Time to Kickoff some Good Ol' College Pigskin

After what is without a doubt the most tumultuous off-season in college football history, between the Bobby Petrino Motorcycle crash and firing from Arkansas, the Penn State scandal, and LSU's Heisman trophy finalist from a year ago Tyrann Mathieu being kicked off the team just to name a few incidents, it is nice to finally have some games tonight and the rest of this weekend to look forward to.  I am not going to go to in depth with my picks for the season but below I will give you my brief picks for the season.

NATIONAL TITLE PICK: USC

One of the positive news stories of the college football off-season was the announcement that in 2014 there will be a 4 team playoff to decide the national champion.  Now although this won't happen for two years, the date of November 3rd of this season will provide a brief look into what this could be like.  The reason is two of the biggest games of the season, that will without a doubt have national title implications, will be played that day.  The two games on this day will be Alabama at LSU and Oregon at USC.  All four of these teams appear to be strong contenders for the title and that is why these games will be so important.  I do like Alabama and USC to win both these games and as a result I am going to have both these teams play in the title game, with USC raising the crystal ball in the end.  The one thing that could hurt USC throughout the season is their depth due to the lack of scholarships as a result of their NCAA probation, but as long as they can stay healthy and my pick to win the Heisman Trophy quarterback Matt Barkley is throwing the ball, then I think they will win it all.

SLEEPER TEAMS:  West Virginia and Florida State

West Virginia is shifting to the BIG 12 conference this year and although it may be tough transitioning to a new league, if their offense can play like they did against Clemson in last year's Orange Bowl then they will be very tough to stop.  Their schedule seems to be favorable since Oklahoma has to come to Morgantown but if they  can get wins at Texas and Oklahoma State, than I definitely like their chances.  One thing that is also in their favor is there is no BIG 12 title game.

As for Florida State, I picked them to have a decent chance because I think they are by far the best team in the ACC.  Many say they have the best defense in the country and if EJ Manuel can stay healthy then their offense should do just fine. As for their schedule it seems pretty favorable with teams like Clemson and Florida having to come to Tallahassee.  The two games that could hamper their national title hopes could be their games at Virginia Tech on a Thursday night and at NC State who is expected to be much improved.  However, if the old adage that defense wins championships stays true, then the Seminoles should have a very successful season.

LEAGUE WINNERS:

ACC: Florida State

BIG EAST: South Florida

BIG 12: West Virginia

BIG 10: Michigan State

PAC 12: USC

SEC: Alabama

HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER:

WINNER: USC quarterback Matt Barkley

OTHER FINALISTS: Wisconsin running back
Montee Ball, South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore and Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson.


BOSTON COLLEGE OUTLOOK:

Being that BC is my Alma Mater I will give my two cents on how I think they will do this season.  Coming into the season I really thought quarterback Chase Rettig would make great strides after struggling through his first two seasons.  Reports have said he feels very comfortable in new offense coordinator Doug Martin's offense, however summer practice has sidelined two of his go to receivers from a year ago with injuries to begin the season in tight end Chris Pantale and wide receiver Bobby Swigert.  As a result the wide receiving corps for the first half of the season will be very young and inexperienced and BC will most likely have to rely on a run game that has struggled to replace Montel Harris.  On the defensive side of the ball it will be very tough to replace last year's Butkus Award winner Luke Kuechly.  Although I don't think one guy can replace Kuechly, I think as a linebacker unit with Nick Clancy, Kevin Pierre Louis, Steele Divitto and Sean Duggan can be very effective.

The one thing that works in BC's favor this year is their schedule.  Although they have to travel to NC State and Florida State, they have Clemson, Notre Dame, Miami and Virginia Tech all coming to Alumni Stadium. Despite having home field advantage against these teams I'm not sure how much it will really help and that is why I am picking them to go 5-7.  The one thing we know for sure though is the first game against Miami will tell us a lot about the team.  While most teams are starting off the season against a directional college, BC will be playing a  formidable league opponent.

My one guarantee for the BC season though is that regardless of record, unless somehow the team goes 9-3 or better, I think head coach Frank Spaziani has zero chance of coming back for the 2013 season.  Each year his win total has declined and with Athletic Gene DeFilippo retiring at the end of September, it is most likely the new AD will want to hire a new coach to lead the program in the right direction.

That is it for my picks for the season, but enjoy the weekend of college football, and I will write back soon.

It's All About the Swag

With college football now just nine days away, I felt it was the perfect time to vent about one of my frustrations with the current state of the game.  Yes, I'm happy that there will be a 4 team playoff in the near future instead of the current BCS format but as a college football traditionalist there is one trend in the game that has really begun to irk me.

What makes college football different from so many other sports are the traditions.  Such traditions to name a couple include the fight songs and in-state rivalries.  Another tradition however that makes college football great are the uniforms. Fans tend to identify teams by their uniform.  Any college fan knows the winged Michigan helmet , the golden helmet of Notre Dame and the plain white and navy uniforms of Penn State. However, since the early 2000's I have noticed the effect that people like Nike founder Phil Knight has had on the current state of the collegiate football uniforms.  

As an Oregon alum Knight has made sure that Oregon athletics, most notably the football team, has had the most modern and colorful uniforms in the game.  At this past year's Rose Bowl for instance Oregon wore probably their flashiest uniform yet with their blinding silver helmets as is seen below:

Over the years I have accepted the fact that a school like Oregon, which traditionally hasn't been a national power until recently, can use the uniform has a marketing tool to lure recruits, and so far they have been very successful.  What has irked me however is that in the recent years schools that have great traditions in football are starting to follow the Oregon model.  

Penn State announced earlier this summer that for the first time that they will be putting names on the back of their jerseys.  As odd as it may look for a long time college football fan to see these uniforms, these uniforms actually have a purpose.  The names on the back of their jersey are a symbol of a new era in Penn State football, as the school tries to distance itself from the child sex scandal that has rocked the program and university .  Another reason was to recognize the student athletes individually on the team who have stuck with the program after it was slapped with huge sanctions and the players were given the opportunity to transfer to any school without penalty.

The uniform however that was unveiled last week that shows that the college football landscape is truly changing is the Notre Dame uniform that they will wear against Miami this fall in Chicago.  As a BC alum I'm supposed to be anti-Notre Dame towards everything they do.  And in many ways I do just that as I take great pride whenever they lose.  However, Notre Dame is about as traditional as they come when it comes to college football.  The message they are sending by wearing these uniforms that can be seen below is that "If Notre Dame can wear these outrageous uniforms than anyone can,"

I know more and more schools are going to follow suit. As mentioned earlier high school recruits are more interested these days in which school has the best "swag," and not which school has the best tradition.  The real question however is, are the Virginia Tech players going to really be happy wearing half camouflage and half turkey feet helmets this season:

I know in the grand scheme of things, my disdain for a lot of the new uniforms that are being unveiled in college football doesn't mean much.  I will always love the game, but as a college football traditionalist It is a trend that I don't like.  On the bright side, in just 9 days we can be discussing the actual games and not what uniforms teams will be wearing.