Finishing out the first week in College Football ... Labor Day weekend

The 2015 College Football season has kicked off ...

Sunday, September 6th 

Junior QB 12 Austin Appleby leads Purdue offense into Huntington, WV
for a rare Sunday, Week 1 season road opener, for the Boilermakers

• Purdue at Marshall 2:00 pm on FS1 
• The Boilermakers are entering the third season under coach Darrell Hazell, finishing 3-9 in '14; while the Thundering Herd are coming off a 13-1 season, 52-23 bowl win over Northern Illinois in Boca Raton Bowl. Coach Doc Holliday is entering his sixth season in Huntington, as Marshall returns six on offense, five on defense



Former OSU assistant, Purdue
head coach Darrell Hazell enters
third season at the helm.

• B1G vs. C-USA on Sunday afternoon ...

Monday, September 7th

• #1 Ohio State at Virginia Tech 7:00 pm on ESPN 
• Ohio State will take on Virginia Tech in the final game of College Football's opening weekend on Labor Day evening at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. The two teams are meeting for the second consecutive season as the Hokies won in Columbus last season, 35-21
• Urban Meyer has only one loss in the regular season, in his first three seasons at Ohio State, last year's loss to Virginia Tech (7-6)
• Frank Beamer is the dean of college football coaches, entering his 29th season at the helm at Virginia Tech. The Hokies are coming off a 33-17 Military Bowl victory over Cincinnati
• Virginia Tech is 18-1 in home openers, ironically the lone loss was to FCS James Madison in '10
• B1G vs. ACC on Labor Day in prime time!

Since arriving in Columbus, Urban Meyer has enjoyed a new
element in his offense, a high-quality running back. Back in
'15, junior RB 15 Ezekiel Elliott leading the Buckeyes.

Road to the Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff
The Pac 12 opened 7-5 in Week 1. The Big Ten is 7-5 with two remaining games, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Week 1, thus far.

Not ranked: Ohio State and Purdue, since they need to finish the Week 1 games.

B1G defenses hopefully take care of business at Marshall and at Virginia Tech, respectively, but a .500 start is certainly possible. ESPN's Mark May is picking VA Tech this morning. He is hedging his comments, saying Ohio State will rebound, like 2014, when they hit the Big Ten ...

Game of Week 1 - OSU @ VA Tech will be played on Labor Day, in prime time.

It is an early 2015 College Football season, so upsets do happen (see Stanford waking up at 4:45 in the morning for a game). Northwestern has improved, but timing is often, everything. We shall see how the season plays out for both Stanford and Northwestern play out over the course of the next 11 games.

However, Penn State has issues more than a Tempe upset. Nebraska and Wisconsin have new coaches. Utah is a good program, but Michigan has a new coach, as well. Often adjustments are necessary, see Bob Stoops or Nick Saban, at OU and Alabama, Year 1 vs. Year 2. Further, teams often improve most, between Game 1 and Game 2.

We would not be surprised to see the Big Ten get two more wins to close out Week 1, but here are the Top 10 for Week 1 in the Big Ten.

1. Michigan State (1-0) - Nice 37-24 win on the road at Western Michigan (0-1), over P.J. Flick's team. The Spartans won the Big Ten in 2013, lead by QB Connor Cook. Cook is back, along with a solid offensive line, defensive line, but Mark Dantonio has new defensive coordinators and back seven on defense to work with over the course of the 2015 season.

GAME of Week 2 - Oregon (1-0) at Michigan State (1-0) - but, will the Ducks have a healthy #1 QB?

2. Northwestern (1-0) - Great 16-6 win over a ranked Stanford team at home. Lead by defense and QB Clayton Thorson, a redshirt freshman version of C.J. Beathard for Northwestern? The Iowa coaching staff recruited Thorson, as well.

He is only a freshman. Both Northwestern and Standford had some ups and downs on Saturday. Someone had to win and it was the biggest win for Northwestern, since the Gator Bowl win over Mississippi State, to close out the 2012 season at 10-3.

Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern won the recruiting battle. Now, the redshirt freshman Thorson is the #1 QB at Northwestern leading the 2015 Wildcats ...

• The Wildcats are a B1G West team to watch, especially with the first half the B1G schedule
• The Wildcats are also coming off back to back 5-7 seasons, so it was only one game
• Pat Fitzgerald has recruited well over the past several seasons, but the offensive and defensive lines haven't performed well enough the past two seasons

3. Iowa (1-0) - Nice win, as the Hawkeyes defeat the #2 FCS program, Illinois State 31-14.
C.J. Beathard and Drew Ott, two captains, played very well. They are leaders on each side of the ball for the Hawkeyes in 2015. Nice start out of the blocks. 

By the way, Illinois State may have a good freshman QB, but, like North Dakota State (0-1) and Northern Iowa (0-1), each are reloading or rebuilding in the MVfC. The 2014 season is over, but Week 1 doesn't say a lot on how well or strong a program, likely will be.

Week 2: Cy-Hawk Game, in Ames, against a Iowa State (1-0) program that has given Kirk Ferentz (7-9) fits at times, especially in Iowa City. The fan base at both schools want results in 2015.

Iowa has won two of the last three in Ames, but the 2011 game was a 44-41, 3 OT game, won by Paul Rhoads' Cyclones. Ultimately, the games in the Big Ten are always more important.

4. We also all played FCS programs and we won ...

• Indiana (1-0) - needed a stopped 2 point conversion on last series, to defeat Southern Illinois 48-47, ugh! However, this a program that won at Missouri last year, after losing at Bowling Green, so any given Saturday
• Maryland (1-0) - Well, Nile Kinnick's punt return record falls, as Terps beat Richmond 50-21 to kickoff 2015 ...
• Rutgers (1-0) - 63-13 win over Norfolk State, when suspended players came back for second half. Five players were dismissed prior to game for the Scarlet Knights

5. Illinois (1-0) - Thunderstorms delayed the Bill Cubit era's kickoff on Friday, The Fighting Illini beat Kent State 52-3 on Saturday to open the new era of football in Champaign. The Fighting Illini beat Minnesota, Penn Sate and Northwestern last year, on their way to a 6-7 season. Junior QB Wes Lunt is a good quarterback, along with senior RB Josh Ferguson.

5. Wisconsin (0-1) - Kirk Herbstreit during the ABC/ESPN game coverage said the Badgers will likely be favored now the rest of the season. #2 Alabama rolled Wisconsin 35-17, as the Paul Chryst era begins, at his alma mater, in his hometown of Madison.

The Badgers have as favorable schedule over the next 11 games, as do the Iowa Hawkeyes. The rest of the OOC games in September are not at Iowa State, Pitt and North Texas (former assistant), like Iowa. Wisconsin now hosts Miami-OH, Troy and Hawaii, ahead of the Big Ten opener in October.

The Big Ten opener on October 3rd: Iowa (1-0) at Wisconsin (0-1) will be an interesting conference opener for both programs. The Big Ten West is wide open. 

On any given Saturday, it will be wide open in the Big Ten.

7. Minnesota (0-1) - #3 TCU beat the Golden Gophers 23-17. QB Mitch Leidner is dangerous ahead of the chains, but when he has to win his arm, the Golden Gophers can be manageable. The defense lost their Top 2 tacklers from 2014, Top S and Top LB. The Golden Gophers, like most of the Big Ten West are not loaded with play-makers, like Ohio State or the top College Football powers.

8. Nebraska (0-1) - Hail Mary BYU 33-28 ...

Welcome to Lincoln, Mike Riley, a guy who is a cross between Hayden Fry/Dr. Tom Osborne (offensive QB) and Kirk Ferentz (NFL guy) ... not Bo Pelini, who finished seven years in Lincoln with at least nine or ten wins each season, but consistently four losses.

There will be a likely transition between Mike Riley's style of play and discipline (defense) and the past 7 years. Like with Hayden Fry, Kirk Ferentz and Dr. Tom Osborne, winning and Big Ten titles didn't happen Day 1. The Huskers are not Iowa, but winning nine or ten games may not be the case, either.

9. Michigan (0-1) - Fifth year senior, transfer Jake Rudock threw five interceptions at Iowa in '14. Game 1 at Utah for the Wolverines, the game manager, threw three interceptions in the 24-17 loss on the road to open the Jim Harbaugh era at Michigan. The Wolverines have plenty of work, coming off the Brady Hoke years, including trouble in road games.

Michigan will welcome Gary Anderson back to the Big Ten, as Oregon State (1-0) comes to Ann Arbor for the Week 2 game. Despite the troubles in Game 1, Rudock is likely the better QB right now in Ann Arbor. Shane Morris, a junior, has only thrown interceptions in his short career, thus far.

10. Penn State - what happened to the Nittany Lions, losing to Temple for the first time, since 1941? It wasn't a simple upset win, there are questions lost in transition from the O'Brien era into the James Franklin era. Temple had a sound 27-10 win over the Nittany Lions. There is plenty of work ahead for the Penn State program, as they enter second season under Franklin.

The Pac 12 opened 7-5 in Week 1. The Big Ten is 7-5, with 2 B1G games left, over the Labor Day holiday weekend!

College Football is back!

Happy Memorial Day ...

The official kick off to Summer has begun in America with Memorial Day. Our thoughts and prayers are with those families and for those who have passed in service for our freedom.

The countdown of the 2014 College Football Season has also begun. Less than 100 days, until the opening weekend of College Football!

Two preseason magazines have hit the shelves.

Lindy's Sports College Football National Edition 2014 Preview, as well, as The Sporting News College Football are on the racks at Barnes and Noble and other fine retailers.  

The preview for the College Football Playoff inaugural season can begin. Out with the BCS poll and in with the 13 member Selection Committee.

Rutgers may not want Dr. Condoleeza Rice for their commencement speach in 2014, but Rice is the sole women headlining the 13 member Selection Committee for the College Football Playoff.

Five current athletic directors will serve, along with the patriarch of the Manning family, a former NCAA executive vice president, a former Big East Commissioner, a former sportswriter, a former superintendent of the Air Force Academy, two former head coaches and Ms. Rice.

Four teams will be chosen for the College Football Playoff, as The Selection Committee uses their iPad specifically loaded with software allowing them to watch any game in the country at any time. America would love to carry that iPad, since the committee members will not travel to games as special guests.

The Selection Committee will rank the Top 25 beginning with the midseason to the end of the regular season. But, votes and totals will remain private.

Lindy's Sports and The Sporting News both like the same four programs, but not in the same order: Alabama, Florida State, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Out with the BCS National Championship Game and this season: the Rose and Sugar Bowl games will host the semi-final games, so the Big Ten or Pac Ten will not likely play in the Granddaddy of Bowl Games this season.

The Selection Committee will determine who plays in the Rose, Orange,  Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton and Peach Bowls each season, as part of the new College Football Playoff. Those bowls will rotate over the next 12 years as semi-final hosts, each getting to host four times over the 12-year span.

Notre Dame has a twice in 12-year period guarantee to play the ACC champion in the Orange Bowl. One spot in the six bowls will be reserved for the top-rated team from the so-called non-Big Five (Sun Belt, MAC, Mountain West, American and Conference USA).

With the BCS, a conference (Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12, ACC and SEC, for example) was limited to two BCS teams in the old BCS bowls, but not anymore.  The College Football Playoff is not limited in any way, other than to  the choices of 13 members of The Selection Committee.

ESPN will enjoy the slate of lesser bowls to highlight upcoming big Bowls, a traditional New Year's Eve and Day slate of games and four-team College Football Playoff.

College Football has its Final Four in 2014.

We say good bye tonight: Final BCS Title Game: Florida State (13-0) vs. Auburn (12-1)

BCS Championship: Auburn vs. Florida State at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN (HD) - The Tigers try to keep the SEC dominance going in the Final Game of the BCS, as the ACC's Seminoles counter in the final BCS Title Game.

Happy New Year: Bring on the B1G Day of College Football

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, as it was a great New Year's Eve for Iowa and Creighton's basketball teams, with conference opening victories last night. Texas A&M pulled out the Chick-fil-A Bowl over Duke, with a late Pick 6 to overcome the deficit ...

Now, four B1G New Year's Games to open the year 2014!

Gator Bowl:
Georgia vs. Nebraska at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN2 (HD)
It has been an emotional season for coach Bo Pelini and the Cornhuskers, as two teams face off 2014, as they did 365 days ago!

Heart of Dallas Bowl:
North Texas vs. UNLV at 11:00 a.m. on ESPNU (HD)
The Mean Green coach Dan McCarney is an old Big Ten guy; but they face a MWC replacement, since no B1G teams were eligible for the Big Ten bowl slot.

Capital One Bowl:
South Carolina vs. Wisconsin at 12:00 p.m. on ABC (HD)
First year coach Gary Anderson has the Badgered back in Florida, after his predecessor Bret Bielema lead Wisconsin to three straight Rose Bowls!

Outback Bowl:
Iowa vs. LSU at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN (HD) - Our Pick: Iowa 27-21
The Hawkeyes are back in a bowl game coming off an awful 4-8 in 2012, while the Tigers are looking for another bowl win, after losing 3 of last 4!

Rose Bowl:
Michigan State vs. Stanford at 4:00 p.m. at ESPN (HD)
The 100th Granddaddy of them all will be a classic game of smash mouth, physical football with strong play at the line of scrimmage, as the Spartans return, after a 26 year drought vs. a Cardinal back in Pasadena for the New Year!

Fiesta Bowl:
Baylor vs. UCF at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN (HD)
Welcome to the BCS as the Big 12 champions are the Bears from Waco vs
the first AAC champs are the Knights from Orlando, after moving to the AAC from the C-USA ...

It is first day of 2014, so we want to wish everyone good health, joy, love, hope, prosperity, peace and happiness in the New Year!

The final season of Leaders, Legends and BCS has come: The envelop please ...

Michigan State vs. Stanford in Rose Bowl, in the 100th Game!

At least Ohio State made the B1G Title Game for the first time in three years. Michigan, not at all. Little Brother in MI is at the top of the B1G!

B1G East in 2014 

1) MSU (8-0) - Rose Bowl bound for the first time in 26 years!

2) OSU (8-0) - at large BCS for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes!

3) PSU (4-4) - probation

4) Michigan (3-5) - hearing they may be headed to Tempe for a date with K-State?

5) Maryland (3-5 ACC Atlantic) - Will they be in the Military vs. someone like Marshall or could they fall to B1G spot in Detroit?
6) Rutgers (3-5 in AAC) - and the will play Notre Dame in Pinstripe Bowl!
7) Indiana (3-5) - The Hoosiers are in the cellar, with state rival Purdue headed to the B1G West.

B1G West in 2014
1) Wisconsin (6-2) - Should be Cap 1 for 2013!
2) Iowa (5-3) - Should be Outback for 2014!
3) Nebraska (5-3) - Next, would be the Gator for the Cornhuskers?
4) Minnesota (5-3) - The Texas Bowl is not on January 1, so Big Ten fans can see it ...
5) Northwestern (1-7) - The season didn't pan out ...
6) Illinois (1-7) - Welcome back to Iowa's schedule for the first time, since '08.
7) Purdue (0-8) - Still in the cellar, though it is out West.

With departures, division realignment and new schedules, the Big Ten pecking order will likely see wholesale changes in the coming season. Here's to the Holidays!

The era of Leaders and Legends has passed. The Leaders won the first two titles, but the Legends finished it off in Year 3, with the Michigan State Spartans winning it all.

If the new Final 4 was happening this season:

1. Auburn (12-1) - the SEC schedule in the West was better
2. Florida State (13-0) - the ACC is a little soft, but they made the playoffs
3. Alabama (11-1) - the reigning champs would still be in the hunt
4. Michigan State (12-1) - the B1G isn't as soft as once suspected ...   

But, we will have to wait until next year ...

So, the final BCS Title Game will be Florida State (13-0) vs. Auburn (12-1) in Pasadena for the final game.