granted, Indiana hasn’t beaten Ohio St. since 1988, but the Hoosiers are better this year than they’ve been in a very long time. Nate Sudfeld is healthy & Jordan Howard is running the ball like Tevin Coleman never left. The Buckeyes have been less than inspiring this season & the game is in Bloomington. It would be foolish to call for an IU victory but this one could be close.
	So far the season has been somewhat disappointing for Arizona State, but you can argue for ASU the same as you can argue for Tennessee. The Sun Devils have lost to Texas A&M & USC & if you believe those teams could potentially be top-10 programs, then how bad can ASU be? The problem with Arizona St. to this point is giving up big passing plays on defense. They are getting after it defensively. If they can force Josh Rosen into a bad game & Mike Bercovici plays well, then ASU could easily get a win here.
	Pittsburgh was a sleeper team for me at the beginning of the season so them losing at Iowa a couple of weeks ago hurt although that loss looks pretty darn good if the Hawkeyes win in Madison this weekend! The James Connor loss hurts but Qadree Ollison has been outstanding. This is still the same PITT team at the beginning of the year & the ACC Coastal is wide open. Brenden Motley has been great for the Hokie since Ohio St., but the Panthers can get after the QB. This is HUGE game in the ACC Coastal.
	The problem with the ACC is that the Coastal teams simply don’t play up to expectation. There is no reason why North Carolina, Miami-FL, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech & Virginia Tech shouldn’t be top-25 schools, but instead we are stuck with Duke for crying out loud! It makes no sense. UNC/GT is a legitimate game but GT is on a 2-game losing streak & North Carolina lost to a putrid South Carolina squad on opening weekend. Given their schedule UNC is a huge threat to win the Coastal, but can they beat the Jackets?
	If you were to ask me which two teams I follow the least among the Big 5, I’d definitely say Kansas St. would be one of them and potentially Oklahoma St. would be up there. The Wildcats are 3-0 & the Cowboys are 4-0 so this game is probably a bigger deal than I’m giving it credit for here, but to be honest, I still think Texas Tech, TCU, Oklahoma, Baylor & West Virginia are ahead of them. This just goes to show you the depth of the Big XII. Everyone is talking SEC & Pac 12 as the best conference, but maybe not.
	I think it’s cool when the service academies get together & play! Air Force is coming into the game 2-1 coming off a loss at Michigan St. that was closer than expected in my opinion. Navy is 3-0 with Keenan Reynolds & Chris Swain running out of their minds. This should be an amazing game if you like option/running football. Air Force ranks #2 in the nation in rushing offense while Navy ranks #3! If anything, tune in for Keenan Reynolds. The guy is a special talent & if you haven’t seen him, it’s worth the 3 hours.
	I’m going to try to start adding a MAC game per week because the MAC is AWESOME! This week it’s Toledo/Ball State! Toledo simply doesn’t give a rip! Arkansas? Check! Iowa St.? Check! I think the Rockets are applying to join the Big 10 this week! Ball St. took Northwestern to the brink last week & has a road game against Texas A&M under their belt! They’ve faced some stiff competition. I’d expect the Rockets to win here but if Ball St. RB Darian Green gets going, he might be impossible to stop!

NCAA POWER-25 WEEK 3 2015

RANK	TEAM	COMMENTS
#1		The biggest win of the year eclipsing Michigan St.’s win over Oregon, Ole Miss went into Tuscaloosa and beat up Alabama 43-37. That score looks close but Ole Miss never trailed in the game & led 43-24 midway through the 4th quarter before the Tide scored a couple of inconsequential TDs to make it 43-37. This really is the formula for Ole Miss! The receivers are big & fast & as long as QB Chad Kelly doesn’t make mistakes, it’s going to be hard to stop this offense. Hats off to the defense as well. Ole Miss forced Alabama into 5 turnovers! Even Alabama has a hard time winning when they are -5 in TO margin. The schedule sets up now for Ole Miss. The remaining road games aren’t tough meaning 12-0 is a very real possibility.
#2		Solid work for Michigan St. coming out & posting a 35-21 win over Air Force. The Falcons were playing without their starting QB Nate Romine which made the road a little easier. Although the score doesn’t look particularly dominating, Air Force is one of those run option squads that is hard to dominate. The Spartans were up 28-7 at the half & 35-7 midway through the 3rd so the blowout was on before Mark Dantonio took the pedal off the gas. Connor Cook carved up the Air Force secondary to the tune of 247yds/4TD but Michigan St. didn’t run the ball particularly well. The Spartans averaged just 1.8ypc which is uncharacteristic for the Madre London/LJ Scott duo. MSU should be 6-0 when they head to Ann Arbor!
#3		In two games, LSU RB Leonard Fournette has rushed for 387yds/6TD on 47 carries for an 8.2ypc average! Over a 13 game season, Fournette is on pace to rush for 2516yds & score 39TD! It’s pretty safe to say we are looking at a Heisman winner right here & the best part is that LSU missed their first game against McNeese St! Fournette probably would have rushed for 200 in that game! LSU’s first 2 wins have come against Auburn & Mississippi State. They aren’t Texas A&M & Alabama but those are 2 quality wins & remember that LSU didn’t get their tune up game in Week 1. The offense is 75% rush right now which it should be given how good Fournette is & the defense is solid. I’m not high on Les Miles, but he’s nailing it so far in 2015.
#4		You won’t find any rankings that have Northwestern this high, but how could they not be? They open the season with a 16-6 win over Stanford in Evanston. This is the same Stanford team that just went into the Coliseum & beat a top-10 ranked USC team 41-31. Last week, Northwestern went on the road to Durham & beat Duke 19-10. This is the same Duke squad that has gone 19-8 over the past 2 years with an ACC Coastal title. If you replace Stanford with USC and you replace Duke with Virginia Tech, do the Wildcats merit a higher ranking? Northwestern’s defense has been particularly impressive to me. LB Anthony Walker & DE Dean Lowry are playing like All-Americans at this point. This team can win A LOT of games!
#5		QB Baker Mayfield put on a clinic against Tulsa last weekend! GOOD GRIEF!!!! Mayfield was 32/38 passing for 487yds & 4TD! He also rushed for 85yds & 2TD making him responsible for 6 of Oklahoma’s 7 TDs! Samaje Perine also rushed for 152yds/1TD as the Sooners rank up almost 800 total yards of offense! That’s the good news! The bad news is that Mayfield has had unbelievable games against Tulsa & Akron but didn’t look so sharp against Tennessee, the caliber of opponent they’ll play in the Big XII. Also despite winning, Oklahoma gave up 38pts & 603 yards of offense to Tulsa! What’s Baylor going to do!? Bob Stoops has time to work out the kinks. Baylor & TCU don’t show up on the schedule until mid/late November.
#6		An enormous win for the Irish, beating a ranked Georgia Tech team 30-22 to, in my mind, establish the Irish as serious playoff contenders. To give you an idea of just how amazing this win was, note that Navy & Georgia Tech run pretty much that same triple-option offense. ND has had issues with it the last 2 seasons against Navy beating the Middies 49-39 last year & 38-34 in 2013. They were wins, but Navy gouged the defense for a lot of points & a lot of yards. This year against a Georgia Tech team superior to those Navy squads of 2013-2014, the Irish had a 30-7 lead with 1 minute remaining in the 4th quarter. That’s domination. GT would score a couple of garbage TDs in the final minute, but Notre Dame routed Georgia Tech.
#7		To be the champ you gotta beat the champ & so far Ohio St. is 3-0, but it’s a soft 3-0. The 20-13 win over Northern Illinois looks brutal, especially coming in Columbus! The offense produced a single TD and that was from a JT Barrett, not Cardale Jones the starter. Ohio St. needed a defensive pick-6 to ice the game & even then NIU had the entire 4th quarter to try & tie it up after going down 20-10 in the 3rd. They managed just a FG. Ezekiel Elliott ran for over 100yds but wasn’t dominant. Maybe Ohio St. is facing the emotional let down after winning a championship. How hard is it to get up for N.Illinois when you are the national champs? If that’s the case they’d better be on upset alert because the Buckeyes have it easy for a while.
#8		A win is a win is a win. UCLA escaped BYU at home 24-23, but the Cougars are a solid team regardless so even the 1pt win is impressive in my opinion. QB Josh Rosen came out guns blazing in the opener against Virginia. The true frosh made the college game look easy, going 28/35 for 351yds/3TD/0INT. Things have been a little tougher since college coaches got the game tape of the Virginia romp. Since UVa, Rosen has played against UNLV & BYU but has gone 33/65 (50.8%) for 329yds/2TD/4INT. UCLA has been winning the last 2 weeks but it’s been in spite of Rosen & not because of. Where Rosen has slipped, RB Paul Perkins has remained steady. Over the last 2 games Perkins has rushed for 370yds/3TD at 8.41ypc.
#9		DE Myles Garrett picked up 3.5 sackes in Texas A&M’s 44-27 win over Nevada in College Station. The 3.5 upped Garrett’s total to 5.5 which leads college football & Texas A&M’s 15 sacks o the year is also tops. Daeshon Hall’s 4 sacks ranks 6th in the FBS. What’s sort of interesting about this is that Texas A&M ranks 110th in sacks allowed! Looking at sack differential at the collegiate level isn’t as predictive as it is in the NFL because of the disparity in schedule, but A&M has had a couple of games against Ball St. & Nevada & has allowed 7 sacks in those games. This is nitpicking to be sure & I find it more interesting than anything, but if there is a weakness emerging from Texas A&M’s narrative, it might be their pass protection.
#10		The loss to Ole Miss is tough but it’s not like Alabama’s season is over. Ole Miss has to prove they can win & if Alabama wins out to 11-1, they still have a great shot at winning the West & the SEC title. Going 12-1 as SEC Champs isn’t going to prevent the Tide from winning a national championship so all of this talk about Alabama being a  fading dynasty is ridiculous. At the end of the day, Ole Miss is a legit top-10 & possibly top-5 team. You don’t beat those teams when you are -5 in TO margin. Even if you’re Alabama. The good news is that Alabama looked good statistically but they threw the ball 59 times! I don’t know what Lane Kiffin’s plan was, but Alabama doesn’t throw the ball 59 times. Especially with an unsettled QB position.
#11		A lot of rankings had BYU falling pretty far, but how in the world can you justify BYU falling far & keeping UCLA in the top-10? BYU came THIS CLOSE to beating the Bruins in Los Angeles & failed 24-23. The luck sort of ran out for the Cougars, but it wasn’t lucky. BYU never trailed in this game until 3+ minutes left when UCLA’s Nate Starks scored & took UCLA to a 24-23 lead. The Cougars had 3 minutes left to answer with a FG or TD but Tanner Mangum couldn’t muster up the BYU magic & the Cougars fell to 2-1. This week against Michigan will be tough but BYU really has a huge shot at 11-1 with a 1pt road loss to UCLA. What gets really interesting is if UCLA goes 13-0 & wins the Pac 12. How does BYU not make the playoffs?
#12		Another week, another TCU win as this past week the Frogs took down SMU 56-37. I have TCU a lot lower in my rankings more as a function of who they haven’t played. So far TCU had trouble against Minnesota, hammered Stephen F. Austin & then gave up 37 points to SMU. It’s TCU & Trevone Boykin so they definitely deserve some slack, but if I’m ranking the teams based on on-field performance for the 2015 season, then TCU hasn’t shown to be a top-5 squad. TCU lost a lot on defense last year, and like Oklahoma, the defense has to be of concern this year especially after giving up 37 to SMU. The Big XII has some high-octane offenses starting with Texas Tech who TCU plays this week in Lubbock. We’ll find out a lot here.
#13		Well hello there Grayson Lambert! Brice Ramsey was trying to make the UGA QB situation a bit of competition but Lambert put those hopes to rest as he TORCHED South Carolina! Lambert ended the day 24 of 25 for 330yds & 3TD! The Gamecock secondary was no match for UGA’s barrage of receiving options with Malcolm Mitchell leading the way with 8 catches for 122yds & a TD. Nick Chubb also was the same ol’ Nick Chubb rushing for 159yds & 2TD! I talked about what Leonard Fournette is on pace for this season, but Chubb should not be overlooked. Chubb is on pace for 2,028 rushing yards & 26TD! It’s crazy to think that the top-2 vote getters for the Heisman might very well be RBs coming from the SEC!
#14		Baylor was on bye last week and this week they play Rice so once again we really won’t get a handle on what Baylor is and isn’t. The big boys in the Big XII are somewhat frustrating in their non-conference schedule. Oklahoma did well by traveling to Tennessee and Texas of course went to South Bend, the but the big dogs the last couple of seasons have been TCU & Baylor. The Bears toughest OOC game came against SMU while TCU’s biggest obstacle was a road date against Minnesota. Michigan St. is beating Oregon. Ole Miss is beating Alabama. Oklahoma is beating Tennessee. LSU is winning at Mississippi State. What is TCU & Baylor doing? Well they sure are hammering Rice & Stephen F. Austin! You’re better than that!
#15		The Ducks got back to business this week in Eugene knocking off Georgia St. 61-28. The more I watch Oregon the more I sense something is off. Michigan St. dominated that game. I don’t care what the score was. Oregon now has wins over Georgia St. & Eastern Washington but they’ve given 35PPG against those opponents. Things are going to toughen up considerably for Oregon once they get into Pac 12 play. Utah comes to down this weekend and maybe Oregon still has an advantage because they are at home & that makes sense, but Utah’s defense is very tough so the going won’t be easy. Plus, Utah’s offense isn’t horrible & Oregon’s defense has been awful. Can Oregon simply out score Pac 12 opponents without any regard for defense?
#16		Kevin Hogan came to play & Stanford’s ground game kept USC off the field in Stanford’s 41-31 upset victory. Here is how amazing time of possession can be. USC’s offense scored 1.51pts per minute of possession. Stanford’s offense scored 1.04pts per minute of possession. The problem for USC was that Stanford had the ball for 40 minutes compared to 20 for the Trojans. If you believe Northwestern is a top flight team (I do) then ranking Stanford 16th might be a little low especially considering the talent level of USC and the fact that Stanford beat them in the Coliseum. David Shaw has the formula now. Keep Hogan under control, keep turnovers to a minimum & grind. Stanford has no tough road games so it could get interesting.
#17		The Bulldogs rebounded after the LSU loss with a 62-13 win over Northwestern State. This was pretty much the game you’d expect. QB Dak Prescott was 10/11 for 227yds & 2TD. The Bulldogs were up 34-6 at halftime. They used 3 different QBs, 9 different rushers & 10 different receivers. What really sticks out to me about this game is that Mississippi St.’s defense did what it should do. It recorded 4 sacks & 13 tackles for loss. We’ve seen a lot of teams this year not play their best defensive games against inferior opponents much to my consternation. This didn’t happen with Mississippi St. which shows me they are taking games seriously. The road is brutal for this team but they are top-25 & I wouldn’t want to play them at all.
#18		The 20-17 win over Louisville isn’t what I thought it would be even with it being a road game. The game was 10-10 late in the 3rd quarter! Clemson can only hope the win looks better & better as Louisville starts winning games, but the Cardinals QB situation is far from settled and I’d suspect they have one of those up & down years because of it. On the other side, DeShawn Watson looked pretty good outside of a couple of picks, RB Wayne Gallman played out of his mind & the Clemson rush defense was on its A game holding Louisville to just 19 yards rushing & 0.7ypc! Clemson has a chance to shoot up the rankings over the next 4 weeks. They are off this week but then have Notre Dame, Georgia Tech & BC at home.
#19		GRITTY 14-0 win over Boston College on Chestnut Hill. What most impressed me about this game is that QB Everett Golson didn’t turn the ball over. During his time at Notre Dame, Golson seemingly always had a pick or two waiting to happen, but to see him play controlled against a solid Boston College defense was surprising and at the same time relieving to most Florida St. fans. BC’s defensive front-7 looks outstanding so I can’t fault FSU for scoring 7pts, but note in this game that BC is basically breaking in a new starting QB and 5 new starters on the O-Line. They were -2 in TO margin in this game & still had it within 7 going into the 4th quarter. I don’t know if that says more about Florida St. or more about Boston College.
#20		I’m not going to hammer Georgia Tech too bad for losing 30-22 in South Bend to Notre Dame. On the one hand, the Irish might be a legit top-5 team that doesn’t lose a game all season. As in the case of BYU, if GT holds out and runs the table to 12-1 (they can) while ND goes 12-0 & makes the playoffs, can you penalize a 12-1 GT squad for losing by 8 points on the road to an undefeated Irish team? I don’t think you can. On the other hand, GT ran up against arguably the best defense in college football. The Irish have 5 legit potential All-Americans and LB Jaylen Smith is the best defensive player in the nation! Nobody is going to score in ND easily. The Yellow Jackets won’t face a defense that tough for the remainder of the season.
#21		Tennessee got back to business after the Oklahoma loss, beating Western Carolina 55-10. The Vols jumped out to a 34-0 lead & had it 41-3 at halftime. It was 55-3 at the end of the 3rd quarter. I will note the differences here in defense with Mississippi State. The Bulldogs faced an inferior opponents & dominated them defensively. Tennessee did the same thing but the D did not get a single sack & only had 3 tackles for loss. I don’t like it. I will say that I think it ludicrous for Tennessee not to be ranked this week. Their only loss was a 31-24 OT loss to Oklahoma who people are now looking at as a top-10 team. UT took that team to the brink (they should have won that game if not for a collapse) & they aren’t a top-25 school?
#22		You could make an argument that Florida should be 1-2. They beat ECU by 7 points at home & then squeaked out a defensive battle in Lexington against Kentucky 14-9. On the other hand, Florida 3-0 with a road win at Kentucky which is more impressive than it used to be. Also note that Jim McElwain took over Colorado St. & in his first year they were 4-8. In his 2nd they won a bowl game. In this 3rd they went 10-3 & he was MWC coach of the year. He’s inherited a lot more talent in Gainesville than he ever had in Fort Collins so we’ll see what he does with it. He can coach that’s for sure. Florida’s upcoming schedule is Tennessee, Ole Miss, @Missouri, @LSU and then Georgia in Jacksonville. That’s a helluva test for McElwain.
#23		Don’t look now but Iowa might be the best team in the Big 10 West. Iowa St. isn’t going to challenge in the Big XII but they are a solid football team led by an awesome coach in Paul Rhoads. I know Pittsburgh is without stud RB James Connor, but I think the Panthers are going to challenge in the ACC Coastal I guarantee it. Those wins don’t look amazing on their face, but they are good solid quality wins. It always seems like the Hawkeyes in the Kirk Ferentz era has never really been able to get over that 9-3/8-4 hump. This year the Hawkeyes avoid Michigan St., Michigan & Ohio St. out of the East. If Corey Clement can’t be 100% this year then Iowa can run the table. I think they are a dark horse candidate for the playoffs.
#24		Sure it was just a 45-44 win over Texas who has been less than stellar so far this season, but I really like what Sonny Dykes is doing at Cal and QB Jared Goff is a legit Heisman contender. If the Longhorns are some type of barometer, then Cal might not be up to the level of Notre Dame, Ohio St., Alabama & Ole Miss (ND did hammer Texas 38-3), but the Bears are probably in the 2nd tier of teams behind them. If there is a knock on California it might be that their defense isn’t amazing. It’s a fair assessment, but at the same time Texas had to come out play motivated football at some point. Charlie Strong is under immense heat as the Longhorns keep crashing & the talent level is still high. I think this was a great road win for California!
#25		Like I mentioned in the Stanford comments, USC’s offense played exceedingly well against the Cardinal, but the defense simply couldn’t get Stanford off the field. The Stanford, Northwestern & USC triangle is tough for the rankings. I don’t see how you can have USC ahead of Stanford & if you believe those two teams are great then how in the world can you not have Northwestern ranked very high? Against Stanford, QB Cody Kessler was once again outstanding & the rushing attack averaged 5.5ypc! JuJu Smith caught 8 balls for 153yds & a TD. USC’s defense has to get better. It’s that simple. Kessler by the way is on pace to end the season with 4000 passing yards & 43TD. Almost 2000 of those yards will go to JuJu Smith!

DROPPING OUT

AUBURN TIGERS (previously #9): Loved Auburn at the beginning of the year but that team is imploding. They are getting rid of Jeremy Johnson as their starting QB. Jacksonville St. took them to OT and an 0-3 Louisville team would have beaten them if given enough time. If it wasn’t for Arkansas, this looks like the worst team in the SEC West!

UTAH UTES (previously #18): They haven’t done anything wrong but I couldn’t find them a spot & I probably have them too low. The Michigan wins looks better & better and I think the win over Utah St. is a really good one. They travel to Eugene this week. A win there & Utah will find itself in the top-10.

KENTUCKY WILDCATS (previously #21): Lost at home to Florida 14-9. I still really like Kentucky but the home win over Florida would have been a bust out win & potentially even a program changing win as UK potentially could have been 6-0 going into Starkville.

MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS (previously #25): Beat Kent St. 10-7? I loved how the Gophers battled TCU in the opener and you could argue Minnesota should be 3-0 with a win over TCU. On the other hand, you can argue Minnesota got lucky against TCU & should be 0-3 after close wins against Kent St. & Colorado State.

NCAA POWER-25 WEEK 2 2015

RANK	TEAM	COMMENTS
#1		The best win of the year so far is Michigan St.’s win over the Ducks in East Lansing this past Saturday night. It wasn’t a dominant win by the scoreboard as Sparty won by three, 31-28, but the game looked a lot more like a Michigan State romp when you watched. Madre London & LJ Scott look like a dynamic 1-2 punch & Aaron Burbridge looks like he might be taking over the role Tony Lippett had last season. LB Riley Bullough had a monster game with 14 sacks & the Spartan defense was able to get to Oregon QB Vernon Adams for 4 sacks. Michigan St. was beaten twice last year. Once by Oregon. Once by Ohio State. Part 1 of the Revenge Tour is over. Now it’s perfection until Columbus.
#2		Business as usual in a 38-0 home opening win over Hawaii. It would be an overreaction to say that Ohio St. might have some issues considering the Buckeyes just pitched a shutout & Ezekiel Elliott went over 100 yards again, but the Ohio St. offense wasn’t humming. The passing attack wasn’t fantastic and Ohio St. only averaged 4.1ypc. Maybe Hawaii is better than we think (they did beat Colorado in Week 1), but Ohio St. averaged 9.7ypc against Virginia Tech’s defense on the road. They go 5.6ypc fewer in the Horseshoe against an inferior defense? Ohio St. also needs a receiver to step up & be the big threat they had last year with Devin Smith. The good news is LB Darron Lee looked like an All-American.
#3		This might be a little bit aggressive but I think Tennessee is THAT GOOD and going into Knoxville and getting a road win in OT is a huge statement for the Sooners. Defensively, Oklahoma put on a clinic as they comletely shut down Josh Dobbs & Alvin Kamara. Jalen Hurd managed 104 rushing yards but he did it over 24 carries (4.4ypc) & OU has to be happy about that. The issue might be the offense. QB Baker Mayfield looked so bad Sooner fans were hoping Bob Stoops would be Trevor Knight in the game. Give Mayfield some credit. Oklahoma was down 17-3 going into the 4th quarter & he rallied them to a victory while tossing 3TDs! Let’s hope he can build on this game.
#4		Nothing to see here but another methodical demolition of an inferior opponent. This time the Tide hammered MTSU 38-10 in a game that could have been a lot worse. Derrick Henry rushed for 96yds/3TD while the Tide put up 500 total yards & 220yds rushing. MTSU was held to 86 yards rushing and Alabama forced 4 turnovers. It was a little sloppy for the Tide as both Jake Coker & Cooper Bateman threw picks. LB Reggie Ragland had 9 tackles which gives him 21 on the year. At this rate he is on pace for close to 150! One thing that I can’t quite figure out with the Tide is their pass rush. They didn’t record a single sack against MTSU & only 3 against Wisconsin. They are on pace for 21.
#5		The Aggies put on an offensive clinic in beating Ball St. 56-23! QB Kyle Allen was almost perfect going 10 of 13 for 126yds & 3TD. True frosh Kyler Murray was 9 of 14 for 65yds & a TD. Tra Carson, Bruce Dolezal & Kawme Etwi combined to rush for 258yds & 2TD on 39 carries (6.6ypc!)! Texas A&M was up 49-3 at halftime! Oddly enough the defense only got one sack on Ball St. although it doesn’t look like Myles Garrett or Daeshon Hall got much run time. The Aggies blew the barn doors off this one rather quick so HC Kevin Sumlin took the opportunity to set most of his starters for the entire second half. The Aggies get Nevada before starting their SEC schedule.
#6		Last week Taysum Hill gets hurt & Tanner Mangum comes in and throws a Hail Mary pass in Lincolin that Mitch Matthews comes down with to give BYU a huge upset win over Nebraska. This week the Cougars welcomed in Boise State to Provo only to get another heroic performance out of Mangum. The BYU wasn’t perfect but going into the 4th quarter, his team was down 24-14 and the magic started to happen all over again as the Cougars scored 21 straight points. Mangum ran for a TD before throwing a 35-yard TD pass to Mitchell Jeurgens. To cap the game, BYU got a pick-6 by Kai Nacua to put the game on ice. The ranking is high but wins over Nebraska & Boise St. to start the season is impressive.
#7		After getting a scare in Minneapolis, the Horned Frogs got back to business tearing up Stephen F. Austin 70-7! Granted the competition wasn’t exactly stellar but TCU was up 35-0 at half and 56-0 after 3 quarters. TCU used 11 different runners, 3 different QBs & 11 different receivers in this disaster. Lost in the 70-7 win was true freshman LB Mike Freeze leaving the team on a personal leave of absence with no timetable set for his return. Freeze was one of the most exciting players I saw play in Week 1 when he made 7 tackles for TCU against Minnesota & looked like he was going to do a great job filling in for Paul Dawson. I hope he’s doing well & is suiting up soon for the Horned Frogs.
#8		Nobody has Northwestern this high but the win over Stanford was legit & the defense is outstanding. Northwestern flat out hammered Eastern Illinois this week 41-0. Sure it’s Eastern Illinois so it’s not all that impressive but Clayton Thorsen might be the best QB Pat Fitzgerald has had since he’s been in Evanston and I think this is probably the best defense he’s had. This upcoming week is going to be a big one for Northwestern as they go on the road and play Duke. They won’t be intimidated because of the game they already won against Stanford, but this will be their first road game. If they win, they have a very good chance at being 10-0 when they travel to Madison on Nov. 21.
#9		I’m not willing to give up on Auburn quite yet. The talent on this team is too great not to be impressed, but their resume to this point is pitiful. They barely held on to beat Louisville last week. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because the Cardinals looked good, but this week Louisville was beaten at home by Houston and Auburn needed OT to beat lowly Jacksonville State! Auburn has legitimate problems at QB unless Jeremy Johnson snaps out of this funk. The defense also looks completely different when Carl Lawson isn’t on the field. Lawson & DE DaVonte Lambert have a combined 1 sack for the season. They travel to Baton Rouge next week. They better show up.
#10		LSU missed their opener against McNeese St. due to weather but you can tell how the Tigers are going to play it in 2015. RB Leonard Fournette is going to carry this team as far as he can take them offensively while the defense plays out of its mind. The sophomore RB ran for 159yds & 3TD in a 21-19 win over Mississippi State. QB Brandon Harris only threw 14 passes & avoided making mistakes which led to LSU barely pulling out a victory at home. The LSU defense avoided giving up the big play through the air & forced Dak Prescott to stay in the pocket. The Tigers won’t face too many QBs as dynamic as Prescott. The D has to be salivating to get a chance at Jeremy Johnson.
#11		There hasn’t been much luck for the Irish this season thus far. Sure the Irish are 2-0 with wins over Texas & Virginia but they’ve come at a heavy cost as the Irish lost starting RB Tarean Folston against the Longhorns & this past week they lost starting QB Malik Zaire for the season! This is an extremely deep Irish team & QB DeShone Kizer promptly led the Irish to a game winning drive to avoid the upset, but these losses are bound to add up. I’m not necessarily worried too much about the offense, but what bothered me was Notre Dame’s inability to stop QB Matt Johns, RB Taquan Mizzell & WR Canaan Severin. You knew those guys were getting the ball & it didn’t matter. Georgia Tech up next & that’s scary!
#12		It probably doesn’t matter given the Bears offense but you have to be a bit concerned that Baylor has given up 21 to SMU & 31 to Lamar! Baylor ended up pulling away from Lamar for a 66-31 victory but we are talking Lamar here & the Cardinals had the Bears tied at 21 late in the 2nd quarter before Baylor outscored them 45-10. The Bears also continue to be sloppy. They had 12 penalties & 4 turnovers. Against Lamar & SMU they can afford to make those mistakes but against Oklahoma & TCU, those mistakes will be fatal. Luckily for Baylor they are likely to be 8-0 before welcoming in Oklahoma on Nov. 14, but HC Art Briles definitely has something to work on.
#13		Dominance. USC isn’t getting much national attention to this point and that’s mainly because of their competition. I have them ranked #13 because they haven’t played anyone to date. They’ve hammered both Arkansas St. & Idaho with the combined score of 114-15. QB Cody Kessler is on pace for 4500yds/50TD while WR JuJu Smith is on pace for almost 2,000yds receiving & 21TD! RBs Tre Madden & Ronald Jones are both on pace for 1,000yds rushing. If there is one thing to keep an eye out for it’s the pass rush. USC hasn’t played dominant O-Lines yet the defense has generated 2 sacks. As dominant as USC has been, it doesn’t seem right the defense is on pace for 14 sacks.
#14		The win over Virginia looks amazingly better now that Notre Dame struggled so mightily with the Wahoos. QB Josh Rosen played like a freshman in UCLA 37-3 romp over UCLA but it didn’t much matter as RBs Paul Perkins & Bolu Olorunfunmi did the heavy lifting rushing for a combined 216yds. Perkins had 151 of those yards & 2TD. Keep in mind that Rosen doesn’t have to play well. UCLA had a 4-back RB rotation that is absurdly good. Paul Perkins is the #1 guys but true freshman Soto Jamabo & Bolu Olorunfunmi are getting significant run time & excelling. Nate Starks is a helluva runner in his own right & he’s been the 4th man so far. It’s a tremendous offense.
#15		Oregon would have ranked a lot higher had they held on to beat Michigan St. in East Lansing. If you believe in Michigan St. then you almost have to believe in Oregon, but from where I was sitting, I thought Oregon didn’t look that good & I kept going back to how important Marcus Mariota was to Oregon the last couple of seasons. Oregon is LOADED but they have issues with Vernon Adams at QB. It’s not that Adams can’t be great, but how good can they guy really be if he’s been in Eugene for 4-5 weeks? The defense is also unsettling. The Ducks have given up 73 points in their first 2 games & they had no answer for the Spartans running attack. It’s still Oregon but we’ll see.
#16		I love the Bulldogs but they’ve spent their first 2 games hammering away at UL-Monroe & Vanderbilt. Sure the Vandy game was an SEC road game, but Vanderbilt is absolutely terrible so you knew that wasn’t going to be much of a challenge. Georgia has been plagued by early season losses in recent memory. In 2010, 2011, 2012  & 2014 it was South Carolina. In 2013 it was Clemson. This year the East is again wide open for Georgia and the Ol’ Ball Coach is reeling after South Carolina lost to Kentucky in Columbia. Now Spurrier will bring the Gamecocks to Athens and nothing short of a 20-30 point victory will suffice for Georgia. They must be on the look out for the loss though.
#17		San Diego St. is a better football team than the 35-7 final score would indicate, but to me this is more indicative of the fact that California is a player in the Pac 12 North. Given Oregon’s defense & Stanford’s play early on, how can the Bears not be considered a de facto favorite? QB Jared Goff continues his torrid pace, throwing for 321yds & 3TD against the Aztecs. Daniel Lasco ran exceedingly well & Trevor Davis made some big plays. The reason Cal isn’t getting any poll love is their schedule. Their next two games are road dates against Texas & Washington. If Goff & Co. wreck those defenses then it’ll be hard to ignore a 4-0 Bears team that resembles Baylor & Ole Miss.
#18		This ranking is probably too low but at this point Utah gets hurt just a bit because I think they are still behind USC, UCLA & Oregon in their own conference. I have Cal ahead of them which is probably just a preference. The win over Michigan looks a lot better now that Michigan ripped through Oregon St. without problem. Utah has a couple of great wins so far against Michigan & Utah State. The 24-14 win over Utah St. this past week can’t be minimized as the Aggies are a solid football team, but the Utes are 2-0 by 17 points. It’s nitpicking to be sure when looking at scoring margin, but it does matter. This defense is for real although thus far they’ve failed to live up to “Sack Lake City” standard.
#19		Absolutely love Paul Johnson & the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech has outscored their opponents 134-16 to start the season. By that metric they are the #1 team in the nation, but the issue with GT so far is their opponents. The Yellow Jackets have hammered Alcorn St. & Tulane thus far. That’s hardly inspiring considering that most teams ahead of them at this point have beaten a team of note. QB Justin Thomas hasn’t really even turned it on yet so there is another gear this team could potentially reach. The good news for GT fans is that Notre Dame is up next. A convincing win there puts GT in the top-10 in my opinion. The bad news? Notre Dame is up next & they are solid.
#20		Basically the same narrative that Georgia Tech is following to this point. Ole Miss is putting the hammer down on their opponents, outscoring them 149-24 over the first two games, but those 2 games have come against Fresno St. & UT-Martin. The 149pts isn’t a type either! Ole Miss is averaging 75PPG on offense! QB Chad Kelly played out of his mind in the Rebels win over Fresno. He was 20/25 for 346yds & 4TD! The game could have been worse too as Ole Miss had 3 turnovers. As good as Bo Wallace was, I think Kelly might be better which could be the difference between Ole Miss finishing 9-4/10-3 and them finishing 12-1/11-2 with playoff aspirations. We’ll learn a lot this week in Tuscaloosa!
#21		A lot of different ways you can spin this. The win over South Carolina in Columbia is huge even it was by just a 26-22 margin. Kentucky beat South Carolina last year so maybe HC Mark Stoops has simply surpassed SC as a program with the Wildcats. If that’s true then it’s a MAJOR accomplishment. He’s still got Tennessee, Georgia & Missouri to tackle. On the other hand, maybe Steve Spurrier’s time in Columbia coming to a close & UK took advantage of a program that might be trending downwards? Either way, SC beat a solid North Carolina team & then UK beat SC. The win over UL-Lafayette is a good one too & Kentucky is 2-0. Their next two is at home against Florida & Mizzou. We’ll learn a lot.
#22		The 31-24 OT loss at home to Oklahoma is devastating. There is no other way to put it. A win over Oklahoma would have established Tennessee as the SEC East favorites at this point & set the Vols up for a tremendous year where the upside could have been 11-1. What the loss sort of shows is that HC Butch Jones has Orange Nation close, but not all the way back just yet. Really good teams don’t give up 17-3 leads in the 4th quarter at home which is what the Vols did here. Josh Dobbs looked awful & the running game could never quite get established. The defensive implosion in the 4th capped it off. UT has time to rebound but this one hurts given the lead in the 4th.
#23		Probably way to low at this point but the Seminoles have only beaten Texas St. & South Florida and they aren’t blowing them out the way Baylor, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss & California have been doing inferior opponents. RB Dalvin Cook should be getting major play at this point with the Heisman. He’s averaging 211yds per game & almost 3TD. Project his current numbers over a 14-game season & Cook is on pace to rush for almost 3,000yds with 35TD! I’d like to see FSU be a bit more aggressive on defense, but this is more of a ranking due to circumstance than performance. QB Everett Golson has been close to perfect meaning FSU could be looking at 14-0 again.
#24		Sort of like Utah, Clemson is ranked this low as a matter of circumstance. I have them below Florida St. & Georgia Tech in the ACC and those two squads, while dominant, haven’t beaten anyone so they keep dropping in my power rankings mostly as a result of SOS. Clemson has this same issue as they are 2-0 but with wins over Wofford & Appalachian State. Also like Florida St., Clemson hasn’t completely decimated their opponents the way other teams ahead of them have. With that said, everything is clicking with Clemson. The one thing that really stands out for me is that the Tigers have lived up to defensive expectations. The 20 tackles for loss ranks 20th in the nation. I like it!
#25		There was a lot of argument going about after Michigan St. beat Oregon that argued that if you believed Oregon was a top-10 team before they lost to Michigan St., then you had to believe they were a top-10 after. Minnesota isn’t getting any national love, but if everyone believes TCU is a top-5 or even top-3 team then how can you argue MInnesota isn’t at least a top-25 team? The Gophers were a TD away from beating TCU in week 1 and then followed that up with a gutsy OT win in Fort Collins, beating Colorado St. 23-20! QB Mitch Leidner hasn’t been outstanding but he’s not beating himself either. The Gophers are a player in the Big 10 West & should be 3-1 when they head to Evanston.

DROPPING OUT

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (previously #9): Are you kidding me? Losing to Toledo in Little Rock? HC Bret Bielema is right in that at least it wasn’t a conference game, but how awful will it be for the SEC should Arkansas run the table get to 12-1 and then be left out of the playoffs because their conference champion was beat at home by a MAC squad?

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (previosuly #22): Are you kidding me? Losing to Kentucky in Columbia? Kentucky actually has a good football team & if South Carolina pulls one of their usual wins over Georgia then maybe the loss just looks like one of those games SC loses every year that they shouldn’t.

WISCONSIN BADGERS (previously #23): The Badgers didn’t do anything wrong this week. They hammered Miami-OH 58-0 and really they look like the odds on favorite to win the Big 10 West. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Wisconsin run the table & get to 11-1 only to lose to Ohio State in the Big 10 championship game before winning their bowl game. That would put Wisconsin at 12-2 and be almost parallel to Michigan St.’s season a year ago.

MISSISSIPPI ST. BULLDOGS (previously #24): They should have beaten LSU. They deserve to be in the top-25 but they’ll be a 6-6 team that is better than most 9-3 squads.

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (previously #25): Are you kidding me? Losing to Houston in Louisville? Who knows what is going with the Cardinals but methinks it’s just a little bad luck. I think Louisville beats Auburn if they play 5 quarters & the 34-31 loss to Houston? It happens. I still wouldn’t want to face this team if they get rolling.

2015 NCAA WEEK 2 BIG GAMES

ROAD	QUICK THOUGHTS	HOME
	A rematch of last year’s game that saw the Ducks take down Michigan St. in Eugene 46-27! The score last year is misleading as Michigan St. led 27-18 late into the 3rd quarter before completely falling apart & giving up 28 unanswered points! The first week was odd for both of these teams. Michigan St. couldn’t quite do away with W.Michigan while Oregon gave up 42pts & 550yds to a D2 school! The matchup here is Michigan St.’s rush defense against Oregon’s rushing attack. Those units looked outstanding in the first week. The winner of this game will emerge with the year’s biggest win to date.
	I really like Tennessee this year but last week the Vols got TORCHED through the air against Bowling Green. It might go a bit unnoticed because UT still ended up beating the Falcons 59-20, but Oklahoma’s defense is going to be a little stiffer and their offense is going to be vastly superior to what Tennessee saw in Week 1. You put those together & it looks tragic for Tennessee. Tennessee is good we know that. A blow out win by Oklahoma on the road could reestablish the Sooners as one of the nation’s elite. I hope Tennessee puts up a fight but looking at the first week doesn’t bode well for the Vols.
	LSU caught a really tough break having their opening game canceled against McNeese State. There is a lot of coaches who believe teams make the biggest jumps in improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 because you can see what you do well & what still needs work. LSU didn’t get this opportunity & now they travel to Mississippi St. to take on a Bulldogs team who has a Heisman candidate at QB in Dak Prescott. MS State beat LSU last year 34-29 in Baton Rouge so LSU is looking for revenge, but the Bulldogs looked pretty good on the road last week beating Souther Miss 34-16. Huge SEC West game!
	UL-Lafayette is a pretty good Sun Belt team, but I was expected more from Kentucky than winning 40-33! That’s too many to give up. South Carolina on the other hands surprised me by taking on North Carolina in Charlotte & coming away with a hard fought victory. I really like this game but I like it a lot more from Kentucky’s angle. A win here is huge for the Wildcats because it’ll be an SEC road win over an East Power. It’s unlikely, and if SC ends up winning it’ll look like business as usual, but a 2-0 start by the Gamecocks with wins over UNC & UK is impressive leading up to SC traveling to Athens!
	I’m not sure this game ends up being as big as it is if Boise St. doesn’t beat Washington and BYU doesn’t pull off the Hail Mary in Lincoln to upset Nebraska. Now all of a sudden things get really interesting for both teams. With the football playoffs, I think it impossible for either team to crach the party but a win by Boise St. really opens up the possibility of the Broncos running the table & finishing 13-0. BYU’s road is a lot tougher as they travel to UCLA next week & Michigan the following, but a win here could mean 11-1/10-2! It’s too bad QB Taysum Hill will miss it which is why Boise should win.
	Virginia stinks but this game has implications in my opinon for a couple of reasons. The first is that last week Virginia went on the road to UCLA and lost 34-16. With Josh Rosen looking as good as he did & with UCLA being as stacked as they are, the 34-16 win is a benchmark for the Irish. If ND plays like they did last week against Texas, then the Irish should leave Charlottesville with a 55-10 or 52-3 win. This would elevate them higher than UCLA based on the comparison game. It’s important for ND in light of 2012. No matter what happens, nobody is going to believe Notre Dame can win it until they do.
	One of the best intra-state rivalry games in the nation. Last week Iowa beat Illinois St. 31-14 while Iowa St. dispatehed Northern Iowa 31-7. I thought the Iowa St. win was impressive given how Northern Iowa is always a tough out for both the Hawkeyes & Cyclones. I think Iowa St. has a QB in Sam Richardson that can lead them to some victories & it’s fortuitious that Iowa St. draws the Hawkeye in Ames because they need all the breaks they can get to get to an elusive bowl. Iowa ran well against Illinois St. & Iowa St. didn’t look amazing against the run. It’s something to wach that will be key to the outcome.
	Sure it was Weber St. but true frosh QB Sth Collins looked OUTSTANDING for the Beavers passing for 92yds/2TD while rushing for 152yds on 17 carries. I don’t think Oregon St. can live that way & be successful but Michigan will have their hands full. Oregon St. HC Gary Andersen is familiar with the Big 10 having just left Wisconsin so he won’t be overly intimidated walking into Ann Arbor. Oregon St. will be well-coached & up for the game. Michigan probably should win given how they played against Utah, but this game should be interesting to watch because it would be crazy for the Harbaugh era to start 0-2!
	The Battle of the Brothers! The big rivalry everyone knows with Utah is The Holy War between the Utes & BYU, but Utah St. & Utah played every year from 1944-2009! They took 2 years off in 2010-2011 before Utah St. won in 2012 & Utah won in 2013. Last year they didn’t play & this year’s game between the 2 schools is the only one scheduled. With Utah St. really emerging as a football school, this is becoming a GREAT game. Utah is one of those teams with a couple of awesome rivalries in Utah St. & BYU but with 3 non-conference games, it really limits their OOC schedule & subsequent exposure.
	UC-Davis did a pretty good job passing the ball on Nevada last week which could mean trouble for the Wolfpack against an Arizona team led by QB Anu Solomon who passed for 229yds/4TD last week against UT-San Antonio. On the other hand, this should be a pretty good matchup for Arizona because the Wildcats struggled defensively against UT-San Antonio & Nevada ran the ball extremely well with Don Jackson last week. Nevada has a good team & Brian Polian is doing a good job in Reno. I think Arizona should win this game going away, but it’ll be a solid road win for Arizona.
	Sure it was Grambling St., but California racked up 73 points in the week 1 opener! They produced almost 700 total yards & almost 500 total passing yards! California is another under the radar team in my opinion & QB Jared Goff could be a Heisman candidate by the time the year is through. With Oregon’s defense looking awful & Stanford completely tanking against Northwestern, it’s not unreasonable to think California can’t win the Pac 12 North. Enter San Diego St.! Rocky Long is a helluva coach & the Aztecs have a solid defense. This will be a solid test for the Bears & a win here is bigger than at first glance. GREAT GAME!
	Nick Stevens WORKED Savannah St. in a 66-13 win over Savannah State. The sophomore QB passed for 289yds & 5TD as Colorado St. took their season opener. This is an interesting game because the Rams aren’t bad & TCU is coming off a tight loss at home to TCU. Jerry Kill is so good its ridiculous so I think Minnesota can go on the road & get a victory. I’m rooting for the Gophers because I like Kill so much. Given how Nebraska & Wisconsin played, why can’t Minnesota sneak up & win the Big 10 West? This one will be interesting to see how Minnesota bounces back as CSU isn’t a pushover.

2015 NCAA WEEK 1 BIG GAMES

ROAD	QUICK THOUGHTS	HOME
	Easily the best game of the week. I love the parallels to last year’s game. Virginia Tech should not be overlooked, but it’s entirely possible for the Hokies to lose their home opener & then run the table. A 12-1 Virginia Tech team who won the ACC Championship probably makes the playoffs assuming there are 4 undefeated teams from the other 4 big conferences. This is exactly what happened with Ohio State last season. Of course the same could happen to Ohio St.! Don’t count out Virginia Tech. This game will not be a blow out & I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Hokies win.
	I like Corey Clement but replicating Melvin Gordon’s production is impossible & QB Joel Stave completed just 53.4% of his passes a year ago. Alabama might be retooling, but that’s on the offensive side of the ball. Wisconsin is going to have an extremely difficult time moving the ball & if Stave is prone to making mistakes, I can’t think of another defense that can exploit those mistakes to a more fuller extent than Alabama. It really feels like Nick Saban is out to prove something this season which is a scary though, but Alabama hasn’t won a national title in 2 years so everyone’s on edge!
	Texas is going to get better & better under Charlie Strong, but I don’t think the improvements are going to be immediate. I think Tyrone Swoopes might be the handcuff that Strong can’t get away from this season. As for the Irish, this is the best team HC Brian Kelly has had since coming to South Bend. The schedule is absolutely brutal, but this should be a good early season test for new starting QB Malik Zaire, and getting off to a good start is paramount for the Irish. This is also an exciting game just because of the jerseys. These 2 teams are historically great & that is always fun to watch.
	This should be an amazing game. I have Auburn picked to win the SEC West which is just as good as saying I have Auburn picked to win the SEC & represent the conference in the football playoffs. Getting Louisville on a neutral field will be tricky for War Eagle though. Despite quite a bit of turnover, the Cardinals still have some good pieces & Bobby Petrino is an outstanding football coach. This is also a good matchup from Louisville’s perspective. If they show well even in a loss, it could put the ACC Atlantic on notice. Clemson & Florida St. would rather Louisville be down a bit in 2015.
	Definitely an overlooked SEC game because Alabama plays Wisconsin & Auburn battles Louisville, but there might not be a better game this weekend than Texas A&M/Arizona State! These are amazing games as far as implications are concerned. Also the winner gets off to an amazing start with a huge win in their pocket. There is so much to see in this one. How does Bercovici do as the unquestioned starter? How much improvement has Kyle Allen made? How will ASU’s defense deal with A&M’s size at receiver? How will ASU’s O-line deal with Myles Garrett on the edge? Tons to see here.
	This game will be more about Jim Harbaugh’s return to coaching, especially because he’s coming home, but don’t forget about Utah! The Utes led the nation in sacks last season giving rise to the nickname “Sack Lake City”. They lose Nate Orchard but they are still going to get after the QB. Utah has a ton coming back this year especially on offense. With USC, UCLA, Arizona & Arizona St. being in the Pac 12 South, they get overlooked a bit but HC Kyle Whittingham is great. It’s taken a bit to get adjusted to the Pac 12, but Utah arrives this year in my opinion. This game is about Harbaugh but Utah wins it.
	This is an interesting game to me because I have Stanford winning the Pac 12 North but I think Northwestern will get a lot better after having a couple of down seasons. I’ve mentioned before the concept of sticking with a QB that isn’t that great & I think Northwestern was victim to this with Trevor Siemian. The Wildcats should be a lot better which should be good for Stanford. The Cardinal should rip through this game if they are for real. It’ll be interesting to see if they dominate. A close would be disappointing, but it would show Northwestern is better than people think.
	Chris Petersen comes back to Boise State! This is a homecoming for Petersen but if you are thinking about this game in terms of national viability then it’s about Boise State. I don’t think the Broncos lose at home, but they need a win here & in Week 2 against BYU to set up their season for a possible undefeated run. The Huskies are going to play tough & they’ll keep it close but UW is probably a year away from really coming into their own under Petersen. This will be bittersweet for Petersen because I think he loses, but moving forward I don’t think he loses to Boise!
	Jerry Kill & Gary Patterson actually have a close relationship which makes this game sort of fun. The thing that makes this game intriguing is how good Minnesota is. The Gophers are always going to have trouble because it’s not necessarily a top echelon football school, but if the Gophers can recruit their area & get great coaching, they can be a viable player in the Big 10 West especially if Nebraska, Iowa & Wisconsin are having down years. I don’t think the Gophers win this game, but it’s CLOSE. If I’m a TCU fan I don’t get worked up by the score. Getting a win here is good enough.
	Very interesting game on 2 accounts. BYU actually has quite a bit of talent with a lot of players coming back on offense, especially QB Taysom Hill who missed last year with injury. The early season schedule is tough (at Nebraska, Boise St., at UCLA, at Michigan) but the Cougars could easily get through this 3-1. If that happens then BYU probably gets to 11-1 on the season & what do you do with them? As for Nebraska, the Huskers welcome in new HC Mike Riley. I picked Nebraska to win the Big 10 West & this is a GREAT game to see what the Huskers bring to the table. A win is huge here.
	Virginia is terrible but this game is worth watching because of UCLA’s new starting QB, true frosh Josh Rosen. Widely considered to be the best QB in the Class of 2015, Rosen is the key to UCLA’s success this season. The Bruins essentially have a stacked team & if Rosen comes in & plays to his potential then UCLA goes from a nice top-15 team to arguably the best team in college football! That isn’t hyperbole! This isn’t a huge test for Rosen or UCLA, but it’s a solid game to get his feet wet & work out the kinks. He has 3 games before a road trip to Arizona & Rich Rodriguez!
	This game has no national implications and I’m not even sure it’s a big rivalry game, but it is one of those games that will be important for bowl eligibility & seeing just how good each team is. North Carolina has a lot of players back & should be relevant in the ACC Coastal. A win here puts them on the right track & at least has people talking about their division possibilities. For SC, I think it’s just another chance to show SEC’s superiority. It’s not an overally critical game when it comes down to the SEC East but a win here could mean the difference between 7 or 8 wins.
	Purdue is going to be a lot better than they’ve been the last couple of years & I think some of the heat under Darrell Hazell’s seat will be cooled. Purdue has some conference home games they can win to be sure & getting 3 wins out of their OOC schedule is almost a requirement. Marshall on the other hand isn’t an easy team to beat especially in Huntington. Remember that Marshall last year was 13-1 & ended the season in the top-25! They lose a lot on defense & QB Rakeem Cato, but this is still a good football team. A win here for Purdue would be bigger than you’d think.
	This looks like a throw away game but beware Trojan fans! Remember that the last 3 Arkansas St. HC’s were Hugh Freeze (now at Ole Miss), Gus Malzhan (now at Auburn) & Bryan Harsin (now at Boise St.!). In the last 4 years Ark State is 35-17! They return 15 starters including 9 on offense. The Red Wolves put up good fights against Miami-FL & Tennessee last season so they won’t be wowed by the Coliseum & USC. I don’t think Arkansas St. can escape with the biggest upset of Week 1, but they’ll put up a fight and we’ll get to see how USC responds to that fight.
	Iowa St. should be a much improved football team from a season ago when the Cyclones went 2-10 and they should have a decent shot at getting bowl eligible if a few things break their way. Of course, getting a win against Northern Iowa is necessary but remember than NIU came to Ames to open up the season 2013 & Iowa St. suffered a 28-20 loss en route to a 3-9 season. Paul Rhoads is too good of a coach to keep wasting away at Iowa State. It’s a tough place to coach but the Cyclones have a legit shot at starting the season 4-0 & needing just 2 wins in their last 8 to go bowling.
	Oregon starting QB Vernon Adams spent the last 2 seasons tearing it up at Eastern Washington so this game is somewhat interesting from that perspective. EWU has been a pretty good team during that time, but they aren’t any match for Oregon. Still, if there is a program that knows Adams, it has to be EWU so it’ll be interesting to see what the coaching staff has in store defensively for Oregon. With that being said, this game should still be a blow out & we’ll get a chance to see what Oregon’s offense looks like in the post Marcus Mariota era. I see 50-60 points ahead for the Quack Attack.

2015 BIG 10 PREVIEW and PREDICTIONS

RANK	B1G EAST	COMMENTS
#1		OFFENSE: Lost in the conversation about Ohio St.’s tremendous QB depth is just how good JT Barrett was last season before missing the final 3 games. Barrett was 11-1 in 12 starts & was a 3rd team All-American passing for 2834yds/34TD, while rushing for 938yds/11TD! Barrett is penciled in as the starter which is a smart move. Amazingly enough RB Ezekiel Elliott was only a 2nd team All-Conference player (thanks to Melvin Gordon & Tevin Coleman) although he’s a Heisman front runner this season. With 4 OL returning, Ohio St. should be able to run the ball at will. Losing WR Devin Smith will be tough to replace, but the Buckeyes have tremendous WR potential. Expect the offense to score 45PPG yet again. DEFENSE: As a 6’6/280lbs DE, Joey Bosa was arguably the most dominant defensive player last year in college football as a true sophomore! The 2nd coming of JJ Watt, Bosa is almost unblockable & could be just as much of a Heisman candidate as Elliott! DT Adolphus Washington is another All-American candidate. It’s not Alabama or Penn St., but Ohio St.’s trio of LBs in Josh Perry, Raekwon McMillan & Darron Lee are the best LB corps in the entire nation! They accounted for 254 tackles last season including 13 sacks! The secondary returns 3 of 4 players headlined by S Vonn Bell. This is by far the best defense Urban Meyer has had in his time in Columbus. SCHEDULE: A road trip to Blacksburg to start the season won’t be easy but the only tough road game in conference comes in Ann Arbor where Michigan will be playing under 1st year HC Jim Harbaugh. Ohio St. avoids Wisconsin, Nebraska, Northwestern & Iowa from the B10 West. This schedule sets up well for a return trip to the playoffs. BEST CASE: 12-0. WORST CASE: 9-3 with losses to Virginia Tech, Michigan St. & Michigan.
#2		OFFENSE: Michigan St. had a banner year offensively in 2014 racking up 43PPG in Mark Dantonio’s best offensive showing since arriving in East Lansing in 2007. Expect a fall back to the 28-31PPG range this year as the Spartans lose quite a bit. Gone is RB Jeremy Langford who ran for 1522yds/22TD, WR Tony Lippett (1198yds/11TD/18.4ypc) & WR Keith Mumphrey (495yds/19.0ypc/3TD). QB Connor Cook comes back & might be a 1st Rd. NFL draft talent but Sparty needs some others to step up to become the big play threats they’ve lost. The O-line is outstanding & brings 4 starters back. A RB should emerge from the LJ Scott, Madre London, Delton Williams trio & TE Josiah Price should be a huge piece to the puzzle. The Spartans will score but not as much. DEFENSE: MSU got terrible news recently when LB Ed Davis was lost for the season due to injury. It’s a tough loss, but MSU is solid defensely. The D-Line headlined by Shilique Calhoun, Malik McDowell, Lawrence Thomas & Joel Heath looks especially strong & is arguably the best front-4 in the nation. Riley Bullough & Darien Harris will be fine at LB although the Davis loss hurts. The secondary has 2 huge losses in CB Trae Waynes & S Kurtis Drummond who were 1st & 3rd team All-Americans respectively! The secondary will be down a notch for sure. As you can see there is some question marks in the back-7. SCHEDULE: Michigan St. has a few land mines in road games against Ohio St., Michigan & Nebraska along with a home data against Oregon! The Spartans definitely have the talent to win games & you can be sure Sparty will have revenge on its mind when it plays Ohio St. & Oregon given that those teams prevented Michigan St. from the playoffs a year ago The season finale against Penn St. could be tricky as well. BEST CASE: 12-0. WORST CASE: 7-5.
#3		OFFENSE: Penn St. isn’t considered a playoff contender, but no team will be watched more closely if only because QB Christian Hackenberg could be the #1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The 6’4/230lbs QB came under scrutiny last season after playing worse than his freshman campaign, but that was more in line with an O-Line that had 4 first year starters & a WR corps that featured a couple of first year starters & a TE as a first year starter. HC James Franklin wasn’t completely starting over from the Paterno era due to Bill O’Brien, but O’Brien’s system is vastly different than Franklin’s methods. PSU has 8 starters returning including 4 on the O-Line & RB Akeel Lynch. Hackenberg should be in for a big year & the offense should show marked improvement. DEFENSE: Penn St. allowed just 18.6PPG last year & look to be even better this year. The Lions return 5 of their top-6 tacklers & have the best DT combo in the B1G in Austin Johnson & Anthony Zettel. They lost LB Mike Hull (140tkl in ’14) but Nyeem Wartman returns at MLB & they add in Ben Kline & Koa Farmer. S Jordan Lucas anchors the secondary along with CB Trevor Williams. Worth mentioning is DEs Carl Nassib (6’6/270lbs) & Garrett Sickels (6’4/265lbs). First year starters, both guys have outstanding size & should do some damage with Johnson & Zettel up front. They should be very fun to watch. SCHEDULE: Penn St.’s OOC schedule is a joke with Temple, Army, Buffalo & San Diego State. They do get Michigan St. & Ohio St. on the road which is tough but get Michigan at home coming off a bye week. Getting Northwestern & Illinois out of the West isn’t so bad either so the schedule sets up very nice. BEST CASE: 10-2. WORST CASE: 5-7. Losses to tOSU & MSU are a given but Indiana, Maryland, Illinois, Northwestern & Michigan could happen.
#4		OFFENSE: Despite the 20-18 record over the last 3 seasons, the cupboards aren’t bare in Ann Arbor for incoming HC Jim Harbaugh. Devin Gardner isn’t a terrible loss at QB & Michigan now has former Iowa QB Jake Rudock who comes in as an immediate improvement. The Wolverines also return 4 starters on the O-Line along with a stable of very talented backs headlined by De’Veon Smith, USC transfer Ty Isaac & Derrick Green. Michigan loses WR Devin Funchess but returners Amara Darboh (6’2) & Jehu Chesson (6’3) are big targets that should step up quickly along with true frosh Brian Cole. Jim Harbaugh is an OUTSTANDING football coach & he knows how to get the most out of his players & this team is talented. Michigan should be able to run at will. Expect a big improvement. DEFENSE: Like the offense, the defense has some very good talent despite some losses & Michigan has some tremendous athletes. The LBs lose Jake Ryan but have both Joe Bolden & Desmond Morgan returning who could be all conference. They lose Frank Clark on the DL but DEs Taco Charlton & Mario Ojemudia are solid options who are also very big. Michigan averages 6’4.25″ & 288lbs along the DL. S Jabril Peppers & Stanford transfer CB Wayne Lyons should anchor a secondary that also has CB Jourdan Lewis & S Jarrod Wilson as returning starters. The defense allowed 22.4PPG in ’14 but is better this year. SCHEDULE: Tricky. Michigan opens on the road against Utah & also draws Oregon St. & BYU as OOC games although both are in Ann Arbor. They get both Michigan St. & Ohio St. at home in big rivalry games that anything could happen but Michigan has some tricky road games against Indiana, Minnesota & Penn St.. Northwestern is also on the slate. BEST CASE: 10-2; WORST CASE: 4-8 which seems impossible with Harbaugh.
#5		OFFENSE: The Hoosiers come into 2015 much the same way they came into 2014. High expectations on offense & the hopes of 6 wins to get bowl eligible. The offense last year took a downturn when QB Nate Sudfeld got hurt. Backup Zander Diamont was definitely not the answer as IU sputtered to 1-6 in their final 7 games. Sudfeld returns this year along with 4 returning O-Linemen, but IU loses an awful lot of skill position players headlined by all-world RB Tevin Coleman (2038yds/15TD in ’14). IU also lost their top receiver in Shane Wynn. All hope isn’t lost in Bloomington however. UAB transfer RB Jordan Howard (1587yds! in ’14) takes over & IU shouldn’t miss a beat. The Hoosiers also have some high upside at WR in Camion Patrick, Simmie Cobbs & Dominque Booth. The offense should be better & IU will score more than the 25.1PPG they posted in 2014. DEFENSE: For as much publicity the offense has gotten in the Kevin Wilson era, it ultimately has come down to defense where Indiana has yet to allow fewer than 32PPG since 2009! The Hoosiers return 5 starters from a defense that allowed 32.8PPG a year ago which doesn’t portend to success. The good news is that Indiana isn’t completely devoid of talent on the defensive side. DT Darius Latham, LB Tegray Scales, LB Nile Sykes, LB TJ Simmons and SS Antonio Allen all have talent. The question is can Indiana finally put some decent defensive numbers together? SCHEDULE: Not brutal but Indiana drew some winnable games on the road in Penn St., Maryland & Purdue. They do get Michigan & Ohio St. in Bloomington but those will be tough battles. An OOC road trip to Wake Forest probably won’t be terribly easy either. They do get Rutgers & Iowa at home. BEST CASE: 9-3; WORST CASE: 1-11 & Kevin Wilson is looking for employment.
#6		OFFENSE: With only 5 starters back from an offense that scored 26.7PPG last year, you might expect the Scarlet Knights to struggle offensively especially with QB Gary Nova (#2 all time passer in Rutgers history) graduating the program. That might not happen. Rutgers has Chris Laviano & Hayden Rettig (LSU transfer) taking over for Nova & they should approximate Nova’s numbers which weren’t stellar (57.2%/22TD/12INT). Paul James & Josh Hicks return at RB while WR Leonte Carroo is a huge weapon at WR (55rec/1086yds/11TD in ’14). Rutgers has just 2 starting O-Linemen returning but there is a lot of size & talent all along the line. I like this offense quite a bit & think it has some tremendous upside especially if the QB situation settles & RB Paul James can remain healthy all season. HC Kyle Flood is doing a great job here. DEFENSE: While the offense has 5 returning starters but has some upside, the defense has 5 returning starters without the feelings of optimism! Rutgers loses 5 of their top-7 tacklers although LBs Steve Longa & Quentin Gause return who were the team’s top-2 tacklers. The LBs corps is the strongest part of the defense with Longa & Gause along with South Carolina transfer Kaiwan Lewis. I’m most excited about DT Darius Hamilton & DE Kemoko Turay who could both be all conference defenders. Rutgers needs their secondary to come together, but I think the front-7 could do some serious damage if they all stay healthy. SCHEDULE: If Kyle Flood wants to make it 4 bowls in 4 years, Rutgers is going to have to take care of their OOC schedule against Norfolk St., Washington St., Kansas & Army. Wazzou could be a tough one although it’s at home. Rutgers draws Wisconsin & Nebraska from the West. They get Indiana & Michigan on the road! BEST CASE: 7-5; WORST CASE: 3-9.
#7		OFFENSE: Maryland had the best offensive output they’ve have under HC Randy Edsall, posting 28.5PPG en route to a 7-6 season. The offense might look towards a downturn in 2015 as they return just 6 starters & lose QB CJ Brown who also led the team in rushing a year ago. Maryland should find the going fairly rough offensively this year as Brown is gone, and they also lose their top-2 receivers in Stefon Diggs & Deon Long. Caleb Rowe takes over at QB while RBs Brandon Moss & Wes Brown should give Maryland RBs who actually lead the team in rushing. The rest of the offense is a little thin. The receivers are small although Marcus Leak might be OK. The O-Line returns 3 starters but this is a line that allowed 37 sacks & paved the ray for the Terps to average a measly 3.7ypc on the ground. There isn’t much upside here at all. DEFENSE: Maryland brings back just 4 starters from a below average defense that allowed 30+PPG in 2014. Maryland loses 6 of their top-9 tacklers including #1 tackler LB Cole Ferrand. Maryland will be especially thin up front as they returns just one starter (DE Yannick Ngakoue) to their front-7! Something else to keep in mind is that Maryland is moving to a 4-3 defense meaning they are a little off in their personnel. Ngakoue is just 6’2/250 which profiles more as a 3-4 OLB than  4-3 DE. The secondary returns 3 of 4 starters including CB William Likely who is outstanding & S Sean Davis who is solid. Rutgers needs a lot of guys to step up, but Ngakoue, Likely & Davis are good starting points. SCHEDULE: The OOC is easy outside of a road date against West Virginia. Drawing Wisconsin & Iowa (road) from the West hurts a bit. Maryland gets Indiana at home which is winnable but travels to Rutgers which is a tough blow. They are at Ohio St. & Michigan St.! BEST CASE: 7-5; WORST CASE: 2-10. Beware of Bowling Green.

 

BIG 10 EAST OVERALL OUTLOOK: The division is Ohio St.’s to lose without question. I think what is most interesting about the Big 10 is the response to Urban Meyer coming to Columbus. In his 3 years at the helm, Ohio St. has gone 36-3 including a 12-0 season in 2012 & a national championship in 2014! That’s amazing. What we’ve seen though is Penn St. go out & grab James Franklin, a coach on the rise that showed you could win at Vanderbilt despite playing in the most brutal conference in college football. Michigan went out and hired Jim Harbaugh who could be arguably the best college coach on the planet. Michigan St. already had Mark Dantonio, a disciple of Nick Saban. I think this division is fascinating. Michigan St., Michigan, Ohio St. & Penn St. are 4 of the most intriguing teams in college football for various reasons. Maryland, Rutgers & Indiana almost seem like forgotten teams in a division so rich in football history regarding the other 4 but the “little brothers” can have successful seasons too. Harbaugh is a HUGE game changer making Michigan must watch football every Saturday!

 

RANK	B1G WEST	COMMENTS
#1		OFFENSE: It’s very difficult to get a feel for how Nebraska might perform offensively. The Huskers scored 37+PPG last year primarily as a rushing offense. This year under new HC Mike Riley, Nebraska might try to be more of a passing offense given Riley’s propensities at Oregon St.. We’ve seen this before in Lincoln when Bill Callahan was the HC & it didn’t work out so well. Nebraksa will be dealing with losing RB Ameer Abdullah (1611yds/19TD) along with leading WR Kenny Bell. They also lose the entirety of their interior offensive line. The good news is that QB Tommy Armstrong returns along with WRs Jordan Westerkamp & De’Mornay Pierson-El. Nebraksa also has 4 senior starters across the line & while the RB numbers will dip, Imani Cross & Terrell Newby should be OK. There will be growing pains & I’m not sure how great Armstrong is, but there is still a lot here. DEFENSE: This isn’t your father’s Nebraska defense. Nebraska loses 4 of their top-5 tacklers along with all-world DE Randy Gregory who is a massive loss. It’s Nebraska so there is a lot of talent on hand for Nebraska but can it come together? DTs Maliek Collins & Vincent Valentine should be tough to handle leaving room for DE Greg McMullen to work. S Nathan Gerry also returns & has All-Big 10 ability. SCHEDULE: Nebraska’s schedule is what really separates the Huskers from the rest of the Big 10 West. Nebraska gets Wisconsin, Northwestern & Iowa in Lincoln! They also get Michigan St. at home! Their conference road games come against Rutgers, Minnesota, Purdue & Illinois! Nebraksa doesn’t have the easiest OOC schedule there is with Miami-FL on the road & a season opener at home against BYU, but the conference schedule couldn’t have set up better. BEST CASE: 11-1 (they can’t beat Sparty). WORST CASE: 2-10. Huge range here.
#2		Let’s forget breaking down the offense & defense for a minute when talking about Wisconsin football. From 2009-2014 the Badgers have won 60 games. They’ve been to 3 Rose Bowls. They’ve finished in the top-10 on 2 occasions and have finished in the top-25 in 5 of those 6 seasons. The only team in the Big 10 who has won more games over the same span has been Ohio St., although the Buckeyes have been to just one Rose Bowl during the period that Wisconsin has been to 3. To Ohio St.s credit, they are coming off a National Championship season & they did go 12-0 in 2012 when they were banned from bowl play. What I’m trying to argue is that Wisconsin has been the most consistent & dominant team in the Big 10 outside of Ohio State for over the past 6 years. What’s interesting is that they will no welcome in their 3rd HC in a 4-year span. Bret Bielema went to 3 straight Rose Bowls from 2010-2012 & won 2 straight Big 10 conference championships in 2011-2012, yet picked up for Arkansas in what looked to be a move down. Utah St. HC Gary Andersen came in & went 20-7 in 2 years & bolted this past season for Oregon State in what looked to be another move down. I can sort of see leaving Wisconsin for Arkansas if you wanted to be in the SEC, but why would anyone leave Wisconsin for Oregon St.? Paul Chryst now comes in to Madison. Chryst was born in Madison. Played QB for Wisconsin & was the OC from 2005-2011. By all accounts, you can’t get more Madison than Paul Chryst so the Badger faithful have to happy that they could have incredibly stability at the HC position assuming Chryst turns out to be another HC like Barry Alvarez or Bret Bielema. This story provides a narrative that program fit is extremely important in looking for a HC. BEST CASE: 11-1 (I can’t see a win over Alabama). WORST CASE: 6-6.
#3		OFFENSE: Injuries hammered Northwestern last year before the season started. RB Venric Mark was out for the season along with WR Christian Jones. I had called for Northwestern to win the B1G West but was dubious about their luck before the season began. Luckily, true frosh RB Justin Jackson stepped up & ran for 1187yds/10TD in Mark’s place. WR Kyle Prater also did a decent job becoming the #1 WR. What hurt Northwestern the most on offense in 2014 was their QB play & their offensive line. QB Trevor Siemian was brutal completing 58.2% of his passes with 7TD to 11INT. He also rushed for -123yds in 68 attempts! The O-Line allowed 34 sacks & NW’s rushing attack averaged just 3.4ypc. This year Jackson will only get better while the O-line returns 3 starters with 4 starters being upperclassmen. The QB situation is iffy with Clayton Thorson, Matt Alviti & Zach Oliver but any of them will most likely be better than Siemian. Expect more than 23PPG. DEFENSE: The Wildcats return their entire D-Line & 7 of their top-10 tacklers. They also return 3 of their 4 DBs. DE Dean Lowry has all-conference talent as does CB Nick VanHoose. The goods news is that Northwestern has solid talent across the board defensively with 9 upperclassmen starting. The one weakness could be the LBs corps which will have to deal with the loss of Chi Chi Ariguzo. Still, this is a solid that should be better than they were in 2014. SCHEDULE: Brutal OOC with Stanford & a road game against Duke. Northwestern also has road games against Nebraska, Wisconsin & Michigan! They do get Iowa & Minnesota at home which is a solid break, but I don’t think the home date with Penn St. will be easy. Most of the winnable games are at home so Northwestern should get bowl eligible. BEST CASE: 7-5; WORST CASE: 2-10. The back of the B1G West is stronger.
#4		OFFENSE: It would seem Iowa is in a huge rebuild as they have just 5 starters back including a new QB, but I think there is some potential for the Iowa offense to be much better than people think. There was some controversy at the end of last season between QBs CJ Beathard & Jake Rudock but Rudock transferred to Michigan while Beathead takes over as QB1. You can make an argument than Beathead was better in the 4th quarter than Rudock last season & if Beathead can keep that over a full season, Iowa might have it’s best QB situation since Ricky Stanzi in 2009-2010. I also like RB Jordan Canzeri who will be 2 years removed from ACL surgery. WRs Tevaun Smith & Matt VandeBerg have some big play ability while TE Jake Duzey is a great pass catching TE. One thing we can also count on with Iowa is fantastic O-line play. Iowa was less than expected in ’14 but return their interior O-Line. The 2 tackles also have some big upside. This is certainly a glass half-full analysis but I like the potential here. DEFENSE: Iowa brings back 7 starters from a defense that allowed 26PPG last year. That isn’t Iowa defense, but there is a lot to be excited about this year. DE Drew Ott has all-conference potential as does CB Desmond King & S Jordan Lomax. The problem is the losses which are HUGE! DTs Carl Davis & Louis Trinca-Pasat are both in the NFL. S John Lowdermilk led the team in tackles & LB Quinton Alston was 2nd. It’s a lot to lose but the secondary should be solid as should the DEs. The LB are much more experienced too so overall I’d expect Iowa to be better. SCHEDULE: The anti-Nebraska, Iowa gets the Huskers, Northwestern & Wisconsin on the road! They also draw Indiana on the road which won’t be easy. They do get Illinois, Minnesota & Purdue at home along with Maryland, but draw Iowa St. in Ames. BEST CASE: 10-2; WORST CASE: 4-8.
#5		OFFENSE: After 4 frustrating years with Nathan Scheelhaase at QB, the Illini turned to Oklahoma St. transfer Wes Lunt to QB & was immediately ecstatic with the results. Lunt completed 64% of his passes for 1763yds with 14TD to just 3INT! The numbers would have been better had Lunt not missed 6 starts! Lunt is healthy to start 2015 so the Illini have to be beyond happy at the prospects. I also feel Illinois is on the verge of breaking out. They return 8 starter on offense including their leading rusher in Josh Ferguson & their top-4 receivers! WRs Mailk Turner & Geronimo Allison are 6’3 & 6’4 respectively. JUCO TE Andrew Davis is 6’6 giving Lunt some big targets to throw too. The O-line returns 3 starters & has 4 upperclassmen starting. Illinois also adds in RBs Ke’Shawn Vaughn & Henry Enyenihi. Illinois will threaten to score more than 30PPG for the first time since 2010! DEFENSE: The defense returns 8 starters from a unit that allowed 34PPG but there is reason to be optimistic. The D-line returns 3 starters and the secondary returns 3. They only have 2 big losses in S Zane Petty & LB Earnest Thomas but those losses are fine. LBs TJ Neal & Mason Monheim have all-conference ability. The D-Line averages about 6’4/290lbs which is exciting. DE Jihad Ward & S Taylor Barton should also have huge years. There is a lot to like about this defense & it should be improved. SCHEDULE: I would have had Illinois much higher except the schedule is nasty. Most of their winnable games are on the road while they draw Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Ohio St. at home. They also get road dates against Penn St. & North Carolina which doesn’t bode well for the Illini. Tim Beckman is doing a fine job in Urbana-Champaign & I hope he’s able to stick around. BEST CASE: 11-1 (really!); WORST CASE: 3-9
#6		OFFENSE: It might not have looked like it, but HC Darrell Hazell showed marked improvement in his offense from 2013 to 2014. The Boilermakers went from 14.9PPG to 23.8PPG. They also improved by 62yds of total offense. Purdue also improved by 2 wins. If they show the same improvement curve, Purdue will win 5 games & score 31PPG! That kind of offense could get them to a bowl. There is a lot to like about the offense. WR Danny Anthrop returns as a big play threat & the other projected starting WRs are all 6’2 or better. The entire O-Line returns which is a HUGE deal given the improvement the O-Line showed from year 1 to year 2 in the Hazell era. The huge question mark could be QB where rFR David Blough is expected to start. The 6’1/202lbs signal caller has been said to have quite a bit of Drew Brees & Brett Favre in him! If that’s true then look out because Purdue could contend in the West. DEFENSE: The Purdue defense made good strides in Hazell’s 2nd year as well improving by 6PPG & 44ypg! The Boilermakers return 7 starters on defense including all 3 LBs & both CBs. CB Frankie Williams is the only guy with legit all-conference capabilities but there could be some surprises. Purdue is fairly big up front but they need talent & a pass rush. Purdue hasn’t been able to get much pressure on the opposition since Ryan Kerrigan left. I’d like to see DE Evan Panfil step up. SCHEDULE: Purdue lucks out getting Minnesota, Illinois & Indiana at home. Those are winnable games in the friendly confines of Ross-Ade Stadium. The OOC isn’t bad outside of a home date against Virginia Tech. Purdue gets Wisconsin & Michigan St. on the road, but those were probably losses anyway. If Blough plays well & somebody replaces RB Akeem Hunt, this team will be fun. BEST CASE: 8-4; WORST CASE: 1-11 (Indiana St. should be automatic.)
#7		OFFENSE: The offense has improved by 3-4PPG in each year of Jerry Kill’s tenure in Minneapolis. If the trend continues, the Gophers will average 31-32PPG in 2015, which is something they’ve haven’t done since 2005! Losing RB David Cobb might look horrible, but Cobb averaged just 5.2ypc which is something RB Rodrick Williams has done during his career. Minnesota’s O-Line is going to be very good so it’s easy to suspect Williams might be on the verge of having a big year in this offense that is very run heavy. QB Mitch Leidner also returns & while he wasn’t great in 2014, Leidner is a threat to run & his passing numbers have nowhere to go but up. The O-Line returns 4 starters & I think Minnesota is intriguing at WR with KJ Maye, JJ Jones & Nate Wozniak who is 6’10! The offense will be solid & Cobb’s loss will be minimal. DEFENSE: LB Damien Wilson & S Cedric Thompson were NFL Draft picks & will be hard to replace, but those are the only losses to the back-7 which should actually get better as the unit is more experienced. CBs Eric Murray & Briean Boddy-Calhoun have all-conference talent & should be playing on Sundays eventually.  LB De’Vondre Campbell could have a big year. I’d also keep & eye on DEs Theiren Cockran & Hendrick Ekpe. Cockran at 6’6/260lbs is a load & could be headed to the NFL. Minnesota should be very good off the edge. SCHEDULE: I hate putting Minnesota here because I think HC Jerry Kill is amazing but the schedule sets up tough for the Gophers. They draw Michigan & Ohio St. out of the East & also get Purdue, Northwestern & Iowa on the road. The Big 10 West is interesting because there is certainly a lot of intrigue surrounding teams that haven’t been good for awhile. Minnesota is no different here as Kill keeps improving the on-field product. BEST CASE: 10-2. WORST CASE: 2-10. (won’t happen under Kill!)

 

BIG 10 WEST OVERALL OUTLOOK: Massive parity. While the East is dominated by Ohio St.’s huge odds to win the division, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see any of the 7 teams finish on top an that includes Purdue, Minnesota & Illinois. I think every team has a story line that is compelling and I don’t think these intra-divisional games will feature any blowouts. Wisconsin & Nebraska are interesting because they should be the 2 best teams in the league but are both bringing in new HCs! How crazy is that? Northwestern could have a huge storyline brewing with Pat Fitzgerald. While I don’t see Fitzgerald leaving Evanston anytime soon, he’s a FANTASTIC HC and at some point he’ll draw interest. He’s too young and he’s entering his 10th year at Northwestern! Iowa, Purdue & Illinois have crazy QB stories to watch involving CJ Beathead, David Blough & Wes Lunt respectively. The Gophers have HC Jerry Kill who keeps making the Gophers better. If he keeps up his trend since taking over for Minnesota, the Gophers could be in line for 10 victories in 2015! Everything is up in the air in this division which should make it fun from the beginning.

2014 NCAA WEEK 14 – GAMES OF THE WEEK

ROAD	WHY IT IS MUST SEE!	HOME
	Iron Bowl. We all know the story last season. A short FG led to a 100-yard return by the Tigers which propelled Auburn into the SEC Championship which turned into a national championship that Auburn came THIS CLOSE to winning! The stakes are a little different this year. You know Nick Saban is preparing for a little revenge & Auburn is somewhat limping into the season finale with not much on the line via championships. Alabama is playing like the #1 team in the nation at this point & I’d be shocked if they failed to get a win at home. With that said, it’s not like Auburn isn’t a solid team. They are 8-3 & their 3 losses are legitimate. This is the best rivalry in college football right now.
	Egg Bowl. This game was a lot more interesting before Ole Miss was hammered 30-0 in Fayetteville last week at the hands of Arkansas. If Ole Miss had won that game then a win here combined with an Alabama loss would have given Ole Miss the SEC West title! Now Mississippi St. has everything to lose & Ole Miss has nothing to gain. Ole Miss is limping in worse than Auburn. They’ve lost their last 3 game to FBS opponents & the defense has allowed 75pts in those 3 games! Even with their recent struggles, Ole Miss still boasts the #1 scoring defense in the country & if Bo Wallace has a great game, the Rebels could ruin MSU’s dream season. For the Bulldogs, a win here practically guarantees the playoffs.
	Paul Bunyan’s Axe. Absolutely love that the B1G West is coming down to these two teams. You won’t find better coaches than Minnesota’s Jerry Kill & Wisconsin’s Gary Andersen! How amazing of a job as Kill done during his time in Minneapolis. The Gophers were 3-9 in his first season. Now in his 4th, they are 8-3 with a chance to get to the B1G Championship! Andersen took over a Wisconsin team that had been to 3 straight Rose Bowls. He didn’t miss a beat going 9-4 last season & getting the Badgers to 9-2 this year with a chance to get back to the B1G Championship! Both teams are incredibly run heavy & since Wisconsin has Melvin Gordon you’d have to think the Badgers hold the advantage.
	This obviously isn’t a rivalry game, but I think you can make an argument that this could be the most intriguing game of the weekend. Missouri was left for dead after starting the season 4-2 with a home loss to Indiana & a 34-0 spanking at the hands of Georgia. Since then they’ve won 5 straight to get to 9-2 needing a win here to win the SEC East in back-to-back seasons. Arkansas comes in at 6-5 after having destroyed both LSU & Ole Miss by the combined score of 47-0! Arkansas spoiled Ole Miss’ chances at an SEC West title last week & now they have an opportunity to spoil Missouri’s chances to win the SEC East! Arkansas is an outstanding story. They might win out & get to 8-5. How high are they ranked to begin 2015?
	Tough game for Stanford as they seem to be facing UCLA at exactly the wrong time as the Bruins are hitting their stride & destroying teams. Lots on the line here for the Bruins as a win ensures they win the Pac 12 South & finish the year 10-2. They’ll face Oregon where they will be looking for revenge from an earlier loss to the Ducks. UCLA has had an interesting season. They struggled early but still won. They then dropped a couple of games to Utah & Oregon. Now they’ve won 5 straight & are definitely in the playoff mix should they beat Stanford & then Oregon. The Bruins still have a chance to make good on a lot of people predicting they’d be in the playoffs at the beginning of the season.
	Duel In The Desert. This game is a lot like Wisconsin/Minnesota in that both teams have A LOT on the line that they are playing for. Each team enters the game 9-2 & the winner still has a chance to win the Pac 12 South assuming UCLA drops their game to Stanford. The winner also gets to 10 wins which would be a first in the Rich Rodriguez era in Tucson. These teams are very similar. Arizona averages 36PPG & gives up 25PPG. The Sun Devils average 37PPG & give up 26PPG. Even the offenses are fairly close. The Rich Rodriguez/Todd Graham dynamic is one of the most interesting ones playing out. Great coaches in the same state. If they both stick around this is a HUGE budding rivalry.
	Civil War. These two teams could not be going in more opposite directions. Oregon has won 6 straight games & at 10-1 is in prime position to grab one of the 4 coveted playoff spots. Oregon St. on the other hand has lost 5 of their last 6 and 6 of their last 8. At 5-6, the Beavers need this win just to get bowl eligible which is a tall order considering the roll that Oregon has been on of late. Last year Oregon St. went into Eugene & almost pulled off a stunner ultimately losing to Oregon 35-34. With this game in Corvallis, it’s possible the Beavers could get lucky but I wouldn’t count on it. Oregon controls its own destiny & I’d be surprised if they let this one slip through their fingers to a 5-6 team.
	The Game. A whole lot of things are going against Michigan in this one. Like Oregon St., Michigan needs a win in the season finale to attain bowl eligibility. Also like Oregon St., they have almost zero chance at beating a team playing for a potential playoff bid. At least Oregon St. is at home. Michigan has no such luck. A couple of other things stand out as well. Ohio St. needs style points being behind Mississippi St. & TCU in the current playoff poll. Urban Meyer knows this & if the Buckeyes can capitalize on this they will. The other problem for Michigan is that this is likely Brady Hoke’s last game as HC. I’m sure the players & staff might simply be tired & all too willing to get the season finished. Tough way to go out.
	Shillelagh Trophy. Amazingly enough, both teams are coming off humiliating losses. For the Irish it was a home loss to Louisville. For USC it was an 18-point beating from rival UCLA that eliminated the Trojans from Pac 12 South contention. ND needs the win to get to 8-4 with a shot to at least match last year’s 9-win season. I’m not sure it is quite as important to USC other than the Trojans would love to win this heated rivalry. I don’t think it’s a huge deal USC finishes 7-5 in Sarkisian’s first year at the helm. One thing is for sure, if ND loses, there will be some heat on Brian Kelly. After starting 6-0, the Irish have lost 3 straight & 4 of their last 5 coming into this game. Finishing the year 1-5 is a disaster.
	Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Is that not the best slogan for a rivalry game ever!? This is one of the biggest games I’m looking forward to. Both teams enter the game at 9-2 & there is actually quite a bit on the line. For Georgia they can still get into the playoffs. If they win here, Missouri loses, & win the SEC Championship, I think an 11-2 Georgia team lands a spot in the playoffs. For Georgia Tech it’s a bit harder. They’ve already won the ACC Coastal, but a win here puts them at 10-2. A win over Florida St. puts them at 11-2 & ACC Champs. A 2-loss ACC Champ doesn’t have as much swag as a 2-loss SEC team, but it’s something. UGA has dominated this series winning 19 of the last 23 meetings! Good grief!
	A pretty cool game out of the Mountain West. Utah St. comes into the game 9-3 (6-1) while Boise St. is 9-2 (6-1). The winner obviously gets to 10 wins which is a big deal, but more importantly these two teams are tied with Colorado St. for 1st place Mountain West Mountain division. The loser here is obviously out but the 3rd team is Colorado St. who plays at Air Force. I love tiebreakers so if Colorado St. loses then the winner of this game wins the Mountain division. If CSU wins then it’s a different story. If CSU wins & Boise wins then Boise wins the division. If CSU wins & Utah St. wins then CSU wins the Mountain. The only way for Utah St. to win the division is for them to win & Colorado St. to lose. So a lot is in play here.
	It’s wild that this rivalry doesn’t have a name attached to it! I couldn’t find one at all which was surprising. This could be one of the most captivating games this weekend although it could also turn into a snooze fest depending on which Florida team shows up. Florida does have the ability to turn it on. They did beat Georgia & probably should have beaten LSU. If the ACC is that much weaker than the SEC then this could be a game especially if the Gators want to fight for HC Will Muschamp in his last game at Florida. If that happens then FSU could easily fall as the Seminoles have been flirting with disaster all season long. At some point you feel like it’s going to catch up with them. I don’t see it happening here but it could.
	Battle Of The Palmetto State. Come on SC/Clemson! I expected better than this slogan for a rivalry that has been extremely intense since the 1880s! Neither team is in any sort of contention for a big bowl game. The Gamecocks got bowl eligible last week with a 37-12 win over South Alabama. Clemson is 8-3 but not a factor in the ACC Atlantic & likely won’t be able to get a New Year’s Bowl game with the 3 losses. They definitely won’t get one if they lose to SC. I think any type of game where Steve Spurrier can rub salt into the wounds of another program is gold! South Carolina has won the last 5 games & they haven’t even been that close. I’d watch out for SC. Sure they are 6-5, but they can argue being 10-1 with so many close losses.