EDITORIAL: The NCAA declares Auburn QB Newton eligible

2010 BCS National Championship Game
Image via Wikipedia


To protect their backsides, the Auburn administration declared QB Newton ineligible and then asked the NCAA to make him eligible for the SEC Championship game.

The NCAA obliged like the faithful dog it has become for the power conferences and granted eligibility. There seems to be little doubt that Newton’s Dad tried to extort $180K from two other schools for his son’s services.

The NCAA said there was “no direct evidence” that Newton Jr. had any idea that his father was trying to sell his services. That is crap and everyone knows it.

If the BcS was threatened by a QB with eligibility issues from a 1st place Boise State or TCU team, you can bet the house, the car, the wife and your first born that the NCAA would suggest that the QB be held out until the full investigation was complete. Given its history for prompt action in the Reggie Bush case, that would occur in 2099.

The NCAA should complete the investigation immediately. To assume that the child knew nothing about the father getting nearly 200K is ludicrous. The NCAA needs to release the evidence of innocence.

This organization is totally incompetent when it … Read more at FryingPanSports

What to look for this weekend in College Football

football

#6 Bosie St. @ Utah St. Friday night

This is not a game. It is a celebration of a 11-0 season for BS.

Watch for #1 Florida and #2 Alabama to get fat on cupcakes.

The leaders in the BcS play Florida International and Chattanooga respectively. Come on, you can’t schedule out of league teams tougher than that?

#4 TCU @ Wyoming

TCU pads its stats against a decent Wyoming team that is 5-5 overall. They try hard but are totally outclassed in this game.

#8 LSU @ Ole Miss

This is the best game in the SEC this week. Miss started the season at #4 and despite a bad season is still dangerous at home. LSU is looking to make style points to try to overtake the loser of the SEC Championship game. Rebel QB Sneed has fallen in the eyes of the scouts due to 17 TDs and 14 picks. The biggest problem he has had is the O line protection. He will be running for his life again against LSU. The Tigers win but it shouldn’t be too lopsided.

#10 Ohio State @ Michigan

This game has lost a lot of its importance because of Michigan’s problems … Read more at FryingPanSports

What did we learn this weekend?

football

College football:

TCU is REALLY good.

#4 TCU played #16 Utah and blew them out 55-28. Everybody expected the TCU O to be outstanding but their speed on D is as good as any team in the country. They have everything they need to beat Texas and probably Florida as well. Alabama is the one team above them that could give them real trouble. The power running game of Bama combined with the very big O line might be able to win the game.

TCU goes to Wyoming (5-5) then gets winless New Mexico at home. Neither will provide much competition.

#1 Florida and #2 Alabama set the date.

The stage is set for the top 2 teams in the BcS to play for the right to go to the big game. The winner of the SEC Championship game on Dec. 5th will get the bid. The loser will likely be named an at large BcS bowl game team. Both come in a little banged up from nice wins last week.

Florida won a tough game at South Carolina 24-14. They will take on Florida State after an easier game this weekend against Florida International.

Bama beat Mississippi … Read more at FryingPanSports

What did we learn from the College weekend 7?

football

Ohio State is struggling badly on offense. The problem is 65% the O line or absence of one and 35% QB Pryor. The O line has been a problem for the last 5 years. The lack of pass protection has been a major contributor to Pryor regressing this season. He loses his mechanics because he is running for his life even against a 1-5 Purdue team. The lack of run blocking has put much more pressure on the passing game. The 5 man blocking sled is pushed up against the wall of the OSU practice facility. It’s way past time that it gets used a lot. If the Bucks could generate any kind of running game, the pass rush would be slowed and Pryor would become more accurate.

Alabama looked a lot more impressive than Florida this weekend. Florida struggled with a hot but unranked Arkansas team and most of their problems were self inflicted. Bama rolled over 22 South Carolina 20-6 but the game was not that close. Alabama is good but I wonder if they can get over the hurdle of beating Florida in the SEC Championship game.

20 Oklahoma v 3 Texas was everything we hoped it … Read more at FryingPanSports

What did we learn about College ball this week?

football

There are only 3 top teams in the NCAA—Florida, Texas and Alabama. And there is a better than average chance that none of them will make it undefeated through the 09 season.

#3 Alabama had more trouble with Kentucky than they should have. Based on Florida coming into tobacco land and wining 41-7, the Bama win of 38-20 was not too impressive. Kentucky scored TDs in the 3rd and 4th quarter but against a mostly 2nd unit team. Florida also had a second unit on the field in the second half. The Gators won’t face Bama except possibly in the SEC Championship game.

#4 LSU got a quality win over #18 Georgia between the Hedges. Any SEC win on the road against a ranked team is impressive. Georgia scored a go ahead TD with 1:09 left. The LSU drive for the winning TD was impressive. They still have to be concerned about the inability to get TDs in the red zone. They were forced to kick 2 field goals in the first half because they couldn’t get to the endzone.

#6 Virginia Tech struggled to beat Duke. That isn’t a surprise because the Duke game was a … Read more at FryingPanSports

Tuesday Morning QB for 9/29/09

football

College football

As I said last week, Mississippi was rated based on a 1 point win over Florida in 08. A lot of the ranking is based on the projection of QB Jevan Snead being a top player. So far he has been much less than advertised. He has great arm strength but that does not make a great QB. It really helps if you have some idea of where the pass is going. A completion rate under 50% is not good enough. He lacks decision making skills to be a top draft choice in 2010. We will see how he develops.

The Alabama defense is better than advertised. We saw the Arkansas offense run wild on Georgia but it was totally controlled by the Bama D line. Alabama is the team to beat in the SEC West. Given the struggles of the Florida O, the SEC Championship game should be better than last year.

Penn State’s loss to Iowa was not surprising. PS has been over rated along with most of the Big 10 for several years. But their loss hurt Ohio State badly. OSU’s chance to get back into the top 2 or 3 in the rankings … Read more at FryingPanSports