We all have our favorite teams. We are most optimistic before the first kickoff. After all...our teams are undefeated. Many wonder why certain teams seem to always get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to media coverage and votes in the polls.  They have to lose their way out of the top 25 instead of win their way in.  Why does Notre Dame or Southern Cal only have to show up and the media wets ...

Who doesn't love a wonderful trip down Memory Lane? Well, a Michigan fan for one, when the walk leads them back to reliving the nightmare that was their 2008, three win, nine loss season. Yes, you did have three glorious wins a year ago (Miami (OH), Wisconsin, and Minnesota), but what fun would it be for me to revisit those? Exactly right—none. So, that being said, I'm a Buckeye fan so allow me to lead the choir as we ...

It's official. The depth chart for the 2009 season has been posted at broncosports.com. Barring any extreme circumstance, these will be the starters next week against Oregon. Here is a breakdown of the new Bronco lineup. Offense QB - Kellen Moore RB - Jeremy Avery/D. J. Harper FB - Richie Brockel WR - Austin Pettis/Titus Young/Tyler Shoemaker TE - Tommy Gallarda LT - Matt Slater LG - Will Lawrence C - Thomas Byrd RG - Kevin Sapien RT - Michael Ames Not a lot of surprises in the "skill" positions, ...

Spring practice opened some Alabama fans' doubting eyes that this could be a great team. The influx of rookies working so well in summer drills made some reconsider that the loss of Andre Smith and John Parker Wilson would be devastating. Now with drills, fundamentals, and conditioning behind them, Nick Saban sent a blunt message to the team: "It's time to get back to work." With the summer sessions behind them, now comes work on not preparing ...

After their recent and most successful season, Texas Tech University found itself in quite a conundrum. Wanting to keep their head coach, but fighting to keep themselves from overextending a lucrative contract to a coach that hasn’t produced an outright Big XII South title, Big XII title or even a BCS bowl appearance. Yet, Tech still wanted Mike Leach at an astronomical price, and Leach stated publicly he wanted to continue his program in Lubbock. Outcries came ...

In 2008, Maryland football was one of the most unpredictable teams in the country.  They had four wins over ranked teams, yet they also lost to Middle Tennessee State and were blown out at Virginia.  At the end of week 12, Maryland had a shot at winning their division.  They lost their final two games and ended up tied for third place in the division, with a 4-4 conference record and a 7-5 overall record. Maryland fans ...

It was a glimpse into the future on Friday night, as the Florida Gators' top quarterback recruit traveled north with his team from Venice, Fla., to Chesapeake, Va., where they would take on Alabama's top quarterback recruit and the Oscar Smith Tigers. Trey Burton is the quarterback of Venice and is widely considered by Gators fans to have a very bright future and a solid chance of being a successor to the great Timmy Tebow. Tebow will ...

Some big shoes to follow... As the "real new year" begins to unfold also known as  College football 2010 and here we are about a week from now Alabama takes the field at the dome face to face with the Hokies for a little dance to kick off the season of football. This is one area of the athletic department that gets paid to focus on the future and not the day at ...

Earlier this year, my esteemed Bleacher Report colleague, Ben Bomberger, did a slideshow on The 10 Hottest College Football Fanbases. While it was a terrific list, I decided to trot out a newer, longer version with college football so close around the corner. I tried to stick with Ben's formula as much as I could. That meant trying to avoid models and cheerleaders as much as possible and focusing on the real girls, the fans who ...

Now that the off-season Rubicon has been forded and my mourning for Michael Jackson has ended, our attentions can turn in earnest to college football preview magazines and pre-season prognostication. Like many of you, I will purchase several terrible college football magazines with outdated information (Jarvis Humphery’s development at DT will be key for the ‘Horns!), poor analysis (2008 Preview Headline: Can West Virginia prevent the inevitable Ohio State/Georgia national title game?), and uninspired writing (_____ ...