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.

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Throwback Saturday Part I

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Even two years ago to the day, I was already jumping on the Harrison Barnes (pictured above) bandwagon.

By Josh Kramer

Many say, “You have to know the past to understand the present.”  Due to popular demand and in celebration of “TheSportsKraze” reaching over 800 posts, I am going to spend the next few Saturdays of each week looking back.  I will examine what I was discussing on the blog on this date one year ago, and two years ago.  Today happens to be that lucky day of that week.  Welcome to the first edition of “Throwback Saturday.”

Two years ago…

A Changing of the Guard

Here is a little snippet. 

In very peculiar fashion, both UNC and the Dukies took a loss in conference play on the same night.  Not to mention they both lost to unranked opponents!  Is there a changing of the guard occurring in the ACC?…

In my opinion, this is simply just a down year for both squads.  North Carolina has the top recruit in the country in Harrison Barnes coming next year and Duke has an outstanding recruiting class arriving as well.  Who are the coaches of these highly renowned programs?  Oh yeah, I forgot Coach K and Roy Williams.  Both have multiple National Titles and are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Duke still has a legitimate shot to do some damage this year though being led by Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer (To finish reading the post, click this link).

Weekly Nickel 1-16-2012

Photo courtesy of latimesblogs.latimes.com. Kobe Bryant (pictured above) has shown no signs of aging after putting up 40+ points for a fourth consecutive game on Saturday. Can he lead the Lakers to a victory in Miami on Thursday?

By Josh Kramer

The clock finally struck midnight on “Tebow Time,” or at least for the time being, and the globe is still spinning.  “Lob City” staked their claim to Los Angeles.  And the 49ers won against an outstanding Saints team in a game that will go down as one of the all-time greats.  The past week, or even the past day for that matter, was classic.  This week should be pretty fun in its own right though.  Here are the events to keep an eye on.

5.  Pitchers and catchers start reporting in 33 days (February 18th for a lot of teams).  MLB baseball is just around the corner.  And the Yankees finally broke their silence on Friday in a big way.  Who else is already very excited for the 2012 baseball season?  Keep an eye this week on what happens with marquee available players such as Prince Fielder, Rick Ankiel, and many more.  Will your favorite team pick up the piece they need to make a deep run in October?

4.  Kobe Bryant has now put up 40 or more points four straight games.  So much for the 33-year-old wearing now.  Any chance he will eclipse his nine-straight games of 40 or more points back in 2002/2003?

College Football Bowl Picks Week 3

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. The top matchup this week has to be the Stanford vs Oklahoma State Fiesta Bowl date. I have a feeling Andrew Luck (pictured above) will play a large part in the outcome.

By Josh Kramer

Please somebody explain to me why it is called “Capital One Bowl Week?”  We are now entering Week 3 of bowl season.  Why isn’t it “Capital One Bowl Month?”  I would love to hear the reasoning.  12 bowls down, and 23 to go.  19 games will be played between now and next Thursday.  Strap in, because the beat will not stop until January 9th as we start to hit the “real” bowl games.

Thursday:

Florida State vs Notre Dame (CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL)

–Fighting Irish by 3

Headline:  Brian Kelly brings home a second straight bowl game victory to South Bend.

-Let’s just call this the “Year Away Bowl.”  Both of these teams had lofty expectations to play in BCS Bowl games this year.  Neither was ready.  Notre Dame is slightly closer to being ready in my opinion though.

Week 12 was swell

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Brandon Weeden (pictured above) and the magical run by the Oklahoma State Cowboys came to an end on Friday during what has been an extremely emotional week in Stillwater.

By Josh Kramer

Week 12 was predominantly filled with blowouts, with a few major upsets sprinkled in.  Now the top three teams in the country will come from the SEC.  More specifically, the amazing SEC West.  The season is starting to come to an end and the BCS picture continues to become clearer…just kidding.

Another one bites the dust

-Heading into this week there were three undefeated teams in all of the land.  Now we are down to just two.  In shocking fashion, Oklahoma State, who led by 17 points and were playing with heavy hearts, went down to a Iowa State team that is still under 500 in Big 12.  What are the chances?  Who really saw this coming?

-With Oklahoma State biting the dust, the BCS now finds itself with a major dilemma.

College Football Week 11: It is not heaven

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Oregon and Stanford are currently tied atop the Pac-12. Can LaMichael James (pictured above) lead Oregon to a huge victory in Palo Alto on Saturday night?

By Josh Kramer

College Football has hit a new low.  With the recent developments in Happy Valley, it is hard to focus on this week’s games.  The matter going on in Pennsylvania is much bigger than football.  It is bigger than college athletics.  These were felonious acts that went on, but rest assured, the game will go on.  My condolences and sympathy go out to all of the kids and families that were hurt from these most despicable acts.  I once respected Joe Paterno as much as any coach in sports.  Now my respect level for him is zero. 

Week 9 was pretty fine

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Rex Burkhead (pictured above) had himself a huge day in leading the Cornhuskers over the Spartans.

By Josh Kramer

Despite the absence of the top two teams in the nation, Week 9 was pretty fine.  There was a major shakeup in the Big Ten.  A QB out West, who is definitely no “fluke,” continued his Heisman Campaign.  And another unbeaten from the ACC went down hard (Clemson).

Big Ten Bonanza

Week 7 was a slice of heaven

Photo courtesy of mysanantonio.com. Ryan Tannehill (pictured above) stole the show in a huge Big 12 battle yesterday in College Station as the Aggies routed the Baylor Bears.

By Josh Kramer

The halfway marker of the College Football season has come and gone.  And despite the constant reminders of what a business college athletics have become due to the crazy rumor mill regarding conference realignment, this season has been full of excitement and great football.

Who is Robert Griffin III?

-In a huge Big 12 rumble out in College Station, a track meet occurred.  Sadly, it was a very lopsided track meet.  But we learned one thing.  Robert Griffin III has been outstanding this year, but do not sleep on A&M senior QB Ryan Tannehill.  The duel of the savvy veterans was won by the underdog yesterday.

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

Mediocre first Saturday

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Notre Dame Head Football Coach Brian Kelly (pictured above) got extra heated on an extremely hot first Saturday of the College Football season.

By Josh Kramer

The first Saturday of the long-awaited College Football season has come and gone.  Everyone is extremely excited to have College Football back in action.  And sure the TCU/Baylor game on Friday night was one for the ages that nobody will forget anytime soon.  But the first Saturday, you could not buy an upset outside of South Bend.

Some of the beatings were just brutal.  Even Appalachian State failed to provide any 2007 magic to the table, suffering an awful whooping at the hands of Frank Beamer’s Hokies.  Here are my main thoughts on what turned out to be a very mediocre first Saturday of what I still expect to be a highly entertaining College Football season.