Roll Tide

What another great weekend of college football. Bama manhandled Tennessee in the second half for a 41-17 win. We heard the end of the LSU game while we were getting close to Longview and right before the station started to fizzle out. Of coarse I forgot my camera, but Stephen took a few pictures, so I'll post those when I get them. I'll post more about the Alabama game day experience later in the week, but I'll go ahead and say that it gave Clemson a run for the top spot on my list. I still don't know how to post U-Tube videos, so I'll leave you with this link of one the best cheers in college football. If you can't make out the words this is what the crowd was yelling. Also note that this was during a TV timeout and the Vol defense was just standing around out on the field and the Vol fans hadn't began their mass exodus yet.

Hey Vols
Hey Vols
Hey Vols
We just beat the hell outta you
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer Give'em Hell Alabama

Third Saturday in October

The weekend I've been waiting for is finally here, Alabama vs Tennessee. We are pulling an old school road trip. We will leave late Friday night, drive through the night, and hopefully pull in right as the tailgating is starting. I'm a little disappointed that the game is an 11:30 kick-off, but I can get over that. We will rest up, maybe watch a little of the Florida/Kentucky game, and then get on the road back to the Lone Star State. Everyone please pull for a close game with Bama scoring on the final drive of the game for the win.

Pick 5 - Week 2

1. Texas 35 - TCU 21
2. OU 24 - Miami 10
3. Georgia 28 - South Carolina 24
4. Michigan 42 - Oregon 35
5. LSU 14 - Virginia Tech 10

Quick Hits

-Games I watched
Washington-Syracuse
Virginia Tech-East Carolina
Georgia Tech-ND
Colorado-Colorado State (Partial)
Missouri-Illinois (Partial)
Nebraska-Nevada
Tenn-Cal
Flipping between OSU-Georgia and Kstate-Auburn

-Yes, App. State over Michigan is the biggest upset in college football history. I still can't believe it happened. O yeah, I'm glad I didn't post a blog last week because I thought Michigan had the best chance at an undefeated season.

-Games I'll glad I didn't watch: Texas-Arkansas St - From what I've read the Horns just didn't come to play an entire game. OU-UNT - Surely Bradford can't be that good right?? Chaz I don't know if you read this, but do you still think Bradford will be replaced by mid-season?

-How did you feel about Gameday being at Virginia Tech? When they first announced they were going there I was disappointed because I think Gameday should be at the best game of the day (which would have been Tenn/Cal). I think they did do a great job of trying to capture the emotion of the day and what college football means to universities.

-A few more Gameday quick hits: -I'm not a fan of them broadcasting at a game that starts right after the show. The atmosphere is never the same because most of the fans start heading off to the game. - Why are there no flags in the audience? My favorite part of Gameday used to be looking at all the different flags the fans had. I'm pretty sure that security doesn't allow flags in, I'm guessing because the poles could be used as a weapon. Pretty lame. - I never thought I would say this, but the Big and Rich song is growing on me. I think this is year three of the song. The first year I was so mad because Gameday probably has the best theme song in the history of theme songs, but "We're coming to your city" is not as bad as it once was.

Any other Quick Hits??

Pick 5 - Week 1

I want to pick to top 5 games each week and see how my record is at the end of the year. Our Internet was down so I didn't get to post the week 1 picks, but I did write them down before the games. Feel free to play along this season. I will pick the games straight up because I horrible picking against the spread. In future weeks I will provide scores, which will further the humiliation.

1. Cal over Tennessee
2. Auburn over K-State
3. Ok State over Georgia
4. Georgia Tech over Notre Dame
5. Clemson over Florida State

Record: 4-1
Overall: 4-1

Best Case/ Worst Case - Big12 North

Missouri

Sep. 1 - Illinois (@St. Louis)
Sep. 8 - @Mississippi
Sep. 15 - Western Michigan
Sep. 22 - Illinois St.
Oct. 6 - Nebraska
Oct. 13 - @Oklahoma
Oct. 20 - Texas Tech
Oct. 27 - Iowa State
Nov. 3 - @Colorado
Nov. 10 - Texas A&M
Nov. 17 - @Kansas St.
Nov. 24 - Kansas (@Kansas City)

Best Case: Daniel sets the world on fire 10-2 with losses to Nebraska and OU
Worst Case: Classic Pinkel coached team 7-5 with losses to Neb, OU, Tech, A&M, and K-State
TVFF Prediction: 9-3 with losses to Neb, OU, and either A&M or K-State

Nebraska

Sep.1 - Nevada
Sep. 8 - @Wake Forest
Spe. 15 - USC
Sep. 22 - Ball St.
Sep. 29 - Iowa St.
Oct. 6 - @Missouri
Oct. 13 - Oklahoma St.
Oct.20 - Texas A&M
Oct.27 - @Texas
Nov.3 - @Kansas
Nov.10 - K-State
Nov. 23 - @Colorado

Best Case: 10-2 (USC, Texas)
Worst Case: 9-3 (Wake, USC, Texas)
TVFF Prediction: 10-2 (USC, Texas)

Kansas State

Sep.1 - @Auburn
Sep.8 - San Jose St.
Sep.5 - Missouri St.
Sep.29 - @Texas
Oct. 6 - Kansas
Oct.13 - Colorado
Oct.20 - @Oklahoma State
Oct. 27 - Baylor
Nov.3 - @Iowa St.
Nov.10 - @Nebraska
Nov.17 - Missouri
Nov.24 - @Fresno St.

Best Case: 9-3 (Texas, Ok. St., Neb)
Worst Case: 7-5 (Auburn, Texas, OSU, Neb, Missouri)
TVFF Prediction: 7-5 (Above)

Colorado

Sep.1 - Colorado St (@Denver)
Sep.8 - @Arizona St.
Sep 15 - Florida St.
Sep.22 - Miami, OH
Sep.29 - Oklahoma
Oct.6 - Baylor
Oct. 13 - @Kansas St.
Oct. 20 - Kansas
Oct.27 - @Texas Tech
Nov.3 - Missouri
Nov.10 - @Iowa St.
Nov.23 - Nebraska

Best Case: 6-6 (Florida St., OU, K-State, Tech, Missouri, Neb.)
Worst Case: 3-9 (CSU, ASU, FSU, OU, Baylor, K-State, Tech, Missouri, Neb.)
TVFF Prediction: 5-7 (ASU, FSU, OU, K-State, Tech, Missouri, Neb.)

Kansas

Sep.1 - Central Michigan
Sep.8 - SE Louisiana
Sep. 15 - Toledo
Sep.22 - Florida Int'l
Oct.6 - @K-State
Oct. 13 - Baylor
Oct. 20 - @Colorado
Oct. 27 - @Texas A&M
Nov. 3 - Nebraska
Nov. 10 - @Oklahoma St.
Nov.17 - Iowa St.
Nov. 24 - Missouri (@Kansas City)

Best Case: 6-6 (K-State, Colorado, A&M, Neb, OSU, Missouri)
Worst Case: 3-9 (CMU, K-State, Baylor, Colorado, A&M, Neb, OSU, Iowa St., Missouri)
TVFF Prediction: 6-6

Iowa State

Aug.30 - Kent St.
Sep.8 - Northern Iowa
Sep.15 - Iowa
Sep.22 - @Toledo
Sep. 29 - @Nebraska
Oct.6 - @Texas Tech
Oct. 13 - Texas
Oct.20 - Oklahoma
Oct. 27 - @Missouri
Nov.3 - Kansas St.
Nov.10 - Colorado
Nov.17 - @Kansas

Best Case: 6-6 (Neb., Tech, Texas, OU, Missouri, K-State)
Worst Case: 2-10 (Win against Kent St and Northern Iowa)
TVFF Prediction: 3-9 ( Win against Kent, NIU, Toledo)

Big 12 Shake-Up

I have a plan that kills two birds with one stone. The Big 12 should borrow two great ideas from their sister conferences of the SEC and Pac-10. When the SEC split into two divisions they did not want to break up some of the traditional rivalry games, so they paired up teams from the east and west that play year in and year out (Tenn/Bama, Auburn/Georgia, Florida/LSU, ect.) I haven't really seen anything lately, but I remember reading an article a while back about the lack of rivalries in the Big 12. Well, I guess I wouldn't call it a lack of rivalries because the conference does have some great rivals, but the formation of the Big 12 has not created any new rivalries. If fact it has severely decreased the rivalry between Oklahoma and Nebraska in my opinion. So I suggest that these teams play each other every year.

Nebraska-Oklahoma
Colorado-Texas
Kansas State-Texas A&M
Missouri-Texas Tech
Iowa State-Oklahoma State
Kansas-Baylor

This would reestablish the NU/OU series as one of the nations premier games. And with Colorado and Kansas State improving those series would be very interesting.

The idea taken from the Pac-10 is that the new annual series takes the place of a non-conference game, so the Big 12 would play a nine game conference schedule. With the addition of the 12th game the Pac-10 chose to play a nine game conference schedule so that each team would play every other team. This would drastically improve the strength of schedule for most teams. For example, Texas would basically replace Arkansas State with Colorado. Also, with the addition of an extra conference game teams from the north and south would play each other more often possible creating other rivalries. Here is a comparison of the teams from the north that Texas is scheduled to play.

Actual Schedule:
2006 - Iowa State, @Nebraska, @Kansas State
2007 - @Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas State
2008 - @Colorado, Missouri, @Kansas
2009 - Colorado, @Missouri, Kansas
2010 - Same as 2006
2011 - Same as 2007
2012 - Same as 2008
2013 - Same as 2009

If 9th Game is Added:
2006 - Colorado, Iowa State, @Nebraska, @Kansas State
2007 - @Colorado, @Iowa State, Nebraska, Kansas State
2008 - Colorado, Missouri, @Kansas, @Nebraska
2009 - @Colorado, @Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska
2010 - Colorado, Iowa State, @Nebraska, @K-State
2011 - @Colorado, @Iowa State, Nebraska, K-State
2012 - Colorado, Missouri, @Kansas, @K-State
2013 - @Colorado, @Missouri, Kansas, K-State

So by adding the 9th game Texas would play Nebraska 6 times in 8 years as opposed to 4 times under the current schedule. I think that would be great for college football, the Big12, and most importantly the fans.

I came up with two cons to this suggestion. First, this would probably produce more re-matches in the conference championship game. They could get rid of the game but that won't happen because the game makes too much money. And the second problem that this system could cause is it would make it harder for Kansas, Iowa State, and Baylor to become bowl eligible. Those teams need that 4th non-conference game to become bowl bound.

As always, thanks for wasting your time reading this. Give me your suggestions.

If You Fail to Plan You Plan to Fail

Every summer once the preseason magazines arrive I like to take a look at the schedules of schools that are with in a days drive. I write down the games I would like to see and then compare that list to the Texas games I plan to attend. This season will be one of my most productive college football watching seasons in a while, full of exciting games.

I'm planning on attending these games:
9/8 - TCU @ Texas - Dad (I was going with Aaron to Miami/OU but the game starts at 11 and I'll have to work that morning)
9/22 - Rice @ Texas - Courtney's Family
10/6 - Texas/OU - Dad, Aaron, (Aaron Ech might fly in)
10/20 - Tennessee @ Alabama - Stephen
10/27 - Nebraska @ Texas - Stephen, My Family?
11/10 - Arkansas @ Tennessee - Matt

Other possible games:
9/3 - Texas Tech @ SMU
10/18 - Utah @ TCU
11-3 - Texas @ Oklahoma State
11-23 - Arkansas @ LSU

It's going to be a great season! What games are you planning to attend?

Texas to the Big Ten?

No not likely, but you can read about the possibility here, here, and here.

If the Big Ten wanted a real new look, how about this.

Big Ten North
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Iowa
Penn State

Big Ten South
Texas
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Colorado
Kansas State

A Modest Proposal

I think every college football fan has something they would change about the sport we love. It seems every year after a BCS breakdown we hear about all kinds of radical proposals. So to kick off the blog for the 2007 season (I hope to beginning posting a couple times a week!!) I present to you my radical realignment. Let me beginning by stated some problems that I hope my proposal solves.

1. It is difficult to compare teams to each other when schools don't play comparable schedules. I believe that last seasons Wisconsin team is an example of this. The Badgers went 1-1 against top notch competition last season (lost to Michigan, beat Arkansas in bowl game). If Ohio State would have been on the schedule we might have had a clearer picture of how good the Badgers were. The point being to fairly judge a teams ranking, we need the universities to play higher quality competition.

2. There is no incentive to scheduling more difficult games, as it applies to winning the national championship. Sure there are monetary issues and exposure to be gained by playing compelling non-conference games, but it is very dangerous to schedule these types of games. Coaches are willing to play a soft non-conference because they know tough conference games are right around the corner. I realize that a lot of schools have been playing one marquee game before conference, but I dream of a day win all the non-conference games are interesting. For example, the Texas 1990 non-conference schedule consisted of a trip to Penn State, Colorado in Austin, and the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma.

So How Do We Solve These Problems?

The main solution that I present is to radically realign the conferences and to reduce the number on division 1 football teams. My plan calls for 11 conferences consisting of 8 teams each, thus reducing the field from 119 to 88. I have split the new conferences evenly so that each one includes 2 or 3 top-tier teams, a few middle of the road programs, and a couple of teams that will find themselves at the bottom most years. Some traditional rivals will be split up, but should continue playing each other in non-conference match ups. Each school would play every team in their conference (7 games) and then play a 4 or 5 game non-conference schedule depending on a 11 or 12 game regular season. The reason I believe this solves problem one from above is that teams are only allowed to play one of the 88 universities in the newly created Division 1. Hopefully we will see increased competition and thus able to better evaluate teams.

The level of competition should greatly improve by reducing the number of D-1 team and by eliminating the playing of D-1AA teams. But if we wanted to go a step further to encourage top teams to play, I suggest giving greater weight to conference games than non-conference. For example, high school non-district games count in a school's overall record, but the district games decide who makes the playoffs. If there was a way to reduce the impact of a non-conference loss I believe teams would be more willing to play tougher competition, thus preparing them for conference.

Finally, I also think that by including some smaller schools in with the big boys, it could improve the small teams program. It may take a few years, but with the small schools receiving additional TV and bowl money, and not to mention increased attendance, they will be able to invest more back into their programs.

My New and Improved Division I

Conference 1
1. Texas
2. Texas A&M
3. Texas Tech
4. Arkansas
5. TCU
6. Baylor
7. SMU
8. Rice

Conference 2
1. Oklahoma
2. Nebraska
3. Colorado
4. Kansas State
5. Oklahoma State
6. Kansas
7. Colorado State
8. Air Force

Conference 3
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Auburn
4. Ole Miss
5. Mississippi State
6. Houston
7. Memphis
8. Tulane

Conference 4
1. Tennessee
2. Louisville
3. Missouri
4. Kentucky
5. UNC
6. Wake Forest
7. Vandy
8. Duke

Conference 5
1. Georgia
2. Florida
3. Virginia Tech
4. Georgia Tech
5. South Carolina
6. Maryland
7. Southern Miss
8. UCF

Conference 6
1. Florida State
2. Miama
3. Clemson
4. N.C. State
5. Virginia
6. South Florida
7. East Carolina
8. Navy

Conference 7
1. Penn State
2. West Virginia
3. Rugters
4. Boston College
5. Pitt
6. Syracuse
7. Army
8. Marshall

Conference 8
1. Ohio State
2. Notre Dame
3. Wisconsin
4. Purdue
5. Indiana
6. Miami OH
7. Cincinnati
8. Toledo

Conference 9
1. Michigan
2. Michigan State
3. Iowa
4. Iowa State
5. Minnesota
6. Illinois
7. Northerwestern
8. Northern Illinois

Conference 10
1. USC
2. UCLA
3. Cal
4. Arizona State
5. Arizona
6. Stanford
7. Hawaii
8. New Mexico

Conference 11
1. Washington
2. Oregon
3. Oregon State
4. Washingtion State
5. Utah
6. Boise State
7. BYU
8. Frenso State

Well my friends there you have it. Am I on to anything here or did you just waste 5 mins. of your life. I have some playoff ideas, but this post is too long so I'll package those. Let me know what you think!!

Give the Fans What They Want

I thought I would list some series that I would like to be played on a somewhat regular basis. Most of the teams are former rivals or intriguing games that have been played in the past.

-Texas/Arkansas (Hopefully a post on this game later)
-A&M/LSU
-Oklahoma/Alabama
-Clemson/Georgia
-Georgia Tech/Alabama
-Penn St/Pitt
-Notre Dame/Florida St - Miami
-USC/Auburn

Any Others?

No More Arkansas State

College football is right around the corner and one of the topics I've been thinking and reading about is scheduling. It is a very complex issue, but I feel like college football does a very average job as a whole scheduling. One reason teams do poorly in scheduling is there is no incentive to schedule strongly. Good match ups are great for TV and can help the profile of many teams, but the current system does not really reward teams for playing a nice schedule. Another factor is scheduling is the loyalty of most college football fans. Most universities are selling the majority of there games out, so if the fans will show up for Troy why schedule USC. The main reason for the post is what I would like Texas' schedule to look like in future years.

I would really like the Horns to play at least two BCS schools per year. They should play mid-level teams from the major conferences most years, and every 4th and 5th year I would like to schedule a "huge" game, like the Ohio State game of the past two seasons. To fill the other two non-conference games I would like to play mostly Texas non-BCS teams and throw in a few other traditionally good non-BCS schools. I would also like to make those game two-for-one, meaning they would play twice in Austin and the Horns will play them on the road once. I think my schedule would be great for the fans, because there are some great road trips and its not so bad playing Rice and SMU when you have two other intriguing match ups. He is my ideal schedule for the Horns for the next ten years. I didn't spend a whole lot of time on this so there are many teams that could be substituted but I think you get the general point of what I would like the schedule to look like.

2007: Arizona, TCU, @UCF, @Ole Miss
2008: @Arizona, Arkansas, Rice, @UTEP
2009: UCF, @Arkansas, @Rice, Ole Miss
2010: UTEP, @Michigan, Rice, Stanford
2011: UCF, Michigan, @Stanford, SMU
2012: UTEP, Georgia Tech, @TCU, @Illinois
2013: Rice, @SMU, @Georgia Tech, UCLA
2014: SMU, @UCLA, @Rice, Illinois
2015: Rice, @Alabama, UTEP, Syracuse
2016: Southern Miss, Alabama, @Rice, @Syracuse

Note: TCU, UCF, Arkansas, UTEP, Rice, and UCLA are on Texas' Future Schedule

College Football Inventory: A look toward the future

I'm thankful for the many experiences I've already had and I'm very excited to look toward the future. The passion and pageantry of college football makes the game attractive, but what makes the experiences truly meaningful are the memories made with family and friends. When I think about goals for the future I think about the places and games I want to see, but more importantly I think about the people I get to share the experiences with. I can't wait to take our first Longhorn family picture with Savannah and take her to her first game. Iowa State is the only Big 12 team I haven't seen play. I have connections with friends that go to Mississippi State, Alabama, and Florida State games. LSU, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma State are close enough to take in a game. A few long term goals would be to go to every Texas game in a season and go to a different stadium every week for a season. Right now I don't have a goal to see every stadium, like the guy at Project 119 (although that's pretty sweet), but I would like to see a game at most of the major stadiums.

My top 5 destinations:
1. LSU
2. Michigan
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Notre Dame

Anybody want to go with me?

College Football Inventory

My parents took me to my first college football game in the fall of 1988, making me five years old. Here are the teams I've be fortunate enough to see over the years.

Big 12:
1. Texas
2. Texas A&M
3. Texas Tech
4 Baylor
5. Oklahoma
6. Oklahoma State
7. Colorado
8. Kansas
9. Kansas State
10. Missouri
11. Nebraska

SEC:
12. Arkansas
13. LSU
14. Auburn
15. Florida
16. Georgia
17. Mississippi State
30. Tennessee

Big 10:
18. Michigan
19. Penn State

Pac 10:
20. Stanford

Big East:
21. Pitt
22. Syracuse

ACC:
23. NC State
24. Clemson

Other:
25. Notre Dame
26. TCU
27. SMU
28. UNT
29. New Mexico State

There could be a couple that I missed, I had a little sheet of paper on my desk with all the games I've been too and the year. Well Courtney recently cleaned off my desk and that paper in no where to be found.

College Football Inventory

I thought it would be fun to take an inventory of my college football experiences. I'll break it into three posts: Stadiums I've been to, Teams I've seen play, and goals for the future.

Stadiums I've seen a game at:

DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium - Texas
Kyle Field - Texas A&M
Jones Stadium - Texas Tech
Floyd Casey Stadium - Baylor
Owen Field - Oklahoma
Amon Carter Stadium - TCU
Ford Stadium - SMU
Neyland Stadium - Tennessee
Memorial Stadium - Clemson
Rose Bowl - Rose Bowl Game
Razorback Stadium - Arkansas
Cotton Bowl - Texas/OU, Cotton Bowl Game, SMU

Stadiums I've seen but not attended a game:

Tiger Stadium - LSU
Ben Hill Griffin - Florida
Notre Dame Stadium - Notre Dame
LA Memorial Coliseum - USC
Bryant-Denny Stadium - Alabama
Roberts Stadium - Southern Miss
Robertson Stadium - Houston
Rice Stadium - Rice

My top three (Texas excluded) would be Clemson, The Rose Bowl, and Arkansas.

What about you, what is your favorite stadium?