The season kicked off Thursday with 16 games. I’m kicking it off with 10 questions:
How big of an impact will the new double hosting system have?
Well, unless you have stuffed purple horned frogs in your living room, very little. The BCS bowl expansion will let in two more teams but it won’t affect the top end of the BCS standings. If a non-BCS team wants in, it must finish in the top 12 or top 16 and higher than one of the champions of a BCS conference. Check out the six BCS conferences. See a potential champion that will finish below a non-BCS champ? Thank you.
What non-BCS school has the best chance to make a BCS bowl?
Texas Christian. But it must go undefeated. It’s ranked 21st in the USA Today coaches poll, which the BCS uses in its formula. Even if the Horned Frogs beat Texas Tech and Utah, their two toughest games, they still must pass eight teams to reach the top 12. One loss and they’re out.
Why are they adding a 12th game to the regular season?
Why else? Ka-ching! Ohio State will make $5 million for its added 12th game against Bowling Green. But then, of course, the university presidents don’t want an extra game after the bowls to determine a true national champion in a plus-one. Don’t want to keep those kids from class, you know.
What is the best conference?
Southeastern. It’s not close. You can pick one or two top teams in other conferences. Ohio State in the Big Ten. Texas in the Big 12. USC and Cal in the Pac-10. Who do you pick from among Auburn, Florida, LSU and Georgia, all ranked in the top 15 by The Associated Press? Add the most vicious crowds in the country and it’s no wonder you won’t see an SEC team in the title game this year.
What’s the best team in Florida?
Florida. Forget that Larry Coker whacked half his staff at Miami or that Florida State is trying to ride sophomore quarterback Drew Weatherford back into the national title hunt. Urban Meyer’s teams at Bowling Green (9-3) and Utah (12-0) exploded in his second year. But let’s see him do it with senior Chris Leak, whom Meyer is still trying to prove fits into his system.
What player will have the single biggest impact?
Brian Brohm. Louisville’s quarterback is coming off knee surgery but he’s a record-breaking machine. With running back Michael Bush keeping secondaries honest, Brohm will be the key when the Cardinals play their only two tough games, Miami and West Virginia, both at home.
Who will be the most famous player in December you don’t know now?
Will Proctor. Clemson is my dark horse this year. Why? The Tigers have 15 starters back and the vacant quarterback position is filled by Proctor, a fifth-year senior who had a 151.5 rating as Charlie Whitehurst’s backup the past two years. Proctor’s relief pitching led to a last-second win over Texas A&M. He has the best running attack Clemson’s had in years, a veteran line and Chansi Stuckey, who led the ACC in receiving.
What’s the biggest rule change?
The clock starts when a possession changes and no longer on the first snap of a series. Coaches say they will lose 10 to 12 plays a game and must stockpile timeouts for the final minutes. The coaches didn’t vote for it. TV didn’t push for it. Somehow it got through.
Who will be better, Nebraska or Oklahoma?
Nebraska. I don’t care how good Oklahoma’s defense is. I can’t see Paul Thompson, unhappy about moving back from receiver, directing the Sooners’ offense into a BCS game. Nebraska’s offense will click this year, and it has one of the best front sevens in the country.
Who will meet for the title?
Texas and West Virginia. I base this on defense and schedules. Texas’ defense is terrific, and if it beats Ohio State next week it really has only Nebraska and Texas Tech to worry about. West Virginia is a veteran team with one killer game: at Louisville.
Manhattan: Transfer City
The quarterbacks who bolted Kansas State must be kicking themselves. Thinking new coach Ron Prince handpicked freshman stud Josh Freeman for the job, Allan Evridge bolted to Wisconsin and Denver’s Allen Webb went to Texas College. Then senior Dylan Meier, last year’s backup to Evridge and Webb, beat out Freeman.
Evridge wouldn’t say much on the record but when told Prince thought the pair left when they saw Freeman play, Evridge said as he drove into Madison, “The one thing I will say is, I am not afraid of competition. I’ll leave it at that. I’m looking forward to competing here and on a level playing field.”
Said Webb, who cited other reasons besides football contributing to his decision: “Truthfully, they had gone back and forth who took snaps with No. 1. Coach Prince gave no indication who’d be starting.”
Tailback by committee at USC
How young is USC in the backfield? Besides quarterback John David Booty making his first start Saturday at Arkansas, Pete Carroll likely will rotate three true freshmen at tailback.
Don’t feel too sorry for Carroll, however. He’s starting C.J. Gable, who only rushed for 2,298 yards with an 11-yard average and scored 34 touchdowns for Sylmar (Calif.) High School last year. Then there’s Parade All-American Emmanuel Moody of Coppell (Texas) High and Allen Bradford, who averaged 13.1 yards a carry for Colton High in San Bernardino, Calif. “We need them all,” Carroll told the Los Angeles Times.
Footnotes
Tackle Sam Young on Saturday will become the first freshman to start on the offensive line in a Notre Dame season opener since freshman eligibility began in 1972…. Expect Texas tailbacks Selvin Young and Jamaal Charles to get at least 20 carries apiece Saturday against North Texas. Charles took fifth in the NCAA 100 meters in June…. San Diego State ticket sales are up 10 percent, and the Aztecs project revenue of $3 million since the hiring of new coach Chuck Long.
John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
