Hello all! The regular season is over now and I’d like to welcome you to the 1st annual College Football Wrap Up: Bowl Edition. This year’s bowl lineup is mixed with surprises and some marquee matchups that shouldn’t disappoint. After some conference championships that closed out the season, here is a look at some of the bowl games to look forward to. 

• The Capitol One Bowl will be pitting No. 13 Penn State vs. No. 12 LSU in what is going to be a contest of powerhouses.  In this one, both of these programs started the season with title hopes and although they fell short of those dreams, both the Tigers and Nittany Lions will be ready for a war Jan 1^st hoping to finish their seasons strong.
• The Gator Bowl looks to be a very popular game in Florida this season.  Although I am a diehard Seminole fan and I have been for years, I am very surprised that Florida State got the vote to play in this game after they struggled with injuries and tough losses all season. I am thinking it has something to do with it being Bobby Bowden’s last coaching effort at Florida State. The Noles will be facing a team from Bowden’s coaching past, #16 West Virginia. I am looking forward to seeing young QB EJ Manuel in his first bowl appearance facing QB Jarrett Brown and explosive RB Noel Devine from the Mountaineers.
• Another game that I am truly looking forward too is the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, which will have a faceoff between two truly powerhouse programs.  # 11 Virginia Tech takes on unranked Tennessee in a classic ACC vs. SEC matchup. Both teams have a superb running game with the Hokies featuring RB Ryan Williams and versatile QB Tyrod Taylor and the Volunteers have a star RB to match with Montario Hardesty, this should prove to be one of the better games to watch this holiday.
• I think everyone here in my backyard in El Paso TX, is a little excited to see Oklahoma facing #21 Stanford and Heisman runner up and Doak Walker award winner, Toby Gerhart, in what is expected to be an outstanding contest. It certainly is one of the better matchups in the Brut Sun Bowl in recent memory. I am looking for Gerhart to have a big game, especially if he is looking to enter the draft.
• One of my favorite teams to watch this season will be in this year’s Champs Sports Bowl with #15 Miami taking on Wisconsin. I am a big fan o QB Jacory Harris and what he can do in the clutch. Miami had a very tough season schedule and I believe they showed a lot of people that they will be a team to fear this upcoming season.
• This season’s Independence Bowl highlights Texas A&M vs. Georgia. It should be quite a game with both teams coming off of good performances.  A&M’s Jerrod Johnson sure had a great showing against Texas behind center, and I am looking forward to see him perform once again. Georgia has had some ups and downs this season but still has some promising players to garner an expected win; I would tune in for this one.
• The Holiday Bowl will feature #22 Nebraska against #20 Arizona .The Cornhuskers are coming off of a very disappointing loss to #2 Texas, but had a memorable performance out of DT Ndamukong Suh with a career high 4.5 sacks, which pushed him into Heisman finalist territory. They will need that same passion and physicality to match the offense that the Wildcats have been able to muster these recent weeks. I take the Nebraska in this one with a strong performance from Suh.
• In a game that will surprise many casual fans, the Emerald Bowl will have #25 USC face off against Boston College in what many believe will be a blowout. Trojan Head Coach Pete Carroll is looking to regain his throne as an offensive general, and I do not see the Trojan defense letting this one get by them either. We have seen what happens when USC doesn’t take their opponent seriously, don’t expect any mistakes here.

BCS Countdown

• The Orange Bowl this season features a strong matchup with #10 Iowa taking on #9 Georgia Tech . Georgia Tech is one of the best teams from the ACC this year with QB Josh Nesbitt and RB Jonathan Dwyer as one of the best running duos in the country. Iowa has had a great season with a few bumps at the end of the journey when their “General” Ricky Stanzi was injured down the stretch. However, Stanzi has the green light to return January 5^th, and with great coaching and a passionate defens, the Hawkeyes remained a team to beat at season’s end. This should be a great meeting between two hungry teams.
• The Fiesta Bowl this year is going to be a very anticipated matchup between two undefeated teams that were chasing their national title chances throughout the season. #4 TCU is facing #6 Boise State. This is the first time two non BCS teams are featured in a BCS bowl, so look for both teams coming ready to play their best football. This will be a true test to reveal if the future of the current bowl system could change. The game will come down to which QB is protected better and  if the Horned Frogs are not fazed by the importance of this bowl game in the national spotlight.
• I am really looking forward to this year’s Rose Bowl, #7 Oregon versus #8 Ohio State. I truly believe that Oregon is one of the best programs in the country at the moment, and they have looked adversity in the eye all season with a smile. The Ducks look to continue that pattern with Jeremiah Masoli and his duel threat mentality. The Buckeyes are looking to prove that they are heading in the right direction with their offense, so I expect for Terelle Pryor to have a big game on the ground showing Ohio why he is their future at the QB position.
• This year’s Sugar Bowl will also be a very interesting game with #5 Florida taking on #3 Cincinnati. The Bearcats are currently undefeated and are wielding a vicious passing attack from Tony Pike, however Florida quarterback Tim Tebow may bring his own arsenal coming off of a devastating loss to Alabama in this past week’s SEC championship game. Judging by his past…it is hard to say that he will lose two in a row, and Cincinnati is facing the reality that head coach Brian Kelly is off to replace Charlie Weis at Notre Dame.   
• Lastly, we have this year’s BCS national championship game which will feature #1 Alabama against #2 Texas in a matchup of two undefeated teams. With playmakers on offense , and two future hall of fame coaches going head to head, this should be a memorable game. I am looking forward to seeing what Alabama’s Heisman winner Mark Ingram and the Longhorns own Maxwell Award winner Colt McCoy bring to the table. McCoy should be aiming to prove something as a Heisman runner-up. The stage is rarely set up more perfectly for a national title game.

Wow, what a season to remember. With so many expectations crushed, and so much potential realized, we were able to witness many surprises as many teams fell from grace as other teams looked to solidify themselves as valid contenders. Thank for following on The Fathers Life, and College Football Wrap UP this season and I hope that you come back to read us again.

2009-10 College Football Bowl Schedule

Related posts:

1. NCAA Football 2009 Preseason Power Rankings
2. College Football Wrap Up: Week 13
3. College Football Wrap Up: Week 6

After taking off week 12 to spend some vacation time with the family College Football Wrap-Up is back for week 13. Rivalry week proved to be quite the week, bringing about many changes and also raising some questions surrounding the future of some storied programs.

• Starting off with Notre Dame, we have some very interesting changes with the firing of head coach Charlie Weis before their potential bowl appearance. After an up and down season for the Irish, Charlie Weis couldn’t overcome his critics over these last 5 seasons. It isn’t a surprise after The Irish were expected to make a BCS run and finished a paltry 6-6, losing their last 4 straight games including losses to Navy and Connecticut.
• In some rather sad news, Florida State Seminoles Head Coach Bobby Bowden announced his retirement Tuesday after one of the most prolific tenures ever for a head coach. In his 34th year, Bowden has two national championships to his credit and also led the Seminoles to one of the most dominant batches of seasons ever in college football from 1987-2000 with an astounding 14 consecutive top  finishes in the top five. Bowden amassed a mind boggling 388 wins in his career, leaving him second in the all time wins only to Penn State’s Joe Paterno.
• In rivalry week action, we started off with a bang on turkey day with #3 Texas taking on conference rival Texas A&M in an exciting shootout from both offenses. Aggies QB Jerrod Johnson was able to show the nation that he can be a dangerous weapon going 26-33 for 342 yards and 4 TD’s keeping the Aggies in the hunt for most of the game. However, Heisman frontrunner Colt McCoy was slingin’ his guns to a different tune accounting for a total of 479 all purpose yards, including a career high 175 yards on the ground, and 5 total touchdowns leading the longhorns to victory 48-39.
• On to a close conference game on Friday morning between #2 Alabama and unranked Auburn, Alabama’s offense looked like it was struggling in the first half without having RB Mark Ingram available for most  the game. The Crimson Tide managed to keep their national championship hopes alive however, overcoming a 14 point deficit and regained the lead to grab the win 26-21.
• Undefeated #5 Cincinnati met Illinois this weekend and it looked like an offensive playground with the Bearcats signal caller Tony Pike tossing 6 touchdowns in the victory, 49-36.
• Also undefeated, #6 Boise State dominated Nevada with a great offensive team performance. Despite late comeback effort from the Wolf Pack, the Broncos kept their winning streak on their patented blue turf alive at 44, gaining the win 44-33.
• In another great matchup this weekend we saw some great coaching efforts with #15 Pittsburgh taking on a tough West Virginia squad. In what was a defensive hold off from both teams, West Virginia’s little lightning bolt RB Noel Devine’s rushing effort proved to be the difference in this one gaining 174 yards and a touchdown to take the win 19-16.
• Finally on to Saturday, we saw the nation’s #1 team Florida taking on their biggest rival, Florida State. In a game that was very emotional for Gators QB Tim Tebow in front of his home crowd for the last time in the swamp, Tebow’s leadership and emotional effort steamrolled the Gators past the Seminoles 37-10. The only thing in their way from another National Championship is a potential upset in the SEC championship game against #2 Alabama. You could hardly ask for a more dramatic end to a season with the nation’s #1 and #2 meeting in the last game of the season.
• Next we had in-state rivals Virginia Tech taking on the Virginia Cavaliers in what might have been Cavaliers coach Al Groh’s  last effort in the ACC. It was a disappointing performance due to the outstanding rushing effort of Hokies RB Darren Evans who ran for 183 yards on 24 carries and racked up 4 TD’s on their way to a victory 42-13.
• Finally we saw # 18 USC back in the win column again against rival UCLA with consistent play on offense from the Trojans. USC seemed to abandon some of their typical flashy offense that we have become accustomed to, but still good enough for the solid win, 28-7.
• Powerhouse # 17 Miami had their hands full with taking on South Florida. Canes QB Jacory Harris kept his head in the game especially in the third quarter, accounting for two passing touchdowns on the day to get the win, 31-10.
• The ACC’s top team #10 Georgia Tech lost this weekend’s matchup against unranked Rival Georgia from the SEC, with the Bulldogs relying heavily on the legs of RB Caleb King who rushed for 166 yards on just 16 carries and 2 TD’s. The Yellow Jackets seemed to rely too much on the athleticism of QB Josh Nesbitt, which just proved to be a bad game plan. Georgia Tech’s singular effort failed losing 24-30.
• Undefeated # 4 TCU ran straight though New Mexico and didn’t bother to look back. Andy Dalton’s four touchdowns helped lead the Horned Frogs to a perfect regular season 51-10. \
• # 20 Oklahoma State faced in state rival and unranked Oklahoma in an anticipated matchup where we saw only one team show up and that was the Sooners. This one was over quickly with RB DeMarco Murray’s two rushing TD’s to close it out. The Sooners tasted sweet victory 27-0 and offered some redemption to their mostly Bradford-less season.
• In a very, very close SEC Matchup we saw # 13 LSU battling an unranked Arkansas team. An all out offensive war between rivals, the Razorbacks stud- armed QB Ryan Mallet accounted for most of the yards on offense including one touchdown pass, while the Tigers offense looked to be more balanced when it counted. LSU QB  Jordan Jefferson threw for two TD’s  and showed that he can roll with the flow even after a tough loss to Missouri the week before, getting them the close win 33-30.
• Now unranked Clemson saw defeat in their meeting with Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks of South Carolina. With Tigers RB CJ Spillar coming up empty throughout the game, South Carolina’s QB Stephen Garcia showed up to play, accounting for  3 touchdowns and helping to get the victory 34-17.
• In other news outside the Top 25, Huskies QB Jake Locker remains on the radar as a possible top NFL prospect after an impressive performance against their rival Washington State, 30-0. Locker has stayed out of the mainstream spotlight since the team has faltered after an early win against USC, but Locker’s 6’3” 226 pound frame mixed with good agility and strength have many mock draft experts seeing him be the first QB drafted in 2010. With the possible changes coming in 2011 to the NFL’s pay system, 2010 could be one of the tightest draft classes ever as rookies try to land a big deal, since it doesn’t look like a new collective bargaining agreement will be signed.

In the Heisman race we seem to have Texas QB Colt McCoy as the favorite followed closely by Stanford’s own RB Toby Gerhart and also Florida’s now legendary QB Tim Tebow. This week’s games will be spectacular as we will start it off by seeing Oregon take on Oregon State for the Pac 10 title on Thursday, followed by two of the biggest games of the season on Saturday with #1 Florida taking on #2 Alabama for the SEC title, and #3 Texas facing #22 Nebraska for the Big 12. Well folks, I look forward to seeing you next week here at The Father Life to discuss the BCS schedule and if your favorite team made it to a bowl game.

Related posts:

1. College Football Wrap Up: Week 8
2. College Football Wrap Up: Week 7
3. College Football Wrap Up: Week 11

Week 11 is in the hamper, and as far as this season goes, it was another week of excitement and definite shakeups in the Top 25.

• Getting down to business this week we had a Thursday game pitting USF against a very tough Rutgers team where we saw a dominating performance on offense for The Scarlet Knights as they trashed USF 31-0.
• South Florida’s thrashing was followed by a tight Friday night game with West Virginia playing a undefeated #5 Cincinnati squad. We saw limited time from Cincinnati’s QB Tony Pike, however he did manage to have two touchdown passes in the little time that he played. With Zach Collaros taking most of the snaps, it gave Pike the opportunity to be 2/4 16yards and two touchdowns to help keep them undefeated as the Bearcats win 24-21.
• On to Saturday’s action, we saw an interesting game in the ACC with #15 Virginia Tech taking on Maryland in what was a poor performance for the Terrapins on both sides of the ball letting the Hokies QB Tyrod Taylor fire up his arm going 13-23 for 268 yards and three touchdowns to easily move past Maryland 36-9.
• Also in the ACC this week we saw the debut of heralded QB EJ Manuel for Bobby Bowden’s unranked Florida State squad due to the shoulder injury sustained by starter QB Christian Ponder. His debut was very much a success going 15-20 for 220 yards and one touchdown helping the ‘Noles past Wake Forest in this matchup for the first time in three years 41-28.
• # 20 Miami was stunned in a matchup against conference partner North Carolina where the Tarheels success came from a very strong defensive performance against the Hurricanes rushing offense, keeping them to barely over 100 yards on the ground. The Tarheel defense also kept QB Jacory Harris to only one touchdown through the air, defeating the hurricanes 33-24.
• In my favorite game this weekend, we saw #18 USC taking on a #17 Stanford team. The Trojans have fallen from grace it seems in the past couple weeks giving up more than 50 points in back- to- back contests. This week USC gave a lackluster performance through the air but had a solid day on the ground with Joe McKnight running for 16 carries for 162 yards and a TD. It was nowhere near enough however, to hold back a hot Stanford team. Touted QB Andrew Luck was 12-22 with 144 yards and two touchdowns. And similar to last week, the game ball goes to RB Toby Gerhart who had 29 carries for 178 yards with a whopping three touchdowns to stun USC 55-21.
• #1 Florida and Heisman candidate Tim Tebow had the luxury of playing South Carolina this weekend that had Steve Spurrier wishing he was still with his former Gator team. The Gamecocks  tried their best in this one but as suspected it was not enough to bring down the beast , Florida wins 24-14.
• In Big 12 action, #3 Texas demolished Baylor with Colt McCoy tossing two touchdowns, both to his roommate Jordan Shipley grabbing the win 47-14.
• #2 Alabama faced Mississippi State this weekend in a matchup that was pretty much one sided with RB Mark Ingram still literally running for his chance at the Heisman gaining 149 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns leading to a victory 31-3.
• # 6 Boise State embarrassed Idaho with QB Kellen Moore throwing for 5 touchdowns in a 63-25 victory, keeping their streak alive at 10-0.
• # 4 TCU taking on a #21 Utah team, with TCU’s Andy Dalton going 17-29 with 207 yards and one touchdown, as the Horned Frogs coasted to victory 55-28.
• ACC leading #7 Georgia Tech keeps romping in the BCS as they faced Duke this past weekend with star QB Josh Nesbitt doing more with his arm this averaging over 30 yards per completion going  6-10 and 195 yards with two touchdowns winning the game easily 49-10.
• #13 Iowa came off a disappointing loss last week after losing star QB Ricky Stanzi, faced a tough #10 Ohio State squad in a very close matchup. Hawkeye QB James Vandenburg faired a bit better this week going 20-33 with 233 yards and two touchdowns. However it wasn’t enough to stop the Buckeyes and QB Terrelle Pryor paired with rushing game of RB Brandon Saine who had 103 yards on the ground with 2 TD’s helping get a victory, 27-24.
• Unranked Notre Dame has been spiraling downwards and with that talk of Charlie Weis’s future as the Irish head coach has been in question as well. Taking on a #9 ranked Pittsburg team , this game was a hard fought matchup against two great offensive teams , but overall I think Charlie Weis is  at fault again for his lack of focus regarding his rushing attack combined with some very stiff playcalling leading to an Irish loss 22-27.
• #11 Oregon continues their march of victories with a convincing win over Arizona State in which the Sun Devils were just simply outplayed on offense by Freshman RB LaMichael James who ran  for 150 yards and three touchdowns keeping recently reinstated RB LeGarrette Blount on the bench the entire game winning this one 44-21.

It has been a truly competitive season as it is nearing its end, and I have been both impressed and disgusted at times throughout this season. Overall it is refreshing to see some of the bigger schools being somewhat overshadowed by the steady performances of the smaller conferences. In the end we all know that SEC is king but now I ask , is that really still the truth with all of the conferences making significant improvements with their recruiting and also with their coaching selections , maybe we are not far from calling the ACC, Big 12, and SEC a trio of powerhouse conferences  in the near future.

In this year’s Heisman race we are still looking for our solid # 1 choice for the trophy in a season where ESPN analyst  Todd Mcshay  states “ in a season where nobody wants to win the Heisman” we have Mark Ingram at the top following his solid performance on Saturday, close behind him is a surprise with Stanford RB Toby Gerhart getting a good number of votes as well, followed by CJ Spillar from Clemson and of course QB Tim Tebow from Florida.

A few key matchups to keep an eye on are Ohio State vs Michigan, California vs Stanford and watch out for a potential upset with Oregon vs Arizona. That’s all until next week, I’ll see you right back here at The Father Life.

Related posts:

1. College Football Wrap Up: Week 9
2. College Football Wrap Up: Week 10
3. College Football Wrap Up: Week 13

Wow is all I have to say, week 10 is in the books and it was full of big plays and big wins for teams across the Top 25. Let’s get down and look at last week’s action.

• Thursday started the week off with a bang with a competitive game pitting #21 Virginia Tech against an unranked ECU squad, it was a slow start for both teams but the game ball goes to Hokies RB  Ryan Williams who had  26 carries for 179 yards to get them the victory 16-3.
• We then saw an interesting game between #6 Boise State and Louisiana Tech in which we saw glimpses of some weak spots in the Broncos. Boise State dangerously let Louisiana keep themselves alive until the fourth quarter, we will see how the season plays out in Idaho, but I have my doubts regarding their big play ability.
• In one of the better games of the weekend, we saw was a hardnosed #10 Iowa team take on a surprising Northwestern team. The undefeated Hawkeyes lost their starting QB Ricky Stanzi in the beginning of the second quarter on Saturday leading to an instant interception thrown by Iowa Freshman QB James Vandenburg, helping Northwestern grind out a victory 17-10. Although Vandenberg was a somewhat heralded QB out of high school, he has some big shoes to fill this weekend as it looks like he will start against a tough Ohio State team on Saturday.
• Another great game this past weekend featured #16 Ohio State taking on #11 Penn State. Two high profile teams with two high profile QB’s always makes for a highly anticipated match, and this one was no different. Terrelle Pryor started the game out for the Buckeyes with a twelve yard scamper for a touchdown, which ultimately set the pace for Ohio State to overpower the rival Nittany Lions. Pryor showed a steady performance throughout the game including a fifty yard bomb in the third quarter to help them get the upset win 24-7. Penn State QB Darryl Clark passed for a season low 125 yards and barely completed 40% of his passes for the loss.
• #1 Florida didn’t miss a beat without Brandon Spikes this week against Vanderbuilt. Heisman QB Tim Tebow led the Gators to a win 27-3 continuing their unbeaten streak to 19 straight.
• The week’s most hyped matchup also happened to come from the SEC with #2 Alabama trying to stay undefeated against now ranked #8 LSU. Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban always has high expectations when facing his former LSU team. It was a game of chess between two great teams, but it was the defense for Alabama that was able to keep the Tigers in their cage. The Crimson Tide pulled out a very important win 24-15, leading to a chance at the SEC title against #1 Florida.
• In the ACC this week, #14 Miami and star QB Jacory Harris took on Virginia in a conference matchup. Miami displayed a balanced passing and rushing attack and smoothly took this one 52-17.
• UCF had to live out a nightmare on Saturday against #3 Texas with the Longhorns offense having a record breaking day. Texas QB Colt McCoy went 33-42 with 470 yards and two touchdowns while roommate wide receiver Jordan Shipley had a mind boggling 273 yards on 11 receptions with one TD, steamrolling UCF with a victory 35-3.
• #5 Cincinnati had outlasted an unranked Connecticut team in a shootout that came to surprise the Bearcats with an impressive running attack. UConn RB Jordan Todman rushed for 162 yards and 4 touchdowns on 26 carries, but it wasn’t enough to hold off backup QB Zach Collaros from amassing a total of 555 all purpose yards. Collaros racked up 480 yards going 29-37 with a TD and added an additional 75 yards and two more touchdowns leading to a hard fought Bearcat win 47-45.
• With Iowa out of the picture and Cincinnati’s squeaker, #4 TCU jumped in this week’s rankings due to an offensive blowout against San Diego St  55-12. The Horned Frogs tallied up a whopping 551 yards of total offense with QB Andy Dalton accounting for 4 Td’s. They will be facing Utah next week in a conference showdown.
• # 7 Georgia Tech still leads the ACC with their awesome rushing attack taking on Wake Forest this past weekend. The Yellow Jackets looked a bit sluggish in the first half, but it was Jonathan Dwyer’s 23 carries for 189 yards and a touchdown that was the difference in this one. Another close game 30-27.
• After dismantling USC the week before, #13 Oregon seemed unstoppable. Introduce tough rival Stanford and their high octane offense. Cardinal QB Andrew Luck accounted for two touchdowns, but the Ducks were quacking to different tune with their star junior QB Jeremiah Masoli passing for a season high 334 yards and 3 touchdowns while RB Lemichael James rushed for 125 yards and touchdown  and caught 4 passes for 89 yards. In the end, it was Stanford had too many threats for the Ducks. RB Toby Gerhart had 38 carries for 223 yards and three touchdowns and WR Chris Owusu caught 4 passes for 111 yards and a TD as well as returned 5 kickoffs an average of almost 40 yards a return which set up great field position throughout the game and Stanford wins 51-42.
• Unranked FSU and QB Christian Ponder faced another disappointing setback against a tough Clemson team this week with Kyle Parker showing fans why he is the clear choice for the starting role. Ponder suffered a separated throwing shoulder toward the end of the game, giving way to much anticipated recruit EJ Manuel to take the snaps for the remainder of the season. Clemson wins 40-24.
• #22 Notre Dame had a grudge match against Navy this year to avenge their loss in South Bend two years ago, but somehow the grudge didn’t work out as planned. For the second consecutive time at Notre Dame, Navy pulled out a win. Unlike the 2007 win though, the Midshipmen treated this one like business as usual, sacking Jimmy Clausen with only 60 seconds to go to go up by 9. Even though they gave up a touchdown 36 seconds later, on a 31 yard pass to Golden Tate, Navy held on to win 23-21.

In the Heisman Race, we have some new additions with Clemson RB CJ Spiller getting some attention at the top, however I do not see him as a better player than Alabama’s Mark Ingram or Florida’ s  Tim Tebow. Jimmy Clausen’s bad game against Navy brought his stock down just a bit, although I believe Charlie Weis is to blame in that one. This year also seems to be more injury prone than previous years as I am seeing an increasing amount of concussions and other injuries as well. Seeing Jahvid Best from Cal laying stiff in the endzone after an impressive touchdown, leaves the grim reminder that even the most talented of football players are never far away from a potential ripple in their season.

Related posts:

1. College Football Wrap Up: Week 11
2. College Football Wrap Up: Week 13
3. College Football Wrap Up: Week 9

Another year of pigskin glory is upon us. Well, actually it won’t technically be upon so for another three weeks or so, but that won’t stop me from attempting to rank the top twenty-five Division I teams in the land. On the list are some of the usual suspects as well as some teams that are out to make a name for themselves. This list will be completely different come December, and I plan to come back and check out how right (wrong) I was in my selections. So without further adieu, here are your preseason power rankings.

I’m not really going to into detail about why I made these selections like I do with my NFL power rankings. College football is so much more precise than the NFL when it comes to ranking teams. A team like the Chargers last season would not have made the top twenty-five in a NCAA-esque poll because of the amount of losses that they had during the season, but they were obviously one of the best teams in the NFL.

This is not an exact science, and I’ll probably be wrong about a lot of these teams. What I want to know is, what do you think? Throw me an email cosburn@thefatherlife.com or post a message below and tell me how wrong or how right I am.

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Alabama
5. Ohio State
6. USC
7. Penn State
8. Mississippi
9. Virginia Tech
10. LSU
11. Oklahoma State
12. California
13. Oregon
14. Georgia
15. Boise State
16. TCU
17. Georgia Tech
18. Nebraska
19. Florida State
20. Iowa
21. North Carolina
22. Miami
23. Kansas
24. Utah
25. Notre Dame

*Almost made it: Brigham Young, Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Oregon State, Clemson, South Carolina, South Florida, and Syracuse (just kidding).

You might be wondering why I placed some of the teams on the list and why I left some off. The number one spot is obvious. Until someone dethrones the Gators, Florida is #1. I don’t think they’ll repeat, just because it’s not very easy, but with Tebow at the helm they are always dangerous. Texas and Oklahoma are always nasty, and both have Heisman hopeful quarterbacks in defending winner Chad Bradford (Oklahoma) and Colt McCoy (Texas). The two top five teams that I’m not 100% on are Ohio State and ‘Bama. Both teams have a history of getting their fans’ hopes up only to dash them away. USC never seems to have a down year and have the look of a BCS team yet again, even with untested Aaron Corp taking over for Mark Sanchez

The other top twenty-five teams I’m keeping an eye on are Boise State, Utah, and Notre Dame. The first because of usual weak scheduling enables them to feast on outclassed opponents. Boise State does have a tough start. They open at home against #13 Oregon on September 3rd.  If they can get past the Ducks, it should be easy sailing for the rest of the season. Utah’s problem might be that their schedule is too hard. They went from not getting enough respect because of a weak schedule to tilts with #13 Oregon, #16 TCU, and Brigham Young. Notre Dame is an intriguing top twenty-five pick. As a fan of the Irish, I’m always cautious when they are ranked because it usually means that I should be ready for a let-down. At least they are barely ranked. If they end up in the top twenty-five at the end of the year I’ll be happy. It all hinges on the development of Jimmy Clausen, receivers Michael Floyd and Golden Tate, and the running backs by committee. The defense is solid, and if all the pieces fit correctly, this puzzle will look a lot like a BCS birth… or at least a nice late December bowl game.

Image credit: Jason Aaberg

Related posts:

1. NCAA Basketball Pre-Season Power Rankings
2. College Football Wrap Up: Week 7
3. College Football Wrap Up: Bowl Edition

Images: Courtesy of Patryck Krutewicz

Last year, the 2006 Rose Bowl between USC and Texas had the highest TV rating for a college football game in 19 years; it was a great game with huge star power between two well-known teams. Thats the good news. The bad news is that the Super Bowl has not had a rating as low as the 2006 Rose Bowl since 1967.

Even more damning for college football: this past fall the average Sunday Night NFL game is the 8th most watched show on TV and every NFL time slot far surpasses any college football time slot, in most cases doubling their rating. Now TV ratings are not everything, but they are quite revealing in how much we do not care about college football.

I love football. America loves football. And yet college football is falling further and further behind in popularity. In my opinion there is but one major reason for this: the current BCS system of how the National Champion is decided. College football is going to have to make some major changes if it wants to retain its popularity and profitability.

The biggest reason I prefer the NFL to college football is the way the champion is determined. In the NFL a fair, predetermined number of teams qualify for the playoffs and the last one standing without defeat is declared the champion. Pretty simple and very compelling drama as teams have to win at least 3 games and with each game the drama builds as the competition increases. This is also what makes college basketball so popular. The March Madness Tournament in most years is the second most popular sporting event to the Super Bowl, because of the win-or-go-home mentality, the chance for the underdog to pull off the upset, and drama that grows each game as the stakes are raised.

We dont have this with college football (even though it works so great for the NCAA in basketball). Teams are assigned to Bowl games, of which only one will determine the BCS national champion. All the other games are really meaningless. Sure the fans of the schools like them as they get to travel and see their team play; and players get to end their year on a high note of playing in a bowl game but the viewing numbers are horrible because there is no compelling reason to watch these games.

The biggest problem is how the participants in the championship game are determined. From October on, we have constant arguments on who is most worthy and what teams need to do to qualify. This year has been no different as strong arguments were made for both Florida and Michigan to have the chance to play Ohio St. for the championship. It is this arbitrary system of declaring a champion that most keeps me away from following college football on more than just a cursory basis.

How do we change this? The most obvious way would be to start a playoff system. We can still use the cherished Bowls. This would offer huge interest to the casual fan (see that little tournament called March Madness where more brackets and gambling is done than any other sporting event), not to mention huge amounts of money to the school presidents and athletic department heads. Sure there would still be debates over how we select the teams to be involved in these playoffs, but instead of deciding which undefeated team gets left out (like the USC, LSU, Oklahoma joke a few years ago) we would be choosing the eighth team over the ninth team.

The truth of the matter is that with my busy schedule and family obligations I rarely have time to watch football games on both Saturday and Sunday. I almost always choose to watch the NFL (Michigan is my favorite team and I have only watched 2 games of theirs all year despite the fact that this is their best season in years), and I think I fall in the majority, as evidenced by the weekly TV ratings. If college football ever wants to become more meaningful and popular it needs to scrap its current process of crowning the champion each year. Thats my suggestion; I am sure there are other ideas but the conversation needs to happen in the Presidents meetings and not among the few fans that are left.

Related posts:

1. College Football Wrap Up: Week 6
2. NCAA Basketball Pre-Season Power Rankings
3. NCAA Football 2009 Preseason Power Rankings