If you're at all like me, then you've probably visited the Big Ten blog on ESPN from time to time.  Personally, I think Rittenberg is a pretty fair writer, and doesn't inject any of his bias (Northwestern...hate hate hate!) into his writing.  All in all, typically a good read.

I guess he's doing a new series where he and the bloggers from other conferences are comparing their teams, and the latest installment is...drumroll please...PSU vs Pitt!!  You can check out the read here or here.  It's a decent idea, and naturally, both writers came to the conclusion that such a game would end in a victory for the good guys.

But if you really want to get your money's worth out of this experience, I'd suggest you read the comments on both blogs, particularly the Big East side of it.  Pitt fans couldn't be any more delusional if they tried.

So who do you think would win, and how much do you think we'd win by?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think Terrelle Pryor's mythically legitimate candidacy for the 2009 Heisman Trophy is quite possibly the greatest farce of the upcoming season?  Yes, we all get it:  he was THE hotshot recruit a few ago, and subsequently landed with the most overhyped team in the country.  There's your name-brand recognition, which, as well all know, is roughly 91.7% of the battle (think Graham Harrell's snub last year).  But what about, I dunno, the stats?  Analysis ensues:

Hey, ya know, that's pretty good for a true freshman, and I doubt that (on the surface) anyone will debate this.  But what if you dig deeper?  Here are TP's stat lines against USC, PSU and UT:

(@ USC)  Passing:  7-9, 52 yards, 0 TD 0 INT, Rushing:  11 rushes, 40 yards, 0 TD

(PSU)  Passing:  16-25, 226 yards, 0 TD 1 INT, Rushing:  9 rushes, 6 yards, 0 TD 1 (barely) fumble

(Fiesta Bowl, Texas)  Passing:  5-13, 56 yards, 0 TD 0 INT, Rushing:  15 rushes, 78 yards, 0 TD

Continue reading this post »

I'm sure there are some on this board who will roll their eyes at the following subject matter, and I can't say I blame them.  But it's the offseason, and I'm bored.  So the following are some "interesting" and recent tidbits about everyone's favorite Big East titan.

-I was perusing the interwebs earlier, and came across this interesting take about JoePa's B10 expansion ideas (pittblather.com):

"The desire by Paterno for a Eastern member in the Big 11 is simply about the geographic isolation of Penn State. It is, as usual, self-serving for Paterno and Penn State. It is not about the Big 11 or any desire to reach out to the other 3 programs mentioned. It is not about helping the Big 11 and their big gap between the end of the season and bowl season."

I mean, wow!  Talk about your sour grapes!  We get it, Pitt...you're Pennsylvania's JV football program.  You lost 3-0 against an Oregon State team missing two of their best players, and haven't had a 10-win season in 25 years.  So you feel the need to lash out and take shots about PSU "always being self-serving."  Last I checked, we weren't the ones making fans buy 3-game ticket packages because we can't sell tickets any other way.  Our 2 for 1 offer is no worse than what you offered us back when we weren't a top program.  Any one of those programs should count their lucky stars JoePa mentions them for inclusion at the grown-up table.

You would think that the discrepancy in the recent levels of success would lead to more of a Wes Mantooth towards Ron Burgundy point of view ("From deep down in my stomach, with every inch of me, I pure, straight hate you. But goddammit, do I respect you!"), but oh well...their throats must be stuck, choking on all that pride.

-If you can't build a wall, morph into a giant who controls weather patterns (from Wanny's twitter).  No additional words are needed:

-Guess we're not the only ones in trouble with the law.  I don't post this to hurl stones, despite all the crap we took from Pitt fans (and, well, the rest of the country) when we had some legal issues.  I post it more because I wonder, where's the offense coming from?  Their entire offense was drafted in the 2nd round, and he's playing Sundays now.  Good luck this year, Pitters.

"The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award (often known simply as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman), named after the former college football coach John Heisman, is awarded annually by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City to the most outstanding player in collegiate football."

Well that explains why Colt Brennan won it last year, I mean the guy set records.  Oh, he didn't win?  Huh.

Well at least it explains why Graham Harrell is being considered this year.  41 TD's and 72% completion, seems pretty "outstanding" to me.  Oh wait.  He'll be watching from home.

AT LEAST the voters will be able to choose from a diverse group of candidates.  Shonn Greene, best RB in the country, 100+ yards in every game.  He should have a good shot.  Jeremy Maclin had 95 catches, another 250 yards rushing, AND played a key role in the return game.  I'm sure his prospects of winning are pretty legit, right?  How about Andre Smith, arguably the best OT in the country?

And surely the defensive players will get their due, right?  Aaron Maybin, Brian Arakpo, Terrence Cody, Malcolm Jenkins, Rey Maualuga...all great players who could be declared "most outstanding" in the country.  And "most outstanding" is what is being rewarded, correct?

Oh wait.  No.  That's not it at all.  Because none of these players satisfy both the two most important qualification to win the Heisman Trophy:

1)  Are you a quarterback?

2)  Is your team in the Top 3?

Because you see then, and only then, can you be considered "truly outstanding."  It's just how the system works.

Satire aside, the Heisman Trophy is as mythical as an undisputed National Championship these days.  It's a complete bastardization of what it used to be.  I'm half convinced that the only reason this award exists anymore is so that Jason White and Eric Crouch can meet up and discuss the merits of "paper versus plastic" for bagging groceries.

I will not be tuning in to watch the Heisman Award ceremony, and I encourage others to do the same.  I offer my congratulations to whoever wins it, with the lone caveat being that, lamentably, it was never a fair competition to begin with.  So congrats and enjoy the bronze statue.  Just know that it's worth nothing more than what the pawn shop is willing to pay ya for it.

Rankings used from the AP Poll:

1) Florida Gators

Wins over ranked teams: #13 UGA (49-10, away)
Loss: #25 Ole Miss (30-31, home)

2) Oklahoma Sooners

Wins over ranked teams: #7 Texas Tech (65-21, home), #16 Cincy (52-26, home)
Loss: #5 Texas (35-45, neutral site)

3) Texas Longhorns

Wins over ranked teams: #3 OU (45-35, neutral site), #11 OK State (28-24, home), #12 Mizzou (56-31, home)
Loss: #7 Texas Tech (33-39, away)

4) USC Trojans

Wins over ranked teams: #10 Ohio State (35-3, home), #19 Oregon (44-10, home)
Loss: #17 Oregon State (21-27, away)

5) Penn State Nittany Lions

Wins over ranked teams: #10 Ohio State (13-6, away), #17 Oregon State (45-14, home), #22 Michigan State (49-18, home)
Loss: #28 Iowa (23-24, away)

6) Texas Tech Red Raiders

Wins over ranked teams: #4 Texas (39-33, home), #11 OK State (56-20, home)
Loss: #3 OU (21-65, away)

Resume Rankings:

Taking into account the number of wins over ranked teams (and how highly ranked they are), while also factoring in the location of the game and margin of victory, here's what I come up with.

1) Texas
2) PSU
3) Texas Tech
4) OU
5) USC
6) UF

Only Texas and PSU have three wins over ranked teams, two of which were very convincing. Tech has two quality wins, which in my opinion are better than OU's and USC's. UF has one big road win...and nothing else.

Ranking the losses:

Basically the same criteria as above.

1) OU
2) Texas
3) USC
4) PSU
5) UF
6) Texas Tech

OU has the most forgivable loss, followed by UT who lost on the road to the #7 team. USC and PSU also lost on the road, but USC lost to the better team. UF lost at home, pushing them back to #5, and TTU lost by 54 points...need I say more?

Assigning points on the basis 6 points for #1 (5 for #2, 4 for #3, etc) and so on, and then adding the points for both categories, here are what the rankings SHOULD be:

1) Texas - 11 points
2) OU - 9 points
3) PSU - 8 points
4) USC - 6 points
5) Texas Tech - 5 points
6) Florida - 3 points

Compare this to what they currently are (following #1 'Bama):

1) Florida
2) OU
3) Texas
4) USC
5) PSU
6) Texas Tech

So what can we conclude? The voters need to pull their heads out of their asses and stop ranking according to "when you lose." As for as I'm concerned, "when you lose" is a lot less important than who you beat and who you lose to, but I guess that's just me. 

I mean, am I the only one who fails to believe the best two teams in the country are from the SEC?

Thoughts?

Yes, I know it's still early in the season, and yes, I know this has about a 1% likelihood of happening, but work with me here...

What if PSU makes it to a non-championship BCS game?  Of course, I'd love to see them play for the MNC, but they could hypothetically go undefeated and still be left out (see:  Auburn 2004).  More realistically, they could drop a game somewhere, finish 11-1 but still grab the B10 automatic bid or an at-large bid.

What if we got matched up against the Big East champion, which as of right now could very well be the...

...wait for it...

...Pittsburgh Panthers!!

Yeah, we all made fun of Pitt when they lost the first week, and they've since had their struggles against teams like Iowa and Syracuse.  But they went into Tampa last night and beat up a previously unbeaten (and in my opinion pretty good) USF team, something that Kansas was unable to do earlier this year.

Right now they're undefeated in Big East play, with potentially the biggest hurdle already cleared.  With how bad that conference is this year, why the heck couldn't they win it?  And yes, embarrassment as it is, the Big East still gets an automatic BCS bid, so just imagine the possibilities if both PSU and Pitt are available to the selection committees.

We're talking about a Top 5 rivalry when it was at its peak, and since we all know that the selection committees will make deals with one another, this could definitely happen.  Moreover, if OSU makes it to the BCS, I think a lot of people would want to see them in a rematch with USC in the Rose Bowl, thereby lessening the burden of the Rose Bowl needing to select us for "tradition's sake."

Can you imagine this?  JoePa in his LAST game as a HC, beating Pitt and riding off into the sunset?  This game precipitating the renewal of one of the historically greatest rivalries (and PA's most desired one)?

Yes, it's early, but still...the possibility is there, and it's not that far-fetched.

This from Holtz and May, regarding the B10 this upcoming year.  More of the same:

Wells is the best offensive player in the league (probably true), Laura is the best defensive player (gimme a break, he would've been the 3rd best LB on our team last year), Pryor will be the best newcomer (debatable, since no one knows how he will be used), the coach on the biggest hot seat is JoePa, and oh yeah...did you know we had some players with legal issues?

I can't wait until we can actually PLAY the games and hopefully prove some of these guys wrong.  Moreover, I can't wait until there are some new things to talk about so we can stop hashing the same stories to death.  I get it...OSU is God's Team, PSU is a bunch of thugs, and JoePa is old.  If only there wasn't still Rodney Kinlaw until the season begins...

Yes, you read that correct.  PSU's all-time leading tackler, and best cover corner of the past two years were not drafted in the first two rounds of this year's NFL draft.  From this, I can only draw a few logical conclusions:

1)  The "experts" are idiots.

I've seen Connor going in the first round of numerous mock drafts, with King on the periphery.  Connor also occupied a spot on Mel "The Guru" Kiper's Big Board for a good portion of time as well.  Shows what these guys know.

2)  A bunch of scouts should be out of jobs right now.

Remember that Paul Posluszny character?  Ya know, the one who was third in the entire NFL in tackles before his injury?  Well, many believe Connor to be even better.  Guess these guys were too busy dealing with "upside" and "measurables" to remember to watch the damn game film.  You can't teach instincts.

And if they are basing their picks on the mythical "upside," how in the heck was King not drafted?  We're talking about the guy who ran the 2nd fastest 40 yard dash at the combine, played virtually the entire year with an injury, and is a class act off the field.  Guess he doesn't have enough "upside" for the NFL.

Sure, being a diehard PSU fan, this angers me almost as much as it mystifies me.  But then again, what does it matter?  Tell guys like Tom Brady, Marques Colston and Brian Westbrook that being drafted late means you won't pan out.  Or conversely, tell guys like Joey Harrington, Ryan Leaf and David Carr that being high 1st round picks is the only true dictator of future success.

Bottom line, there are going to be some teams looking awful smart tomorrow when they get a pair of 2nd-day steals.

Best of luck, Justin and Dan.