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Breaking Down 2010 Recruiting

Signing Day has come and gone, only to mark the next recruiting cycle that will take place for 2011. But before we get ahead of ourselves and look at the next class of high school seniors, I want to take a look at the signed guys for both Clemson and South Carolina, give a grade to each school and give a projection for the state of South Carolina's top 15 prospects for 2011. Also, I'll give my rating of where the two SC schools rank in their conferences. Clemson The Tigers signed a very small class in 2009, which led many to believe they would sign a monster-sized class for 2010. And the Tigers made good on that expectation, signing 23 players, and this class addresses some needs and and has some pretty highly rated guys. But the one word I'd use to describe this class is fast. According to Rivals, Clemson signed seven guys that ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds or faster. They also addressed what I believe is the biggest need in defensive backs with the losses of many s...

Season Wrap-Up: Clemson and South Carolina

We can put a wrap on the 2009-2010 season for both teams from South Carolina. Both teams showed signs of improvement, and showed areas for improvement. I'll take a look at both schools, give a grade to their seasons, areas of improvement, and outlook for 2010-11. Clemson Tigers The Tigers did well under first year coach Dabo Swinney. They did something they never did under Bowden, punch a ticket for the ACC Title game. They also featured an electric duo in CJ Spiller and Jacoby Ford. Looking at the season, they beat almost all the teams they were suppose to, but the loss to Maryland is a glaring black mark on the record. The two losses to Georgia Tech also hurt, because one cost them the ACC title and a shot at the Orange Bowl. In fact, if Clemson could've beat South Carolina, this might have been considered one of the best seasons in Clemson history. Also, QB Kyle Parker improved throughout the year using the weapons he had. The defense was good as well, led by DE Ricky Sapp, ...

Bowl Picks 2009-2010

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It is that time. Time for the bowl season to kick into gear. Though I would love nothing more than a playoff like D1AA, D2, and D3 college football, the BCS is the system we are stuck with. So, let's make the best of things and pick some games. For the final week, I'll look at the National Title game, the Papajohn's.com Bowl and the Music City Bowl. National Title Game (Jan. 7 @ 8 pm) 1 Alabama (13 -0) vs 2 Texas (1 3-0) For the first time, we may have a legit number 1 vs number 2 for the national title. Alabama made a statement last week when they dethroned the defending national champion Florida Gators in the SEC title game 32-13. Texas didn't have quite of an easy road last week in the Big 12 title game against Nebraska. Whether you think the Cornhuskers got robbed (which they did) Texas won the game on a last second field goal 13-12. But none of what happens matters. All that matters is what they bring to the table that day. Three to Watch Longhorns Colt McCoy (Qua...

College Playoffs for 2009-2010

Here come the bowls. And before I give my bowl picks in the next blog, I'd like to examine a playoff for this year in D1A college football. We had 5 undefeated teams close out the year, so wouldn't this have been the perfect year for a playoff. Heck, if Texas would've lost to Nebraska (the Cornhuskers were robbed in the last second) we would've had a big ole mess that only a playoff could've solved. So here we go. First, take all the conference champs in D1A. ACC: Georgia Tech Big 10: Ohio State Big 12: Texas Big East: Cincinnati C-USA: East Carolina MAC: Central Michigan Mountain West: TCU Pac-10: Oregon SEC: Alabama Sun Belt: Troy WAC: Boise State Now for the hard part, making it a 16-team field. So, we need 5 at-large teams. This is the only part of the selection process that is flawed. The best way to do this is use the final rankings. So, after looking at the 5 slots, here are the teams that round out the field. 1-Florida 2-Iowa 3-Virginia Tech 4-Nebraska 5-Sta...

Championship Week

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Well, I've been off a while, and after a sickness and other circumstances, I'm back just in time for Championship Weekend. This week's games started early when Oregon beat rival Oregon State in the Civil War, and punched their ticket to the Rose Bowl and a Pac-10 title. The Ducks will be facing off against Ohio State, the Big 10 Champs. But now, we have some big time title games in the SEC, Big 12, MAC, C-USA and ACC. First, the Big 12 Title game. The Big 12 Title game this year features 3 Texas facing 21 Nebraska. The Longhorns are led by Colt McCoy, and the Hiesman hopeful who is doing next to everything on offense. Not only is he completing over 70% of his passes, but he has surpassed 3,000 yards passing with 27 TDs to 9 INTs (a 9:1 ratio). He also is the second leading rusher on the team. The Cornhuskers are a tough, hard-nosed team led by their defense. The leader of that particular unit is a dark-horse Heisman hopeful in defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh. Suh is a gam...

All-SEC and All-ACC selections

The season is done, and now it is time for the bowls. This also brings up the All-Conference selections for the ACC and SEC. Both conferences will have a first and second team, and without further ado...here they are. SEC (1st Team) QB-Ryan Mallett (Ark) RB-Mark Ingram (Bama) WR-Julio Jones (Bama) WR-Greg Childs (Ark) OL-Mike Johnson (Bama) OL-Ciron Black (LSU) OL-Mike Pouncey (UF) OL-Markice Pouncey (UF) OL-Lyle Hitt (LSU) TE-D.J. Williams (Ark) WR-A.J. Green (UGA) K-Drew Butler (UGA) Specialist-Tim Tebow (UF) DL-Carlos Dunlap (UF) DL-Terrance Cody (Bama) DL-Malcolm Sheppard (Ark) DL-Kentrell Lockett (Miss) LB-Eric Norwood (USC) LB-Brandon Spikes (UF) LB-Rolando McClain (Bama) CB-Javier Arenas (Bama) S-Chad Jones (LSU) S-Eric Berry (UT) CB-Joe Haden (UF) P-Drew Butler (UGA) (2nd Team) QB-Stephen Garcia (USC) RB-Ben Tate (Auburn) RB-Anthony Dixon (Miss State) WR-Riley Cooper (UF) OL-John Jerry (Miss) OL-Drew Davis (Bama) OL-Jacques McClendon (UT) OL-Mitch Petrus (Ark) OL-Lemuel Jeanpie...

I'm sick of Tim Tebow Part 2

Here we are again: Throw the 4 letter network into a turmoil, the Golden Boy has got a concussion. The story is on Tim Tebow (again) and his injury he sustained in the Gators past game when Taylor Windham sacked Tebow. Now, I'm not one to jump up and down because he got injured....I actually hope he makes a full recovery and plays in two weeks against LSU. But come on ESPN! Tebow got a concussion and will be fine in a few days with rest. The hit wasn't malicious, just a good, hard, clean hit on the QB. The shot of him being carted away in an ambulance was almost comical. It made me think a head of state getting hurt, but is was just a college football player. What's worse is that ESPN is paying very little to no attention to two serious injuries. Southern Cal's Staphon Johnson got his throat crushed in a weight-lifting accident where he was performing a bench press, lost his grip, and had the bar fall onto his neck. Did I mention that his injury called for a reported 6...