Spring
Preview
2008
The 20 Big Questions - No. 1
By
Pete Fiutak
-
The 2008 Big Spring Questions
No. 20 - Top 40
Non-Conference Games
No. 16-19 - BCS Busters,
Rule Changes & More
No. 15 -
Ranking the
Conferences
No. 14 -
Who Could Be This
Year's Kansas?
(breaking through big after a bad year)
No. 13 - 5 Teams That Could
Tumble
No. 12 -
Who Could Be This Year's
Missouri?
(going from good to special)
No. 11 - Ten Coaches Who
Need Big Seasons
No. 10 - The New Superstar
Coaches
No. 9 -
Everyone Will Be
Complaining About ...
No. 8 -
Everyone Will Be
Buzzing About ...
No. 7 -
The Pressure Is On ...
No. 6 -
The Relatively Unknown
Players
You'll Care About
No. 5 - Every League's Pain In the Butt Team
No. 4 - Already Known
Players Who'll Go Nuclear
No. 3 -
The Heisman contenders
No. 2 -
The Big Storylines
1. The BCS matchups will be ...
No need to play the season. Here's the best way-too-early guess for the
2009 BCS
matchups ...
Rose Bowl
Wisconsin vs. USC
This would be the first meeting between the two schools since USC's
38-3 win in 1966 and a rematch of the 1963 Rose Bowl, one of the most
exciting ever with the Trojans holding off the hard-charging Badgers for
a 42-37 win.
The
biggest obstacle between the Badgers and an at-large bid might end up
being a mid-September road trip to Fresno State, but a BCS team has to
win that game and the pieces all appear to be in place to go on a big
conference run. Remember, Bret Bielema's club got to a New Year's Day
game last year despite a slew of injuries and major offensive
inconsistencies. This year's team is deeper, more talented, and it has
the schedule with Ohio State, Penn State, and Illinois coming to Camp
Randall. The road games aren't that bad going to Fresno State, Michigan,
who likely won't be close to jelled by September 27th, Iowa, Michigan
State and Indiana. Assume a home loss to Ohio State, one other tough
defeat, Michigan State always seems to screw up big UW seasons, and the
last spot into the big money games.
USC appears to be the class of the Pac 10 yet again and should make it
five Rose Bowls in six years. So why won't the Trojans be playing for
the national title? The defense should be a killer and the offense
should be explosive, and the schedule isn't all that bad with the
toughest road game coming across town against UCLA. That could be the
make-or-break game to play for the BCS championship if they beat Ohio
State earlier in the year. Even so, this isn't Pete Carroll's best team
and it could certainly lose at Arizona or at home to Oregon.
Orange Bowl
Boston College vs. Pitt
Is it possible the Eagles could lose the top quarterback in the
draft and turn out to be better? It could happen if the loaded defense
carries things until the offense comes around. The road schedule is a relative
joke until November going away from Chestnut Hill to face Kent State, NC State, and
North Carolina before battles late in the year against Florida State and
Wake Forest. Clemson might be the Atlantic's best team, but it has to go
to BC, as does Virginia Tech.
Take your pick among the Big East teams to get in. West Virginia will
likely be the preseason favorite, and while it's had to overcome some
major personnel losses over the last few years and still succeeded, the
defense should take a big step back, there's no Steve Slaton, and yeah,
Rich Rodriguez really is good. South Florida is loaded on offense, but
late season road trips to Louisville, Cincinnati and West Virginia, with
the trip to Morgantown coming in early December, are all trouble.
Louisville, Cincinnati and Rutgers will all be in the discussion, but
Pitt just appears to be due. The most talented team in the league after
years of strong recruiting, this has to be the season it finally all
comes together for Dave Wannstedt as the program builds off the huge win
over West Virginia to close out 2007. While there are six road trips in
the final nine games, West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers have to go
to Heinz Field. Fine, so if you want to put West Virginia or South
Florida here, there won't be any argument.
Fiesta Bowl
Missouri vs. BYU
Call this the make up call. Kansas certainly proved it deserved the
spot in the BCS with the Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech, but
Missouri still got royally screwed. With most of the key parts back on
defense, and Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin returning on offense,
everything should be on track for another huge season. The Tigers, if
they can handle being the hunted for the first time since, well, ever,
should be able to take care of business themselves and win the Big 12
title, but will likely get knocked out of the national title picture
with a road loss to Texas. Even if Texas or Oklahoma wins the league
championship, Mizzou should get an at large spot somewhere.
BYU isn't being shy about where it wants to be with "Quest for
Perfection" the motto for its season. After two straight fantastic 11-2
years, this should be Bronco Mendenhall's best team yet with QB Max Hall
operating a high-octane offense and pass rushing terror Jan Jorgensen
leading a defense that should be strong if the secondary can reload. The
Mountain West should be better with TCU and Utah each able to ruin the
Cougars' dream, but the the non-conference schedule isn't bad playing
Northern Iowa, at Washington, UCLA and at Utah State. Would that
be good enough to send a 12-0 BYU to the BCS Championship game? That
could be the big debate of 2008, but a huge win over the Bruins could
set the tone and generate the buzz needed to get the national attention.
An 11-1 BYU should still find its way in to a BCS date.
Sugar Bowl
Georgia vs. Oklahoma
If this actually happens, it could be the best matchup possible of
superpower programs that have never played each other. Georgia has faced
Oklahoma State three times, but never Oklahoma.
Remember, it's all about the schedules. Georgia just might be the
nation's best team, but there are four gigantic landmines to sidestep:
at Arizona State, at LSU, Florida in Jacksonville, and at Auburn. The
Dawgs should be good enough to handle Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia
Tech between the hedges, but it's asking a lot to win three of the four
monster dates away from home. Think LSU of two years ago when it might
have been the most talented team in America but ended up in the Sugar
Bowl because it only pulled off two wins against a brutal four-game road
slate. Going to a third Sugar Bowl in four years would hardly be a
consolation prize for Mark Richt, but it would seem like that for a
program that wants to be in Miami.
The Sugar Bowl will get the first pick of at-large BCS eligible teams if
the SEC champion plays for the national championship, and that'll
probably be the Big 12 runner-up, or the No. 2 team from the South if
Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech are all as good as expected. The Sooners
are going to be fantastic again, but they're flawed, at least on defense
with a little rebuilding needing to be done. There's still the question
of how good they can be on the road on a consistent basis, and they
could have real problems at Kansas State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
Even so, they're good enough to get through the regular season with one
loss and be in a position to play for the whole ball of wax with a few
breaks and a win in the Big 12 title game.
BCS Championship
Florida vs. Ohio State
College football fans outside of Columbus might welcome this matchup as
much as a kick in the store, but it could happen even if they each have
a loss.
Make no mistake about it, like it or not, Ohio State is the most
talented team in America. With James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins and
Alex Boone all putting off their millions for another year, arguably the
best kicking game in the country, Beanie Wells running the ball, depth
everywhere, and Terrelle Pryor providing a possible bolt of lightning
here and there, it'll be a shocker if the Buckeyes don't roll through
the regular season, and that includes road trips to USC, Wisconsin and
Illinois. Even so, there will be a collective groan if they end up in
Miami instead of Pasadena.
Georgia might be the hot team going into the year, but Florida will be
every bit as good if the secondary has overcome its growing pains. The D
might not be better than Georgia's, but the offense will be unstoppable
with Tim Tebow likely to be an even better passer, Percy Harvin on the
verge of a monster season, and a real live running game ready to operate
behind a line strong enough to push some people around. Even if the
Dawgs lose at LSU and/or at Auburn, the
Cocktail-Don't-Call-It-A-Cocktail Party might be for the SEC East, the
SEC, and the national title. The Gators have to go to Tennessee,
Arkansas and Florida State, but those should be manageable for a
championship caliber team. It'll be the home date with LSU that could be
the big problem, along with the Georgia showdown.
The Next Ten Teams Considered (based on talent, schedules, and/or
potential to win a conference title): 1) West Virginia, 2) Clemson, 3)
LSU, 4) Virginia Tech, 5) South Florida, 6) Texas, 7) Texas Tech, 8)
Kansas, 9) Penn State, 10) Auburn
|
