The Holiday Bowl has been a graveyard for disappointed teams from both the Big 12 and the Pac 10 for years, and now Cal and Texas get to settle their differences in San Diego.
Texas. Cal. Holiday Bowl. It’s tough to read those four words without thinking of the 2004 season, when Texas and Cal both finished with 1 loss apiece (to unbeaten Oklahoma/USC) and it was Texas chosen by the narrowest of margins to play in the BCS. (Keep in mind that these kids were in middle school back in 2004…)
Vince Young and the Horns went on to win one of the best Rose Bowls ever played (until, you know, their win the following year) while Aaron Rodgers and Cal were embarassed by Mike Leach’s Red Raiders in… the Holiday Bowl!
This year, both teams limp into this game at 7-5 with 4-5 records in their respective conferences. Texas has struggled mightily down the stretch, winning just one of their last 4 games, while Cal finished with a boom (3-1) with only a narrow loss to highly-ranked Stanford. But that may be a matter of schedule ordering – neither team won a game in conference against a team with more than 6 wins. Read the rest of this entry →
Signing day has come and gone, and not surprisingly, Oregon and USC headline the Pac-12 schools with recruits that may impact the 2011 College Fantasy Football Season. Here’s a sneak peak at who should be on your radar come draft day.
WR George Farmer, USC - Farmer is a 5-star recruit who should be in the Trojans two-deep at WR. Senior Ronald Johnson has moved on with 5-star sophomore Robert Woods SC’s leading returning pass catcher. Two other 5-stars, Markeith Ambles and Kyle Prater will be Farmer’s main competition; however Prater is hobbled by a fractured foot coming off a redshirt season. Junior quarterback Matt Barkley is a lucky man.
RB DeAnthony Thomas, Oregon - The “Black Mamba” shocked the Pac-12 by switching to Oregon from hometown USC on signing day. The Ducks are absolutely loaded at running back with LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner returning. Redshirt freshman Lache Seastrunk will also debut, but Oregon will find ways to get Thomas on the field early and often. Read the rest of this entry →
Part two of my BCS National Championship Game preview gets to the heart of the matter: what are Oregon and Auburn are likely to do to each other in the perfect conditions of Cardinal Stadium in Glendale, AZ?
Learn to Ducky - wings of steel will be needed in the 2011 BCS National Championship (Bleacher Report)
If I had to rank my “spread offense gurus”, the Top 5 in no particular order would be Mike Leach, Dana Holgerson, Tony Franklin, Chip Kelly and Gus Malzahn. I think that is what makes this game such a treat (and also why the inability of Leach to get another head coaching gig astounds me) – we are truly witnessing the pinnacle of offensive football operations. Should be a great show for college football freaks and casual fans alike.
Matchups, links, deconstruction of Vegas sentiment and my pick for Ducky to get his push-ups on more than Mike the Tiger after the jump.
Both participants in Monday Night’s BCS National Championship 2011 have previous sniffs of the National Title game, but never got to eat at the banquet table. Quick looks back at Auburn’s undefeated 2004 and Oregon’s 2001 one-loss campaign.
If you are reading this article on Fantasy College Blitz, we all know you are a college football freak.
Oregon RB LaMichael James leads the nation in yards from scrimmage in 2010, and leads Oregon to the title game (Icon SMI)
You may develop your own depth charts after the spring games in preparation for the fall, you may just wait until Phil Steele does it for you. Your fantasy drafts, likely all 120 FBS league formats, begin in early August to make room for the weak NFL auctions later in the month.
Fantasy season is over, the individual awards were handed out weeks ago, all that is left is to focus on the top two teams since we all recognize that the ides of January bring us to the game that makes all the research and effort worth it.
The Oregon Ducks and the Auburn Tigers face off in the 2011 BCS National Championship, and it sets up like one of the highest scoring ever.
My prediction for which mascot will do the most pushups will come later this weekend – for now, let this great collection of stats marinate in your mind as you comprehend just how good these offenses really are.
