SB Nation - Purdue Boilermakers

Welcome to the Fold: Tracking Edition week 17

BoilerTMill — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:34:40 -0000

I should only have one more week of tracking our incoming recruits, but it is nice to see this class grow by four very promising commits this week. Once the season is over for everyone I'll hold off until signing day, thus finally putting to bed the 2009 season. In the mean time, we still had some championships decided this week.

E.J. Johnson (#5) is now a state champion again.

Sean Robinson - QB - Rochester, IL (Rochester) - SEASON COMPLETE

Joe Gilliam - LB - Southport, IN (Southport) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Charles Torwudzo - WR - Brownsburg, IN (Brownsburg) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Jeremy Cornelius - WR - Harrisburg, PA (Bishop McDevitt) - SEASON COMPLETE

De'Ron Flood - TE - O'Fallon, IL (O'Fallon) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Josh Davis - DT - Plain City, OH (Jonathan Alder) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Mike Lee - LB, TE - Pittsburgh, PA (Woodland Hills) - SEASON COMPLETE

Ryan Isaac - DE - Michigan City, IN (Michigan City) - SEASON COMPLETE.

E.J. Johnson - DB - Cocoa, FL (Cocoa) - We have a second state champion from our 2009 class. E.J. Johnson joins Justin Sinz as a state champion with Cocoa defeating Clades Central 27-13 for the Tigers' second straight state championship. As usual, Florida Today is right one the ball with video highlights of this win. The Tigers finished a perfect 14-0. From what I have seen I really like junior running back Chevelle Buie too, so he might be worth a second visit next year.

Will Lucas - LB - Lakeland, FL (Lakeland) - There will be no rematch with St. Thomas Aquinas for the state title. Lakeland's perfect season ended with a shocking upset as Tampa Plant blanked the Dreadnaughts 20-0 in Florida's class 5A State semifinals. Even with a win Lakeland would not have gotten he rematch, as USA Today's top ranked team in St. Thomas Aquinas was shocked by Bradenton Manatee. Interesting note in this game. Tony Dungy's son Eric Dungy had the game-clinching interception. Here are some video highlights.

Jesse Schmitt - LS - Louisville, KY (Trinity) - SEASON COMPLETE

Jhony Faustin - DB - Naples, FL (Lely) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Isaiah Williams - WR - Miami, FL (Monsignor Pace) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Cody Webster - P - Harrisburg, PA (Central Dauphin East) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Reggie Pegram - RB - Dallas, TX (James Madison) - SEASON COMPLETE.

O.J. Ross - WR - Daytona, FL (Mainland) - SEASON

Chevin Davis - WR - Daytona, FL (Mainland) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Ricardo Allen - DB - Daytona, FL (Mainland) - SEASON COMPLETE.

Jeremy Eargle - ATH - Lackawanna Community College - SEASON COMPLETE

Jeremy Eddington - RB - Paris, TX (Chisum) - SEASON COMPLETE

Justin Sinz - TE - Edgar, WI (Edgar) - SEASON COMPLETE (State Champion)

Antoine Lewis - DB - Maywood, IL (Proviso East) - SEASON COMPLETE

Jack Deboef - OL - State College, PA (State College Area HS) - Jack Deboef will now carry on as the last player standing. State College marches into the PIAA state championship game against LaSalle College with an impressive 35-13 win over Cumberland Valley. Deboef helped pave the way for almost 400 yards of total offense and 195 yards rushing in the second half.

Dion Hanks - DB - Miami, FL (Edison) - SEASON COMPLETE

The NFL Draft says, "ACC > Big 10!"

BirdGT — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:00:17 -0000

A lot of the Big 10 talking heads have flooded our humble abode since the Orange Bowl announcement. They have denounced, degraded, and mocked the ACC's defensive state of affairs. One thing they fail to bring is facts. I like facts. I like facts that are numbers. Here are two numbers for Big 10 fans: 19 and 3. The ACC has had 19 defensive players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft since full expansion in the 2005 season. The Big 10 has had 11. The ACC has had 3 Pro Bowlers emerge from those 19 1st rounders (Beason, Mario, and Cromartie). The Big 10 has had 0. Those are some interesting facts for Big 10 fans to mull over. Here are 5 more interesting facts about ACC/Big 10 defensive players taken in the 2006-2009 NFL Drafts:

5. Georgia Tech has had 6 defensive draft picks since 2006. That's more than Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Wisconsin.

4. Duke hasn't had a player taken in the NFL Draft since 2005.

3. The Big 10's highest Draft Pick since 2006 was A.J. Hawk, the fifth overall pick. He was four picks after Mario Williams.

2. All four Drafts saw more ACC defensive players taken than Big 10 players.

1. The ACC has had 81 defensive players drafted since the 2006 NFL Draft, which is 6.75 players drafted per team. The Big 10 has only had 62, which is 5.63.

Really when you factor Ohio State and Penn State out of the Big 10, there's not much talent going to the NFL. It's the definition of a blue collar conference. Good defensive coaching is what keeps them afloat in major out of conference match ups. I kinda believe they play the isolationism game and simply avoid major OOC games until bowl season. The ACC and Big 10 have met only 9 times since full expansion. The ACC holds a 6-3 edge over the Big 10 in that time span.

What do you think about the Big 10 talent level? Do you think the Big 10 hides behind their conference schedule? Let me know your thoughts.

Barry Alvarez's Big Ten Expansion Talk Has A Logistical Problem

Oops Pow Surprise — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:00:20 -0000

For years, the Big Ten has been struggling with just what the hell to do about the whole "11 team in the conference" thing. It's made the BXI a bit of an anomaly, being that it's the only I-A conference without either a conference championship game (SEC, Big XII, MAC, C-USA, ACC) or a round-robin schedule (Big East, Pac-10, MWC, WAC, Sun Belt). After all, when it comes to automatic bowl bids, you'd want the conference to, y'know, pick the right team, right?

Well... maybe not. As Jim Delaney will be more than happy to remind you, the Big Ten has this funny habit of sending two teams to the BCS nearly every single season--and grabbing more of that filthy BCS lucre. So until a championship game nets as much money as a second BCS bid (a little under $5 million for the conference for the second team) or the conference slips enough to stop consistently sending the second team, the impetus isn't exactly strong to expand.

Barry Alvarez didn't get that memo, though; according to ESPN, he's priming Wisconsin for the prospect of having another baby in the family:

Speaking to Wisconsin's athletic board on Friday, Alvarez, the former longtime Badgers football coach, said the conference already has investigated possibilities for expansion "from all over the country." And though he places no timetable on the search, Alvarez thinks conference commissioner Jim Delany will respond to a group of athletic directors and coaches who want expansion.

"I have a sense he is going to take this year to really be more aggressive about it," Alvarez told the board. "I just think everybody feels [expansion] is the direction to go, coaches and administrators."

All of this makes lots of sense; when teams miss two fellow conference members a year on a weird rotating schedule. A 12-team, two-division setup would simplify matters dramatically and eliminate any prospect of a 2002 scenario (and yes, we know OSU won the title; Iowa would have smoked that Buckeye team).

But if it were that cut-and-dried, it would have happened already. And there's one screaming bulletproof bitchgoblin of a problem in front of the prospect of expansion: logistics.

Here's a map of the Big Ten members:

There's a pretty obvious geographic division inherent in this setup; we've used the modern power of "Computer Internet" to make it more conspicuous:

Yeah. That's five to the west, six to the east. Moreover, there's really no moving that line east without disrupting the Michigan or Indiana rivalries. That's straight out of the question; Jim Delany may be ambitious, but he's far from an idiot.

Thus a problem: the most natural candidates for expansion are teams like Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Rutgers. Cincinnati or Kentucky if we're drunk enough to tell ourselves they'll work on academics. And they're all on the east side of that divide. That line might as well be a Berlin Wall. Go ahead, try to add any of those teams and show us where the new line is.

On the west, though, there aren't nearly as many possible candidates; moreover, they're basically all in the Big 12. So unless we want to bump Marquette or Wisconsin-Green Bay to I-A (err, FBS or whatever)--and what fun that'd be--it's time to start thinking about a little old-fashioned thievin'.

Iowa State is probably right out; they're a decent academic school, but they don't do much in terms of adding media attention. Further, their only real potential rival would be Iowa, and that gets its own special treatment already.

There's probably no way Nebraska leaves, and the two Kansas schools are likely too far away.

But what about Missouri? They've already got some bad blood with Illinois, and I kind of think the Iowa-Missouri thing could get real entertaining, real quick. Something about states that border Iowa that make them hate us. Feels fun. It brings the St. Louis media market into play, and a little less so Kansas City. St. Louis is probably more than enough. They're ranked as the #102 university in the country; not great, and it'd be the worst in the Big 10 Which Is Actually 12. But it's hardly an embarrassment, and merely aligning with the BXI could prop that ranking up to the standards of the rest of the conference.

Of course, that all depends on whether Missouri actually, y'know, wants to leave the Big XII. The Big 10 would have to make the case that it's in the school's best interest to join our conference instead and make it convincing enough that Delany doesn't have to go through the embarrassment of Missouri triumphantly announcing that they're staying in "the best conference in the land" or whatever they'd declare the Big XII to be in that scenario. Frankly, none of us have the stomach for that.

Philosophically, the case has already been made for expansion, and emphatically so. I don't think anyone's going to argue against a 12th team because 11 would be better than 12 for a conference. That's all settled. I just can't figure out who, aside from Missouri, would make any sense from a purely practical standpoint.

Or we could just say "screw it" and add Cornell.

[UPDATE: I'm fanposting it above this, but just to have it in the article: there's some good, interesting reaction from the Missouri POV over at Rock M Nation. Varied responses, as you might expect. Go check it out.--OPS]

Big Ten Power Poll - Regular Season Final

Bama Hawkeye — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:08:54 -0000

Let's wrap this season up. We skipped two weeks so that everyone could get their final games played. Here are the results of the final vote. And as you plan your travels, here are some final thoughts about what to wear as you bowl...

1.	121 (11)	It was festive of the Rose Bowl to go with the Christmas-colored matchup. The Buckeyes will be wearing their whites in Pasadena.
2.	110	A side note: If you're going to a bowl game, you have to get the helmet T-Shirt. There is nothing better, win or lose, than pulling that out of the drawer 15 years later. Although they're the home, team, Georgia Tech has chosen to wear white. That means the Hawks will wear their black in the Orange Bowl.
3.	99	LSU is the home team, but they too prefer to wear white. Bring the Navy to the CapOne Bowl.
4.	85	Last year, the Badgers were humiliated in the Champs Bowl while wearing their whites. Let's hope for a different result in the reds.
5.	80	The 'Cats will be wearing white when they play Auburn on New Year's Morning. Hopefully you can make it out through your bleary eyes.
6.	62	Any Spartans who haven't been suspended yet will wear white as they face off with Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl.
7.	55	The Gophers will be decked out in white. I know that this is the three season-old jersey style. Apparently the play of the last two years hasn't moved a lot of product.
8.	46	I recommend rocking the basketball jersey while reminding everyone that Purdue is the basketball school in the state.
9.	25	Scrub team...scrub top. Perfect for the couch.
10.	21	Put on your slippers...you're not going bowling this year. Again.
11.	20	I'd wear this sweatshirt to remind friends that Illinois is still a part of the Big Ten. For now. If they lose to NIU next year, we'll have to reconsider if we have the right state school in the league.

Maize and Brew Dave, Adam Hoge, Hawkeye State, Pete Rossman, BoilerTMill , Joe Kutsunis, Rodger Sherman, Sam @ WWAHT, DailyGopher, Graham Filler, Law Buckeye, Bama Hawkeye, HMLee

The Rivalry, Esq has reached out to the SBNation Big Ten bloggers to create this poll. Its purpose: find a consensus as to the power of the Big Ten teams. We invited each SBNation Big Ten blog to participate. We will vote each week. Invitations remain extended to the writers of Black Shoe Diaries and the Crimson Quarry to participate.

2009-2010 Bowl Selections

hmlee — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:03:41 -0000

Okay, the BCS selection show is about to start, and we here at The Rivalry are watching it live. As we learn them, the 5 BCS bowl games and the bowl games which have Big 10 participants, will be right here on the front page. Any other bowl game will be listed after the jump. So... without further ado,

BCS Bowl Games:

BCS National Championship: Alabama vs. Texas

Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon

Fiesta Bowl: Boise State vs. TCU

Sugar Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Florida

Orange Bowl: Iowa vs. Georgia Tech

Big 10 Bowl Games:

Capital One Bowl (Orlando, FL): Penn State vs. LSU

Outback Bowl (Tampa, FL): Northwestern vs. Auburn

Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, TX): Michigan State vs. Texas Tech

Insight Bowl (Tempe, AZ): Minnesota vs. Iowa State

Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando, FL): Wisconsin vs. Miami

Other Bowls:

New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans, LA): Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee

EagleBank Bowl (Washington, D.C.): Temple and Army OR UCLA

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl (Detroit, MI): Ohio University and Marshall

Poinsetta Bowl (San Diego, CA): Cal and Utah

New Mexico Bowl (Albuquerque, NM): Fresno State and Wyoming

International Bowl (Toronto): NIU and South Florida

Texas Bowl (Houston, TX): Missouri and Navy

Emerald Bowl (San Fransisco, CA): USC and Boston College

Cotton Bowl (Arlington, TX): Ole Miss and Oklahoma State

Meinike Car Care Bowl (Charlotte, NC): Pitt and North Carolina

Sun Bowl (El Paso, TX): Standford and Oklahoma

Papajohns.com Bowl (Birmingham, AL): UConn and South Carolina

Chik-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta, GA): Virginia Tech and Tennessee

Holiday Bowl (San Diego, CA): Arizona and Nebraska

Liberty Bowl (Memphis, TN): Arkansas and East Carolina

Independence Bowl (Shreveport, LA): Georgia and Texas A&M

Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, TX): Air Force and Houston

St. Petersburg Bowl (St. Petersburg, FL): Rutgers and Central Florida

Music City Bowl (Nashville, TN): Kentucky and Clemson

Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, FL): Florida State and West Virginia

Maaco Bowl (Las Vegas, NV): Oregon State and Bringham Young

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: Nevada and SMU

GMAC Bowl (Mobile, AL): Troy and Central Michigan

Humanitarian Bowl (Boise, ID): Idaho and Bowling Green

2009 Bowl Projections - Final

Bama Hawkeye — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:01:52 -0000

I'm writing this as the Wisconsin-Hawaii game is wrapping up. Wisconsin is up by more than two touchdowns in the 2nd Quarter, and I don't think that it makes a difference whether they win or lose. I think their slot is set. In fact, after Texas held on to beat Nebraska (despite, not because of Colt McCoy), the Big Ten and BCS bowls seem pretty well set.

Which was the only conference that couldn't deliver a close championship game?

In the six BCS conferences, we had official title games in three conferences and de facto title games in three conferences. The margins in the six games? 1 (Cincy over Pitt), 1 (Texas over Nebraska), 3 (Ohio State over Iowa), 4 (Oregon over Oregon State), 5 (Georgia Tech over Clemson), and 19. Only the "Game of the Century" failed to be a classic. Here are the final projections for the BCS and Big Ten Bowls.

Remember the rules.

The best teams don't always go to the best games. In the end, butts in the seat and eyes to the television are the biggest factors.
The order of BCS selection is 1) Replacement for #1 Team; 2) Replacement for #2 Team; 3) Orange Bowl; 4) Fiesta Bowl; 5) Sugar Bowl.
The Champs Bowl picks its Big Ten team ahead of the Alamo Bowl this year.
For the full rules on BCS selections, look here.

			My guess is that when the rankings come out tomorrow, it will be Cincinnati, and not TCU that ended up :01 away from a shot at Alabama.
			The Orange Bowl is really hoping that the Fiesta passes on a Big Ten team to match up two undefeated teams in Arizona (it is a hip rumor), but...
			that's not happening. The Fiesta takes Iowa over Penn State. They're the better team.
			What are the odds the Ezekiel 25:17 is written on Tebow's eyeblack at the Sugar Bowl?
			The Big Ten is winning the Rose Bowl this year. It's going to win at least 4 of 7 bowl games.
			The weakness of both teams is in the trenches. Should be a fascinating game.
			So instead of facing a Monte Kiffin defense with a month to prepare, the Badgers get a team that won one of their last six games against 1-A competition? Thank you, Mr. Bloomin' Onion!
			Did you see what CJ Spiller did? Dear God, that's scary.
			Could the Alamo pick Minnesota to avoid a Spartan squad weakened by suspensions? Yes, but it won't. I'm also thinking that it won't miss out on its first chance to host Oklahoma. That means jumping the Sooners over Texas Tech and Missouri.
			Neither fanbase 1) travels exceptionally well and 2) is overly excited for the game. This crowd could be very small.
			Like Notre Dame would ever sully itself by playing a MAC team in a bowl game in Detroit...
			Only Illinois could lose that way to Fresno State. If you're going to finish with a Zook-like record, you'll end up On the Couch with the Queso Bowl (now sponsored by Ro*Tel).

The Ten Worst Syracuse Football Games Of The Aughts

Sean Keeley — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:00:17 -0000

View full size photo »

I know. Trying to find the worst Syracuse football games of the past decade is like trying to figure out which Dick Vitale catchphrase is the worst. But, dear readers, I took the hit so that you wouldn't have to. Well, I mean, you still have to read all about them and re-live the horror, so, I guess I did you no favors really. You're welcome.

Dishonorable Mention (see what I did there?)

2000: Miami 26 - Syracuse 0
"On its eight first-half possessions, Syracuse did not gain a first down on seven as quarterback R.J. Anderson failed to generate anything offensively. The Orangemen gained 42 yards on 29 plays in the half and had two first downs."

2002: Miami 49 - Syracuse 7
Hey, at least we scored, unlike the previous two meetings.

2003: Virginia Tech 51 - Syracuse 7
Still angry over Syracuse's upset win over them the previous season, the Hokies left nothing to doubt, out-gaining the Orangemen 439-172 and holding Walter Reyes to 40 yards rushing.

2004: Purdue 51 - Syracuse 0
Kyle Orton blew up the Orange on opening weekend for 287 yards and four touchdown for their first shutout in four years. Coach P had banked on freshman Joe Fields becoming Syracuse's savior before this game. Dethroned Perry Patterson regained his starting job by the time it was over.

2004: Temple 34 - Syracuse 24
In front of Donovan McNabb and in spite of three Damien Rhodes touchdowns, the Orange lost to the Temple Owls for the 2nd time in 3 years.

2005: Rutgers 31 - Syracuse 9
Syracuse fumbled the football nine times (niiiiine tiiiiiimes) and freshman Mike Teel tore up SU in the Dome.

2005: Louisville 41 - Syracuse 17
This one was the ninth-straight loss for the Orange and capped the first 10-loss season in SU history.

2006: West Virginia 41 - Syracuse 17
West Virginia QB Pat White rushed for a career-high 247 yards and four touchdowns in the romp.

2007: West Virginia 55 - Syracuse 14
West Virginia ended up scoring the most points ever allowed by Syracuse at home.

No. 10 - Louisville 10, Syracuse 9 (2009)

You could argue that this was the first game in five years against a BCS opponent that Syracuse was truly expected to win. At least by its fanbase. The two worst teams in the Big East battling for their first conference win and the right not to dwell in the basement. The first half was about as terrible and boring as a football game could possibly be. The game featured putrid offenses, bad coaching and horrendous special teams play. And through it all, Syracuse held Louisville to 151 yards, their lowest offensive output in years. But thanks to a missed extra point and the insane decision to punt to Trent Guy, the Cardinals pulled out the ugly 10-9 win. The Play of the Game was actually a negated Trent Guy punt return, which means they couldn't even find a play from the actual game worth calling attention to.

No. 9 - Miami (OH) 17, Syracuse 14 (2007)

Syracuse was coming off their then-monumental upset of Louisville. After beating a 37.5 point favorite on the road, beating a 1-3 MAC team that had lost seven-straight home games should have been a piece of cake. Instead, Syracuse needed a 2nd-half comeback just to stay in the game and still fell short in the end. It was SU's first loss to a MAC school since 1976. It also completely zapped all of the momentum gained by beating Louisville and proved that the win was just a fluke.

No. 8 - Rutgers 24, Syracuse 7 (2003)

Of all the Rutgers loss in the 2000's, this was the tamest of them all. But here me out on why it's here. Up until this point, Syracuse had lost to Rutgers a grand total of one time since 1986. In the three times SU did lose the game, it was always a close battle. This loss marked the first time Rutgers whooped up on the Cuse, and the timing could not have been worse. The game itself was a mess. The swirling winds screwed up SU's kicking and passing game, turning the Orangemen's gameplay into a comedy of errors. The impact of the loss was far-stretching. The Orange were basically eliminated from bowl eligibility with the loss while Rutgers won five game for the first time since '98. The passing of the Tri-State Area torch quickly followed.

No. 7 - Iowa 20, Syracuse 13 2OT (2006)

Syracuse would head to Ames and get throttled 35-0 in 2007 but it was the events of 2006 that will live on in highlight reels for years to come, just not in any way the Orange would appreciate. Just watch:

No. 6 - Washington 42, Syracuse 12 (2007)

Any Syracuse fan who had lived through the first two seasons of the Greg Robinson Era could tell you that 2007 was going to be different. There was something in the air. No one could put their finger on it but it really seemed like this was the year the team was gonna break through. After going 1-10 in '05 and 4-8 in '06, the logical conclusion was that a bowl game was in Syracuse's immediate future. And it all began with lowly Washington at home. Here's what I said at the time:

First game of the season. It will set the tone for the entire year. Both schools are in a very similar place (fallen programs, in the rebuilding process, untested QBs, coaches with warm seats about to get hot). This is our chance to set the tone, beat a BCS school and make Orange fans believe that we actually do have a shot this year at getting back to .500.

Well, 42 points later Washington proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Syracuse team was not who we thought they were. The entire fanbase let out a collective sigh and prepared itself for the inevitable 2-10 season ahead.

No. 5 - Miami (FL) 59, Syracuse 0 (2001)

2001 was a prototypical successful Paul Pasqualoni season. The Orange dropped the first two games of the season to remove any and all expectations. They then proceeded to go on a eight-game winning streak. That brought them to the No. 14 ranking when they faced off against No. 1 and undefeated Miami. Here it was, a perfect opportunity in front of a national audience to prove once and for all that the Orange were for real and not just coasting by. And in typical-Coach-P-team fashion, the Orange proved that they were indeed, not at all for real.

No. 4 - Penn State 55, Syracuse 13 (2008)

It had all the makings of a classic. Syracuse's longtime and most hated rival Penn State returns to the Carrier Dome for the first time in almost 20 years the same weekend that The Express, a movie based on the life of Ernie Davis, premieres in Syracuse!!! Hollywood stars rub shoulders with Syracuse legends in the crowd. The Ernie Davis Statue is unveiled in the Syracuse Quad. The game is nationally televised on ABC.

It's a shame then that what the nation got to see was Syracuse got absolutely, undeniably embarrassed 55-13. Oh I assure you, it wasn't even that close. SU's RB Curtis Brinkley finished with 21 yards on 14 carries. Meanwhile, Penn State's top two wide receivers caught 12 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns...in the first half.

Adding insult to injury was the depantsing of Syracuse football and Greg Robinson that ESPN put together and broadcast all day long.

No. 3 - Temple 17, Syracuse 16 (2002)

The last time Syracuse lost to Temple before this game? 1983. So when the Orange finally did sink low enough to fall to the Owls, they made sure to do it in gut-wrenching fashion. The Orangemen led 10-3 to start the 4th quarter but Temple scored touchdowns on consecutive drives to take a 17-10 lead with 3:40 remaining. R.J. Anderson led SU down the field with time running out and hit Jared Jones in the endzone with :30 left. All SU needed to do was kick the extra point and the game would likely head to overtime.

Alas...Collin Barber's extra-point kick hit the left upright. And just like that, Syracuse lost to Temple. On a friggin' missed extra point.

No. 2 - Akron 42, Syracuse 28 (2008)

If you watched the video that accompanied the Penn State loss a few back, you noticed a discussion about Akron and how many times Syracuse should lose to them. DOCTOR Daryl Gross says "none" and he's right. Unfortunately for him, Greg Robinson apparently enjoyed losing to MAC teams so much, he did it twice.

Syracuse gave up 42 points...at home...to Akron...AKRON!!!...which dropped the Orange to 0-2. This loss, more than any, came to represent The Greg Robinson Era. That he could allow the Syracuse football program to devolve to the point where we're not only losing at home to Akron but getting pushed around by them was inexcusable. There was no going back now. Greg's fate was sealed, just two games into the season. Nothing he did the rest of the year mattered. Syracuse football had reached the bottom.

No. 1 - Georgia Tech 51, Syracuse 14 (2004)

How do you top the loss that acts as the rock bottom point for a program? How bout with the loss that was the catalyst for sending us there? The 2004 Champ Sports Bowl was already a heady proposition when SU accepted the bid. The Orange seemed over-matched against the Yellow Jackets and a loss was expected. Off the field, longtime AD and Coach P supporter Jake Crouthamel was retiring. Before leaving, Jake gave Coach P the vote of confidence. Nancy Cantor seconded that on Dec. 6 when she announced that Pasqualoni would return for his 15th season with Syracuse. 11 days later Daryl Gross was hired as the new AD. He joined up just in time to watch Syracuse suffer their worst bowl loss since 1953.

Nine days later, Gross fired Pasqualoni, ending his 14-year tenure.

Because it was so late in the season, many of the top candidates had already been taken. In his haste to remake the football program (and all SU sports programs) in his image, Gross was left with little viable options. On a recommendation from Pete Carroll, he settled on Texas DD Greg Robinson. And the rest, they say, is history...

Week Thirteen BlogPoll Ballot Draft

T Kyle King — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:16 -0000

When compiling this week’s BlogPoll ballot, I paid no attention to last week’s top 25 (ergo, you should ignore the arrows) and I did not consult any other person’s or organization’s rankings, so the fault for what follows is mine and mine alone. I began by cobbling together a list of all BCS conference teams with records of 9-3 or better and all mid-major teams with records of 10-2 or better. This list came to twenty teams, so I went back and added in the six BCS conference clubs with 8-3 records. In so doing, I overlooked nine BCS conference teams and independents with 8-4 records, as well as five mid-majors with 9-3 records. I remain open to arguments in favor of any of these teams, but the first draft of my ballot reads as follows:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama
2	Florida
3	Texas
4	Cincinnati
5	Boise State	1
6	TCU	1
7	Oregon	2
8	Ohio State	2
9	Iowa	2
10	Georgia Tech	3
11	Virginia Tech	1
12	Pittsburgh	4
13	LSU	7
14	Miami (Florida)	1
15	Southern Cal	6
16	Oregon State
17	Penn State	4
18	Houston	4
19	Oklahoma State	4
20	West Virginia
21	California	2
22	Nebraska
23	Brigham Young
24	Wisconsin
25	Central Michigan
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Clemson (#14), Mississippi (#17), North Carolina (#18), Stanford (#24), Temple (#25).

The Alabama Crimson Tide (12-0) have beaten eight Division I-A teams with winning records, including the 11th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies (9-3), the 13th-ranked LSU Tigers (9-3), and the Mississippi Rebels (8-4), yet the Tide’s only close calls have come in heated rivalry showdowns with the Tennessee Volunteers and the Auburn Tigers, both of which are 7-5.

The Florida Gators (12-0) have beaten seven Division I-A teams with winning records, but the Sunshine State Saurians’ best victory was over Louisiana State, which is the second-best victim ‘Bama has bested. The Texas Longhorns (12-0) have taken down only five opponents who are above .500 and their best win was over the 19th-ranked Oklahoma St. Cowboys (9-3). As we shall see, the Pokes’ credentials are somewhat suspect, so the ‘Horns are a decidedly shaky No. 3 in my view.

I awarded the No. 4 spot on my ballot to the Cincinnati Bearcats (11-0) due to the fact that Brian Kelly’s club has bested the 16th-ranked Oregon St. Beavers (8-3), the 20th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3), and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-3). All told, six of Cincy’s Division I-A triumphs have come against teams with winning ledgers.

The Boise St. Broncos narrowly edged out the TCU Horned Frogs for the No. 5 ranking, but it was a close call because the two teams’ resumes are so similar. The two mid-major mammoths arrived at 12-0 by virtually identical routes, as both clubs have beaten one Division I-AA opponent at home (UC-Davis for Boise State and Texas State for Texas Christian), one 6-6 squad on the road (Hawaii for the Broncos and Wyoming for the Frogs), five teams with winning records, and five teams with losing records. Each has beaten a 1-11 team at home (BSU defeated Miami (Ohio) and TCU defeated New Mexico) and each has taken advantage of four opponents with four or fewer wins.

The Horned Frogs’ second- and third-best wins (over the Utah Utes and the Clemson Tigers) were superior to the Broncos’ second- and third-best wins (over the Nevada Wolf Pack and the Fresno St. Bulldogs), but Boise State’s triumph over the seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks (9-2) carries considerably more weight than Texas Christian’s victory over the 23rd-ranked BYU Cougars (10-2), so the Broncos sneaked by the Frogs . . . barely.

(I would add at this point that Texas and Texas Christian have beaten the same number of Division I-A teams with records above .500 and that the Longhorns’ triumvirate of wins over Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Missouri clubs with a combined 25-11 record is comparable in quality to the Horned Frogs’ trio of triumphs over BYU, Utah, and Clemson outfits with a cumulative 27-9 ledger. Texas and TCU share only one opponent in common; the ‘Horns traveled to Laramie and beat the Wyoming Cowboys 41-10, whereas the Frogs traveled to Laramie and beat the Wyoming Cowboys 45-10. Texas allowed 13 points in a narrow win over the Oklahoma Sooners at a neutral site game played in Dallas, while Texas Christian went on the road and throttled a Brigham Young team that allowed 13 points in a narrow win over the Oklahoma Sooners at a neutral site game played in Arlington. There is a compelling case to be made for the proposition that the Longhorns are not the top team in the Lone Star State, or, at least, are not noticeably distinguishable from the other contender for that title.)

Oregon laid claim to the No. 7 ranking ahead of the Ohio St. Buckeyes (10-2) in spite of the fact that the Big Ten champions have the better collection of victories over winning teams: Ohio State beat Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Navy, while the Ducks defeated Southern California, California, Utah, and Arizona. The Buckeyes were dragged down by the fact that they lost to two teams, including the Purdue Boilermakers (5-7), that both were beaten by Oregon.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2) landed one notch behind an Ohio State team to which they lost a close contest on the road. Iowa ended up ahead of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-2) not on the basis of wins, but of losses. In the victory column, the Hawkeyes and the Engineers are comparable. Both have ten wins; both claimed four of those victories by a touchdown or less; both beat one Division I-AA team and three Division I-A teams with winning records. On the whole, the Ramblin’ Wreck’s top three triumphs (over Virginia Tech, Clemson, and North Carolina) arguably are better than Iowa’s (over Penn State, Wisconsin, and Arizona), but the Hawkeyes lost a couple of close ones to an 8-4 team at home and a 10-2 team on the road. The Golden Tornado lost a close one to a 7-5 team at home and a thumping to a 9-3 team on the road.

Wins over No. 14 Miami (Florida) and No. 22 Nebraska enabled the Gobblers to overcome three very respectable losses and claim the No. 11 ranking for VPI, while the Pittsburgh Panthers (9-2) staked an admittedly shaky claim to the No. 12 spot with victories over Rutgers, Navy, and South Florida. Both of Pitt’s losses came in close contests on the road, but the Panthers’ early-season setback to the N.C. State Wolfpack (5-7) gives me pause and I very well might be persuaded to drop Dave Wannstedt’s club.

The Bayou Bengals’ three best wins were over a trio of 7-5 teams (Georgia, Arkansas, and Auburn), but their losses to Alabama, Florida, and Ole Miss are forgivable, so Louisiana State sneaked ahead of the Miami Hurricanes (9-3). A convincing win over Georgia Tech, a recent triumph over the South Florida Bulls (7-4), a previous victory over Oklahoma that acquired new luster in the Bedlam Battle, and a trio of losses to teams with at least eight wins apiece vaulted the ‘Canes ahead of the USC Trojans (8-3), who are hanging onto narrow victories against Ohio State and Oregon State while otherwise relying upon name recognition to make us forget about a stumble against the Washington Huskies (4-7) and blowout losses to Oregon and Stanford.

The Beavers ended up behind the Men of Troy thanks to the head-to-head result of the two teams’ Pac-10 meeting in Los Angeles, but wins over Cal and Stanford continue to keep Oregon State in contention. Despite boasting a 10-2 record, the Penn St. Nittany Lions deserved no better than a No. 17 ranking because Joe Paterno’s club has beaten the Northwestern Wildcats, the Temple Owls, and no other Division I-A teams above .500 while being beaten soundly by both Ohio State and Iowa.

I know lots of folks don’t think the Houston Cougars deserve to be ranked, but the Cougs are a refugee from a traditional Southern power conference and a division champion who got to 10-2 by beating a Division I-AA opponent, skating by four Division I-A foes by seven or fewer points, beating the Mississippi St. Bulldogs (5-7) in Starkville, and taking advantage of five teams with losing records. Houston sounds to me a lot like Georgia Tech, but, whereas an ACC division champion would finish fourth in the SEC East, a Conference USA division champion would finish in the top half of the Big 12 South, at least judging by the Cougars’ wins over Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. Those key non-league wins allowed Houston to overcome the problem of having lost on the road to the UTEP Miners (4-8).

For obvious reasons, the Cowboys remained one spot behind the Cougars, but a better set of losses (to Texas, Houston, and Oklahoma) allowed the Pokes to stay ahead of a West Virginia unit that fell to Cincinnati, South Florida, and Auburn before boosting its resume by beating Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl.

The California Golden Bears (8-3) suffered their three setbacks to teams with eight or more victories each, but none of those losses came in close contests and Cal’s wins over the Stanford Cardinal (8-4) and the Arizona Wildcats (7-4) are the only bright spots in a resume weighed down by the presence of triumphs over Division I-AA Eastern Washington, the Washington St. Cougars (1-11), the Maryland Terrapins (2-10), and the Arizona St. Sun Devils (4-8), the latter of whom the Berkeley Bears barely beat.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3) won the Big 12 North after tackling a non-conference slate straight out of the Sun Belt. The Big Red Machine beat Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, and Louisiana-Lafayette but defeated only one team all year with a ledger better than 7-5. The ‘Huskers came up short against the Iowa St. Cyclones (6-6) in an offensively moribund contest, so Nebraska clings to a No. 22 ranking while patiently awaiting its loss to Texas.

Brigham Young does not deserve to be ranked, but I had trouble finding another team to rank 23rd, so the spot went to a Cougar club that lost lopsided affairs to Texas Christian and the Florida St. Seminoles (6-6). Narrow wins over Utah and Oklahoma are about all BYU has to its credit, but those victories are better than the Wisconsin Badgers’ triumphs over Fresno State and Northern Illinois. Those are the only two teams over .500 to have fallen to Wiscy in the course of the Badgers’ 8-3 autumn.

The Central Michigan Chippewas (10-2) slipped into the No. 25 spot ahead of Rutgers because the State University of New Jersey beat a pair of Division I-AA teams and the Chips at least sneaked by the Michigan St. Spartans (6-6) on the road. Also, unlike the Scarlet Knights, they didn’t lose to the gender-neutral Syracuse Orange (4-8).

You should by all means feel free to offer constructive criticisms, heartfelt feedback, and thoughtful arguments for the inclusion or exclusion of particular teams. For what it’s worth, I watched the Ball State-Western Michigan game on Tuesday and the first half of the Texas-Texas A&M game on Thursday before devoting my Friday to flipping back and forth among and between the Cincinnati-Illinois, Alabama-Auburn, Colorado-Nebraska, Pitt-West Virginia, and Boise State-Nevada games. My Saturday was spent bouncing around between the Clemson-South Carolina, Mississippi-Mississippi State, Florida-Florida State, and Miami-South Florida games before I settled in for the Georgia-Georgia Tech game.

Go ‘Dawgs!

2009 Bowl Projections - Post Week 13

Bama Hawkeye — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:29:09 -0000

Everything is clear. Some things are clear as crystal. Others are as clear as mud. But make no mistake, the situation is clear.

TCU will go to the BCS. The BCS Championship? Only with a couple of upset losses.

On the crystal side, the SEC Champ will play Texas, Cincinnati, or TCU in the BCS Championship Game. I think that's the order, too. If Texas beats Nebraska, they'll go. If not, Cincy is next in line. After playing the Pitt, they'll move ahead of TCU in the standings. Should the Bearcats fall to the Panthers, I think TCU gets their chance. I do not see a repeat of the SEC Championship game. Not with one viable undefeated team in the clubhouse and two more approaching 18. All in all, the 10 BCS teams are pretty safe bets. I've mentioned some alternatives, but I think that there are only 15 teams in play for the 10 spots.On the mud side, look at the SEC after the top 4 teams are placed. That's right, six 7-5 teams.

This Week's Articles

JerDogg finally admits that Minnesota just ain't that good.

Graham ranks the Big Ten quarterbacks for their 2009 performance.

Greg discusses the future of Tate Forcier and moving Denard Robinson to WR.

Good luck making any sense of it. I took my best shot, but you can feel free to speculate in a different direction. If you're counting, there are four open bowl spots for at large teams. 9 win MTSU and 7 win Bowling Green and Northern Illinois will take three of the spots. That leaves room for one 6-6 team to go to Mobile, Alabama to play the top choice from the MAC. My guess is that it's UCLA.

Full projections of all of the Big Ten, BCS, and every other bowl game after the jump.

Remember the rules.

These are projections. I am taking into account what will happen in future games, not assigning teams based upon current standings.
The best teams don't always go to the best games. In the end, butts in the seat and eyes to the television are the biggest factors.
The order of BCS selection is 1) Replacement for #1 Team; 2) Replacement for #2 Team; 3) Orange Bowl; 4) Fiesta Bowl; 5) Sugar Bowl.
The Champs Bowl picks its Big Ten team ahead of the Alamo Bowl this year.
For the full rules on BCS selections, look here.

			The SEC Champion will finish Number 1 in the BCS. Texas will finish #2 if they beat the Huskers. If they lose, Cincinnati will finish #2 with a win over PItt. If Texas and Cincy lose, TCU will slide into the number two spot.
			Beware of Clemson. Aren't they most dangerous after losing a game they have no business dropping? If Clemson wins the ACC, the Orange Bowl will likely take Cincinnati over a regular season rematch.
			Oklahoma State's loss means that the second Big Ten BCS team will be in Arizona, not Florida. If the Huskers upset Texas, Nebraska will be here, Texas will be selected by the Orange, and the Fiesta will still get a Big Ten team (and Boise will be left out). And yes, it very well could be Penn State over Iowa. If it was the Orange making the decision, it probably would be. But I'm still thinking that the Fiesta goes black and gold (and $green$).
			The only way that this isn't the SEC Runner-Up versus the Big East Champ is if Clemson or Nebraska pulls the upset.
			Ohio State has punched their ticket. The winner of Oregon/Oregon State will do the same. It says here that the Ducks win and head to Pasadena.
			LSU slips back into Orlando after Ole MIss lays an Egg against Mississippi State. From the Big Ten, this will be the loser of the behind the scenes battle between Iowa and Penn State.
			Is there any chance that this could be Northwestern? Maybe if Wisconsin loses at Hawaii, but I still have a hard time seeing the Wildcats winning that tiebreaker. Picking Tennessee here establishes them as the most desirable of the SEC's 7-5 mob.
			I think Clemson gets this bid after Virginia Tech and Miami.
			Yes, I think that 7-5 Oklahoma is selected over 8-win Missouri and Texas Tech. If good-MSU and good-OU show up, this could be a great game. If one of the schools brings their bad squad, it could get ugly.
			I don't see this matchup going well for the Gophers. Then again, if it was OU or Texas Tech, I don't know that it would go much better.
			Another Big Ten-less Motor City Bowl.
			When you can't get to six wins, you know that you'll spend the season On the Couch with the Queso Bowl (now sponsored by Ro*Tel).

			Kudos to Wyoming for getting bowl eligible.
			The bowl will want a Florida connection if it can get it.
			Troy has clinched their trip back to New Orleans. ECU makes for a great matchup.
			BYU makes their 122nd consecutive trip to Las Vegas. Oregon State will be a great match for them there.
			I expect the Mountain West to arrange their alignment to give their big three the best games possible.
			Both teams say that they'll play "anytime, anywhere." Time to prove it.
			This will be Pitt or West Virginia from the Big East. For the second year in a row, Tar Heel fans should fill the seats.
			Bowden's last stand in that hotbed of college football --- San Francisco?
			Boston College is always a tough out in a bowl game. This should be no exception.
			Independence Bowl selects its Big 12 team ahead of the Texas Bowl this year. I think they take the team that gave Texas a battle over the team that beat Nebraska. My guess is that it's a choice between Kentucky and South Carolina on the SEC side.
			If Army defeats Navy in two weeks, they'll replace Marshall.
			Idaho is happy enough to go bowling. I'm sure that staying close to home is all right with them.
			Navy has clinched this bid. On the Big 12 side, it will be whoever is left between Iowa State and Texas A&M.
			Could the Cotton take Nebraska over Oklahoma State? Yes. Especially if the Huskers show well in a loss to Texas.
			The Ponies are another team that won't mind the quick commute for the bowl game.
			Should be a fun game.
			Georgia brings the crowd, while Miami brings the sizzle.
			It's an old fashioned Big East battle. Notre Dame's 6th loss means that the Gator Bowl can't pick the Irish. My guess is that West Virginia will head to Jacksonville if Cincinnati beats Pittsburgh (and the Mountaineers beat Rutgers). If the Panthers win, Cincy heads here.
			Still weird to see Temple in a bowl.
			I've got South Carolina as the last choice out of the SEC. It has as much to do with geography as anything else.
			Yes, this could be Nebraska over Okie State. I suppose that one of those seven win SEC teams could be chosen here too. When push comes to shove, I think that the teams with the best records get chosen.
			Think that Arkansas will bring some fans to Memphis? I have Houston beating ECU. The C-USA champ automatically goes here.
			GMAC gets first choice from the MAC. Not champion, first choice. I project that's CMU, regardless of what happens elsewhere. It looks like it will come down to UCLA or Notre Dame to fill an empty ACC slot With the firing/hiring going on in South Bend, I expect the Irish to decline a bid.

Football Scatterplot!

KJ@theonlycolors — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:46:26 -0000

Special holiday weekend edition scatterplot:

Technical explanation:

Data based on 8 conference games only for each team. Sacks (and associated negative yardage) counted as pass plays.
Horizontal axis shows differential between pass yards per attempt and rush yards per attempt.
Vertical axis shows percentage of total plays on which a team attempted a pass (or was sacked).
Dashed line is trend line based on linear regression.

The premise here is that, the better a team is at passing the ball vs. running the ball, the more often that team will pass the ball. And, for the most part, Big Ten coaches look pretty darn rational. The data points show a clear linear trend. The teams above the trend line (Indiana, Purdue, Illinois) were generally playing from behind and would have passed the ball more out of necessity. The teams below the trend line, on the other hand, are teams that were usually playing with a lead (Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State) or had interception-prone quarterbacks (Michigan, Iowa). (Data are not adjusted in any way for interceptions. Also, interpreting the data for teams with running QBs like Illinois and OSU may not be quite so straightforward.)

I had originally constructed this scatterplot to see if I could confirm my intuitive judgment that the MSU coaching staff didn't utilize the Cousins-led passing attack to the full extent it should have. If you trust the dashed trend line as a good approximation of where a team's run-pass balance should be based on the relative strengths of its passing/rushing attacks, though, the aggregate data would indicate the balance was about right.

One caveat: MSU's rushing numbers may be skewed high by two Keshawn Martin end-around runs totaling 154 yards. Take those two runs out of the sample and MSU's rushing yards/attempt figure drops from 4.6 to 4.0 and MSU's data point on the scatterplot moves very close to the right-hand boundary. Of course, it's possible other teams also have big runs on nonstandard rushing attempts in their data. And you could argue the Keith Nichol garbage-time TD passes vs. Wisconsin and Penn State skew the passing numbers upward, too.

Regardless, MSU did attempt to pass the ball at the 4th highest rate in the conference, behind two teams that played from behind most of the season (probably a 50/50 split for MSU on playing from behind/in front) and a team that runs a pure spread offense designed for frequent, short passes (Northwestern).

Still, I can't shake the intuitive judgment that, while MSU may have passed the ball with a reasonably-high frequency, it did so in a much-too-predicable fashion. Fairly-fresh-in-my-mind example: The opening drive of the Penn State game (when MSU had won the toss and chosen to take the ball first).

               Wagner, Collin kickoff 65 yards to the MSU5, Martin, Keshawn return 25 yards
               to the MSU30 (Timmons, K.).
      M 1-10 M30   Cousins, Kirk pass incomplete to White, Blair.
      M 2-10 M30   Caper, Larry rush for loss of 1 yard to the MSU29 (Bowman, Navorro).
      M 3-11 M29   Cousins, Kirk rush for 7 yards to the MSU36 (Bowman, Navorro).
      M 4-4  M36   Bates, Aaron punt 40 yards to the PSU24, Astorino, Drew return 8 yards

On the first play, White went in motion from right to left toward two receivers on the other side. At that point, I'm pretty sure every MSU fan in the stadium--not to mention the Penn State defense--knew what was coming: a flare pass to White behind the line of scrimmage. The Penn State defensive backs moved aggressively toward the line of scrimmage and blew the play up.

Next up? Well, if you didn't run the ball on first down, you certainly have to try to run it on second down, right? The result was, not surprisingly, a loss of yardage.

Finally, Kirk Cousins gets the chance to throw the ball downfield on the third down. But the Penn State defense knows what's coming, Cousins can't find an open receiver, and he's forced to scramble for a gain well short of the first down.

So there's an example of MSU passing on 2 out of 3 plays, but doing so in an entirely predictable and defensible manner. With Kirk Cousins--the clear front-runner for first team All-Big Ten quarterback, and perhaps Big Ten Ofensive POY, in 2010--back for two more seasons, that kind of predictability (predicated on the notion that running the ball on early downs is the basis for your offense, darn it all) sure seems like it wil continue to be an impediment to the team's success if it isn't addressed by the coaching staff--before the bowl game, ideally.

Data Appendix:

Team	Rush Att	Rush Yds	Rush Y/A	Pass Att	Pass Yds	Pass Y/A	Differential	Pass%
Michigan St	239	1,092	4.6	267	1,923	7.2	2.6	52.8
Iowa	254	918	3.6	252	1,538	6.1	2.5	49.8
Northwestern	275	988	3.6	353	2,031	5.8	2.2	56.2
Michigan	292	1,094	3.7	254	1,476	5.8	2.1	46.5
Penn State	279	1,458	5.2	243	1,747	7.2	2.0	46.6
Purdue	240	1,023	4.3	324	1,989	6.1	1.9	57.4
Indiana	217	978	4.5	321	2,005	6.2	1.7	59.7
Minnesota	245	960	3.9	251	1,402	5.6	1.7	50.6
Wisconsin	350	1,698	4.9	238	1,462	6.1	1.3	40.5
Ohio State	335	1,721	5.1	176	948	5.4	0.2	34.4
Illinois	297	1,553	5.2	247	1,272	5.1	(0.1)	45.4

P.S. If I can work up the gumption, I'm intending to go through this same exercise for defensive stats.