Tebow Time?

Okay I know this is supposed to be a college football blog, but this particular post involves Marcus Mariota who is technically not in the NFL yet so there's that. Also Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow attended college and played football so I think it's safe. Either way I'm going to talk about Tim Tebow making his return to the NFL in the form of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

So is Chip crazy or what?

Okay so I guess I first need to address that I'm not the biggest Chip Kelly fan. He was a good and aggravating coach at Oregon that transitioned to the NFL and has proceeded to confuse pretty much every fan of the game with his trades and general Chippiness. He traded Nick Foles and acquired Sam Bradford first of all. And, not that I don't love Sam, but what the heck? Sam Bradford has been perpetually injured since he made his arrival in the NFL. One injury after another and that's after the injuries that sidelined him at Oklahoma. I mean yeah he was a Heisman-trophy winning quarterback, and rightfully so, but he's still "Always Injured Bradford". I wonder how much longer he has in the NFL before he just says, "Okay if I get injured anymore I will literally no longer have legs" and retires early like so many of his counterparts. I'm not saying that Nick Foles was some amazing quarterback for the Eagles that didn't deserve to not be traded, but I'm saying that I really wonder what Chip was thinking when he traded him. Of course I'm also just this biased blogger so I guess I don't really get to have a say in the goings on of NFL teams. 

So then you start hearing rumors that Kelly is trading up to get Marcus Mariota, who he coached at Oregon, to come to the Eagles as well. If you're keeping track that would be 2 Heisman-trophies at the Eagles. I honestly think that Mariota is going to be the best possible option for the Eagles especially after the next one I'm about to lay on you. 

Alright so here's the real point of this blog. That's Tim Tebow. Yes that Tim Tebow. The one that painted the Bible verses on his face and led Florida to two national championships. That same one. Also the guy that is currently an analyst for the SEC Network, but I digress. The Eagles have signed him to a contract and apparently it's a good thing? I'm not really sure. All I know is that I watched Tim Tebow play in the NFL. And while he was definitely the best player for his team while he was in college, the NFL just was on a different level. He could never quite get up to the hype that everyone thought he would. That's not entirely his fault. A lot of the time the college quarterbacks that everyone thinks are going to play out really well in the NFL don't quite do that. Instead they fall flat on their face and people like Tom Brady step on them on their way to fame and fortune. Let's not forget that currently some of the best quarterbacks in the league were not first round picks or Heisman trophy winning quarterbacks. 

I know I keep bringing up Tom Brady, who I hate, but it's because the dude just won the Super Bowl AGAIN and he was the 199th pick in the NFL Draft from Michigan. Did anyone think that he would do what he's done as a quarterback? No. They didn't. In fact the number 1 pick that year was defensive end Courtney Brown. Ever heard of him? No. Me neither. That's because he had a mediocre professional career and finished in 2006. 

The point is that just because a quarterback seems good on paper doesn't mean they always are. Bradford and Tebow are just that. They're pretty good on paper, and they even play kind of well. But well enough to really make a splash in the NFL and say, "They were worth that pick." No not really. Honestly, I think that the smartest thing Kelly could do at this point is draft Marcus Mariota and let him play just because I honestly believe Mariota could make waves for the Eagles. Especially since he and Kelly already have the connection of coach-player. And it clearly worked for them at Oregon. Why wouldn't it translate to the NFL? Right? Maybe. 

Of course what would also be fun is to have three Heisman-trophy winning quarterbacks signed on the team and then just let them go at it Gladiator style in order to crown a winner. I'd watch that.

Trouble, Trouble, NCAA Part 2

Homeless and Not Important

When I say I’m bad at blogging I mean really bad. Clearly I’m just not cut out for this sort of thing which is good I guess since the class ends tomorrow. Anyway I’m going to continue on about the NCAA while I’ve got the chance.

I guess the biggest issue at the moment that I want to discuss is the whole homeless Baylor player thing. In case anyone didn’t know there was a player at Baylor named Silas Nacita who apparently was homeless when he walked on at Baylor. He accepted a place to live from someone and that is not good with the NCAA as they ruled him ineligible despite his high grades, and the fact that he made Academic All Big-12. I’m not really sure how to begin here. Everyone knows that the NCAA is full of these little quips and stupid rules that no one understands nor cares about. Why in the world is it right for a player who wants to play the sport he loves at the school he loves to be told he can’t because he doesn’t have a house to live in? How is that right? At least that’s what people are asking and have been asking since this whole thing came out. This whole situation also played out this time last year when JUCO transfer Antoine Turner, who was headed to Boise State, was also homeless. He had nothing. He began getting offers from strangers all over the Boise area offering him money and a house and everything that you could imagine. The only problem was that if he had accepted any of it, the NCAA could have declared him ineligible. The same thing that they did with Silas Nacita.

The difference between the two is that Turner was already going to be on scholarship at Boise State and Nacita wasn’t. Unfortunately that means that the odds are in Turner’s favor. He was granted a waiver from the NCAA and Boise State was able to help him. Also the NCAA employs a thing called the “Student Assistance Fund” that the NCAA has. In essence it gives money to the schools to help people like Turner who have no home, or no food, if the situation calls for it.

But what about poor Silas Nacita? Well the difference is that he was a walk on athlete. Which means he was not on scholarship so these benefits do not extend to him. It’s a ridiculous scenario and one that really needs to be looked at again. Even if we don’t know the whole story behind this kid, why in the world should a homeless athlete be punished for being homeless? He has nothing and no one and even the school that he plays football for can’t help him because the big, bad NCAA has rules that prevent homeless athletes from being taken care of? Wait, no, excuse me, just the ones who are on scholarship. Those are the special ones.

“We’ll look after those, but forget the ones that weren’t quite good enough to be offered a scholarship.” –The NCAA Probably.

I know that in every story there are things that aren’t reported on. We may not know the whole story behind Silas Nacita, but it’s still unfair. Why aren’t all athletes taken care of if need be? Why does the Student Assistance Fund only apply to scholarship students? And if the NCAA doesn’t care enough to use the SAF to help non-scholarship athletes then why should it matter if someone wants to offer him their couch for the week? Or give him a gift card for food? He matters then. He is important enough to violate their rules because he plays football for the university, but he’s still not important enough for us to use the funds set up for this kind of scenario to help him. Yeah real smart NCAA.

The NCAA has been called many things with “bully” being the chief among them. It seems they like to flex their muscles and intimidate and annoy. They’re like the bug flying around your head that you can’t get rid of, but if you irritate it then it’ll sting you. I don’t like the NCAA. I think there needs to be punishment for breaking rules, but the rules need to be changed… or at the very least updated. So that every single thing that the NCAA does isn’t a contradiction.

Anyway that’s that for now. Until next time college football lovers.

Trouble, Trouble, NCAA Part 1

I'm really not good at this whole blogging thing. I mean if the dates in between my posts are any indication. I'm going to do better. Honest. Well I actually have a few things of interest to discuss this week. The first being poor Alabama. So much trouble that seems to be following them as of late. Are apologies by the great coach really necessary? I'll deal with that. My other topic is the NCAA. I think I've made myself clear in that I don't like them. But really what college football fan does? I mean if you think about it. Let's be honest with ourselves here fans. Anyway so let's get down to it. Bama first.

3 in Four

Three players in four days. That's what life has been like for the poor Alabama Crimson Tide since Saturday. First it was Geno Smith with a DUI. Then it was Jonathan Taylor and his domestic issues, and then finally it was Tyren Jones and his drugs. I'm not going to pretend like this isn't a common thing. As I've said before during the off-season there isn't much that these kids are doing besides getting arrested, but I digress. Jonathan Taylor has had a pretty good amount of problems and was given a second chance by Nick Saban to fix things and play football like a respectable kid. He couldn't do that and Saban dismissed him after Taylor's domestic violence stuff which he has already been dismissed from another SEC school for previously.

People were all over Saban and basically demanding an apology from the coach for signing the rough player. Some said that he never should have taken Taylor in the first place, that he was trouble from the get-go. Saban, however, was totally unapologetic about signing the kid. He said that he wasn't "apologizing for the opportunity we gave him". And honestly I don't think he should. Why should he apologize for doing what almost every other college football coach has done at some point? You see a good player that gets removed from a school for being in trouble and you think you can "rehabilitate" him and get his talents in the process so you grab him up. You give him some rules and then he plays and all seems well. For the most part that's how these things work. A lot, and I mean a lot, of coaches take players that get kicked off other teams for issues and use them for their benefit while simultaneously helping the player get better. It doesn't always work that way. See Jonathan Taylor or Dorial Green-Beckham or Michael Dyer. However, there are times that it does work. See Cam Newton, objections are coming for that one but he never got in trouble with the law again and he played well he's Cam Newton so yeah, or Zach Mettenberger. These things can work. Players can be fixed and they can do good things. 

So should Saban apologize for giving this kid a second chance? No. Because they deserve second chances to prove that they can change for the better. That's what is important. I actually admire Saban for getting rid of him instead of letting him slide multiple times after multiples issues. He did let him off and then when it became apparent that Taylor wasn't going to obey rules, then Saban had no choice. But he doesn't owe anyone an apology. 

Geno Smith did get his second DUI. And he's still there while Tyren Jones, the running back that was found with the marijuana, is now gone. I'm not really sure what Saban's doing there. Smith is a good safety, but then again Jones was going to be a good running back. Admittedly, he's down a good ways on the incredible depth chart that is Alabama's running back position but still. Of course Jones was also suspended indefinitely for the last half of the season for breaking team rules and not being up to Alabama's standards, so I suppose there's that too. Saban is a good coach and he's proven over and over again that he knows how to handle his players. His players know what to expect from him, and they have strict standards that they have to adhere to. I admire the great coach for that. 

So anyway... I was going to talk about the NCAA but how about I take that next time... so consider this part one of two. Tomorrow will be the NCAA post. I'll delve into why I hate them and why I'm ready for them to take their leave. But I'll also try to see it from their side. Just kidding, I'm biased remember? So until part two tomorrow... Promise it'll be tomorrow.

Bigger is better?

It was a relatively quiet week in college football. I mean besides the combine and all of the hype about Marcus Mariota and his quick feet and Jameis Winston and his not so quick feet, and the reminder that RGIII just didn't pan out the way that the combine made people think he would. Besides all that there haven't been too many fun off-season tales to talk about. However, I've found two that I think will suffice. The first is a little on the serious side, and the second is a follow-up to the Winston's Baby Fat that I wrote about last week. So onto the first issue

Florida's Minor Violation

In case you missed it, the beloved NCAA finished up an investigation into the football program at Florida about a recruiting violation from a year ago. It involved Joker Phillips, who many remember as the failed Kentucky head coach, who was an assistant to the team at the time. He apparently conversed with a recruit during the "dead period" which is not allowed and somehow gave him a leg up on the competition. The NCAA must have not realized that it didn't matter when the recruit was spoken to there wasn't much that could be said to bring any recruit to Florida while Muschamp was still the head coach. Regardless of that, when Florida figured it out they suspended Joker on their own and then he resigned due to personal reasons not too long after that. It was determined by everyone's favorite authority figure, the NCAA in case you're lost, that the self-imposed penalties were enough to suffice and they wouldn't be punished any further. 

I mean I get it. I really do. But this was literally one of the smallest recruiting violations that could have ever happened. I mean it's not like he wasn't in the wrong but let's be real here what harm could it really do? The kid is going to pick Florida over an Alabama, Auburn, LSU, or even Ohio State or whatever other team could have come calling, just because Joker Phillips shows up at his school, says hello, and gets his Facebook URL? Come on. Give me a break. The off season is also great for seeing what the NCAA is going to do since they're obviously bored and need someone or something to pick on until the real fun starts again. I know that they had to do something because it is a violation, whether it was a really important and necessary violation or not, it was still a violation. So in order to assert their dominance they must investigate and annoy and eventually punish if they deem it necessary to do so. In this case, I think it's fairly decent, and not like them, to let Florida off. As we've seen with other teams before self-imposed violations don't necessarily mean that it will shake the NCAA (see Miami). However, sometimes even after the NCAA investigates and punishes it doesn't mean that it will stop the team from doing wrong things again (see SMU). More recently teams that self-imposed violations have avoided the swing of the hammer from the NCAA, see Syrcause basketball, so Florida did well to get off the hook. I, personally, don't think that it gave Florida any more of a shot at landing the kid than it did anyone else, but hey, I'm not the NCAA. I still don't understand why college players shouldn't get money when people use their likeness and their signature for monetary gain. There's a lot I don't get about the big business of college football. I love it, but I don't get it.

Lorenzen Strikes Again

So everyone probably has heard of Jared Lorenzen at some point if you like football. He was a larger than average QB once upon a time who played and played well at Kentucky. He defied most of the conventions surrounding how a quarterback should look and weigh, and he had one heck of an arm while he did it. Anyway when the picture of the voluptuous Jameis Winston surfaced, Lorenzen simply couldn't resist having his say about it. He posted this lovely number on his Twitter:

In honor of #FatTuesday I will play "who looks better?" P.S. The answer is obvious. #biggerisbetter #22 pic.twitter.com/2PXjLl9r5K
— jared lorenzen (@JaredLorenzen22) February 17, 2015

I swear this made me laugh so hard when I read it. I've read a lot about Jared Lorenzen and he seems like a cool guy and this sort of affirmed that for me. Picking at Jameis about that photo by a famous fat quarterback is just wonderful. As we all know by now the photo of Jameis isn't exactly true to his measurements and so it's not something to get worked up about. However, I still love this post. It's always nice when you can have a sense of humor about something that most people will despise you over. Anyway just a fun little story to cap the blog this week. Until next I write, see ya football lovers.

Off Season

Ugh, I hate the off season. There's all those headlines that read something like, "Nick Saban declared to be legally Satan" and the others that are like "Gus Malzahn admits to stealing toilet paper for rolling of trees" and people read them and fuss over the comment sections like these stories are realistic or interesting. Then of course there's the articles about what the players are doing in their down time. Hint: most of them are getting arrested. I, for one, just miss not having football to watch on Saturdays. I really feel like there is something missing in my life when I have to wake up and not get ready to watch a game of any sort on a Saturday morning. I'm not saying I don't enjoy the crazy stories of off season tales and woes, plus I'm a pretty big college basketball lover so March Madness is always fun for me, I'm just saying I miss college football. So in order for me to curb my appetite for the sport I'll be addressing some fun articles about the off season that keep us all entertained while we wait patiently for football's return.

Yeldon Overrated?

Anyway I'd like to address this one article that I read on my favorite college football website Saturday Down South about Alabama's own TJ Yeldon. Personally, I loved the kid. He was always a good running back to me. I mean Bama has never been short on good backs, and, while he wasn't Eddie Lacy or Mark Ingram or even Trent Richardson, he was still good. However, this anonymous scout came forward and said that he was "overrated, because he's coming from Alabama". I think this is a tad unfair toward not only Yeldon, who is very good, but toward Alabama as well. I just don't see how people can say in one sentence that Alabama itself is an overrated team and then in the next say that they're the best in the nation. Alabama has this thing about having some of the best players in the country, and they do this year after year. I mean as I mentioned up there they had Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, and Eddie Lacy all right in a row. Ingram and Lacy are playing professionally and Richardson will be picked up by someone who will use him the right way and let him play because he's still good and he deserves to have that chance. But I digress, anyway the point is that Alabama has good players year after year. It's not fair to say that Bama is overrated because they are who they are. They're a good team every single year. Whether or not they win it all isn't even the discussion, it's that consistently they are one of the best teams in the nation. They're not overrated because being overrated, by definition, would be a team who was ranked high every year and then didn't win. Alabama is not that team. If you want a team that fits that definition well see Oklahoma. Yeldon shouldn't even be in the same sentence with overrated because he proved that he could play with one of the best teams in the country and rack up some serious yards while doing it. I'm not saying he's the best back in the world, because he isn't, but I'm saying that this scout is crazy. Yeldon won't go first in the draft, he won't even be the first back to go, but someone will get him. And that team will be dang lucky because Yeldon is good. He proved that over and over again. For the whole article, and SDS's commentary, go here.

Winston's Baby Fat

I'm only addressing this because I find it hilarious. Earlier last week I saw this picture surface of the Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston: 

He was looking slightly rounder than one would expect a quarterback to be and of course people instantly made fun of him for his physique, which is silly. But that's not why I want to talk about it. The picture itself is a little over a month old, so it's not even of Jameis recently, but it's still hilarious that this is something that is deemed newsworthy during the off season. One of my favorite jokes made about this picture was that he looked like the uncle from your family that swears he can still beat everyone at football. Or that he's basically like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. I loved that comparison just because I sort of imagine that's how most quarterbacks are after they're finished with football, "No really I can still throw it 85 yards!" Honestly, it makes me laugh that this was even an issue that people brought up. No one even bothered to do research on it to see if it was recent before they made assumptions that Jameis had just let himself go right here before the combine. The Big Lead did a story on the picture where they contacted a guy at Florida State to see if the picture was recent and why Jameis looked so porkly, you can read it here. I love off season "news" stories. The Bleacher Report is the world's worst for stuff like that. I mean it's all funny reads, but it kinda makes you wonder if they actually ever report on real news. 

Anyway I guess that's all for this one. Until next time football lovers. 

Ouch...

In the words of Ron Burgundy, "Well that escalated quickly." That's pretty much how I feel about the National Championship game the other night. It was a miserable night for all those who wanted to see Oregon demolish Ohio State and thereby prove that the Big 10 is a crappy excuse for a conference and has no business playing organized football. I mean there may be other reasons for wanting Ohio State to lose, but I figure that has to be one of them. That did not happen though. I honestly thought that Marcus Mariota would be the difference maker, and it's not like he didn't have a decent night. He was 24 of 37 for 333 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. I mean in actuality he had about the same night as the National Champion third-stringer Cardale Jones. Jones was 16 of 23 for 242 yards, one touchdown, and one interception as well. So what happened? What really happened to Oregon? Well I'll tell you what I think happened. 

What Happened to Oregon (In My Own Words)

Defense. Defense is what happened to Oregon. Or should I say a lack thereof. I mean there is one name that those commentators could not stop saying and that was Ezekiel Elliot. That guy ran all over Oregon's defense and I don't know if they were ever able to really stop him. Ohio State had 296 rushing yards on the night and guess who had 246 of them? Yep. That would be Ezekiel Elliot. He had more yards rushing than there were total passing yards. Now I'm not saying that Oregon didn't have yards because they did, but they didn't have Ezekiel Elliot and, worse than that, they didn't have a defense to stop him. 

Now I'm not going to bash Oregon's defense entirely because they also managed to get four turnovers, including three fumbles, off of the Ohio State offense so that's great. The problem with that is that the Oregon offense couldn't see to get anything together when they were given those opportunities. The first fumble gave them a fourth down which they went for and didn't get so that gave the ball back to Ohio State with nothing to show. The second fumble gave them a punt, and the third fumble gave them a field goal. The only turnover that actually gave them substantial points was the  interception that Marcus Mariota threw 70 yards to Byron Marshall for a touchdown. That was pretty impressive and, for a moment, I thought that they may turn that into momentum of some kind and come back to destroy Ohio State. No such luck. As I said before, they had no Ezekiel Elliot and no defense to stand up to what he was doing.

Now What?
Well as of today Marcus Mariota has decided that he will declare for the NFL Draft and is predicted to go Number 2 to the Tennessee Titans. Cardale Jones, as of right at this moment, has not decided whether or not he will go after just starting three games in his whole career. Apparently he's made enough noise to have some people thinking, "Hmm.. should we take a chance on this kid?" Honestly I think he might go. The only way that he will play next year is if Braxton Miller transfers, and JT Barrett starts the season throwing a million interceptions and nothing else. I mean Cardale is a good player, that can't be denied especially now, but is he going to get the start over either Miller or Barrett? No, probably not. Either way he's got until the end of the day to decide because that's the deadline for players to make their decisions. Well, here's to hoping it works for him either way.

I guess I could apologize for being so hateful toward Ohio State and wishing them to lose so badly. The fact remains that the score I picked was lopsided, but it was lopsided the wrong way. I basically picked close to the right score, but I picked the wrong team to win. Normally, I would own that mistake and laugh it off, but I doubt any Ohio State fans read this blog. Frankly, I think only my dad reads this thing (shout out to you dad!) and I don't need to apologize to him for hating Ohio State. He knows I hate Ohio State. He raised me that way. So, the other team won. I'll get over it. And so will Oregon. They have a lot to make up for. Ohio State is looking to repeat next year and with the talent at their disposal they very well could make a run for it. Oregon will bounce back, and maybe one day they'll win a National Championship too. Probably not against Alabama, and definitely not against Auburn (we've already seen how that turned out) and maybe not against any other SEC team. Maybe I'm being too optimistic. I do love my conference and next year we'll be back in the finals. But for this year college football is officially over *sob* and now all we have to look forward to is the draft and signing and all that. Which can be fun also. So until next time dad, and maybe one or two other readers who are still hoping for some nice recipes, I'll talk to you then.

What Is This All About Anyway?

Well, I'll be happy to tell you. See I have this class for school that requires a blog for credit. I'll be honest in saying that I'm not too happy about having to do that since I lack a presence on any type of social media for a lot of reasons. None of which I'm willing to share with strangers.

I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to write about. Being as real as possible here, I don't have that interesting of a life. No crafty abilities, no cute familial anecdotes, and I'm not really a campaigner for social change so that doesn't leave me with many options. I guess I could write about business or the weather but that would make this project absolutely unbearable so I'm going to write about what I know: college football. At the very least I can get through this with some kind of interest in what I'm writing about. 

So first I'll start with what I'll be doing with this blog. I'll take a few topics around the college football world every week and write a little bit about each. It's not really a complicated thing, and it might be me talking to myself, but I don't care. I do realize that college football season is almost over and that will make it a little difficult so if I have to dip into past topics and give my opinion on those that's what I'll do. Hey, it's my blog and I make the rules right? Right.

I also realize what you're thinking, "Hey Nick Saban doesn't wear a sweater vest. That's a lie! She's a fraud this one!" I mean maybe not exactly like that but something along those lines. My title is a tad confusing. The most famous of college football coaches right at this moment, and probably the most hated if we're being real, isn't known for rocking a sweater vest. However, if you go a little south of Tuscaloosa, where Nick Saban resides, then you'll find Gus Malzahn. Gus is the head coach of the Auburn Tigers, the rivals of the Alabama Crimson Tide in case you're not a football follower and are here hoping that I'll provide some nice recipes at some point, and he is known for rocking a sweater vest. Catchy and clever, yes? No. Well this is still my blog so I still make the rules.

One more thing before I get to my first real post. If you read the title block underneath my title you'll see where it says, "A honestly biased college football blog". So yeah understand that before reading this. I'm biased. I don't care. Again see above for rules concerning my blog.

Alright well I think all my bases are covered. So I guess for this first blog post I'll discuss the most obvious thing surrounding college football at this moment and that is the inaugural playoff game. 

The College Football Playoff

In case you're new to this whole college football thing, allow me to explain a little bit about this "playoff". Supposedly it was an easier way to decide who was the out right national champion in college football. You have a four team playoff at the end of the season and the winners of those two games play for the National Championship. The teams in the Top 25 were decided by a committee of people instead of computers and all was well. I mean it was well if you were a SEC, Big 10, Pac-12, or ACC champion. If you're in the Big-12 where there is no conference champion then sorry you lose. (Here's looking at you Baylor and TCU, co-champions do not count as champions. Just saying.) Anyway, so the games were set and now that Alabama and Florida State were removed it is down to just Ohio State and Oregon.

I'm not going to pretend that I don't have a preference for the victor. I despise Ohio State. I will always despise Ohio State despite the fact that I give credit where credit is due, and it is slightly impressive that they managed to beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, and Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship game with a third-string quarterback. With that out of the way, I want Oregon to win. I'd be willing to bet fake money that means nothing at all that Oregon will put a beating on Ohio State the same way that they did Jameis Winston and Florida State in the Rose Bowl this year.

But I won't just leave it there. I'll tell you why I believe that Oregon will win. Marcus Mariota is a great quarterback. Again I'm not denying that Ohio State has a good third-string quarterback in Cardale Jones, they do, but he was third-string for a reason. Mariota has started for three seasons and, as of today, has yet to declare for the NFL Draft so may start yet another season for Oregon. He also brought home Oregon's first Heisman trophy this season with an impressive resume that includes completing over 68 percent of his passes for over 4,000 yards, 40 touchdowns, and just 3 interceptions. And that's just this year. If we're going with all three years he has played he's amassed over 10,000 total yards and 103 touchdowns. The kid is amazing. He truly is, and he really doesn't get enough credit. I mean I'll be real in admitting that most of my focus is in the SEC. My favorite team is in that conference so that's what I follow the most. I didn't really even pay attention to talk about Marcus Mariota because he isn't in my conference. But he is one incredible player and even I can admit that.

But Marcus Mariota aside, Oregon is a very good team. Their offense produces 47.2 points per game which is just incredible. I mean we could go into another whole discussion about the strength of schedule in the Pac-12 but that's for another time. For right now let's just be impressed that they put up that amount of points on average. Their defense also caused the current National Champions, the Florida State Seminoles, to turn the ball over five times in the Rose Bowl. Oregon's defense doesn't get as much credit as their offense but those five turnovers were extremely costly to the Seminoles.

So Oregon is clearly the winner in this. Not that Ohio State doesn't have a good record with bowls and all that, and Urban Meyer does have two National Championships under his belt already, but none of that matters at this moment. Ohio State isn't as good as Oregon. With the experience of Mariota under center the Ducks are the obvious winner here.

So, my prediction:
Oregon- 45 Ohio State- 17

I think that should about cover it for this week. I'll pick up next week and see if I was anywhere close to right. Also the National Championship game is Monday night at 7:30 (Central time) on ESPN.