The Big Ten basketball conference takes all types of heat for being boring, sloppy, and a hack fest. The truth is that in a country that is affixed with the high flying exploitsof Lebron James and the rest of the NBA, people can't appreciate the type of basketball that is played in the midwest. The scrappy defense, meticulous offensive sets, and the all out wars that take place in the paint may not be fun to watch, but it is beautiful in its own way. Not to mention that it is very successful in the NCAA Tournament. You wouldn't confuse Michigan St. and Purdue with the Showtime Lakers, but they are two of the best teams in the country. Big Ten basketball is ugly, but expect several teams from this conference to get the job done in March. Big Ten Rankings 1. Michigan St. Spartans 2. Purdue Boilermakers 3. Michigan Wolverines 4. Ohio St. Buckeyes 5. Minnesota Golden Gophers 6. Wisconsin Badgers 7. Northwestern Wildcats 8. Illinois Fighting Illini 9. Penn State Nittany Lions 10. Indiana Hoosiers 11. Iowa Hawkeyes
All-Big Ten Team G - Manny Harris (Michigan) F - DeShawn Sims (Michigan) G - Kalin Lucas (Michigan State) F - Kevin Coble (Northwestern) G/F - Evan Turner (Ohio State) G - Talor Battle (Penn State) F - Robbie Hummel (Purdue) C - JaJuan Johnson (Purdue) G - E'Twaun Moore (Purdue) G - Trevon Hughes (Wisconsin)
All-Big Ten Rookie Team F - Christian Watford (Indiana) G - Darius Morris (Michigan) C - Derrick Nix (Michigan State) G - Alex Marcotullio (Northwestern) G - Maurice Creek (Indiana) G - DJ Richardson (Illinois)
Since the Big East decided to form a basketball mega conference. I have had to constatnly reminded people that this is nothing like we have ever seen before in college basketball. The current incarnation of the Big East is the best conference in the HISTORY of college basketball...and I challenge anyone to make a case against that statement. The 11th best team in this conference would contend for a conference championship in the SEC or the Pac-10...and that isn't being said as an insult to those conferences. The Big East is that good...and the players know it. Is there any conference tournament with the atmosphere of the Big East. That's because the Big East is the best group of 16 teams your going to see until the Sweet 16 in mid March.
Big East Rankings 1.Villanova Wildcats 2. West Virginia Mountaineers 3. Georgetown Hoyas 4. Connecticut Huskies 5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6. Louisville Cardinals 7. Cincinnati Bearcats 8. Pittsburgh Panthers 9. Syracuse Orange 10. St. John's Red Storm 11. Seton Hall Pirates 12. Marquette Golden Eagles 13. Providence Friars 14. Rutgers Scarlet Knights 15. USF Bulls 16. DePaul Blue Demons
All-Big East Team F - Luke Harangody (Notre Dame) G - Scottie Reynolds (Villanova) F - Greg Monroe (Georgetown) G - Deonta Vaughn (Cincinnati) G - Kemba Walker (Connecticut) F - Samardo Samuels (Louisville) G - Mike Rosario (Rutgers) G - Jeremy Hazell (Seton Hall) F - Da'Sean Butler (West Virginia) F - Devin Ebanks (WestVirginia) F - Mac Koshwal (DePaul) F - Lazar Hayward (Marquette)
Big East All-Rookie Team G - Lance Stephenson (Cincinnati) G - Peyton Siva (Louisville) F - Dante Taylor (Pittsburgh) G - Dwight Hardy* (St. John's) G - Dominic Cheek (Villanova) G - Maalik Wayns (Villanova) G - Casey Mitchell (West Virginia) G - Junior Cadougan (Marquette) F - Mouphtaou Yarou (Villanova) *JUCO Transfer
One of the more interesting storylines of this young college
football season has been the play of the Michigan Wolverines true freshman
quarterback Tate Forcier. Forcier, a California native, enrolled at the
University of Michigan in January and quickly wrestled the starting job away
from incompetent incumbent Nick Sheridan. Forcier was essentially the man
at quarterback since day one, and he did not disappoint once the season began. Half way through his freshman season, Forcier
has continually been lauded for his poise and confidence. He has already
engineered thrilling 4th quarter comebacks against Notre Dame,
Indiana, and Michigan St. (a game they would lose in overtime). So when the
Wolverines trailed (12) Iowa by nine in the fourth quarter of their primetime
matchup. I much like everyone else who bleeds Michigan Blue (I grew up in
Michigan) expected more heroics from the freshman some have simply began to
call “The Force”. Unfortunately, “The Force” was never unleashed down the
stretch against the Hawkeyes. Beleaguered Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez decided
to bench his star freshman in favor of another highly touted freshman, Denard
Robinson, a lightning quick run first quarterback from Florida who goes by the
name “Shoelaces” (a tribute to his affinity for playing with untied shoes).
Rodriguez was understandably disappointed with his freshman starter after a 4th
quarter drive began with a delay of game penalty and was executed terribly by
Forcier and the Wolves were forced to punt after three downs. He responded by
turning to Robinson, a move he has made often to ignite the Michigan offense if
it becomes stagnant. As it often has this year, the switch to Robinson
delivered immediate dividends. Shoelaces methodically scooted down the field
for a touchdown against a tired Hawkeyes defense. After the Michigan defense
forced Iowa to punt, I was sure that Forcier would return to provide more 4th
quarter magic. Forcier, a gifted athlete who is talented on the run as well and
a much more polished passer than Robinson, was seemingly born for two minute
drill situations. So please imagine my surprise when “Shoelaces” ran onto the
field for the Wolverines last chance at staying in the race for the Big Ten
title. Forcier, already proven in such situations, remained on the sideline.
Robinson, who does have a very impressive arm, is still terribly one
dimensional at this point in his career. He showed his immaturity by failing to
see a wide receiver open on the sidelines on the second play of the drive.
Instead of hitting Martavious Odoms for a gain of maybe twenty yards and a
stoppage of the clock, Robinson overthrew a pass forced into coverage. The pass
was intercepted and the game was over. Robinson was visibly distraught by his
decision, but he should not blame himself. He was put in a position to fail by
his head coach. I can assure you that when Michigan goes over there two minute
offense in practice…Tate Forcier is not sitting on the sidelines. Rich
Rodriguez, in an attempt to chastise his freshman starter for a bad drive (and
maybe even a bad attitude afterwards), may have ruined the confidence of both
his starter and his backup. The quarterback situation at Michigan will be a ongoing
story for years to come. Forcier and Robinson are both true freshman and
Michigan has a solid commitment (if there is such a thing anymore) from the #1
high school signal caller in the country, Michigan native Devin Gardner. I’m
interested to see how Rich Rodriguez handles his quarterback situation through
the rest of this year and the years to come. I for one think that he has
already gotten off to a bad start.
There is only one addition to the list of five candidates from last week's addition of the Heisman Watch. But statistically, he could be the favorite. Welcome Texas wide receiver Jordan Shipley to the list after his 11 catch performance against Colorado that included a TD on both offense and special teams. Shipley has been the front runner for the Biletnikoff Award for so long that it only seems right that he eventually ease his way into the Heisman race. He is a significantly better candidate than the fraudalent Jimmy Clausen, who is receiving most of his Heisman hype from the Notre Dame media machine while Golden Tate (a member of my Heisman Watch list) does the heavy lifting. The list of Heisman candidates has grown to six and does not even include the current owner of the trophy (If you want love from Amateur Status...you got to beat Texas next week). Here's a rundown.
Tim Tebow was less than impressive in a 13-3 victory over (4)LSU.
Colt McCoy looked less than stellar before (3)Texas came back from down 11 early to throttle Colorado.
Tony Pike and Golden Tate both had bye weeks
Case Keenum got the win and the 400 yards he needed to stay relevant in this conversation. He must continue to provide fans with ridiculous statistical outputs to stay on the minds of voters.
Here at Amateur Status I don't waste time when it comes to putting out my Top 25. As soon as the last game is over, I go to work on the next poll. So here it is...
Lots of new names on the Top 25 list. (25)CMU may stay in this poll for a while. I don't think the Chips will lose a game the rest of the year. Oklahoma still won't be receiving any love from this poll. It is way to early for a Top 25 team to have two losses...injuries be darned. There are too many teams that are having good seasons right now. If Bradford can engineer a Red River Shootout victory...you'll see him and the Sooners in the poll.
EA Sports just released some information about their latest college basketball title. The game, which features Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin on the cover, is expected to launch in November in time for the holidays. It looks good.
Here's the link along with some videos about the game's ESPN and CBS dual presentation integration. NCAA Basketball 10 will be the first game to feature two different network presentations on the same game.
The Heisman Memorial Trophy is one of the most prestigious awards in all of organized sport. After five weeks of games, these are the five players that have stood above the rest as candidates to win the Heisman Trophy.
Tim Tebow (Sr.) Quarterback - Florida Next Game at (4)LSU The legend of Tim Tebow will grow even larger if he can return from the first concussion of his career and lead the Gators to a victory over LSU tomorrow night. I hate to admit it, but Tim Tebow may be the best player to ever put on a college football uniform. I can't see him losing this award unless he is sidelined by injury.
Golden Tate (Jr.) Wide Receiver - Notre Dame Next Game vs (7)USC *10/17 Being Jimmy Clausen has to be great. Clausen has etched his name into the Heisman conversation over the first five weeks of the season based on a simple game plan of throwing deep and waiting for Golden Tate to catch it. While some prognosticators may be fooled, I am not. The real Heisman candidate in the Notre Dame locker room wears #23....not number #7. Tate has made every difficult catch all year, and has been a threat to score every time he touches the ball.
Colt McCoy (Sr.) Quarterback - Texas Next Game vs Colorado At this point in the year, McCoy is coasting on his talent and the fresh thoughts of his amazing 2008 season. He sits in 3rd place right now, strictly off the basis that he has not yet played anyone notable this season. McCoy can overtake Tebow if the living legend stumbles against LSU and the Horns can get wins over Oklahoma, Oklahoma St., Missouri and Texas Tech.
Case Keenum (Jr.) Quarterback - Houston Next Game at Mississippi St. The only reason why Keenum makes this list is because he threw for an ungodly amount of yardage in that confusing shootout loss to UTEP. The defense let down Keenum big time a week after they came up huge at Oklahoma St. and Texas Tech. Keenum can stay in the race by knocking off Mississippi St. from the SEC this week, continuing to register 400 yard passing games, and most importantly...winning the Conference USA. Another loss would take him out of consideration for good.
Tony Pike (Sr.) Quarterback - Cincinnati Next Game at (23)USF *10/15 Tony Pike is a relative unknown and he hasn't done anything relatively noticeable this season...except lead a Bearcat offense that has been machine like through the first five games. The schedule heats up after the bye week when they get USF in Tampa with the Big East lead at stake. If Cincinnati runs the table, we will see Tony Pike in New York for the holidays.
The great thing about the Heisman race is that it changes from week to week. So don't get to comfortable with any of these names...well Tim Tebow will be here no matter what...but dont get attached to the other ones!
You saw the best teams. Now we showcase the best players...these are the All-Americans
First Team All-Americans C - Cole Aldrich (Kansas) F - Luke Harangody (Notre Dame) F - Kyle Singler (Duke) G - Greivis Vasquez (Maryland) G - Kalin Lucas (Michigan St.)
Second Team All-Americans C - AJ Ogilvy (Vanderbilt) F - Patrick Patterson (Kentucky) F - Craig Brackins (Iowa St.) G - Sherron Collins (Kansas) G - Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)
Third Team All-Americans C - Jerome Jordan (Tulsa) F - Evan Turner (Ohio St.) F - Tyler Smith (Tennessee) G - Manny Harris (Michigan) G - James Anderson (Oklahoma St.)
------------------------------------------------- First Team Freshman All Americans C - DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky) F - Derrick Favors (Georgia Tech) F - John Henson (North Carolina) G - Xavier Henry (Kansas) G - John Wall (Kentucky)
Second Team Freshman All-Americans C - Mason Plumlee (Duke) F - Renardo Sidney (Mississippi St.) F - Keith Gallon (Oklahoma) G - Avery Bradley (Texas) G - Lance Stephenson (Cincinnati)
Third Team Freshman All-Americans C - Daniel Orton (Kentucky) F - Ryan Kelly (Duke) F - Dante Taylor (Pitt) G - Abdul Gaddy (Washington) G - Kenny Boynton Jr. (Florida)
For the record, Wally Judge (K-State) and Dominic Cheek (Nova) were also considered as potential Freshman All-Americans. They will both be stars for their respective schools in their first year. Devan Downey (SC), Jerome Randle (Cal), and Damion James (TX) just missed out on being All-Americans.
If you came here for college hoops, sorry to keep you waiting. The college basketball season is less than a month away and it will be exciting as always. Here is the Amateur Status Pre-Season Top 25, the first of many posts that will be previewing the upcoming season.
1. Michigan St. Spartans 2. Kansas Jayhawks 3. Villanova Wildcats 4. Kentucky Wildcats 5. Texas Longhorns 6. Purdue Boilermakers 7. Washington Huskies 8. West Virginia Mountaineers 9. Tennessee Volunteers 10. Duke Blue Devils 11. North Carolina Tar Heels 12. Georgetown Hoyas 13. Butler Bulldogs 14. Michigan Wolverines 15. Mississippi St. Bulldogs 16. Ohio St. Buckeyes 17. Connecticut Huskies 18. Maryland Terrapins 19. California Golden Bears 20. Notre Dame Fighting Irish 21. Boston College Golden Eagles 22. Louisville Cardinals 23. Siena Saints 24. Tulsa Golden Hurricane 25. Memphis Tigers
I'm pretty sure that a lot of people don't have Washington that high, but guards win National Championships and UW has plenty of good ones.
Anybody who ever played football in either high school or college knows that the day before gameday is always the day of the walkthrough, probably the most pointless thing that anyone does as a football player. At some point, someone decided that men who are capable of running at world class speeds should get ready for a football game by walking around in basketball shorts for a hour before going home and forgetting that the past sixty minutes ever happened. This walk through will be a little more helpful.
I'll begin by noting that Nebraska beat Missouri last night 27-12 with a dominating stretch of football early in the 4th quarter that made Blaine Gabbert look like Chase Daniel's backup instead of his replacement...but on to Saturday's action.
Depending on your internet service provider, you should be able to catch a very good game out of the SEC right at noon. (17)Auburn travels to Arkansas with hopes of staying unbeaten. You can watch the game at ESPN360.com
Also available on ESPN360.com is a noon matchup between Boston College and (5)Virginia Tech. The Golden Eagles are quietly 4-1 and have been a thorn in the side of the Hokies in recent regular season meetings. I'm putting the Hokies on upset watch this week.
After ruining my Wolverines perfect season last week, the Michigan St. Spartans better not lose to Illinois tomorrow. The Big Ten Network (BTN) has the coverage at noon.
Georgia and Tennessee meet at Rocky Top at 12:21pm for reasons I can't explain. Let's see if Lane Kiffin can talk up a win this week. ESPN360.com has the coverage once again.
The 12th Man could see the Aggies get a big win tomorrow when (15)Oklahoma St. visits Texas A&M sans suspended All-American Dez Bryant. The Cowboys are also on upset watch.
(13)Oregon and UCLA meet at the Rose Bowl for ABC's west coast regional coverage at 3:30pm. A Oregon win keeps them on track to return to the Rose Bowl later in the year. A UCLA win would force me to ask the question...HOW THE HECK ARE THEY 4-1?!?!
(3)Alabama travels to Oxford to take on Jevan Snead and (20)Ole Miss. This will be the biggest test to date for the Tide. A win by the Rebs would put them back on the SEC map that they abruptly disappeared from after losing to South Carolina. CBS has the coverage at 3:30pm.
The game most of the nation will see on ABC at 3:30pm is (how the heck are they not ranked! They're a 5-0 Big Ten team for crying out loud!) Wisconsin vs (9) Ohio St. at the Horseshoe. I'm picking the Badgers in this game because Terrell Pryor just doesn't impress me as much as he impresses others. Also, did I mention that Wisconsin is unranked at 5-0?
Sam Bradford will start for (19)Oklahoma when they welcome Baylor for their annual mismatch. My thoughts...Why rush him back for a game you have NO CHANCE of losing? ABC has the regional coverage at 3:30pm
Uconn and Pitt are also ABC 3:30pm regional coverage. Whoever wins this one at Heinz Field gets to last another week before being exposed.
If Stanford beats Oregon St. in Corvallis, they will definitely be ranked next week as a 5-1 team with no Pac-10 losses. However, if the Beavers protect their house, they will be right in the thick of a muddled Pac-10 leaderboard. Kickoff is at 7pm.
(22)Georgia Tech plays Florida St. at the Doak, but only God knows which set of Seminoles will run through the tunnel. GT running back Jonathan Dwyer is probably hoping for the Seminoles that showed up for a near loss to FCS Jacksonville St. ESPN2 has the coverage at 8pm
The Michigan Wolverines will occupy the pink visiting locker room at Kinnick Stadium tomorrow night when they battle the (12)Iowa Hawkeyes in ABC's 8pm primetime offering. I just think that this game has "Tate Forcier 4th quarter comeback" written all over it. Yes, I believe the force is strong in this freshman.
CBS goes primetime (8pm) for a battle of SEC titans when (1)Florida visits (4)LSU under the lights in Baton Rouge. First off, lets be serious. EVERYONE KNOWS TIM TEBOW IS GOING TO PLAY IN THIS GAME. Stop lying to yourself to add drama to the situation. Clearly this is the Amateur Status game of the week. I think Florida wins it.
Joe Shad broke this story a few hours ago on ESPN.com
You can read the report for the details of the story, but I would like to focus on another aspect of this ordeal.
Anyone who works in the field of college sports will tell you that corruption runs rampant through nearly every sport (football and basketball especially). So why is it that the NCAA has decided to end Oklahoma St. wide out Dez Bryant's season over a lunch that he paid for himself and a light jog? The answer has two parts. First, the lunch and the jog were with future NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and secondly...Dez Bryant lied about it.
There is nothing illegal about the initial detail, but it can make the NCAA suspicious. The relationship between pro athletes and college amateurs is volatile because often the mediators of such encounters are agents. At this time, it is believed that Bryant did not break NCAA rules by meeting with Sanders. Still. it is the latter portion of the answer that carries the explanation for his penalty. Despite doing nothing wrong, Bryant lied about meeting with Sanders altogether, leaving him at the mercy of the traditionally merciless NCAA. Now he faces a long wait before playing another football game, and his 3-1 Oklahoma St. team may lose the chance to ever see him suit up in orange and white again.
While it was totally unnecessary for him to lie about his completely legal relationship with Sanders. I totally understand why he did. The NCAA has always been a big time whistle blower on small time issues. They are much quicker to stumble upon a post lunch jog than they are to catch a basketball player who didnt take his SAT (Well, I'm sure Derrick Rose and Robert Dozier think the NCAA has great timing). The fact is that Bryant lied to the NCAA because he did not trust the system that he works under as an amateur athlete. He viewed his actions as a precaution and not a violation. I am very concerned about the fact that athletes feel this way about the establishment that has been commissioned to protect them. The disturbing issue in this story has nothing to do with Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, or Deion Sanders. The players have lost their faith in the NCAA...and the treatment of Dez Bryant has further fractured that relationship.
Here's a small dose of what Dez Bryant is capable of on the football field...
I LOVE MID MAJORS! I support them everytime they play a BCS Conference team unless it be Michigan or Michigan St. (I was not thrilled by the big time upsets that have been turned in recent years by the likes of App State, Toledo, and most recently Central Michigan...). There is very good football being played in conferences outside the BCS, and people need to be aware of it. With that being said, enter the ASMM Top 10.
1. Boise St. Broncos (5-0) 2. TCU Horned Frogs (4-0) 3. Houston Cougars (3-1) 4. BYU Cougars (4-1) 5. Utah Utes (3-1) 6. Idaho Vandals (4-1) 7. Central Michigan (4-1) 8. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (4-1) 9. Colorado State Rams (3-2) 10. Fresno State Bulldogs (1-3)
That's not a mistake. Fresno St. is in fact 1-3, but they have lost three close games to teams that rank in my top 15 (two of those teams, Boise State and Cincinnati are in my top 5).
The Top 25 poll at Amateur Status works a little different than most. I actually have this crazy idea of basing my rankings off of the results of actual football games! This means that a team such as Houston probably would not be ranked behind Oklahoma St. the week after beating them on their home field in my poll. The same can not be said for the AP Poll or the Coaches Poll...and don't even get me started on the BCS. Anyways, here's the poll...
Welcome to the blog. I won't waste much time with an introduction. The content will speak for itself.
(24)Missouri hosts (21)Nebraska tonight in Columbia to kick off Week 6 in college football (technically, the week started on Tuesday when Troy knocked off Middle Tennessee St. 31-7...but who really cares about Sun Belt football?). So the "Amateur Status Top 25" and the "Weekly Mid Major Poll" will debut shortly. Also, be on the look out for college basketball preview posts that will appear throughout the month of October as we gear up for college hoops season.
11. Iowa Hawkeyes
