College Football Week 1: The fun has begun

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Joe Southwick (pictured above) will be the Boise State starting quarterback tomorrow night as the post-Kellen Moore era begins.

By Josh Kramer

Lights.  Camera. Action.  After a 234 day hiatus, the 2012 college football season kicks off tonight.  We are coming to the end of the BCS era as the first college football playoff creeps closer. Week 1 generates a major buzz every year, despite featuring very few “buzz-worthy” matchups.

Here are the marquee matchups:

Boise State at Michigan State: Spartans by 7

Headline:  The post-Kellen Moore era begins poorly with a Spartan smackdown.

The date was December 23, 2007.  Taylor Tharp was the quarterback for Boise State as they took on East Carolina in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.  Current Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson was the star player for the Pirates, leading them to a 41 to 38 upset victory over Boise State.  This night in Hawaii over four years ago happens to be the last game that Kellen Moore was not under center for the Boise State Broncos.  Tomorrow night, the Joe Southwick era officially takes flight,  as Southwick takes over the quarterback reigns for the great Kellen Moore.

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College Football Preview: SEC too good for its own good

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Matt Barkley (pictured above) will have a special year in 2012 as he leads USC back to the pinnacle of college football and takes home the Heisman Trophy.

By Josh Kramer

Opening night for the 2012 edition of College Football is just a week away.  It seems like it was just yesterday that Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide were celebrating on Bourbon Street.  In actuality, it was 227 days ago when Alabama clinched the SEC’s sixth consecutive national championship.  Don’t expect that streak to reach seven though.

Here are my predictions for the season ahead.

ACC Champion: Florida State Seminoles

I along with most people around the country jumped the gun and proclaimed Florida State’s greatness last season.  Will this finally be the year that the Seminoles and their outstanding recruiting classes live up to the hype?  Jimbo Fisher along with the entire city of Tallahassee certainly hope so.  A loaded defense led by Brandon Jenkins, Bjoern Werner, and Xavier Rhodes are ready to roll.  As is their experienced senior quarterback EJ Manuel.  A September 22nd showdown with the reigning ACC Champs Clemson and a visit to Blacksburg for a Thursday night tussle (November 8th) with the always dangerous Virginia Tech Hokies are the two dates to keep in mind at this time.

Big 12 Champion:  Oklahoma Sooners

The Sooners are a definite contender to not only win the conference crown, but to take home the whole thing after a very disappointing and injury-riddled 2011. This will be a team that has a chip on its shoulder from start to finish in 2012.  Unfortunately for the Sooners, their schedule does not get serious until their final three games, which features road contests against Big 12 newcomers West Virginia and TCU, and a showdown with in-state rival Oklahoma State.  Also, keep an eye on the Red River Rivalry Game against a dangerous Texas team on October 13th.  Senior quarterback Landry Jones may face more media pressure than any other player in the country not named Matt Barkley.  I have a feeling that the very experienced senior will welcome it as he finishes his Sooner career with a bang.

Week 13 was jam-packed

Photo courtesy of toledoblade.com. Yesterday was likely the last game of the Luke Fickell (pictured above) era at Ohio State. He will be a hotly sought after commodity in the very near future.

By Josh Kramer

Rivalry weekend is always a very highly anticipated one.  The state of Ohio goes to war with the state of Michigan, South Carolina divides, Georgia goes up for grabs, and of course there is the “Iron Bowl.”  Thanksgiving time is all about the food, family and of course football.  Come Saturday, the spotlight is focused on the collegiate ranks.

Fickell era ends

-Surprisingly, the one rivalry game today that really lived up to the hype took place in Ann Arbor.  I for one expected the Wolverines to blow the Buckeyes out, despite OSU’s recent dominance in “the Game.”  I was wrong.  Ohio State put up a heck of a fight, and nearly pulled it out.  Had Miller put the ball somewhat on the money to DeVier Posey late in the 4th, Ohio State would have made the “Big House” their house, yet again (heading into yesterday, Michigan had gone 2,925 days without defeating the Buckeyes at any venue).

College Football Week 13: This is where things get mean

Photo courtesy of alaskanhawg.com. Can Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson (pictured above) help the Razorbacks turn the BCS world upside down on Friday?

By Josh Kramer

The College Football season is finally hitting the stretch run.  Rivalries galore fill the Thanksgiving weekend, while the BCS is in as much chaos as I can ever remember it being in.  This weekend could potentially be the weekend where the BCS gets exposed worse than it ever has.  What if Arkansas beats LSU?  Then what do you do?  But let’s focus on what actually is rather than the “what ifs.”  The slate this week is packed with great games and also will be the final showcase session for many Heisman hopefuls.  Week 12 was a wild one, but Week 13 has the makings of being one of the all-time greats.

Here are the marquee matchups.

Arkansas at LSU:  Tigers by 10

Week 10 lived up to the hype

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. In the "Game of the Century," LSU kicker Drew Alleman (pictured above) ended up being the difference maker.

By Josh Kramer

Though Week 10 centered around one battle of College Football’s goliaths, the overall matchups were not too shabby.  There were great games all across the land, highlighted of course by the showdown in Tuscaloosa that lived up to the hype.

Game of the Century lived up to the hype

College Football Week 7: Is this heaven

Photo courtesy of yahoo.com. Baylor QB Robert Griffin III (pictured above) has been simply sensational through the first half of the season. Can he lead the Bears over the Aggies in a big time Big 12 matchup?

By Josh Kramer

It is no longer a new season of College Football.  We are at the midway point of the year, and conference play is in full force.  Grab your popcorn because the second half promises to be even more fun than the first half was.

Here are a few things we do know:

-The SEC West is as good as advertised, featuring two major National Championship contenders in LSU and Alabama.

-Andrew Luck was not just lucky in his first couple of seasons under center in Palo Alto.  He truly is the real deal.

-The Russell Wilson experiment appears to not only have major Big Ten Championship implications, but possible National Championship Game implications as well.

-Stephen Garcia is one of the biggest knuckleheads ever to play a snap at the Division 1 College Football level.

-The first official set of BCS Rankings will come out on Sunday.

College Football Week 5: Keeping it alive

Photo courtesy of CollegeFootballPerformance.com. Taylor Martinez (pictured above) and the Nebraska Cornhuskers get their first taste of the Big Ten in Camp Randall on Saturday night.

By Josh Kramer

Though it is very hard to believe, we are already four weeks in, and week five begins tonight.  As has been the case for a good few years now, Boise State once again is being brought up in the National Championship Game discussion.  If Kellen and the blue squad win out, will they get an invitation to Bourbon Street?  In addition, Michigan is 4 and 0 for a third consecutive year.  Can Denard and the Big Blue keep it going through a brutal Big Ten schedule?  And lastly, there are two SEC teams that appear to have a great shot of making the National Title Game (Alabama, LSU).  The SEC seems primed to bring home a 6th straight BCS National Championship.

Here are the marquee matchups.

Texas A&M vs Arkansas:  Razorbacks by 3

Shut the door on Week 4

Photo courtesy of TheWolverineBlog.com. On a day filled with excitement, Michigan QB Denard Robinson (pictured above) stole the show with his legs.

By Josh Kramer

The College Football season is about a third of the way in, and I for one have not been disappointed.  Big time players and big time teams have lived up to the hype thus far.  Primetime matchups have turned into classics.  And there is a still a whole lot more of where that came from on the way.  Who cares about conference realignment.  Let’s just enjoy the current system, while we still have it.

Welcome to the Denard Robinson Show

“College Football Week 6: Halfway There”

Look for last year's Heisman Trophy Winner, Mark Ingram (pictured above), to lead his Alabama team to yet another victory this weekend over the Gamecocks.

I will admit that Week 6 will not be able to compete with the matchups and firepower that the College Football Stratosphere put together in Week 5.  But these games will be pretty intense.

Here are my thoughts on the major matchups:

Alabama at South Carolina:  This will be a flat-out SEC brawl.  Two of College Football’s best and most respected coaches lock horns at the season’s midway point.  Saban’s defending National Champion Crimson Tide has been “rolling” along, and is feeling especially good after handing Florida a devastating thrashing.  South Carolina is no slouch though.  The Gamecocks finally showed some chinks in their armor last week in a very tough road loss to Auburn.  You better believe that South Carolina will be looking to redeem itself in a big way and shock the Tide.  Even with the best freshman in the country, Marcus Lattimore, it will not be enough as Alabama cruises to their 3rd consecutive win against a top 20 ranked opponent.  I will admit that I thought Bama would falter during this brutal 3 game stretch.  I was wrong.  Bama by 10 on the road.

Michigan State vs Michigan:  This is the first year in a while that both of these teams are major contenders in the Big Ten, and on the national scene.  These are both outstanding football teams that are looking to stay undefeated.  Well this is the game that will separate the boys from the men.  The pretenders from the contenders.  The whole state of Michigan should be into this one.  Michigan State is coming off of an outstanding performance against a very good Wisconin team in which they held Wisconsin star running back John Clay, out of the endzone.  Michigan on the other hand demonstrated their amazing offensive attack, along with their lackluster defensive attack. Can Michigan’s rushing attack run all over Greg Jones, and the outstanding Spartan defense?  Can Michigan get a stop or two against a solid Spartan offense?  Will Denard Robinson continue to show why he is towards the top of all the expert’s Heisman Lists at this point?  The difference in this game will be Michigan’s inability to stop the Spartan’s on crucial 3rd downs.  I got this one going down to the wire in a shootout fashion.  Look for the Spartans to come out of the Big House victorious by 3.

LSU at Florida:  These are two of the SEC’s most storied programs in recent memory.  Two teams that really hate each other for a plethora of reasons.  But on this night, all arguments will be settled on the field.  LSU comes in undefeated, but lacking much to desire offensively.  Florida is coming off a crushing defeat to Alabama in which they were embarrassed on national television.  Can LSU’s amazing swarming defense hold the Gators under 14 points?  If not, chalk this one up as a loss.  I got the Gators having just a little bit too much offense for the Tigers and taking this one at home by 7 in a very ugly game.  If this game were in Baton Rouge, I would be picking the Tigers.

Florida State at Miami:  Talk about one of the best and most historic rivalries in College Football.  These two programs do not like each other.  And for obvious reasons.  They fight year in and year out for 2nd place in the state of Florida (behind the Gators) and for numerous recruits.  The Seminoles have looked awesome this year except against their one big time opponent, Oklahoma.  Miami has looked very solid this year other than in the 2nd half against the Buckeyes a few weeks back.  These teams appear somewhat evenly matched on paper.  But my edge goes to Jacory Harris and the Hurricanes.  Jacory must find a way to cut down on his very unnecessary throws that end up being INTs.  But,  they are playing in front of a home crowd, and have one of the most athletic defenses in the entire country.  Ponder and the Seminoles will put up a fight, but will lose by 6 in the end on the road.

So there you have my Week 6 picks for College Football.  It should be a great weekend.  Make sure to get out and support your teams.

Stay tuned for the next edition of TheSportsKraze.

-TheSportsKraze

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