How bad could it get for the Sooners? They started out with reasonably high hopes this year, but the fates have conspired against them and they are just 2-2. After seeing them lose to a good but not great Miami team you really have to wonder how bad it could get for this team. A lot probably depends upon the status of Sam Bradford, but I think it has been clearly established by now that he doesn’t have the tools to work with that he did last year. Just looking at the schedule, I find it hard to believe right now that they will beat Texas. Kansas is playing very well right now, and they get the Sooners in Lawrence, so Kansas wouldn’t even have to pull off a major upset to win that one. Nebraska is also playing tough, and also gets to host Oklahoma. They also have to travel to pesky Texas Tech. And then the season ending game against Oklahoma State looms. I don’t want to suggest that it is going to happen, but it is certainly possible that a team that started the season ranked third overallcould wind up as bad as 6-6. 9-3 or 8-4 seems more likely, but no matter what this is not how Sam Bradford saw this season going when he decided to come back.
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Month: October 2009
The Jets are mortal after all – I’ve been feeling all along that it is important to look at the Jets with context. They have been impressive on both sides of the ball, but it wasn’t going to be sustainable through all 16 games. That just wasn’t possible given that they were working with a totally rebuilt defense and a rookie quarterback. I don’t want to suggest that things are bleak or hopeless for this team – far from it. I just think that the setback against the Saints should remind us that our expectations for teams need to be reasonable or they will be costly.
Here are the storylines that stand out for me this week in college football action:
Michigan (+2) at Michigan State – The Spartans have been terrible so far this year. The Wolverines have yet to play on the road, and have gotten worse defensively as the season has progressed. This is a big rivalry game, and one team is going to wind up very disappointed.
South Florida (-6.5) at Syracuse – Was last week’s stunning upset a fluke, or is B.J. Daniels ready to do big things at South Florida. And will GregPaulus continue to take strides forward?
Alabama (-16.5) at Kentucky – We saw what the Gators did against Kentucky last week, so this is a way to get a very rough estimate of how the top two teams in the SEC measure up.
Penn State (-7) at Illinois – Both teams need to bounce back from embarrassing performances last week. Illinois really needs to find a way to pull off a win this week in an attempt to get a once promising season back on track.
UCLA(+6) at Stanford – One of these teams has a good chance of being a factor in the Pac-10 race. This game will give us a good sense of which one.
LSU (+3) at Georgia – I really don’t believe in either of these teams. A decisive win by one of them would be a sign that they achieve their rankings. For now, I think both are badly overrated.
Washington (+13.5) at Notre Dame – The Irish need a convincing win over someone to prove themselves. Washington needs to bounce back from last week and prove that their USC performance was no fluke.
Oklahoma (-7.5) at Miami – Will Sam Bradford play? How well? Can Miami bounce back from last week’s humiliation, or are they exhausted from their ridiculously tough opening string of games?
USC (-5) at Cal – Two weeks ago you could have argued convincingly that this game was for a spot in the BCS championship. Now it’s next to impossible to know what we have from either team. This could be a great game, or it could be a train wreck, but it will be interesting either way.
Houston (-16) at UTEP – I will be watching Houston closely all the way through this season. They have a couple of impressive wins already, so if they could remain undefeated they could create a real headache for the BCS. Besides that, they are just so much fun to watch.
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