It's that time of year again. Specifically, it's the time where I start counting down the number of days until college football starts (You can ask my wife....I do it every day). We're just two weeks away from the start of the season, so I figured that I would commit my thoughts to the old bloggy-blog. This way I can see how wrong I was when the season is over. Here goes:
TOP 25
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Oregon
4. Alabama
5. Florida State
6. Oklahoma
7. Georgia
8. Michigan
9. South Carolina
10. Michigan State
11. Wisconsin
12. Texas
13. TCU
14. Arkansas
15. Oklahoma State
16. West Virginia
17. Virginia Tech
18. Boise State
19. Florida
20. Tennessee
21. Clemson
22. Ohio State
23. Notre Dame
24. Auburn
25. BYU
Just missed: Stanford, Nebraska, Missouri, Utah
Also Considered: Louisville, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Washington, NC State, Georgia Tech, UCF, Kansas State, Virginia
Explanation: I did do these rankings before ESPN, SI, Coaches poll, etc... came out. In light of that, I was a little surprised at how similar my ranks were to those. There are really only a handful of teams that are very different from those, so I'll talk about them briefly:
Oklahoma State - I have them 15th, while SI doesn't even have them ranked. I know the Weeden-Blackmon hook-up is gone, but this was a good complete team last year, and not just some pass-wacky sideshow. They return eight starters from a defense that I argued was actually quite good. They also have 4 upperclassmen on the o-line with starting experience. The only real question mark then is the skill-position players, and hopefully Joseph Randle can carry the load until all the new guys are up to speed.
Tennessee - I didn't see them ranked anywhere else, so this is probably the biggest reach for me. That being said, I think their offense has a real chance to be the most dyanmic unit in the SEC. Not only are Tyler Bray and his receivers healthy, but the line returns 5 starters. The defense is a work in progress, but there is experience, and Tennessee hasn't recruited too badly despite all of their recent turmoil (17th nationally, in a five year average, according to Rivals).
Kansas St. - I don't even have them in the next five out, so that's a big difference from most every other preseason ranking. They finished 33rd in last year's F+ rankings, courtesy of Football Outsiders, which indicates that some of their success last year can be attributed to good fortune. Quite simply, this team doesn't have the talent that others in the Big 12 do. In spite of that, it's a testament to Bill Snyder coaching acumen that I have this team in my "also considered" list. I don't think they'll fall completely off of the map, but don't be surprised if 6-6 happens.
West Virginia - A lot of people have the Mountaineers as a darkhorse Big 12 title contender, whereas I have them 5th in the pecking order. Their offense was only 13th in F+ last year, so it isn't quite good enough to overcome a mediocre D (53rd in F+). I don't see the team that lost by 26 to Syracuse last year suddenly winning what might be the best conference in football. I'm still thinking that they'll get to 8 or 9 wins, but I don't think the 11 win upside is there for this team.
Nebraska - Maybe Taylor Martinez will make the leap this year. I ain't betting on it.
BEST "UNDER THE RADAR" GAMES
Plastered on the college football page of almost any sports website right now is an article with a list of the best games of the year. You'll likely find LSU-Alabama, Michigan-Michigan St., USC-Oregon among others. While those are obviously the most important and exciting games of the year, I wanted to touch on some of the less-publicized games on the schedule that should still have a big impact on the season. Here's 10 games in chronological order.
NC State vs. Tennessee - August 31
This might just be the most competitive game of the first weekend that also includes a pair of teams with 9-win potential. NC State is positioned as a bit of a darkhorse in the ACC, with a lot of the perennial powers in trouble (UNC, Miami, Sammy Watkins) or reloading (Virginia Tech). Even if the team doesn't finally make the leap they were supposed to make a few years ago, they can get to double digit wins if they win the 50-50 games like this one. On Tennessee's side, those calling for Derek Dooley's firing will probably be more focused on the big SEC games, but winning this one can't hurt.
Georgia at Missouri - September 8
Welcome to the SEC, Missouri! As a reward for joining the conference, 10 returning defensive starters as well as QB Aaron Murray will be paying you an early season visit. Good luck. In all seriousness, I really believe that Missouri has the talent in the passing game to hang with the best of the SEC. The question of course is whether or not the lines are up to the task. Should be fun to find out.
Oregon at Washington State - September 29
This is the first of many meetings between perhaps the two most exciting offensive minds in college football. I doubt the Cougars will have enough firepower to keep up with Oregon, but it should still be fun to watch. The game is in Pullman, which is one of the most randomly awesome locales for college football.
USC at Utah - October 4
The early November tilt between Florida State and Virginia Tech is probably the best Thursday night game of the season, but this one is a close second. The thought of this game immediately conjures up thoughts of the 2008 Thursday-nighter where Oregon State took down the #1 Trojans at home. While USC has upgrade the QB position, with Matt Barkley instead of Mark Sanchez, and Utah doesn't have a Jacquizz Rodgers on their roster, this could still be a trap game for the Trojans. If Utah can pull the upset, then they should have a clear path to the PAC-12 title game. A trip to Washington may be the only other league game where they aren't favored, as they miss out on Oregon and Stanford during the regular season.
Stanford at Notre Dame - October 13
The season for ND looks like this: Four games as a mild-to-significant underdog (USC, Oklahoma, and the Michigans), six games as a favorite (Purdue, Navy, Wake, BC, Pitt, and Miami), and the two swing games (BYU and this one). While it would be great to pull off one or more of the upsets, the key to a successful season is going 2-0 in the swing games (and of course, not losing as a favorite). Before we can reliably start winning the big games, we need to make sure we can take care of the "medium" games. If Brian Kelly can lead this team to an 8-4 season, or even a 9-3 one, then I'll pretty much be estatic.
Wisconsin at Purdue - October 13
Purdue and Illinois are the only two semi-legitimate threats to take out Wisconsin in the Leaders division. Since Wisconsin gets the Illini at home, I chose this game. Wisconsin has had a great run as of late, but there has to be at least a little uncertaintly breaking in transfer QB Danny O'Brien and a few new offensive lineman. If they drop one or both of their cross-divisional games against Nebraska and Michigan State, then the importance of game will be greatly magnified.
Alabama at Tennessee - October 20
I don't think that Tennessee is a better team than Alabama, but they have a few things on their side in this game. First, the game is at home. Second, Tennessee's strength (vertical passing) matches up perfectly with the biggest concern for Alabama on defense (the secondary). The Tide's trip to Missouri the week before will be a similar test, as well as the week 3 contest at Arkansas. For me, the most interesting storyline of the season is seeing if 2012 Alabama can do what 2010 Alabama couldn't: Make a legitimate run at back to back titles.
BYU at Georgia Tech - October 27
I love random non-conference games in the middle of October. I especially love this one because it pits two teams that could be sneaky good against each other. One of these years, Georgia Tech is going to have a year when the option is unstoppable (they were close when they won the ACC). On the other side, BYU was a quiet 10-3 last year, and returns enough pieces to improve on that record.
West Virginia at Oklahoma State - November 10
You could pretty much put any Big 12 matchup between the top 6-7 teams in the conference on this list, but I like this matchup in particular: Dana Holgerson vs. the team for which he used to be OC. This should be a fun clash of pretty similar offenses (assuming Cowboy freshman Wes Lunt continues the tradition of good OK State QBs).
LSU at Arkansas - November 23
If both of these teams get past Alabama, we could be looking at a playoff-type atmosphere in this game. I doubt it will be as exciting as the 4-OT crazy-fest in 2007, but you never know. Outside of the November 3rd games (USC-Oregon, LSU-Bama), this has the highest probability of being a 1 vs. 2 matchup.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Music Countdown #20 and #19: O Canada!
Remember when I said I was going to count down my favorite songs on this blog? Me either. Let's do it anyway.
Note: I combined these two songs into one post for two reasons. One, both bands are from Canada, so they can share a post title. Two, both songs use the phrase "your kind" to talk about groups of people, which I find to be one of the oddest phrases in the English language (Maybe it's a Canadian thing, eh). Three, I didn't have that much to say about Broken Social Scene that hasn't been said elsewhere.
#20: KC Accidental - Broken Social Scene
BSS is an amalgamation of various Canadian indie musicians that have been touring and releasing music for over a decade (You could call them a supergroup, but they prefer collective, instead). Their albums keep you listening because of the quick shifts between style and tone. While that description may seem exhausting, transitions between songs are genrally quite seemless, and almost always pleasant. I could have easily chosen their most famous song, 7/4 Shoreline (don't worry - there'll be a song with a weird time signature on the list shortly), or the tremendous World Sick off of their most recent album. In the end, KC Accidental is such a splendid, odd little song that I had to choose it.
#19: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
I've been listening to the Arcade Fire for a while now, and I still can't quite put my finger on how I feel about them. On one hand, I probably listen to them more than any other band, save for a few. Their ability to consistently craft great, traditionally structured songs is nearly unparalleled in modern music (they really don't have a lot of clunkers that you need to skip when you listen to a whole album). Arcade Fire features seven band members which normally screams too much, but they have a knack for being able to incorporate all of their instrumentation without feeling bloated. Furthermore, they seem to be dedicated to crafting complete albums; the themes running through each album (death of loved ones for Funeral, disillusionment with societal institutions in Neon Bible, and you can probably guess what The Suburbs is about, at least superficially) give a sense of importance and focus to the proceedings.
In spite of all this, I still find myself not being as warm towards them as I am with other bands. I think that the very thing that limits their ceiling for me is one of their strengths mentioned above: their adherence to chosen themes. What Arcade Fire hasn't yet done is create a moment of music that sounds as if it were truly spontaneous. Now of course, perceived spontaneity is not a prerequisite for great music. Many of the artists and songs later in the countdown will be just as calculating and self-serious if not moreso when compared with the Arcade Fire. But me to adopt a band as one of my favorites, there has to be the occasional sense of giving in to the music in some sort of primal way, and I rarely, if ever, feel that from them. Their treatment of issues and emotional responses to those issues can be seen as rather clinical. This might sounds strange coming from me, but when you think about how they put together their albums and songs, it almost seems too logical. I'd really like to see them get weird with their next album, if only to see what they're capable of producing on the margins of semi-radio-friendly alternative rock.
That's enough railing on the Arcade Fire, though. If I was doing a countdown of my favorite bands, they'd probably be higher than 19th, so I can't complain too much. I debated about a dozen different songs of theirs for this list, but ultimately chose Sprawl II. It summarizes The Suburbs basic themes of alienation and belonging nicely, which is good because it's seemlingly the dramatic conclusion to the record. If you pay close attention throughout the album, you can hear how the Arcade Fire slowly builds up your tolerance to the synth throughout the album and then unabashedly blare it in the penultimate song.
Note: I combined these two songs into one post for two reasons. One, both bands are from Canada, so they can share a post title. Two, both songs use the phrase "your kind" to talk about groups of people, which I find to be one of the oddest phrases in the English language (Maybe it's a Canadian thing, eh). Three, I didn't have that much to say about Broken Social Scene that hasn't been said elsewhere.
#20: KC Accidental - Broken Social Scene
BSS is an amalgamation of various Canadian indie musicians that have been touring and releasing music for over a decade (You could call them a supergroup, but they prefer collective, instead). Their albums keep you listening because of the quick shifts between style and tone. While that description may seem exhausting, transitions between songs are genrally quite seemless, and almost always pleasant. I could have easily chosen their most famous song, 7/4 Shoreline (don't worry - there'll be a song with a weird time signature on the list shortly), or the tremendous World Sick off of their most recent album. In the end, KC Accidental is such a splendid, odd little song that I had to choose it.
#19: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
I've been listening to the Arcade Fire for a while now, and I still can't quite put my finger on how I feel about them. On one hand, I probably listen to them more than any other band, save for a few. Their ability to consistently craft great, traditionally structured songs is nearly unparalleled in modern music (they really don't have a lot of clunkers that you need to skip when you listen to a whole album). Arcade Fire features seven band members which normally screams too much, but they have a knack for being able to incorporate all of their instrumentation without feeling bloated. Furthermore, they seem to be dedicated to crafting complete albums; the themes running through each album (death of loved ones for Funeral, disillusionment with societal institutions in Neon Bible, and you can probably guess what The Suburbs is about, at least superficially) give a sense of importance and focus to the proceedings.
In spite of all this, I still find myself not being as warm towards them as I am with other bands. I think that the very thing that limits their ceiling for me is one of their strengths mentioned above: their adherence to chosen themes. What Arcade Fire hasn't yet done is create a moment of music that sounds as if it were truly spontaneous. Now of course, perceived spontaneity is not a prerequisite for great music. Many of the artists and songs later in the countdown will be just as calculating and self-serious if not moreso when compared with the Arcade Fire. But me to adopt a band as one of my favorites, there has to be the occasional sense of giving in to the music in some sort of primal way, and I rarely, if ever, feel that from them. Their treatment of issues and emotional responses to those issues can be seen as rather clinical. This might sounds strange coming from me, but when you think about how they put together their albums and songs, it almost seems too logical. I'd really like to see them get weird with their next album, if only to see what they're capable of producing on the margins of semi-radio-friendly alternative rock.
That's enough railing on the Arcade Fire, though. If I was doing a countdown of my favorite bands, they'd probably be higher than 19th, so I can't complain too much. I debated about a dozen different songs of theirs for this list, but ultimately chose Sprawl II. It summarizes The Suburbs basic themes of alienation and belonging nicely, which is good because it's seemlingly the dramatic conclusion to the record. If you pay close attention throughout the album, you can hear how the Arcade Fire slowly builds up your tolerance to the synth throughout the album and then unabashedly blare it in the penultimate song.
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