Enjoy this, and try not to blow any fingers off!

Found an interview with Harvey Perlman who is the new chairman in the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This interview is chalk full of amazing answers, so I will interject my own commentary within Perlman’s answers and you have been warned this is lengthy. Questions are in bold with Perlman answers not in bold.

The best line threat of the interview is at the end, “The alternative is not a playoff. The alternative is to go back to the system we had. That’s fine. Many of us would think that’s not a bad outcome.”

The one’s who would like that system would be the same leagues that are part of the BCS, because they would still get their money.

And now onto the circus, that this interview was:

Q: The BCS has its share of critics. I know you recently considered and rejected the Mountain West’s proposal for an eight-team playoff, and I wanted to read you the statement from Air Force Coach Troy Calhoun.

I’m sure you’re aware of it, but I’ll read it anyway: “We basically have a system for college football that too closely resembles the old Soviet Presidium. You have a seven-member politburo that’s decided if you aren’t one of those party members, then you’re unable to participate.”

Why is that statement inaccurate?

HP: It’s unfortunate that we have to have this kind of dialogue. There’s a reason why the oversight committee consists of who it consists of.

There are six automatic qualifying conferences and Notre Dame that currently comprise that body. The six automatic qualifying conferences are conferences that had contractual relationships with bowls prior to the BCS.

First off that is not true because the Big East was not partnered in any of the currently BCS bowl games. They were affiliated with the Gator Bowl as their top bowl prior to the BCS or the Bowl Collation.  The only reason they are in is because Miami, FL joined the Big East in 1991, which also was the first year the league started playing football.

HP: The Big 12 had a contract with the Fiesta Bowl, the Pac 10 and Big Ten had the Rose Bowl and the SEC had the Sugar Bowl and The ACC had the Orange Bowl.

What we agreed to do was modify those agreements to allow a No. 1 and No. 2 team to play each other for the national championship. But we weren’t going to give up those contractual rights without having control over what the system was. That’s why it’s that way.

I understand about keeping the conference ties together because that is how all the bowls are set up. Having  ‘control’ over the system is the same thing Coach Troy Calhoun of Air Force mentioned how the BCS is like the former Soviet Union.

Also, ‘contractual rights‘ equals the bling which is something the BCS does not want to share.  Oh, and good job in not answering the question, because the opposite of the former USSR is a democratic system which allows everyone to have a voice which is not the case.

Q: Do you think that, somewhere along the way, the BCS failed to make this argument to coaches? You’re right, the dialogue tends to be pretty negative. Has the BCS failed to get down to the coaching ranks and explain this in terms they can appreciate? Is there a communication that needs to improve?

HP: Obviously we haven’t convinced everybody that what we’re doing is the right thing, so maybe more communication is in order. But there are a lot of reasons people want to attack the Bowl Championship Series, and I recognize that.

It pretty tracks to be the third team instead of the first two, or which conferences think they should have had a better chance of playing in the national championship game. That’s all part of the environment that we’re in.

So he agrees there is a problem! Being the third place team is out of luck. In 2008 Texas, Utah, Florida, Oklahoma, USC, Alabama, and a few others were all had legit chances to be considered for the national title.

All — except for Florida and Oklahoma — were penalized for either playing in a perceived lower league or for a single loss, but if you are Texas that  Big XII tie-breaker rule left you out and that rule still has not been changed.

Q: You talked about Dave Frohmayer. He released a statement turning down the eight-team playoff because “disrespects our academic calendars and it utterly lacks a business plan.” While the business plan may be one issue…if at least some coaches – and possibly a majority – are in favor of a playoff, don’t you think they’ve at least considered the academic impact on their athletes, and don’t you think they know better than, say, administrators how much or how little their athletes can handle in the classroom?

HP: Everybody has said they’d be willing to consider the Mountain West proposals at the time they could be implemented. President Frohmayer was reflecting the view of most of the presidents I talked to, that, when you think about a playoff, that we have not seen a proposal that doesn’t implicate the academic success of student athletes. Now, coaches and players will always want to play as many games as possible.

And I respect them for that, but I don’t think any of us are prepared to adopt a playoff system that interferes with exams in the fall semester, that extends into the spring semester any more than we have to. What I think most people don’t understand is that the alternative to the current system is not a playoff. The alternative to the BCS is going back to our traditional relationship with our bowl partners.

Since when did the business known as NCAA football care about the academic success of their student-athletes.  The NCAA pretends to care by having the APR that has the possibility to dock scholarships and post season play.

The exam issue is easily solved and not extending the season too far into the spring is an easy fix as well.  Make the season end the first Saturday in December, which most teams are done anyways, and then start the playoffs the following weekend.

If the playoff is 16 teams the opening round could be on the next Saturday and Sunday and then take a week off for finals, and then start back up for the fourth week in December, New Years week, and then the week after New Years.

That is when the season ends as of now, and since the players play games on the weekend professors would help accommodate the finals schedule.  That would not be hard to adjust a students finals schedule, because unless the final is on a Thursday or Friday that is when they need to re-schedule.

Baseball players, and basketball players miss a ton of time traveling mid week for games, so adjusting a test by one day is not that hard.

Q: Why is a playoff not a viable alternative? Is it because it would cut too many teams out of postseason play?

HP: It would diminish the bowl structure and it would reduce the number of opportunities for student-athletes to play in the postseason and that’s not a good thing. If you look at college football now, it’s the greatest sporting event spread over September, October, November, December and a little bit of January that the country has.

I do agree that college football has the best regular season, but they have the worst post-season with any sport, and why would this reduce the number of teams to play in the post season.

Again, the lower-tier bowls that are all ready poorly attended can still be around. Currently in the NCAA hoops there are four post season tournaments, and while the NCAA tourney gets the most pub that would still be the same in football with the playoff games.

HP: A playoff would seriously diminish the regular season, as it has in college basketball. I don’t think it’s good for college football, I don’t think it’s good for student-athletes and I don’t think it’s good for fans. I don’t see fans traveling around the country three weeks in succession between December and January following their team.

Hmm… the NCAA basketball tournament seems to not have a problem selling out arenas with the different fan base.  Also, having a playoff would not ruin the regular season anymore then the current practice of teams playing FCS cupcakes in the preseason.  That has ruined the non-conference season which is why ESPN tried to get Texas and Wisconsin to play each other this season.

The regular season would be even better by making the playoff exclusive to conference champs and only five at large to make a 16 team field.  Currently ten teams get in the BCS so there would only be six more spots, and if it goes by my plan with conference champs; every conference race would be important and teams who do not win their league would still need to be near perfect to get in.

If they are worried about not filling out stadiums, there could be games played on artificial turf and have double headers to help ensure the stadium is full and not what the ACC title game looks like.

HP: So you’re either going to have to play at home sites – which I’m sure everybody will want to play in Nebraska in December and January – or you’re gonna have to travel, which means that bowls will cease being intercollegiate events, but will become corporate events, where everybody in, you name the city, will be there except the fans of the teams.

This isn’t basketball. This isn’t March Madness. Football’s a different game, different environment. We have different traditions. It’s hard to see why a playoff is a good idea.

Corporate events the bowl system is made off of the corporate system, and why does he think Nebraska will be in the playoffs, they have not been at that type of level since the early nineties.

Also, the weather does not seem to keep people away in the NFL when games are at New England, Buffalo, Chicago, Green Bay, and every other cold weather city.

ESPN owns six bowls, FedEx, Citi, Chic-Fi-La, and others plaster their name on the bowl.  The World Wide Leader now owns the rights to the BCS games, so the corporate.

Could Mr.Perlman define how tradition effects a potential playoff.  The reason it is hard to see a playoff is because we have yet to find out a way to give us more money, or actually they do not want to spread the wealth even if the BCS leagues get more money.

Q: One sore point with fans is that Notre Dame has an automatic bid if it meets certain qualifying standards, while non-automatic league essentially get cut off if more than one team qualifies. Notre Dame can get an automatic bid, whereas Boise State can’t, even if it’s ranked in the same place, if Utah already had one. Why does Notre Dame still have a chance at an automatic bid?

HP: You have to go back and remember the tradition here. The agreements with the bowls were by conference. Now, Notre Dame is not in a conference, but they had significant relationship and they had their own television contract. At one point in time, Notre Dame was pretty much in a bowl every year.

Ah tradition, why should that have an impact on how a team qualifies for the big money game, if that is the case then Navy, Army, SMU, TCU, and the Ivy League would have the same treatment as Notre Dame, because way back in the day they were the national powers.

Wow! money comes into play since Notre Dame has their own TV deal, and I like this quote “Notre Dame was pretty much in a bowl every year” not in this decade, and it can be easily argued that they did not deserve the two BCS bids were they were smoked by Oregon State and Ohio State.

Q: Long-term, do you think it’s a good idea to put the entirety of the BCS in the hands of ESPN, which already wields a great deal of power in college football to begin with? I go back to 2001, when ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit was announcing on the air that he would call coaches and ask them not to vote for Nebraska over Colorado Given the bully pulpit the network already has, do you think the BCS poll gets bent in a direction that favors ESPN’s preferred schools, like USC, the SEC, and the Big Ten, or are there safeguards to prevent against ESPN using its on-air talent to lobby for certain programs?

HP: The ranking system that we have has a diversity of ways to rank teams. I suspect you can’t influence the computers, for one thing. And I’d be very surprised – notwithstanding some efforts – that voters in polls are influenced by what ESPN wants. We were with FOX, we took bids, ESPN made us a very attractive offer, they are good football partners, and we’ll see where it goes.

What! voters not influenced by ESPN that is the biggest lie every.  ESPN shows top teams in their highlights and teams from smaller leagues are not always on their highlight shows.

Look at the Mountain West who is no longer on ESPN and now on Versus, CBS College, and The Mtn; they hardly get any looks on the network.  ESPN would love to have USC in the title game every year, and while the talking heads may not say ESPN wants USC they will do their analysis and say they are ‘my’ best team.

In a time when coaches do not have time to watch other teams film to accurately rank the teams; they look at the highlight shows to see what they are saying and vote directly.

How often does a MAC team get mentioned on the air, and when they do it is probably once they are 8-0 and that could be too late for them to make a run at the BCS.

Q: The state of Utah intends to pursue this antitrust lawsuit against the BCS. Do you think that this is just a process the BCS is going to have to withstand before emerging the winner? Is there a way to resolve this without years of litigation? Is there a chance the BCS will lose?

HP: I’m not an antitrust lawyer, but I do find the general claim that this is an anti-competitive market difficult to understand. If you go back before the BCS and look at how many times schools in the group of five played in any of the major bowls.

I think you’re gonna find that the BCS has broadened their access to national markets rather than narrowed it, and I think if you look at how much income they got from postseason intercollegiate football before the BCS and look at how much income they’re now getting out of the BCS, I think you have to conclude that the BCS has given them more access and given them more income.

And it’s hard to see what the endgame is for this attack on the BCS on antitrust grounds. As I said: The alternative is not a playoff. The alternative is to go back to the system we had. That’s fine. Many of us would think that’s not a bad outcome.

The reason no non-BCS schools were invited to the big money games we have today is because of bowl tie-ins with conferences; also do not forget those backroom deals that had games set up in mid October.

Plus, look back at the old Bowl Coalition back in 1996 where BYU was ranked fifth in the final week of the poll and was passed over the current BCS bowls and were sent to the Cotton Bowl.  By current standards today BYU would have been in one of the BCS bowl games.

The income thing is tricky, because one can just go by dollar amount which increases because of inflation each year.  The only way money is more is when a non-BCS gets into a game, and even then that money spread among all of the non-BCS leagues and not just to the league that made it to the BCS.

This interview was a joke where Perlman was taking the BCS stance strictly and giving bogus half answers, and the best was using tradition to explain why Notre Dame gets its own rules within the BCS.

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]]> http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/bcs-threatens-with-the-old-system/feed/ 2 Jeremy Nebraska http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/orrin-hatch-makes-last-stand-against-the-bcs/ http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/orrin-hatch-makes-last-stand-against-the-bcs/#comments Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:08:42 +0000 Jeremy http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/?p=2781 ]]>

This topic does not seem to go away, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the subcommittee’s top Republican is taking one last crack at the BCS with his claims that they are violating anti-trust laws.  The new BCS television contract goes into effect July 7th, so Hatch and his boys will have this week to meet with Congress again; not sure what will be different then last months meeting, well besides hopefully having more people in attendance.

Another question, is who will show up from the BCS and who will show up for Hatch, because since the BCS players are not taking these attacks too seriously so who knows who will show up.

Hatch really seems to be the only politician to really passionate about this topic, because Utah Attorney General Mark Shirtleff is no where to be found on this issue ever since he spearheaded against the BCS, right after the Utah Sugar Bowl win over Alabama.  Instead he held questionable fundraising luncheons where he said it was to help raise money to fight the BCS, but in reality it will be money used for his future run at the Utah Senate in 2010.

Hatch had the same passion against the BCS in 2003, but this fight for change will accomplish nothing with the new contract with the World Wide Leader is set to be finalized on July 7th and go into effect for the 2011 BCS bowl games.  This fight will rage on when another non-BCS team goes undefeated and wants at legitimate chance to play for the title.

All the honks from the ‘Big Six’ leagues can say all the excuses of ‘play our schedule week in and week out,’ they are right the teams outside the six auto qualivier leagues do not play the same schedule, and the same can be said for the the auto leagues.

That is the reason for equal access to the title game, now I am not suggested to let any undefeated team from a non-AQ league in the title game, but make a system **cough** playoff **cough** that allows teams outside of the six AQ leagues and those ranked outside of the top two a chance to get to the title game.

George Mason had a chance to make it to the Final Four, and they were a bubble team to even make the NCAA hoops tournament, what about Davidson with Steph Curry that made the Elite Eight in 2007, or to bring it back to Utah the Utes made it to the national title game in 1998.

Currently in college football there is no story like these, that were truly cinderall stories, but perhaps if Hatch and others of his kind bring enough pressure change may happen.  For now the system is status quo and all the non-AQ schools can do is to keep making BCS bowl games and winning.

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Justin Williams Longmont Times-Call: Now boys calm down!  Colorado and Colorado State have been playing the game in Denver since 1998, sans 2004 and 2005 in Boulder.

However, Colorado has a guideline to play six home games every year, and when looking at their 2009 schedule The Buffs took advantage of a clause to move the game to Boulder.

Soon after that announcement, Colorado State countered by moving the 2010 game to the Fort Collins.  The Rams did this out of principle, and to note both schools make more money when the game is played in Denver.

Rams head coach Steve Fairchild very much believes the game should be played in Denver and is quite strong in his remarks about the move:

“I think it should be played in Denver every year. I’ve said that since Day One it is silly to move this game back to Boulder. It makes no sense. Then we’ve got the contract to move it up to Fort Collins, and I don’t think that makes any sense.”

David Ramsey The Gazette: Air Force wants to renew their rivalry with Colorado, and the last time the two met was in 1974. This would be a good rivalry, because of location and both schools historically have been in the upper half of college football.

However the big naysayer is, brutha’ Dan Hawkins who does not want to face the triple option once a year and wants more room to schedule:

“Are we obligated to play the two in-state teams and not have flexibility in our non-conference schedule?”

Colorado all ready plays Colorado State each year and if the Academy is added then that leaves only two chances to play a patsy opponent for the Buffs.

Hawkins may be afraid what if ‘we’ lose to both Colorado State and Air Force, and the scheduling thing is bogus because Air Force plays Navy and Army each year.

Nice try on saying that by playing both instate FBS schools limits the scheduling options for Colorado, because Air Force all ready only has two non-conference games they can schedule a year.

Jake Schaller The Gazette: Quarterback has been an issue for Air Force, during the Spring Tim Jefferson was having academic issues, and is working on regaining his eligibility this summer.

This is the current analysis of Jefferson’s situation:

” Jefferson, who started the final eight games last year as a freshman, missed most of spring practice to concentrate on academics. But he is confident he will be on track come fall.”

Jefferson is taking three summer courses to get back on track, and in other quarterback news Asher Clark looks to be progressing quite nice on his injured foot.

Clark who played quarterback in high school and running back last year for the Academy is making the move again back to quarterback.

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Florida State might finally be turning the edge and putting itself in position to finally make an ACC title game appearance.  However there are bigger issues that will affect the Seminoles on and off the field.

The biggest story is the 14 vacated wins from using ineligible players which is currently being appealed by FSU.  The reason this is bigger then Alabama’s recent vacated wins from text book fraud is because now Bobby Bowden is currently one game behind Penn State’s Joe Paterno.

If the wins are vacated then Bowden will see his chance to end his career as the all time wins leader fall short. Currently Florida State has a buyout that Florida State would have to pay current offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher, 5 million dollars, if he is not head coach in January of 2011.

Now to the actual players fielding the team in 2009, well sort of, wide receiver Corey Surrency was denied an extra year of eligibility because of an obscure rule where he lost a year of eligibility because he played in a semi-pro football team — Florida Kings –after he turned 21 and before heading to a junior college.

Now the top returning receivers have nearly as many yards and catches, but Surrency had the potential to be a break out star for the ‘Noles.  The quarterback play needs to better then last year, and lucky for FSU is that they return Christian Ponder who was decent last year.  Ponder never had a break out game and his best was against North Carolina State with 257 yards and one score.

Another problem was the pass protection because they gave up 19 sacks, now that is not terrible but the 2009 depth chart is filled with youngsters but all five starters are back.  This unit has a very good chance to be the best in the ACC, and that will help against the rush and improve off an all ready stellar running attack.

The strength of offensive line is what can make or break a team, and with FSU bringing back experience on the line that usually translates into more wins and overall better team.  Experience is also within the quarterback position which is the other key spot when to look how good teams will be.  Now for the newbies — or non-starters from 2009 — come from the wide receivers and running back spots.

Running back Jermanie Thomas had an impressive 7.0 yards per carry last year, and will now be the feature back in the offense.  Odds are he will not keep up that average, but if Thomas is patient with his reads in rushing lanes he has potential to be all ACC.  The big guys up front will help Thomas do well, oh and that great talent he is and only a Sophomore.  A cool stat from ESPN is that he averaged of 9.1 yards in the second and third quarters which ranked second in the nation among backs with at least 20 combined carries.

This especially helps because Ponder is a so-so passer, so the running back strength should help the overall pass attack.  The receiving corp lost all their starters last year and the leading receiver is Taiwan Easterling, also a Sophomore, who caught 30 catches, but the thing going for the Seminoles had depth at that position.

The offense and defense were above average and in the top third in the nation, and only was blown out in one game which was the Florida game, but as it is with most close losses it is the turnover margin that hurts them.  On the year Florida State was even, but in their four loses they were minus nine in the turnover margin and had three in each lose; the Wake Forest game was the worst with seven turnovers.

The defense last year gave up 20 points per game, but they return only five players in total.  It is Florida State and their last two recruiting classes were in the top ten, so the talent should be there.  Also, the losses on defense are spread around so no single position will be marching out all new players.

Overall, this Florida State team should be a top 25 team and has the potential to win the ACC which they have not done since realignment happened in 2005.

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Tulane comes out of the Western division of C-USA, and last year they finished 2-10, and ended the year on an eight game losing streak.

There is not much to like for Tulane, they lost two of their top three receivers, backup running back, and the quarterback situation is no good.

The listed starter on the post spring depth chart is Joe Kemp, but he was not the starter last year; that position went to Kevin Moore who struggled to pass for eight scores and 13 picks.

The top returning starters at each position are below, the biggest bright spot is Andre Anderson who did quite well.  Now, if Tulane can stay in games then he will become more valuable to the teams success.

Offensively the Green Wave were inept to be nice, as they came in at 113th in the country in scoring; which translates into a less then solid 16.7 per game.

The rushing attack hopes to be better, but Tulane lost their top two lineman in Troy Kropog and Michael Parenton.  Kropog was drafted in the fourth round by the Titans, and Parenton started 47 career games.

For a team looking to improve losing two of the schools all time best on the line is huge, and this will directly effect the rushing game. However Andre Anderson had 864 yards in seven games, really six because of a season ending injury he suffered.

Anderson had four games over 100 and two of those over two hundred yards.  With a new line Anderson may have to be creative to get to the level of production from 2008.

Other injuries that hindered the Green Wave from success was to wide out Jeremy Williams who played in only five games and averaged nearly one hundred yards a game.  If the quarterback situation is settled then look for Williams to take advantage of secondaries.

The quarterback situation is between projected starter Joe Kemp and 2008 starter Kevin Moore and in my opinion could change quickly if Kemp starts to struggle.  Their first two games are at home against Tulsa and BYU, but both are really good teams that will cause trouble for either quarterback.

Moore lost the job for 2009 because of his second half struggles.  In his first five game he averaged nearly 250 per game, and then in the second half the wheels fell off and he only passed over 200 yards in just one game.

On to the equally disappointing defense that also ranked in the 100’s all while giving up 34.5 per game.  The defense does return six players, but like I say quite often does a team that returns multiple starters really improve if that unit was bad the previous year.

My big signs that teams are bad is turnover margin, that does seem obvious, but this stat goes both ways.  Last season they were minus five and again near the bottom of the FBS.

The first two games again will test this defense, because Tulsa and BYU will put up a lot of points and yards; most of those will come from the air attack.

The part of the defense that will be the best is the defensive line, they bring back experience with four players who played significant time while losing just one starter.

Tulane hopes to improve off of their two in season, and have only one gimme in FCS punching bag McNeese State.  The rest there are maybe four winnable games @Army, UTEP, @SMU, and @UFC.

However with three of those games on the road those look like less of a chance for Tulane to surpass the two win mark of 2008.

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]]> http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/previewing-2009-byu-opponents-tulane-green-wave/feed/ 0 Jeremy Tulane http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/making-the-rounds-bcs-equals-the-cccp/ http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/making-the-rounds-bcs-equals-the-cccp/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:33:04 +0000 Jeremy http://mwcfootball.wordpress.com/?p=2752 ]]>

Jake Schaller The Gazette: Air Force coach Troy Calhoun got pretty mouthy in regards to the BCS and made the comparison to the former Soviet Union and said this below:

“We basically have a system for college football that too closely resembles the old Soviet Presidium,” Calhoun said, referring to the policy making and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

“You have a seven-member politburo that’s decided if you aren’t one of those party members, then you’re unable to participate.”

“You think back to the old Soviet Presidium, and what happened was you told every person, ‘Hey, you aren’t going to be able to grow a whole lot. We’re going to tell you all you can earn.’ That was the approach. … There’s a very, very strong resemblance that unfortunately is a part of college football.”

These are pretty harsh words yet they do compare to how the BCS works regards to the national title.  Plus, I would not want to mess with the guy who is part of the Air Force

KCWY13: Wyoming who is struggling to find wide receiver talent to be able to run Dave Christensen’s spread, will be in more trouble with the suspension of two wide outs:

“Senior wide receiver Greg Bowling will be suspended for the first two games of the season against Weber State and Texas. Fellow senior wide receiver Donate Morgan will be suspended for the season-opening Weber State game.”

The Texas game  is 99 percent in favor of the Longhorns, however that Weber State game might be interesting since they are coming of an FCS playoff run.

Lya Wodraska The Salt Lake Tribune: The conference presidents met in Colorado Springs to, ‘look over’ a term used loosely to look over the Mountain West’s proposal for a playoff.

This is what came out of the meetings:

“There was no overall support for the proposal, although some conferences were interested in considering certain elements of it in the future — particularly those related to revenue, access and governance of the BCS arrangement.”

Was there any other decision on this?  The ‘access’ part of the quote seems odd, because that is all the Mountain West wants; to find that access something the conferences were considering.

I assume that the ones who liked the access part of the proposal is from the non-automatic qualifying leagues.

Tim Lemke The Washington Times: The question should be is Utah’s Republican Senator going after the BCS to get re-elected or his Hatch truly adimate about the topic:

“You have 50 percent of the schools who are the elite schools. They get almost all of the money, and the other schools, no matter how good they are, don’t even have a chance to compete for the national title.”

Hard to argue Hatch on his premise, which to date is very true, but his motivation is in question.  However all the news about the BCS and the Mountain West is only a good thing to keep it in the front line of the news cycle.

Scott Taylor Deseret News: Some fun and really odd news is that BYU has unblocked Youtube which has been blocked since 2005, and to celebrate the occasion watch this video:

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Oklahoma is coming off of their BCS loss to Florida last year, but they do not lose all that much.  They return Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, and the top two running backs.  The Sooners some of their top receivers and four offensive lineman.  When the preseason bonanza of polls come out look for Oklahoma to be no worse then third behind Florida and then either in front of or behind Texas.

To put the numbers in perspective Oklahoma brings back 79.7 percent of their offense, and the return stats are listed below:

The offensive line is the biggest concern for Oklahoma, as they are breaking in four new starters in Brian Simmons, Ben Habern, Stephen Good, and Cory Brandon all of whom are four star or above recruits from Rivals.  As for that loan returning offensive lineman it is none other then All-American Trent Williams, so it is safe to say the Sooners are going to be fine on the line.  The only conceivable problem is that the BYU is game number one of the season.

The line may not be a factor as BYU has lost its top three nose tackles this year, two to leaving on church missions, and one to academic issues.  That could cause BYU to move over top defensive end Jan Jorgensen to play some nose tackle, and that would take away from his productivity.

Offensively the Sooners return a ton, and should be able to put up points like last year with little or no problem against most team.  T he 2008 version scored 51.1 points per game, now it would be impressive OU is able to top that number.  Opening in Jerry World may spark Bob Stoops to put on a good show, and with the way BYU’s secondary played off the ball and that Oklahoma averaged 14.3 per pass completion, and just under ten per attempt.

Oklahoma has the deep threat and touchdown threat at wide receiver with Jermaine Gresham who had 950 yards and 14 scores, and looks to be the top target and improve off of those numbers.

Oh yeah that quarterback situation is quite nice with Sam Bradford, who besides trying to join Archie Griffin to get a second Heisman has a chance to break the all-time touchdown pass record.  That is right, currently Bradford is sitting at 86 touchdowns and is only 48 behind former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, and if Bradford somehow gets 50 again this year he will be the record holder and only played three years of college football.

If the offensive line gels quickly Bradford may not have throw as often, and let the running game just take over.  The Sooners return two 1,000 yard rushers from last year in Chris Brown and  DeMarco Murray.  Not too bad for this team, that while looking at the pure offensive stats wonders how they lost to Florida in the BCS title game, oh wait the Big XII plays little or no defense.

Projecting these backs to both have 1,000 seasons again is tough, and currently the 2009 depth chart lists them as co-starters.  Expect the average yards per carry to be slightly down, because of a new offensive line which can not be underrated and Oklahoma may not pass as much as last year.  The offense should be just as explosive, and once the line gets on the same page, which should not take long, Oklahoma will be just as dominate as last year.

The defense was not a real problem, because when you score above 50 per game the defense can be sloppy at times.  The Sooners were middle of the pack nationally by giving up 24.5 per game, and for being in the Big XII offensive juggernaut league that was good for second just behind Texas.  BYU plays an offense that would fit nice into the Big XII which could pose a small threat to Oklahoma early in the game.

BYU has a strong running game with Harvey Unga and a great passing game, which could make the Sooners vulnerable to the play action pass.  The secondary could be tested and beat only if a team is able to bring the run consistently and even if that happens expect for the Sooners to get beat maybe once on an over the top play.

The defensive stat that is a huge sign of how good a unit they are is turnover margin, and Oklahoma was 1.64 or plus 23 on the year.  Those numbers equal out to 19 interceptions and 15 fumbles recovered.  Judging how good the Sooners defense is subjective, because the Big XII has great offensives who throw a lot.

The Sooners take the approach of bend do not break running the other team off the field and the defense is there to create turnovers and stop the big plays.  BYU fans are wishing for a victory  but in reality hope for a game that is not a massive blow out, and if they keep it close this game may not hurt them if they are going to make a serious run at their first ever BCS game.

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Brian Dohn, The Daily Breeze: Colorado State picked up a transfer from UCLA in running back Raymond Carter, this past week.  This is a big pick up for the Rams, just too bad it is not this year with the Rams losing their top two backs.

Out of high school Carter was a four star recruit by Rivals, and has three years left of eligibility once he sits out the 2009 season.  The reason for the transfer is because Carter suffered a season ending knee surgery in 2007, and then was buried on the depth chart.  A fresh start could be good for Carter.

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: BYU is losing another defensive player and this time it isi Bernard Afutiti who is academically ineligible.  Afutiti will still stay in school to work on his grades.

This is bad news because Russell Tialavea and Ian Dulan announced they are going on church missions. With these players leaving, there is a chance that Jan Jorgenson might play some nose tackle which will hurt his production, and the Cougar defense overall.

Salt Lake Tribune, Recruiting Blog: Utah picked up a recruit this past weekend in Brian Blechen who is at 6″ 3′ and 205, and has good speed at 4.6.  He would be recruited higher but had a hand injury during part of the 2008 season.

That is just the type of recruiting Utah does, they find players flying under the radar and a hand injury would scare some teams off.  Blechen has yet to be recruited by Rivals or Scout, but looks to be around a two to three star range.

Scout.com: Early rankings have been established for the 2010 recruiting class, and BYU comes in at an astonishing twelth in the country.  That puts them ahead of recruiting powers as Notre Dame, USC, and Tennessee.

This all because of Jake Heaps, who is rated as the top QB prospect by Scout, and he brought in a slew of other four star recruits.  This is quite rare because the next highest is TCU who comes in at 50th and then Utah at 55th.

Odds are BYU will not finish at 12, but with the class half full for 2010, it is realistically possible for BYU to have perhaps a top 30 class.  Nothing is official with these commits are verbal, and other schools will still try to steal these guys away.

This is a great start for BYU in their goal to reach a BCS bowl game within the next few years.

Versus: Cool new show on Versus called FANARCHY basically it gives fans the chance to upload their own videos and rant about whatever in sports.  A timely topic that goes along with this site could be Utah’s Senator Orrin Hatch trying to have Congress intervene with by saying the BCS is breaking anti-trust laws.

These videos will be shown on the television show, and online at Versus.  The show is every Tuesday at 10:30 eastern, and this is just anothe rway for fans to get interactive with their favorite sports.

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Pac-10 Commissioner, or also known as cranky old man, and hard core traditionalist had some parting shots in an interview with the LA Times in a question and answer session.

The question of interest to the Mountain West was this one:

“Q: The Pac-10 has been the Pac-10 since 1978. What about expansion?

A: You expand a conference to extend your television imprint in football, to get greater football TV rights, and there just aren’t any members close by that would do that for us. There are not enough TV homes in Utah and any institution within our footprint would only be a negative because you’d be dividing up the same money more ways.”

I have to disagree with this ex-commissioner that there not being enough television homes in the state of Utah.  Looking at the top media markets for college football will have to politely disagree with that statement.

Some research would have been nice, so that you do not come of sounding like an uneducated man.  Most, will just agree with that statement and think Utah is a sparsely populated state.

However this chart below, ranks each school from the Pac-10 and BYU and Utah by nelson rankings:

While Utah or BYU would not be near the top, but as anyone can see these would be at seventh.  Tom Hansen was inaccurate saying that Utah does not have enough television sets.  Also, something to consider is that BYU is affiliated with the Mormon church gets a bump nationally, because a lot of those who follow that faith.

Now it is not a Notre Dame like bump in eyeballs, but that is the most comparable because of the Irish’s popularity and religious affiliation of the Catholic church.  If, or when, the Pac-10 decides to add two teams outside of adding Colorado which would get the Denver market; Salt Lake would be the next best option.

Yes, San Diego is the #27th television market, but San Diego State is putrid in football and is not a pretty television product.  If the Pac-10 had their ideal choice –besides trying to get Texas which it tried to back in 1998– Colorado and Utah would make the most sense.

To get back on point outgoing Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen is flat out wrong by saying that Utah would not have the television footprint to increase the Pac-10 exposure.  Just hope that the new incoming commissioner Larry Scott is a bit more up on the facts.

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