Maddux Sports Blog

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but if I were I would be looking at the Mountain West conference as prime territory of interest after yesterday. Going into the conference tournament there were two teams n the conference – New Mexico and BYU – that were stone cold locks to make the NCAA tournament. UNLV and San Diego State were both in pretty decent shape as well, but both could have used one more win to solidify their case and take away any nervousness on Sunday. Given their conference and accomplishments, the seeding for New Mexico and BYU is probably relatively secure regardless of what they did in the conference tournament. It just seems a little too perfect, then, that in conference tournament action on Friday UNLV beat BYU and San Diego State beat New Mexico. The two winners got the wins they needed, and the two higher seeds get an extra day or two of rest before unleashing what could be long tournament runs. The administrators of all four schools couldn’t have set up a more perfect scenario if they tried.

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Here are eight things coming to mind tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to start our Super Bowl coverage, so we’ll get this out of the way first:

1. Michigan got the signing day miracle I was hoping for by signing Demar Dorsey. Not a bad class all in all – at least we didn’t lose anyone. Incidentally, Dorsey is an interesting example of how imprecise ranking recruits can be. Dorsey is the 12th ranked player in the country and the second best safety according to ESPNU. In contrast, Rivals has him at 167th overall, and 13th among the safeties. For the sake of my sanity I am going to believe ESPNU on this one.

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As many of you know, tomorrow is national signing day – the first day on which high school seniors can sign their letters of intent for their chosen football schools. It is always a tense, exciting day for college fans everywhere as they hope to keep their best recruits on board and hopefully steal one or two from other places. As a Michigan fan I am particularly nervous about tomorrow. We only have a borderline acceptable class coming in and we have a boatload of needs, so there isn’t room for any problems, and we could really use a miracle or two.

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Glen Davis says that he doesn’t want to be called Big Baby anymore. Instead, in honor to both his jersey and a certain Cincinnati wide receiver, he wants to be known as Uno Uno. I think he is missing out on one part in the whole issue – that he is a big baby. Davis was a beast in college, and promising at times in the pros, but he really doesn’t seem to have the mental makeup or brain power to stay calm and out of trouble these days.

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1. Can someone please explain to me what the NFL offensive player of the year award means. I thought I knew – it seem self-evident – but this year’s voting leaves me totally mystified. Peyton Manning won the MVP award in a landslide because he was far more dominant and effective than any other player. It wasn’t really a debate. I’m pretty sure he’s an offensive player. If he’s the best player in the league then he should, I would think, be one of the best offensive players in the league. Apparently not. Chris Johnson won the award with 38.5 votes, while Manning was third with just 1.5 votes. Johnson won this award overwhelmingly, yet he didn’t get a single vote for MVP. Not one. There’s a logic problem here.

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1. The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that Lane Kiffin is the worst hire a major contender has made in, well maybe ever. He’s proven nothing as a coach, he has absolutely no loyalty or staying power, and recruits won’t trust him as far as they can throw him after what he did to Tennessee. Remarkably terrible decision.

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Update: Forget about everything I wrote below. Reportedly, Lane Kiffin is leaving Tennessee for USC. Apparently the Trojans are determined to suck. Brutal.

There is precisely one thing that, in my eyes, USC absolutely could  not afford to have happen – have the first coach they offer the job to turn it down. That’s just what appears to have happened today, though. Jack Del Rio is reportedly sticking around with the Jacksonville Jaguars for at least another year. He’ was a star linebacker back in the day for USC, and he even won a Rose Bowl MVP, so he has ties to the program even if he doesn’t have college coaching experience. He’s not actually saying that he was offered the job, but the rumors are plentiful enough and strong enough that we can assume he was.

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1. Only eight more months until college football season starts. Am I the only one who has started the countdown?

2. I still don’t like Nick Saban at all, but what he has accomplished is truly incredible. In seven years he has two national championships at two schools, and he mixed in a disastrous stint in the NFL in the middle of that.Saban took over a team that was just 7-6 three years ago, and has now had two amazing years in a row. As much as I hate to admit it the guy is solidly the best coach in the country. He also hurts the argument that people use in favor of guys like my beloved program’s Rich Rodriguez – that they need a couple of years to get their systems in place and let their recruits take over the program. Saban didn’t need that time.

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BCS National Championship
Alabama (-4) vs. Texas
8:30 pm ET

Ten thoughts and questions on this game – the more I think about it the more confused I get:

1. As a Michigan fan I am haunted by the thought of Texas playing in Pasadena. Two years in a row – 2005 and 2006 – Texas won absolutely epic games in he Rose Bowl. They aren’t playing at home, but they will certainly be feeling confident in this building.

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GMAC Bowl
Central Michigan (-3) vs. Troy
7:00 pm ET

I am a big fan of this game. If you have been reading this blog for any time at all then you know that I am very fond of Central Michigan QB DanLeFevour. He’s one of the most exciting and impressive quarterbacks out there, he has set record after record over his four year career, and he deserves far more credit than he has received. This is his last game, and he and his team will be motivated to send him and his explosive offense out on a high note. Unfortunately, Central Michigan has a problem. They have unofficially become Cincinnati’s farm team. Brian Kelly went to Cincinnati from CMU, and now that he has moved on to greener pastures (that’s debatable) the Bearcats have again gone to the same well and hired CMU coach Butch Jones to helm their project. That means that the Chippewas have an interim coaching situation. That worked out okay for Marshall but was a total disaster for Cincinnati.

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