Tag Archives: FCS

Purple Yeti Roar 68: Cross Conference Smack Talk

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Beaming in a little early this week because I’m in a good mood.  Why’s that?  Welp someting with Kansas State obviously, but it’s also something that ole Bobby Stoops is jaw jacking.  Yeah he’s throwing some smack down so I’m gushing.  Watch me talk a flitter about that, SEC, Big 12, Oklahoma, Wes Lunt, Oklahoma State, College Football Playoff, Iowa, NCAA, FCS, and Northern Iowa. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 68: Cross Conference Smack Talk

Purple Yeti Roar 61: Conferences Cash In

 

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Hey I’m back this week and I’m ready to report all that is going on in the land of college football.  I even have some beer ready to share with y’all.  I’ll help you swallow down some news for things like Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, FBS, FCS, Sun Belt, Conference USA, Jerry Sundusky, Alabama, Harvey Updyke Jr, ESPN, Disney, Mountain West, Big East, DeLoss Dodds, Texas, Texas A&M, and the Big 12. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 61: Conferences Cash In

Pick It And Stick It: It’s A Trap!

Hey it’s another week of college football and it’s that time of the week for me to stick my finger where my mouth is and preview the weekend’s onslaught of college football rebellion. For me this week, it’s all about trap games. I’m looking at it from the guise of my Purple Yeti colored pride (Kansas State for the uninitiated) and there’s a chance a trap could be sprung. The rest of the weekend is somewhat ho-hum with a couple of primo matchups and that’s about it. We also get what I believe is the opening of conference play between Kansas and TCU. Let’s kick on the hyperdrive.

So I mentioned that Kansas State may be rolling into a trap game. First off, what’s a trap game? Usually it’s with an opponent that you are supposed to beat but certain circumstances make it ripe for an upset. Kansas State’s trap scenario is two-fold. First off, Kansas State plays North Texas whose head coach is Dan McCartney. Yup the same McCartney that was Iowa State’s head coach and actually beat the Snyder led Cats twice in his run. Second, the following week’s game for Kansas State is in Norman against Oklahoma. Could there be a situation where Kansas State overlooks North Texas while getting ready for Oklahoma?

The short answer is yes. Kansas State already had their trap type scenario play out in the first week of the season (and you could really look at last year too) with a way too close game against an FCS opponent. I think Bill Snyder likes to run these games as a sort of pre-season type match up. You get vanilla things that help get some real game time experience for some young players. You’ll more than likely see this again against North Texas, but it should be enough to top North Texas. McCartney does not have the kind of talent he had at Iowa State. Bill Snyder (who was an assistant at North Texas for a short time) already has his whole team bought into his system and his system demands discipline at a cosmic rate. Kansas State should win this one pretty easily but I would not be surprised if it will be close for most of the game.

The game starts late and I will miss because of a Passion Pit show (hopefully the football gods will forgive me), but I will be able to watch a couple of games before hand. The most interesting one for me, will be the opening Big 12 game of the year and the opening Big 12 game for TCU when TCU heads to Lawrence. Pretty much everyone is giving TCU the game this week. I’m going to do that too. There’s alot of things I’m looking for, however. How will Kansas State alum and TCU head coach Gary Patterson handle the first game for TCU? Will Casey Pachall keep his astronomic QB passer rating up? Will Charlie Weiss have his kids bounce back from an embarrassing loss last week? Will the Kansas players give up in the 2nd quarter? Will the stadium be empty at halftime? All interesting questions and I think we know the answer to all of them.

So the rest of the slate is pretty limp. I’ll miss out on the evening games because of concert, which is a shame because it’s got USC at Stanford as well as Notre Dame at Michigan State and Florida at Tennessee, the only Top 25 match ups of the week. So let’s pick it right now and hopefully I won’t have to stick it. I’m going with Stanford in the upset because of the media hype around USC as well as their poor performance in a win on the road to Syracuse. Pac 12 needs to come down a bit. Michigan State is the Big 10’s only hope and we’ll see them beat my 2nd favorite team in Notre Dame because the Fighting Irish will be too busy celebrating the ACC move and they struggled pretty hard against Purdue. Finally I have Tennessee over Florida because it’s time for that program to come back. All home picks, I know.

I can’t wait for this weekend of games. There’s a special treat coming up too. I’m going to try this new-fangled live blogging thing that just came out from WordPress. What will be in there? I have no clue. Probably pics and snarky remarks that will end up on the Twitter feed at @kccgd. But hey, it will be fun and you should join me. I’ll have one screen on TCU at Kansas and will channel surf the rest. Who knows? There may be some cartoons or infomercials popping up in the live blog. Tune in and find out!

Crib Sheet: Christmas Balls Will Be Ringing

Yes! Christmas vacation starts today for me!  I remember back in the day how Christmas vacation lasted way longer than just a week, but I’ll take what I can get.  Back in the day I used only a couple of crib sheets and you’ll be seeing one today.  The news is not as light as I would like but I’m forging on.  Bowl season and the holiday season is upon us so it’s time to celebrate!  On with the crib sheet!

Continue reading Crib Sheet: Christmas Balls Will Be Ringing

Pick It Standings 2011 Week 01: Right Out of the Gate

Ahh yes, after a nice long holiday weekend, it’s time to sit back and reflect on how awesome week 1 of college football was.  Well, that and break on out the Pick It and Stick It Standings.  The confidence points are out and picking against the spread is in.  So we can’t rest too easy as now we have to keep tabs on each pick and not think too much about a 30pt score going to a blowout win over an FCS school.  So let’s take a look-see and who’s winning: Continue reading Pick It Standings 2011 Week 01: Right Out of the Gate

Crib Sheet: Winds Of Change (Pocket) Blowing In Miami

This week’s drama is Miami and the Ponzi schemed Nevin Shapiro who was making it rain all over the place.  Among the accused, two new Alabama assistant coaches, a former Husker,  newly minted K-Stater’s Bryce and Arthur Brown, Missouri head basketball coach Frank Haith, and 15 current Miami players.  This summer has been brutal for college football on the public relations side.  It’s been all about the money and breaking the rules.  It’s like NASCAR.  Or worse yet, baseball.  Winds of change will be blowing real quick.  Maybe it means the players will finally get paid.  On to the Crib Sheet: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Winds Of Change (Pocket) Blowing In Miami

Mascot Monday: Monte

It’s been a bear of a Spring down here, with temperatures being in the steady high 90s.  The heat is melting my imagination so for this week’s Mascot Monday we’ll check out another bear at Montana, Monte.  Okay, I was a little influenced by last week’s news of Nate Montana getting a DUI there, but I’m sweating my butt off right now.  Monte’s been around for a very short time but he has put up some impressive numbers in mascot-dom.   This week, we’ll find out just how full Monte is trophy case wise so let’s get cracking.

Continue reading Mascot Monday: Monte

Crib Sheet: Crack that Whip!

It’s a huge week of news on the Crib Sheet so let’s get cracking:

Continue reading Crib Sheet: Crack that Whip!

Crib Sheet: Ready to Ride I-70

A very special lady sprung on me some tickets to the Kansas State and Nebraska game going on tomorrow.  So we’ll do some Stadiumspotting there as well get you stoked for this week of football.  First thing is first, though.  This week’s Crib Sheet goes over some of the hottest news items of the last week.  We have some spicy giblets ready to feed ya and then we’re gonna get the car ready for the impromptu road trip.  On to the sheet:

Pick It and Stick It: Falling Down

Some teams are on their way up and some are falling down.  Things usually tend to even out right before conference play starts.  Most underrated teams start getting talk and the overrated teams get even more.  When conference play hits, you have to throw out the numbers because of rivalry and tradition.  That said, this week’s Pick It and Stick It takes a look at the teams from all points including the Big 12.  Let’s hope that everyone’s picks doesn’t fall down as well.

Favorite
Versus
Underdog
Final Status (CDT)
(4)TCU vs @SMU 17.5 Fri 09/24 07:00pm
@Georgia Tech vs N.C. State 8.5 Sat 09/25 11:00am
Virginia Tech vs @Boston Coll. 4.0 Sat 09/25 11:00am
@(18)Iowa vs Ball St. 28.0 Sat 09/25 11:00am
@(21)Michigan vs Bowling Green 25.5 Sat 09/25 11:00am
@(25)Michigan St. vs Northern Colorado Off (0) Sat 09/25 11:00am
@Purdue vs Toledo 12.0 Sat 09/25 11:00am
@(11)Wisconsin vs Austin Peay Off (0) Sat 09/25 11:00am
@Kansas St. vs UCF 7.0 Sat 09/25 11:30am
@Missouri vs Miami (OH) 20.0 Sat 09/25 01:00pm
(20)USC vs @Washington St. 22.0 Sat 09/25 02:00pm
@Florida St. vs Wake Forest Off (0) Sat 09/25 02:30pm
North Carolina vs @Rutgers 2.0 Sat 09/25 02:30pm
@(2)Ohio St. vs East. Michigan 44.5 Sat 09/25 02:30pm
@(23)Penn St. vs Temple 13.5 Sat 09/25 02:30pm
(1)Alabama vs @(10)Arkansas 7.0 Sat 09/25 02:30pm
@(7)Texas vs UCLA 15.0 Sat 09/25 02:30pm
(16)Stanford vs @Notre Dame 4.5 Sat 09/25 02:30pm Okay
Nevada vs @BYU 4.0 Sat 09/25 05:00pm
(8)Oklahoma vs @Cincinnati 13.5 Sat 09/25 05:00pm
@Iowa St. vs Northern Iowa Off (0) Sat 09/25 06:00pm
@Kansas vs New Mexico St. 23.0 Sat 09/25 06:00pm
@(6)Nebraska vs South Dakota St. Off (0) Sat 09/25 06:00pm
@(9)Florida vs Kentucky 14.0 Sat 09/25 06:00pm
@Mississippi St. vs Georgia 0.0 Sat 09/25 06:00pm
@Mississippi vs Fresno St. 2.5 Sat 09/25 06:30pm
@(17)Auburn vs (12)South Carolina 3.0 Sat 09/25 06:45pm
Baylor vs @Rice 7.5 Sat 09/25 07:00pm
@(13)Utah vs San Jose St. 31.0 Sat 09/25 07:00pm
@(3)Boise St. vs (24)Oregon St. 17.5 Sat 09/25 07:00pm
@Minnesota vs Northern Illinois 4.0 Sat 09/25 07:30pm
@(15)LSU vs (22)West Virginia 9.5 Sat 09/25 08:00pm
@(14)Arizona vs California 6.5 Sat 09/25 09:00pm
(5)Oregon vs @Arizona St. 11.0 Sat 09/25 09:30pm

So let’s take a look at those falling down.  The big one from last week was Iowa.  They went to Arizona and lost.  Did you know that Iowa has not won a game west of the Central Time Zone since 1986?  Crazy stuff.  They should still be tough though.  They get to take out their aggressions against Ball State.

Virginia Tech is another team that fell down.  You don’t see them this week on picks.  That’s because they lost their first game against Boise State and another against FCS opponent James Madison.  Yeah, the Hokies lost to a President.  So Frank Beamer is way down and he may actually he on his way out after this year.  He’s had a long long run there in Blacksburg.

The weird falls are the ones for schools that win and still lose ground.  Texas is a great example.  They win all of their games but do not look that impressive.  Because of that they fall to 7.  Now, UCLA is coming to Austin and if they look real good they may climb back up.  Chances are, though, that any jump back into BCS fray will come from an undefeated conference season.  Yes, the Big 12 is tough.  Don’t listen to anyone else.

Crib Sheet: FCS is Coming For Ya

It’s the year of FCS upsets so far.  The first week saw North Dakota State upsetting Kansas and Jacksonville State putting one on Ole Miss.  Then last weekend, James Madison beat ranked Virginia Tech.  It just goes to show you that the competition can be heated on any given Saturday.  If a team gets too big for itself, it may overlook another opponent.  That’s just enough to tilt the victory meter away from them.  We are always humble with our conference powerhouse that is the Crib Sheet, so check it out:

  • We’re heard of strange injuries before but having a ‘bowel injury’ takes the cakes.  That’s what Arkansas Razorback Dennis Johnson had that left him out of Saturday’s game against Georgia.  We hope he can plug it up for next week.
  • What two better teams to play in Jerry Jones’ Cowboys Stadium to kickoff the season than LSU and Oregon.  Huh?  That’s right, the ‘Cowboys Classic’ will be held by two teams not in the Big 12.  Doesn’t make sense at all.
  • We see reports of crime all the time in the Crib Sheet.  Like another arrest for Missouri’s Derrick WashingtonSports Illustrated’s Jeff Benedict points this out as well.  We think we’ll keep it on the down low from now on.  Maybe just police blotters for the Big 12.  Unless it’s some kind of harmless, whacky crime.
  • Oh by the way.  The lawsuit between former K-State coach Ron Prince and the university will be moving back to the courtroom.  It looks as though both sides want an immediate judgement.  Not sure if it’s gonna happen.  We’ll keep you posted.
  • All signs are pointing to Colorado joining the Pac 12 in 2012.  They wanted to move earlier, but the stars couldn’t align just right.  Maybe after the California whupping put on the Buffaloes pushed them back a year.
  • The plane carrying McNeese State had to make an emergency landing on the way to the Missouri game.  Apparently, a tire blew out on take off.  That would scare the heck out of me.  No wonder those kids didn’t fare to well against the Tigers.
  • The New York Times points out that the Big 1o makes its money because of the fans.  And the fans who would pay a massive premium to see the Big 10 games.  So the Times points out what we know already:  control the college sports in the conference and you can make some major bank.
  • It looks like Villanova is looking over an invitation to the Big East.  This would be an upgrade in the football program as they were FCS last year.  They are a part of the Big East in virtually every other sport.  We hope this helps keep the conference together for a little bit longer.
  • One of our favorite football people, former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach, will get his own radio show on Sirius.  He’s doing that and CBS.  Will he ever be back to the sidelines?  Maybe after these gigs pay off his lawyer fees for his suit against Texas Tech.
  • A bunch of Missouri football players formed a rap group.  The Kentucky Boulevard Boys look to take over the scene like they take over the football field.  Yeah, whatever.  Call me when they get a recording contract.  Oh, and try to focus on the playbook and not your lyric book for the next couple of weeks.  We know it’s a cakewalk schedule but you need to be getting better now, not in a month.
  • Michigan’s Denard Robinson is your Heisman leader after two weeks and it makes real sense.  He single-handedly carried the Wolverines past Notre Dame last Saturday.  If he gets his wheel injured, the whole season is over for Michigan.
  • Reggie Bush, on the other hand, will forfeit his Heisman.  It seems the pressure and guilt for playing with a bunch of ineligible players in 2005 was just too much.  Vince Young, the runner-up, tweeted that he will be happy leaving it vacant, even though he said he wanted it earlier this week.
  • Speaking of Twitter, Miami of Florida’s head coach Randy Shannon just banned it for his players.  It seems the beat down Oklahoma gave the Hurricanes was enough to warrant this punishment.  Maybe the team can play their way back into getting access?
  • The new NCAA President Mark Emmert wants to get tougher on the rule breakers.  Yet, he wants to make sure the pro sports leagues and players’ unions are happy.  Let’s face it.  The NCAA is irrelevant.  It seems all they do is choke the players from making money so they can make more money.  A free education is great for these athletes, but they are stopping adults from making adult business decisions.  Someone needs to stop these guys, they are like cassette tapes.
  • Who will win the kicking battle in Manhattan?  Will it be Athony Cantele or Josh Cherry? One thing is for sure, one of these two will lose a game for the Kansas State Wildcats.
  • And it looks like the WAC is suing Nevada and Fresno State so they can stay in the WAC for the 2011-2012 season.  You know, with the way expansion has been handled in the offseason, wouldn’t the WAC have some sort of contingency in place?  Instead of suing, why not invite a couple of Big Sky schools in?  Nope, because they are a sub par conference, they will sue their way around things.  This conference will die a slow burning death.

Crib Sheet: Adding a Notch to the Expansion Talk

So the Big 10 expansion speculation that’s been building the last couple of months has finally come to a head here at the KCCGD Headquarters.  We’ll give our thoughts about the whole shebang in the next couple days, but we wanted to whet your appetite with some tasty nuggets of information in the Crib Sheet.  You, too, can munch down on expansion rumor to fill your belly with enough information to win your sports bar argument.  Sports screaming at its finest, folks.  On to the Crib Sheet:

  • In case you thing we’ve forgotten, Mike Leach’s case against Texas Tech has a hearing coming up May 14th and last week Texas Tech officials filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether.   They say the sworn statements are all that is needed and that Leach’s treatment was an offense worthy of termination.  Leach on the other hand is making the case that it was about his contract and the bonus he was about to receive.
  • Kansas State, ever the team to take on tough new challenges, forged a mega deal to face the fearsome University of Texas San Antonio.  Who?  Yes that’s right, The Roadrunners, led by former Miami coach Larry Coker, will face the Wildcats in their inaugural FCS seasons.  Man, UCLA isn’t that tough.  Leave it up to Bill Snyder 2.0 to find the scrubs of the scrubs.
  • Here is your 2010-11 college football bowl schedule!  Just in case you missed the Big 12 match ups, new Big 12 blogger David Ubben follows up with schedule for the respective conference teams.  Kudos goes to the Insght Bowl for making the jump from the NFL Network to ESPN.
  • Notre Dame tight end Mike Ragone was feeling green big time last Saturday.  No, not green for the Fighting Irish, but green for rolling doobies.  New coach Brian Kelly is going to bitch slap him around a hit and call it a done deal.  It’s the new century, football players get stoned all the time, even the pious ones.
  • Our homeboy Kevin Kietzman here at WHB 810 am filled the airwaves with reports that the Big 10 offered invitations to the conference to Missouri, Nebraska, Rutgers, and Notre Dame.  The wave of denials built up so big that Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany had to send out comment denying the report.  This summer’s only going to get hotter with speculation.
  • So the speculation has been about what conferences will do to react to the Big 10 Expansion.  Well, on the Big 12 side it seems they may be exploring options with a pact between them and the Pac 10 (see the play on words?).  Basically, the two conferences will have something similar to the hardwood series we enjoy but on the football field.  The speculation is that there is also a potential Rose Bowl spot that could be up for grabs too.  Remember, it’s speculation only.

Mascot Monday: YoUDee

We’re gearing up for a road trip this week.  If you are down in the Austin, Texas area for SXSW for the next 2 weeks, be sure to drop us a line.  The contrast between the home of the Texas Longhorns and the leader Big 12 South versus Kansas City and the epicenter of the Big 12 North should give us plenty of fodder to chew on for the next couple of weeks.  We’re taking no breaks, however, and this week’s Mascot Monday also gives us a good contrast between a good mascot and a bad one.  Now, we’ve seen some non-plussed mascots before but we think YoUDee from the University of Delaware takes the cake.  So come with us on the journey to find out about this blue hen.

Continue reading Mascot Monday: YoUDee