SB Nation - Stanford Cardinal

Who Should Win the Heisman?

cocknfire — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:30:13 -0000

More photos » by JACOB HARRIS - AP

Might cocknfire's vote go to a Notre Dame player, like Johnny Lujack?

Hopefully in time to be included in the Sports Blog Heisman Trophy presented by The Blue Workhorse.

This is not the easiest year to craft a Heisman ballot, at least not the way it should be done. As I've said before, the Heisman is becoming too much like the MVP award, and the MVP is becoming too much like the Heisman. Remember that the Heisman Award is supposed to go to "the most outstanding college football player in the United States." There is no reference there to how valuable you are to your team. There's not even a suggestion that your team has to be very good. The winner has to "the most outstanding." That's a tall order for anyone to fill.

Which is why I get distressed when I hear people touted for the award because his team is great and "they just couldn't do it without him." If the numbers back up that player being the most outstanding, fine. But his team's achievements shouldn't be as important to a candidate's chances as they are.

That said, they can't be discounted either. Which is why you have to at least look at Colt McCoy -- until you realize that he's having either his worst or second-worst statistical year and has nearly disappeared in three of his team's biggest games (Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Nebraska). Because showing up for the big games does matter if you're going to be most outstanding.

Showing up for almost all the games also matters. It's not just enough to be good overall; you need to have games where you shine. Just because your team's achievements aren't central to the award doesn't mean the ability to carry a team, either in victory or defeat, isn't something we should look for in a Heisman candidate.

But the overall numbers are a good place to start. I've chosen a few players from several different categories to consider. The choices aren't that easy to make; there are a lot of good football players in the NCAA -- and I threw in Tim Tebow because this is an SEC blog and so he has to at least be considered.

First, the quarterbacks.

Your going to want to click that for a larger version because it's got a lot of good info in there. For those unfamiliar with PEPCT (pass efficiency percentage), it's a new stat I'm still tweaking that measures a quarterbacks performance against defenses based on those defenses' normal pass efficiency numbers. And we should note that Tebow also has 859 rushing yards and 13 TDs on the ground.

But even if you add the rushing yards, Tebow just hasn't produced as much as Kellen Moore or Jimmy Clausen. The touchdown numbers would move him past Clausen, but he's thrown almost as twice as many picks as Clausen in comparison to the number of attempts. The numbers just don't support a Heisman candidacy this year.

Still, let's look at how players tended to do on a week-by-week basis.

You're not reading that incorrectly; Tim Tebow has passed for 250 or more yards in one game (Arkansas) all season long. Yes, I realize that Tebow is a running quarterback; but you should have to throw the ball for more than 250 yards more than once in a season to be a Heisman contender.

Not that there's nothing wrong with the other two contenders. It was hard to come up with a "signature" game for either -- their best games came either against weak opponents or when their teams lost, and like McCoy they sometimes had subpar outings in important games. For example, Moore's numbers aren't terrible against Oregon, but it was still his worst game statistically. And Clausen's "signature" game was against a team that defeated Notre Dame.

I'll choose Kellen Moore as the best of the quarterbacks.

Running backs overall.

It's harder to adjust statistically for defenses with running backs than with quarterbacks, though I'm working on a couple of possible ways to do it. In any case, here are a few things that I found interesting about this chart. First, Mark Ingram is undeniably the best per carry by more than a half-yard. Second, he has the edge in receiving yards. But look at Gerhart's touchdown numbers; they are absurd. He essentially scored every twelfth time he ran the ball. Dion Lewis was very good, but he just can't quite compare with what Ingram and Gerhart did overall.

Weekly.

Here is where Ingram's candidacy takes a little bit of a hit. Three times he rushed the ball for fewer than 75 yards, a mark that Gerhart and Lewis never falled to make. Even against the defenses of the SEC, the "most outstanding" should do better than that -- especially at rival Auburn with a chance at an undefeated season on the line.

Gerhart was more consistent by far this year, and his worst game seems just a little bit better than the others. Sure, it was against Wake Forest, but at least it wasn't against Navy.

So Toby Gerhart gets first place among the running backs, with Mark Ingram a close enough second to warrant further consideration later.

I've never understood why wide receivers don't get more consideration than they do for the award. So let's take a look at some of the better wideouts this year.

How hard was it for an SEC fan to include two Notre Dame players on his list of potential Heisman candidates? I don't want to talk about it.

But Golden Tate had an outstanding year. Look at that touchdown percentage and the yards per catch. With 45 fewer catches than Freddie Barnes against tougher competition, he had just 55 fewer receiving yards. Another 14 receptions for Danario Alexander only earned him 148 additional yards. The edge is resoundingly to Tate among the players I looked at here.

Weekly.

This is where Alexander and Barnes fall off the table to me. Both have more games with fewer than 75 yards than Tate and were far worse in their worst outings. (Though one becomes more and more curious as to how Notre Dame lost to Stanford. Oh, that's right. They had to play defense.)

So the best wideout of the group appears to be Golden Tate.

Finally, we have to look at defenders and examine this hype about Nebraska's Ndouopiufdsoia Suh, or something like that.

Dr. Saturday is the one who got me to consider Brandon Graham. And you've never heard of Von Miller at Texas A&M, who was completely off my radar until I started looking through the numbers. I know you've heard of Ndamukong Suh, because you probably watch football on ESPN and they mention his name almost as frequently as McCoy's.

All three of these players are very good, and consider that Suh was probably double-teamed more than any defensive lineman in the country. Even so, based purely on the statistics, you have to give Miller the edge here.

Weekly.

If you thought that Suh was almost unstoppable against Texas in the Big XII Championship Game, you were right. Four and a half sacks among six tackles for loss and 11 overall. Nothing Graham or Miller did all year can come close to matching that.

Counting all of those things and throwing in some of those "intangibles," I have to go with Ndamukong Suh as the defensive candidate.

Leaving us with:

Kellen Moore
Toby Gerhart
Mark Ingram
Golden Tate
Ndamukong Suh

One of these names is really in a different league from the others -- literally -- and that's Moore. He had a great year for Boise State, but playing in any midmajor save the Mountain West isn't quite like playing in a BCS conference. For consideration, you need to put up laughable numbers, and Moore's not quite there.

The next cut is tough, but I'm removing Golden Tate. That's hard, because I really wanted to see him at least get considered. He is, though, on a 6-6 team that not's going to a bowl game. Gerhart was on the best Stanford team in years, Ingram helped win an SEC Championship and Suh led the Cornhuskers to a Big XII North title. Again, the team's season can't be the central point. But we're getting to the point here where hair-splitting is all that's left.

So the top three are Gerhart, Ingram and Suh. Not terribly original. But the idea here is not to be surprising or creative; it's to find the best. Find me better than any of those three at their positions. I don't think it can be done.

We're allowed three names for the final ballot. So I now have to put them in order. This is the hardest part, because I honestly think any one of these players is more than deserving.

But Ingram disappeared one time too many. And as good as Suh was for Nebraska this year -- and as scared as I'd be to tell him this to his face -- the numbers put up by Toby Gerhart are almost incomparable. Gerhart it is.

1. Toby Gerhart
2. Mark Ingram
3. Ndamukong Suh

Voting For The Sports Blog Heisman Leaves Out Two Big Names

ccmachine — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:16:59 -0000

Texas offensive line plays paper, rock, scissors in the huddle to see who has to try and block Suh on this next play.

View full size photo »

Last year sports bloggers collectively voted to award the first annual Sports Blogger's Heisman Trophy to (gulp!) Tim Tebow. Now once again we face the challenge of selecting one man from a handful of players to be recognized as the best college football player in the nation. Like the actual Heisman voting, points are awarded for first, second and third place votes. Here's my attempt at explaining my selections.

1. Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska - On a day where "Heisman Frontrunners" Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow were supposed to make their final statements of deserving the hardware it was Suh who stole the show and produced the most dominating performance college football fans have seen on national television in a long time. For the season Suh has 82 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 1 interception, 10 pass breakups, 24 quarterback hurries, 1 forced fumble and 3 blocked kicks.

2. Mark Ingram, RB Alabama - Like Suh, I had Ingram further down on my list until his performance last Saturday where he gave the second most impressive performance of the day. Against Florida he averaged 4 yards per carry on his way to 113 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. You can also add 76 receiving yards to his tally and for the season he's been even more impressive with 1,542 rushing yards (6.2 YPC) and 15 rushing touchdowns.

3. Toby Gerhart, RB Stanford - He's been the workhorse for the Cardinal this season with 311 carries for 1,736 yards (5.6 YPC) and 26 rushing touchdowns. Unfortunately he's a bit overshadowed by not being able to participate in a conference championship game but his body of work in the regular season is impressive enough on its own.

Obviously Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy are missing from my list and as many will claim bias in leaving them off we really could debate if they deserve to be on the list or not until the end of time. At the end of the day their seasons weren't as impressive as these three and since the Heisman Trophy is not a lifetime achievement award but rather an award given to the most outstanding football player in a single season this was the result of the process. Thoughts?

Our Heisman Ballot

mlmintampa — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:00:20 -0000

For the second year, The Blue Workhorse will be tallying the votes for a Sports Blog Heisman Trophy. Here's our ballot. No word on if the winner receives a pair of pajamas from Mom's basement.

1. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska: It is not that Suh had 12 sacks this season (which is 9th nationally) or that he had 4.5 sacks in the Big 12 Championship, nearly winning the game in the process. It is that Suh gave instant legitimacy to an entire unit and did it as a defensive tackle. You could make the case that he is the best collegiate defensive tackle since Warren Sapp.

2. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama: When Alabama's offense struggled early in the season, Ingram was the spark that kept Bama undefeated. His disappearing act in the Auburn game is forgiven thanks to his early season performances and his 189 yards of total offense and three touchdowns against Florida. While he does benefit from a strong offensive line, he should also get credit for being an above average receiver (30 catches for 322 yards, 3 TDs).

3. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson: He scored 20 touchdowns running, passing, catching and returning. Without him Clemson is nothing. He's not the Heisman winner if you're picking the best player on the best team. But he deserves consideration if you're picking the Most Outstanding College Football Player.

Honorable Mention: Had Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow played better in their conference championship games, they might have knocked off Suh and Spiller, with Ingram getting my number one spot. My opinion of Ingram dropped in the last two weeks because Alabama's offense is finally at full speed and quarterback Greg McElroy is showing to be legit. I left out Toby Gerhart because I do place some value on versatility. Ingram and Spiller do more than run and Suh does more than clog the middle. Gerhart just runs (he has only 10 catches this season). Yes, he is a very good back. But I like my backs to be freaks of nature, not a bowling ball with arms.

Week Fourteen BlogPoll Ballot Draft

T Kyle King — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:52:12 -0000

The time has come to cast my final regular-season BlogPoll ballot---or, at least, I think it has; I’m assuming we’re not submitting new top 25s after next weekend’s Army-Navy game---and here is what I came up with after starting with a blank piece of paper:

Rank	Team	Delta

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

Dropped Out: Houston (#18), Central Michigan (#25).

The Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0) are No. 1. Duh! Of the dozen Division I-A opponents beaten by Nick Saban’s squad, nine finished with winning records, including the sixth-ranked Florida Gators, the twelfth-ranked LSU Tigers, and the 16th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies. The Tide’s only close calls came in rivalry games against teams who will be playing on New Year’s Eve or later.

In spite of their close call against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a game played in the snow featuring two botched extra point attempts, the Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0) captured the No. 2 spot on my ballot by virtue of seven regular-season wins over teams that finished above .500, among them the 11th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, the 14th-ranked Oregon St. Beavers, and 19th-ranked Pitt. Also, Cincy gets credit for having a logo reminiscent of Chick-fil-A's.

While I understand and respect C&F’s argument, I awarded the No. 3 ranking to the Texas Longhorns (13-0) because Mack Brown’s outfit went undefeated against a slate that included no Division I-AA schedule fodder and only four teams that posted losing ledgers. Wins over the No. 21 Oklahoma St. Cowboys and the No. 23 Nebraska Cornhuskers provided heft to the Big 12 standard-bearer’s resume.

I ranked the Boise St. Broncos (13-0) ahead of the TCU Horned Frogs (12-0) for a variety of reasons. Both took advantage of a Division I-AA victim and each faced five Division I-A teams with winning records, but Boise State has an additional win and Texas Christian has two close shaves (at Air Force and at Clemson) as opposed to the Broncos’ one (at Tulsa). Boise State’s second- and third-best wins (over Nevada and Fresno State) are comparable to the Frogs’ (over Utah and Clemson), but the Broncos’ marquee victory over the seven-ranked Oregon Ducks far outshines TCU’s best pelt, that of the 22nd-ranked BYU Cougars.

The Sunshine State Saurians (12-1) slipped to sixth after their less than competitive neutral site outing against ‘Bama, as befits the nation’s lone once-beaten team, and Oregon (10-2) led the parade of two-loss teams because the Ducks fell to two quality teams on the road and made up for those setbacks with wins over three teams ranked in my top 20 (Arizona, Oregon State, and Cal).

The Ohio St. Buckeyes (10-2) earned a No. 8 ranking on the strength of wins over the tenth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, the 24th-ranked Penn St. Nittany Lions, and the 25th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2) rode their ~~fourth-place finish in the SEC East~~ ACC championship to the No. 9 ranking, although the Ramblin’ Wreck’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs at home serves as a drag on a resume that includes five close calls in the Golden Tornado’s ten Division I-A wins. Only two of the Engineers’ victims finished with fewer than five losses, but one of those triumphs came over No. 16 VPI.

Iowa (10-2) carded quality victories over a trio of top 25 teams (Arizona, Penn State, and Wisconsin, all by double-digit margins) to overcome respectable losses to Ohio State and Northwestern, both of whom will be playing on New Year’s Day. (For whatever it might be worth, I would point out that the five BCS bowls pit No. 9 v. No. 10, No. 7 v. No. 8, No. 4 v. No. 5, No. 2 v. No. 6, and No. 1 v. No. 3 on my ballot. This ought to be a pretty good bowl season.)

West Virginia narrowly edged out Louisiana State in my estimation. Both teams boasted similar resumes: both finished 9-3; both won three games by a touchdown or less; both lost one game by a touchdown or less. However, as ashamed as I am to admit it, the Mountain Men’s win over Pitt counts for more this season than the Bayou Bengals’ win over Georgia. I know, it hurts me to admit that, too; visions of Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino will haunt my dreams tonight.

A glut of 8-4 clubs out of the Pac-10 proved difficult to untangle, but I declared the Arizona Wildcats first among equals by awarding Mike Stoops’s troops the No. 13 ranking. Three of Arizona’s four losses came on the road, two of them were nailbiters, and only one of them was the handiwork of a team with fewer than eight wins. The Wildcats carded victories over No. 14 Oregon State, the 15th-ranked USC Trojans, and the 17th-ranked Stanford Cardinal, with Central Michigan thrown in for good measure.

The Beavers landed right behind Arizona, partly because of wins over Cal and Stanford but mostly because of a quartet of quality losses. Oregon State’s four setbacks all came against opponents sporting eight or more wins, and, of the four, only the one against the No. 2 team in the country wasn’t a close call.

I will grant that it appears somewhat strange that I placed Stanford at No. 17, two spots behind Southern California (a club the Cardinal beat handily in Los Angeles) and three spots ahead of the California Golden Bears (a squad that defeated Jim Harbaugh’s outfit at the Farm), but Stanford had no legitimate third-best victory after the Cardinal’s wins over Oregon and USC to overcome the trio of triumphs notched by the Men of Troy over Ohio State, Oregon State, and Cal. Likewise, the Bears of Berkeley had trouble overcoming the fact that all four of their losses came by margins of 17 points or more. Oddly enough, Southern California, Stanford, and California each lost to a 5-7 team on the road, but the Trojans’ loss to the Washington Huskies and the Cardinal’s loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at least had the virtue of being close.

Sandwiched amid those West Coast outfits were No. 16 Virginia Tech (9-3), which beat top 25 teams Miami and Nebraska while sustaining three respectable defeats (including two to top ten squads); the 18th-ranked Miami Hurricanes (9-3), who are able to boast of a marquee win over Georgia Tech; and 19th-ranked Pittsburgh (9-3), which sneaked ahead of California by virtue of a more forgivable set of losses. The Panthers’ three setbacks all came by close margins, with two of those coming in down-to-the-wire clashes with top eleven opponents Cincinnati and West Virginia. Pitt’s loss to N.C. State was comparable to Cal’s loss to Washington---both came on the road against 5-7 squads---but the Wolfpack won by seven and the Huskies won by 32.

The inclusion of Oklahoma State (9-3) attested to the fact that next year’s BlogPoll should rank only 20 teams instead of 25---which the Associated Press poll did prior to 1989, by the way---but somebody had to be No. 21, so the Pokes were as qualified as anyone. Why was Les Miles’s old team ranked nine spots behind Les Miles’s current team when both have identical records and both count a win over the ‘Dawgs among their most impressive conquests? Simple: LSU lost to three teams with a combined 33-5 record by a combined 62-41 margin, while OSU lost to three teams with a combined 30-8 record by a combined 113-49 margin.

BYU (10-2) had absolutely no business being ranked after getting positively smoked by TCU and the hapless Florida St. Seminoles, but Brigham Young beat the Oklahoma Sooners and the Utah Utes, which counts for something. Nebraska (9-4) did little to impress me in the win column---the ‘Huskers beat only two teams with winning records---but, since all of the Big Red Machine’s losses were to teams that finished .500 or better and three of those were by razor-thin margins, I gave Bo Pelini’s team the benefit of the doubt.

The fact that Penn State (10-2) and Wisconsin (9-3) made the grade proves that I was scraping the bottom of the barrel; both the Nittany Lions and the Badgers lost convincingly to the Big Ten’s two top ten teams and neither beat more than two Division I-A teams that finished above .500, but the dearth of quality squads at the bottom of my ballot allowed a PSU team whose best win was against Temple and a Wiscy unit whose best win was against Fresno State to sneak undeservedly into the top 25.

Consideration was also given to the Boston College Eagles and the Mississippi Rebels. I’d like to tell you that I took a look at the Central Michigan Chippewas, East Carolina Pirates, Houston Cougars, Missouri Tigers, Navy Midshipmen, North Carolina Tar Heels, Northwestern Wildcats, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and Texas Tech Red Raiders, but, if I said so, I’d be lying.

I watched the Oregon-Oregon State game on Thursday, the Central Michigan-Ohio (Ohio) game on Friday, and a Saturday slate consisting primarily of the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh, Alabama-Florida, and Clemson-Georgia Tech games, with bits of the Nebraska-Texas and Hawaii-Wisconsin tilts sprinkled in for variety.

As always, I actively solicit your input with respect to what is, after all, a draft ballot. Feel free to register your disagreement or lobby for or against particular teams in the comments below.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Stanford Runs Out Of Luck Before The Sun Bowl

ccmachine — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:23:25 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck will not be in uniform against Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Browse more photos »

Early yesterday evening it was announced that Oklahoma and Stanford would face each other in the Sun Bowl on New Year's Eve. Then it was announced by Cardinal Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh that starting quarterback Andrew Luck wouldn't be playing against the Sooners.

Luck has thrown for 2,575 yards and 13 touchdowns this season but suffered an injury to his hand against Notre Dame and is now recovering from surgery. He'll be replaced by Tavita Pritchard who was once the starting quarterback before Luck arrived. Pritchard has completed 244 of 449 pass attempts at Stanford for 2,747 yards but also has thrown 22 interceptions to 15 touchdowns. Looks like Toby Gerhart is going to get even more touches.

Pritchard led Stanford to their first upset of #2 USC in 2007 so the Oklahoma defense isn't going against someone who has never been under pressure. It doesn't mean that the game plan for Oklahoma's defense didn't just get easier or the bowl game didn't get uglier. There's a reason why Pritchard was beaten out by a redshirt freshman and now having him in the game puts OU at a defensive advantage. Both defenses will be focused on stopping the run and making quarterbacks beat them.

Are You At All Excited About This?

ccmachine — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:27:24 -0000

I'm working on it.

Cal-Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl + Bowl Selection Sunday Open Thread

Avinash — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:21:24 -0000

David Seawright says Cal to the Poinsettia Bowl. (HT Berkelium) And they will be facing Utah, since ESPN confirmed a BYU-Oregon State Vegas Bowl (HT gigglingone).

UPDATE: Sources are saying BYU to Vegas, Utah to Poinsettia.

Official press release, although Utah has not yet been announced: (HT calgbear)

California, which will continue is school-record run of bowl appearances with its seventh consecutive postseason invitation, has accepted a bid to the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl against a to-be-named opponent from the Mountain West Conference on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium. Kickoff will be at 5 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN...

Overall, Cal will be making its 20th bowl appearance, with the Bears owning a 10-8-1 postseason record. Cal has twice played in bowl games in San Diego in recent years, having participated in the Holiday Bowl in 2004 and '06.

"We are looking forward to going to San Diego and playing in the Poinsettia Bowl," Tedford said. "We've had great experiences in bowl games in San Diego in the past. We've always been treated very well, and the hospitality has been outstanding. We are looking forward to playing a quality opponent from the Mountain West Conference."

Regardless what you think of the current system, bowl selection night is always a fun one. It's a great day to pick out games you'll want to watch, other games that you can probably skip out on, and many college football alumni finally figure out whether they're making one last pilgrimage this Christmas to a final football showcase.

We have a pretty good idea of who's getting picked where. So ponder these questions in the comments:

Which bowl games are you looking forward the most to? Which games look like total duds? Do you have any big gripes with some of the selections? And what do you feel about Cal's bowl matchup?

Official BCS matchups announced on FOX around 8 PM EST/5 PM PST; ESPN selection show runs at the same time. Updates on all the Pac-10 teams after the jump, and discuss Cal's official announcement. (including BIG NEWS coming from Arizona)

2:20 PM PST/5:20 PM EST

USC to the Emerald Bowl and Oregon State to the Vegas Bowl. So to the final matchups are (tentatively)

Rose: Oregon-Ohio State
Holiday: Arizona-Nebraska
Sun: Furd-Oklahoma
Vegas: Oregon State-BYU
Emerald: USC-Boston College
Poinsettia: Cal-Utah
Humanitarian (IF Navy beats Army): UCLA-Idaho

1:35 PM PST/4:35 PM EST
The Furd-Oklahoma Sun Bowl has been confirmed.

1 PM PST/4 PM EST

Sources are saying the Furd will be in the Sun Bowl against Oklahoma.

According to Ted Miller, big changes happening in Arizona, along with the expected bowl invite to San Diego.

Arizona has been invited to the Holiday Bowl, as expected.

Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood may be headed to the same post at UNLV.

And defensive coordinator Mark Stoops is a hot head coaching candidate. He may be headed to Youngstown State. Or following Livengood to UNLV.

UCLA will earn an invite to the Humanitarian Bowl if Navy beats Army this Saturday.

Final Final Pac-10 Bowl Scenarios

Avinash — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:26:58 -0000

More photos » by Rick Bowmer - AP

6 days ago: Oregon fans celebrate on the field after their team defeated Oregon State 37-33 during their NCAA football game, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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Here's what we know.

1) Oregon's the Pac-10 champ. Congrats to the Addicted to Quack crew.
2) USC winning puts the Trojans in the Holiday and Arizona in the Poinsettia.
3) Arizona winning puts the Wildcats in the Holiday.
4) UCLA is on their own. Not factoring them into bowl scenarios, they'll need help from some bowl out there.
5) I believe the Vegas Bowl has the first choice since Emerald had first dibs last year. If I'm wrong about this someone correct me and I'll adjust a few scenarios below.
6) Oregon State cannot go to the Sun Bowl, since there's a no repeat clause.
7) Thus a Cal win probably puts them in the Sun Bowl.

With that in mind, here are the final scenarios. ((*) Odds are based on Vegas lines, both Cal and USC are favored by 7)

Scenarios	Rose	Holiday	Sun	Emerald	Vegas	Poinsettia	Odds*
Cal wins + USC wins	Oregon	USC	Cal	Furd	OSU	Arizona	49.48%
Cal wins + USC loses	Oregon	Arizona	Cal	Furd	OSU	USC	20.86%
Cal loses + USC wins	Oregon	USC	Furd	OSU	Cal	Arizona	20.86%
Cal loses + USC loses	Oregon	Arizona	Furd	OSU	USC	Cal	8.80%

For Pete's Sake

JS13 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:07:50 -0000

via cache.gawker.com

View full size photo »

Half the fun of being a sports fan is the heated debate, that's pretty much the only reason sports blogs exist and it's the main reason why our other site ProjectFranchise.Org has been such a success. In fact, there are five sports fans that write regularly for this blog, and I often disagree strongly with many of their articles, and our frequent visitors will recognize that we will call each other out in the comments. Each posting is basically one sports fans view on a particular story or event. Having said that (that's for you Curb fans), we sometimes get fan/hate mail that is so over the top and off the mark that it deserves a posting of it's own. The following are some excerpts from emails sent to FOF in response to THIS post about Pete Carroll running up the score by FOF writer "Aramnath".

"Pete Carroll doesn't believe in running up scores he's too good of a person to do that."

"I suggest your analysis needs to be adjusted because Pete Carroll is one of the greatest people I have ever been lucky enough to even see in my life. How many college coaches can you say spend time with inner city kids mentoring them every month? Are you aware Pete is spearheading "ABetterLA" a charity to help disadvantaged kids?"

"You are an asshole for even suggesting that Pete would stoop low enough to run up the score on a team. Maybe I should question your credentials as a writer for trying to humiliate such a great man. You suck asshole. "

Let me first say that I disagree with my co-blogger on this one. Not only am I fine with running up the score in college football (within reason), I encourage it because I think the BCS and relevant polls encourage it. Let's face facts, the voters of these polls don't watch all the football games, it's impossible. They form their opinions based on scores, stats and other measurables. Voters and pundits often evaluate two teams that have not played one another by how those two teams performed against a common opponent. Lots of points and wide victory margins make teams look better. Therefore, I don't think that Carroll was being a prick at all, but rather doing the job USC pays him lots of money to do, which is finish the season with the highest ranking possible, get to bowl games and recruit top talent, all of which equals money and prestige for the University. By most accounts Carroll has done his job superbly and has managed to do it all with likeable, so-cal surfer persona. This is a reasonable debate between myself and another blogger. However....

The above emailer on the other hand does something that drives me as a sports fan nuts (other than firing out emails while sobbing into a Kleenex). He is an "idolizer" who can't take even the slightest criticism of his favorite squad and tries to stifle conversation and debate by getting personal with anyone who disagrees with him. It's like countering a barstool argument that Montana was better than Young by screaming "he's got a gun" and running out the door. Rather than argue on the level, he brings up irrelevant facts as if they have something to do with the conversation. While the original article clearly calls Pete-y boy out for a couple of arguably prickish moves...I can't find anything in the article claiming Carroll hates charity work, waterboards his players or molests adorable ponies. This fan's Lifetime Original email about Carroll being a good person is completely irrelevant to the argument. The fact that Pete MIGHT be a competitive prick on the field, has nothing to do with what he does off the field, the same way I assume that Troy Polamalu is not a violent maniac when he takes off his pads, and Maria Sharapova probably doesn't make sexy grunts everytime she picks up a diet Fanta.

I mean come on...tell us Carroll didn't run up the score, that it was justified or that Neuheisel had it coming, but don't start telling us that because Carroll is a great philanthropist, he also craps gold and can do no wrong on the football field. For the record, there are tons of amazing people in sports (coaches, athletes, owners) that do great things in the name of charity, Carroll is one of them. We recently applauded Shaq for his acts of kindness, but that doesn't mean that I have to pretend his Diesel album is The Blueprint or that Kazaam should have gotten an Oscar nod. Tiger Woods is one of the most charitable, but in light of recent news I don't think Tiger's wife is going to think he's any less of a prick because of his philanthropy work.

Would The Real Heisman Candidates Please Stand Up

ccmachine — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:25:55 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Colt McCoy has led Texas to an unblemished record but has he done enough by himself to be the Heisman frontrunner? (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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Depending on what network you watch, who you listen to or what you read you may have noticed that there are a handful of "Heisman Frontrunners" out there right now. Many feel that Colt McCoy lighting up the worst defense in the Big 12 made him the clear frontrunner going into the final week of play. Others believe that it's Alabama's Mark Ingram who can become the first Tide football player to bring home the hardware with a solid performance against Florida. Speaking of Florida there's still the Tim Tebow factor out there and with all due respect to McCoy the best performance by a quarterback last weekend belonged to the holy one. Still there are some who believe the efforts of the individual account for the award and not necessarily the prestige of the team. For that reason Stanford's Toby Gerhart, Houston's Case Keenum and Clemson's CJ Spiller are in the conversation.

Some would say that in a year where there is no clear cut leader in the Heisman race then there really may not be a legitimate candidate. I disagree. I think that this is the way the race should shake out. The Downtown Athletic Club should invite the following five guys to New York City with each having a legitimate shot of their personal accomplishments earning them the most prestigious award in college football.

Toby Gerhart, Stanford Running Back - 311 rushes/1736 yards (5.6 ypc), 26 touchdowns, 1/1 passing, 18 yards, 1 touchdown, 10 receptions/149 yards (14.9 ypc). What Gerhart has against him is the fact that his regular season ended last week with the win over Notre Dame while Ingram, Keenum, McCoy and Tebow have the national spotlight of conference championship games this weekend. Don't blame Conference USA, the Big 12 and SEC for this blame the Pac 10 for not manning up and playing a conference championship game. Gerhart has been amazing this season as the workhorse for the Cardinal and at this point would be my frontrunner if I had a vote. Unfortunately his accomplishments may be lost in the hoopla of this coming weekend's events.

Mark Ingram, Alabama Running Back - 221 rushes/1429 yards (6.5 ypc), 12 touchdowns, 28 receptions/246 yards (8.8 yps), 3 touchdowns. Ingram has fewer touches, yards and touchdowns than McCoy but his 6.5 yards per carry is insane and he has the stage of the SEC championship game against Florida in his favor. After being nicked up a bit last week a big outing against the Gators could be labeled as a gusty performance and provide him a "Heisman moment."

Case Keenum, Houston Quarterback - 412/584 passing (70.5%), 4,922 yards, 38 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 49 rushes/120 yards (2.4 ypc), 4 touchdowns. If you're looking for the best quarterback in the country then here he is. Keenum also has one more game to pad his stats when the Cougars play East Carolina Saturday for the Conference USA championship. There's no reason why Keenum shouldn't be on anyone's ballot. Even the strength of schedule argument doesn't work here as he's led Houston to victories over two Big 12 and one SEC school.

Colt McCoy, Texas Quarterback - 310/432 passing (71.8%), 3,328 yards, 27 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 111 rushes/368 yards (3.3 ypc), 2 touchdowns. McCoy has been exactly what the Longhorns have needed him to be. He's been a leader both on and off the field, he's been the experienced quarterback who wills his team to victory, he's been the face of the franchise so to speak and he's been the model citizen. All of these things factor in to the process, or at least they should, but the one thing that McCoy has going for him that no other candidate does right now is the idea that he somehow got robbed last season. Don't underestimate the power of the sympathy vote because McCoy is going to get a share of them.

Tim Tebow, Florida Quarterback - 162/244 passing (66.4%), 2,166 yards, 17 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 193 rushes/796 yards (4.1 ypc), 13 touchdowns. Tebow's passing and rushing stats don't really stand out on their own but combined they become quite impressive. The question is, are they more impressive than any of the other guys on this list to which I must answer perhaps some but not all. Like Ingram, Tebow has the national stage in college football's game of the week and has the opportunity to sway votes. I believe that of anyone on this list Tebow needs a big performance Saturday because to this point of the season he's made it on name recognition and legacy more than anything else as far as the Heisman race is concerned.

Poll

SB Nation - Stanford Cardinal

Who Should Win the Heisman?

Voting For The Sports Blog Heisman Leaves Out Two Big Names

Our Heisman Ballot

Week Fourteen BlogPoll Ballot Draft

Stanford Runs Out Of Luck Before The Sun Bowl

Are You At All Excited About This?

Cal-Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl + Bowl Selection Sunday Open Thread

Final Final Pac-10 Bowl Scenarios

For Pete's Sake

Would The Real Heisman Candidates Please Stand Up

Who would get your vote as the Heisman front runner?