Tuesday, December 07, 2010

College Football Trend Watching : 2010 in Review

As always there will be plenty of time for Bowl predictions (umm next week) but in the meantime a quick look at the year that was

ACC
My Prediction: V-Tech
Biggest Surprise: Maryland - Expected to finish at the bottom of the ACC they were in contention for the title until nearly the end.
Biggest Disappointment- Miami - They were expected to challnege for the ACC title if not more. They didn't
Player of the year: Tyrod Taylor - He led V-Tech to an undefeated year in the ACC.

Big 12
My Prediction: Oklahoma
Biggest Surprise: Ok State (TBPU) - After losing arguably one of their best QBs in school history alongside a slew of play makers on both sides of the ball Ok State was expected to be at the bottom of the league.Instead they were probably the second best team in the league
Biggest Disappointment - Texas. They lost to UCLA at home. No other explanation is needed.
Player of the Year - Justin Blackman - Nearly broke Larry Fitzgerald's NCAA receiving yards record. His lowest yardage in a game of the season was 105.

Big 10
My Prediction: Ohio State
Biggest Surprise: Michigan State. Wisconsin was expected to be good. Michigan State basically has the same team as last year but won 5 more games.
Biggest Disappointment: Iowa. Finished the year 4-4 in the Conference.
Player of the Year: Wisconsin's all-american OT Gabe Carimi . This might be a controversial pick but Wisconsin was the conferences best team and it was the dominating o-line that did it. Carimi made sure whoever was the running back he succeeded. Yes Robinson put up ridiculous stats but ill-timed turnovers in the red zone I think keeps him from THE best award.

Pac 10
My Prediction: Oregon State
Biggest Surprise: Stanford. Stanford was even better than last despite losing Geirhart...pretty stunning outcome.
Biggest Disappointment: Oregon State. Yes they lost a Rodgers but Oregon State was mediocre at best despite widespread predictions of being the 2nd best team in the league.
Player of the Year: Andrew Luck. Yes Lamarcus James had crazy numbers but so did his backup. It's the system. Luck is simply irreplaceable for Stanford.

SEC
My Prediction: Alabama
Biggest Surprise: Auburn. Well I have a team from Alabama going to the Championship. That counts for something, right?
Biggest Disappointment: Florida. Yes Alabama failed to live up to the hype but Florida was .500 in the SEC despite being unanimously picked to win the SEC East.
Player of the Year: Cameron Newton. As of now he would set the NCAA record for highest QB rating ever. As of now the NCAA still thinks he's eligible. Both seem odd.

3 comments:

MJ said...

I agree with everything you wrote here.

Gutsy Goldberg said...

This was a great recap... I didn't realize how little was expected of Maryland. It was also interesting to see that Mich St has almost the same team as last year and won so many more games.

I also love your comments about Cam Newton. I keep thinking the controversey will indeed preent him from winning the heisman

MJ said...

It blows my mind that Newton wasn't found ineligible. I guess props go to his dad for running the greatest cover-up in history. Richard Nixon and Ollie North could've used Mr. Newton's skills at covering his tracks...