There is a common saying in college football: “You cannot win the national championship in week one, but you can definitely lose it.” Every season, I use week one to learn many lessons about what the landscape is going to look like when we get to December. I’ve highlighted the five most blaring lessons I learned in week one.
5) The gap is closing:
Boise State dominated Oregon, Brigham Young upset Oklahoma and many FCS teams beat FBS clubs. The lesson I learned here was that the gap between major football and minor football is getting smaller by the day. We all know about the Boise State’s and Utah’s of the world crashing the BCS party, but with fewer scholarships available for the “big guys,” talent has begun to play elsewhere. I believe this trend will continue, which I like . it makes the sport more fun.
4) An elite resurgence:
With new programs becoming elite, it is also good to see some familiar names creeping back to prominence. I am not making a declaration that these teams are “back,” but programs such as Nebraska, Miami, Notre Dame and Alabama appear to be on the right track to getting back into the picture. Of course, I say this with the knowledge that Alabama came “back” last year and is perhaps the nation’s best team in ’09. I believe this is good for college football as well because making sure the rich stay rich is what the BCS is all about, now isn’t it?
3) When they fall, they fall hard:
This weekend was littered with some major disappointments as well. Oregon was a serious mess on Thursday. Illinois hit with a thud against Missouri, and Florida State experienced a defensive meltdown on Monday. This and many other disappointing openers around the country show not all hype is legit. In fact, hype can destroy any chance a team has of being successful. We will see how these teams, and others, react to the remainder of their schedules.
2) Pregnant women, young children and those with a weak stomach might want to shield their ears:
I was repeatedly nauseated by the talk of the SEC this weekend. I like the SEC and acknowledge it as the top conference in America, but this crap was ridiculous. It started on Thursday night when ESPN’s Craig James, who I generally like, said in warm-ups that you could tell the difference between the SEC athletes from South Carolina and the ACC athletes from N.C. State. This is obviously ridiculous seeing that the athletes come from the same recruiting ground. But then to hear the flippin’ Tim Tebow worship and the Alabama defense love fest all freakin’ Saturday made me so sick I wanted to vomit when it was all said and done. Unfortunately, this worship will not end and we will continue to hear about the big bad SEC as long as ESPN benefits from lifting it up.
1) Why are they still doing this?
I hate to keep bashing the ‘total sports network,’ but ESPN drove me up a wall this weekend. One of the main reasons was the fact that they seem to promote the one thing all sports journalists shy away from, bias. Letting Chris Spielman broadcast the Ohio State game or relying on Lou Holtz to give expert perspective on Notre Dame is not only annoying but is also irresponsible and ESPN seems to get worse about it every year. I understand what they are going for, but it is also bad journalism and if they are claiming to be a sports news network, they are failing miserably. For the record, I have grown to hate ESPN. I don’t trust them, use them as a news source or respect the opinions of their “experts”.
Description of football terminology
FBS – “Football Bowl Subdivision”, formerly Division 1A. Includes Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West, Pac-10, Southeastern Conference, Sun Belt, Western Athletic Conference and FBS Independents
FCS – “Football Championship Subdivision”, formerly Division 1AA. Includes Big Sky, Big South, Colonial Athletic Association, Great West Conference, Ivy League, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Missouri Valley Football Conference, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot League, Pioneer Football League, Southern, Southland, Southwestern Athletic Conference and FCS Independents