Big 12 Football Week Two Power Rankings: Which teams should be concerned?

Big 12 Football Week Two

Big 12 Football Week Two was very telling in many ways. For some teams, weaknesses were exposed, and for others, promise emerged.

Here’s how Big 12 teams stacked up.

10. Iowa State

Iowa State had a lot of promise headed into this season, and with good reason.  The Cyclones had one of the more impressive turnaround seasons last year. With its first game of the year cancelled due to weather, Iowa State knew they had to put everything into the Week Two road matchup against in-state rival, Iowa. Unfortunately, the Cyclones left much to be desired in all three phases of the game, and took a 13-3 loss.

Iowa State faces No. 5 Oklahoma in Ames next weekend, and have a very real possibility to start the season at 0-3 if things don’t start clicking.

9. Kansas State

Bill Snyder’s Wildcats are off to a very poor start. After winning their season opener last weekend against South Dakota, Kansas State dropped a big one against the No. 18 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs at home. It wasn’t just a loss, however, it was a 31-10 route, and K-State only amassed 213 total yards of offense despite having possession for about half the game. As if those statistics weren’t bad enough, K-State is ranked 120th in the nation in passing yards after Week Two.

With UTSA on the schedule this weekend, the Wildcats have time to turn this around, but offensively, there’s a lot to be desired.

8. Kansas

With its 31-7 win over Central Michigan over the weekend, Kansas has finally snapped its 46-game road losing streak, and the Big 12 couldn’t be prouder for the Jayhawks. Kansas put up 361 total yards of offense, and capitalized on six CMU turnovers to go 1-1 before hosting Rutgers on Saturday.

Rutgers hasn’t played well this season, and the odds predictors already have the scales tilting in the Jayhawks’ favor. Could Kansas be 2-1 before the start of conference play? It’s certainly likely, and believe David Beaty’s team will have momentum in their favor this week.

7. Texas

Following Texas’ loss at Maryland, they needed a win last weekend to build momentum headed into Week Three against the USC Trojans. While the Longhorns took the W against Tulsa, it wasn’t pretty, and it raised more question marks than it answered.

Tulsa missed a few field goals which could have flipped the script, and second-half adjustments appeared to move Texas backwards. Those aren’t the halftime adjustments you need to be making.

Quarterbacking issues have been highlighted with Sam Ehlinger over the past two weeks, and while interceptions haven’t been an issue, his speed and inability to extend plays on the ground have been. It’s tough to win in the Big 12 if quarterbacks can’t extend plays, and if Texas is going to be truly competitive against video game numbers, they have to work through that.

6. Baylor

Baylor is a team that has been in rebuilding mode under head coach Matt Rhule, and in its 2-0 start to open the season, you can see noticeable changes in how receptive players have been to Rhule’s coaching style. What’s more, quarterback Charlie Brewer threw for 328 yards against UTSA for three touchdowns. If that doesn’t scream “Big 12 cannon,” I don’t know what does.

Baylor had seven penalties for 70 yards, which is something they need to clean up headed into conference play, and of its 492 total yards of offense, only 92 yards were on the ground. With Big 12 defenses catching up to the passing game, that could also present an issue down the road.

5. Texas Tech

Texas Tech pitched a 77-0 shutout against Lamar on Saturday for the first time since 2006, which was the most points Tech’s hung on an opponent since 2005. Moreover, while Texas Tech ended their season opener win streak last week, Tech won their 19th consecutive home opener. To say Texas Tech rebounded from the loss against Ole Miss would be an understatement, and while Saturday’s win was against a team Tech should have handled easily, it not only showed the country what true freshman quarterback Alan Bowman was capable of, it also gave Tech an opportunity to let all quarterbacks see playing time, which impressed both in the air, and on the ground.

The Red Raiders were impressive in all three phases, and continue its turnover streak, but one area of concern is in penalties. Granted, there were plenty of fresh bodies who were rotating in for the first time, but Texas Tech had 14 penalties for 139 yards. That will not fly against a team like Houston this week, and throughout Big 12 play.

4. West Virginia

West Virginia has looked good against Tennessee and Youngstown State to start the season, but against teams in a rebuild (regardless of whether they’re in the SEC or not), and an FCS team, you’d expect more defense from a team trying to prop its quarterback up for the Heisman.

The Mountaineers racked up an impressive 625 yards of offense, and wide receiver Gary Jennings managed to haul in three touchdowns off just six catches bringing his yards-per-catch to an impressive 16.2 yards. This, coming off an offseason involving speculation as to how productive he’d be, or how much he’d contribute to the Grier Show. It’s safe to say West Virginia is positioning itself to have a nice showing against NC State on Saturday, but the Wolfpack has had a 2-0 start with double-digit victories, too, so that should be an interesting matchup.

3. Oklahoma State

South Alabama tried to limit Oklahoma State on the ground last weekend  They didn’t have much success, as they allowed four rushing touchdowns to the Cowboys’ already potent quarterback Taylor Cornelius’ passing game. Cornelius finished the day throwing for 428 yards which moved the football quite well, but one thing Oklahoma State will have to watch for in their young quarterback are turnovers. As previously stated, Big 12 teams are figuring out how to stop passing attacks, and if given the opportunity to snag two interceptions per game, opponents will, and have a much higher likelihood of returning them for a score.

The Cowboys take on No. 17 Boise State at home this week, and the two teams seem fairly even in terms of statistic this season. While Boise State is a Group of Five school, expect for the Broncos to treat this game as if it were the Rose Bowl.

2. TCU

TCU looked good on defense and on the ground.  In the air, quarterback Shawn Robinson left a lot to be desired.  He only passed for 146 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the H0rned Frogs’ 42-12 victory over SMU.

Head coach Gary Patterson has a very short window to fix TCU’s quarterbacking issues, as TCU takes on No. 4 Ohio State in Prime Time on Saturday.

1. Oklahoma

Oklahoma remains the team to beat in the Big 12, but last weekend’s 49-21 win over UCLA wasn’t without a major hit. Top running back Rodney Anderson sustained a knee injury during the game that will sideline him for the rest of the season. Anderson has had three season-ending injuries in the last four years. so that’s a tough situation all around.

Thankfully for the Sooners, the talent up and down is abundant, and human highlight reel, quarterback Kyler Murray has people saying “Baker who?”

The Sooners face Iowa State this week. With the way the Cyclones have been playing, it could be a long afternoon of continued OU dominance.

 

Want More? Check out: Patrick Mahomes: Why The New Chiefs Quarterback Will Thrive In The NFL

Big 12 Football Week Two Rankings and Initial Thoughts

big 12

The Big 12 Conference is going to be an interesting one to follow this season, and Week One was a clear indicator of that.

Big 12 Football certainly had its share of weird in Week One. From a cancelled game due to weather, to an offensive monster in Kyler Murray, and everything in between, the first week of play for Big 12 teams was all the drama fans have grown used to expect. Here’s how each team stacked up.

10. Kansas

Kansas dropped its season opener against Nicholls State–at home. It was expected to be the most winnable game on the Jayhawks’ schedule, but instead, Colonels’ running back Chase Fourcade punched in a touchdown from four yards out in overtime.

Can head coach David Beaty make it through the season? Unfortunately, that’s the only question anyone can draw from this past weekend.

9. Iowa State

Iowa State was forced to cancel its season opener against South Dakota State this weekend due to inclement weather. And while the Cyclones might be better than we think this season, without game film from Week One, it’s tough to discuss Power Rankings.

The bigger issue here is that weather cancellations work against teams like Iowa State, which would have likely pulled off a win, and been one game closer to the six win threshold teams need to qualify for the postseason. This week’s opponent, Iowa,  steamrolled Northern Illinois last weekend, so unless the Cyclones want to avoid a 0-1-1 record on the season, they’ll have to regroup and get in a rhythm early.

8. Texas

The No. 23 ranked Texas Longhorns looked to exact revenge last weekend against Maryland, but are starting the season at 0-1 instead. As if that’s not bad enough, Texas fell out of the rankings this week, and received zero votes in the recent AP Top 25 poll.

Much of the focus over the last few weeks was on the unfortunate incident involving Maryland offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who died of an apparent heatstroke during Fall Camp. With the personnel issues that Maryland faced, it should have been easier for Texas to dial in and win. Fortunately for the Longhorns, Tulsa is headed to Austin this weekend, but Twitter would indicate that fans seem more interested in the tailgating than the actual game.

7. Kansas State

Thanks to two late touchdowns, Kansas State barely squeaked out a win against South Dakota State last weekend. While first-game jitters are to be expected, K-State has far too much returning talent not to use FCS opponents as opportunities to put on clinics and flex talents.

The Wildcats face a tough challenge this weekend against Mississippi State, which crushed Stephen F. Austin last weekend, 63-6. With win probabilities favoring the Bulldogs by close to 80 percent, this could be a long afternoon for Bill Snyder.

6. Baylor

Baylor finally put together a game they could be proud of in a monumental 55-27 win over Abilene Christian last Saturday. While the stage was fairly intimidating for ACU, Baylor used its opponent to open the playbook and and address personnel issues with ample time before conference play begins.

Baylor plays UTSA on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and hopes to keep the wins trending upwards, especially considering the Bears have only won two out of the last five games played.

5. Texas Tech

Texas Tech might have snapped its 16-year win streak in season openers, but it showed some flashes against an Ole Miss team that has the talent necessary to compete for the division this season.

Not only are the Red Raiders starting at square one with a new quarterback and receiving corps, Tech’s starter, McLane Carter sustained a high ankle sprain and had to be taken out of the game just as receivers and Carter started to find a stride. It didn’t stop T.J. Vasher’s OBJ-style catch from earning top spot on the SCTop10, so that’s reassuring headed into a game against Lamar this Saturday that should tell fans more about what this team can do at home, where Tech has a favorable schedule this season.

4. TCU

TCU had an easy 55-7 win over Southern last weekend, and while that was expected, quarterback Shawn Robinson emerged as a player who could tilt TCU into a serious competitor for the Big 12 Championship. With 499 total yards of offense, and three turnovers on the defense, it really was a balanced showing for the Horned Frogs, who look to look to continue their luck on Friday against SMU–a game TCU is also favored to win.

3. Oklahoma State

Like several teams in the Big 12, Oklahoma State is testing the waters with a new quarterback this season, and against Missouri State last weekend, Pokes’ senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius threw for 295 yards, five touchdowns, and just one interception. If OSU can keep this up throughout the next two weeks against South Alabama and Boise State, their offense could be a headache for defenses once conference play begins.

2. West Virginia

West Virginia handed it to Tennessee to open the season last weekend, but more importantly, quarterback Will Grier’s Heisman campaign looked to be in mid-season form. Throwing for 429 yards and five touchdowns–including a 59 yard TD pass, and a 33 yard TD pass–Grier stretched the field and was able to get many of the Mountaineers’ receivers some reps, which will come in handy if depth becomes an issue later in the season.

Look for West Virginia to keep flexing against Youngstown State this weekend.

1. Oklahoma

Oklahoma really didn’t miss a step when quarterback Kyler Murray replaced current Heisman winner Baker Mayfield. Against Lane Kiffin’s FAU Owls, the Sooners put up 650 total yards of offense, and averaged 14.5 yards-per-pass. Where Oklahoma could get into trouble this season are in penalties. Oklahoma had a total of six penalties for 70 yards, and considering the offensive talent in the Big 12 this season, it would be beneficial for head coach Lincoln Riley to address discipline at UCLA on Saturday.

Missed Week One? Click here.

Big 12 Football Preseason Rankings: Which team will have the best start?

Big 12

Big 12 Football is an interesting beast, but non-conference matchups should provide a solid glimpse as to where teams could perform throughout the season.

In the world of Big 12 Football, you have a team on one hand that just can’t seem to find its rhythm regardless of athletic dominance in other sports, and on the opposite side of the spectrum, you have teams that are used to competing for the conference title. In the middle, are a stable of teams that just can’t break into the top of the conference, and it’s leaving a lot of room for discussion on the coaching carousel grab and dump we see every offseason.

With two coaches in the conversation for the hot seat, and several programs trying to plug in specialists to take over for dynamic playmakers, the conference really comes down to a few metrics this season. But for all 10 teams, those metrics are going to be particularly difficult to overcome, as several of the top production teams are starting new quarterbacks.

10. Kansas

Kansas faces an interesting situation this weekend against Nicholls State, which ranks No. 17 in the FCS preseason poll. The Colonels return the majority of its playmakers from last season, and has earned notoriety for pinning FBS teams against the wire, as was the case with Texas A&M last season, and Georgia in 2016.

For David Beaty’s Jayhawks, this should be intimidating, especially considering that Kansas’ only won one game last season. With the majority of Kansas blogs expressing more interest in discussing Beaty’s replacement in 2019, it could be a long season.

9. Baylor

Baylor is led by sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer, and has a stable of receivers that could have a break out season under second-year head coach Matt Rhule. The defensive side of the ball, however, is kind of a wild card. The Baylor defense ranked 111 nationally last season in total defense, and few playmakers emerged. While the Bears could get back to bowl contention this season, it might have to rely heavily on one side of the ball for that to happen.

As for Week 1, Baylor faces Abilene Christian in Waco, and already appears to hold an advantage, as ACU seems slightly enamored at the size of the atmosphere they’re entering on Saturday. While stadium capacity is a significant adjustment, ACU’s biggest obstacle against Baylor will be the speed of the Big 12, which is notorious for scoring fast and frequently. If Brewer gets in a rhythm early, perhaps defensive deficiencies won’t matter.

8. Texas

Is Texas back? Who knows, but that’s been the question for over a decade now, and yet the Longhorns continue to break into preseason Top 25 polls with little merit, aside from brand recognition. Ask most true Texas fans that, and they’ll agree.

The No. 23 ranked Texas Longhorns face a Maryland team that’s been embroiled in unfortunate incidents and storylines this Summer. With key members of the Terrapins’ staff (including the strength and conditioning coach) resigning or being investigated throughout Fall Camp, it makes you wonder if Maryland will be organized on Saturday. This could be advantageous to the Longhorns, which have two quarterbacks in Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger, compared to Maryland, which hasn’t quite figured that out.

Herman is looking for a revenge game, and if Texas wins, they should move up. But all things considered with Maryland right now, let’s keep the ‘Texas is back” conversation in the bag for a few more weeks.

7. Iowa State

Iowa State has been a fun team to watch in recent years, and 2017 set the bar incredibly high for the Cyclones. With the NCAA granting an extra year of eligibility to quarterback Kyle Kempt, the offense shouldn’t have skipped a beat.

Defensive coordinator Jon Heacock has done an exceptional job figuring out Big 12 offenses, and might have found a way to flatten production–a feat few teams have been able to accomplish. With confidence higher than ever for the Cyclones, it’s in the best possible position to make a serious run for the conference title.

Unfortunately, head coach Matt Campbell had to suspend four freshmen last week for poor conduct, but that shouldn’t impact depth. As for Iowa State’s placement in this preseason ranking, it’s difficult to see where South Dakota State at home helps to make the case for mind-blowing metrics early on. SDSU finished last season at 11-3, losing in the semifinal round of the FCS Championship. While that’s impressive, it’s also a reminder that in order to truly measure talent, strength of scheduling among Power 5 conferences should be the standard. (Looking at you, SEC…)

6. Texas Tech

Texas Tech returns 10 of 11 starters on the defensive side of the ball, and has plenty of depth under fourth year defensive coordinator David Gibbs. While Texas Tech’s biggest issues last season were on special teams, first-year special teams coordinator Adam Scheier brings a lot of talent which will hopefully fix the kicking issues people suspect took the wind out of Tech’s momentum on several winnable games last season.

While Kliff Kingsbury’s notoriety as the “QB Whisperer” will perhaps, be tested the most this season, quarterbacks and receivers don’t step foot in Lubbock without knowing what’s expected of them, and in his sixth year as head coach, Kingsbury certainly knows which prospects will work in his system.

Tech opens the season at Reliant Stadium in Houston against Ole Miss on Saturday–a team that is tested and has a stout offense. This is a weird juxtaposition because it’s usually Tech’s offense that makes headlines, but this time, its defense appears to be the backbone while Tech figures out the QB situation. Tech certainly gets points for scheduling a dynamic SEC team, but Kingsbury is 1-1 against the SEC, and last season, Tech started a perfect 3-0. If Tech can pull off the W this Saturday, many of the questions about Texas Tech this season should be answered.

For more on Texas Tech, click here.

5. Kansas State

Kansas State signed head coach Bill Snyder to an extension this summer, which gave the Wildcats confidence in leadership–a vital recruiting tool considering how shaky college athletics can be. With calm waters, it’s allowed K-State to focus on things that mattered, like developing the QB tandem in Skylar Thompson and Alex Delton, and fine-tuning its offensive line, which is slated to be the best in the conference, next to Texas Tech.

K-State faces another FCS team to open the season, in the South Dakota Coyotes, which finished at 8-5 overall last season. It’s advantageous for FCS teams to play Power 5 schools for several reasons, including money and exposure, but considering the contention to make it to the Big 12 Football Championship, teams like K-State should strive to schedule as many tough Power 5 teams as possible.

I anticipate Snyder will use this game to work kinks out, but so far, many of these Big 12 Preseason betting lines have Big 12 teams poised for some serious blowouts.

4. Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State opens its season against the Missouri State Bears, which only won three of its last five games last season. Another FCS opponent, and another anticipated blowout should give Cowboys’ head coach Mike Gundy plenty of time to figure out his quarterback situation, with the departure of Mason Rudolph to the NFL.

While Oklahoma State has plenty of talent at specialty positions like running back and receiver, the explosiveness and depth of the offense this season rides on whether a quarterback emerges who can truly command the team. If Rudolph’s successor emerges, anything is possible this season.

3. West Virginia

Quarterback Will Grier is the only quarterback in the entire Big 12 Conference that had a Heisman campaign launched in the Summer. That’s kind of crazy considering just how many playmakers have emerged in the conference as a whole throughout the last 4-5 seasons. You have to believe that had coach Dana Holgorsen is riding that momentum, as West Virginia also has Biletnikoff Award finalist David Sills returning at wide receiver, as well as Gary Jennings.

The offensive line could be another story, but with WVU opening the season in Charlotte, N.C. against Tennessee, the Mountaineers won’t have an FCS dress rehearsal as an advantage. Considering how long the Tennessee coaching search lasted in the offseason, it could work to the Mountaineers’ advantage, but the win probability dial is more neutral, especially considering this game isn’t in Morgantown.

2. TCU

The Horned Frogs could emerge as a team to beat this season. Then again, when years of player and talent development come together the way they have for TCU in recent years, it makes you wonder when offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie will leave for a head coaching job, or perhaps, if head coach Gary Patterson leaves for the NFL.

In any event, TCU is stacked this season. Next to Texas Tech, TCU is the only program in the conference that has people talking defense in a typically formidable offensive league. Returning, are the majority of its defensive line, including senior defensive end  Ben Bonagu, who earned the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award last year.

Like many teams in the conference this season, TCU’s biggest red flags come in the form of untested quarterbacks, and an offensive line that hasn’t been proven. Thankfully for the Horned Frogs, they start the season against the SWAC’s Southern Jaguars, which finished at 7-5 last season. This should give Patterson’s team plenty of plays to shuffle the OL, and try to find that QB-receiver synergy.

1. Oklahoma

Baker Mayfield is now with the Browns, but it didn’t take very long for his backup, Kyler Murray to earn his spot leading the Sooners’ offense. Despite a failed run to the National Championship last season, head coach Lincoln Riley did what few first-year head coaches can, but he did so with a roster and coaching staff that was championship-caliber. With the same mechanisms in place for 2018, this season should be no different, regardless of position switch ups.

Oklahoma starts its season against Lane Kiffin’s FAU, who already said, “These are the guys you want to play the least.” While FAU finished the 2017 season at 11-3 with some monster numbers offensively, Kiffin might not want to play teams like Oklahoma, but it certainly provides both teams with fairly substantial talent to square up against.

The level of difficulty is certainly there, but the scoring potential could also provide Big 12 opponents a solid litmus test as to where the Sooners’ defense is this season.

 

 

 

 

Texas Tech Football fans weigh in on QB battle

Texas Tech Football

Texas Tech Football is notorious for offensive weapons, but the quarterback battle throughout fall camp is presenting some telling storylines.

From Rodney Allison to Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech Football has produced some notoriously potent quarterbacks in program history. The level of talent that’s filtered through the position at Texas Tech has also created a restless fanbase, which expects its gunslingers to be able to extend plays on the ground, and thread needles like Aaron Rodgers.

In 2017, Texas Tech Football was left with a substantial void due to the early departure of Mahomes to the NFL. That left Nic Shimonek as the anticipated starter, and just as it seemed he was finding his stride, fans grew restless because the void Mahomes left was just too substantial. Two seasons removed from the end of the Mahomes Era, and Red Raider quarterbacks are in an advantageous situation, as it presents the guys competing with an opportunity to carve their own legacies without the comparisons and criticisms Mahomes’ backups faced.

Heading into the offseason last season, the narrative was that if Jett Duffey didn’t start at quarterback, head coach Kliff Kingsbury was done at Texas Tech.

Since finishing an impressive senior season at Mansfield High School with over 4,000 yards of total offense and 48 touchdowns, Duffey has had to work his way back into the fold at Tech. Many expected Duffey to emerge past Shimonek to compete for the QB2 spot in 2016, but an investigation sidelined him through 2017 season, where he burned his redshirt year. This put McLane Carter in a spot to earn reps with the first-team offense, and in Tech’s victory over Texas last season, Carter was able to demonstrate his value in a trial by fire situation that carried confidence well into Spring Ball.

In the Spring Game back in April, Carter finished 11-of-19 overall for 139 yards, followed by Duffey, who threw 11-of-15 for 89 yards, and Alan Bowman, who finished 7-of-12 for 76 yards.

While passes and receptions were on-par between all three quarterbacks, rumor has it, Carter has been spending a lot of time with the first-team offense. Although, Coach Kingsbury has been adamant since Media Days that all quarterbacks will receive equal time vying for the QB1 spot, brief snapshots could carry hidden meanings.

But Kingsbury isn’t worried about the quarterback spot, and nor should he be.

“Just because they’re young or inexperienced, to me, you never know how they’re going to respond,” Kingsbury said. “I wouldn’t say [I’m] nervous. I think excited to not really know who it is, and be able to work with those guys and try to have one guy really step up.”

While practices have been limited to a few minutes for media, and scrimmages have been limited to short clips, it’s growing apparent that the progression needle is moving towards one quarterback in particular–McLane Carter.

What’s more, Texas Tech fans seem to believe Carter is the front-runner, too. Texas Tech Football fans were polled on Monday, and 82 percent of the 150 votes came in for McLane Carter, with Alan Bowman and Jett Duffey receiving nine percent of votes each.

Jett Duffey is a dual-threat quarterback who was billed to become Patrick Mahomes reincarnated, but unfortunately, the biggest issue raised regarding Duffy has been in his mechanics.

According to the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal, first-year c0-offensive coordinator Kevin Johns discussed what the requirements were to fill the QB1 spot, “Manage the offense. Take care of the football. Get us in the right play. Move the offense down the field. Be smart on third down. Things like that.” Said Johns, who also elaborated that Shimonek’s successor had to “Play smart. We don’t need anyone to necessarily win the game, but they can’t lose the game.”

While Duffey’s reps in front of media have been limited, his interceptions in practices have raised some questions, increasing the belief that experience will win out when Kingsbury announces who will start against Ole Miss on Sept. 1 at NRG Stadium.

As Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher said on an SEC preview show, “The team will tell you [who your quarterback is].”  Coach Kingsbury is looking for a player who’s reactionary; a player who leads in every category, and moreover, a player who encourages progress and productivity by every player on the team–including quarterbacks.

And as Texas Tech Football fans have experienced in the past, backups are always one play away from reopening the doors on the competition.

 

 

 

Schedules Make it Easy For the SEC to Make the College Football Playoff

College Football Playoffs Schedule Scam

Schedules are the biggest scam in college football. The College Football Playoff Ponzi scheme, and the SEC is Bernie Madoff, same as the BCS was. All the Power 5 conferences do the work, but the SEC collects the rewards. The SEC (Bama in particular) deserves credit for winning the tournament, but often as a whole conference is severely overrated. When the CFB Playoff was formed we were told teams would be ranked based upon schedule quality and quality of wins over being undefeated. This has not been true. The curtain has to be lifted so fans can watch the season with open eyes. Isn’t it time that fans get the games we want to see and the undeniable four best teams in the playoff games? We are all being had by ridiculous schedules that manipulate who makes it to the playoff. Teams only get 12 guaranteed games per season. So why on earth should teams be rewarded for playing 3 non-competitive non-conference games per year?? Nobody really wants to pay to leave games at halftime. In 2018, Alabama and Georgia are were top 5 teams but were in the top 10 for easiest non-conference schedules. As fans, we spend our time, hard earned money, and devote our Fall lives to college football. We should we never waste an entire Saturday watching bad games!

College Football Committee Can’t Do Its Job Properly

The notion that the College Football Playoff Committee can accurately and fairly decipher who the top four teams in the country are is outrageous. How can they, when these schedules give us so few quality common opponents between conferences? This is the committee’s fault though. We will NEVER see schedules get better until the committee punishes teams that don’t win their conference or play competitive non-conference games. As a college football fan, you should absolutely be frustrated with the quality of the games we get. I’m assuming that all of you are like me and love college football and enjoy watching good games and debating other fans. If that’s the case, there is no way to be ok with a team that didn’t win their conference and played a bad non-conference schedule to be in the top 4.

The committee has essentially said that it is acceptable to lose your conference, play eight conference games while playing three non-power 5 teams, including an FCS team and get into the playoffs. Do not give me the “everybody does it” line. Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Notre Dame, USC, Miami, Cal, and others managed to schedule at least 2 power five non-conference games. That means everyone else can do it as well.

I’ve long said that college football schedules are consistently manipulated by the SEC and ACC, who have an advantage. Pac-12, Big XII, and Big 10 teams have a significantly smaller margin for error when trying to compete for championships. Let me explain how this works by using this table:

College Football Playoffs Ponzi Scheme

You can clearly see why the ACC and SEC have a win-loss advantage. Notice that there is a seven-loss difference between the ACC/SEC, and Big 10 which all have 14 teams. Seven more losses mean an additional game for each team in the BIG 10 against a team that could beat you. Imagine how easy the path to the championship would be if Ohio State could sub out that Iowa game for Mercer. Now, let’s compare those numbers to the Pac-12, which has 12 teams and 54 total conference losses. That is only two losses less than the ACC and SEC, despite having two more teams.

If that was too complicated, an easier way to explain all this is by looking at the average number of losses per team in each conference. SEC and ACC teams will lose a half-game less than all other conferences.

In theory, all this would not be a big deal if the conferences made up for that conference game with a competitive non-conference game. However, in most cases that is NOT what happens.

One of the biggest conversations when comparing teams is comparing how many losses each team has. However, all wins are not created equal. I’ve heard the argument that the Big XII, Big 10, and Pac-12 “play themselves out” of the playoffs by losing too much in-conference. The reality is playing 8 conference games instead of 9 conference games creates a systematic advantage for the SEC and ACC.

Now that we are all on the same page regarding wins and losses, I’ll explain the manipulation of the committee rankings. The current formula to manipulate your way into the playoffs is: play eight conference games, one mandated power 5 team, two non-competitive FBS games, and 1 FCS team. That FCS game often presents itself in November. It is commonly referred to as a “November Cupcake,” which is a glorified bye week against teams like Mercer, Citadel, or Wofford. The “November Cupcake” is an important component for highly regarded SEC teams to move up in the playoffs because of timing. When other conferences have ranked matchups in November, SEC teams play “November Cupcakes.” This gives them an opportunity to move up the rankings without playing a competitive game, and one of the teams from the other conference has to lose. This is the formula how you consistently end up with top 10 matchups amongst SEC teams late in the season, which makes the conference appear stronger.

Even Nick Saban (Alabama’s Head Coach) agrees with me when asked about college schedules and teams being deserving of playoff bids:

“I think it’s subjective to some degree because we don’t all play each other. I could get into my theory on this. I personally want to play all Power 5 conference teams every week. I know people say we played Mercer College and we couldn’t get a game with anybody else. All right so…  If we all had to play twelve teams from the Power 5 conferences, we would have a better feel for which conferences were the strongest and there would be more crossover play… and maybe even play more conference games.  Fans would like it better. You guys [the media] would like it better. You’d have a better inventory to show people. We wouldn’t have these games that people don’t really want to come to, players don’t really want to play in. And I think you’d have a better idea of who the best conferences and the best teams were.”

-Nick Saban on “College Football Playoff Selection Show” (December 3, 2017)

The Solution

  1. Change the college football playoffs to eight teams.
  2. Take the five power five champions and three at-large teams.
  3. One of the at-large teams has to be the highest ranked non-power 5 team.

There are two solutions to solve the scheduling imbalance and increase the greatness of college football for fans:

  1. 9 conference games, two power 5 games, and one FBS non-power 5 game to continue to give money to the little guys.
  2. 8 conference games, two power 5 games, one FBS non-power 5 game, and one FCS game to continue to give money to the little guys.

Both of these options would give the fans a much better game experience and generate more revenue for athletic departments. Teams would be more encouraged to schedule home and home non-conference games against good teams. This would make selling season tickets much easier

This would also alleviate a lot of the nonsense discussion about resumes and strength of conferences when choosing playoff teams. The committee would have more data because teams would have played more common opponents. My plan would cause television ratings and revenue increases as well. That’s more money for the NCAA, coaches, sponsors, and athletic departments to keep out of the hands of the players. And isn’t that the #1 goal of college football?

Am I Wrighster or am I wrong?

College Football: Big XII Coaching Power Rankings 2018

Lincoln Riley

Who is #1 in the Big XII Coaching Power Rankings?

Welcome to the Big XII, where offense thrives, and defenses die. If you like points, this is the conference for you. If you like defense, you might as well turn off the game because it’s rarely played with the exception of TCU. Because of this, it can be hard to determine how the Big XII stacks up against other conferences like the Big 10, Pac-12, ACC and SEC if one side of the ball is, for the most part, neglected. However, the top of the conference is loaded with teams like Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and TCU who regularly compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

ICYMI:

Pac-12 Coaching Power Rankings

Big Ten Coaching Power Rankings

Can Lincoln Riley take the Sooners to its third playoff trip? Can Gary Patterson and Mike Gundy lead their teams to the promised land? Let’s take a look at the coaching power rankings for the Big XII.

10. Kansas – David Beaty

Without a doubt, the Big XII program that believes in their coach the most is Kansas. Am I crazy? No, and here’s why. Name one coach in America that can go 0-12 and 2-10 in back-to-back seasons and still earn a contract extension. I’ll name that coach for you. It’s David Beaty. All the credit in the world to this guy for keeping his job despite having a record of 3-33 (!!!) in three years. You can’t help but root for Coach Beaty. The only way to go is up so best of luck to Coach Beaty. Rock chalk!

9. Baylor – Matt Rhule

Matt Rhule is a brave man for taking the Baylor job. He inherited a toxic situation at the university and surrounding the football team in the wake of the allegations under Art Briles tenure as head coach. While Rhule deserves a long leash, he likely won’t get one. The Rhule won 10 games at Temple twice, which is remarkable in itself. The Baylor Bears fan base will be looking for that same success. They are accustomed to 10+ win seasons and won’t settle for excuses. Rhule must drastically improve on his 1-11 record in Waco. Otherwise, his seat temperature will go from cool to inferno very quickly.

8. Texas Tech – Kliff Kingsbury

Kliff Kingsbury’s tenure at Texas Tech can be described with one word: disappointing. He is 30-33 overall, and 6-12 in the Big XII over the last two seasons. But why hasn’t this worked? Kingsbury knows how to develop quarterbacks cc: Case Keenum, Baker Mayfield, Patrick Mahomes. The program loves Kingsbury because he was a legendary quarterback for the Red Raiders. Texas Tech lights up the scoreboard every week. Why is this not working again? Oh, that’s right. Texas Tech is allergic to defense. Two years ago, Kingsbury’s Red Raiders allowed a mind-blowing 554.3 yards per game, which was easily last in the Big XII. However, the defense made some strides last year, and “only” gave up 443 yards per game. The good news is will most of their starters for the upcoming season. If they can improve on the defensive side, even more, Texas Tech will be a dark horse to make the conference title game.

7. Iowa State – Matt Campbell

Iowa State, enjoy Matt Campbell for now because the NFL and college football bluebloods will be knocking on his door soon. That’s how coveted Campbell will be. In two years in Ames, Ames has turned Iowa State into a highly respected team in the Big XII. There are no more guaranteed wins when teams see Iowa State on the schedule. Last season Campbell led the Cyclones to 8 wins, the program’s highest win total since 2000. If he keeps the momentum growing from last year, watch out. Iowa State should be fighting in the top half of the conference all year.

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Congratulations Fans and College Football Committee: Ratings are… DOWN!

 
I wrote an article about a week ago about how the College Football Playoff committee set the game back 10 years by putting Alabama in the top four. Now, there is, even more proof to support my argument. College Football Ratings are down. As a fan and analyst, the answer why is crystal clear: Schedules. There are less and less competitive non-conference games every year. NFL ratings are already suffering from a competition problem (in addition to other important issues). The NCAA and conference leaders need to fix this problem before college football heads down that same path. Here’s where the networks finished for average viewership for this year’s CFB regular season:
CBS: 4.951 million viewers, down 10% from 5.489 million in 2016.
ABC: 4.203 million, down 18% from 5.097 million.
Fox: 3.625 million, up 23% from 2.951 million.
NBC: 2.742, down 3% from 2.814 million.
ESPN: 2.155 million, down 6% from 2.300 million.
FS1: 819,000, up 4% from 743,000.
(Source: Per Austin Karp Sports Illustrated)
Every network saw a decline in viewership except Fox and FS1. Fox bought the rights to the Big 10 network and swapped out viewers from ESPN’s family of networks. The bottom line is that fans are more frequently tuning out of not showing up to see their team get 2-3 free wins per season. They want to see good opponents showing up to the stadium so they get their monies worth. My wife and I have UCLA season tickets, yet every year we debate renewing them depending what the home schedule is. I know there are many people like me. These programs ask you to spend your hard earned money on sweatshirts, swag, and other merchandise, but most won’t schedule more than one good non-conference game. Nobody wants to see “insert favorite team” play Mercer, Citadel, Northern Colorado, or Southern Utah.
 
If we are all college football fans, why aren’t more people banging on the table demanding change like me? The game is changing for the worse and the playoff committee and analysts just sit idly by and pass this trash on to fans like it’s good football. Teams who play a weak non-conference schedule are rewarded with high rankings, and spots in the playoffs despite untenable schedules. There are only 13 Saturdays of regular season college football. No weekend should feature a mediocre schedule of games! What is it going to take to get more non-conference matchups like USC vs Miami, Auburn vs Oregon, or TCU vs Ohio State in the regular season?
 
Many people applaud Alabama for scheduling their annual neutral site game to open up the season. However, I’d argue that those games have hurt college football. Where have the days gone where teams have the balls to schedule a home-and-home series with another Power 5 opponent. Alabama hasn’t played a non-conference away game since Penn State in 2011. Here comes the “Nick Saban said Bama scheduled Mercer because no one else would play them” line. You really believe that USC, Penn State, or Wisconsin wouldn’t have rather scheduled a home-and-home series against Alabama instead of a neutral cite game? This is not an indictment exclusively on the Crimson Tide.
 
Think about this: Before their 2017 neutral site game against Michigan, Florida hadn’t traveled outside of the state of Florida for a non-conference game since 1991.
 
College football ratings will continue to fall as long as nothing changes. The question is, will the powers that be ignore this problem staring them in the face, or will they take decisive and immediate action to rectify the problem? It would be extremely simple for all Power 5 conferences to play nine conference games, two Power 5 non-conference games, and one game to give the little guys some money. This would fix the scheduling disparity between conferences, and provide fans with more inter-conference matchups to be interested in. If you go down the list of the top twenty-five most watched games of 2017, all of the games are either conference matchups or power 5 non-conference games.
 
Many people would argue that this schedule nonsense has been going on forever, it’s just the way of the college football world. I’d argue that the landscape of sports is changing right before our eyes. Every year, people get more and more options for entertainment, and mediums to consume them. Every sport now has to earn their viewers on an annual basis. The days of people just watching any old game just because it is on are over. Ratings will continue to decline as long as these horrible scheduling practices stay in place. These pitiful scheduling practices will remain in place until teams are penalized and miss the college football playoffs.
 

There is a foreseeable downside to more competitive schedules for Power 5 teams that I will acknowledge. There will be less 8, 9, and 10 win seasons for fringe teams. That means more of you will be demanding your coaches gets fired. Pick your poison college football fans. Do you want a better slate of games all season? Or do you want your team to have a chance to go undefeated?

College Football Playoffs: The Bullshit Edition

The College Football Playoffs teams were announced this morning and the Top 4 are:
1. Clemson
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Alabama
As we see there is one ACC team (Clemson), one Big XII team (Oklahoma), and two SEC teams (Georgia, Alabama). This leaves the Pac-12 and Big 10 completely out of the playoffs. The ACC and SEC have a systematic advantage in the College Football Playoffs and we the fans are getting screwed. College Football Playoff Committee screwed up putting Alabama in the top 4. They’ve set college football back at least 10 years.
We will NEVER see schedules get better until the committee punishes teams that don’t win their conference and don’t play good non-conference games. As a college football fan, you should absolutely be disgusted. I’m assuming that all of you are like me and love college football and enjoy watching good games and debating other fans. If that’s the case, there is no way you should be ok with a team that didn’t win their conference and played a bad non-conference schedule to be in the top 4.
The committee has essentially said that it is acceptable to lose your conference, play eight conference games while playing three non-power 5 teams, including an FCS team and get into the playoffs. Do not give me the “everybody does it” line. Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Notre Dame, USC, Miami, Cal, and others managed to schedule at least 2 power five non-conference games.
If you have a weak schedule, you should at the very least have to win your conference to get in the top four. If you’re as good as everybody “thinks” you are, then you should have won your conference! However, the committee clearly doesn’t value those things as highly as they should. This is not a diss to Alabama, but a diss to the broken system of college football. The fans continuously get screwed and will continue to get screwed until the schedule imbalance is fixed. The worst part about it is that fans sit up and co-sign this nonsense and don’t demand better.
I’ve long said that college football schedules are consistently manipulated by the SEC and ACC, who have an advantage. Pac-12, Big XII, and Big 10 teams have a significantly smaller margin for error when trying to compete for championships. Let me explain how this works by using this table:

You can clearly see why the ACC and SEC have a win-loss advantage. Notice that there is a seven-loss difference between the ACC/SEC, and Big 10 which all have 14 teams. Seven more losses mean an additional game for each team in the BIG 10 against a team that could possibly beat you. Imagine how easy the path to the championship would be if Ohio State could sub out that Iowa game for Mercer. Now, let’s compare those numbers to the Pac-12, which has 12 teams and 54 total conference losses. That is only two losses less than the ACC and SEC, despite having two more teams.
If that was too complicated, an easier way to explain all this is by looking at the average number of losses per team in each conference. SEC and ACC teams will lose a half-game less than all other conferences.
In theory, all this would not be a big deal if the conferences made up for that conference game with a competitive non-conference game. However, in most cases that is NOT what happens.
One of the biggest conversations when comparing teams is comparing how many losses each team has. However, all wins are not created equal. I’ve heard the argument that the Big XII, Big 10, and Pac-12 “play themselves out” of the playoffs by losing too much in conference play. The reality is playing 8 conference games instead of 9 conference games creates a systematic advantage for the SEC and ACC.
Now that we are all on the same page in terms of wins and losses, I’ll explain the manipulation of the committee rankings. The current formula to manipulate your way into the playoffs is: play eight conference games, one mandated power 5 team, two non-competitive FBS games, and 1 FCS team. That FCS game often presents itself in November. It is commonly referred to as a “November Cupcake”, which is a glorified bye week against teams like Mercer, Citadel, or Wofford. The “November Cupcake” is an important component for highly regarded SEC teams to move up in the playoffs because of timing. When other conferences have ranked matchups in November, SEC teams play “November Cupcakes”. This gives them an opportunity to move up the rankings without playing a competitive game, and one of the teams from the other conference has to lose. This is the formula how you consistently end up with top 10 matchups amongst SEC teams late in the season, which makes the conference appear stronger.
I contend that the committee absolutely blew it for college football by putting Alabama in the playoffs. They confirmed that conference championships and schedules don’t matter. This whole system is broken and, in order to fix it, we have to break it again. It stinks for college football fans and gives the SEC and ACC have a systematic advantage while screwing over the Pac-12 and the Big X.
Even Nick Saban (Alabama’s Head Coach) agrees with me when asked about college schedules and teams being deserving of playoff bids:
“I think it’s subjective to some degree because we don’t all play each other. I could get into my theory on this. I personally want to play all Power 5 conference teams every week. I know people say we played Mercer College and we couldn’t get a game with anybody else. All right so…  If we all had to play twelve teams from the Power 5 conferences, we would have a better feel for which conferences were the strongest and there would be more crossover play… and maybe even play more conference games.  Fans would like it better. You guys [the media] would like it better. You’d have a better inventory to show people. We wouldn’t have these games that people don’t really want to come to, players don’t really want to play in. And I think you’d have a better idea of who the best conferences and the best teams were.”
-Nick Saban on “College Football Playoff Selection Show” (December 3, 2018)
So here’s my solution:
1   1.  Change the college football playoffs to eight teams.
2   2. Take the five power five champions and three at-large teams.
     3. One of the at-large teams has to be the highest ranked non-power 5 team.
I am also open to two solutions to solve the scheduling imbalance and increase the greatness of college football for fans:
1   1.  9 conference games, two power 5 games, and one FBS non-power 5 game to continue to give money to the little guys.
    2.   8 conference games, two power 5 games, one FBS non-power 5 game, and one FCS game to continue to give money to the little guys.
Both of these options would give the fans a much better game experience and generate more revenue for athletic departments. Teams would be more encouraged to schedule home and home non-conference games against good teams. This would make selling season tickets much easier.

This would also alleviate a lot of the nonsense discussion about resumes and strength of conferences when choosing playoff teams. The committee would have more data because teams would have played more common opponents. My plan would cause television ratings and revenue increases as well. That’s more money for the NCAA, coaches, sponsors, and athletic departments to keep out of the hands of the players. And isn’t that the #1 goal of college football?

College Football’s 5 Most Underrated Teams of 2017

The definition of underrate is “to rate or evaluate too low; underestimate.” Here is the 5 college football teams most underestimated for the 2017 season.
Honorable Mention. UCLA- If you have a quarterback you have a chance. If the golden boy Josh Rosen has a good season the Bruins will have a shot to win the Pac-12.
5. Miami– It feels like forever since Miami was good. They fooled you guys in the beginning of last season, but I knew better. This year the Hurricanes return seven starters on a defense that only gave up 18.5 ppg in 2016. Questions about their quarterback have kept expectations low, but their offensive line should be very good. If Miami can get a decent QB out of junior Malik Rosier, true freshmen N’Kosi Perry, Cade Weldon and sophomore Evan Shirreffs, they have a legit shot to win the ACC.
4. NC State– Do not underestimate the quality of this team that finished 7-6 last year. The Wolfpack don’t have the horses to make a run at the ACC Atlantic division, but they have an underrated coach in Dave Doeren. NC State is good enough to hand FSU, Louisville, or Clemson a loss. Last year, the Wolfpack gifted Clemson an overtime victory, and it took a 4th quarter comeback by Florida St to win. Coach Doreen has a veteran offensive line to protect junior QB Ryan Finley. This combo will give the Wolfpack a shot to win every week vs. this tough schedule. A 9-3 finish to the regular season IS possible and would be a huge success, but reality is more around 7-5.
3. Oregon– I can already hear you guys now. Such a homer, of course he says Oregon is underrated. Well, they are. No one has any expectations for the Ducks winning the Pac-12 north after finishing a disaster of a season last year 4-8. The Ducks cleaned house and brought in head coach Willie Taggert from South Florida. Oregon has plenty of talent left on the roster offensively. Justin Herbert showed flashes last year as a true freshman and should have a successful sophomore campaign. Expect to see the Royce Freeman of old running the football. The same cannot be said defensively. The Ducks should be a 9-win team and Pac-12 north champs if they can play a nominal amount of defense this season.
2. Penn St– At the end of the regular season last year, didn’t you feel like Penn St was one of the 4 best teams in the country? I did. This team is good, really good. So how could the Nittany Lions team be underrated? I got two names, Ohio St. and Michigan. It feels like James Franklin is the forgotten man behind Urban Meyer and the Khaki man Jim Harbaugh. Penn St has two of the most exciting players in college football. Their quarterback Trace McSorley reminds me of Johnny Manziel. Defenses can’t tackle RB Saquon Barkley in a phone booth. I am bullish on the scrappy Nittany Lions this year to win the B1G title.
P.S. I hate their non-conference schedule (Akron, Pitt, and Georgia St)!!!

1. Oklahoma St– How bout them COWBOYS! Ok St will come into this season ranking outside of the Top 10, but expect them to finish in the college football playoff. The combination of a light non-conference schedule and playing Baylor, TCU, and Oklahoma at home makes for a perfect recipe for 12-0 or 11-1 regular season. Mason Rudolph will be throwing to the #1 receiving corps in the nation. James Washington, Jalen McCleskey, Marcell Ateman, and Tyron Johnson are all studs. Add in running back Justice Hill and it may take a small army to slow Ok St down offensively. The only thing that can derail the Cowboys is Mike Gundy’s bad luck mullet.

5 Most Overrated Teams in College Football

College football season is only a few weeks away. We are already beginning to be flooded with preseason rankings. Here are the teams that will prove themselves overrated this college football season:
Honorable Mention- Louisville. Lamar Jackson fell apart at the end of the season leaving Heisman voters wishing they could get their votes back. He’s a good kid, elite athlete, but he is not elite enough of a passer to lead this team to an ACC title. The Cardinals will likely get to 10 wins due to a non-conference schedule that would make Washington blush.
5. LSU-Please stop trying to sell me on LSU being able to unseat Bama for the SEC West crown. Not happening. Not even if their quarterback Jalen Hurts gets hurt. The Tigers have to get out of the “run and punt” style of offense they had under Les Miles and step in at least a 2010 offense.
In my mind I like the idea Ed Orgeron was hired as head coach. But if I’m judging from his last time he was a head coach without the interim tag (Ole Miss), I realize things could go badly. Derrius Guice might be the nation’s best running back. And as usual the Tigers are stacked with talent on defense with Arden Key (LB) and Donte Jackson (CB) leading the way. Unfortunately, the SEC is Alabama, and everybody else and LSU is an everybody else.
4. Texas-Tom Herman is in, Charlie Strong is out. Texas is back. Texas is a Top 10 team! Slow all the way down and come back in a year or 2. Expectations of burnt orange fans are completely out of whack. But eclipsing the 5 wins from last year shouldn’t be too difficult with this schedule. The Longhorns have talent but depth is an issue, especially on the offensive line. You already know, if you can’t protect your quarterback, you can’t play football. I really hope Shane Buechele’s parents took out an insurance policy on him. He may be running for his life a lot this season. There is good news though. If Tom Herman can keep his QB upright, they have playmakers in Collin Johnson and Devin Duvernay at WR. Todd Orlando is the new defensive coordinator and there’s nowhere to go but up from last years’ Swiss cheese D.
3. Florida- Unless Jim McElwain got a Steve Spurier offensive blood transfusion expect to see another season of non-explosive offensive football. The Gators finished 100th in scoring in 2015 and 107th in 2016. This Florida team is underwhelming. I could name a bunch of defensive players that will keep them in games, but I won’t. This team could very well win the SEC East, but if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it did it really happen?
2. Michigan- Back to back years, this is becoming a trend. Aside from games against Penn St and Ohio St, this schedule looks like a snoozer. George, what about Florida week 1 and the Wisconsin game? What about it? Sounds like 13-10 ballgames with teams below average offenses masquerading as defensive juggernauts. Michigan only returns 5 starters, and will be playing a ton of freshman. There is good news Wolverines fans. Jim Harbaugh is your coach. If anyone can grind out a 10 win season on the backs QB Wilton Speight and RB Chris Evans it’s the khaki man.

1. Washington- The Huskies non-conference games with Rutgers, Montana, and Fresno State is somehow weaker than last years schedule. To make their schedule even easier, UW plays Oregon, Washington St, and Utah all at home, and avoids USC altogether. I believe Chris Peterson is a great coach. I believe Washington will have a good running game with Miles Gaskins and Lavon Coleman. I believe D Coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski will be able to field a formidable defense despite losing Budda Baker, Sidney Jones, Kevin King, and Elijah Qualls to the NFL. But they will not be battle tested and will probably lose a game because I DO NOT BELIEVE IN JAKE BROWNING. How could I say that? He threw for 3,430 yards and 43TDs last year. Browning was carried by the Husky defense. They created easy scoring opportunities from short fields. He did not impress in games vs. Arizona, Utah, USC, Colorado, and Alabama. Even if Washington does finish undefeated expect to hear grumblings about leaving them out of the Top 4.