Attention all FCB readers and Forum members, the greatest debate in college football continues. No, it’s not whether or not the NCAA should adopt a playoff system. Rather, it is who is the best fantasy football team. I am honored and humbled to collaborate with the founders of Fantasy College Blitz on this new weekly endeavor which we hope you will find entertaining but debatable.
Before we will reveal the results, let me share with you how we plan to construct our weekly poll. As all of you know, the AP and the Coaches put out a weekly poll ranking the Top 25 “best” college football teams along with several “also mentioned” teams that are on the outside looking to break into this elite list.
If you have read my entire analysis of the Big Ten Conference and some of its star players, I am pleased to announce that the boredom that is Iowa, Michigan and to a smaller degree Michigan State is officially over! The Wildcats are NCAAF version of the NBA’s Western Conference on the offensive side of the football. Northwestern returns 13 starters from last year’s 6-6 squad. Additionally, they return more skill players than any other Big 10 team. New offensive coordinator Mick McCall will use a ton of no-huddle packages to get the best talent on the field against the most favorable matchups. So let’s get excited about drafting a team full of Northwestern Wildcats. And yes, that sounds strange to me as well.
At quarterback, the team will be led by C.J. Bacher, the Big 10 leader in total offense last season. If it were not for his extraordinarily high TD/INT ratio then from a fantasy perspective, he could be one of the top 10 quarterbacks in NCAAF. In 2007, all Bacher did was complete 318 of his 521 throws for an astounding 3,656 yards. However only 19 went for touchdowns and another 19 were intercepted. Bacher also ran for 4 scores. We will see who improves more this year, CJ or Juice Williams (Illinois) for #2 behind Boeckman in the Big 10.
Dare we say a rebuilding year for the Maze and Blue? Some part of me compares what Michigan is doing to what Pittsburgh did a few years ago. For everyone involved, I truly hope that the Wolverine contingent isn’t begging for Lloyd Carr in a couple of years the same way Panther fans are now wondering why they ran Walt Harris out of town following a BCS berth. I don’t even want to pretend to think about what Cornhusker fans are feeling after the Solich ouster in favor of Bill Callaghan. Simply put, you do not mess with tradition in vibrant college football communities and here we are entering the spread-option attack in Ann Arbor. Just remember who mentioned this first.
From a fantasy draft standpoint, here is what you lost in terms of options from 2007. QB Chad Henne who was a 3rd round pick for the Dolphins. His backup, Big Tex Ryan Mallett transferred to Arkansas. All-everything RB Mike Hart is also gone. Don’t forget your top-2 WR’s in Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington. Two OL (including #1 overall NFL draft pick, Jake Long) and the $4 million that you paid West Virginia for new head coach, Rich Rodriguez. I simply cannot wait to see how it unfolds.
Here are the names that will need to replace these guys. Michigan will have a few choices at RB. Carlos Brown (top right, Icon SMI) put up a stat line of 75-382-4 and likely gets the first look at this position.
5 years ago I would not have imagined saying this, but Kirk Ferentz needs to win this year. The good news is they should. They have 14 returning starters and their defense up the middle looks solid with DT Mitch King, all Big Ten in 2007) and Matt Kroul. Additionally, the Hawkeyes return all 5 late-season OL starters. Make no mistake about it though, these Hawkeyes need to win and win big. The Iowa City faithful are getting restless and with top RB’s Albert Young and Damian Sims gone to graduation and sophomore, Jevon Pugh, leaving school during the spring means that there is not a RB in the program who carried the ball in 2007. That spells doom in the Big 10.
The swan song for long-time head coach Joe Tiller plays this year in Purdue. Tiller, (83-54 including a 51-37 record in Big Ten games), has been pacing the sidelines since 1997, which makes him the second longest tenured coach in the conference behind JoePa. Last season brought Boilermaker fans 8 wins, including a thrilling 51-48 win in the Motor City Bowl. They will need to do better in conference play if Purdue plans on sending Coach Tiller out with a New Year’s Day Bowl game. The offense, as usual, should be up for the challenge.
Senior quarterback Curtis Painter is back to lead the spread offense. All Painter did last year was complete 63% of his throws (356/569) for an astounding 3,846 yards and 29 TDs. With numbers like these, its hard to imagine ranking Painter any lower than #2 in the Big 10. However, you must consider the significant losses to graduation and the NFL in considering him on draft day.
