Well, in the College Football scene, there doesn’t seem to be as much emphasis on having neutral sites as it does on the basketball scene, as when I am looking at the entire scheme of things, there are a bunch of games with teams playing in their own backyard (for example, the worst is the Notre Dame-Hawaii match up being played in Honululu. What’s wrong, Rainbows? Couldn’t get Maine to make the trip?) And the Wisconsin-Florida State is another example of this situation.

In this, the Badgers and Seminoles will be facing each other in the Champs Sports bowl, being played in Orlando. While it’s become common for Wisconsin to head to the Sunshine State for their bowls, facing a team like Florida State, which probably could have been in the Gator Bowl if they hadn’t gotten shellacked by Florida in the final game of the season, does not bode well for Bret Bielema’s team.

Why? Well, for one, the Badgers are a team still of mystery. They came in as one of the front-runners in the Big Ten race and on the national scene, and then promptly started the conference season 0-4, which is basically unheard in Madison in the 21st century.Then they finished strong in the conference, but their wins were not against exactly “great” competition, with only one against a bowl team, that being Minnesota. And while they finished with 3 wins in a row, their last was an OT nailbiter (at home) against football powerhouse Cal-Poly. (Who?)

The Badgers have only won 2 games on the road this season–at Fresno State and Indiana. Yes, Fresno is tough at home and give them credit, but that was a different time and a different place for this Badger team that has undergone a ton of transformation since then: for one, Mr. Everything Travis Beckum is out for the year. Second, their has been a QB switch since then, as Dustin Sherer replaced journeyman Allan Evridge against Illinois and has never looked back.

On paper, these two teams look pretty even, including offensive passing, rushing, points scored, and points allowed. But there’s that little intangible called competition that could be once again a huge Achilles’ heel for the Badgers.  Florida State has played 9 games against bowl teams, Wisconsin 6. Of the 8 bowl teams that FSU has played, they are 5-4. Wisconsin is 2-4. Not to mention that the ACC is overall a better conference than the Big Ten, and there is just too much to overcome from the UW standpoint.

As much as I’d like to see Wisconsin march into the Magic Kingdom and beat up on the Seminoles, I just see this being way too much in favor of Bobby Bowden’s speedy team.

The Big Tenet Prediction: Florida State 31, Wisconsin 17

The “Brainiac Bowl”, played between two schools who are much better known for their academics (well, Northwestern anyways–Duke has a basketball team that is decent, maybe you’ve heard of them) kicks off for the 16th time in Durham. The thing is–normally when these two teams play football, it’s not worth it to really pay attention; but this year is different. Read the rest of this entry »

While the NFL continues to change the landscape of the football game as we know it by adding different wrinkles and capitalizing on diversity in coach’s philosophies, the personnel that have filled these roles have been diversified as well. While it’s a decent bet that the majority of players that are drafted in the first or second round will have a decent career in the big leagues, there’s still no guarantee that pedigree necessarily equals success. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok, I know that division one teams like to get some conference tune up games versus what you would call cupcakes. That’s a given. It’s not like basketball where the trend has been for years that the nonconference schedule needs to be a little bit thicker for NCAA seeding, and well, competitiveness down the stretch. But for football, it has long been where scores like 73-10 in the first few weeks aren’t really much of a surprise due to the huge imbalance of these games. But for Wisconsin, they had scheduled Virginia Tech–a surefire top 25 and potential BCS team–on their schedule, but when the official schedule came out–poof–the Hokies were gone, replaced by powerhouse Cal Poly. Ummm…yeah….ok…. Read the rest of this entry »

After the nation really got behind Virginia Tech in 2008 after a terrible school shooting tragedy, the team started off shaky in terms of consistency, and then hit their stride, riding way up in the national polls. However, reality hit them smack in the face as they were dominated by Kansas in the Orange Bowl.

So the question is, what is next for the Hokies?

2008 should be a very exciting year for the team, as offensively they will be strong, especially in the running game. Senior Branden Ore can run with the best of them, and QB Sean Glennon is also strong. The X factor for VT will probably lie with Soph Tyrod Taylor, who remind many of Michael Vick as an athletic running QB. The Hokies will probably instill an offense much like what LSU did this year with Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux.

The problem lies in the Hokies receiving corps, where they lose 4 players at the position this year and have no starters coming back. However, with defenses having to be honest against the run, this could pay dividends early as the new receivers get their reps in and ready for the ACC season.

Defensively, the corner position is probably one of the best in the country with Brandon Flowers and Victor Harris. However, with another huge loss of personnel at LB and up front, the Hokies will be tested in terms of defending the run, which could be an achilles’ heel in big games.

Still, there’s no reason to think that the Hokies will not be near or at the top of the ACC again, and a BCS shot is definitely a promising prospect. Preseason rankings already have them at #8 in the nation, so look for Beamer Ball to continue to rock on.

I think in order to make things more streamlined and formative, I am going to start doing some frequent posting that encapsulates different items on certain days in order for fluidity to the site. That being said, here is what my schedule will be going forward per conference:

Monday-Big Ten

Tuesday-Pac 10

Wednesday-ACC

Thursday-Big East

Friday-Big 12

Saturday-SEC

Sunday-All others

In these daily capsules, I will have different posts discussing the previous week’s events, news, and future discussions about the teams and conferences themselves (not limiting to specific sports). I will also post on news events as they transpire with my two, or three cents, maybe even a dollar’s worth. For those of you out there that would like to have a discussion on a certain topic, shoot an email my way and I’ll be happy to give it a shot.

Thanks for your support of the site and I look forward to getting started on this!

Tim AKA “The Athletic Supporter”

I wrote a post not entirely too long ago questioning the hype around Kansas, citing that they were media darlings and didn’t have a solid resume to back up the ranking.

Mmmm, that crow sure tastes good. A little gamey though.

After Kansas beat Virginia Tech 24-21 in a game that actually was not as close as the score indicates, the Jayhawks not only used their offensive trickery, but they won the game with solid defense against a good Hokies offense. The first TD was an interception return, and with the total number of takeaways equaling 17 points, the Jayhawks may have not even needed their schoolyard antics on offense to win the game.

Eric Mangini, the AP’s coach of the year, has certainly turned this program around, and even though they stumbled to Missouri, the Jayhawks proved once and for all that they certainly did deserve to be in the BCS. The only sad part of the game was that if Virginia Tech would have won, it would have been one of the more feel-good stories of the year, as the university has bonded behind its football team after the terrible tragedy that struck almost nine months ago. Still, you can’t underestimate that VT still had a good showing and a great year.

Congrats to Kansas and your Orange Bowl win. You’ve officially put a target on yourselves though!

For basketball? YOU WISH!

No, for football. And it’s easy as going to the HR page in Duke University’s website and clicking to apply. Got your resume ready to go???

How ridiculous to think that this job is lumped in with the same titles such as admin assistant, etc. and it also shows just how awful Duke football is. Continually being a doormat for the ACC in football, the team has mustered just 22 wins in 13 years. When you consider that some top tier teams reach that in a little under 2 seasons, it is a pretty sad state indeed. But to get down to posting like on Monster or Careerbuilder? Geesh!
Duke officials have noted that they are just complying with the University’s policies. Ummm, ok.

Let’s see, a little change there, a little emphasis here, and BOOM! I’m ready. Anddddddd…click! I’ve applied! I’ll let you all know how the interview goes. (At least maybe I’ll get some free basketball tickets!!)