DDT’s preseason Top 10, the Pyramid of Power, includes two squads from the best conference in the country, the Big 12. Everybody plays everybody, one true champion. The SEC West places three teams in the premier group, with Arkansas our Cinderella candidate. The Big Ten has two teams in the mix, and the Pac12 and the ACC each have one.
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| Program from Texas/Texas A&M game, Nov. 29, 1934 |
Missing from preseason love are UT/State Capitol and the Texas State Boys and Girls Home for Farmers and Mechanics, two old rivals who no longer play each other and who, last year, didn’t live up to expectations for BCS Power Five contestants. But, contrary to the Beatles tune “Can’t by me love,” both have opened the satchel of endowment and hope that money will buy the kind of love that only big wins will bring.
“Are you kidding?”
UAB is returning to the football field in 2017. DDT sez, “Are you kidding?” In the 18 years since UAB went DivOne, they only had three winning seasons and lost the only bowl game in their history to Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl (2004). Since then, they’ve had no winning seasons before wisely deciding to drop football after last year. Now they’ll take two years off and start all over again.
In a state where “Roll Tide” and “War Eagle” have been emblazoned in stone and placed on plaques outside courthouses along with the Ten Commandments, UAB is delusional if they dream of success. DDT suggested that UAB might as well change their mascot from Blazers to Rebs and start waving those Confederate flags again to which came the reply, “Are you kidding?”
But DDT already said that. Another football program in the state of Alabama? “Are you kidding?”
Bubble coaches:
Big 10:
Fired Aug. 28, Tim Beckman, Illinois: First casualty, and the season hasn’t even started. The bubble is getting thinner. Beckman was just 12-25 at Illinois since joining the Fightin’ Illini four years ago. Mistreatment of players is the reason cited for Beckman’s dismissal.
According to CBS Sportsline, “The biggest reason for this is because athletic director Mike Thomas is in hot water himself. He's the one who hired Tim Beckman, and Illinois' football program isn't the only athletic program at the school dealing with problems right now. There's a very good chance that Thomas could find himself out of a job in the coming weeks or months, so the person who hires the next Illinois football coach might not be an Illinois employee yet.”
“O” coordinator Bill Cubit will take over as interim. Real Estate agents in Champaign, c’mon down. A lot of assistant coaches will be putting homes on the market.
Too bad because both Ohio State and Wisconsin are on the Illini the schedule and both games are in Champaign. A win in just one of those could have insured Beckman and his staff’s future.
Also in the Big 10:
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern: Back-to-back to back-to-back mediocre seasons. And what was all that about a player’s union? Just what we needed—locker rooms full of sea lawyers.
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: Slightly above average at 34-30 in the past five years, but the Hawks haven’t really challenged Ohio State, Michigan State or Wisconsin as Kings on the Mountain in the Big Ten in a while. It has been three years since they beat Michigan State and five years since they reached a major bowl. Fortunately they don’t play Ohio State or Wisconsin in the regular season. Like Mack Brown and R.C. Slocum, nice guys who won big once upon a time and may have continued to win had alumni been patient, Ferentz may soon hear the expression “What have you done for me lately.”
Kevin Wilson, Indiana: Only 14-34 with the Hoosiers. Should we remind readers that IU is a hoops school? Or was. The hoops program is on the decline, too. Bring back Bob Knight, that’ll stir things.
PAC12:
Mike Leach, Wazoo: The Pirate has not produced a winning season since taking over three years ago (12-25). It’s a tough conference and elevating the pod 100 times-or-so a game is not enough.
Big 12:
Paul Rhoades, Iowa State: Five straight losing seasons, even though bowl games in two of those (even with 6-7 records) kept hope alive. That and wins over in-state rival Iowa in three of those years helped.
ACC:
Dave Doeren, NC State: Big promise coming off winning seasons at Northern Illinois, but little production, so far. The ACC, which might have taken a back seat to the MAC when Doeren came over, has now joined the big dogs. This is no longer your Gramma’s ACC.
Mike London, Virginia: Only one bowl game and a record of 23-38 in six years in a league where Florida State has raised the bar. ACC squads can’t hide behind basketball anymore. Word to London is: Get there, baby. Major bowl, big payout or “Sayonara.”
Al Golden, Miami: He shoulda taken the Penn State job when it opened after JoePa's passing. Northeast guy, coached across the state from Nittanyville at Temple, coat and tie on the sideline. Polished. But no! he decided to stick it out at Bad Boy U. Now with a record barely above .500 in four years, two bowl losses, and with declining attendance at home games, Golden takes a seat on the bubble.
And last but not least
Brian Kelley, Notre Dame: Like the abiding sun, the Grim Reaper is always on the horizon for the head coach at Notre Dame. ND hasn’t had a coach with an overall losing record since Joe Kuharich went 17-23 (1959-1962). All since then have won more games than they lost, but with the exceptions of Parsegian, Devine and Holz, who won national championships, all were found lacking.
Kelley made the championship game on 2012 but would have been better off staying home that weekend because ‘Bama abused the Irish. Badly. Since then, ND has had to settle for the Music City and Pinstripe bowls after 9-4 and 8-5 seasons. Kelley needs to have a big year; otherwise, he’ll join Weis, Willingham and Davie as post-Holz era coaches who had winning records but were banished for not bringing home the Grail.
Big 12 in just a few words
TCU and Baylor are kings of the Big 12. A disappointing non-con schedule will hurt BU in the Final Four discussion, if they’re still around then. But TCU’s extra-conference slate is not much better with only Minnesota on the schedule as a credible opponent. Fortunately, the Frogs and Bears play on the final week of the regular season, which, assuming both are still in the national hunt (maybe even undefeated), should give the conference a boost with the playoff committee if the winner can impress.
OU remains steady as a solid runner up.
KState, as long as Bill Snyder is there, will always be a threat. Who else but St. Bill could recruit to Prairie Dog U. at Manhattan and keep the Wildcats in the hunt?
West Virginia must get their feet on the ground coming off four losses in their last five games last year, including a bowl loss to TAMU. But with a lot of lettermen back, they could be a spoiler. Back-to-back road games against Baylor and TCU in mid season will probably determine their fate.
Texas is on the rise but has much to prove and, with a season opener against Notre Dame, does not have the luxury of time for development. The future begins Sept. 5 in South Bend for the ‘Horns.
Okie State is in flux. After a five-game losing streak last year, order was restored with a win over OU and a bowl victory, but the Cowboys must continue on the upward path to insure Mike Gundy’s future.
Texas Tech could be fading fast as the promise of Kliff Kingsbury is in question. This season may be KK’s last in Lubbock if the Raiders don’t slash and burn.
KU and Iowa State will never be much of a threat to anybody but each other.
The two top picks are obvious, but with Heisman candidate Trevon Boykin in the cockpit at Ft. Worth, DDT sez the Frogs are the fav.
Of cockroaches and the like
Said Darrell Royal: “It’s not what cockroaches carry of and eat, it’s what they fall into and mess up.” DDT’s upset minded ‘roaches who could spoil it for the favs are West Virginia and Texas. If WVA has anything at all, they won’t lose two in a row on the road against BU and TCU. And watch Texas in weeks three, four and five against OkieState, TCU and OU in that order. After ND on the road in week one, then those three in September and early October, the ‘Horns, should they be tempered of steel, will show it. Otherwise, they may be proven to be tempered of soft-boiled eggs, which is how they finished last year with embarrassing losses to TCU and Arkansas.
The Academies
Navy: The Middies joined the American Athletic Conference this year, which may be manageable because they don’t have to play Cincinnati and UCF, the two powers in the loop. But they still have to play Notre Dame on the road in non-con play. Traditional rivalries with Army and Air Force remain set. Middies should win both of those, maintain possession of the Commander in Chief’s Trophy, and go bowling again.
Army: The Knights wisely scheduled a couple of FCS creampuffs and three BCS mid-majors, which might insure a few more wins, but they also have to play Rutgers and Penn State from the Big Ten, the latter on the road. A 6-6 record would be considered a good season for the Cadets but that would have to include a win over Navy, who they haven’t beaten in 13 years. A 1-13 season would be considered good, if the “one” was a win over Navy.
Air Force: Feast or famine in Colorado Springs. The Falcons were 2-10 in 2013 but turned it around in 2014 and went 10-3 with a bowl win. Graduation hit hard and the Blue Boys are picked no better than 5th in the Mountain West Mountain Division. Back-to-back road games with Michigan State and Navy in weeks three and four will be demanding.
“If a man is a quitter, I’d rather find out in practice than in a game. I ask for all a player has so I’ll know later what I can expect.” -Bear Bryant
First comment this season from a reader:
What?? No comments of whether Art Briles knew or didn't? Will Ken Starr invoke the same unrestrained investigatory style as Chancellor of Baylor University (aka Jerusalem on the Brazos) as he did in pursuing the Clinton's or will he simply pray Art Briles indiscretions away?
The irony, of course, if Briles had simply stepped up and said something like, "Look, I knew the young man was troubled but felt like he deserved a second chance. I felt like giving him an opportunity at a location closer to his home - and the focus our institution could offer might enable him to overcome personal challenges and excel as an individual as well as an athlete." But no, instead Briles chooses the path of the weasel (or possibly Sgt. Schultz of "Hogan's Heros" - 'I know nothing, NOTHING!" Or is it as some theorize, Art Briles is bulletproof with Baylor at the top of the Big 12?
DDT: Indeed, prayer is the answer. But, as you suggest, "top of the Big 12," not to mention Top 10 in the country. Forgiveness should come easy, unless, of course, the Bears start losing. Then it all comes to bear (pardon the pun).
