Projected Postseason Top 25: #10 Oklahoma

To be fair to the Oklahoma Sooners, they were almost in a no-win situation January 1 against Boise State. Nobody outside of the state of Oklahoma wanted them to win that and nobody in the country would’ve been impressed if they did. Still the Sooners would just like to forget the Fiesta Bowl ever happened and they have the sort of talent returning to do just that in 2007. If this team can get over Texas, whom has been an annual road block for them the past two years, it could be “Boise Who?” in Norman again.

Projected Record and Bowl Result: 11-2 Beat Arkansas in Cotton Bowl

Who they’ll beat (or who they’ll have to forfeit retroactively in three years): North Texas (Home), Miami (Home), Utah State (Home), Tulsa (Road), Colorado (Road), Missouri (Home), Iowa State (Road), Texas A&M (Home), Baylor (Home), Oklahoma State (Home)

Who’ll beat them: Texas (Dallas, TX), Texas Tech (Away)

When they Pass: Redshirt Freshman Sam Bradford takes over the quarterback position. As you can imagine this the Sooners’ biggest question mark. Malcolm Kelly has All-America potential. Manuel Johnson and Juaquin Iglesias are other big athletic receivers that will provide Bradford targets to throw to.

When they Run: Allen Patrick made Oklahoma fans feel a lot better about this season when he performed magnificently when Adrian Peterson went down, rushing for a 100 yards 4 times. He’ll be doing just about all the carrying this season unless Demarco Murray continues to emerge.

When their Opponents Run: While the linebackers are shaky, pending the return of middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds (not Van Wilder), Oklahoma continues to breed defensive linemen. Expect the Sooners to be strong against the run in 2007.

When their Opponents Pass: Four starters return to form perhaps the nation’s best secondary. Reggie Smith and Marcus Walker are the corners, Nic Harris and D.J. Wolfe are the safeties.

When they Kick: Garret Harrley is the Big XII’s best.

When they call Timeout: Only someone as charming and successful as Bob Stoops could survive the loss to Boise State last year and not be under some kind of scrutiny. Although the Fiesta Bowl was a microcosm of a few years now of underachievement. The spoiled again Boomer Sooners will be looking for a Big XII title or at least a top 10 finish. If not, some scrutiny could find its way to Bob Stoops.

Projected Postseason Top 25: #11 The Ohio State

I love Ohio, where everyone is Buckeye Born, Buckeye Bred, and when they’re buried they’ll be Buckeye Dead (for some literally). I’ve been there for a football game more than once or twice. My brother went to Ohio State as an undergrad and graduate student and now lives out there working for the university’s physical therapy center. Columbus is the type of place that makes you a college football fan. Seeing how Buckeye football runs that town makes me feel great about not only The Ohio State (I wish the athletic department would use this name in all references to the school, sounds unique and intimidating) but the sport I choose to love. That said Columbus is a little sheepish after their football team, dominant through the regular season was dominated in the BCS National Championship to Florida 41-14. A lot has to go right for the Buckeyes to return to the National Championship game, but one of those, a win over Michigan, has been par for the course as of late.

Projected Record and Bowl Result: 11-2 Lose to #3 in Fiesta Bowl

Who they’ll beat: Youngstown State (Home), Akron (Home), Washington (Road), Northwestern (Home), Minnesota (Road), Purdue (Road), Kent State (Home), Michigan State (Home), Wisconsin (Home), Illinois (Home), Michigan (Road)

Who’ll beat them: Penn State (Road), #3 (Glendale, AZ)

When they Pass: Gone are Troy Smith and “7-11”, Todd Boeckman (who is actually a year older than Troy Smith) takes over what should be a more conservative passing attack. Brian Robiskie, Brian Hartline and Ray Small are more than able to make big plays when needed however.

When they Run: If the Buckeyes are going places in 2007 Chris “Beanie” Wells is taking them there. He will have to be cured of his Freshman fumblitis but Wells is more than capable of taking the lions share of the carries and is more talented than Antonio Pittman ever was. The offensive line will also be a strength as like many things linemen just grow in Ohio.

When their Opponents Run: Vernon Gholston and James Laurinaitis lead one of the most athletic front sevens in the country. Mike Hart might think “there’s nothing special about that defense” (don’t think that’s not up on a bulletin board somewhere) but he might come around by November 18.

When their Opponents Pass: Malcolm Jenkins is among the best the Buckeyes have ever had, its shoring up the rest of the secondary which has been suspect the last few seasons that is the task for Jim Tressel and defensive coordinator Jim Heacock

When they Kick: Aaron Pettrey continues a recent streak of outstanding Buckeye kickers.

When they call Timeout: Jim Tressel and his sweater vest are royalty throughout the state of Ohio, even if he looked outclassed by Urban Meyer last January. There were other disadvantages The Ohio State had in that game besides game planning and Tressel beats Michigan which is almost as important. Tressel holds one of the most prestigious jobs in the entire sport of football and he isn’t letting go of it anytime soon.

Projected Postseason Top 25: #12 Penn State

If you’re lucky enough to have had a grandfather turned 80 you may remember he walked around with a limp, ran to the bathroom irregularly and said things that seem to have come out of nowhere. Well Joe Paterno is now 80, he sustained a broken leg, had to leave the field in the middle of the Ohio State-Penn State game to take care of some “stomach issues” and during this offseason punished his whole team for some off-field indiscretions by having them clean Beaver Stadium after home games. All of these are signs that with a talented team and a favorable schedule there won’t be many opportunities like this year to win one for JoePa.

Projected Record and Bowl Result: 11-2 Lose to #4 in Sugar Bowl

Who they’ll beat: Florida International (Home), Notre Dame (Home), Buffalo (Home), Illinois (Road), Iowa (Home), Wisconsin (Home), Indiana (Road), Ohio State (Home), Purdue (Home), Temple (Road), Michigan State (Road)

Who’ll beat them: Michigan (Road), #4 (New Orleans, LA)

When they Pass: Say what you will about Anthony Morelli’s first three seasons at Happy Valley, the senior has all the weapons he needs to make his final season the one to remember him by. Derrick Williams joins Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood as perhaps the Big Ten’s best receivers.

When they Run: Austin Scott attempts to return from season ending knee and ankle injuries, his ability to produce is critical to Morelli and this offense’s success. Four starters return on the offensive line to help this cause.

When their Opponents Run: Even with retooled defensive line, nobody’s going to get rich running on Linebacker U. Dan Connor will move to the middle to replace Paul Posluszny to make sure of that.

When their Opponents Pass: This is looking a lot better now that 5 of 7 charges against Anthony Scirrotto from an off-campus bar fight have been dropped. Justin King is a shutdown corner.

When they Kick: Kevin Kelly needs to return to his 2005 form if the Nittany Lions are going to win some inevitable close games in the Big Ten.

When they call Timeout: JoePa will be on the sidelines, in the coach’s box, wherever he wants to be for as long as he wants to be there. How long that will be only JoePa knows. He has a former head coach (OC Galen Hall) and a future head coach (DC Tom Bradley) on his staff.

The Big Ten's Worst Case Scenario

In 2007 it’s easy to picture the Big Ten having a controversy much greater than trying to get its network into Comcast homes. In this top-heavy conference it isn’t hard to imagine the scenario TP&TP predicts.

-Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State coast through relatively easy non-conference schedules.
-All three teams beat Wisconsin (home against Michigan, at the other two teams) and the rest of their Big Ten schedules
-Michigan beats Penn State in Ann Arbor on September 22
-Todd Boeckman does what Troy Smith did in Happy Valley two years before only ten times worse
-Jim Tressel does to Lloyd Carr what Jim Tressel always does to Lloyd Carr

This would create a three-way tie for the Big Ten Championship with teams with equal overall records (10-1) and a 1-1 record against the other two teams. The Big Ten would break this tie by its ridiculous tiebreaker 6e which states:

“If the three teams are tied, and all three teams have the same winning percentage of all games played in the traditional 11/12 game schedule, the most recent team representing the Conference shall be eliminated, and the two remaining teams shall revert to the two team tie procedure.”

This would mean:

-Ohio State would be eliminated because it represented the Big Ten in the BCS National Championship last year (Michigan went to the Rose Bowl as an at-large team)
-Michigan would go to the Rose Bowl over Penn State because of their win on September 22

Once again Michigan would go to the Rose Bowl after losing to Ohio State because it didn’t represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl the year before. Make sense? To me neither but its how it would play out and the controversy would embarass the conference.

You would have to believe this would restart the search for a 12th member to add to the conference with a championship game to be scheduled after.

Projected Postseason Top 25: #13 Louisville

One of the more encouraging trends in college football in 2007 is that even without a playoff system, more teams, it seems have realistic National Championship expectations going into the season. While college football does still have its dominant favorites, and we’re getting to them, 13 teams have a visible road to New Orleans and a handful more than that think they do. Louisville is the first of 13 teams I can picture in New Orleans in early 2008 playing for a National Championship. Now holes on the defensive and tough games at places they haven’t played well in the past stand in Brian Brohm and the Cardinals’ way, but Louisville and every team profiled after is a legitimate National Championship contender.

Projected Record and Bowl Result: 11-2 Beat Oregon in Sun Bowl

Who they’ll beat: Murray State (Home), Middle Tennessee (Home), Kentucky (Road), Syracuse (Home), NC State (Road), Utah (Home), Cincinnati (Road), Connecticut (Road), Pittsburgh (Home), Rutgers (Home), Oregon (El Paso, TX)

Who’ll beat them: West Virginia (Road), South Florida (Road)

When they Pass: Brian Brohm is so gifted, conspiracy theorists have Bobby Petrino tanking games just for the right to take him with the #1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft. Brohm has had shoulder, knee, and thumb injuries during his career at Louisville but if he can stay healthy he could put up Playstation-like numbers throwing to two superb receivers in junior Mario Urrutia and senior Harry Douglas. If the Cardinals passing attack sounds scary, it is.

When they Run: Sophomore Anthony Allen will have to run for touchdowns behind an entirely new right side of the offensive line, the entire left side and center return however. Fullback Brock Bolen is also capable of carrying the football.

When their Opponents Run: The loss of Amobi Okoye will be felt here, without a doubt. All-name Defensive end Peanut Whitehead returns as does Earl Heyman at tackle. Malik Jackson returns at Sam (strong side) linebacker, Preston Smith returns at the Willie (weak side).

When their Opponents Pass: Woodny Turenne, a junior college transfer could start away for a secondary that needs help and playmakers. Free Safety Latarrius Thomas is the only returnee from the nations 80th ranked passing defense.

When they Kick: Art Carmody won the Lou Groza award last year and is considered the nation’s best kicker going into this year. Corey Goettsche starts his second year as the team’s punter.

When they call Timeout: Steve Kragthorpe comes over from a successful tenure at Tulsa to take over for Bobby Petrino. While there isn’t a dropoff in coaching talent, one must worry about how long any transition could take. Defensive coordinator Mike Cassity is a future head coach.

Projected Postseason Top 25: #14 UCLA

For all but a handful of college football teams, turnover is a fact of life. Seniors graduate, Juniors leave early. Every year, almost every program has to replace proven talent with unproven talent and hope for the best out of recruits and former second teamers. UCLA is one of the few programs in the country that does not have this problem. 21 of 22 starters return on the Offense and Defense that beat rival USC last season. Forgive me if that fact doesn’t glare at me and put the Bruins high on this list for this fact alone, for in Westwood, the expectations are even higher.

Projected Record and Bowl Result: 11-2 Beat Missouri in Holiday Bowl

Who they’ll beat: Stanford (Road), BYU (Home), Utah (Road), Washington (Home), Notre Dame (Home), California (Home), Washington State (Road), Arizona (Road), Arizona State (Home), Oregon (Home), Missouri (San Diego, CA)

Who’ll beat them: Oregon State (Road), USC (Road)

When they Pass: Ben Olson is expected to return from his season-ending knee injury last year and win the starting job from Patrick Cowan who filled in adequately when Olson went down. Olson has a strong arm and is more talented but if he starts slow UCLA has an experienced backup to go to. A corps of experienced receivers give reason to believe UCLA will have one of the more exciting offenses in the nation this year.

When they Run: Runningback Chris Markey may hold the key to the Bruins season. He’ll have to run with more purpose than he did in 2006 for the Bruins to have the kind of respectable running attack that will more easily open up the offense for Olson and the receivers.

When their Opponents Run: Six of the front seven return from the 9th ranked run defense in the country.

When their Opponents Pass: It can be argued that UCLA has the best secondary in the Pac 10 also, it definitely has the most experienced. Trey Brown, Rodney Van, Chris Horton and Dennis Keyes are all Seniors.

When they Kick: The irony is the fate of all these seniors could rest on redshirt Freshman kicker Kai Forbath. Forbath is said to have range over 50 yards.

When they call Timeout: Despite the upset of USC, Karl Dorrell is a love him or hate him coach in Los Angeles. The win over USC actually may have saved his job and put a pretty front on a very mediocre 7-6 season. He has hired a new offensive coordinator (Jay Norvell) and a new defensive coordinator (Dewayne Walker) in hopes of converting the doubters


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Chase Brennan Amin

We interrupt this behind schedule countdown for some personal news.

Longtime friend of mine Paul Amin and his wife Kate birthed a baby boy Chase Brennan Amin today.

I figure this to be unintentional but his name is a combination of two of the best quarterbacks in college football in 2007.

Missouri's Chase Daniel and Hawaii's Colt Brennan

Chase was born 7 pounds 15 ounces and 20 inches long.

With decent size and height and of course that name, he could line up under center for Syracuse as early as 2025.