For a number of college football players, this is the time of year where they are playing in games that will forever be the biggest days of their lives.  I recently had my own biggest day, getting married on December 20th.  In my last article, I lamented on how I was missing the first 4 bowl games of the season because of the wedding.  Little did I know that a certain future Mrs. Huss would read my article and keep those words in mind.

Wedding day arrived and let’s just say baby called my bluff about speeding up the wedding.  You see, she ran into tall, dark and handsome at the hotel in which she was getting ready.  Not just your regular, suave tall, dark and handsome.  This one happened to play for a little team you might have heard of…the Lakers.

Fortunately for me, the $15 million Pau Gasol earns per year didn’t give me a runaway bride.  Maybe Fantasycollegeblitz.com helping her win her league title meant the world to her.  Although, I find it curious that Gasol did break his slump against the Celtics a few days later.  Lucy, you got some splainin’ to do!!!

As further punishment, I was actually able to catch the much anticipated (for me) San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.  How can catching a bowl game be a punishment?  It is when it was a snoozer of a game.  This was merely foreshadowing.

I caught the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl…it was a lopsided blowout.  How about the Champs Sports Bowl?  Another beating delivered by one team to another.  Texas Bowl…ditto.  Chick-Fil-A Bowl…vaunted triple option can’t do much against a butt whoppin’.

You don’t believe that she holds this kind of power?  She helped me pick out cufflinks for my best man, ones in the shape of a horse’s head.  These had two meanings since he is an avid horse racing and Denver Broncos fan.  The first day he wore them, Mike Shanahan was fired.  Coincidence?

Baby, I take it all back.  I don’t care about missing those bowl games…they mean nothing to me.  I’ll do anything….just give me my BCS Championship Game!

Oh…and thank you for marrying me.  It will be the biggest day of my life, forever called the Waterford Crystal Bowl.   

Happy New Year to all of our readers…here’s to a great 2009!

(Writer’s note:  Baby’s power grows stronger…on 1/5/09, just two business days after this article was posted, Waterford Wedgewood PLC, maker of Waterford crystal filed for bankruptcy protection.)

I got bit of a bug over the holidays so I apologize to my tens of loyal readers expecting these ratings yesterday. It’s the final round of the playoffs and if you find yourself trailing then it’s time to nail a huge lineup and overcome that deficit And if you, like me, went with Chase Daniel in round one then you’re no doubt looking to make up a lot of ground. Here are the players that can
help you do that:

Top 5 Value Quarterbacks

1) Graham Harrell, Texas Tech (19.3M, 76.15 efficiency rating)

Analysis: The big question here is with weeks of preparation can the Rebels figure how to contain Harrell and the high-flying Red-Raider attack? Ole Miss is on a hot streak of late winning their last five conference games and doing so with stellar defensive play. However, none of those teams can even come close to the fire power of Texas Tech. Look for Harrell to play angry here in the wake of him not being invited to the Heisman ceremony.

2) Sam Bradford, Oklahoma (20.0M, 73.23 efficiency rating)

Analysis: The 2008 Heisman Trophy winner versus the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner. Does it get any better than that? Although Bradford is the leading scorer in H2H (which lends to his monstrous salary), I don’t expect him to put up the same kind of numbers we’ve been seeing from him all season. I think the Sooners will focus more on their running game in an attempt to keep the Gator attack off the field. In all honesty, I think your salary cap dollars are wisely spent elsewhere.

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A battle in the Big Easy featuring Southeastern Conference West Division champion Alabama Crimson Tide and the Mountain West Conference champion Utah Utes takes center stage on Friday night in the Allstate Sugar Bowl (January 2nd, 8 PM, Fox).

This edition of the Sugar Bowl will emphasize defense:  Utah’s brilliant-but-sometimes-sluggish attack, led by QB Brian Johnson (photo, thanks IconSMI) against Alabama’s stingy defense…and the Crimson Tide’s ground-and-pound offense against the underrated Utes defense.

Button those chinstaps!

However, earlier this week, something happened that could change the complexion of this game Read the rest of this entry →

We just got our press passes for the events surrounding the 2008 Under Armour High School All-American Game, so be prepared for some coverage both written and audio starting Saturday covering the 2009 fantasy college football freshmen.

The Skills competition is set for Friday night at 8pm from Disney/ESPN Wide World of Sports and the game itself kicks off at 8PM on Sunday after the pro games.

ESPN seems to own all the coverage and the PR, so here are some links to useful info on next year’s fantasy newcomers.

Main Site

Rosters – all the 2009 Freshmen, some yet to declare

ESPN 150 Top Recruits – I am looking forward to seeing the Hawaiian LB man-child-Eagle Scout Manti Te’o

It’s a hard question to answer: Which is going to be more chilly, the weather Tuesday in this year’s edition of the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho or the attitude of players from the Maryland Terrapins, upset that they aren’t playing as the ACC representative in the Orange Bowl against the Cincinnati Bearcats? A team of dichotomies in the 2008 season, Ralph Friedgen’s squad played excellent against ranked-opponents (they beat four this year), but struggled in three of its last four contests, including a loss to Boston College at the end of the regular season and the opportunity to travel to Tampa for a shot at the ACC Crown. A team that relies heavily on the rush, tailbacks Da’Rel Scott and Devin Meggett will be the main functionaries for a Terrapins offense that averages 134 yards per contest on the ground, but will matchup against the third best rush defense in the country in its opponents, the Nevada Wolf Pack.

The Wolf Pack had high expectations this season, but early non-conferences games against Texas Tech and Missouri left Chris Ault’s squad down 1-2 after its first three contests. Surprising losses versus New Mexico State and at Hawaii emphasized the most porous passing defense in the nation (surrendering an average of 321 yards a game), but still highlighted an offense that finished second-best in the country behind Navy in total yards gained by the run (3497 total for 2008). Headlined by sophomore quarterback and Offensive Player of the Year in the WAC, Colin Kaepernick (2479 yards passing, 19 touchdowns, five interceptions; 1115 yards rushing, 16 touchdowns), and sophomore tailback Vai Taua, Ault’s Pistol offensive scheme put up plenty of yards (510.6) and points (37.8) per contest played this season and should given Maryland a true run for its money come Tuesday. Losses to BCS programs are more the norm than the exception for the University of Nevada, but many still favor the Wolf Pack by as much as two points on the blue turf of Boise State’s Bronco Stadium.

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