Peachton.com

Looking at the schedule of Illinois, I am thinking there needs to be a rule about the number of home games a team can have. The Illini have eight games (out of 12 total) at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, IL including five straight to begin the season. By comparison, Texas and Wisconsin each have six in the their home stadiums. Most BCS schools have seven but smaller schools with more to prove like UNLV and the Florida Atlantic Owls have five.

How good is Wisconsin and Russell Wilson?

It is really hard to say right now. The Badgers have outscored three opponents 135 to 24. However, the defeated teams were the UNLV Rebels, the Oregon State Beavers and Northern Illinois Huskies.

• Vegas is a bad team. The Rebs lost even worse to Washington State 59-7 and a home loss to Hawaii 40-20.
• Oregon State lost to Sacramento State! ‘Nuff said.
• The Huskies beat Army but lost to Kansas – who was just destroyed by Georgia Tech
  

The latest challenge for the Badgers? The mighty Coyotes of South Dakota! I guess we will have to wait until October 1st when Nebraska Cornhuskers pay a visit to Camp Randall Stadium.

The Vanderbilt 31-7 win over Ole Miss was no fluke. The Commodres (3-0) were faster and much better disciplined. The Rebels made many mistakes and generally looked lost. This is not the same Vandy team that went 2-10 the past two seasons. I see no reason why they cannnot get to 6 wins and a bowl game. Future Wins: Army, Kentucky, Wake Forest. Losses: Alabama, Arkansas. Potentials upsets: South Carolina, UGA, Tennessee, Florida.

After trouncing poor little Missouri State & the New Mexico Lobos, Arkansas struggled against below par Troy (0-2) team. The Razorbacks built a 24-0 first half lead but that score was deceiving. The Trojans played them pretty tough but missed too easy filed goals (31 and 32 yards).  Troy has had five straight 8-win seasons which include four bowl games. This team is  supposed to be one of their weaker ones. I wonder if the Hogs just decided the game was over at 31-7 and decided to relax. That is the sign of an undisciplined team. Troy roared back but lost in the end 38-28.

Which way did he go?
North, Nick DB Illinois Fighting Illini
Northern, Justin OL Fresno State Bulldogs
Northern, Zach LS Baylor Bears
Southward, Dezmen DB Wisconsin Badgers
Southward, Shawn RB Troy Trojans
East, Andrew LS Vanderbilt Commodores
West, Chad DL Cincinnati Bearcats
West, Cody QB Navy Midshipmen
West, Dylan WR Tennessee Volunteers
West, Forrest DE North Carolina State Wolfpack
West, Jarrod WR Syracuse Orange
West, Jarvis WR Iowa State Cyclones
West, Nick QB Cincinnati Bearcats
West, Patrick LB Houston Cougars
West, Zach OL Kentucky Wildcats

As Auburn proved, a team can come out of nowhere and win the National Championship.

The way I see it, 2011 is a three horse race between Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma. It will become a two horse race after November 5th when LSU travels to Tuscaloosa. I expect the winner of that game to go onto New Orleans and beat the Sooners.

The rest:
Boise – Schedule is too weak. The only way they get in the big game is if all the big boys have 2 or more losses.
Stanford – I know everyone is in love with Andrew Luck, but his head coach is gone and historically hyped players have a less than stellar follow-up season: Mark Ingram, Tim Tebow, Jake Locker, etc.
Florida State – With a weak ACC, the Seminoles could sneak in there if they beat Oklahoma.
Oregon – After losing bad to LSU, it’s going to be tough to get back in the mix.
Arkansas – if they can go undefeated (Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Auburn. MSU, S Carolina) they deserve the BCS birth.
Wisconsin – The Badgers could sneak in the back door behind NC State transfer QB Russell Wilson but they will have to go through Nebraska and back-to-back road games versus Michigan State and Ohio State. Then there is the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game.
Nebraska – The Cornhuskers basically the same story as Wisconsin but have OSU & MSU at home. October 10th in Madison, WI will be huge.

Alabama: The defense did not give up their third first down until the 4th quarter when all the freshmen and walk-ons were in the game. The offense should improve once Duron Carter debuts this week and Darius Hanks next week. Superfrosh Cyrus Kouandjio is a starter by Week 4.

Arkansas: Joe Adams had two electric punt returns for touchdowns. However, part of the credit goes a lame undisciplined Missouri State team. Tyler Wilson looked pretty good at QB but Ark had 102 rushing yards.

Auburn: Last year, they made a lot of daring escapes. This year, there is no Cam Newton to help out. Auburn may have already used up this season’s allotment of luck.

Florida: Urban Meyer leaving Florida was a good thing for them. Will Muschamp will turn the program around but don’t expect them back in the top 2 any time soon. The Gators are my dark horse pick for the SEC East title.

Georgia: Everything about this match-up was bad news for the Bulldogs – the uniforms were stupid and distracting to the players; UGA was looking ahead to South Carolina; UGA did not respect their opponent;  heaping all their hopes on Isiah Crowell was a big mistake; Richt’s recruiting did not address needs. Richt has lost his edge and is not fully dedicated to the program. Time to go.

Kentucky: Rich Brooks had 4 straight winning seasons and bowl games. Last season, UK went 6-7 & a bowl game. Could that have been due to leftovers from the Brooks era? Randall Cobb, Derrick Locke and Mike Hartline are all gone. Joker Phillips’ cupboard is bare.

LSU: I fully expected LSU to beat Oregon but that was due to my lack of faith in Oregon. I fully agree that they are highly overrated despite the way Brent Musberger was gushing over them. No disrespect to the Tigers. They are a legitimate candidate for the big game. The quarterfinals begin November 5 in Tuscaloosa.

Ole Miss: I blame this on the curse of the Rebel Bear. It is so pathetic that Ole Miss gave into the politically correct crybabies and did away with the Colonel. The real curse is Houston Nutt. He can’t coach, he can’t recruit and he is finding it harder to find anyone left to believe his BS. Let the next coach speculation begin.

Mississippi State: The other Dawgs did what you’re supposed to by beating their cupcake du jour. Vick Ballard had a good game. Dan Mullen is doing good things in StarkVegas. He’ll never win big at MSU but 8-9 wins ever year might be enough.

South Carolina: I have been saying all summer that this is Spurrier’s swan song. He is putting it all on the line to win this season before he retires to the golf course. This should be evident in the fact that he has no solution at QB after Garcia finished his seventh year of eligibility. The Gamecocks are good for a couple of trap games. They may win the East but after they are trounced again in the SECCG, it’s tee time.

Tennessee: UT has some rocky roads ahead but step one is beating the teams you are supposed to beat. Tyler Bray will be a beacon of light but not much else after that. If Dooley wants to stick around in Knoxville, he needs to find his “Herschel Walker”.

Vanderbilt: They have excellent academics.