Making Tuesday Fun Since 2006!
***
A "weekly must-read"
***
--- ESPN's Bruce Feldman compares conferences as part of an ongoing ESPN feature. 1)Mac vs. Sun Belt and 2)Big Ten vs. Big East.

--- ESPN's Ivan Maisel also contributes a few conference comparisons. 1)SEC vs. Big 12 and 2)Pac-10 vs. Big Ten.

Also: Ability to forget keeps Boise State tailback Ian Johnson focused.

Also: Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan preparing for '07 season and beyond.

Most important, [Hawaii coach June] Jones said, is the way that Brennan can thread a needle.

Accuracy, Jones said, "is God-given. You can improve a quarterback's technique, his fundamentals, all that kind of stuff. but when you get under pressure, you revert … to kind of what comes naturally to you as a quarterback and either you can hit the guy or you can't. He is a very, very gifted player. I've only seen three guys, and this is kind of a thing when I'm watching film. Jeff George, Dan Marino and Colt are the only people I've seen, when they release the ball, sometimes their right foot is off the ground. They're the only three guys on film I've ever seen do that. And that's a God-given thing."

What affect does the right foot in the air have?

"I don't know what it means," Jones said, "but I'm going to start looking for it in a high school kid."

Also: Five WAC Predictions. It's a compelling conference.

Also: Ten little Trojan running backs.

Also: After long wait, USC receiver Patrick Turner ready for stardom. 

--- ESPN's Pat Forde says the SEC is college football's king (SEC vs. Pac-10 in ESPN's ongoing series).

The reason is simple: The SEC has to be better than the Pac-10. It's nonnegotiable.

The quality of life in the South is dependent upon good college football. Local economies, race relations and collective psychological health all would suffer without it. Sweet tea would not be as sweet. Fried chicken would not be as crispy. Country songs would be even sadder. If SEC football were mediocre, the South might as well be back in Reconstruction.

Uh, ok. I remember some silly cheer at one of my high school's football games against our rival. Somehow our cheerleaders coaxed the crowd into a "we've got spirit, yes we do, we've got spirit, how about you!" chant (cringe). Just as surprising, within a few minutes the rival fans across the stadium responded in kind. The spirit displayed said absolutely nothing about the relevance of either side's hometown, football team or overall athletic commitment.

Forde is a sometimes magnificent writer but this is pure poppycock. I agree the SEC has the better conference (this year), but my reasoning wouldn't be so silly as to reference the differing fan cultures.

Also: Five Pac-10 Predictions.

Also: The time is now for UCLA.

The Bruins' first five road games -- Stanford, Utah, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona -- are against teams with an un-threatening 2006 average Sagarin rating of 50th. If UCLA takes care of business in the Rose Bowl and is ready to live up to its ranking, it could be 11-0 when bussing across town to play USC on Dec. 1.

"That would be a dream come true if it came down to that," [defensive end Bruce] Davis said.

--- ESPN's Mark Schlabach compares conferences. 1)WAC vs the SEC 2)ACC vs. Big 12 3)Pac-10 vs. MWC

Also: SEC balance of power shifts east.

Also: Five SEC predictions.

Also: Preseason polls aren't perfect. There's some good takeaway material in there, but it's more trendwatching than definitive analysis.

Also: Five MWC predictions.

--- ESPN's Todd McShay digs for Wake Forest styled conference "sleepers" in 2007.

Also: Ranking college football's top "units".

--- Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel answers this week's Mailbag. Inside: Whether or not an undefeated Rutgers could make it to the BCS title game (sure, if they dominate conference play and leave no choice but to put them there, no reason to whine just yet - ed.), complaints about Mandel's "national power" team rankings, the ongoing Jim Harbaugh/Michigan spat, confusion over Mandel's various postseason opinions, Texas' (and other schools') constant shuffling of defensive coordinators, hypothetical "power" rankings for non-BCS teams, impact transfers in 2007 and the possibility of quarterback Ryan Perilloux in a Tebow-like role for LSU this year.

Also from Mandel's blog: Can these star-studded RB's break Ron Dayne's NCAA career rushing record? Wait and see, but the target is 6,443 career rush yards.  And: Miami's move from the Orange Bowl would be bittersweet.  Indeed.

--- Sports Illustrated's Arash Markazi delivers a "postcard" from USC's camp.

"I remember exactly what I did the first time I watched Joe [McKnight] on tape," said USC coach Pete Carroll. "I quickly turned the thing off because I knew he was the real deal and he could do all of the stuff that we wanted to do. I just wanted to know who he was and where he was from.

Also: A postcard from Cal's camp.

As if they needed any more reason to make noise, Cal will be passing out 50,000 mini-megaphones before the season opener against Tennessee at Memorial Stadium.

How amateur ... 

Also: A postcard from UCLA's camp.

"13-9!"

The score sounds more like an affirmation than a result when it's yelled out by dozens of UCLA fans about eight months after the game. The two numbers read together have become synonymous with everything that is right in Westwood these days. It is the ultimate trump card for any Bruin that runs into a Trojan on Rodeo Drive or Sunset Boulevard.

"I still have people coming up to me and talking about that game," said defensive end Bruce Davis. "That game was amazing. To take down a team that was supposedly going to the national championship and hold them to nine points. It doesn't get any better than that."

UCLA's second-rate football heritage, in a nutshell.  Why lead when you can get in the way?  That said: scoreboard.

--- Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn delivers a "postcard" from Wisconsin's camp.

A New Jersey product who nearly went to UConn to stay close to home, [linebacker Jonathan] Casillas is an ultra-fast, albeit undersized (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) outside linebacker who was all over the field in scrimmages and is especially dangerous in pass protection. "Jonathan was probably our second-fastest player after Jack [Ikegwuonu] last season," said Bielema. "We can use Jonathan in sub packages as a defensive back; he's covering wide receivers man-to-man at times."

--- Sports Illustrated's Cory McCartney breaks down the nation's top-10 rushing tandems. Lots to choose from! Variety is the spice of college football life.

--- CBS SportsLine's Dennis Dodd previews the Big 12, the ACC, the Pac-10 and the Big East. More love for South Florida. Hmm ...

Also: Toughest schedules. Ohio State President Gordon Gee's bowtie obsession extends to pregame bowtie cookies. Yup.

Also: A Rutger tale.  I distinctly remember a Rutgers-themed billboard near the airport welcoming people to Miami while in the city for a December trip several years ago.  I knew coach Schiano had worked at Miami and was able to connect the recruiting dots, but was still baffled by it.  I guess he knew what he was doing.

--- The Sporting News' Matt Hayes argues that UCLA could be the BCS' 10th different champion in 10 seasons (as a counterpoint to colleague Tom Dienhart's pick of West Virginia below).

Also: Whose stock is rising and falling. Interesting read.

Also: Scouting the ACC, Mountain West and Independents. Nice addition with the "Scouts' Views".

Also: Top spot doesn't guarantee USC a title.

Also: Inside Dish. Inside: Georgia Tech quarterback Taylor Bennett is a tough, fiery dude, Hawaii's shoestring recruiting budget, receiver troubles at Tennessee, Joe McKnight's role and an emerging face in the USC backfield and continued quarterback confusion at Oklahoma.

Also: College need a czar to tackle felons, too. 

--- The Sporting News' Tom Dienhart scouts the Big East, the WAC and Conference USA.

Also: West Virginia could gives the BCS its 10th champ.

Also: College football soup. The best quarterback at Miami, Chuck Amato's future, Virginia Tech's healing concern, AP Poll anticipation, Nick Saban's aversion to computers and what it's like to work for him.

An interesting note from my visit with Alabama coach Nick Saban I failed to pass along: He doesn't do e-mail.

The notion was brought up as he showed me his office. I asked him: Where is your computer? He said he doesn't have one.

Classic Saban.

I also was talking with new Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley, the son of Vince who worked with Saban for several years.

"Look, Nick is a good guy," says Dooley. "I always have people call me and ask what it's like to work for Nick if he approaches them for a job.

"It's not that bad and it's a great opportunity.

"It's just that when you are at work, you are going to work. You aren't gong to run to the post office at noon to mail a package. You aren't going to go from an afternoon jog. You are there to work."

Also: Wake Forest's Jim Grobe is a good coach and a good guy.

--- Rivals.com's/The Sporting News' Mike Farrell says this recruiting class is vital for South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.

Also: The Playboy All-American list always is fascinating.

I guess what I'm getting at here is this: Most of these guys were missed by numerous colleges and recruiting services back in their high school days.

Garrett Wolfe (Northern Illinois), Joel Filani (Texas Tech), Patrick Willis (Ole Miss) and H.B. Blades (Pitt) were on the Playboy squad in 2006. Northern Illinois was the only school to offer Wolfe; Filani had offers from Texas Tech and Washington State; and Willis chose Ole Miss over Memphis and Arkansas State.

Blades was the most heavily recruited of the group with offers from Auburn, Virginia and Iowa State before his commitment to Pitt. Despite his great bloodlines, folks weren't exactly beating down his door.

This year Ryan Clady (Boise State), Aqib Talib (Kansas), Tommy Blake (TCU), Dwight Lowery (San Jose State), Antoine Cason (Arizona), Ray Rice (Rutgers) and Henderson (Maryland) are All-Americans, according to the magazine. Sure, some of these programs have had some success recently, but we're not talking about USC, Florida, Ohio State or Texas here.

Each of the above players was largely ignored during high school, and didn't choose their current school as much as their school chose them.

Look at them now. This, more than any other reason, is what makes college football great. Many of us wish we could be diehard fans of the Trojans, Longhorns, Gators and Buckeyes and experience the bitter taste of defeat just a few times over the course of a recruiting class.

Instead, we hold on to whatever we can as fans of guys like Blades, Talib, Cason and others.

--- Yahoo! Sports' Terry Bowden reacts to the release of the AP's preseason top 25 rankings.

Also: The real Heisman deal. 

--- CSTV's Brian Curtis gathers news and notes from around the country. Good stuff, but I'm not sure Andy Crooks is the All America candidate at tight end for Wisconsin, heh.

--- CSTV's Trev Alberts answers reader mail. Inside: The nation's most underrated team, the importance of an experienced quarterback and the best player in the country nobody is talking about.

--- CSTV's Adam Caparell finds coaches split when it comes to talk of an early signing period.

Also: 2007 Football Schedule Planner - Week 13.

--- The Rivals.com team is still hard at work with numerous features and previews. This week's (8/14 to present) offerings from Olin Buchanan, David Fox and Steve Megargee can be found at this link.

--- Sun Sports TV's Whit Watson is understandably bored with sports right now, but finds time to ask some important questions about football at the Florida schools.

Can Florida repeat?

If history is any indication, no. The last team to win back-to-back outright national titles was Nebraska in 1994 and 1995 (Southern Cal shared it with LSU in 2003 before winning it at 13-0 in 2004). Prior to the Huskers, you have to go back to the Oklahoma teams of 1955 and 1956 to find another back-to-back undisputed national champ. The math is not favorable.

Far more relevant than history, of course, is reality, which is this: Florida breaks in 9 new starters on defense this year. If I were an opposing offensive coordinator, my game plan against Florida is to pass, pass, and pass again. The untested linebackers and secondary will be a target until they prove otherwise. As it happens, Florida plays in the pass-happy half of the SEC, with Erik Ainge back at Tennessee, Matt Stafford a year older at Georgia, Steve Spurrier's boys pitchin' it around at South Carolina, and Andre Woodson -- who may be the best quarterback in the conference -- ready to carry Kentucky. Furthermore, if and when the Gators get out of the SEC East, they still have the preposterously loaded LSU Tigers to worry about.

Offensively, I think Florida might actually be in better shape than they were last year. Though inexperienced, Tim Tebow is clearly better suited for the type of offense that Urban Meyer prefers to run, and he's surrounded by gazelles. Percy Harvin, Andre Caldwell, Jarred Fayson, Brandon James, Louis Murphy, Chris Rainey, and eight other guys who could start almost anywhere else in the state -- Florida's offensive cup of talent is overflowing. The defense is the question, and the concern.

Florida will score points at Spurrieresque levels this season, but at some point, they'll have to stop somebody, too. The defense will decide their season. Winning the SEC is not out of the question, but another BCS Championship Game win? With Southern Cal, West Virginia, Michigan, and LSU lurking? I'm not ready to hitch up with that wagon just yet.

--- The New York Times' Pete Thamel says Boston College expects to score and soar.

[Matt] Ryan, a 6-foot-5 strong-armed quarterback, is the reason for much of that optimism.

He hobbled his way to an impressive junior year, winning first-team A.C.C. honors despite being injured the entire season. Ryan sprained his ankle in the opener, and he said the injury bothered him until Boston College’s victory against Virginia Tech on Oct. 12.

“My ankle had been killing me for six weeks, and we couldn’t figure out how to make it better,” Ryan said. “I walked in to the trainers and said, ‘I found the best way to cure an ankle sprain — break your foot. I can’t feel a thing in my ankle.’ ”

The broken foot he sustained against Virginia Tech left Ryan wobbling to class in a boot for the rest of the season but did not keep him off the field. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he practiced in 7-on-7 drills with the boot.

On Thursdays, he said, he would take off the boot for a half-hour during practice. On Saturdays, all he could do was hope for as little pain as possible. Ryan, who is 14-4 as the Eagles’ starter, threw 15 touchdown passes, completed 61.6 percent of his passes, and, perhaps most important, won the respect of his coaches and teammates for his perseverance.

--- The Dallas/Ft. Worth Star-Telegram's Wendell Barnhouse says Arkansas must move past turmoil.

--- As always, there's plenty of bloggy goodness from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tony Barnhart. Notable: 1)Will Hawaii get any love? 2)Does Spurrier have problems on the o-line? 3)Ranking the BCS conferences 4)Miami should leave Orange bowl 5)Is Southern Cal really that good? I ask that same question about LSU.

5. There is a mini-playoff: Except for Southern Cal, every team in the Top 10 has to play another Top 10 team in the regular season. No. 2 LSU plays two (No. 9 Virginia Tech, No. 6 Florida). No. 3 West Virginia plays No. 10 Louisville. No. 4 Texas plays No. 8 Oklahoma. No. 5 Michigan plays No. 7 Wisconsin. Southern Cal plays No. 12 California, No. 14 UCLA and No. 20 Nebraska.

--- The Austin-American Statesman's Kirk Bohls reports some bad vibes from the Texas camp.

Also: Expensive tickets.

--- The Tuscaloosa News' Cecil Hurt talks discipline and what it might mean for Alabama football in close games. He also thinks the 'Tide may not have the appropriate defensive talent in place to contend just yet.

--- The Birmingham News' Kevin Scarbinsky finds a sense of revival at UAB thanks to a new coach.

Gene Bartow admits it. UAB football's biggest fan wasn't much of a supporter the last few years.

One example: He didn't go to as many games as he once did.

His reason for backing away?

"I lost interest with the old regime."

He wasn't alone, but Bartow's indifference was different. He is the athletic director emeritus. He was the AD who hired Watson Brown.

If Bartow felt it was time for a change, it was time for a change. And the change came. Brown left after 12 seasons to become the head coach at Tennessee Tech. Neil Callaway arrived as a first-time head coach, the third head coach in UAB history.

"This is a new beginning," Bartow said, "for a lot of us who were ready to see a change."

Also: It was behind closed doors, but Alabama must have had a good scrimmage.

Also: Alabama players must not fear Nick Saban because they keep getting arrested in nightlife quarters of town.

--- The Birmingham News' Ray Melick says coaches' salaries have always stirred emotions.

There was outrage over the hiring. All across the country, college presidents and administrators wrung their hands over the financial implications of the contract. Opposing coaches were constantly asked what the hiring meant.

No, not Alabama's hiring of Nick Saban.

Twenty-five years ago, Texas A&M shook college football by luring Jackie Sherrill away from the University of Pittsburgh for the remarkable sum of $1.722 million.

Not per year. Sherrill's contract was $1.722 million over six years, an average of $287,000 per season.

Also: Examining the reasoning behind a settled lawsuit between Auburn and a terminated professor who allegedly provided no-work classes to athletes.

--- The Mobile Register's Paul Finebaum says Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville needs to stem Tide.

Tuberville is respected by the Auburn Nation and genuinely appreciated, for myriad reasons. His program has been consistent in recent years (something that wasn't the case early in Tub's career), it has skated NCAA trouble and was able to wiggle out of the sociology scandal last year without even a scratch. Of course, the mark against Alabama also weighs heavily to the orange and blue crowd, many of whom grew up in the '70s and were treated like red-headed stepchildren as Paul Bryant was mowing down the Tigers to the tune of nine in a row.

There was a time when Auburn's entire self-worth was measured against Alabama. That has slightly changed over the years.

But is there any real passion and zeal for Tuberville and likewise, does he have any real fire for Auburn, that is, other than collecting a handsome paycheck?

Tuberville has successfully moved on from the Jetgate scandal but the wounds have never really healed. And there is a fear among certain Auburn people that one bad year and a subsequent loss to Alabama and the wheels could come off this program in a hurry.

***
Whew!  I know this isn't real labor but I'm spent.  I realize there's a lot more going on with this being the time just before the season starts with people cranking out previews and whatnot.  However, I'm putting a hell of a lot of time into this and am curious how you, my loyal reader, use these Pundit Roundups?

Do you read and click on a majority of the material or merely skim?  How much of it have you already read during the week?  Do you want more?  Do you want less?  Can this be pared down or will the world crumble?

Hopefully these writers slow things down a bit to more manageable levels like from a few months ago otherwise I'm going to have to pare this down, maybe clip the best 15 or so articles and neglect a lot of relevant stuff.  I'm having to work way ahead nowadays on this and still find myself scrambling at the last minute as new stories are added.

Let me know your feelings about the Pundit Roundup, thanks!
***
To read articles and blog entries from many other college football writers, be sure and visit CFR's "The Punditry" links. You can either bookmark that link or find it via CFR's College Football Links section on the menu at left.