Bowl Preview: Brut Sun Bowl

Brut Sun Bowl
Sun Bowl, El Paso, Tx.
Stanford vs. Oklahoma
Date: Dec 31
Time: 2 p.m.
TV: CBS (NOT ESPN, HOLY CRAP)
Line: Oklahoma -9.5

About Stanford (8-4): The Cardinal haven't seen this kind of postseason glory since Ty Willingham was at the helm. But now, it's former (ugh.) Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh whose overbearing arrogance is a perfect fit for a school filled with students and faculty who are overbearingly arrogant. And they've got this Toby Gerhart kid who's like Tommy Vardell but with talent.

Intangibles:
Tiger Woods: -4
Michelle Wie: -1
The Buddy Tevens Era: -6

About Oklahoma (7-5): Taking the positive on this sucky season for the Sooners, at least Bob Stoops can't lose a big bowl game! Am I right, Sooners? So Sam Bradford got hurt and Oklahoma fell apart like a house of cards in front of Beano Cook. It was like Gary Gibbs was back in charge of the Sooners. Crap were they bad.

Intangibles:
Sooner schooner: +2
Anything else in Oklahoma: -3
The Boz: -2
Jamelle Holieway; +2

Impact player: Gerhart. This dude just ran over Pac 10 defenses like they weren't there - and for the most part, they weren't. OU has some serious studs up front.

Bowl Slogan: "Mmmm. You smell like Brut."

Little known fact: I like El Paso salsa. Bet you didn't know.

Watchability (1-5): 4.3

The pick: Stanford 31, Oklahoma 30

Video: All the Sooner fans

At first, I thought this was produced by some Texas fans trying to poke fun at Oklahoma. Then as I watched I realized these are serious Sooner fans who thought this was a good idea. Bad call guys. Really bad call.

Saturday thoughts

- Great win for Miami. Terrible loss for Oklahoma. Can somebody get on Stoops now? (besides the 'Eer.) To recover from that loss to Va. Tech last week and play well against the Sooners means a lot to the mental toughness of the 'Canes. Can they keep it up through the crazy ACC though?

As for the Sooners, I didn't mind the decision to kick the field goal instead of going for a long fourth down conversion late in the game. The problem was with the play calling leading up to that decision. Third and long swing passes don't do it for me. I guess Stoops can pin this one on not having Sam Bradford, but right now it looks wide open for Texas to win the Big 12.

- SEC refs need to lighten up. Also a big win for LSU in a crazy game in Athens. Sets up next week's game with Florida as pure hysteria. The Tigers were hardly dominant though. Lots of questions about their offense and whether they can actually threaten the Gators. They did just enough to beat the 'Dawgs, though. Georgia is just a really weird team.

- Don't even try to predict what will happen in the ACC. Maryland beats Clemson? (Nice Dabo Swinney hire, by the way.) Boston College beats FSU. (Doesn't Bobby have to at least think about stepping down?) Virginia beats North Carolina. (WHAT!?) I give up. Whatever.

- Sparty gets a big win that might help salvage the season. Really, it was a game they should have pulled away with. Easily the worst performance of the year for Michigan.

Canes still ain't what they used to be

While the focus on Miami's resurgence before last week's loss to Virginia Tech has been on quarterback Jacory Harris and Miami's offense, the 'Canes defense is still a shell of its once great self.

Even facing Oklahoma without Sam Bradford could be trouble for a Miami defense that isn't knocking anyone's socks off, at least in a statistical sense.

If Miami's defense doesn't show major improvement up front, it could be a long Saturday night for the 'Canes.

Stoops makes right call with Jones

The headline reads: "Bradford out for Sooners' game at Miami."

It may sound crazy, but it's actually the best news for Sooner fans. Heresy, right? Not at all. Bob Stoops may choke in big games, but he's smart enough to know eighth-ranked Oklahoma's best chance to beat the No. 17 Hurricanes Saturday night is for Landry Jones to remain the QB and not force reigning Heisman winner Sam Bradford back into the lineup.

"Our team has a lot of confidence in Landry's ability and we're looking forward to going into the game with him at quarterback," Stoops said in a statement. "Our approach will be the same that it has been in the last two games."

Both of those wins. This decision may impact the 'Eer's pick in this game. Check back Friday for that.

Podcast: Episode 42

Thanks ACC for reminding us once again why no one should take you seriously until basketball season rolls around. Just when we thought Miami, Florida State or North Carolina might be considered BCS title contenders ... all three reminded us why no team from the ACC will ever when the championship (that includes you too Va Tech).

As painful as it was, both the 'Eye and the 'Eer gave Rich Rodriguez credit for Michigan's 4-0 start, but both agree that 1-3 Michigan State will probably win this weekend. Let's not forget about the potential interesting match ups this week - LSU-Georgia, USC-Cal and Oklahoma-Miami. We also have some fun at the expense of Tony Barnhart, Ron Zook and the Iowa Hawkeyes during Quick Hitters.

To all of our Facebook friends, you can click here to listen to our podcast.

First Saturday thoughts

While the 'Eye is finally back from Ohio State's Salute to Navy Day, the 'Eer is off in Athens, Ohio enjoying his $5 tickets as the Bobcats try to knock off UConn.

While Ohio State's escape against Navy was worrisome enough, it was the non-stop salivating over sportsmanship and Navy salutes that got on my nerves. Bizarre. I'm not pro-booing any opponent, much less a service academy. But it was like Hug A Middie Day. One stop Naval salute.

Anywho, some thoughts:

- Ohio State played a nice first half, then decided to sleepwalk through the second half, including Tressel's bizarre decision to for a 4th and 2, including an equally-bizarre decision to run the ball between the tackles where OSU had been unable to run the ball all day. Next week's game with USC is not looking promising for the Buckeyes.

- Are Michigan and Notre Dame better than the 'Eer and I thought? Both had solid outings against overmatched opponents.

- The Big Ten. Yeesh.

- Mizzou looks like they're not missing a beat in pummeling Illinois.

- Big win for Okie State. Wish I had gotten to see more of that one.

= BYU is hanging tough against Oklahoma in a penalty and turnover-filled first half. BYU QB Max Hall is killing 'Homa's blitz scheme.

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2009's worst non-conference matchups

About two weeks ago I gave you my picks for best non-conference matchups for 2009. Now I'm taking a look at the worst non-conference games. Selecting the best was so easy because there are so few good ones and they are games most college football fans would want to see.

In selecting the worst matchups, my criteria was a bit different. Simply I was looking at how embarrassed the BCS team should be for making its home fans sit through this game. So here we go.

1. Charleston Southern at Florida (Sept. 5): I get it SEC fans. Really I do. The SEC schedule is so tough that you can't expect teams like Florida to schedule tough non-conference games. But this one will be ugly so fast that even the pre-game drunk won't make this one fun. Hope it's easy to sneak the Jack Daniels (or is that not SEC enough) into The Swamp.

2. Eastern Illinois at Penn State (Oct. 10): If the Nittany Lions want anyone to seriously consider them a BCS title contender they must stop schedule weak games like this one to pad Joe Paterno's victory total (we all know Tom Bradley should be getting credit for these wins). Eastern Illinois, who went 5-7 last year, will enly the pay day and start getting ready for the Ohio Valley Conference schedule. Hope the PSU fans have plenty of frozen marshmallows for this one.

3. Idaho State at Oklahoma (Sept. 12): Count on the Sooners having one Idaho State on the schedule every year. How ugly will this one be? Consider the fact that WAC cellar dwellar Idaho beat the Bengals by 15 last year. Will someone tell me why Oklahoma is considered a premiere program?

4. Eastern Kentucky at Indiana (Sept. 3): The Hoosiers need all the victories it can schedule. What happens when you lose? That could happen in this one.

5. Indiana State at Louisville (Sept. 5): It's amazing how far and fast Louisville has fallen. The Cardinals should open the season 1-0 under third-year coach Steve Kragthorpe. When and where he'll get the second win of 2009 remains to be seen.

6. Elon at Wake Forest (Sept. 19): Maybe this will develop into a great North Carolina rival. OK, probably not. Heck, I didn't even know Elon had a football team. The Phoenix actually play in the extremely competitive Southern Conference and are ranked in the FCS preseason polls.

7. Idaho State at Arizona State (Sept. 5): Not trying pick on Idaho State, but when BCS schools are tripping over themselves to schedule you there's a problem. The $1 million or more its receiving to play ASU and Oklahoma is probably worth two embarrassing losses.

8. Jacksonville State at Florida State (Sept. 12): The only thing of interest in this game is to watch former LSU star Ryan Perrilloux start at QB for the Gamecocks. Perrilloux started all 11 games last season and threw for more than 2,300 yards. Does he have enough magic in him to pull the upset?

9. Southeastern Louisiana at Ole Miss (Sept. 19): Isn't SE Louisiana where Bobby Boucher was the waterboy? The Lions could use him in this contest. Ole Miss should be moritified by its non-conference schedule.

10. Eastern Washington at California (Sept. 12): In fairness to Cal, the Golden Bears play home against Maryland and on the road in Minnesota's new stadium. So Jeff Tedford's boys have a tough start to the season. Lucky for them they cushioned it with Eastern Washington.

2009's best non-conference matchups

With all of the talk about teams trying to make their non-conference schedules as easy as possible I decided it was time to look at the 2009 schedule and give you the 10 best non-conference match ups.

Here are my picks.

1. USC at Ohio State (8 p.m. EST, Sept. 12, ESPN): Buckeyes hope to end their big-game struggles at the Horseshoe against the Trojans. USC crushed OSU last year 35-3, but the Buckeyes are 23-1 under Jim Tressel in non-conference home games.

2. Alabama vs. Virginia Tech (8 p.m. EST, Sept. 5, ABC): Alabama is back in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. Last year the Tide shocked Clemson en route to a perfect regular season. The Hokies hope to represent the ACC in a much better light than Clemson. This game features two of the nation's best defenses and the crowd will be electric.

3. Oregon at Boise State (10:15 p.m. EST, Sept. 3, ESPN): I almost picked this as the top game because the Ducks are traveling to a non-BCS school putting their whole season on the line. The Ducks will also have a new coach and uniforms that will undoubtedly clash with the blue turf. Great game, though, with two Top 15 teams getting the season started on a Thursday night. This is a must watch. If the Broncos win they're probably 12-0 in 2009.

4. Georgia at Oklahoma State (3:30 p.m. EST, Sept. 5, ABC): Georgia didn't play well in big games last season, and Mark Richt could use a win in this game in a serious way. However, when the Bulldogs agreed to this road game Oklahoma State was a middle of the pack Big 12 program. Things are different now and I won't be suprised a bit to see the Cowboys win this game easily.

5. West Virginia at Auburn (7:45 p.m. EST, Sept. 19, ESPN): This was a great game last year in Morgantown. But this year WVU is without Pat White, doesn't have the homefield edge and the Tigers will want to exact a bit of revenge. Think Morgantown is crazy on a Thursday night? Wait until the Mountaineers see Jordan-Hare Stadium. Crazy.

6. Oklahoma at Miami (TBA, Oct. 3, TBA): This matchup brings back memories of Brian Bosworth and Barry Switzer vs. Vinny Testaverde and Jimmy Johnson. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes they aren't quite talented enough to hang with the Sooners. Sam Bradford and the Sooners should have a better outcome this time in Miami.

7. Florida State at Florida (TBA, Nov. 28, TBA): Great rivalry that has been dominated by the Gators of late. The Seminoles are getting better, but Tim Tebow and UF will get another win in 2009.

8. Nebraska at Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m., Sept. 19, ABC): Big 12 vs. ACC. This is another opportunity for the ACC to gain a bit of respect nationally. The Cornhuskers could do the same with a win in front of a hostile crowd at Lane Stadium. Winner of this one gains a lot of traction.

9. Notre Dame at Pittsburgh (TBA, Nov. 14, TBA): Do you remember last year's overtime thriller? I do. I was sitting in a bar in Columbus waiting for a Blue Jackets game to get underway. This game always seems to have a number of twists and turns to keep it exciting. I expect more of the same this year as Pitt believes it can win the Big East and the Irish try to remain relevant. Now if we could just get Penn State to play Pitt or WVU again.

10. Illinois at Cincinnati (TBA, Nov. 27, TBA): The timing isn't the best for Cincinnati as this game is sandwiched between West Virginia and at Pitt. The Bearcats are good enough to repeat as Big East champs, and Illinois is experienced. The winner here could position itself for a solid bowl game.

Stoops gets raise, doesn't earn it

Let me see if I have this right.

Lose five consecutive BCS bowl games, including two title games and an embarrassing loss to West Virginia in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. Manipulate the BCS system by running up the score in your final six games to impress voters so you can get the BCS bid over a much better Texas team that you lost to earlier in the season.

It appears that's enough for the University of Oklahoma execs to give the overrated one (Bob Stoops) a hefty raise. According to a number of stories circulating on the web today, OU may pay Stoops about $5 million a year starting in 2011.

I can't argue that Stoops isn't a great coach. His record is 109-24 since joining the Sooners in 1999 and has won a national title (actually Miami was the best team that season). But in these tough economic times and with academics on many campuses being slashed does someone who can't coach in the big game deserve this?

All-Time AP Poll

I admit to enjoying rankings and listings, so when I found this today at the Tuscaloosa News I wanted to share with everyone who reads An 'Eye and an 'Eer.

According to the article, years ago, Charles Woodroof, the SEC Assistant Director of Media Relations, came up with the idea of using each Associated Press poll to form an all-time AP ranking — or at least since 1936, then the first poll was held.

He assigned points based on each team's finish (25 for first, down to 1 for 25th), and added them up.

Although the poll hasn't always had 25 teams (From 1936 to 1961 the wire service ranked 20, from 1962 to 1967 only 10, and from 1968 to 1988 it was 20 again until the AP expanded to 25 teams in 1989), it may the closest thing to a pure ranking of the entire modern era of college football.

Now for the new Top 25 of all-time:

1. Oklahoma 743.5
2. Michigan 741
3. Notre Dame 710.5
4. Ohio State 692
5. Alabama 657
6. Nebraska 617
7. Southern California 598
8. Texas 595
9. Tennessee 548
10. Penn State 504
11. Miami 439
12. Florida State 418
13. Georgia 413
14. LSU 412
15. Auburn 396
16. Florida 395.5
17. UCLA 352
18. Arkansas 293
19. Michigan State 268
20. Texas A&M 264
21. Washington 260
22. Ole Miss 235.5
23. Georgia Tech 231.5
24. Iowa 223
25. Colorado 218

Switzer teams with Dunkin Donuts

Barry Switzer is a college football coaching legend. He may be better known for living in the gray area of what was and wasn't legal during his 16 seasons at the University of Oklahoma. He resigned in 1989 after the NCAA put the Sooners on probation. But the fans in Norman love him, especially because he went 157-29-4, which gives him the fourth-best all-time winning percentage (.837).

But is he really a household name in 2009?

Seems Dunkin Donuts is counting on it with a new four-commercial spoof of Switzer coaching women's lacrosse, swimming, yoga and chess. The spots aren't even that funny.

What do you think?

Preseason: Big 12 rankings

Last season was a banner year for the Big 12 with Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Missouri taking turns in the top five and OU playing for the national title. Okie State could step up this year, but unfortunately for the Cowboys they remain in the South Division with Texas and OU. In the North, Missouri will take a step back from recent years, but remain ahead of a competitive, if not very good, Division.

Big 12 South

1. Texas
Key returners: QB Colt McCoy, WR Jordan Shipley, LB/DE Sergio Kindle, LB Roddrick Muckelroy, FS Blake Gideon
The Longhorns have plenty of chips on their shoulder from 2008 to play in this upcoming season. Sure, Colt McCoy is back, but almost as important are the four returning OL starters. Texas needs to develop a running game outside of McCoy. The non-conference schedule is a snoozer.
Predicted record: 12-0

2. Oklahoma
Key returners: QB Sam Bradford, LT Trent Williams, TE Jermaine Gresham, DT Gerald McCoy, RB DeMarco Murray
I don’t have a good reason to think the Sooners will lose twice other than all the losses on the offensive line. As accurate as Sam Bradford is, in the rare time he was pressured last season, he struggled. You just have to wonder if the mental shock of the national title game loss and the accident that paralyzed WR Chris Wilson will take a toll.
Predicted record: 10-2

3. Oklahoma State
Key returners: QB Zac Robinson, WR Dez Bryant, RB Kendall Hunter, OT Russell Okung, LB Andrew Sexton
The Cowboys are a hot pick to surprise in the Big 12 this year. If they were in the North, it could be interesting – but they’re not. OSU will score a lot of points, but they just don’t match up with the depth of OU and Texas. They do get the Longhorns in Stillwater and that could be a huge game.
Predicted record: 9-3

4. Texas Tech
Key returners: LB Marion Williams, CB Jamar Wall, NT Colby Whitlock, OT Marlong Winn
The Red Raiders will return to form this season after suffering lots of losses on offense. Taylor Potts is the next huge-numbers-ignored-by-the-NFL QB. Lots of players are back on defense, but this is is Texas Tech – who cares about defense?
Predicted record: 8-4

5. Baylor
Key returners: LB Joe Pawelek, QB Robert Griffin, CB Trentston Hill, LB Earl Patin
Baylor is poised to move up after last year’s 4-8 season, even with some substantial losses on the offensive line. Griffin is a tremendous athlete at quarterback and coach Art Briles’ offense will keep up with the rest of the league. It’s on defense where the Bears must improve to reach a bowl game.
Predicted record: 6-6

6. Texas A&M
Key returners: QB Jerrod Johnson, OG Lee Grimes, S Jordan Pugh
The Aggies face a number of problems, but the biggest is this – poor play along both lines. There’s lots of experience on the offensive line, but it has yet to be determined if that’s good or bad news.
Predicted record: 4-8

Big 12 North

1. Missouri
Key returners: RB Derrick Washington, WR Jared Perry, OG Kurtis Gregory, LB Sean Weatherspoon, NT Jaron Baston
Lots of new faces for the Tigers as the Chase Daniel crew moves on. There’s talent, though, as Mizzou has upped its recruiting in recent years. It’s just young talent. Sophomore Blaine Gabbert will likely take over at QB and he’s got a terrific arm. But the Tigers offense is about decision making. Defensively, the Tigers have to be better than last year to match that record.
Predicted record: 9-3

2. Kansas
Key returners: QB Todd Reesing, WR Kerry Meier, WR Dezmon Briscoe Jr., SS Darrell Stuckey, DT Caleb Blakesley
Nobody gets more from less than KU coach Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks will definitely be in the running for the Big 12 North title this year. Reesing is short and slow and is as gutsy a quarterback as you’ll see. Meier is slow, but does nothing but make huge catches. KU will once again score points. Stopping people will be the key.
Predicted record: 8-4

3. Nebraska
Key returners: C Jacob Hickman, K Alex Henery, NT Ndumakong Suh, SS Larry Asante
The Huskers lost a tremendous amount of skill players from last year’s team, but in my mind, the further they get from Bill Callahan’s teams, the better. This is the Big 12, so everybody scores. With seven starters back on defense, maybe the ‘Huskers could win the division.
Predicted record: 8-4


4. Colorado
Key returners: QB Cody Hawkins, WR Scotty McKnight, WR Josh Smith, RB Darrell Scott
The Buffs have 10 players returning on offense, which should be good news since they struggled to score last year. Forming a decent running game will be Colorado’s best chance to improve. On defense, only five starters are back. That’s not good news in the Big 12.
Predicted record: 7-5

5. Iowa State
Key returners: QB Austen Arnaud, RB Andrew Robinson, S James Smith, DE Christopher Lyle
As rocky as Gene Chizik’s tenure may have seemed at Iowa State, he did upgrade recruiting. The Cyclones have some talent and Arnaud is a underrated quarterback. New coach Paul Rhoads might have more success than people will realize.
Predicted record: 4-8

6. Kansas State
Key returners: OT Nick Stringer, OG Brock Unruh, DT Daniel Calvin, DB Josh Moore
Bill Snyder returns to take over the Wildcats program that has lots of returning starters but a porous defense and an overall lack of talent. Ron Prince’s JUCO-only recruiting system never really seemed to pan out. It will take time for Snyder to put things back together, which is something administrators and boosters probably weren’t counting on.
Predicted record: 4-8

Bowl predictions in May ... Why?

Leave it to CollegeFootballNews.com to come out with its way to early 2009 bowl projections on Monday. Seriously, bowl predictions in way?

OK. They are interesting, but the so-called experts can't even get these predictions correct in December. Why should anyone care about this now? Well, because it stirs interest and pisses others off.

The positives for Phil and me ... both Ohio State and West Virginia claim the automatic BCS bids according to these predictions. The Buckeyes finally get to go to the Rose Bowl in the Jim Tressel era in an interesting matchup against Oklahoma. The Mountaineers would get another shot to embarrass the SEC against Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. OSU and WVU are also considered possibilities in the Orange Bowl.

The BCS Championship game prediction is no real surprise: defending champ Florida against the typical end of the year favorite Southern Cal in Pasadena. Interesting note here. Ohio State and WVU are considered possibilities in this game also.

A Buckeyes-Mountaineers matchup would definitely heat things up at An 'Eye and an 'Eer.

The next Tebow

What happened to arrogant, full-of-shit stud quarterbacks? Give me Jeff George, Ryan Leaf or even Dan Marino. But now we get guys like Matt Barkley. He loves God. He loves his family. Hell, he even spent his Christmas holiday at an orphanage. That's so Tim Tebow.

Luckily, Oklahoma still recruits dirtbags. Even if it's not at quarterback.

Perp walk

OK, it's not actually a perp walk, but the photos released today of former Oklahoma Sooners All-American Brian Bosworth being cuffed and stuffed are worth posting. It's not a funny scene. A once great, but messed up player in his 40s and on the cusp of possibly being named to the
College Football Hall of Fame is being hauled away to jail. The only funny thing is the overweight female cop, who appears to be chuckling as she leads him away.

Here are more photos of this proud moment for the Boz.

The Boz busted

Can anyone name a time Brian Bosworth made a good decision? Last night was another low point (not quite as bad as Stone Cold) when he was arrested for a DUI in California.

Look, I loved Bosworth when he was talking trash and not going to class at Oklahoma in the 80s. His Sooners couldn't beat the U, but he was an awesome college football player.

But last night's arrest is not a shock. This guy lived on the edge and that's what made him popular. What's shocking is that his arrest actually makes the news, especially TMZ. Are we really saying The Boz is still an actor? Was he ever?

ESPN poll lacks prestige

If you have been following the daily releases of ESPN.com's "prestige poll," which is supposed to rank all of the schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision in order of prestige. So how do you rank prestige?

The final five were just released and Oklahoma is on top. Yep, that Oklahoma. What a crock.

This is why people hate ESPN. This is what the Worldwide Leader loves. Fans from schools like Notre Dame, Alabama, Florida and Ohio State get all worked up and flood the site with comments and hate mail to the offices in Bristol.

This poll is flawed in so many ways. My biggest complaint is the emphasis put on conference championships. Schools in Conference USA or the Big East are at a big disadvantage since these are relatively new conferences, therefore limiting their ability to earn as many points as say long-time participants of the SEC, Big 10 or Pac-10.

They put in some language about Independent schools earning bonus points if they ranked ahead of at least three of the big six conference champs in the final poll. Only Notre Dame really benefits from that rule.

Thanks for trying ESPN, but this list lacks credibility and ... prestige.

Sooners don't cry ... or do they?

Found this funny video over at With Leather and just couldn't resist posting. Not as timely as it would have been 10 days ago. But still worth it. I can just feel the love between UT and OU.

Podcast: Episode 21

Really, the College Football season is over? Where did it go?

Well the Florida Gators are National Champs and it's time to go into the off season. Phil and Tom won't spend too much time talking about recruiting, but in this episode we will discuss a future that includes a playoff, make some stupid predictions for 2009, decide if Tim Tebow is about to become the most hated player in College Football history and what underclassmen have made the worst decision to come out early for the NFL Draft.

Oh yea, and we'll talk about that BCS Championship game a little. We will continue to do the podcast, but now we are going to every other week until late summer.