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