Random NCAA Thoughts...at 5:30 am

If VaTech plays USC for the title, VaTech wins. Naturally that assumes they win out against a tough ACC (including a showdown with Miami), but the quick and physical Hokies defense can hold Leinart & Co. just enough to allow the punishing running game of Mike Imoh and Cedric Humes to control the clock, and oh ya, they kinda have a Heisman notable of their own in Marcus Vick that's playing on a Leinart-esque level in the pocket.

If Texas plays for the national title, I don't think QB Vince Young will win the game like he did against Michigan in the Rose Bowl last year and against Ohio State earlier this year. He'll have a great game, but Mack Brown - the John Cooper of Texas - will find a way to lose his best national title chance to date.

Speaking of John Cooper, I can't remember the Buckeyes blocking 2 kicks in a game since he used to send the house Beamer-like and actually utilize his talent in a gamebreaking manner. It's not often I praise Coop, but at least he made use of OSU's ability to recruit the best athletes in nation and use them in a manner that can change the tide of games. Granted our big play today against Michigan State came on a blown blocking assignment (by assignment I mean no one blocking the entire left side), but it was comforting to see us make a play of that caliber.

Can Purdue fucking suck anymore? Talk about being handed the toughest conference in the nation (oh ya, I went there).

It's not often I pull for that state up north (forgive for refusing the utter the name), but Joe Pa pissed me off when he put up 63 on us with Kerry Collins, Bobby Engram and Kijana Carter back in 1994. For that, I may be pulling for the Wolverines again before I ever think of pulling for Penn State.

I sat and argued with Swade on Friday about Virginia upsetting FSU, WVU upsetting Louisville and Wazzou upsetting UCLA. While only the first 2 occurred, Wazzou came within 3 against the #12 ranked Bruins. Then, to add insult to injury, Swade and I started a "man points pick 'em" where we each wager 100 man points per week against the spread on Swade-selected games, and I picked FSU and Louisville to both cover. I did cash in on the Wazzou game, but my wagers on the first 2 nullify any points I gained off the Cougars.

Brian Brohm is the real deal at Louisville. Holy shit this guy can play.

Back on Texas for a second, I hope they put up 80 on Texas Tech. Seriously, bombing the ball in the 4th quarter with your first stringers up 40 points is bullshit. They have an excellent back in Taurean Henderson, if you want to run your first stringers late in the game then line up behind center and run it behind the line. This shotgun spread shit late in the game has to stop, and I'm looking for the Longhorns to deliver the money shot. In fact, I just saw the TT/KSU highlight, and the Hodges to Henderson shovel pass came with 6:32 remaining in the 4th quarter...up by 32 points. I hate wishing personal injury on someone, but maybe a season-ender may teach them some fuckin' class.

Les Miles is doing the right thing in LSU by sticking with JaMarcus Russell. Last year's coach Nick Saban had Russell looking over his shoulder constantly and fucked that guy up something fierce. By sticking with Russell in the clutch today against Florida, Miles showed him a level of trust that he hasn't experienced since taking over the job after Matt Mauck left. This guy has all the talent in the world, throws one of the prettiest balls in college football, and coached right could be a potential high round draft pick.

Charlie Weis, if not influenced to rejoin the NFL as a head coach, will have a statue of himself outside the stadium at South Bend. With inherited talent he's proven to be amongst the best game planners college football, and with a predicted top 5 recruiting class in just his first year...hey, how 'bout 'dem Golden Domers. As much as Swade loathes Notre Dame, it pains me almost equally to see them returning to the top of college football again.

Florida's offensive woes is no one's fault but Urban Meyers. He may be an offensive genius, but when you have a pocket passer the caliber of Chris Leak, you don't force your system onto him in it's entirity. If you want to compete at the SEC level, scrap some of that shit until you recruit a kid to come in and run it the way you want. Chris Leak and Alex Smith are 2 different college quarterbacks, you can't plug one into the other's shoes and expect the same results.

On that note, imagine Leak playing for Spurrier in the 90's...bet the Gators would own more than 1 national championship under him.

On the Spurrier tip, I expect the Gamecocks to be playing in Omaha for a national title before Spurrier's playing in a BCS bowl. I don't expect SC to win in their first year with the old ball coach, but I also see nothing that'd lead me to believe they'll emerge out of mediocrity either.

Glen Mason at Minnesota is the NCAA's answer to Mike Shanahan in terms of a running game, but Laurence Maroney is quite possibly the best runner I've seen in the Big 10 in a long time. If Ron Dayne and Eddie George has his speed while maintaining that power that won them Heisman trophies, both would still be elite backs in the NFL. Maroney's a complete package - he catches the ball well out of the backfield, he has great vision and once he hits holes - my god this guy is fast. I really kind of compare him more to Kevin Jones as a runner in terms of the power and elusiveness, but Maroney won't show up and run a 4.6 at the combine - dude can flat out blaze.