Or, more accurately, I foresee some free time in the next few days to resume semi-regular blogging.
What to look for in the next few weeks, at highly irregular intervals:
--the gruesome, final '07 Out of Conference Report
--my boring and not very groundbreaking, yet nonetheless correct bowl/national championship plan
--my diagnosis of the ACC's football ills and a prescription for a return to health
--absolutely no recruiting insight; I find that whole focus a tad unseemly, at least until signing day
Until then, carry on.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Final Blog Poll Ballot 2007
1 LSU
2 Southern Cal
3 Georgia
4 Missouri
5 West Virginia
6 Kansas
7 Ohio State
8 Oklahoma
9 Boston College
10 Virginia Tech
11 Texas
12 Arizona State
13 Illinois
14 Auburn
15 Michigan
16 Florida
17 Tennessee
18 Clemson
19 Wake Forest
20 Cincinnati
21 Texas Tech
22 Oregon State
23 Brigham Young
24 Hawaii
25 Oregon
Whatever. I have never been less enthused at the end of a college football season as I am now. The ACC turned out to be sucktastic, a two-loss team won the national title, every bowl of consequence was lame, and next year doesn't look much better. USC or Georgia or Oklahoma will beat the crap out of Ohio State in the title game, the ACC will look like a pile of ass again, and blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Yeah, my post-bowl funk continues.
2 Southern Cal
3 Georgia
4 Missouri
5 West Virginia
6 Kansas
7 Ohio State
8 Oklahoma
9 Boston College
10 Virginia Tech
11 Texas
12 Arizona State
13 Illinois
14 Auburn
15 Michigan
16 Florida
17 Tennessee
18 Clemson
19 Wake Forest
20 Cincinnati
21 Texas Tech
22 Oregon State
23 Brigham Young
24 Hawaii
25 Oregon
Whatever. I have never been less enthused at the end of a college football season as I am now. The ACC turned out to be sucktastic, a two-loss team won the national title, every bowl of consequence was lame, and next year doesn't look much better. USC or Georgia or Oklahoma will beat the crap out of Ohio State in the title game, the ACC will look like a pile of ass again, and blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Yeah, my post-bowl funk continues.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Uncle
To the rest of college football, we in the ACC submit to your will. We now respectfully request that you stop hurting us for a while.
And so it ends as it began. 2007 started off horrifically for the league and ended just as badly. It'll take me a few days to ponder the flotsam of the ACC bowl season before I'm ready to analyze what happened and perhaps why.
In the meantime, lets just be thankful that it's over.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
A Very Quick Orange Bowl Preview
VIRGINIA TECH (11-2) vs. KANSAS (11-1) - Jan. 3, 2008, 8pm ET (FOX)
Does the 2007 season have another shocker in store? After the Thursday Night stunner to Boston College in late October, the Hokies kicked things into another gear and rolled over the remainder of their schedule, including a rematch with BC in the ACC Championship Game. But after a month off, can Tech maintain their momentum, or will they come out clunkier than a 1987 Hyundai, much as they did in their first two games of the season against East Carolina and LSU?
With LB Vince Hall now likely out of the game due to an inexplicable injury in pregame bowl activities (something involving a jet-ski, apparently), and with Brandon Ore suspended for the first quarter, it will be up to QB Sean Glennon and the defense to set the tone early. The Jayhawks haven't been on this stage before, so it will be interesting to see if they come out and bellyflop like Hawaii and Illinois two days ago, or play like they're en fuego like West Virginia in the '06 Sugar Bowl and Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl last year.
This one is all on the coaching staffs. The Hokies are clearly more talented. Frank Beamer needs to have his troops watch last night's Fiesta Bowl on a 24-hour loop to show what can happen to teams that take their opponent lightly. Mark Mangino needs to throw in some wrinkles into his offensive scheme in order to catch the Hokie defense off guard, and he needs to throw the kitchen sink at Glennon and the underwhelming Tech OL, even if they get burned a few times.
The Hokies' track record in big games, particularly as favorites, is rather poor. They'll win, but in agonizingly close fashion.
Virginia Tech 28, Kansas 24
Does the 2007 season have another shocker in store? After the Thursday Night stunner to Boston College in late October, the Hokies kicked things into another gear and rolled over the remainder of their schedule, including a rematch with BC in the ACC Championship Game. But after a month off, can Tech maintain their momentum, or will they come out clunkier than a 1987 Hyundai, much as they did in their first two games of the season against East Carolina and LSU?
With LB Vince Hall now likely out of the game due to an inexplicable injury in pregame bowl activities (something involving a jet-ski, apparently), and with Brandon Ore suspended for the first quarter, it will be up to QB Sean Glennon and the defense to set the tone early. The Jayhawks haven't been on this stage before, so it will be interesting to see if they come out and bellyflop like Hawaii and Illinois two days ago, or play like they're en fuego like West Virginia in the '06 Sugar Bowl and Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl last year.
This one is all on the coaching staffs. The Hokies are clearly more talented. Frank Beamer needs to have his troops watch last night's Fiesta Bowl on a 24-hour loop to show what can happen to teams that take their opponent lightly. Mark Mangino needs to throw in some wrinkles into his offensive scheme in order to catch the Hokie defense off guard, and he needs to throw the kitchen sink at Glennon and the underwhelming Tech OL, even if they get burned a few times.
The Hokies' track record in big games, particularly as favorites, is rather poor. They'll win, but in agonizingly close fashion.
Virginia Tech 28, Kansas 24
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
A Very Quick Gator Bowl Preview
VIRGINIA (9-3) vs. TEXAS TECH (8-4) - Jan. 1, 2008, 1pm ET (CBS)
As you've undoubtedly read by now, the Red Raider offense is by far the most powerful the Cavaliers have faced this season...by a mile. Literally. Texas Tech gained 1,819 more yards this season than the most prolific offense the Hoos faced all year, Georgia Tech. Ponder that for a minute.
On the positive side for Virginia, Mike Leach's crew only faced one team this season that ranked in the Top 50 in total defense (Oklahoma). And, that victory over the Sooners 43 days ago was the last game the Raiders played. Tech was also stymied by a less-than-stellar Mizzou defense in October, a game in which the Tiger pass rush disrupted Red Raider QB Graham Harrell's timing and rhythm. The Cavs have a defensive line that can do much the same.
Unfortunately, UVA does not have an offense that can mount any semblance of a comeback should Tech get a comfortable lead. In summary, too much has to go wrong for the Raiders to lose this one, and too much right has to go for right Virginia to win it. A bad bowl season for the ACC looks to get a little worse, I fear.
Texas Tech 31, Virginia 23
As you've undoubtedly read by now, the Red Raider offense is by far the most powerful the Cavaliers have faced this season...by a mile. Literally. Texas Tech gained 1,819 more yards this season than the most prolific offense the Hoos faced all year, Georgia Tech. Ponder that for a minute.
On the positive side for Virginia, Mike Leach's crew only faced one team this season that ranked in the Top 50 in total defense (Oklahoma). And, that victory over the Sooners 43 days ago was the last game the Raiders played. Tech was also stymied by a less-than-stellar Mizzou defense in October, a game in which the Tiger pass rush disrupted Red Raider QB Graham Harrell's timing and rhythm. The Cavs have a defensive line that can do much the same.
Unfortunately, UVA does not have an offense that can mount any semblance of a comeback should Tech get a comfortable lead. In summary, too much has to go wrong for the Raiders to lose this one, and too much right has to go for right Virginia to win it. A bad bowl season for the ACC looks to get a little worse, I fear.
Texas Tech 31, Virginia 23
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