The Sports Truth

Another season of college football is here at last! If you are anything like The Pundit, you have been waiting for this moment since the final gun sounded at the Texas-USC slugfest in the Rose Bowl.

What a game! The Pundit has been pretty hard on the money-grubbing, soul-sucking farce known as the Bowl Championship Series in the past, but they finally got it right last year.

The Rose Bowl featured Reggie Bush of USC and Vince Young of Texas, the two best players in the country, dueling to the end with one breathtaking play after another. It was easily one of the best games of the year, with USC-Notre Dame and Texas-Ohio State also standing out.

So what does the 2006 season hold?

Will it be able to stack up to 2005’s high drama? Will it have another championship game for the ages or a shared national championship clusterf—? Exciting late-season conference races or one-horse shows? Huge, spread-busting upsets or just the status quo?

The Pundit doesn’t really know the answers (or how to talk in the first person, for the matter) but he will offer up his insights regardless. So sit back, hold onto your butts, and prepare for The Pundit to drop some knowledge on you! Let’s begin with a critique of Sports Illustrated’s preseason Top Five…

1. Ohio State: This offense will be nuts, but with the defense might not hold up after losing so much talent to the big dance. The Buckeyes will be good, but some Big 10 team will burn them.

2. Notre Dame: I think SI has this team too low (not that they can go much higher). As with Ohio State, the offensive pyrotechnics from Charlie Weis & Co. should be impressive with the Irish returning all of their skill players. The difference for the Irish, however, is that almost their whole starting defense from last year is back as well. They were blasted several times by more athletic teams in ‘05, but Weis won’t let that happen again. The big negative? A brutal schedule every week of the year (except for Army, of course).

3. Texas: Mack Brown has built the ‘Horns into a perennial top program with tons of talent. Only USC can rival his stockpiling of NFL level talent over the years. However, can anyone be expected to replace Vince Young? He was the reason for the national title. End of discussion.

4. LSU: Always a top team with loads of NFL-caliber talent, especially on defense and at running back. They have an experienced defense but they also play in the toughest conference, the SEC. I actually think this might LSU’s year to get back to the national title game if their running backs can live up to Tiger expectations.

5. USC: Do we need to really get into detail on the Trojans? People have compared them to an NFL team playing in the college ranks with the talent they possessed and dominance they showed in the past few years. Note The Pundit’s use of the past tense. How do you replace Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and LenDale White all at once? They’ll still be a Top 10 team, but a national title contender? There’s always a slight chance, but The Pundit says no. Their saving grace may be playing in the whack… oops, Pac 10.

THE PUNDIT’S PRESEASON TOP FIVE:

1. Notre Dame
2. Ohio State
3. LSU
4. Texas
5. West Virginia

The Pundit likes Notre Dame as his preseason favorite, as Charlie Weis has his whole team back that after going 9-2 last year and falling one pass shy of the National Title game. He will fix his defensive problems and get ‘er done. Ohio State is the Big 10 favorite, but I’m not sold on their new linebacker corps. If they get it together on defense, they will make a run.

The Pundit feels the LSU Tigers are due this year. Maybe it is that whole Hurricane Katrina pity thing (Random Thought: Katrina is a crappy name for such a bad-ass storm. Agnes or Gertrude would have been much better… those are some evil, levee-busting-bitch names)! Texas will be good again, but I just can’t see them beating a Notre Dame or Ohio State without the one-man giant-killer known as Vince Young.

As for West Virginia, just watch them! They are a damn good football team that can roll with anyone in the country on offense. The defense will come around this year and they will some serious whip-ass… you’ll see!

WHAT THE F#*@!!!

The Pundit feels it is time for a new feature that will truly illustrate the madness that is his unique view on college football: The weekly “What the F#*@!!!” Award!

This will be awarded to college players and coaches (or anyone else, for that matter) that do something really stupid and need to be called out for their jackassery.

Week 1 Recipients: Rhett Bomar, former Oklahoma quarterback, and Dirk Koetter, bonehead coach of Arizona State.

Bomar worked five hours a week at a car dealership that sponsored the rides of athletics department officials. No big deal, except that he got paid for 40 hours of work a week. That’s called an extra benefit and highly illegal. This is all the more unusual because big schools like Oklahoma catch more scrutiny than smaller schools. Rhett Bomar… The Pundit asks, “What the F#*@!!!”

Then there’s Koetter (left). He has two quarterbacks, a junior and a freshman, who both win five games and have nearly identical statistics in 2005. Both were electrifying at times during the 2005 season and both will likely go to the NFL in the future. The junior broke his thumb, thus giving the freshman his shot. Koetter decides after the season to let them battle for the job all spring and summer and into fall camp.

The Pundit thinks that this was a reasonable approach. The former starter (now a senior) wins his job back a week before the season opener. However, this is where the innocent competition gets nutty.

Barely one day later, however! Koetter changed his mind and named the other QB the starter! A week before the season! The senior QB is now going to play at Sam Houston State and probably will be one of the most pissed off people ever. Dirk Koetter… The Pundit asks, “What the F#*@!!!”

Posted in College Football