NCAA Football 2013-2014 discussion

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We need a new catch-all for a new year. In deference to all of our poll-haters (and really, who doesn't hate a pre-season poll? Look at what happened to last year's pre-season #1!), I will refrain from posting any super-early pre-season rankings.

You can probably guess who I'm picking to win this year, though.

Alright alright, I'm here.

Teddy vs Johnny: go. :p

Stele wrote:

Alright alright, I'm here.

Teddy vs Johnny: go. :p

Can Johnny win 4 Heismans? That's the real question.

Didn't he redshirt last year? So if he wins a 2nd one, he'll be 21 and eligible to leave. Seems like he'd go.

That's a legitimate concern. I hope not, but his off-field ballin' will be much more acceptable in the NFL. Our AD just had a sit-down with his parents about "with great power comes great responsibility".

And since I said I would go Manti Teo on Teddy B this year, here's wishing him more INTs than Teo had in 2012! Cheers!

#ItsAlwaysSonnyinBerkeley
#BearRaid

Coincidentally today is the early deadline to renew Cal season tickets to get an Aaron Rodgers bobblehead doll! I agree with the uselessness of preseason polls, but I wouldn't be shocked if Cal ends up with a top 5 SOS. 3 opponents will likely start in the top 10, if not top 5 with Ohio State, Oregon and stanfurd. We also play Northwestern, Oregon State, and UCLA and if those guys aren't in the top 25, there's a good chance USC or UW could be.

New coaches, new QB, fastest player in the Pac-12 as our #1 RB (yeah, I said it, DeAnthony Thomas fans). Our O-line can't be worse than last year (already have 4 OL commits for 2013) and hopefully our Defense doesn't resemble Dykes' defenses at LA tech.

I'm paging through the 2012 thread a bit, and found it interesting that the pre-season coaches poll had both A&M and Louisville as Others Receiving Votes - and as we all know, USC was ranked way at the top (#3 Coaches, I think #1 AP).

'Tis truly better to finish well than to begin well!

Hello thread. I feel that you are relevant to my interests.

Gig them, sirs.

Mostly just here to subscribe to the new thread but here's some topical entertainment for your amusement.

Roll Tide.

Oregon will have a new coach in 2013 - Chip Kelly has gone to the Eagles.

I wouldn't mind seeing Oregon take a step back, in terms of them recruiting similar players, running a similar offense, and having similar hopes.

Hang on to your coaches.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Oregon will have a new coach in 2013 - Chip Kelly has gone to the Eagles.

I wouldn't mind seeing Oregon take a step back, in terms of them recruiting similar players, running a similar offense, and having similar hopes. ;)

Wow. That was unexpected! Given the way he said he was staying, this is pretty shocking. Gotta be tough on Oregon and their fans.

On the other hand, this could make things very interesting. Not only do we get to see how Kelly adapts his approaches to the NFL, but he'll do it with Michael Vick on his roster.

McFinn wrote:

Hang on to your coaches.

Yep. Sumlin got a nice raise when he came here, but his 2012 salary was below-average for an SEC coach.

Now that he's one of the hottest coaches in the land, he's in the process of getting a raise, but I'd like to have seen that done already. Granted, they may not be quite able to finish that until he hires all the assistants he needs to replace the ones who were hired away after the season (in all cases, they were hired to higher positions, not just more money).

I'm going to be a bit nervous about Sumlin until he's getting $4MM a year.

Thoughts on Chip Kelly.

#1 - The first comment I saw on the website where I read this article said, "And Oregon bowl ban in 3... 2... 1...".

There could be truth to this. It's possible Kelly is leaving Oregon because he knows something bad is going to happen with regards to the 3rd party recruiter they dealt with.

#2 - I wonder how much control he has over the Eagles. In order to run the entire program he runs (intense, short practices, the playcalling, the spread) he'd have to have a certain level of buy-in from the players. And the ability to remove players who aren't with the program.

DSG -

1) That's why I was surprised when he didn't take an earlier offer. The NCAA told Oregon that things were going to be more serious than their self-imposed sanctions.

2) That's the real question for college coaches moving to the NFL. You think you can boss around Peyton Manning? What are you going to do, bench him? Not that I peg Peyton as a bad actor, but you understand what I'm saying.

Very weird. Thought the college carousel was done.

Stele wrote:

Very weird. Thought the college carousel was done.

Well, in the sense that Oregon has a successor in place, it's less crazy than it could be. They'll probably have some changeover in assistant coaches, but I bet a lot of places are still working that out.

I think the direct correlation you can draw to Kelly is Jimmy Johnson who also demanded total control over practices, sucked for a few years, and had an owner who was behind him.
Who knows if Kelly gets that at Philly for the two or three years it will take to make that system work.

Double post for double the knowledge.

Well well, I agree this must mean something has come to light regarding possible NCAA action with Oregon. As shocked as I was that Kelly stayed in the first place I'm almost equally shocked at this departure after being so adamant he was staying. Maybe he took a call from Pete Carroll now that the seahawks are out and he convinced him to get the hell out of dodge. Definitely makes the pac-12 north very interesting as I think the North is significantly more talented than the south even if Oregon is ineligible. If a few more players from oregon jump ship or try for the NFL, I'm guessing the door is wide open for stanfurd to repeat as pac-12 champions.

Of course hope springs eternal, and if that means Cal is only trying to get ahead of 4 other teams for a shot at the Pac-12 championship game, all the better for us!

Kinda creepy...

That some Usual Suspects madness, except for one theory that was posted as a comment that I'm just going to crib since it's how I feel:

SomeDeadspinCommenter wrote:

I really really really hope this was a horrible obnoxious publicity stunt, because if it was a poor Mormon guy trying to stay on the DL with a "long-distance gf" and the narrative got away from him, this article could really jack up his life.

A friend of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo told us he was "80 percent sure" that Manti Te'o was "in on it," and that the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua's death with publicity in mind. According to the friend, there were numerous photos of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Te'o together on Tuiasosopo's now-deleted Instagram account.

The sheer quantity of falsehoods about Manti's relationship with Lennay makes that friend, and another relative of Ronaiah's, believe Te'o had to know the truth. Mostly, though, the friend simply couldn't believe that Te'o would be stupid enough—or Ronaiah Tuiasosopo clever enough—to sustain the relationship for nearly a year

Wow. So either he's an idiot, or in on the scam. Either way, Te'o doesn't look good.

Iridium884 wrote:

That some Usual Suspects madness, except for one theory that was posted as a comment that I'm just going to crib since it's how I feel:

SomeDeadspinCommenter wrote:

I really really really hope this was a horrible obnoxious publicity stunt, because if it was a poor Mormon guy trying to stay on the DL with a "long-distance gf" and the narrative got away from him, this article could really jack up his life.

Am I the only one thinking worst beard ever?

I can't help but think this is exactly the kind of ruse you'd use to cover up a relationship you didn't want your family (or church) to discover. If not, some screenwriter just had a script handed to them.

With apologies to firesloth, who is possibly having the worst January any sports fan has ever had:

Screw Manti Teo, screw everyone who voted for him, and screw Notre Dame, who already released a press release covering for him.

The short version is that he's the victim of a fraud, rather than a fraud himself.

Now, this isn't as bad as Notre Dame covering for the two alleged rapists on the team; it's more like par for the course.

My best two jokes so far:

2) And I thought he was a fraud in the national championship game!

1) They're perfect for each other, because when I watched the national championship, I didn't think Manti Teo existed!

At least AJ McCarron's girlfriend is real, even if her body is not!

How is Teo not in on this? Is this one of those "I have a girlfriend in Canada / Summer Camp" relationships?

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