Ebb and Flow

Five teams dominated the 70's- Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama and USC. The 80's gave way to the likes of Penn St., Miami and Notre Dame. The 90's saw Miami back out and make way for Florida St. and Nebraska. The new millenium has seen total dominance by USC and Florida. Sprinkled in you'll get a dose of Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio St., or Alabama. But one thing is certain, what goes around comes around. Did Alabama ever really disappear from off the scene? Maybe they weren't relevant for a few short years under that Shula kid, but that was a short window. USC went hiding for a couple decades until they found a coach who knew how to take advantage of the perfect geographical location of the school and turned it back into a dynasty. Why hasn't UCLA been able to do that? Why isn't Auburn synonymous with college football championships instead of Alabama? Why is it that Nebraska and Oklahoma- with nary a beach or a belly shirt within 1,500 miles of their campus- are able to have continued success (with spurts of ineptitude sprinkled in from time to time, mind you) over programs like, say, Kansas, Colorado or Iowa?


Don't say it's tradition...programs have to CREATE their own tradition at some point, and it starts with two things: a man and a vision. That man may be a coach, an AD or a president. It doesn't matter who it is, as long as he is able to project that vision and sell it to others who are willing to buy. And then the hard work begins. With vision comes discipline and unwavering standards that don't bend and they certainly don't break. Offensive styles may come and go, quality athletes may walk in and out of the university's doors, but those standards are what BUILD a tradition from scratch and keep it going through the lean times as well as the times of plenty. The schools that flounder after a year or two into anonymity are the ones who have generally failed to put people in place who will uphold the standards at whatever cost necessary. Or worse, no clear standards are ever put in place to begin with. We are witnessing programs who are starting out on their path to a winning tradition by consistently achieving excellence over the past few years- Utah, TCU, Boise St, Oregon, BYU, among others. And in some cases, programs are putting a chokehold on their place in history by abiding by the same unwavering standards. Florida is the first program that comes to mind there. Other programs continue to waste their opportunity to build winning traditions by coming in through the out door. You can't have double-standards and be a consistent winner- eventually you become a house of cards. Once proud programs like Notre Dame, Florida St., Auburn, Arkansas, Michigan, Tennessee and others have traded their football birthright for a bowl of porridge when they bring people into the program who aren't willing (or in some cases able) to uphold the standards that were originally put in place. In some cases, those standards have been completely trampled under foot by the new regime. As a Nebraska native and football fan I witnessed it first-hand when a man who refused to acknowledge the standards that were put in place decades before him by honorable men hired another man who, quite frankly, had no interest in even LEARNING what the standards were, let alone abiding by them or having his players or staff abide by them. Luckily those days seem long gone...but their effects bleed over for years, sometimes even decades, and are never entirely erased from the history books. I find it fascinating to watch the ebb and flow of college football programs and seeing which ones get it right year after year while others just can't seem to get out of their own way. Onto the games!


Texas vs. Texas A&M
A month ago I would have looked at this game and said it would be close. However, McCoy is simply a different player than he was a few weeks ago. This team doesn't seem to playing tight anymore and that spells trouble, real trouble- as in we're gonna be down by 4 touchdowns by halftime trouble- for A&M, (who, by the way have been one of the most consistently inconsistent programs this year in college football history!) Texas won't be looking forward to Nebraska- until halftime at least. Texas 49 Texas A&M 13


Alabama vs. Auburn
Not much intrigue on this one- at least not on the outside. Auburn is going bowling regardless of the outcome, but Bama would probably be out of the BCS picture with a loss, although that's not a given, either. This may be Ingram's best game yet (he's already averaging an amazing 6.8 yds per carry) as he gashes the Tigers' defense for upwards of 200 yards. Alabama 31 Auburn 21


Georgia vs. Georgia Tech
Regardless of the outcome, Richt isn't going anywhere at Georgia. Not for now. But this game could give his program a much-needed lift after sorely underachieving this year. Tech is on their way to a showdown with Clemson and I don't think Georgia will have an answer for the triple option. This game will be physical and unrelenting but the wasps pull it out. Georgia Tech 44 Georgia 41


Missouri vs. Kansas
Kansas will win this game. No question in my mind as there is just too much pride on the line with all the turmoil going on behind the scenes at Kansas. Missouri is nothing special and Kansas should put up enough points to match the crazy string of performances that Danario Alexander has been putting together lately. Can Kansas really lose 6 games in a row? I don't think they will. Kansas 51 Missouri 45


Florida vs. Florida St.
I like this game...yes it will be Tebow's last home game (tissue, please), yes Meyer OWNS Bowden right down to his 'Depends', and yes the Seminoles have been gloriously unspectacular this year...BUT...does anyone really know which St. team will show up? I know I don't, and I guess I can't count them out completely for that reason. But no way in Hades does Tebow lose his last home game. Nuff said. Florida 37 Florida St. 17


BYU vs. Utah
I love how much these two teams hate each other. It's the best rivalry in college football that nobody knows about (unless you live in Utah or you're a Mormon, that is.) Utah is pretty much who we thought they were, and their freshman QB is playing well and showing signs of a very bright future. BYU, on the other hand, had BCS- heck, even national title hopes after beating Oklahoma- but has been grounded since then with humiliating losses by Florida St. and TCU. Max Hall has had a very good if not great career at BYU, but I would say he's underperformed as a senior and the defense has definite weaknesses. If Utah can rattle Hall he will throw picks. Probably 3 or more. I'm going with my gut on this and picking Utah 35 BYU 27.


Nebraska vs. Colorado
If I was Ryan Miller I wouldn't worry so much about playing to keep his coaches job. I'd actually be much more concerned about not getting physically impaled by one of the most dominant defensive tackles in the history of college football. Miller will be trying to guard Suh in this match-up and even though the Buffaloes are hapless, hopeless and helpless (they were taken off of life-support about 3 weeks ago), this rivalry game is almost ALWAYS a close one and will be decided in the trenches. The Buffaloes will be lucky, however to score 10 points on this defense- and those will probably come off trick plays or a kickoff runback. They're defense is better, however, and will keep them in this game probably until the 4th quarter. Nebraska's offense (aka this year's cardiac kids- I can't take credit for that one) love to keep us fans guessing until about the middle of the 4th quarter, when they decide to steamroll opponents and win the game. Why don't they just steamroll opponents from the beginning of the game, you ask? The reason is, well, it's complicated! I have no idea, but this year, a win is a win and the Huskers will take it and look forward to Texas in the Big 12 Championship game. Nebraska 28 Colorado 10 (I already told you they wouldn't score more than 10 points, weren't you reading?)


Other notable match-ups:
Ohio 31 Temple 30
Pitt 41 West Virginia 34
Oklahoma 35 Oklahoma St. 30
Stanford 57 Notre Dame 35

Upset of the week:
UTEP 51 Marshall 47 And you can take that to the bank!

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Andrew