Sometimes It's Not The Right Fit

I've lived in my current house for over 11 years and with two children more since, it seems that our foresight when we chose this house so long ago, was not as insightful as we thought.  We thought we were so smart and so prepared to grow into a house that we didn't have to stretch too much to afford.  Over a decade has passed and my wife and I have found ourselves desiring a new and larger home to raise our growing kids.  We love most things about our current home, especially the neighbors we have and the neighborhood itself.  We are both close to our jobs and the two younger kids don't have to go very far for school.  It's just a great location with many other young families nearby.  If it were possible to uproot our current house and just place a more pleasing house in the same plot, we would be so happy and wouldn't have to lose the perks of great neighbors and convenient location.

So, with this recent desire of a larger home, we have tried to make efforts in seeing what is out there in regards to something larger, yet, still within our price range.  As you can imagine, this is not easy.  We see these beautiful homes which seem to be perfect for our family and turn out to be about $200,000 above our maximum price range.  This makes things difficult for seeking a dream house, so we may have to settling for what reality will give us.  There has to be a happy medium out there somewhere.

The first step was narrowing down the areas of town we were willing to settle down.  We searched particular neighborhoods that we feel would be desirable to live without being too far from our jobs.  The children are still young enough that a change of schools wouldn't be the "worst day of my life" worthy.  Our parental status should stay intact.

The second step was getting someone to get us into the houses that are for sale by using a real estate agent that has access to the information of all the homes and the key to get into all the homes that we may be interested in seeing.

The third step is actually going out and seeing the houses that fit our criteria of the next home that we think we need to make us happy.  In a short time, we have seen several houses and have opinions on all of them.  We get to look at the photos that are posted online prior to choosing if that might be a good fit for our family or not and then have the agent set up an appointment to go see it.

The fourth step is the next step that we haven't gotten to yet.  We need to select the new family home and put in an offer and hope that it's accepted and then start all the paper work and wait to be approved and finally close on the sale to move in.  This whole process is very nerve-racking and stressful.  We have to think about how each of the houses will fit for our particular family.  Our family is original and how we would like to utilize our home is unique, as well.  We have to think about past issues with the house whether there has been water damage to walls or floors or basements; or an underground pool in the back yard that was filled in; whether the sewer pipes have flow problems; or if updates were done properly and not done cheaply.  There are some prerequisites that my wife and I have going into the search that we have learned are necessary for the future.

Just a brief update of the houses that we have gone through and pondered upon; we have noticed that when we walk into a house, it may be real impressive in some regards and then disappoint in others.  For example, the entry of a house I saw was amazing with a high ceiling and a feeling of openness.  Then, I peaked outside and saw an open lot behind the fence where there will be a bunch of houses built in the future that will block the view and the yard didn't seem very big and no place to park a future boat or camper.  So, I looked at a house where there was a huge garage specifically for an RV to put that future camper, and after looking through the house, I had no desire to even open up the 16 foot tall doors to see inside.  Searching for the right kitchen alone, this time around, could be a make or break kind of deal for us.  Our current, small kitchen has lost its cuteness because we just need more cupboard space and counter space and just more room.  So far, in our search, it is hard to imagine that there will be a "perfect" house out there for our family that will be in our price range where we may be forced to "settle" on a house that lacks one or more of our initial criteria for our happiness.

Like the search of a new home can be stressful and make one feel they can't find the perfect fit, high school football players have a similar challenge when searching for the right university to begin their collegiate football careers.  As there are some good parts of a house and some not-so-great parts of a house that might not fit just right, there are schools out there that these young men are looking at that have some great qualities to them while other qualities may be less intriguing.  Finding the perfect fit in a new home and in a new school are challenges that warrant a closer look to educate the populous.

So, when these great high school football players feel that a college football career may be in the future, they need to find out their chances of getting a scholarship to various universities.  Some instances, the athlete has already gotten offers from schools that are near by; and in rare situations, the talent is so great that schools dotting the country may be interested and offer a full scholarship.

The first step, like narrowing down the area of town to find a new home, is that the athlete needs to narrow down (or expand) their view of where they would like to settle down for next three to five years.  Like a new home, this is a big commitment and should be looked at seriously.

Like a real estate agent that gets connections to the homes, the second step for the athletes is talking to coaches and assistant coaches to arrange official visits to the campuses of interest.  For football players, the way of getting contacts from coaches is sometimes sending video footage of their highlights in various games including information of measurements and statistics from the season.

The third step is getting the chance to make all of the official visits allowed, which may be five these days.  Like finding the right fit for a new home, searching for the right fit for a university in football should be essential.  If the program looks real good and has been successful, but the coaches don't seem to mesh to personalities, then it may indicate an improper fit.  Sometimes the coaches are great and accommodating, but the program hasn't been the top of the conference for decades, the fit may not be the greatest.  There are also times when the program is excellent and the coaches are top notch, but the particular position that the athlete is being recruited for is flooded with talent - this may not be the best fit either.

Like making an offer on a house, recruiting needs the athlete to commit to a university to try to seal the deal and eventually complete the paper work which creates the contract of the athlete and school.  Some athletes verbally commit early in the process and some wait until the National Letter of Intent Day to make their awaited decision and fax in their signature to the school's athletic department.

I'll say it up front:  I was never an uber-athlete that had various schools frothing at the mouth before I left high school.  So, I have no clue what these kids are going through at such a young age and influential time in their lives.  It must feel real good being wanted so desperately and difficult to stay grounded and not letting all the attention go to your head.  Again, I wouldn't know anything about that!  So, I can only ask questions and wonder what each athlete is thinking without knowing anything about their personal lives and background and interests beyond football.  As I ask some questions, (mostly, "Why did he chose that school over any other school?) I look to see where they live currently and the position they potentially will play in college and see their short list of schools of interest and try to imagine where I would prefer to go from those standpoints.  Many times I am wrong and left wondering why a different route wasn't taken.  When I can't figure it out and see only negative reasons why that athlete chose that particular university, I put them in the Shrine Dog Award classification because the choice doesn't make any obvious sense.  The Shrine Dog Award is explained in a previous post in this blog, which can be referred to if it's confusing in this post.  Basically, the Shrine Dog Award goes to clueless kids that are not listening to the right people in their lives and jump into a situation that was based on something influential that didn't include common sense.

Let me clear things up by demonstrating what I see, which is available to the public without cost, and explain my point of view.  When I see a highly touted athlete that plays running back in Indiana, first I think that he might want to stay close to home.  As a 4 or 5-star football player, I immediately think he could go to any FBS school if his studies are up to par.  Indiana is very close to many Big Ten schools that would most likely recruit a local running back with certain skills.  So, this kid would most likely have close contact with the likes of Indiana Hoosiers, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Boston College, to name a few.  Then there might be some schools recruiting this Indiana kid from outlying members of the conference(s) that have closest ties with him, like Nebraska, Wisconsin, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Syracuse.  The interest may dip into other conferences by measure of taking away a great athlete from other conferences just to secure their weakness of recruiting, like West Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and even USC or UCLA.  So, when I think of these factors just based on where he currently lives, it takes just a couple seconds to process the thought of where he might want to go that's close to home.  Then I look at his specific position that he is being recruited for and think of who has done real well at recruiting that position recently and what they do to prepare the kids that play that position for the NFL.  For example, Ohio State usually puts out really good running backs and can recruit that position to bring in blue chip athletes each year, so if the Indiana kid wants to start right away, then he may lean toward another school who may not be as strong or hasn't recruited high caliber talent in that position for a couple years.  So, I look closely into that on scout.com and look up to four years prior to see who the competition might be for the incoming freshman.  Is(Are) the starter(s) from last year coming back?  How many upperclassmen will there be when he gets to campus?  Now, when signing day arrives and this top 20 running back in the nation from Indiana, who could go anywhere, signs his letter of intent to play for Kansas, my first thought becomes, "Did he get confused with basketball?"  Did he really choose to play for the Jayhawks?  Does he have family there or does he not care about winning?  He will definitely be the starter from the get go, but life is so much easier on running backs if there is an offensive line significant enough to break open holes to allow you to demonstrate why you were so highly recommended coming out of high school.  Indiana boy just claimed himself a Shrine Dog Award!  Congratulations and good luck in Kansas!

Now, the Indiana kid was just a made up example of what I see and what I'm looking for when I'm tracking the recruiting process of these top notch high school players; however, there are real examples in the past and near future who appear to have claimed this Shrine Dog Award from me.  Let's look back a few years!  I have a good example in 2011 recruiting class with Notre Dame recruiting so well in recent years that every athlete in the nation looks hard at South Bend, IN, and knows of the deep tradition of the Fighting Irish.  Sometimes these great schools that are tradition rich can get a huge load of players at certain positions, and in 2011, one of those positions happened to be at defensive end.  Scout.com keeps track of the date of the verbal commitment that each player announces to the public who they have verbally committed to.  Early on, the first two DE commitments were a couple of 3-star guys #66 and #50 in the nation at that position.  Then with less than a month before the National Letter of Intent Day, ND started reeling in the DE's in a large kind of way.  January 14, Notre Dame received a verbal commitment from the #4 guy overall, then the very next day received the commitment from the #2 DE overall bringing the position count to four.  Then, low and behold, two more days later, the #97 DE commits to the Fighting Irish, only to be outdone two more days later with, yet, another DE commitment from the #10 defensive end in the country.  Does one team need six defensive ends?  Yes!  In the same recruiting class?  Probably not, unless all the upperclassmen at that position suddenly died.  This scenario leaves me with no choice to give a Shrine Dog Award to one of them six defensive ends that kept his initial verbal commitment.  Do I choose the #50, 3-star from Florida?  He committed second, so he shouldn't feel bad, but he is coming from so far away only to be a practice dummy behind the three 5-stars that will play ahead of him.  Should I choose the #97, 3-star guy from Ohio?  Yes, Chase Hounshell could definitely deserve such an honor of Shrine Dog being the lowest ranked of the five (at the time) DE's that had committed.  Maybe, the Shrine Dog Award would go to #10, 5-star Stephon Tuitt because he is the sixth DE to commit in the same year for the same team who recruited three DE's the year before and traveling all the way from Georgia.  He may have a shot at a starting position in a few years.  I suppose he thinks he's better than the #2 and #4 DE's of that year.  I don't know!  Maybe both of the last two DE commits should each earn the award because they probably didn't consider if this is the best fit for them.  This is how it's done!  This is how it works!  The Shrine Dog Award will call them out and maybe someone will change their mind before it's too late, or just get the transfer papers filled out now if it is too late.

In the 2012 recruiting class, there are a few glaring Shrine Dog Award winners that leave people scratching their head.  In my opinion, the most obvious decision made by an incoming freshman is one of the seven defensive backs that committed to Texas Longhorns.  Two of the DB's are #'s 11 and 17 safeties in the nation, while the rest were cornerbacks.  Four of the CB's are in the top 21 in the nation and all 4-star athletes and all but one of them committed before January.  The fourth CB to commit to the Longhorns happened to be Kevin Vacarro, the #136, 2-star CB from the state of Texas.  The first sign that maybe committing to Texas would be the three 4-stars that are ranked way ahead of Kevin.  Then to see yet another top 18 CB committing a month later and seeing the two top 20 safeties committed as well would be a red flag for most.  However, Kevin dreamed of being a Longhorn since he knew how to hold a football, he didn't dare put the time in to research his chances of being able to actual "play" for the team in a game.  To make things worse, four top 21 DB's were recruited from the year prior (only one safety), and four top 15 DB's the year before that (only one CB).  Kevin didn't realize that the defensive backfield would have so much talent and depth only among the underclassmen alone?  C'mon!  Did Kevin even think to look into all the information about the team he chose and the position he plays and really consider this the best fit?  Based on the information I have, I would have to say no!  Congratulations, Kevin Vacarro!  You earned yourself a Shrine Dog Award!

I have to laugh a bit regarding a particular university in the 2013 recruiting year.  We saw a Mississippi State team recruit six wide receivers.  The final WR commitment came from a 4-star WR ranked #23 in all the country.  Maybe he should get the Shrine Dog Award, but I figured that one of the five 3-stars should get the reward.  I don't thinks it's wrong that one school should recruit six WR's in one recruiting class, but I take into consideration the past reputation of great quarterbacks.  I do not think of Mississippi State as a passing prowess team.  The Bulldogs have been known as a running team that pounds the ball down the throat of the opposing defenses, but passing?  Holy cow!  Who is making mistakes here?  Is it the athletes or is it the actual coaches thinking this is a good idea?  Maybe the Shrine Dog Award should go to the offensive recruiting team.  This scenario just makes me chuckle because it doesn't seem like a good fit for most of the athletes.  The positive thing is that there was only one 4-star athlete that was wasted at that school.

Finally, as the beginnings of the 2014 recruiting class begins to unfold into what could be an interesting recruiting year, I have focused on the top 30 running backs.  This is a skill position that the most talented RB's should take a close look at where a good fit would be based on whether the ultimate goal is getting to the level after college - mainly, the NFL.  First, I try to consider which schools really know how to turn out successful RB's into the NFL on a consistent level.  The recent schools I think of that have had success are schools like Miami, Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, California, and Tennessee, to name a few.  Then there are some universities that do a great job at making their running backs look really good in college, but not necessarily translating into NFL success are schools like USC, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Oregon, and West Virginia.  So, when the top athletes at the running back position look elsewhere to be the starters, that's all they'll be, the starters - nothing more.  They may struggle shining in certain programs that aren't known for their stellar RB play.

Let me start with the positive decisions that these young athletes have made and state the reason why I feel that those decision may be the best (or closest to the best) choice they could make as the top running backs in the nation according to scout.com.  First, the RB's that chose to stay close to home that will be playing in front of friends and family:  those are Joseph Yearby from Miami, committed to Miami; Jalen Hurd from Tennessee, committed to Tennessee; Bo Scarborough from Alabama, committed to Alabama; Parris Campbell from Ohio, committed to Ohio State, Dalvin Cook from Florida, committed from Florida; Jeffrey Jones from Minnesota, committed to Minnesota; Justin Jackson from Illinois, committed to Northwestern; Terence Williams from Texas, committed to Baylor; Donald Catalon from Houston, committed to Texas; Devon Thomas from Oklahoma, committed to Oklahoma State; Shaun Nixon from Austin, committed to Texas A&M; and Traevohn Wrench from Kansas, committed to Kansas.  I appreciate that these guys have chosen to stay near their homes and commend most of them for choosing wisely to make their mark at the next level.

Next, I will list those commitments that may not make much sense by seeing how much traveling those young men will be doing just to get to school.  These make less sense based on the information that I have, but there might be reasons of extended family members nearby the university or girlfriend or whatever unknown possibilities to choose where to play football.  These players are the following:  Sony Michel from Florida, committed to Georgia; Elijah Hood from North Carolina, committed to Notre Dame; Christian McCaffrey from Colorado, committed to Stanford; and Nick Wilson from California, committed to Arizona.  With Elijah Hood, I am assuming that he is committed to Notre Dame is because he attends a Catholic high school and would like to attend a Catholic college, so this may make some sense.  For Nick Wilson, Arizona doesn't always have a lot of great running backs within its state, so the Arizona schools must recruit hard in California for the best talent that is in very close proximity of the campus which makes some sense, too.  Now for Christian McCaffrey, the two main Colorado schools have not been real great at football as of late, and Christian may be very intelligent and searching to get a degree that he can use after football is all over, so Stanford makes sense.  It is tough to make the analysis on these athletes due to such randomness of choices; however, some universities like Notre Dame and Stanford are known for their ability to recruit nation-wide.

Finally, I would like to introduce the names, I feel, would make great candidates for the Shrine Dog Award for the running backs in the class of 2014.  I can't take any running back seriously when they are a top 30 RB in the nation and choose a university such as Minnesota, Florida, Northwestern, or Kansas.  Florida may surprise you to find itself here for me, but let me explain by saying that I can't remember when Florida had a great RB that rushed for over 1,000 in the season and just made an impact in the rugged SEC.  In the old Steve Spurrier days, the Gators were known for their high flying attack from great quarterbacks that flung the rock all day long.  The RB's are just used for short distance running and passing and didn't need someone super special carrying the pill.  Even lately, the best RB Florida has had was their QB who out-rushed everyone else on the team (Tim Tebow).  A true running back is not a luxury that Florida has had or they just haven't been able to utilize any talent at that position which would make playing for Florida as a highly touted RB a really unwise decision.  Minnesota?  Well, Minnesota hasn't had anyone special since their two best backs were sharing the field together back in 2003 and 2004 with Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III, then Maroney shated duties with Gary Russell in 2005.  That's it!  Nobody since.  So, why (unless you're the biggest Gophers fan) would anyone choose Minnesota as a top 30 RB in the nation?  Same goes for Northwestern and Kansas.  Northwestern has had some flashes of great RB's in the past with stinky offensive lines that have still been able to get decent yards, but it's hard work.  Kansas is a school that doesn't stick out to me as a power football university.  I'm sure if I thought long enough and browsed through my college football magazines that date back to 1997, I might be able to name one or two Jayhawk RB's that made an impact at Kansas.  Now, with Charlie Weis as the new head coach and his ability to recruit was proven at Notre Dame, but also proven at Notre Dame was his ability to lose games as the head coach - and that was with excellent talent flooding in to play for the Fighting Irish not caring who the head coach was, but Kansas?  Wow!  That's one Jayhawk fan that will leave college his senior year with some possible regrets.

Before I crown Traevohn Wrench with the Shrine Dog Award for choosing Kansas, I would like to say that Traevohn is at least thinking that he is staying close to home and he will most likely be the starter within a year or two upon arriving on campus - if he doesn't make an immediate impact.  The unlikely candidate who I feel would be most deserving of this honor of one who is merely flattered by the scholarship offer and not looking thoroughly into what he is committing to is Bo Scarborough, who plans to attend Alabama.  It makes sense that a guy from Alabama who gets a scholarship offer from Alabama would just commit to Alabama.  That's in a perfect world, right?  Well, since when is it a perfect world?  If you dig a little deeper and find out who is currently on the running back roster for the Crimson Tide and who will be coming in the fall, Bo may have a change of heart.  Everybody knows that Eddie Lacy was the latest to pound his way through holes opened up by the beastly offensive line at Alabama who is now off to the NFL following his predecessors, Trent Richardson and Mark Ingram (who won the Heisman Trophy).  Eddie's backup last year was a true freshman, T.J. Yeldon.  Between Eddie and T.J., there never seemed to be much of a drop-off, if any, when one came out and the other went in throughout most of the season.  When Bo gets to Tuscaloosa, T.J. will only be a junior and playing for possibly his last year, but there was another RB recruited in the same class as T.J. (#8 in 2012), Kenyan Drake (#17), who may be competing for playing time.  They will have a senior, Dee Hart (#8 in 2011), that may have a chance at some playing time, as well.  Now the kicker is the 2013 class that will be sophomores or redshirt freshmen when Bo gets to Alabama, which brought in four top 15 RB's.  Let me repeat that - FOUR top 15 running backs were recruited in the class of 2013!  Not only will Bo be competing for playing time against the potential starter, T.J. Yeldon, but some talented backups in Dee Hart and Kenyan Drake, but the four guys one year ahead of him who include:  the #15 Tyren Jones, #14 Altee Tenpenny, #12 Alvin Kamara, and the #4 (5-star) Derrick Henry, who could plow over any linebacker and defensive end, standing at over 6'3" and weighing over 240 pounds.  Yes, Bo is currently the #7 RB in his class, but going up against a solid and deep backfield, I have to feel that Bo's early decision has not been a very good one and may not seem like the right fit for his football future.  There are many schools that tend to create great running backs that still make it to the NFL that Bo can choose from, so at this point, all is not lost (unless he stays committed to the Crimson Tide).  There you have it!  Congratulations, Bo!  At this time, as you remain committed to Alabama, you have the honor of receiving the Shrine Dog Award.

So, as I continue my search for a new home and try to find one that will actually be the right fit, there will continue to be the high school athletes that make decisions that will not make sense as far as the right fit with where they live and the position that they play and where they end up committing themselves.  I feel that these blue chip football players should try to do more research on where they are thinking about going and find out for himself whether it would be the right fit or continue looking at universities that would be a better fit.  Sometimes you just have to find it yourself and feel right about it.

Bashing the Polls - Again

You know exactly why I love this time of year, and it's not because of the beautiful oranges and yellows that appear on the leaves of trees that drop onto the green lawns with the cool, brisk air whipping through your hair as you stake out the high profile homes that will be bombarded by trick-or-treaters. Even though those are wonderful things, nothing can compare to college football and the tradition, competition, and opposition; however, there is something that always spoils football every other year - the campaigning of political figures that pollute the airways, highways, and mail. I don't know what makes me more disgusted, the filth I learn about a person on a commercial or knowing that the opponent has paid to say those things about someone else. The attack-ads have become the norm and I find it a complete turn off - as in, turn off the TV. They are horrible! You can always tell, without the volume on, if the commercial is favorable of the person who has their picture on the television or not by how heinous the photos are. If the ad is an attack-ad, the person it is attacking has pictures that look like they were caught at the grocery store checking out labels on the back of a soup can. You know that look. Don't say you've never seen that look before! Of course, the favorable ads have professionally taken photos and nice props and little children being loved and stuff. It's repulsive! Why can't they just state their opinions and their stand on the topics and hope that the American people can be smart enough to vote for who they think is best suited for that particular position? I guess it's because we can't trust the majority of Americans to do the proper investigation into their own beliefs and the beliefs of the candidates and weigh out each one with full knowledge of the topics that are important to the individual and exercise their right to vote. We are just too busy! Too busy with college football, right? So, what do you believe? The attack-ads? The people who make them? How do you sort out the garbage from people that try to make someone else look bad? Both candidates attack each other, so who is the least trashy? Frankly, I don't really know. I need to do a better job, as an American, to exercise my right to dig into the stands for all of the candidates for each political position and vote my conscious. I love people and I always try to find the good in each one I encounter and I wish that the political candidates would show me the good they have in themselves to help me know. I don't want to know the bad - I have enough bad things about myself that I need to worry about, let alone each political figure. Politicians need to help things make sense for people to understand so we don't go to the polls and vote as a confused American with no reason for our decisions on the ballots.

Speaking of voting and being an informed voter, not only Americans who determine the leadership of this state or nation should perform their American duties, but the voters who participate in the leadership of rankings in college football should vote as an informed pollster with all the information available by digging into the subject matter to help make sense for the fans who scour the polls for justice of their successful team. As many "fanatics" of college football, debates break out all the time to legitimize certain rankings and try to justify, with their own particular biases, why certain teams are located conveniently where they are. Sometimes, like myself, "fanatics" are very critical and skeptical of who is ranked where and start to formulate theories of why the order of the top 25 teams is such as it is. So, much like an earlier topic, "Harris Poll Bias", I have found the current poll to be unchanging from its erroneous course since its inception.

I still don't understand how a poll can start near mid-season and determine a top 25 list that is always near-identical to the AP and Coaches' polls when the Harris poll confidently states that there is not a bias in its voting. Well, if there is not a bias, then they should be trying to explain their votes each week so the fans can understand the rankings and not start the week confused over and over again. Now the BCS is just another animal and nobody will ever be able to understand the computer aspect of that, but the two-thirds of the overall outcome of the BCS is human and should try much harder to get their votes correct and accurate.

Let me explain a little of my frustration by giving one example: my particular belief, when two teams have the same record and they played each other, the team that wins the head-to-head should be the team ranked higher - with Arizona at 4-1 and Iowa at 4-1 in the Harris poll's first week of votes, the voters put Iowa at #15 and Arizona at #21 while Iowa's only loss was to Arizona. I am trying to figure out the logic to an "unbiased" voting panel that proves to me that certain laws of nature aren't really laws... or... nature? So, the team that lost the head-to-head match-up is actually the better team - is what I get from the "unbiased" voting panel. It makes total sense, right? This explains why the Harris poll voters had Texas (3-2) receiving 30 points after losing two straight games to unranked UCLA and top 10 Oklahoma (5-0); however, that UCLA team that beat Texas in Austin that had the same 3-2 record did not receive a single point from the Harris poll voters. Please inform me of the logic in this one. I don't know how to twist this one. Shouldn't Texas' loss to UCLA at home look worse than a UCLA home loss to a ranked, undefeated team? Who knows?

So far, after eight weeks, we have seen some changes at the top, starting with the #1 ranked Alabama losing to South Carolina. The very next week, the #1 ranked Ohio State lost to Wisconsin. The very next week, the BCS #1 ranked Oklahoma lost to Missouri. Now, the new BCS #1 ranked team is Auburn who doesn't play anybody in the next two games (Ole Miss and Chattanooga), so I predict that there won't be any more changes of #1 until Auburn actually plays a real opponent with a home game against Georgia November 13th and then the Iron Bowl at Alabama on November 26th. Can I just mention something? Of course I can - it's my flippin' blog! When Alabama was #1 before losing, Oregon and Boise State were #'s 3 and 4, respectively. So, Ohio State moves in from #2 after 'Bama loses and Oregon and BSU bump up as well; however, the BCS starts up after Ohio State loses and there's not glimpse of Oregon or Boise State at the top. Hmmm. That's okay because Oklahoma loses to start another bump toward the top, right? Wrong! Oregon and Boise stay in place and an SEC team sneaks right in there. Have we seen this before? Either a Big XII or SEC school rises out of nowhere and grabs a #1 spot when the voters don't even have them at #1 OR #2 in the AP, Coaches, or Harris polls. Now if you are following my blog, you know that I'm not a fan of the Harris poll due to its obscure ranking techniques by making sure half of the SEC and Big XII are represented each week, no matter who they've lost to or who they have actually beaten on the field. That one (flawed) poll gives 1/3 of the information needed in the BCS formula in determining who plays for the coveted national title. One-third! These people who cannot vote as an individual with only one week in mind of who the teams have just played and their record of the previous games and who those opponents were and where they were played at. The failure of the BCS begins right there - without a playoff! A playoff is the only solution to resolve the mistake-prone BCS formula.

There is only one group that trumps the worthlessness of the Harris poll voters - the PEOPLE who plug in the decisive information into the computers that helps calculate another 1/3 of the BCS formula. Most of these calculations, I would presume, come from a strength of schedule and how many ranked teams are played and what the record of their opponents are, etc. Opponents' records are important, especially with non-conference competition; however, there should be other factors to take into consideration with conference competition - for example, the Apple Cup between Washington and Washington State and all the awful years of the Cougars football program and how they base their success of the entire season on that one game (whether a coach should stay or go), even if it's their only win; to beat a good Husky squad is great for the Washington State program, but terrible for the good Washington program - the point being, this has happened over and over again and is very common for rivals who loath one another to go back and forth with the underdog winning most match-ups. Another factor is what I keep saying and I'll continue saying it until my last breath on this beautiful planet, that there are a couple conferences, as a whole, that get so much love from the voters and the media to assure those particular conferences great rankings throughout the entire conferences which bolsters up the "appearance" of their "difficult" strength of schedule. This is a serious issue that is NEVER addressed which spins the world around the axis of the Southeastern part of the country. It is ridiculous! Now, if I'm a Southeasterner and a huge fan of... say... the Gators, I would not understand anything I just said because the media and voters have given my team and my conference so much love and I've partaken of this super-conference "Kool-Ade" that it has left my thirst more-than quenched. I've gotten my pockets stuffed and overflowing with the fact that the SEC can't be touched by any other conference when it comes to talent, quickness, speed, strength, and down-right dominance; and anything spoken of or even thought of that might mysteriously reach the lips (or fingers) of another soul are out-right profanities, blasphemous, and against all Holy writ of God, Himself. How is it that every year the SEC is the top conference in "everyone's" eye? Even on a down year, they still reign supreme without any doubt - meaning, top to bottom, the most complete and perfect of any conference existing or imaginable. It is absurd! They have their heads so far up their... well, I have to be careful here... way up in the clouds so far, that they actually think that eight conference games in the SEC are so difficult that each school HAS TO schedule much easier competition for the non-conference portion of the season. Really?!? So, cupcake city has to exist amongst the nation's elite? Shouldn't the elite be out there trying to exploit their dominance and overwhelming power over all the nation? Or, is the Strawberry Shortcake University scheduling a secret way of telling the nation that they fear taking on real challenges from real, legitimate teams from other automatic qualifying conferences? My personal feeling is the latter - they are afraid to come to terms with reality because reality is hard to deal with when you're a teenager and young adult with tender feelings. It's better to believe you are much better than anybody at any cost. Let's take a look at some of competition that boosts the strength of schedule for these powerhouses. Might as well start at the top of the BCS with Auburn because I'm sure they are proud to display their non-conference foes with pride and a feeling of accomplishment. The mighty Auburn Tigers have to take on four non-conference teams this year (like all years - except when there were only 11 games allowed to play each year). Those teams are: Arkansas State 3-5 (who, arguably played better than the then #12-ranked Arkansas when ASU gave up only 52 points to the Tigers while the Razorbacks gave up 65 to Auburn - sad, because Arkansas was ranked so high? or because Arkansas State is not?), Clemson 4-3 (who hasn't beat a ranked team out of two tries), Louisiana-Monroe 3-4 (who still gets to play LSU in November - plus, another team to give up less points than Arkansas with 52), and coming up, Chattanooga 5-2 (who will be 6-2 when they come to Jordan-Hare Stadium as a team that's not even Division I - FCS school that has a 0-20 record against Auburn). Good thing the computers will recognize the 6-2 record of Chattanooga or maybe that home game for Auburn might not look so good, otherwise. (sarcasm) Let's look at Florida: Miami, OH 4-4, South Florida 4-3 (who hails from the conference that nobody gives any credit to and finally won their first conference game on 10/23), Appalachian State 7-0 (again, we see another FCS school with a great record that will boost the strength of schedule for the SEC, but Appy State is NOT a Division I - there's a HUGE gap in talent and amount of scholarships), and then Florida State 6-1 (which will finally be a competitive game for the first time in 5-6 years, but FSU is in the "down" conference of the ACC, so may be misleading competition). Let's look at South Carolina: Southern Miss 5-2 (Conference USA that has one real win over Kansas 2-5), Furman 4-3 (yet, another FCS school - crazy!), Troy 4-2 (Sun Belt powerhouse (sarcasm)), and ending the season with a huge rivalry game against Clemson 4-3 (Pac-10 would call this game a "conference" game - but the Gamecocks have the luxury, like Florida/Florida State, to have an in-state rival in a different conference and call it a "non-conference" opponent). Finally, the one-loss team that the media is itching to put in the national title game two years straight, Alabama and their amazing non-conference slate: San Jose State 1-7 (that home game must have taken the Tide 4 hours minimum to prepare for this massive battle (sarcasm)), Penn State 4-3 (ranked #18 at the time of play, but since hasn't faired too well with a loss to Illinois and only one win so far in conference to Minnesota 1-7 and finds itself way outside the top 25 - not much of an Alabama win now), Duke 1-6 (they even lost to Army - and it wasn't even close), and finally Georgia State 5-3 (another FCS school that doesn't have a chance). This non-conference schedule has a win total of 11 games between the four team. Isn't Alabama the defending national champion? These games were not scheduled after the fact it won the title, right? If you are a team that recruits better than anyone else in the nation and plays in a conference better than anyone else in the nation and has a head coach getting paid more than anyone else in the nation and has assistant coaches getting paid more than anyone else in the nation and touts the Heisman trophy winner from last year and probably a couple more in the near future, this schedule is the best you can do? Really? Penn State is the only respectable opponent on the list and that turned out to be a dud in the end. Duke? That's the best you can shoot for in the ACC? The bottom feeder of the conference over the last 2-3 DECADES? Really? Do you really have to play an FCS school? Can't you stand up to the plate like a big boy and prove your worth by now? Can't you play legitimate teams from legitimate conferences by now? Can't you prove your #1 status GIVEN to you by playing competition that helps measure what kind of team you have on the field? Or are you afraid? Are you one of those politicians that sits in a corner and points out the flaws and make fun of the mistakes of the other teams in the nation while you make yourself look really good smearing the guts of unworthy competition all over the turf like a professional photo shoot with deliberate props? Anyway, these are the teams that are getting the kudos from the PEOPLE who plug in information into computers to tell the computers to adjust the calculations in such a way to make these teams look extraordinary in terms of greatness and athleticism and dominance in NCAA Division I football.

The PEOPLE who vote in the polls and the PEOPLE who insert information into computers have not seen what Boise State fans see, or what Pac-10 fans see, or what Mountain West fans see, or even what the Big East fans see in terms of individual accomplishment and a season as a whole and not just key wins at convenient places at convenient times. Too many times has the Pac-10 taken a back seat to inferior competition so a "more popular" team can take the crown. Now Boise State is feeling it way too much with the longest win streak in the nation, currently at 21 after the win against Louisiana Tech, and is already getting slighted by voters and computers and the #3 ranking will likely be as close as they get to playing for the national title because they will probably get passed over by a one-loss Alabama team who beat Duke, Georgia State, and San Jose State (by less than Boise State, by the way).

The Battle Between the SEC and the Pac-10: Part 2

Here's the update on this article 3 months later to show some post season statistical information for those who like to base their opinions and knowledge on cold hard facts, like myself. So, with the Heisman Trophy handed out now in the closest race for the huge statue ever. It went to a sophomore running back named Mark Ingram from Alabama. This makes the 3rd consecutive sophomore to receive the award and the very first Heisman to go to an Alabama player. Toby Gerhart was a very close runner-up from Stanford as a senior. First, I want to congratulate Mr. Ingram for his outstanding year. Just keeping his starting spot was amazing because the true freshman, Trent Richardson, is a superstar in the making, but Mark was able to prove each week that he deserved to be on the field (with exception to the Auburn game). Mark rushed for an SEC high 1542 yards in 13 games. Wow! I also want to give serious props to Toby Gerhart for his amazing achievements. Toby rushed for 1736 yards in just 12 games. Honestly, in terms of the Heisman, I picked him to win it because first, he's a senior (and Mark has at least two more years to prove himself), and second, he rushed for almost 200 more yards with one less game than Mark Ingram. Plus, I felt that the SEC had a down year and the Pac-10 had an above par year with a very solid conference with exception to only Washington State.

Next, the head-to-head match-ups between the two conferences will end at 1-2 with the Pac-10's only win being UCLA beating Tennessee. There will be no "redemption" or "prove it" games in the post season due to the SEC/Pac-10 not playing each other at all. So, this will give the Pac-10 an 11-9 lead since 1998 over the SEC. I must mention, however, that this season is skewed significantly in the favor of the SEC. Let me explain: The three SEC schools to play Pac-10 teams ended up being #2 in their particular divisions (LSU 2nd to #1 Alabama and Tennessee and Georgia tied for 2nd under Florida), meaning that they are all bowl eligible. Now their 3 opponents from the Pac-10 had much different outcomes throughout their seasons and made those two wins look pretty miserable for the SEC "powerhouses". Those three Pac-10 schools are all 6-6 or worse. UCLA who got the win over Tennessee is the only team bowl eligible of the 3 teams. Funny how UCLA was able to beat an SEC team and then struggled so much against opponents within their own conference. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Maybe. Let me elaborate, in case you're lost right now. UCLA is #6 or #7 in the Pac-10 and yet played an away game in a very loud and hostile environment in the SEC and brought back a win. The team they beat is from "the best conference in the nation" (according to many major media writers and SEC homers) who ended up being #2 in their division, or #4 overall in the "mighty" conference of "dominating defenses" (like the LSU defense that couldn't keep a win less Washington team under 450 total yards by the #3 team in the SEC). Mathematically, this doesn't add up to "the SEC is a better conference" this year. This is why the numbers are skewed. Now if the #3, #4, or #5 team of the SEC would actually play the #3, #4, or #5 team of the Pac-10, this would give the 11-9 Pac-10 record against the SEC more accuracy and meaning - but it doesn't and it helps all those major media writers and SEC homers dreaming of their mansions in the sky next to Alabama, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, etc.

Ivan Maisel and his buddy, Mark, from ESPN posted their rankings of the conferences after the season ended. They both, shockingly, agreed that the best conferences were the Pac-10 and SEC, respectively. They actually put the Pac-10 at the top! What?! Have they been reading this blog or something? Very cool! Even though the whole SEC is bowl-bound (except Vandy and Miss State), doesn't equate to a more solid and competitive conference. I think Ivan and Mark both looked at the whole picture, including strength of schedule, the final BCS top 25, and overall competitiveness in the Pac-10 vs. the SEC, to determine who had the better conference. They went out on a limb (to many writers) and I believe they got it right!

So, maybe in the coming years, the most dominating teams in the SEC will actually play the upper half of the Pac-10 teams. Will the coaches read and accept my challenges to prove themselves on the field and not just on paper? We'll see.

Harris Poll Bias

When I was a young lad in high school, there were few words that really stood out as I studied English to increase my vocabulary; however, one of those words sticks with me still to this day - "superfluous", meaning: extra, not needed or necessary. There are some things in life that can be described by this word - yes, even in college football, which I would have thought to be impossible until I ponder on the following thoughts on the subject of polls. I thought the whole idea of a poll, starting after the college football season has began to pan out with most non-conference play in the past and some conference games under way, were to reduce any pre-season hype/expectations and other poll influences that are not involved in the BCS. Looking at this week's Harris Poll has achieved nothing more than an additional look of the AP and Coaches' polls. There are so few differences between the Harris Poll and the AP, Coaches', and even the Legends' polls that it makes me wonder if the AP and Coaches' polls are so influential and dictate the state and direction of college football rankings, that the voters for the Harris and Legends polls are too scared to vote completely different from the grand-daddies of polls.

Now, I love the idea of the Legends Poll and think that they would have a better grasp of who should be ranked or not; however, they have no say in the ultimate outcome of the development of all the BCS bowl games like the Harris Poll does. The Harris Poll has all this power over the schools' football programs and I feel like they are not taking it seriously enough to show the proper respect that some schools deserve and freely giving respect to certain squads that don't necessarily deserve the respect that they are getting right now. In the BCS, it is all about the "right now" in performance of all the teams across the nation. What's your record right now? Did you win right now, or did you lose? How tough is your schedule right now? How tight did you play your most difficult games so far, or did you struggle against the weakest opponents? The Harris Poll was set up, in my kindergarten understanding of the poll, to help even out who has demonstrated quality football and to reward the teams that have done so and point out those teams who may seem over-rated in the other polls that have not demonstrated a justifiable higher ranking.

There are a couple "red flags" that make me question the integrity and validity of the Harris Poll, and we are a mere five weeks into the season. The first one I see is a 2-2 team at #20. Does it really matter what team it is? I don't think so. If you are a .500 team, do you really feel like you should be ranked in the top 25? This is so absurd! There are teams that are in the six major conferences that are 5-0 and 4-0 that are ranked lower that the 2-2 team. Is this for real? Does this really demonstrate an un-biased look at the top teams in the nation? Anyone who knows what a statistic is when they see it, knows that a 2-2 team has NOT demonstrated themselves better than a 5-0 team. Obviously, the voters in the Harris Poll have yet to see a statistic, which is very frightening for those teams that had to go 5-0 to get a glimpse into the top 25's elite status because it is apparent that it's not what you've done on the field, but who you are and what you've done in the past and what is expected from you by your alumni. Now, if this particular 2-2 team went on to win the rest of their games to finish 11-2, then I can see a top 20 showcase, but this early on, I have to suspect some foul play going on. Either that, or the voters for this very powerful Harris Poll are just not paying attention to college football and the games that were played the week prior because it just doesn't make sense.

Another "red flag" of inadequacy of voters who supposedly are not biased, is the fact that Florida is #1 with the schedule they have played so far. Really?!? Two conference games, yes, but against unranked teams (one had just lost to a Pac-10 team the week before (gasp!)). The other two wins were against Troy (no, not the USC Trojans - just Troy Trojans) and the well-known (sarcasm) Charleston Southern! Is that so impressive to put a team at #1? I'm confused. Why wouldn't an Alabama team be #1 instead? They have actually played teams that are significant this year, and won those games. Even the undefeated Iowa squad has played a more difficult schedule than the Gators, but they find themselves at #11. Is it really so hard to look at things at an unbiased view to get it correct "right now"? Of course the rankings will change as the teams' records change with some ranked teams losing and some teams improving throughout the year. I can't stress the "right now" enough. My Harris Poll would look completely weird compared to the AP and Coaches' polls, especially knowing that I had all that power over the outcome of the fate of so many teams in the nation. I would take it totally serious and think things through and take everything into account before I followed the previous week's AP Poll standings. Until the Harris Poll voters get it right to correct the BCS just a little bit of the flawd system, then the Harris Poll will be nothing but superfluous!