The first BCS standings of 2011 have been released, and the focus now shifts toward the future.
The questions are the same this season as they are every year. Where will my team be in a week, a month, at bowl selection time? What does my team need to do to earn a BCS berth? What are the chances my team moves up in the rankings?
The vast majority of college football's current top 50 teams are going to play this bowl season.
But where?
This list runs down the top 50 teams at this juncture in the season, as well as their best and worst case scenario for bowl games.
Keep in mind, this is a realistic attempt at gauging a certain team's prospects.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen pulled no punches last week in trying to get his team off to a fast start.
"I had the best starter in boxing come here and talk to them about how you start fast, Roy Jones Jr.," Holgorsen said. "All he talked about was get in there, start fast and beat them to the punch."
**A cold, drizzly day at Mountaineer Field. The weather has made for a much smaller than normal Homecoming crowd. Many former Mountaineer quarterbacks having a reunion this weekend. The quarterbacks served as honorary captains and were on the field for the coin toss.
**WVU kick coverage very porous on the first two kicks. Two excellent returns by the Falcons.
What an interesting weekend of football.
West Virginia University, playing the equivalent of the Little Sisters of the Poor (at least before they got their check for coming to Morgantown), gives a horrible first-half performance and finds itself stunningly behind Norfolk State 12-10 after 30 minutes of uninspired play.
It still has everything to do with blocking and tackling, The most basic and fundamental things that we are trying to do. We probably took a step back in terms of tackling. Dana Holgorsen Offensively, we were targeted better, but now we have to take it a step further and start finishing blocks. All three sides of the ball are a work in progress. When you don’t do exactly what you want to do, you have to go back to the basic fundamental aspects.
By MIKE FINGER, AUSTIN BUREAU Updated 11:45 p.m., Sunday, September 11, 2011
Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden, right, has picked apart Arizona and Louisiana-Lafayette in his first two games under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden, right, has picked apart Arizona...
Here are some Big East news and notes off the weekly coaches teleconference today:
Coach Butch Jones has no regrets about going for it on two fourth-and-shorts in the first half against Tennessee. The Bearcats failed to convert both times, and that seemed to swing momentum. “We liked the play we had both times called," Jones said. "We just didn’t execute it. If we don’t go for it, everyone’s calling in saying, ‘Well you didn’t believe in your team.’ If I had to do it all over again we’d do it all over again. We’re going to play to win the football game. We need to make and convert on fourth-and-inches." Dominique Battle got the start at cornerback instead of Deven Drane based on his week of practice, but the starting job is up for grabs again this week. "Whoever has the best week of preparation will be the starter," Jones said. Connecticut
In Monday's episode, WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen talks about why he wasn't pleased with his offense on Saturday, junior Tavon Austin talks about returning to his home state and Tim Gray expresses his gratitude towards Mountaineer fans after they honored his brother Chris Gray, who died in 9/11. Watch the complete episode below.
Coach Dana Holgorsen and his staff give out weekly awards to honor outstanding performers from each game.
This week's winner on offense: No one.
That's right.
Holgorsen said Sunday night in a conference call with reporters that no one played well enough on offense to merit such an honor.
This week's polls have been released. Here's how the Big East fared, from the top of the polls to its bottom, and what it means.
West Virginia (AP:18/Coaches: 20) - The Mountaineers got a quick scare from Norfolk State when they trailed 12-10 at the half, but quarterback Geno Smith got the offense clicking in the third quarter and West Virginia pulled away with a 55-12 win. But things will not get any easier for Dana Holgorsen's squad in the next weeks with a road game at Maryland on Saturday and then a visit from No. 3 LSU on Sept. 24.
Top-ranked Oklahoma didn’t have the big stage that LSU and Oregon had. That doesn’t mean the Sooners were any less motivated.
The Sooners knocked off Tulsa, 47-14, in Norman. Quarterback Landry Jones passed for 375 yards. Receiver Ryan Broyles, one of the best in the country, caught 14 passes for 158 yards, one short of his school record for receptions.
YOU GUYS! IT'S FINALLY HERE! Yes we finally have football, but I'm actually talking about Bruce Feldman's return. He jumped ship from ESPN to CBSSports.com, where I presume he won't work for a company with sacrificed it's last shred of credibility in order to protect a disingenuous nitwit like Craig James. His first column went up yesterday, shortly after he absolutely torched ESPN in a radio interview with Dan Patrick. Welcome back, Bruce.
Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford: It's assumed that the Heisman Trophy is Luck's to lose after finishing second in the 2010 voting. The senior All-American completed 70.7 percent of his passes last year for 3,338 yards, 32 TDs and eight interceptions.
Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama: With former Heisman winner Mark Ingram gone, Richardson steps into the spotlight for the Crimson Tide. The junior rushed for 700 yards on just 112 carries last season. He had 751 yards and eight TDs on 145 carries in 2009.
With his 401-135-3 career record, will 2011 by JoePa's last at Penn State?
IsOklahomathe team to beat in 2011? How willOhioState andMichiganreact to new head coaches? Can a senior win the Heisman Trophy for the first time in five years? As always, there’s no shortage of tantalizing questions, storylines and subplots on the minds of college football fans as the 2011 season rapidly approaches.
Today, though, we're highlighting some of the less obvious "story line" games, not including annual rivalry games and the blatantly obvious great non-conference matchups. These are not necessarily the best games of the season (though some will be important on a national scale), but these are games interesting for the back stories or the personalities involved in addition to the action on the field.
Much like the late, great Rodney Dangerfield would lament over the lack of love he received by virtually everyone he encountered, one of the six college football conferences that currently enjoy automatic-BCS qualifying status has been guilty of harping on the same. Actually, it's the fans that follow the teams that call it home who are the ones that bemoan the fact year after year. Of course we're referring to the Big East, and truth be told, it really shouldn't shock anyone that the league known more for its basketball prowess than gridiron glory has a ways to go before being regarded with the same reverence others around the country have.
1 - So evidently the Longhorn Network will be broadcasting high school games of its own choosing, both in and out of Texas (as reported by the oft-factually challenged -- but, it appears, correct in this instance, Sports By Brooks). On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a bad precedent does this set?
The 2011 West Virginia Mountaineers: Big East College Football Preview and Prediction.
2011 NCAA Football Preview: Big East-West Virginia Mountaineers
Overview:
The off season for West Virginia football has been punctuated by controversy in the coaching ranks, some of which was arguably their own doing. Dana Holgorsen was hired to handle the offensive coordinator position under Bill Stewart and was to take over the program after one year. Some behind the scene actions by Stewart that essentially was making life difficult for Holgorsen ended with his dismissal so the coach of the future became the coach of the present. The question now is can he mold a talented offense in West Virginia in to the juggernauts he led at Houston and Oklahoma State and can he keep his own nose clean after alcohol related issues put him in the news as well for unneeded publicity.
Verbal commitments are flocking to West Virginia as of late, as newly-minted Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen and his staff picked up their third verbal of the week when Baltimore Calvert Hall cornerback Da'Quan Davis offered his pledge while in Morgantown on Saturday.
