The Wolverines will be one of the surprise teams this season. They’ll have a defense that almost can’t help but get better after last season, and they’ll have quarterback Denard Robinson.  The reason that Michigan-Michigan State made the list is because by the time Michigan-Ohio State rolls around, Michigan won’t be a surprise. The Wolverines might well be the favorite, depending on how Ohio State fares with a new quarterback and under a new coach.

Michigan faded last year after a 5-0 start and Robinson got a lot of the blame. His two worst passing games were in the big rivalry games. He threw three picks against Michigan State. He was generally ineffective against Ohio State, though he ran for 105 yards. Continue Reading…

A short while later KeithArnoldNBC tweeted:

“Sorry Madtowners. I’m an ND beat guy and a Badger fan. Definitely not the definitive guy, just heard from someone that it was happening.”
And then:

“Might have jumped the gun. My one source is usually spot on with all things Wisco, but don’t have two. Didn’t mean to give false hope.”

I am sure a lot of Wisconsin fans went from thinking their wishes had been granted to knowing they had better keep wishing.

I see Wilson and the premature report as part of two trends in college football. Wilson is part of new breed: the free-agent quarterback. It seems nowadays that if things don’t work out for a quarterback at his original school, he moves on to greener pastures, making a well-publicized tour of prospective campuses. Continue Reading…

A pattern emerges of the coach and the NCAA looking the other way going back to Tressel’s days at Youngstown State.

In ten seasons with Ohio State, Coach Jim Tressel won a national championship, more than 80 percent of his games and beat Michigan nine times.

It’s an amazing record. Even more so when you consider that Tressel seemed so unobservant. And though he often spoke and wrote about the need to develop student-athletes into better people, he had almost no knowledge about his players outside of how they performed on the football field.

That is really unbelievable.

That’s essentially the tale Ohio State and Tressel would have been stuck spinning after the Sports Illustrated special report on Tressel came out. Continue Reading…

So can fans, players and coaches of the Utah Utes, Arizona State Sun Devils, and possibly Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins.

The Trojans will serve out the final year of their ban from the conference title and bowl game. They will hope that the stock piling athletes in the past two signing classes will allow them to thrive despite the imposed reduction of scholarships over the next three years.

USC naturally expressed disappointment and issued a statement that the school “vehemently” disagreed with the decision. The people who run show at USC had to know this was coming. Continue Reading…

If ever there was a football program in need of some positive buzz, it is Arizona State.

After a build up of several weeks, ASU unveiled a new Nike-designed logo and new uniforms Tuesday. The Sun Devil will have alternative black ensemble and use the new logo, a stylized pitchfork on its helmets

The pitchfork will be incorporated on uniform shoulders and pants.

Gotta say, the black uniforms look pretty cool. The other uniforms look fine. I like the fork, too. Continue Reading…

We’re just a little more than 10 months away from signing day, so it’s a good time to start thinking about the class of 2012.

That’s especially true for someone who is preparing for an Internet radio appearance on Saturday.

Here are five high school seniors to-be from the West who everyone wants on their team.

Shaquille Thompson, Sacramento, Calif.

 Thompson, 6-1, 180 pounds, generally is considered the best safety prospect in the nation. He committed to Cal during the Bears’ junior day in the first week in March. Then he re-opened the recruiting process about a week later. Though any school would love to have an athlete such as Thompson – he’s also a running back at Grant High School who ran for 1,882 yards and 25 touchdowns. – the number of schools chasing him is small for a five-star recruit (Scout.com only lists seven). Sacramento is Cal country, so the Bears have the inside track. Adding to the Bears’ advantage: older brother Syd-Quan was a star at Cal. Thompson said Cal remains his top choice. He is Cal’s to lose. Continue Reading…

Will Andrew Luck Really Help Himself in The Long Run By Staying In School?

  A co-worker of mine went to a discount retailer in the Phoenix area recently and noticed Arizona’s Cardinals replica jerseys, adult sizes for $9.95.  These usually go for $70-$80.

Why so cheap? They were Matt Leinart jerseys.

Ah it only seems like yesterday that Leinart won the Heisman trophy as a junior who had led USC to back-to-back national titles. If he’d gone pro after his junior season, Leinart almost surely would have been the top quarterback picked in the NFL draft if not the overall No.1 choice.

  Instead he stayed for his senior season, finished behind Texas’ Vince Young and USC teammate Reggie Bush in the Heisman trophy race (Bush’s trophy has since been rescinded). And USC lost in the national title game. Continue Reading…

The straight-arrowed Tressel has been suspended for two games.

 The penalties Ohio State handed Jim Tressel are like a mustard stain on a red sweater vest.

 Tressel, who always projected a straight-arrow image, Tressel, the small college coach who worked hard and finally showed he could win on the big stage, Tressel, who published a book called “The Winners Manual” modeled after John Wooden’s Pryamid of Success, was suspended Tuesday night by Ohio State for the first two games of the 2011 season. It is punishment for violating NCAA rules. He failed to notify the school about information he learned in what became known as tattoo-gate.

In addition to missing games against at home against Akron and Toledo, Tressel was fined $250,000. He will have to make a public apology.

 Last December Ohio State revealed that five players —Terrelle Pryor, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams, Solomon Thomas and Jordan Whiting — were involved in selling Buckeyes memorabilia to the owner of a tattoo parlor in Columbus. That’s a violation of NCAA rules. The five were suspended for games in the 2011 season but were allowed to play in Ohio State’s Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas.    Continue Reading…

Nobody on the TCU football team has a police record. They're true winners on and off the field.

My friend John Maino called one evening. He’d just taken a TV job in Tucson. He mentioned the name of player who was a late addition to the Arizona backfield. “Where do I know this name from?”

 This was in 1980 and in the days before Google that’s how the news media did a lot background research on people or events outside your immediate locale. You called someone up who might know something.

 John called the right guy. I remembered the player was involved in a sex-related offense that had been widely reported in the Phoenix area. (I won’t the mention the player’s name because it involves a juvenile incident from more than 30 years ago, and the man has not been in the public eye for more than a quarter of a century.) Needless to say it had not been publicized in Tucson, and the school certainly did not mention it in any press releases.

 John had a scoop. Coach Larry Smith and his staff were probably a little embarrassed for a couple days. The individual in question continued to play. And the college football world went on. Continue Reading…