A simpler life is really all I want for Christmas.

Do not let Stephen Garcia sack your season - just leave him off your cheatsheet. (Icon SMI)

Perhaps it is because I turned 40 this year, maybe the weight of the overflowing closet and storage bunker, but most likely the motivator is that October 4 arrival of my first child  – wrap it all together and I just have this overwhelming need to simplify tasks, work more productively, and leave time for what I deem the important things in life. ZenHabits.net remains a weekly meditation for me on the subject, and I suggest you try it out.

So how does this apply to fantasy college football? A fair question. For our readers it really means three things;

• I will be producing less print content in-season and focusing more on podcasting and audio where my true media passions lie.
• I would like that lesser load to leave me more time to interact with readers, whether on Twitter or email.
• You need a more streamlined and effective way to prepare your cheat sheets.

I will start off with the QB List – and for all FBS, my cheat sheet stands around 40 names. Sure, I could rank all 120 in order, but should I really sweat whether to put Stephen Garcia (right) above Ben Chappell? Doesn’t that just lead to more clutter on my cheatsheets anyway since I NEVER planned on selecting either one? Plus, unless I have the #1 or #2 overall pick I am not going QB for any of my drafts. Yours may differ. After the jump, my pre-camp minimalist QB Cheatsheet and my rationale.

Oh, and do not fret if you long for the long form of Fantasy College Blitz cheatsheets – CFO Drew Smith and Tim Dady “Base” are burning the candles on both ends and crunching numbers and spreadsheets as I type, with the August 1 debut of our 2010 Cheatsheet Customizer. THAT will have 100s at each position to help you with your specific league setups.

Read the rest of this entry →

One of the things I keep bringing up with my FCB colleagues and fantasy players is that, in college football, experience on the offensive line is so important to a college offense.

In college football, having an offensive line with experience is a huge advantage.  Unlike pro football, where more training time is allowed, and, no one has to study for their upcoming Differential Integral Remedial Calculus exam….colleges do not have the time to mold a cohesive offensive line before the start of the season. Read the rest of this entry →

I prefer to be a messenger of positivity, not a writer/blogger/author/hack who revels in schadenfreude whilst lambasting the college football fortunes of 17-to-21 year olds.

Bearcat QB Tony Pike drives through a pass in the 2009 Orange Bowl (Icon SMI)

But the Big East crew of quarterbacks is a motley one indeed.

I have spent an inordinate amount tracking the Big East – I first blamed our new friends at CFFI (see Big East Mock Draft), but realized that this traditional fantasy powerhouse conference has many untried starters at the skill positions. All skill positions. So my glass-half-full nature feels that this should allow for some value opportunities in your draft.

Today I break down the quarterbacks in the Big East for the 2009 fantasy college football season.

Please remember that tops in the Big East =  all-120 QB2 at best.

1. Tony Pike, Cincinnati – Now here is a player with upside. Pike no longer must fight for his job with Ben Mauk failing on his sixth year of eligibility waiver and Demetrius Jones moved to LB. Give him targets like WR Mardy Gilyard and JUCO stud Jamar Howard, mis in some extra possessions due to a defense with just one returning starter and an average BE schedule and Pike could make a deep value QB1 or a solid QB2.

2. Matt Grothe, USF - here we have an average fantasy QB leading an underperforming team for the fourth straight year. If the rest of the Bulls play up to their potential, Grothe could easily emerge as a Top 20 fantasy QB – not as big a reach as you may think, given his total offense rankings the last three years as 21-30-17. His issues for fantasy players clearly reside with TD passes, with anemic rankings of 43-65-47 (Graham Harrell almost threw for as many TDs as Grothe was ranked!), and since it didn’t change in Years Two and Three I cannot fathom a change in Year Four. Read the rest of this entry →

In the next week or so we will release customizable cheat-sheets or what we at Fantasy College Blitz like to refer to as our ‘Cheat-Sheet Optimizer’. This year not only will you be able to customize your cheat-sheets based on the conferences and teams like last year but you will now have the added ability to create the rankings specifically for your league scoring.

Below is the Blitz Top 100 QB Rankings. These rankings are based on the standard scoring system used by Fantasy College Blitz which is:

1pt for every 25passing

1pt for every 10rushing/receiving

4pts for every Passing TD

-2pts for every Interception

6pts for every rushing/receiving TD Read the rest of this entry →

From the outhouse to the penthouse…

At least that what it must feel like for Hawaii QB Tyler Graunke (pictured, thanks IconSMI), who went from being excluded from the Warriors 2008 plans, to the starting QB this Saturday when Hawaii travels to Corvallis to play Oregon State.

Last week, Graunke came off the bench to lead the Warriors to a win over FCS Weber State at Aloha Stadium. 

The backup to record-setting Warrior QB Colt Brennan may finally get his shot at permanent starter Read the rest of this entry →