ESPN’s College Football Live Releases 2011 Pre-Season Poll

This is ia sponsored post with the details below, so please go check out their web site after reading this article.

Every year, ESPN is the first to announce their pre-season poll for the following year.  Well the final five teams were released today and we now have ESPN’s complete poll of “Experts” from within the organization. Here is the full poll:

Ranking	Team
1	Oklahoma
2	Alabama
3	Oregon
4	LSU
5	Boise State
6	Florida State
7	Stanford
8	South Carolina
9	Oklahoma State
10	Ohio State
11	Texas A&M
12	Arkansas
13	Nebraska
14	Wisconsin
15	TCU
16	Michigan State
17	Notre Dame
18	Florida
19	Virginia Tech
20	Texas
21	Mississippi State
22	Missouri
23	Auburn
24	West Virginia
25	Arizona State

Although I am a MWC fan, I also have common sense and know that Stanford should have probably been ranked ahead of Boise State or Florida State. They return Andrew Luck, who turned down a guaranteed #1 overall draft pick to return to school. Boise State lost a lot of starters and ran into tons of injury problems over the spring.

————–

Tips for Playing Online Roulette

Roulette is and has always been a very popular game. As one of the “cornerstones” ever since casinos became so famously popular, and especially these days, as the popularity of online casinos rises, it’s been a piece of cake to find a place to play it, whether for free, or trying to make  yourself a little bit more cash. fan of roulette? You’ll probably want to make your play profitable, and therefore learn all the tips. It’s a
luck-based game, you’ll tell me, but there are a here and there things you can do to improve your odds and overall winnings. Below are some basic tips to improve your roulette game. The most serious tip you’ll get will be to playroulette online on the most known and biggest place for that, 888 casino.

Check Out The New Digs

So I am moving in on to greener pastures, and I invite everyone to check out the new site for many more features and more of the same content.

I will be at SB Nation so adjust your RSS feed.

See ya there!

It is Official Utah to Play Pitt in 2010 and 2011

What was rumor is now official with Pitt traveling to Utah in 2010 and Utah returning the trip in 2011. Here is the official announcement from Pitt. 

This is a huge deal for Utah who have been doing one and done games or playing Pac-10 schools for a home and home.  Event though Pitt is not a huge top 15 year in and year out opponent, this game will be against a recognizable opponent nationally and from a BCS league in the Big East.

The 2010 season for Utah has three BCS schools from @ Notre Dame, Pitt, and @ Iowa State.  A very nice schedule to gain more credit by playing BCS schools and they need to win them as well to get national recognition.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection by Email or in your Feeder or follow us on Twitter.

Making the Rounds: Random Offseason News

ESPN: Air Force is joining the in on the barage of football games at Yankee Stadium and will take on Army in 2012.  Also, Notre Dame is possibly looking at scheduling TCU, but not in 2010 as some suggest.   That game, if scheduled, would be a one and down if the money is high enough and might be in either 2011 or 2012.

Kelly Lyell, The Coloradoan: The Rams finally get back safety Klint Kubiak after he had a right ankle sprain that cost him five games and torn ligament in his left knee that cost him two more.

Kubiak was one of the teams leader last year and should be able to help improve a defense that was last in the Mountain West.

Jake Schaller, The Gazatte: Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson at the annual media days was still fighting the fight against the BCS.  Thompson believes the league must prove it on the field but had this to say about the BCS:

“If we don’t do well, they’ll say, ‘Yup, see, they can’t do it. They’re not there,’If we do have success, they’ll say, ‘Maybe they’re right, maybe they can play at this level.’ … It is what it is. We know we have to win games.”

On the field performance is the key for the Mountain West to have a chance of inclusion to the BCS, but even that may not be enough because the rules for BCS inclusion are so vague. However if the league is able to continue its 2008 success then the BCS will have to include the MWC.

Lya Wodraska, Salt Lake Tribune: The Utes picked up another recruit in Star Lotulelei who is a 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive lineman. He was planning on going to BYU but while at Snow College communication was lost, so Lotulelei ended up at Utah.

“BYU didn’t stay in touch with me,” he said. “I heard from the Utah coaches, both coach (Jay) Hill and (Kalani) Sitake stayed in touch with me. I’m excited, Utah is close to home so my family will be able to see me a lot.”

Looks like Utah was able to snag this recruit from BYU, but it may not have mattered because BYU has only a few scholarships left for the2010 season.  That could be why BYU did not keep in touch.

Dick Harmon, Deseret News: The bottom of the Mountain West is looking form someway to catch the Big three — BYU, Utah, and TCU.  Air Force looks to be the closest with the resurgence from new head coach Troy Calhoun.

UNLV and Colorado State are making strides but are still not there. The rest New Mexico, Wyoming, and San Diego State, are hoping that their new hires will be the move that gets them over the top. New Mexico head coch Mike Locklsey believes the difference is not that large:

“Now, having been indoctrinated into the league as a head coach, you see that there is the Air Force Academy, Colorado State, and UNLV is nipping at your heels. New Mexico? I didn’t know much about it, but when you look at the run New Mexico’s had over the last 10 years, they’ve won as many conference games as some of the Big Three as we’ve talked about.”

Brent Schrotenboer, San Diego Union Tribune: The Aztecs have finally reached a ten year deal to keep San Diego State in Qualcomm Stadium.  The 2008 season had the Aztecs playing in the stadium without a lease, but Qualcomm allowed them to play the season while working on a new deal.

Qualcomm was weary about  a new lease because of they were losing about 30,000 dollars per game, below is the basics for the new deal:

“Under the new lease, SDSU will pay the city about $95,000, including the $30,000 in additional expenses and an estimated $15,000 from the added surcharge. Most tickets will include the surcharge except for student tickets and some others.”

This is a relief for the Aztecs, because without this they would have no place to play.  The surcharge is going to be just one dollar per ticket to all sporting events to cover the rest of the costs.

Joey Nowak San Diego Union Tribune: Head coach Brady Hoke is doing a great job in recruiting and so far has a verbal commit from four star quarterback Tyler Bray.  He also is the fourteenth rated pro style quarterback and is the 229th ranked player in the 2010 class.

His choice game down to San Diego State, USC, and Tennessee and his decision came down to where other top quarterback recruit Jesse Scroggins was going.  Scroggins chose USC which made Bray’s decision easier.  Here is what his high school coach Dace Steele had to say on his choice:

“I think (Bray) felt he had a good opportunity to come in and be productive fairly early in his career at (SDSU). The program is in the right direction, so I was excited for him when he decided that’s what he wanted to do.”

Even though Bray has said his choice is firm Tennessee is still pursing Bray, because the Vols lost out on the Scroggins sweepstakes.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection by Email or in your Feeder or follow us on Twitter.

ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4347929

Graham Watson, ESPN: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/ncfnation/0-9-300/TCU-and-Notre-Dame-not-likely-in-2010.html

Mike McGrane, San Diego Union Tribune: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/23/byu-coach-big-fan-hokes/

Kelly Lyell, The Coloradoan :http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090723/SPORTS/907230348?FORM=ZZNR4

Jake Schaller, The Gazatte: http://www.gazette.com/sports/mwc-58959-bcs-plans.html

Lya Wodraska, Salt Lake Tribune: http://blogs.sltrib.com/utes/2009/07/linemans-future-goes-from-blue-to-red.htm

Dick Harmon, Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705318639/Other-6-looking-to-catch-MWC-Big-3.html

Graham Watson, ESPN http://myespn.go.com/blogs/ncfnation/0-9-304/Discrepancies-in-non-AQ-revenue-distribution-might-prompt-change.html

Previewing 2009 New Mexico Opponents: Texas Tech Red Raiaders

Texas Tech is going to take a step back from last year, because the lost all-everything wide out Michael Crabtree to the NFL and gun slinger Graham Harrell to the CFL.

The pirate Mike Leach historically has had little problem replacing the production at quarterback, but the only difference is that Graham Harrel is the only three year starter under Mike Leach’s offense.

New quarterback Taylor Potts is a former three star recruit and should produce at least 4,000 yards even though he has little game experience which is detailed in the chart.

Passing	Com%	Yards	TD	INT
Taylor Potts	63.9	260	2	1
Rushing	Carries	Yards	Yards Per Carry	TD
Baron Batch	113	758	6.7	7
Receiving	Catches	Yards	Yards Per Catch	TD
Detron Lewis	76	913	12.0	3
Lyle Leong	18	206	11.4	3
Edward Britton	35	577	16.5	6
Rashad Hawk	5	65	13.0	0

Rashad Hawk

Everyone knows what to expect from the Red Raiders offense, all passing all the time.  The player most likely to try to replace Michael Crabtree will be Lyle Leong who as the secondary receiver still managed 76 catches and near 1,000 yards.

His yards may not be able to improve too much but Leong will be the primary target and increase his touchdown total to around ten.  Not only do the Red Raiders have to replace their play makers they only return four starters on offense; which happens to include four offensive lineman.

Even though four lineman need to be replaced that area should not see a drop off and the only problem will be how long it takes for them to gel up front.

Even though the Tech offense is known as ‘Air Raid’ they did have two backs rush for over 750 yards and a 6.7 yard per carry, and the Raiders used much more two back sets then in recent years.  They also return their leading rusher from 2008 in Baron Batch who will be accompanied by redshirt freshman Harrison Jeffers who happens to be the fastest player on the team.

The offense will be fine, especially in the Big XII where there is little or no defense, and speaking of defense the Raiders must stop someone to try to break the choke-hold of Texas and Oklahoma at the top.

However this is not the year for the Red Raiders who will most likely finish fourth in the Big XII South and they should welcome the Alamo Bowl with open arms.

They do return six players on defense, but it was a mediocre defense and gave up 28 points per game which surprisingly was fourth in the Big XII.  The defense main responsibility is to try to slow down which has been so-so over the years.

The star on defense Jamar Wall who plays cornerback and had seven picks and he has the ability to take away half of the field on pass defense.  However the rest of the secondary is very questionable, and in a league with Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy at the quarterback the secondary will be in trouble.

The defensive line should be the strength of the defense which will be led by Colby Whitlock and Rajon Henley and are very good against the run.  The rest of the line includes Brandon Sesay, Sandy Riley and then there is incoming freshman Pearlie Graves, who turned down Tennessee and Michigan to join Texas Tech so there is  optimism at the end position.

The Red Raiders will definitely take a stop back but still has a solid chance at getting nine wins for the upcoming season.

If you like what you read be lazy and Subscribe to The Mountain West Conference Connection by Email or in your Feeder or follow us on Twitter.

The Revenue Disparity is Bigger then You Think

The Orlando Sentinel is running a series on the “Tough times: College sports and the economy.” It is a very good read so far, and in their college football blog  there is post today — a must read for any college fan — about the revenue each FBS school took in from 2008.

The total for the MWC was $276,800,202 a quarter of a billion dollars is not bad, but the top three schools alone are over $340 million.  The MWC teams are listed in bold, and a few things surprised me.

First is that TCU was highest MWC and non-BCS school on the list and by a good margin.  The biggest surprise was that Utah ranked 7th in revenue for the timeframe.

There is no surprise that the BCS schools make more money but the amount is staggering, just look at the bottom of the list with Louisana-Monroe who pulled in less then seven million!

This makes what any non-BCS school accomplish seem to be even greater then we thought.  Just look at Utah they defeated Alabama who took in $88 million which is more then three times what Utah brought in last year who was just under $27 million.

The list is after the jump.