FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Good blog. I've gotten the same thing out of FN..awkward friendships with some people and respect for other teams. Anyways I agree about Nebraska..not so sure about UCLA..they've got major qb issues. Ohio State could have a great year...I think a lot of teams could have great years though.

Jim Tressel is gushing over Terrelle Pryor. He's making it sound like he's the second coming of Randall Cunningham. Which I'm REALLY okay with.

Also, I've heard that Dane Sazenbacher is pressing Ray Small for that third WR spot. As long as Dane doesn't get blown up like Ray did that Minnesota game 2 years ago, I'm cool.

I've heard a lot of people feeling MSU this year, but I'm just not sold on a top 3 finish. I think they'll be 4th best.

Oh, and one more thing... SI picking Michigan to finish 5-7? What the hell? They may be having a coaching, system and QB change, but they're ****' Michigan! They never finish below 7-5!

Fess up badger - you really want to scream "I PREDICT WISCONSIN WILL BE IN THE NC GAME" - this is just killing you...

xxx84xxx - I hate to break it to you, but you only have 3 friends here on FN - we just log on under 43 different names. in fact, on all of fan nation there has never really been more than 100 people. BTW - you are 42 accounts under your quota.

MSU in top 3, Michigan with 8 wins - care to join the side bet started between me and badger - I could always use some fluff to improve my stats in the big 10 prediction

If the Bucks get shut out of the title game, then it would depend upon who they lose to cause the Bucks won't get shut out if they win out like '04.

Thanks for the comments guys,
Prove It, you crack me up, although I do think there are alot of people with numerous accounts.
Let me know of this side action...

How bout em 04 was a down year for OSU, the first and only time Tress lost 3 straight.

Good blog. I've been out of town for a minute. Now getting back into things.

I cant believe the hard on columbus media has for Pryor, if you listen to the radio around here he is the seconf coming. Which I hope he is, but really? the kid is 18 and has never been to Happy Valley or Camp Randall... we'll see after those game if Jesus,,oops Im mean Pryor can walk the walk.

All I want to see is the Big Ten winning 6+ Bowls this year. I'd be content with that.

That sounds good to me too!

haha would love to see that. psu has held up their end of the deal going 3-0 the past 3 years in bowl games that included a BCS bowl game, a New Years day bowl game, and an alamo bowl win. now if only osu could win a title xxx84xxx

arrrgh - the pressure from TSOE (The State Out East) - I can't handle it.

Frell would freeze over before the Big 10 would get 6 bowl wins in a season given the mismatches they face (who the frell matched conference #8 against ACC #2 BC?)

Pryor - may not be the 2nd coming, but he will look good if for no other reason than he will have the offense built around his skills (whichever develop best - run or pass), will be playing behind a 5 star offensive line, have the #1 ranked fullback blocking for him, have several 4 star tailbacks, and have 4 and 5 star WRs and TEs. Unless he starts fumbling and throwing INTs every game, he can't help but look good with that surrounding him.

Here's the link to the Big Ten Football side bet blog. I will also mail it to you.
www.fannation.com/blogs/post/188935

Tell me about it, wherever whoever they play this january I pray its a convincing win!

January? Wishful thinking. OSU will play in December this year. Look for the upset in the Big 10. J/K

I hear ya, is that citrus i smell for LSU this year? or maybe the outback bow?

So many things can happen that it is really tough to predict but USC and tOSU have the best chance. The winner of this game can lose and go and the loser can run the rest of the table and go. So the winner of this game I think will be 1 of the 2. The other 1 will most likely be WVU, OU or UMissou. With a couple of upsets (see Wisconsin over tOSU, Auburn over WVU, and someone in the Pac over USC) an SEC team might sneak in again with 2 losses. I just don't see it happening though for an SEC team. Florida's schedule is setup nicely this year and Auburn could surprise. LSU, UT and Georgia's schedules are not setup for a run through the conference. This could very well be a year with 2 or 3 undefeated teams so a 1 loss SEC team could still be out of the mix. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it gets boring seeing Big10 and SEC in the NC every year. Besides, if UGA doesn't make it their players will come back for another shot and next years schedule is much more favorable in terms of who they play at home in 09 (LSU, ASU, AU with OKst, UF, GT, UT away.)

Looking into my crystal ball I see...

OSU and WVU

most likely second rans OU and USC. I think 2 of these 4 run the table.

Spoilers that could send an SEC team to the NC game again.

ASU or Oregon over USC...
Auburn over WVU...
Wisconsin or UI over tOSU...
TT, UT, or UM over OU...

Most overrated team in the SEC is Florida hands down. Horrible defense and no running back. 40 Speed doesn't translate to a great running back otherwise every team would have a track stud at RB. For what it's worth Percy Harvin is slower this year with the juice, heel, and attitude issues.

Most underrated team in the SEC is UT. Great line and very talented. Could surprise again if Florida is down and Georgia struggles with schedule.

Darkhorse SEC NC team to look out for is Auburn. If they figure out this spread they could be tough.

That being said also looking for Bama to take down Clemson on week 1.

I just meant that OSU would make it into the title game if they go undefeated b/c they're already in the second driver's seat in the preseason rankings. My '04 reference was talking about USC and OU being ranked 1 and 2 and making it into the title game over Auburn.

Yes, I think this could be another year like '02 and '04 with more then 1 undefeated team at the end of the year. Looking at the schedules of the top teams it is a definate possibility. If you have 1 undefeated and 1 1 loss team and a 2 loss SEC champ the SEC champ gets left out (rightly so). I'm not for 2 loss champions (last year was a crazy exception). So it will take an exceptional team from the SEC to make it through with 1 loss; even then it could be a moot point. Winning the NC should never be goal for a team to hang their hat on. It should always be the conference championship, just my opinion though.