BlogPoll Roundtable V2.4

All hail Maize n Brew for this glorious Thai coup of a Roundtable.

1. It's only the third week of the season and we've already seen some highly ranked favorites drop out of national championship contention. Preseason favorite Cal dropped to #21 after a loss and a pair of underwhelming victories. Who's your pick as the next NC contender to take a fall?

As much as I'd like to pick Buffalo over Auburn on Saturday, I think we're going to have to say au revoir to Florida on the 30th. Alabama is going to play the defense card and stop the Gators dead in their tracks.
Florida barely beat a not-so-great Tennessee team. They are ripe for the picking.

2. By that same token there are several schools hanging around without a loss that all of a sudden look like surprise contenders. There are also a few one loss teams with a legit shot at getting back into it. Looking at the rankings who's the team no one's talking about with the best shot at crashing the party?

Virginia Tech seems to be the only team in the ACC that hasn't yet been exposed. Sure, the only thing more full of cupcakes than their non-conference schedule is Phil Fulmer, but they may emerge unscathed from the ACC by default. And we were all bellyaching about the Big East in the preseason!

3. Every team has their quicksand away game. You know. That place you should win but somehow find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or at least scare the @&>%^ out of you every year. Did you know that over the last 21 years Kentucky wasn't won once in Knoxville? Where is your team's yearly sandtrap?

We're about to step in it. Wisconsin hasn't won at Michigan Stadium since 1994. Prior to that ... would you believe 1962? That's right. Overall, Wisconsin is a less-than-ideal 6-25 when visiting Michigan. The full list of victory years? 1994, 1962, 1959, 1934, 1928, and 1893. Eesh. The last time the Badgers played in Ann Arbor was 2002, when a 5-0 start morphed into a 7-6 catastrophe before a memorable Alamo Bowl win over the Colorado Buffalos. The game at Michigan Stadium featured the Badgers spotting Michigan a 14-0 lead before five minutes had passed, and the #12 Wolverines Lloydballing their way to a 21-14 victory.

4. Now that you've looked into the darkest place in your football soul, free Escalades aside, turn and look into your crystal ball. Conference play is either just starting or a single game in. Based on what you've seen so far, give the order of finish in your conference, and if you've got a Conference Championship game tell us who the winner will be. Independents must predict the remainder of their schedule. The results your predictions will be held against you at the end of the season.

We're back to the Big Two/Little Nine again. Sigh.

Ohio State
Michigan

Michigan State
Wisconsin
Iowa
Penn State
Minnesota
Purdue
Illinois
Northwestern
Indiana

5. In keeping with the spirit of Maize n Brew, name your beverage of choice on game days and why. It need not be alcoholic, as there are some of us who choose not to imbibe on game day. Further, it need not be limited to a single brand/type/category. If you enjoy drinking PBR and Kraft Turkey Gravy at the same time (which I have personally witnessed), please, elaborate. Finally, if you should feel so inclined, and this is not a requirement, add an anecdote involving said beverage choice.

If you like beer and come to Madison, your visit is not complete without trying Spotted Cow from the New Glarus Brewing Company. This cloudy ale is a delight for the tastebuds. It does not, however, breed humorous anecdotes, as this is a libation you'll prefer to savor. If you want to get intoxicated, do shots of Aftershock. If you want to enjoy a tasty beverage, Spotted Cow is the way.




Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

Blogpoll ballot DRAFT - Week 4

1. Ohio State
No reason to change, so no change
2. Southern Cal
Guess I overrated Nebraska a bit there. Remind me again why I bought into the Huskers' schtick
3. West Virginia
This ranking is half because I buy them as legitimate and half because I hope that the high ranking will curse them. Because I have that kind of power
4. Georgia
I suppose shutting out UAB is impressive
5. Louisville
The remark here is about the same as the one for WV
6. Michigan
Admit it, it felt good to see them win on Saturday
7. Auburn
I get it. Your defense is good. But your offense is bad. You won't win all that much.
8. Florida
Big reshuffling week, isn't it?
9. Louisiana State
I get it. Your defense is good. But your offense is bad. You won't win all that much.
10. Virginia Tech
Duke is sweet, that's why the Hokies move up 6 spots
11. Notre Dame
I still like Quinn to win the Heisman. OMGLOL!!!
12. Texas
Texas-Iowa State will be more interesting than anticipated
13. Iowa
Nice "statement game" after that close call with Syracuse ... NOT!!
14. Wisconsin
The Badgers continue their magical ascent! Somehow!
15. Cal
Don't know.
16. Arizona State
Don't know.
17. Boston College
Too much overtime
18. Clemson
Probably deserve a ranking
19. Michigan State
Give 'em an ounce of attention before Notre Dame uses them as a whipping boy
20. Oklahoma
Freezing them here after Saturday's fiasco. It's symbolism. You know, like the game never happened
21. Georgia Tech
Did better against Troy than the Seminoles!
22. Oregon
Freezing them here after Saturday's fiasco. It's symbolism. You know, like the game never happened
23. Rutgers
Wouldn't it be funny if they lost to Howard?
24. Miami (Florida)
Just want to kick em around a little bit here
25. Navy
A hearty cheer for our seafaring team!

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

Fourth down decisions

One aspect that made an otherwise boring game a little more interesting was Bret Bielema's playcalling on fourth down. Much has been made about this in the WSJ and in today's Daily Cardinal. Since UW didn't convert on any of these fourth downs, the power of hindsight has, of course, kicked in and allowed Mike Oates and Sam Pepper to inform us that these were Bad Decisions on the part of the Badgers' head coach. Let's examine these calls in greater detail and see what Bielema did right and what he did wrong.

Number 1
Time: ~6:30 left, second quarter
Distance: 3 yards
Position: SDSU 7
Score: 0-0
What happened: Stocco handed off to P.J. Hill, who gained only one yard.
What should have been done: Kick the field goal. At this point in the game it's becoming clear that points are going to be tough to come by. Also, the defense is playing very well. Of course, the Aztecs would be one play away from making it 7-3, but that's of no consequence, as on any other play thus far they were one play away from making it 7-0. Sure, it's tough to send out the kicker when you're on the 7 and there's still a possibility of a fresh set of downs. But when points are tough to get, the tough get points. Or something.

Number 2
Time: ~2:30 left, 3rd quarter
Distance: 1 yard
Position: SDSU 38
Score: 7-0, Badgers
What happened: Tyler Mehlhaff missed the 55-yard field goal
What should have been done: Probably what was done. The wind had been blamed for a lot of Stocco's overthrows, but the wind was at Mehlhaff's back. A kicker knows what he's capable of doing. I may be in the minority here, but I think that if the kicker says "I can get those points," you send him on. My second favorite option here: pooch punt and pin the Aztecs back. Trust the defense to make the stops they've been making all afternoon and try to receive a punt that'll start your drive within 10-15 yards of where you are right now with the FG attempt. This decision is second-guessable, but this is the call I would've made, too. (Note that the DC's Pepper strongly disagrees with me here. Note also that three games into the season he's suggesting that a new head coach who is undefeated appoint a "fourth downs coach.")

Number 3
Time: ~12:15 left, 4th quarter
Distance: 1 yard
Position: SDSU 47
Score: 7-0, Badgers
What happened: Stocco is stuffed on the quarterback keeper
What should have been done: Punt the ball. Again, trust the defense. They haven't failed yet. Once again, playing the field position game might work out. When you go for it at the 47, you give your opponent a very short field if you don't make it, but when the defense is handling the opposition like the Badger defense did Saturday, this doesn't matter quite as much. It's important to remember that one big play ties the game, though.

Number 4
Time: ~1:30 left, 4th quarter
Distance: 6 yards
Position: SDSU 29
Score: 14-0, Badgers
What happened: John Stocco scrambles for three yards and the ball goes to the Aztec on downs
What should have been done: Exactly this. Maybe not with a Stocco keeper (throw a screen or something) but you ought to be in clock-killing mode here. The FG is manageable but too risky; you don't want the thing blocked, taken in for a score, and then suddenly be staring at recovering an onside kick.

So, I agree with Bielema's decisions twice. Against an opponent like San Diego State (note to the Badger Herald: not South Dakota State; the mistake was corrected online, but you can see the error in the print edition) even number 3 is excusable. The only call I really don't like is the first one; if it had been fourth and one, sure, do for it. But fourth and three is too long, and you need to get points on the board.

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison, bret bielema, big ten

Wisconsin 14, San Diego State 0

The defense pitched a shutout yesterday as the San Diego State Aztechs couldn't handle a road trip to Camp Randall. Although the Badgers didn't dish out the full Cortez treatment, spreading typhus and misery wherever they roamed, they still managed to secure a sure unimpressive victory.

The 2006 season seems to be going into Whack-a-Mole mode. Certain units stand out as inexplicably bad one game but by the time the next game rolls around, they're fine. Then another unit -- usually one that was okay the last time out -- pops up, gaining the attention of Coach Bielema and his brain trust.

This week, the defense responded to the well-deserved criticism that was leveled on them after playing soft against Western Illinois. They yielded a total of 115 yards. They recorded 5 sacks. After initial drives of 11 and 7 plays, San Diego State couldn't sustain a drive for longer than four plays. The only play of any consequence beyond those two drives was a 25-yard pass play in the third quarter that accounted for more than a fifth of the yards SDSU managed to gain. The Badgers forced a dozen punts. Yeah, 12 of 'em. They played a solid game. Future Wisconsin opponents beware: this is what happens when you dance.

You might expect me to say that the offense was a different story, but I'm not going to. The offensive line played as well as it has all season, and the running backs just plain wore out the Aztec defense. Clearly Stocco had a bad day, but he timed it well; that sort of performance against, say, Michigan next week would have been a death sentence (for the team's chance at victory, not for Stocco himself). It was pretty surprising, actually; he had all the time in the world to execute. In a game where he was only sacked once and the offensive line was giving enough push to allow the featured running backs to gain 263 yards on 32 carries, Stocco couldn't complete a pass on third down to save his life. And while most of the poor play was on Stocco, the wide receivers were right there with him. It took the Badgers twelve quarters to get a touchdown out of their wide receiving corps.

The message I got from this game was that a team can completely disrespect the passing game while stuffing eight guys in the box to keep Hill in check. I am impressed by Hill, but I don't think he's capable of taking over a game like Brian Calhoun was, and if Stocco has defenders in his face all day long, there will be problems -- he doesn't have a receiving corps that can bail him out in a pinch. Add that to the fact that Michigan's defense proved that they are an extremely opportunistic group, picking off Brady Quinn three times and taking another fumble in for a score, and you'll find that there is positively no room for error.

Analysis of Bret Bielema's fourth down calls, leading to a missed 55-yard field goal and an 0-for-3 day otherwise, coming later. Aside from that, let's get excited about 3-0! Four wins in the Big Ten or three and one against Buffalo, and we're going bowling!

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, san diego state aztecs, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

28-0 after 1 = boring football

Hopefully next week's Louisville-Miami tilt won't resemble the garbage we endured tonight. West Virginia, out to make everyone believers at long last, took advantage of the Terps' mistakes and had a four touchdown lead before the first period expired. And yet, the Mountaineers' undisciplined play after they'd amassed that huge lead almost let Maryland back in the game. Had West Virginia not had a kickoff return go for a touchdown at the end of the first half, they might have let the score creep to 31-21 after Maryland's first drive because of boneheaded penalties, halfassed defense, and general disinterest. We saw that last year against Georgia, and if there's one thing that could bring down this young team, it's lack of discipline.

Finally, while Charlie Weis is fat and that's amusing, Ralph Friedgen is fat to the point where he's unpleasant to look at. Ugh.

Technorati tags: Maryland Terrapins, college football, West Virginia Mountaineers

Ah, Madison

Right now, there's a dude sitting outside of the Taco Bell on State Street playing the sitar. The juxtaposition is just delicious.

(Carnival will come later today ... so you can still submit if you want!)

university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

Repairing the Predict-o-tron

Note: this is a post I needed to make anyway, but is coincidentally going to be featured as my entry to the Carnival of College Football for this week. The theme is "Crow or Eat Crow" and is intended to give you, the college football blogger, a place to talk about your best and worst predictions. This edition is probably going up just before 8 am Central time tomorrow, so if you have something you'd like featured, submit it here!

I'll admit I'm something of a Big Ten homer. When I have trouble filling out spots numbers 23, 24, or 25 in my Blogpoll ballot, I look to the Minnesotas and Michigan States well before the Boise States and Northern Illinoises. A lot of this, I suppose, has to do with the fact that the teams in the Big Ten beat each other up every year. Rare is the year when the conference champion emerges from the fray undefeated. While that hints at the existence of "parity" or "top to bottom strength" or something of that nature, it certainly doesn't mean such a thing exists. Let's face it; sometimes good teams lose to bad teams, and that's that.

This year, there appears to be a single good team in the Big Ten and a larger-than-average pool of bad teams. Empirical evidence in the form of the first two weeks' results suggests this. But before last Saturday, that's not the way I saw it! Let's take a look at what I thought was going to happen and what actually transpired. It's sure to amuse.

The statement: Western Illinois at Wisconsin, New Hampshire at Northwestern: Neither game is worthy of mention. This is not Colorado Buffalo Big XII North football. This is the Big Ten, where we roll up our D-IAA opponents and smoke them. Blowouts both.

Reality sez: Hahaha! First prediction brings teh funny!!!1 While UW's beating of WIU could be considered a blowout, it was a sloppy one. As for Northwestern, they wound up dropping their game to New Hampshire ... by 17 points. Ugh. Any team that loses to Northwestern from here till the end of the season ought to think things over.

The statement: Central Michigan at Michigan: expect a score like Michigan 28-49, Central Michigan 0-7

Reality sez: Not that far off, but I was hedging big time. Michigan 41, CMU 17 was the final. I suppose I gave Michigan's defense too much credit. That might be bad news for them come Saturday on their trip to see Weis's boys.

The statement: Illinois at Rutgers: The Illini are still in prissy D-IAA mode. Rutgers 28, Illinois 20

Reality sez: The sentiment was correct but the score was way, way, way wrong, with Rutgers blanking the Illini 33-0. This team in Champaign is not good.

The statement: Eastern Michigan at Michigan State: John L. Smith did not have the troops ready to play last week. With thousands of upset critics watching his every move, the team will play to its potential this week. Michigan State 56, Eastern Michigan 24

Reality sez: Sure looked like I was going to be wrong when the Eagles started to mount a comeback, scoring 14 points in 27 seconds in the dying minutes of the first half and adding a field goal to make the score 24-20 in the third quarter. But then Drew Stanton realized that Matt Trannon is tall and the Spartans blew up, winning 52-20. I'll pat myself on the back for this one.

The statement: Miami (OH) at Purdue: 35 points to Indiana State? Joe Tiller has really lost his edge. I don't know anything else about this matchup and I'm tired of writing filler so Purdue 31, Miami 28

Reality sez: Looks like I gave the Boilermakers too much credit. They were taken to overtime by the Redhawks and almost lost. What we do know about Purdue is that they will be in a battle every game this season -- and most of those battles won't go their way.

The statement: Iowa at Syracuse: Not a trap game, since Syracuse sucks. Iowa wins easily. Iowa 38, Syracuse 6

Reality sez: In all fairness, unless you're on scholarship with the Hawkeyes, you couldn't have seen this one coming. I did not know how big a role Drew Tate's abdomen was going to play, and nobody else did either. Two overtimes? Wow. It is very encouraging to see that Iowa is completely impotent without Tate and that Albert Young can be neutralized by even the poorest defense.

The statement: Indiana at Ball State: Read that again -- Indiana at Ball State. Now that's just pathetic. Indiana 35, Ball State 10

Reality sez: Evidently Muncie is a far more hostile environment than anticipated. The Hoosiers had to mount a fourth-quarter comeback to beat a bad MAC team by one point. IU 24, Ball State 23 was the final.

The statement: Minnesota at Cal: Now here's an intriguing matchup. Cal couldn't get anything going offensively against Tennessee last weekend, but that's because Tennessee's coach believes in playing defense. Glen Mason doesn't, and Glen Mason's team won't. It's a shootout and the home team wins. Cal 52, Minnesota 41

Reality sez: Another case of giving a Big Ten team way too much credit. Minnesota kept it close for a while thanks to a kick that was returned for a touchdown, but ultimately ended up losing 42-17. Again: it's good to see that a mediocre team can trounce someone on UW's schedule. We like to win.

The statement: Penn State at Notre Dame: Look for PSU to blitz early and often, and for Quinn to fail to get into a rhythm. But due to the Lions' lackluster offense, this one will be tight till the end. Call it Penn State 13, Notre Dame 9.

Reality sez: Evidently the only people who didn't watch game film from Notre Dame's near-loss at Georgia Tech were on the Penn State coaching staff. The pattern all day was drop back, get lit up, repeat. I was correct about the lackluster offense, though, which allowed hilarious tallies like "Notre Dame 41, Penn State 3" to remain on the scoreboard until garbage time. The final was ND 41, PSU 17.

The statement: Ohio State at Texas: [I]n the end, [Texas's] compromised defense and their freshman quarterback will cost them the game. In the biggest game of the year so far, Ohio State 33, Texas 27

Reality sez: Dead on with the analysis, but evidently I thought that the freshman quarterback wasn't going to hurt the 'Horns that much. Ohio State is a frightening team and will run the table barring, say, an audit of the Athletic Department's petty cash fund.

So, in summary: the Big Ten is not so great, and I am bad at predicting. For laughs, let's rank the teams best to worst:

Great teams
Ohio State - obviously

Decent to possibly good teams
Michigan - haven't won convincingly yet
Wisconsin - ditto
Michigan State - played 6 sluggish quarters but might be awake now
Penn State - got embarrassed, but by a potential BCS team
Iowa - needs Tate

Special teams
Minnesota - just plain exploited by a team that barely scored against Tennessee
Purdue - can score points, but got taken to OT by the MAC and gave up 35 to Indiana State
Indiana - almost got burned by their MAC opponent
Illinois - smoked by Rutgers
Northwestern - lost to their D-IAA opponent. AT HOME.

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison, big ten

Great Moments in Homerism, and other matters

To start off, I'd like to congratulate myself for winning this week's Coulter/Krugman Award in the BlogPoll. While most voters didn't have the courage to put the Badgers in their top 25s this week, I boldly stepped up and ranked them #15. As Brian says, Wisconsin is "officially on upset watch" this weekend. Hopefully I'll be vindicated and other people will pay some attention to the Badgers. It would really suck to lose at home to a backup quarterback and a mid-major team.

On a more somber note, best wishes and prayers go to Terry Hoeppner. The coach of the Hoosiers is undergoing his second brain surgery in ten months and will miss two to four weeks of work, meaning that he probably won't be on the sidelines for the UW-Indiana game. I always root for the bottom few teams in the conference because the year-to-year variations are what keeps Big Ten football interesting, and Hoep seems to be the kind of guy who could potentially turn a losing program around.

Turning to the Badgers, I have a new favorite columnist on campus. (Adam Hoge gets it too, but doesn't say it as well as Poppy.) I'm glad some of the smarter Badger fans are starting to realize this kind of thing:

Speaking of beer, the excuse every student has when asked why Camp Randall can’t fill sections J through P before kick-off is pregame partying. Nothing against it, but if you’re so hardcore, why don’t you just wake up a few hours earlier?

PREACH IT! For a world-class university that loves to party, we sure do get the football games all wrong. Know the rules of the game, respect the opponent and their fans, get in the stadium before kickoff and stay till the bitter end.

Jeff Potrykus believes that a tough game would help the Badgers out. Maybe, but those tough games are notoriously easy to lose. I'd prefer the Badgers, say, get some stops on third down instead. Sure, tough games might make tough teams, but when the Badgers go on the road to Michigan a week from Saturday, they'll know what they're up against ... and that's a very different thing from coming home and shaking off the rust against Western Illinois. Suffice it to say that if the game against the Aztecs on Saturday is "tough," I'll be in panic mode.

As always, this weekend's game is suffused with backstory involving Bret Bielema's coaching pedigree. College football is a small world. We get it. Frankly, I'm more interested in why student tickets were mixed in with those of the marching band and, more importantly, why that won't happen again.



Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

Blogpoll Ballot: Week 3 (final)

Ballot went final. That's all.

Also, if you're a blogger who writes about college football, even just occasionally, please submit your work to the Carnival of College Football.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	--
2	Southern Cal	--
3	Auburn	--
4	Louisiana State	--
5	West Virginia	1
6	Notre Dame	4
7	Georgia	1
8	Nebraska	5
9	Louisville	6
10	Texas	5
11	Miami (Florida)	--
12	Michigan	2
13	Florida	4
14	Iowa	7
15	Wisconsin	4
16	Virginia Tech	9
17	Cal	5
18	Arizona State	3
19	Florida State	10
20	Oklahoma	4
21	Georgia Tech	1
22	Oregon	2
23	Tennessee	5
24	Rutgers	2
25	Pittsburgh	1

Dropped Out: Penn State (#12), Clemson (#23).

Technorati tags: blogpolls, college football

Why you shouldn't be happy with a 24-point victory

For all intents and purposes, this game was 34-3 when it was really over. Wisconsin called off the dogs, put in the backups, and was promptly rewarded by seeing Tyler Donovan fling an interception at a D-IAA opponent -- an interception that was returned for a touchdown. So the victory over Western Illinois taught us at least one thing: Tyler Donovan is not ready to take over should John Stocco go down.

That's especially bad, considering that another thing we learned was that the offense -- be in the line, the running back, or the tight end -- is not very interested in keeping Stocco on his feet. Stocco was sacked three times -- THREE! -- by the Leathernecks. Lest you forget: this is a D-IAA opponent. Their pass rush, while potentially furious, should be something that a Big Ten line can absorb without a problem. Evidently, this unit is porous. This is something that needs to get fixed in a real hurry, since Michigan's defensive line is going to be merciless.

The defense had its problems as well, although those were not as glaring -- and the three interceptions they managed to pull in help as far as resume-building is concerned, too. Missed tackles seemed to be the biggest bugaboo. That, fortunately, is teachable and correctable.

Special teams isn't much of a concern, although if Jarvis Minton fumbles another kickoff return I will show up at Camp Randall as a walk-on the following Monday. Protect the rock, Jarvis!

There were good things, too, though. P.J. Hill wasn't a one-week wonder; he went over a hundred yards and scored three touchdowns. Lance Smith didn't impress, unfortunately, only picking up 11 yards on 7 carries. When Stocco wasn't being hung out to dry by his would-be protectors, he was lighting up the field, passing for 260 yards and making a great throw of 33 yards to Paul Hubbard after a WIU turnover. I love that Paul Chryst called for one of those carpe diem plays.

Linkage: A bunch of homers ask Jeff Potrykus mainly annoying questions; Wisconsin and Virginia Tech will meet up ... in 2016 and 2017; San Diego State's starting quarterback is out; the backup will start at Camp Randall on Saturday; Nicole is really happy about the direction the Packers are headed.

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

In Memory of Steven B. Paterson

The fifth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks is upon us. The world doesn't need another rehash of the events of that terrible day, nor does it need another dissection of the consequences of those attacks, whether what was done before and after was right or wrong and why, what we can do in the future or should have done in the past.

What the world needs to know is that day, a lot of innocent people died. And we're not going to let a single one of them be forgotten.

I'm part of a project called 2,996. That's 2,996 bloggers coming together to honor the 2,996 victims of the 9/11 attacks. Actually, the project has grown beyond that mark; it's now 3,412 bloggers paying tribute. So that's great.

The person I am here to honor is Steven B. Paterson, a 40-year-old bond trader who worked in the World Trade Center. Mr. Paterson is remembered remembered by his relatives on these pages. He worked on the 105th floor of the building and made his home in New Jersey. By all accounts, he was a dedicated family man and an all-around pleasant guy. In my estimation those are the two best things you can be.

It's tough to write a tribute to someone you didn't know, to adequately honor a man you never met. So to all of Steven's family and friends who might find their way to this page -- I'm sorry. I'm sorry for your loss and for my inability to even grasp the magnitude of that loss. May God bless you and your loved ones.

One note that I must include; currently, in Hazlet, NJ, there's an effort to build a tribute to Mr. Paterson. It comes in the form of a Pop Warner football field. In my role as a blogger whose primary interest is in football, I have to admit that I was stunned to find this out. Mysterious ways indeed.

I just know that this field will be a beautiful way to celebrate the life of Steven B. Paterson. The people who visit will always have the opportunity to contemplate the man whose life was so abruptly and tragically taken.

May we all remember today the things that are bigger than the pleasant diversion that football provides. And may God bless Steven B. Paterson and his loved ones.

Technorati tags: 2996, september 11, steven paterson

Blogpoll ballot DRAFT - Week 3

These are due Wednesday morning at 9 am, so be sure to give me your comments before then! I listen! I love your help!

1. Ohio State (1)
The ninja leader in a world of sake-bombed sumo trainees. They'll take your ass to the dojo.
2. Southern Cal (2)
I see no reason to drop them. USC/ND is already a matchup over which I am salivating.
3. Auburn (3)
Mr. Stubborn strikes again! I didn't see the game, but given that it was a blowout of a team that hasn't managed to score a point yet this season, I assume it didn't tell us much. I see no reason, again, to move the Tigers.
4. LSU (4)
See comment above
5. West Virginia (6)
See comment above. Movement of Notre Dame and Texas momentarily boosts the Mountaineers
6. Notre Dame (10)
Even assuming that the Irish have returned to glory (for the 21st time since 1993), it would appear that the magnitude of their margin of victory was due to the splendid incompetence of the Nittany Lions. Still: they beat Michigan on Saturday.
7. Georgia (8)
The first of four Top Ten Teams that Don't Feel Like Top Ten Teams to Me
8. Nebraska (13)
These guys didn't play like complete ass, so they can visit the top ten this week. Note that a victory over Nicholls State isn't the reason they get bumped, but rather because everyone else looks pretty darn bad.
9. Louisville (15)
Again, dismantling Temple is not the reason they're here. It's because they weren't terrible this week
10. Texas (5)
This is very, very tentative. The 'Horns might not even be this good. It's too early to tell whether the Buckeyes can make anyone look pathetic or whether Colt McCoy just isn't ready to start. I wanted to put Texas around #15 but for now I'll split the difference.
11. Miami (Florida) (11)
Maybe they've woken up after the Florida State game. We shall see.
12. Michigan (14)
They couldn't convert key third-and-short situations against a middling MAC defense and they couldn't keep the Chippewas from scoring when they were in the red zone. They'll give Notre Dame a tough time but I just can't see them winning
13. Florida (17)
Blow out a bad team + a lot of other teams play badly = you move up
14. Iowa (7)
I can't tell you how upset I am at the Orangemen. When ND/PSU got out of hand, this was a fun game to watch. I think I wouldn't have a stomach lining if I were a Syracuse fan. Anyway, this ranking assumes Drew Tate will be back next week. If he is not, they will continue to suck, and continue to fall
15. Wisconsin (19)
See note for Florida; also, I'm a huge homer
16. Virginia Tech (25)
These guys probably sat too low at #25. Let me know what you think, please
17. Cal (22)
I don't consider Minnesota a "good" team per se, but Cal could be on the right track
18. Arizona State (21)
Sun Devils are heating up. The slaughter continues against Colorado.
19. Florida State (9)
This is what struggling with TROY will do to you.
20. Oklahoma (16)
Convince me that they should be higher and I'll put them there. Frankly I thought they let Washington hang around for WAY too long.
21. Georgia Tech (20)
Make me care about this team.
22. Oregon (24)
Is Fresno State supposed to be good this year?
23. Tennessee (18)
They needed Air Force to make a mistake to win. That's pathetic. Absolutely killed anything they accomplished last weekend in my mind.
24. Rutgers (NR)
Shoutouts. Yes, I do think they'd beat Penn State at this point
25. Pitt (NR)
Garbage time pick here. They seem solid(?)

Dropped from the rankings: #12 Penn State (definitely exposed; a five-loss team for sure, even in a soft Big Ten); #23 Clemson (I was right not to rank them in the preseason poll)

Teams I excluded for a good reason: Boise State (hasn't beaten anyone); Alabama (struggled mightily with two bad teams; however, that was their MO last year, so in the end this might be OK); UCLA (26-16 over Rice? Impress me, Bruins); Boston College (2-0 in two real tight ones against two unimpressive foes); Texas Tech (how, pray tell, can you rank a team that struggled with UTEP?)

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

Pickin' on the Pack - Bears 26, Packers 0

Brett Favre can still play football, and play it well. However, he cannot play football well in Green Bay. The franchise has been mismanaged so badly it's pathetic. Obvious deficiencies (offensive line, secondary) have either not been addressed, or have been addressed in horrible fashion. Let's just say that Charles Woodson can finally buy that custom display case for his Heisman and Pro Bowl trophies, because he's collected all that he ever will.

Favre, however, shouldn't do such a thing. He's still good. He's still on fire. If he left Green Bay, he could be a winner again. Hell, he could be MVP! I don't think this is an exaggeration. He looked sharp and his decision making was good (better than it was last season, at any rate). The two picks he threw were a consequence of trying to save face, to prevent the first shutout in a decade in a half, and weren't going to make a difference in the larger scheme of things.

We all still love Brett, right? And we all know that the Packers are going nowhere, right? So, why don't the Packers just go ahead and do what, deep down, we all know they need to do: trade Brett to a contender. He could win a Super Bowl! I am confident in saying this! Get Aaron Rodgers in the game and get on with the rebuilding. This team could contend again as early as, say, 2009. But a lot has to happen between now and then.

The secondary also warrants some lambasting. The medium-distance pass over the middle was there all day for Rex Grossman. The corners, including Chuck Woodson, looked dazed and have no nose for the ball. Look for this weakness to be exploited time and again this season, with teams moving down the field 15-20 yards at a time against that lackadaisical unit.

There were some signs of life today, though. The run game looked decent. Ahman Green isn't going to blow up for 2000 yards this season, but he chugged along pretty admirably. He broke the century mark and didn't look hesitant. His problem -- and Favre's -- was this abysmal offensive line. Against a punishing run defense like the Bears have, all told this was a great performance by Green. The Pack might actually go out and win a few games against teams that are soft against the run, since that'll open up the possibility for the pass for Favre. Donald Driver played the role of star receiver very nicely, but it's only a matter of time before he gets swarmed. Another receiver is going to have to step up posthaste. The run defense was way better than expected, giving up runs of 10 yards or more on only two occasions.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll get a surprise and all the units that need work will improve quickly. Even with that, the Packers are looking at a maximum of 9 wins, and a postseason berth is unlikely. Right now, I'm thinking 5-11.

Technorati tags: green bay packers, NFL football, chicago bears, Brett Favre

Carnival of College Football - Week 2 - Submissions Due 9/13, 8 pm

This week we'll be running the second edition of the Carnival of College Football! Last week we had a lot of good posts from a lot of great bloggers, and this week I'm hoping for an even bigger turnout!

This time around I'll offer a loose theme. It's inspired by my utter inability to correctly predict what will happen in college football, and I call it Crow or Eat Crow. Share your best prediction that came true, or give us the post that sounded good Friday but was a complete mess before the sun went down on Saturday. If you ever found yourself saying one of the following, you know you've got a potential entry:

* "Justin Zwick will emerge as the Buckeyes' starting quarterback, leaving Troy Smith to warm the bench or try his luck at wide receiver."
* "Michael Vick tore up the NCAA, but that sort of gimmick won't fly in the NFL."
* "Purdue returns all 11 players on defense and doesn't play Michigan or Ohio State. The Big Ten title is their to lose."
* "I call these teams the Gang of Six, and one of them MUST and WILL win the national title."
* "I like the Irish in their bowl game."

Of course, feel free to submit a post of any type (so long as it is at least somewhat related to college football). Submissions are due on Wednesday the 13th at 8 pm and go here!

college football, blog carnival

Get up to date on this weekend's action:

The Badgers

The Badger Herald has a recap of yesterday's open practice. The Great Potrykus says that the coaches expect better execution this weekend. Bret Bielema is not flustered by the fact that he doesn't vote in the Coaches' Poll (read below and learn why he should be glad not to contribute to the problem).

The Big Games

OSU-Texas links abound, as do good reads about Notre Dame-Penn State.

Oddball Prediction Watch

* ATLeagle picks Boston College over Clemson. Not all that foolish, but the Eagles have to get their house in order after the debacle against Central Michigan. Oddball level: 4/10

* Penn State will get blown out, says Joey of Schembechler Hall. Bold. Notre Dame's offense looked eminently stoppable on Saturday night, and Penn State's got the sort of defense that could stuff the Irish. However, Notre Dame was the subject of preseason hype for a reason. Oddball level: 5/10 (for the term "blown out")

Bonus: The Mismanagement of College Football

Obviously, we hate the new clock rules. If this analysis, broken down at the Wizard of Odds is correct, we're losing about 10% of the plays from the average college football game. Over a twelve game season, that amounts to over one game's worth of plays. Think about that. Third-stringers won't get on-field experience during garbage time, comebacks will become more improbable, and we get to watch LESS FOOTBALL every season! Can't we just cut the advertising time down? (Answer: duh, no.) The M Zone and EDSBS have registered their disgust as well.

The Coaches' Poll Continues to Be a Joke

If you thought Jim Tressel's voting situation was screwed up, check out what Les Miles thinks of voting in the poll:

... he spends a short period of time watching scores come in on ESPN and probably spends 45 minutes all total. Miles said he votes heavily for SEC teams.

Between that, Spurrier voting for Duke, Phil Fulmer voting undefeated Michigan #4 in his final poll in 1997 (ultimately handing the Coaches' title to Nebraska), and the contractual obligation of Coaches Poll voters to vote for the BCS title game winner in their number 1 slot (even when other teams might finish the season undefeated), isn't it time for this poll to go?

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison, bielema, fulmer, tressel

Return of the Wack

In his weekly recap of the goings-on in the world of the Blogpoll, Brian runs a small feature termed the "Wack Ballot Watchdog," which aims to point out the ballot most likely to have been produced with the assistance of a liberal dose of psilocybin. Generally there are a couple of voters who are easy to pick on, and that's done with great zest.

One of the shortcomings of the Blogpoll, I believe, is that while it was designed as a tool for discussion, it appears (from watching the feeds roll in) that most people are content to list the results, comment about where their team is, and move along. And that's fine. We're all mostly busy people, and a lot of the time that's all we have time for, especially if we're trying to get something together about our team.

Well, this week I've decided to dig a little deeper through the Blogpoll results just to see what's there waiting to be discovered. Admittedly, this archaeological expedition was mostly inspired by the absence of the Badgers on most voters' ballots (of 62 ballots submitted, only 14 featured a vote for the Badgers; five of those were 25th place votes, and 6 of the remaining nine fell between positions 22 and 24 inclusive.) This is not to say that I necessarily feel the Badgers are being disrespected; after all, to the casual viewer, all they did was what any half-decent Big Ten team should do: demolish its MAC opponent. What I saw was a young team that answered a few major concerns during Week 1 with a healthy quarterback and a punishing running back, and which should be seriously considered for votes in the future. Of course, all that stands between the currently under-appreciated team and the loss at Michigan (steel yourselves, Badger faithful, you know it's coming) is Saturday's D-IAA laugher and a visit from San Diego State, so any momentum the Badgers build is likely to go out the window by the end of the month.

Anyway, tired of seeing people exclude Wisconsin in favor of teams that, say, went down to the wire with a certain awful team from Mount Pleasant, Michigan, I resolved to see what the Blogpoll votes could tell me. And here's what:

* Nearly half of all voters forgot that Hawaii sucks when they travel to the mainland. 30 voters were impressed enough by Alabama's one-touchdown victory over Hawaii that they included them on their ballots. Journalism is for Rockstars engaged in some homerism, giving the Tide a 12th place vote; next up was Texas Tech fan Cheap Seats/Double T Ranch, ranking Bama 14th. I'd like to remind voters that Alabama only scored 25 points on the (Rainbow) Warriors. Unless Hawaii has taken a severe turn for the defensive, that total, frankly, is awful. Last season, only two of Hawaii's opponents scored fewer than 25 points: 2-9 Idaho scored 0, and 3-8 Utah State put up 23. This is not good company. In fact, over the past 4 seasons, Hawaii has played 53 games. Their opponents have exceeded 25 points in all 39 of those, and those opponents from DI-A had a total won/lost record of 66-117. Bama was forced to punt 4 times and had to settle for field goal attempts 4 times. When you play Hawaii, you should be bored of the end zone by the middle of the third quarter. Alabama wasn't. This is not a good sign.

* Speaking of a sucky Idaho team, most people dropped Michigan State like a bad habit after last week's nailbiter against the Vandals. Senior quarterback Drew Stanton pilots an offense that, by all rights, should be explosive. They only put up 27 points at home, giving up 17 to Idaho, which hasn't won more than 3 games in a season since 2000 (when they won 5). In the preseason poll, nine voters (including yours truly) had the Spartans ranked. After that close call, four voters gritted their teeth and voted for the men in green and white. Three of them are potentially excusable; the 614 and Rakes of Mallow dropped the Spartans 2 and 5 spots, respectively, and the Enlightened Spartan submitted his first ballot of the season this week. He gets off scot-free for being a homer and ranking the Spartans 17th (although his vote for Michigan at 18th place -- just below MSU -- reeks of the world-famous East Lansing Inferiority Complex). The final vote for MSU is the most befuddling: Stranko and Orson actually elevated them by two spots! Did the Spartans actually exceed your expectations with that crapfest, guys?

* Consider a situation: two major conference teams go on the road to play against a MAC team. One beats an upper-tier MAC team by three touchdowns; the other beats a historically low-level team by one measly touchdown. Who gets your vote, if you have to vote for one? I'm referring, of course, to Wisconsin and Boston College, respectively, and a few people did some mighty weird stuff. The Eagles' brush with death in Mount Pleasant didn't change a few voters' minds about their standing: they marked time in the polls of the Cover Two, TAAMABINPO, and Mountainlair. For some reason, though, Section Six had the urge to move them from #25 to #22. What gives?

* Just a quick thought about Arizona: what does TrojanWire know that the rest of us don't?

* Four voters saw fit to include Purdue in their preseason rankings. After Indiana State hung around for more than one half and finished with 35 points on a defense that needs to make it through a Big Ten season, two of those voters dropped the Boilermakers. The two who didn't -- Pitch Right and Sea Misting -- moved them up in the poll, by three and two positions, respectively. Should be interesting when a I-A team with a pulse comes calling in West Lafayette.

Those are the big things. But this post would be incomplete without mention of Brian's elevation of Tennessee from unranked to #1. He's testing out a new philosophy that involves voting and then immediately forgetting who was voted for, creating a clean slate each week. While I agree with the sentiment behind that move, it sure looks funny on the screen. I'll see how his ballot looks next week before I pile on too badly.

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison

This week's Big Ten matchups

You come here because I've got the picks that click! Rack em:

Western Illinois at Wisconsin
New Hampshire at Northwestern

Both teams open their home seasons against D-IAA opponents after hitting the road to fight the good fight against the MAC. Neither game is worthy of mention. This is not Colorado Buffalo Big XII North football. This is the Big Ten, where we roll up our D-IAA opponents and smoke them. Blowouts both.

Central Michigan at Michigan

Michigan fans want to know: is seven days enough time to teach the receivers to catch and the offensive line to block? Not that it really matters against Central -- they're interested because of the road game against Notre Dame next weekend. Based on the improvement of those two units, expect a score like Michigan 28-49, Central Michigan 0-7.

Illinois at Rutgers

A battle of the unbeatens, this clash will be epic. Both teams are starting to gain a foothold in their conferences, Rutgers moreso than Illinois. The State University of New Jersey, battle-tested in a triumph over ACC foe North Carolina, will come out on top as the Illini are still in prissy D-IAA mode. Rutgers 28, Illinois 20

Eastern Michigan at Michigan State

John L. Smith did not have the troops ready to play last week. With thousands of upset critics watching his every move, the team will play to its potential this week. Michigan State 56, Eastern Michigan 24

Miami (OH) at Purdue

35 points to Indiana State? Joe Tiller has really lost his edge. I don't know anything else about this matchup and I'm tired of writing filler so Purdue 31, Miami 28

Iowa at Syracuse

Not a trap game, since Syracuse sucks. Iowa wins easily. Iowa 38, Syracuse 6

Indiana at Ball State

Read that again: Indiana at Ball State. Now that's just pathetic. Indiana 35, Ball State 10

Minnesota at Cal

Now here's an intriguing matchup. Cal couldn't get anything going offensively against Tennessee last weekend, but that's because Tennessee's coach believes in playing defense. Glen Mason doesn't, and Glen Mason's team won't. It's a shootout and the home team wins. Cal 52, Minnesota 41

Penn State at Notre Dame

History! Pageantry! The old senile "coach" vs. the fat genius! This game has it all. The questions that need to be answered are mostly on Penn State's side of the ball: do they have a running game? Can Morelli play effectively against a non-MAC team? Will the defense rattle Brady Quinn sufficiently? You know, I think they will. Look for PSU to blitz early and often, and for Quinn to fail to get into a rhythm. But due to the Lions' lackluster offense, this one will be tight till the end. Call it Penn State 13, Notre Dame 9.

Ohio State at Texas

This is the big one! I'm not going to miss a minute of it, and I suspect most of you aren't either. It's silly that Texas just happened to be voted up to #2 right in time for this game, and I'd be just as excited to see this one if neither team was #1. With the arrest and subsequent suspension of a couple Texas defenders, the door is open for Ted Ginn Jr. to run wild. Cheating liar Jim Tressel had Troy Smith on a very short leash last week; expect him to blow up on Texas. However, Texas is one of the very best teams in the game, returning boatloads of talent from the national title team. Still, in the end, their compromised defense and their freshman quarterback will cost them the game. In the biggest game of the year so far, Ohio State 33, Texas 27

Technorati tags: wisconsin badgers, college football, university of wisconsin, UW-Madison, Big Ten

Blogs worthy of your attention

These will go into the sidebar pretty soon:

* TalkHawkeye
* SpartanBlog
* Big Ten Country
* Wisconsin Sports Rant

Carnival of College Football I - Introducing CFB Bloggers and Their Writing

Welcome, one and all, to the Carnival of College Football! If you're still not familiar with the concept, maybe the entries themselves will help clear things up. With no further ado:

What happens when your archrivals take off their shirts, sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and post it on the interwebs? Matt of BevoSports wants you to know! This post put that site "on the map."

Todd Sponsler presents PennLive.com: 50-Yard Lion Blog posted at 50-Yard Lion Blog, saying, "I am an ophthalmologist by day, a blogger by night, and a Penn State football fan 24/7. I try to write insightful, sometimes inciteful, commentary regarding PSU football. It's not easy since I can't even write legible prescriptions. This entry is a parody song based on Meatloaf's "You took the words right out of my mouth" as a way of venting frustration from last year's only loss."

It seems only fitting to put this post by DP right after Todd's; the team that bested PSU last year was Michigan, and in his acerbic fashion the chief of Michigan Against the World says, "This post was from my blog's infancy. At the time, it was meant to be satire- completely ripping other teams/fans/etc., but I've transitioned into a more serious tone, because I think it's just better reading. This post is still my favorite, because if there's one thing I like, it's railing on the insane online Penn State fan. WE OWN!!! PENN STATE!!!"

I'm partial to the blog Cute Sports, mainly because Nicole is a Badger fan. She introduces herself like so: "The name comes from a column I wrote for my collge paper and it's the best I could think of when I got started. The blog covers a wide gamut of sports in the state of Wisconsin, with a smattering of soccer and some state of Louisiana coverage as well. I live in Milwaukee, but spent 6 years in New Orleans. There's a dearth of coverage on Wisconsin sports. I try to fill that void and provide a new (sarcastic) take on things. I think being female gives me a unique view of the sports world, but I also hope that you don't read my posts and automatically think 'this is written by a chick.' This is my post on the Capital One Bowl, and from that same day, a post about the irrelevance of bowls.

analysis

If you're not reading Sunday Morning Quarterback yet, you're not taking your role as a college football blogger seriously. The SMQ shares his weekly features: a Friday preview and Sunday Morning Recap ... in depth as usual.

Cool Hand Mike explains the passion for college football in Alabama for us poor Northern folk in My Home State. Check out the rest of his blog, too.

Nestor at Bruins Nation tells us that while the 60 minutes on the field counted the most for UCLA, what happened after the game should not be ignored.

Straight Bangin' analyzes Michigan-Vanderbilt and expects to offer more like that during the season at Schembechler Hall.

View from Rocky Top shows you what happens when a fan of a perennial powerhouse endures a season that ends without a bowl appearance in the post Catastrophic Change and the Season of Which We Do Not Speak, at, of course, View from Rocky Top.

deep thoughts

Mike Miller lets us know his tiebreaker scheme in neutral games in My allegiances in college football posted at Talk Hawkeyes, saying, "This post is about how I determine who to root for in each football game."

Jeffie Husker weaves together topics as disparate as the Jungian theory of synchronicity and the XFL in The Luck Effect posted at Double Extra Point. This one really does qualify as deep thought!

My submission enters the realm of the stupid: I try to get inside a recruit's head. Good luck with that!

Maize N Brew knows something is amiss in the Big Ten: almost all the schools have incorrect mascots! Except Minnesota ... turns out they really ARE gophers. Read more at Maize N Brew.

All the world's a stage at Trials in the Falcon Nation. Here, orangeandbrown presents the BG-UT game in 23 acts.

Adam presents PITCH RIGHT: Does the Window Even Exist? posted at Pitch Right, saying, "A collaborative effort with Brian from The House that Rock Built, I can say that this was the first (and perhaps last) quality post I ever made." It's all about sitting on the bad side of a 42-year drought.

Steven presents The Anagrammed NC State Football Preview posted at Section Six, saying, "I generated anagrams for a bunch of players on the NC State two-deep and then constructed a mini-preview around the results." Entertaining, but requires extensive knowledge of the NC State roster!

irresponsible speculation

Mark Hasty presents PARDON THE BIGTENTERRUPTION posted at The Bemusement Park, saying, "Pickin' On The Big Ten (POTBT) has been around in one form or another since 1999. While the attitude is always lighthearted, the picks are serious. This particular submission is a takeoff on Pardon The Interruption, the popular ESPN argument show. Previous editions of POTBT have presented the week's predictions in the form of a presidential debate, '80s hair-metal classics, TV Guide listings, and "The Jim Rome Show." What will this year bring? Stay tuned. I can only promise you no haiku. Ever."

rankings

Rocky Top Talk presents The Animated BCS Race: Week One posted at Rocky Top Talk. This is a really cool idea and I'll be checking it out week by week now. This is the sort of thing the Carnival is good for -- you might miss these gems if they're not brought to your attention!

rants

Not really a rant, but AgRyan04 takes us back to his 2003 road trip to Nebraska at his blog Texas A&M & Baseball In No Particular Order. It's never fun to drive through three gigantic states just to witness your team's demise, but Ryan sums the whole thing up nicely.

Whew!! Enough to read?! That's it for this week, but we'll be back next Thursday, right here at Wisconsin Badger Sports. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of College Football using our carnival submission form.
Past posts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:

carnival of college football, blog carnival, wisconsin badgers.

My final post about Western Illinois

The Badgers beat Bowling Green soundly. They are not looking ahead to San Diego State. They are talented, smart, and tough. They're going to beat Western Illinois on Saturday. End of story.

Oh, sure. It's all over the papers. This D-IAA team isn't to be taken lightly. Upsets happen! The Leathernecks are pumped up and they'll be ready to go on Saturday!

Yeah, we know. But UW is no Duke. It's not New Mexico, nor is it Colorado. Wisconsin is NOT going to lose. This game's going to be a slaughter.

If your need for WIU news has not been slaked, go read about how excited the Leathernecks are, or get your update from their student paper (registration required, annoyingly ... just use flyertalk@flyertalk.com for your email address). For a historical perspective, see how WIU has begged for Wisconsin's table scraps.

If you want to read something that will actually be relevant following Saturday's bloodbath, check out Jeff Potrykus's take on the emerging running back situation in Madison.

Prediction: Wisconsin 49, Western Illinois 3

Blogpoll Roundtable V2.2

1. What team best met your overall expectations of them in their opener?

That would be Louisville, a team best known for running up the score against nobodies in order to rev up the hype engine. As usual, the Cardinals got off to a quick start, scoring no fewer than 14 points in any one quarter, punching their in-state rival Kentucky in the mouth, and taking home the Governor's Cup. But even if they hadn't lost Michael Bush, this would be same-old, same-old Petrino-era Cardinal football. Throw, rush, take no prisoners, put up 600 yards and 5 dozen points. The only surprise was that they appear to have neutralized Kentucky's running game.

2. What team jumped off the map and surprised you the most? (Bonus points to anyone who can make an argument for someone besides Tennessee.)

Montana State, for definitely.

If you want teams that can only wind up winning a mythical national title instead of a real one determined by a playoff, I have to go with Tennessee. Second place would go to Pitt, which beat Virginia 38-13. However, I have to admit that I had no idea how UVA was "supposed to be" this year, so maybe it's not all that surprising that the Panthers took them down by a 25-point margin. (Well, it's a surprise in that Wannstedt got a win that looks impressive on paper, I suppose.)

Scanning the results from Week 1, I don't see any other surprises that go in the positive direction. I'm surprised that Rutgers handled UNC so well. I'm surprised that South Carolina didn't blow out Mississippi State. I'm surprised that Arizona State-Northern Arizona was close going into the fourth quarter. I'm surprised that Alabama made Hawaii look like they're capable of playing defense. I'm surprised that Michigan State's point total against Idaho was closer to two dozen than twenty dozen. And I'm shocked that Notre Dame won and still slipped in the polls.

3. What team best moved themselves into a position to surprisingly contend for a national title?

I think I'll go with West Virginia for this one. Sure, they only played Marshall, but their running back (Slaton) led the nation in rushing last week, which might be an indicator that the Mountaineers will be able to hang with teams from legitimate conferences and ride their talent -- not their schedule -- to a perfect season. Erstwhile Heisman hopeful Michael Bush of Louisville, the team rumored to be WVU's only real competition in the Big East, broke his leg, further helping West Virginia in its quest for a second consecutive BCS berth.

Blogpoll Week 2: Official ballot

Rationale for all changes here.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	2
2	Southern Cal	3
3	Auburn	2
4	Louisiana State	2
5	Texas	1
6	West Virginia	1
7	Iowa	2
8	Georgia	3
9	Florida State	3
10	Notre Dame	4
11	Miami (Florida)	3
12	Penn State	2
13	Nebraska	3
14	Michigan	3
15	Louisville	--
16	Oklahoma	6
17	Florida	3
18	Tennessee	6
19	Wisconsin	3
20	Georgia Tech	3
21	Arizona State	8
22	Cal	4
23	Clemson	3
24	Oregon	2
25	Virginia Tech	1

Dropped Out: Michigan State (#19), Arkansas (#21), South Carolina (#25).

Carnival of College Football - Week 1 - Submissions Due 9/6, 8 pm

As I said before, I have started up the Carnival of College Football. It's time to put out a call for submissions.

This week's theme is The Kickoff: Introduce Yourself and Your Writing. Just spend a couple minutes combing through your archives and submit your best or your favorite entry. It could be your funniest entry, your most philosophical, the one that "put you on the map" in the college football blogosphere. Maybe you coined a neologism. Maybe you posted something that everyone wanted to copy. Maybe your material was ripped off by Colin Cowherd. Who knows? Impress us. Crack us up. Make us think. But most of all, make us read your blog. Make us add you to our bookmarks or our newsreader. With Blogpollers alone, over 150 new posts pop up each day. Make us sit up and pay attention with the link you submit.



We ain't found shit!

The first entry has been in the tank for a while and more are coming in. First guy to the party gets a special mention; check out how a certain Iowa Hawkeyes fan chooses which teams to support each week.

One more thing I want to touch on quickly; we already have a BlogPoll roundtable, so we already do a pretty good job of bouncing ideas off one another. If you know of a college football blogger who doesn't vote in the BlogPoll, please let him/her know about this Carnival.

Submissions go here or can be emailed to badgertracker@gmail.com ... and have fun!

Things to read today:

Capsules of every Big Ten game at the Baseball Savant

Responses to Bruce Ciskie's roundtable questions as they come in. And if you missed them, Bruce's liveblog of the game, review of the offense, and review of the defense.

OMG RIVALRY: football from an Iowa fan's perspective at TalkHawkeyes.com

Fun facts about Western Illinois-Wisconsin at the Leathernecks' official site

Brief review: Wisconsin 35, Bowling Green 14

The Big Picture: We've got a team that's a little more complete than many of us might have assumed. Every unit had its successes and deficiencies, but the successes won out on Saturday.

On offense, it appears that Wisconsin has not one but three legitimate running backs. P.J. Hill looks to be That Man this year, the heir apparent to Brian Calhoun (although he is, of course, not at all the type of back that Calhoun was). He and Dywon Rowan are battering rams and gained a lot of their yards by running to the left side where Joe Thomas cleared the way (most of the time), but both backs also did their share of trampling hapless Falcons throughout the day. Stocco looked good, putting the ball where it belonged, save the moment of hennebriation that led to an interception in the end zone. However, while the ball flew with purpose to its intended destination, the hands of the receivers were rarely there to catch it; Stocco, being a smart quarterback will no doubt adjust appropriately. Travis Beckum, de novo tight end, appears to be the go-to guy for now, despite the fact that everyone who talks about him emphasizes the fact that he has a lot of work to do. Still, the playcalls were ~80/20 run/pass, which is great if you can get away with it ... but I don't think that's likely in Big Ten season.

Defensively, we saw Jekyll and Hyde (much as I hate making that stupid reference, it's so appropriate so often). To know this, all one needs to do is look at the Falcons' drive chart:

* 10 plays, 80 yards, touchdown
* 4 plays, 5 yards, punt
* 5 plays, 8 yards, punt
* 5 plays, 15 yards, punt
* 3 plays, -2 yards, punt
* 3 plays, 4 yards, punt
* 16 plays, 79 yards, touchdown
* 16 plays, 59 yards, turnover on downs
* 3 plays, 6 yards, punt

6 punts, 3 sustained drives. Not a bad ratio, but still, this was Bowling Green. Granted, one of those drives was kept alive by an ingeniously executed fake punt, and the other resulted in no points, but again: this was Bowling Green. Even without athletic, dual-threat quarterback issues, the Badgers still have a lot of work to do. 219 yards is too many to give up on the ground to a MAC team, especially when the D-line was supposed to be a strength. Jonathon Casillas and Mark Zalewski played great games, and the longest passing play given up was 18 yards, although that may have more to do with the fact that the run was always there if Freddie Barnes wanted it.

Special teams were as good as it gets, with the only blemish being that fake punt (which was relatively harmless in the end). Casillas blocked a punt that went for seven, and Ken DeBauche's two punts went for an average of 47.5 yards -- with no returns. Hopefully this underrated phase of the game will be one where the Badgers will excel.

Free advice for Bowling Green: keep that suspended quarterback on the bench. If Wisconsin had a tough time with him, how do you think he's going to look against Central Michigan or Akron?

BlogPoll Ballot: Week 2

Preliminary edition, with final shuffling pending the result of the Cadillac Escalade Thug Bowl presented by Alize. Kept on top for your commenting pleasure; tell me where I've gone wrong!

UPDATE: updated
UPDATE 2: submitted

1 Ohio State (3)
Masterful ... this squad is tough
2 Southern Cal (5)
So, Booty's for real
3 Auburn (1)
Good game for them, but a slow start
4 Louisiana State (2)
Was traveling during their game. Suspect it didn't tell much with ULL as an opponent. Help?
5 Texas (4)
McCoy appears to be the real ... uh, deal
6 West Virginia (7)
Sophomore slump for Slayton? Looks like a big negatory on that
7 Iowa (9)
Ascending somewhat by default
8 Georgia (11)
Had em too low before
9 Florida State (12)
See note above
10 Notre Dame (6)
1-0, soon to be 1-2. Mark it down.
11 Miami (Florida) (8)
Herbstreit's national champs take a dump on national TV
12 Penn State (14)
Impressive debut from Morelli
13 Nebraska (16)
Won big against crappy opponent
14 Michigan (17)
Wows for Hart and the defense ... one trick play from pitching a shutout
15 Louisville (15)
Big point total shows they'll still be scoring, but with Bush out get ready for the Attack of the Five-Receiver Sets
16 Oklahoma (10)
Peterson is excellent, but a game against UAB should not go down to the wire.
17 Florida (20)
Southern Miss hung with them for a while. Reasons for concern are there.
18 Tennessee (24)
Dominant performance, big bump for them
19 Wisconsin (22)
For details, please see the rest of this blog
20 Georgia Tech (23)
Gritty. They'll win a few against the big boys. Stop whining about the calls, though; the refs didn't screw you
21 Arizona State (13)
Was wrong about these guys.
22 Cal (18)
Was right about these guys!! Give it up for BT! (And Corso was dead wrong)
23 Clemson (UR)
Played a D-IA doormat. Didn't see the game. Need help placing them please!
24 Oregon (UR)
Won a conference game big. Didn't see the game. Need help placing them please!
25 Virginia Tech (UR)
Last team in. Still don't believe in them. Help?

Other possible inclusions: Texas Tech (not nearly as trigger-happy as they usually are ... bad sign?), Alabama (only won by 8 against Hawaii on the mainland, though ... not a good sign); TCU (Baylor hung with them all game ... bad); Northern Illinois (thoroughly spanked, but Garrett Wolfe could lead them past half the Big Ten teams right now); UCLA; Minnesota.

OUT Michigan State (19)
Struggled with IDAHO!??!
OUT Arkansas (21)
Blown out ... of the rankings!
OUT South Carolina (25)
One TD on a gadget play. Pathetic. Defense was stingy though

IT'S ON!!!

YES!

Getting to know the Bowling Green Falcons

It's time! Kickoff is in juuuuuuust under 30 hours. I can't focus here at the office. FOOTBALL!!! So here's what you need to know about Bowling Green:

The School

A public school with an enrollment of 20,000, Bowling Green State has been around for a shade under a century. In that time, they've managed to shake the foundations of higher education, establishing the nation's first Popular Culture Department, which resides in a house purchased from a Montgomery Ward catalog. Somehow, this remains the nation's only Popular Culture Department, as most schools haven't yet bought into the notion that watching four years of "The Facts of Life" doesn't actually, you know, educate you.

Fittingly, it seems that BGSU's big-deal alumni work in the entertainment industry. Notable among them are the guy who played Dorf and the T-1000.



Are you sure you want to go for it on 4th and 2 from your own 40?


History of the Series

Bowling Green and UW have clashed twice before. Both games were in Madison, and both were won by the Badgers. Last year's tilt got the year off to a bang, with the teams trading touchdowns and shredding turf. By afternoon's end, 98 points had been scored; 56 belonged to the Badgers. Wisconsin finished the season 10-3, vastly exceeding expectations; the Falcons only managed to go 6-5 despite their offensive weaponry.

The other matchup came in 1992, when Wisconsin (which would go 5-6) whipped Bowling Green (which would go 10-2 with a bowl win) by three touchdowns. The 39 points the Badgers scored that day would be the most they'd put up all season.

The Offense

Slated to be, how you say, not so good. They return three offensive linemen and a couple of receivers, but that is it. Fortunately, the guys they bring back on the line are solid performers (center Lichtensteiger and right guard Markray were all-MAC selections last season), which should provide some running lanes for junior tailback Dan Macon and some protection for quarterback Anthony Turner, a sophomore. Whether these guys are up to the task of keeping their backs off of the turf against Wisconsin's monstrous defensive unit remains to be seen, especially in their first games as starters in what could be considered a road game.

The Defense

Was not good last year, will not be good this year. They gave up over 30 points five times, 44 or more four times (including an inexplicable 45 to Western Michigan). To their credit, they also had five games where they allowed 14 points or fewer ... but the only competent opponent that suffered this fate was Miami of Ohio; the other four teams combined to go 6-38 on the season (and 4 of those wins belonged to the Ohio Bobcats).

They return five starters from last season, and all they can do is hope that the guys who came back have improved and the guys who left are being replaced by people who know how to stop the run.

The Prediction

Given the genuinely green character of most of the UW offense and the hiccups that are inevitable when a new coach takes over, the Falcons aren't destined for the walloping of a lifetime. However, they won't come close to winning this game. Last night we saw MAC schools assert themselves a couple times -- Central Michigan was a boneheaded playcall from potentially tying Boston College, and Toledo couldn't punch in a two-point conversion, costing them the game against Iowa State in triple overtime -- but the Badgers are better than that. They'll go into Cleveland, score a couple times early, then put the game away late in the third or early in the fourth quarter. Wisconsin 28, Bowling Green 3.

Look for:

* Stocco to start, and play well
* Most of the running backs to share the duty, with Lance Smith excelling
* Xavier Harris to pull in a couple nice catches
* The offensive line to protect Stocco well
* Ikegwonu, Langford, and the safeties to be damn shaky
* Everyone else on defense to crunch the poor little Falcons

In other Big Ten action:

Northwestern and Minnesota have already unceremoniously torn their overmatched opponents asunder, so that leaves us with eight games to talk about:

Vanderbilt at Michigan: SEC power Vanderbilt visits the Big House, home of LLLLLoyd Carr and the Underachievers. Still, UM wins by four touchdowns. Michigan 38, Vanderbilt 10

Idaho at Michigan State: If you watch this on TV, make sure to count how many meaningless ways they try to work in John L. Smith's connections to both schools. Also, keep an ear out for the phrase "hot seat." MSU 60, Idaho 13

Montana at Iowa
Indiana State at Purdue
Eastern Illinois at Illinois

These games are all embarrassments. They will not be close. They should not have been scheduled.

Akron at Penn State: It'll be interesting to see how Anthony Morelli performs in his debut as starter, and although it'll be too early to really draw any conclusions, we might get an indicator of whether the stable of sophomores is super or slumping. Penn State 24, Akron 10

Northern Illinois at Ohio State: Won't be as close as people are making it out to be. OSU 38, NIU 17

Western Michigan at Indiana: Don't let the fact that this is Indiana mislead you; there will be no MAC upset today. IU 27, WMU 15

ROCK OUT

Bad guitar playing + great song + the seemingly infinite disk storage capacity of YouTube + my blog = you wasting half a minute of your life.

But it's Friday, right before the kickoff of Badger football. Like you're capable of deep thinking right now.

Things to do with my BlogPoll entry:

* Demote Arizona State (fairly substantially, 4+ spots)
* Consider dropping South Carolina (strongly; they're to be kept if no other team impresses)
* Do not even think about voting for Iowa State or Boston College