Behind one too many doors?

The Oregonian’s Blazers’ beat writer, Jason Quick, is getting unprecedented access with the NBA team to write a “Behind the Blazers Locker Room Door” series this season. Last night, he got a little more access with Greg Oden and others…
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Who are the nation’s greenest units?

The ESPN bloggers are getting into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit by breaking down the least experienced units in college football. Some highlights below, with links to the full reviews….

Graham Watson:

BYU offensive line: The Cougars will have to fill four of the five starting spots on the offensive line, but do have some depth there since several players received playing time due to injuries and some shuffling last year.

Boise State wide receivers: Boise State lost its three starting receivers, including Jeremy Childs, who left early for the NFL. Childs led the team in receiving yards and receptions last year and now quarterback Kellen Moore is going to have to break in some new playmakers.

Brian Bennett:

Louisville: The biggest bunch of newbies are at quarterback, where there are four candidates for the job but not one who’s seen any significant playing time at this level.

South Florida: Look no farther than the offensive line, where four of five starters need to be replaced.

Tim Griffin:

Oklahoma offensive line: The departure of starting center Jon Cooper, tackle Phil Loadholt and guards Duke Robinson and Brandon Walker means that Sam Bradford will have an inexperienced group protecting him next season. Trent Williams moves to left tackle and Bob Stoops likes his incoming talent, if not its early work habits.

Texas defensive line: The major question dogging the Longhorns’ national title hopes will be rebuilding a defensive front that loses All-American defensive end Brian Orakpo, defensive tackle Roy Miller, defensive tackleAaron Lewis and defensive end Henry Melton from last season.

Texas Tech offensive line: New quarterback Taylor Potts will be relying on a retooled offensive line protecting his blind side after left tackle Rylan Reed, left guard Louis Vasquez and center Stephen Hamby all departed from last year.

Chris Low:

Alabama: The Crimson Tide are replacing three-year starter John Parker Wilson at quarterback, but losing the threesome of Andre Smith, Marlon Davis and Antoine Caldwell on the offensive line leaves the biggest void. They were at the crux of just about everything Alabama did on offense last season.

Georgia: Much of the focus this spring will be on Joe Cox and the quarterback position, but the Bulldogs’ most glaring weakness is the lack of a dominant pass-rusher from the defensive end position. They’ve got to find somebody who can consistently get to the quarterback.

LSU: Jordan Jefferson started the final two games at quarterback last season as a true freshman and enters 2009 as the favorite to win the job. His main competition will come from another true freshman, Russell Shepard, who graduated early and is going through spring practice.

Heather Dinich:

GEORGIA TECH — Having lost three of four starters on the defensive line, it’s easily one of the greenest groups in the whole conference.

MIAMI – The Canes are still young everywhere, but remember quarterback Jacory Harris has only started two games and his backups have no collegiate experience.

NORTH CAROLINA — The Tar Heels lost their top three receivers and will be counting heavily on inexperienced players to replace Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster.

Ted Miller

Arizona State — QB: Combined starts of the five candidates to replace Rudy Carpenter at quarterback? Zero.

Oregon – DT: Both starting defensive tackles are gone and this unofficial depth chart shows 14 combine tackles for seven potential replacements.

Oregon State — DE: Sackmasters Victor Butler and Slade Norris and their 41.5 combined sacks over the past two seasons are gone. Sophomore Kevin Frahm and senior Ben Terry, who split two sacks between themselves in 2008, are in.

Adam Rittenberg

Ohio State’s offensive line — Don’t be shocked if Ohio State enters 2009 with three sophomores (Mike Brewster, Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts) and a transfer (Justin Boren) on its starting line.

Penn State’s defensive ends — Jerome Hayes should be back from another knee injury, but Penn State will be on the lookout for a proven pass rusher after losing Aaron Maybin, Maurice Evans and Josh Gaines.

Purdue’s wide receivers — New coach Danny Hope made wide receiver a peak priority in his first recruiting class after losing Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy, who combined for 136 receptions and 1,596 yards last year.

Wisconsin’s defensive line — The Badgers lose three multiyear starters (Matt Shaughnessy, Mike Newkirk and Jason Chapman) and don’t return many proven players aside from ends O’Brien Schofield and Dan Moore.

And — of course — everyone’s favorite green unit:

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A Look at Terrelle Pryor One Year Later

One year ago, prized recruit Terrelle Pryor ended the massive speculation and chose Ohio State over Penn State, Oregon and Michigan. Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated even said his decision “will unquestionably be the most anticipated signing day announcement in history”- Now thats hype.

In this article, I examine Terrelle’s year since then, with an almost full season of starts and several…
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football

Florida, Oklahoma odds on favorites for 2009

The Wiz spotted BodogLife’s updated odds for the college football season. Long story short… it looks like the Gators and Sooners are the early picks, followed by USC, Texas, and Ohio State.

Here’s the complete rundown:

Alabama 22/1
Arizona 100/1
Arizona State 150/1
Arkansas 150/1
Auburn 150/1
Boise State 100/1
Boston College 100/1
California 60/1
Cincinnati 90/1
Clemson 60/1
Colorado 100/1
Florida 7/4
Florida State 30/1
Georgia 50/1
Georgia Tech 50/1
Illinois 80/1
Iowa 75/1
Kansas 75/1
Kansas State 175/1
Kentucky 125/1
Louisville 150/1
LSU 20/1
Maryland 200/1
Miami 35/1
Michigan 120/1
Michigan State 100/1
Missouri 90/1
Nebraska 55/1
North Carolina 45/1
North Carolina State 100/1
Notre Dame 30/1
Ohio State 17/2
Oklahoma 5/1
Oklahoma State 50/1
Oregon 20/1
Oregon State 100/1
Penn State 35/1
Pittsburgh 60/1
Rutgers 125/1
South Carolina 100/1
South Florida 80/1
Tennessee 100/1
Texas 8/1
Texas A&M 150/1
Texas Tech 60/1
UCLA 150/1
Utah 125/1
USC 5/1
Virginia 100/1
Virginia Tech 20/1
Wake Forest 80/1
Washington 200/1
West Virginia 75/1
Wisconsin 100/1
Field (Any Other Team) 20/1

And remember… entertainment purposes only… of course.

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Oden on Oden

Greg Oden shared his thoughts on himself and his rookie season with The Oregonian. A very good piece on a 21-year-old with a lot on his shoulders….
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Wisconsin finalizes 2011 slate with South Dakota

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg
Wisconsin is still looking for two home games in 2010, but the Badgers completed their 2011 slate today with the addition of South Dakota. 
The season opens with home games against UNLV (Sept. 3) and Oregon State (Sept. 10), followed by a neutral-site meeting with Northern Illinois on Sept. 17 at Soldier Field in Chicago. Wisconsin then wraps up…
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Magic Number countdown (a little early)

Since the season began, it’s been a foregone conclusion* that the Cavaliers would be playoff-bound in 2009.  Two weeks into the season, it became apparent that the Finals and a championship were well within reach.  Now, with less than 30 games to play, the Cavs lead the Eastern Conference and are working towards the #1 seed in the playoffs and the home court advantage that comes with it.

But this season has been all about the old cliche’, “taking it one step at a time”.  Step one is to clinch a playoff berth, then we can start focusing more on what seed we will capture.

The Magic Number system is complicated, but yet simple.  It represents the total of additional wins by the front-running team or additional losses by the rival team after which it is mathematically impossible for the rival team to capture the title in the remaining games.

There are 15 teams in the East.  We need to finish the season ahead of 7 of them to get a playoff spot, and finish ahead of 14 of them to get the #1 seed.  Our Magic Number for each team is listed below.

• Washington – zero
• Toronto – 5
• Indiana – 7
• Charlotte – 8
• New Jersey – 9
• New York – 10
• Milwaukee – 10
• Chicago – 11
• Detroit – 15
• Philadelphia – 15
• Miami -16
• Atlanta – 18
• Orlando – 27
• Boston – 29

Let me explain a little better.  As of this moment, Washington cannot possibly finish the season with a better record than Cleveland.  Their record is 13-42, and with 27 games left in their season, their best possible record this year is 40 wins.  Cleveland already has 42, so the Cavs can’t be caught by Washington.  Their magic number is officially zero.

Toronto is 21-36.  The most possible wins they can have is 46.  Cleveland, with 42 wins, needs 5 more to guarantee a 47th win which would secure their finish ahead of the Raptors.

The Magic Number decreases every time the Cavaliers win, and it also decreases every time the other team loses.

As of this moment, 11 more wins will clinch a playoff berth (or a combination of Cavs wins and Chicago losses that total 11).  Let’s get that goal, then we’ll work on getting the top seed over Boston and Orlando.

Tonight’s games are thin.  Only one game matters to our hunt, Miami plays Philadelphia.

Sunday is a much bigger day.  We take on the Pistons, and a Cavs win will shrink Detroit’s number from 15 to 13. Other games in the East that will have an effect on us;

• Chicago – Indiana
• New York – Toronto
• Boston – Phoenix
• Charlotte – Houston
• Milwaukee – Denver
• Miami – Orlando

Every day, we have the chance to shrink numbers by one or even two games.  Expect to see teams drop off the list a lot in the next 2-3 weeks.

* – “Free Love On The Free Love Highway” was a classic tune by that band.

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Final Grades: A look back at the preseason AP poll

It’s time to pay the piper. Here’s a look back at the 2008 pre-season AP poll contrasted against the final 2008-2009 AP poll.

2008 AP College Football Poll Comparison – Preseason vs Final Poll

TEAM	FINAL RANKING	PRESEASON
Florida	1	5
Utah	2	NR
USC	3	3
Texas	4	11
Oklahoma	6	4
Alabama	6	NR
TCU	NR	NR
Penn State	8	22
Ohio State	9	2
Oregon	10	21
Boise State	11	NR
Texas Tech	12	12
Georgia	13	1
Ole Miss	14	NR
Virginia Tech	15	17
Oklahoma State	16	NR
Cincinnati	17	NR
Oregon State	18	22
Missouri	19	6
Iowa	20	NR
Florida State	21	NR
Georgia Tech	22	NR
West Virginia	23	8
Michigan State	24	NR
BYU	25	16

The big standout poll flops are Georgia (P-1 F-13), Ohio State (P-2 F-10), Missouri (P-6 F-19) and West Virgina (P-8 F-23). And — of course — the teams that never even made it to the final poll, including LSU, Clemson, Auburn and Wisconsin.

The Cinderella stories of Utah, TCU, Boise State, and Alabama surprised pollsters and fans alike. (Outside of Alabama, of course, who always expects the Tide to be #1… and they’re not afraid to tell you about it, as well. Still, I suspect there were more than a couple of surprised Bama fans out there this season when the Crimson Tide rose to the top of the polls.)

The biggest surprise for me was how many of the teams were actually ranked consistently from pre-season to final poll. That shocked me, actually. I have long advocated not doing any polls at all until the fourth week of the season, but there’s enough balance between the good & bad of the pre-season poll to suggest that *some* of the pollsters might actually put some thought into this whole thing.

What stands out to you and where do you stand on pre-season polls — sacrosanct or sacrelidge?

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Big Ten content to be Saturday staple

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

A look at the 2009 ACC composite schedule released earlier Thursday illustrates how leagues take different approaches toward football scheduling. 

The ACC opens its season on a Thursday night, as NC State hosts South Carolina. The league features five more Thursday night games as well as a Labor Day (Monday) matchup between rivals Miami and Florida State.

Midweek games are nothing new in college football, especially in the last few years. Football is an every-day affair, and while the non-BCS leagues are a big reason why, the bigger-name teams are also willing to give up a Saturday or two. One of last season's biggest moments came on a Thursday night, as top-ranked USC fell at Oregon State. 

But the Big Ten has largely stiff-armed the midweek trend, and it figures to stay that way. The league played all of its games on Saturdays last fall. In 2007, Northwestern faced Eastern Michigan on a Friday night in a contest that had to be moved because of high school games at Ford Field in Detroit.

The Big Ten hasn't played a true midweek game since 2006, when Minnesota and Northwestern opened against Kent State and Miami (Ohio), respectively, on a Thursday night. 

Mark Rudner, the Big Ten's associate commissioner for television administration, told me in an e-mail today that only on a "very rare occasion" would a Big Ten game get moved from a Saturday. This would only occur during the first or last week of the season. The Big Ten's television agreements are based on Saturday games.

I'm a bit greedy when it comes to college football and wouldn't mind seeing Big Ten games every night of the week (it's hard to keep track of everything on Saturdays). But midweek games present logistical problems for coaches, players and even fans, who plan their travel and tailgating around fall Saturdays. 

Plus, the Big Ten really has no reason to move away from Saturdays, given its strong ratings during the regular season and the bowls. It would seem very un-Big Ten to have, say, Iowa play Penn State on a Thursday night. Then again, I wouldn't complain. 

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Early schedule snapshot: Purdue

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

Here's what Danny Hope has to look forward to in his first season as Purdue's head coach.

NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Sept. 5 Toledo

Sept. 12 at Oregon

Sept. 19 Northern Illinois

Sept. 26 Notre Dame

My take: After playing arguably the Big Ten's toughest non-league slate last fall, Purdue once again gets a few difficult draws. Oregon should be a preseason top-15 team with a dynamic offense to test the Boilers, who did a decent job containing the Ducks last year at Ross-Ade Stadium. A win in Eugene will be a long shot, and then Purdue returns home to face an improving Northern Illinois team and Notre Dame, which should also be better on both sides of the ball. Given the head coaching change, two new coordinators (Gary Nord and Donn Landholm) and a lot of new personnel on both sides of the ball, Purdue should be pleased with a 2-2 split in non-league play.

BIG TEN SCHEDULE

Oct. 3 Northwestern

Oct. 10 at Minnesota

Oct. 17 Ohio State

Oct. 24 Illinois

Oct. 31 at Wisconsin

Nov. 7 at Michigan

Nov. 14 Michigan State

Nov. 21 at Indiana

Byes: Penn State, Iowa

My take: A young Boilers team benefits from getting three of the first four league games at home (six of the first eight overall) and not playing league title contenders Penn State and Iowa. If Purdue can build confidence and start establishing its identity in non-league play, it could pull a surprise or two early in the Big Ten slate. The road schedule isn't too difficult, though both Wisconsin and Michigan could be on stable footing once the Boilers come to town. A slow start to league play could equal a very long season for Hope and his crew.

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