NCAA Football 2013-2014 discussion

Damn, y'all caught on to the Manning Camp Fiasco a little late! If he were my son, I'd have been disappointed in him, whatever the excuse.

For the record, he's 20, turning 21 after the regular season is over. And really needs the season to start back up so everyone can remember what we love about him.

Johnny Football is such a lame nickname. I'm thinking A&M could sell a lot of t-shirts by coming up with a new nickname. Even just bring back an oldie like Johnny "The Snake" Manziel.

My money is on Saban getting AJ to drug Johnny repeatedly, causing him to miss those meetings. The bad press is just part of a plan to undermine the Aggies from the inside out.

Carlbear95 wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

Go Cal! Knock off some national champ hopefuls, would you?

Well if we knock them all off then someone will have to do the same to us

Do they play LSU this year?

i38warhawk wrote:

Johnny Football is such a lame nickname. I'm thinking A&M could sell a lot of t-shirts by coming up with a new nickname. Even just bring back an oldie like Johnny "The Snake" Manziel.

Sorry, but Ken Stabler has eternal rights to that nickname.

So what's wrong with Johnny Football? I think I like it mostly for the irony factor.

What's the irony?

When I first heard of Manziel, he sort of seemed like (to me, anyway) Johnny Unitas. The name "Johnny" is pretty old school, and Unitas is about as old school as they come. (A&M is a pretty old school place, too, when you get right down to it.) The nickname "Johnny Football" seems like something out of the '50s.

As it turns out, however, Manziel is very much a modern athlete. He's a tremendous and very visible talent who's getting caught doing a lot of dopey stuff and is the subject of overwhelming public attention. That's the irony.

Texas A&M is super old school, but we say "Old Army".

It's "good bull" to be "red ass" and "old army".

The headline actually said that Manziel lied to his mom and Manning, but nothing in the story alleges that. I'm thinking Manziel has the makings of an NFL wide receiver, because he is all diva. If her performs on the field, everthing will be forgiven and forgotten. But if he has a slow start, he just chucked away every benefit of the doubt he ought to have.

http://t.foxsports.msn.com/report-ma...

Rumors and Rants says a source claims Manziel was not in his room, where he said he overslept and missed a meeting before being "sent" home from the academy. The site alleges Manziel was not even in the room Friday night, instead an hour away on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

Rumors and Rants says Archie Manning had already been told that Manziel was out until at least 4 a.m. Saturday. According to the story, Manning gave the quarterback a chance to fess up, but Manziel lied to Manning, and was then asked to go leave the camp.

The site reports the actual force behind the forced exit was Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, not Manning. The former Tulane coach reportedly made the assigment schedule for all quarterbacks at the camp and was done with Manziel, who a source told the website was the only person at the academy to fail to live up to his obligations.

Teevens is said to be the person who told Manziel it was time to leave.

Big weekend for the Hogs, really big weekend! Picked up five recruits causing a 36 spot jump in the 2014 rankings.

Biggest get was this kid, Jovan Pruitt OL. Can't wait to see the offensive line Pittman and Bielema put together in a couple years.

I'm surprised Jayhawker hasn't given us Charlie Weis' new recruiting pitch for Kansas yet:

He's referring to the Jayhawks' football team as a pile of crap.

Truly, truth is stranger than fiction. Not even gonna post a lol icon here. Just, wow.

I think his pile of crap comments have been largely well received in Lawrence. I don't think it matters to anyone how out of context the media will play it up.

It puts pressure on current players to improve, and it highlights Weiss' willingness to give new players a shot when the past several seasons have been a pile of crap.

He's been saying the same thing repeatedly over the last few months as he has been visiting several cities on a fundraising drive.

Like most of Jayhawk Nation, I've loved what Weiss has done, and I hope it starts to pay dividends.

Hey, I'll be cheering for them several times this fall!

Possibly every time, even, depending on how rankings are shaping up.

Hey, I beat Texas in my OD for NCAA 14. I then proceeded to get spanked 63-10 by OSO.

Apparently it's SEC day on ESPN. They've had a parade of coaches through their morning talk shows, radio talk shows, and sportscenter.

Hope the other conferences are getting a day this week. Wouldn't want to show bias in news coverage would they? :p

Stele wrote:

Apparently it's SEC day on ESPN. They've had a parade of coaches through their morning talk shows, radio talk shows, and sportscenter.

Hope the other conferences are getting a day this week. Wouldn't want to show bias in news coverage would they? :p

You're forgetting that the "E" in "ESPN" doesn't stand for "journalism."

Can't say I blame ESPN for the hype. There's the NFL, the SEC and then pretty much everyone else.

Stele wrote:

Apparently it's SEC day on ESPN. They've had a parade of coaches through their morning talk shows, radio talk shows, and sportscenter.

Hope the other conferences are getting a day this week. Wouldn't want to show bias in news coverage would they? :p

Just today? I tend to think of that network as sEcSPN during the fall.

Abu5217 wrote:

Just today? I tend to think of that network as sEcSPN during the fall.

It's a little blatant when they have coaches actually in the studio. Even Stoops, showcasing UK's 0-8 SEC record last year and talking about how spring game attendance is a great indicator that things are improving...

Stele wrote:
Abu5217 wrote:

Just today? I tend to think of that network as sEcSPN during the fall.

It's a little blatant when they have coaches actually in the studio. Even Stoops, showcasing UK's 0-8 SEC record last year and talking about how spring game attendance is a great indicator that things are improving... :lol:

They couldn't get much worse!

I heard they weren't even covering Big 12 Media Days live! Last week it was wall to wall SEC Media Days, with half the time going to Johnny Manziel's alarm clock!

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I heard they weren't even covering Big 12 Media Days live! Last week it was wall to wall SEC Media Days, with half the time going to Johnny Manziel's alarm clock!

You heard wrong. I just heard Jesse Palmer on ESPN giving Weiss a lot of credit for his pile of crap statements. He said it was a message to all players that they are always being evaluated, and their replacements are always being sought.

And most of what I have heard from ESPN today is mocking the SEC's lame eight game schedule that creates easy paths for the top teams in the SEC every year.

Jayhawker wrote:

And most of what I have heard from ESPN today is mocking the SEC's lame eight game schedule that creates easy paths for the top teams in the SEC every year.

But ... but ... but ... every game in college football is important!

Damn, Conference Warz got here early this year.

Let the fans from the Big 10, PAC, and ACC point the finger of easy paths. The Big 12 can complain when they return to having a championship game. Delos Dodds, the longhorn AD, has gone on record about how positive it is for them to have an easier path with no championship game.

In case anyone needs the obvious pointed out, the Big 12 teams play 9 conference games. So do the two SEC teams who make the SEC Championship game, which, barring a freak year like 2011, are the only two teams whose paths are relevant to this debate.

Also, thank FSM that this is the last year of no playoffs. Can't wait for next year's four-team playoff between Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, and Texas A&M.

PS I see you, badferret!

All things being equal, 10 teams seem to be a perfect size for basketball, and other than an uneven number of home and away games, perfect for football. But in the current climate, the Big 12 does need to move back to 12 teams and play a championship game.

The Big 12 blew it by waiting on Louisville. Had they taken them when they had the chance, the ACC would be weakened, and the Big 12 could have added another team from the ACC, or even gone big with FSU, Clemson and another. They held off on Louisville, thinking that FSU and Clemson were bigger fish, and that was dumb. Louisville has been steadily improving their football program for years, and they have an awesome basketball program, both of which rake in revenue.

But once Louisville went to the ACC, and the ACC locked everyone in with Grant of Rights clauses, the path to 12 was hurt. I suspect the Big 12 will continue to wait for more developments instead of adding from the AAC. With 10 teams, the Big 12 are making bank, and will continue to see their TV revenue grow. The real difference is Bowlsby, who runs the Big 12 like a business wanting to grow smartly. He may have missed on Louisville, but he's been pretty up front about preferring to error on the the side of staying small.

They put nine out of ten into bowl games last year. They are dividing up a nice chunk of change. He will wait to see if the Big 10 and SEC decides to pry away some teams from the ACC, and then consider expanding. I don't think grabbing AAC teams would help the brand.

I got a tweet from Cal that in fact the Pac-12 will have an ESPN media day in Bristol. Sonny Dykes and I presume the rest of the Pac-12 coaches, are on their way. The official Pac-12 media day is on Friday. Not sure where that will be covered outside of the Pac-12 network, but unless Dykes has the answer to "who's your quarterback" there's probably going to be nothing new to discuss.

Haven't really commented on the Michael Dyer to Louisville rumors. But Grantland had this article today, The redemption, and rebranding, of Michael Dyer and it has an interesting line:

Dyer has picked one — a big, D-I school, he said, where he can play starting next month. "It's a school where he can replicate and duplicate," said Hill.

Coach Strong was asked some questions at a luncheon a couple days ago but danced around the topic. If the kid really has it together, could be a great add. Sounds like we'll hear something soon either way.

Stele wrote:

Haven't really commented on the Michael Dyer to Louisville rumors. But Grantland had this article today, The redemption, and rebranding, of Michael Dyer and it has an interesting line:

Dyer has picked one — a big, D-I school, he said, where he can play starting next month. "It's a school where he can replicate and duplicate," said Hill.

Coach Strong was asked some questions at a luncheon a couple days ago but danced around the topic. If the kid really has it together, could be a great add. Sounds like we'll hear something soon either way.

I've followed Mr. Dyer for what seems like a decade. Good luck with him. All I know is that Arkansas wanted nothing to do with the guy. He's a great football player though and was big part of Auburn's success in 2010. MVP of the championship game if I recall correctly. Hope for his sake he's turned his life around, but this isn't his first second chance. If he has it'll be a good pickup for Louisville.

After watching a lot of the SEC media day, I am totally stoked for LSU's season! Or is it I am dreading it like the plague? I forget...

simpilot wrote:

After watching a lot of the SEC media day, I am totally stoked for LSU's season! Or is it I am dreading it like the plague? I forget...

I think LSU is the hardest team in the SEC to predict this year. I've heard Tigers say both "We lost to much to compete this year" and "We just reload."

Fun random fact: Students at A&M may not use the word "reload" until their senior year. This is but one of many such rules.