Despite the fact that I believe Cody deserves the award, he will not get my 1st place vote, as I want to maximize the points for the most deserving candidate out of those that actually have a chance to win. Here is my ballot, bottom to top.
5. Kellen Moore, QB - Boise State. He leads the nation in passing efficiency with a 172.49 QB rating. He has thrown for a nation leading 32 touchdowns, despite 214 fewer passing attempts than second place Case Keenum of Houston (31 TDs in 514 attempts compared to 32 TDs in 300 attempts for Moore). Plus, Moore deserves to get some votes to offset the fact that Boise State has absolutely no chance to play in the BCS championship game, despite its undefeated season (although it should be in a BCS bowl game, likely the Fiesta again).
4. Terrence Cody, DT - Alabama. Please see this column, where I exalt the virtues of Mr. Cody.
3. Mark Ingram, RB - Alabama. Ingram is Sinickal's selection for Heisman at this point, and a strong case could be made for Ingram, as he is 5th in nation in rushing yards and, more importantly, leads the SEC in rushing. He has 1297 yards at a 6.7 yards clip. However, he only has 10 touchdowns, which is significantly less than other top Running Backs, and Alabama's offense is not that scary in total, anyway. He looks like he will be phenomenal next year, and an early season Heisman favorite. However, this year, he isn't even the best running back. That title belongs to ...
2. C.J. Spiller, RB - Clemson. Spiller only has 836 yards rushing this season, but he also has 382 yards receiving, and 1.2 million return yards. (OK - only 734 yards). He also has 4 return touchdowns this year. You read that correctly - 4! And in every game he plays, he is the best player on the field. But he isn't the only multi-threat player in the game. The best multi-threat player in the game is also my Heisman winner to date. This year's Heisman Trophy should go to ...
1. JORDAN SHIPLEY, WR - Texas. Shipley has the statistics: 81 receptions (6h in the nation), 1,096 yards (5th in the nation) and 8 TDs (14th in the nation), as well as 303 punt return yards and 2 punt returns for TD. But more importantly, he is in control of every Texas game. You may turn on the television to watch Colt McCoy, but your eye will migrate to the apparently always open Shipley. He is the one guy every Longhorn opponent has to account for, otherwise it will be a long game, and Texas opponents have had several long games.
Notice that none of my top 5 include the pre-season top 3 of Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow.
Onto the rest of the college football world.
MY NEW FAVORITE PLAYER
DeAndre McDaniel - S - Clemson - I still think that Eric Berry is the best safety, and most likely the best defensive player, in the NCAA, but I have seen McDaniel play 2 whole games, and snippets of others. He is a ball hawk in the true sense of the word, He has 8 interceptions, but he also has 70 tackles, showing he isn't afraid to stick his nose into the running game.
PREDICTED BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME MATCHUP
Alabama v. Texas - Not sure anybody can stop Texas, and obviously, barring a huge upset of Alabama by Auburn or Florida by Florida State, the SEC Champion will be in this game. Right now, that looks like Alabama.
WHAT SEMI LIKELY EVENT TCU, BOISE STATE AND CINCINNATI NEED TO OCCUR THIS WEEK
My assumption of Iowa losing occurred. So now that they are out of the picture for the Championship, TCU, Boise State and Cincinnati all need this to occur this week (Keep in mind other parameters can be met in subsequent weeks, this is just for this week).
Kansas, whose players rally behind Coach Mangino, halt a 5 game slide and defeat Texas. Let's face it, this is much more likely that Chattanooga defeating Alabama or Florida International defeating Florida.
PREDICTED BCS BOWL GAMES
BCS Championship Game - See Above.
Fiesta Bowl - Boise State v. Penn State
Orange Bowl - Georgia Tech v. Cincinnati
Rose Bowl - Oregon v. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl - Florida v. TCU
The Fiesta Bowl will need a big travelling team to counteract Boise State's presence. Penn State is just too attractive of a candidate. Much more attractive than Iowa or Pittsburgh. Oklahoma State could be an option if the beat Oklahoma next week, but without Zac Robinson, that is much less likely.
The Orange Bowl is hoping for a Georgia Tech victory over Clemson in the ACC Championship game. That could pit an undefeated Cincinnati against a one-loss Georgia Tech team. Remember Cincinnati beat Virginia Tech here last year. Of course, Cincinnati needs to beat Pittsburgh in the league, and season, finale to qualify as the Big East Champion.
The Rose Bowl will pit the Big Ten Champion (Ohio State) versus the Pac-10 Champion (likely Oregon, but Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona still in the mix - with Arizona and Oregon playing this week.
The Sugar Bowl will take the SEC second place team (in my scenario Florida), and pit a one loss SEC team against the likely undefeated TCU.
TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK
C.J Spiller has 4 total return touchdowns (both kickoff and punt returns combined) this season, and 7 for his career. What is the NCAA record for most return touchdowns in a career, with at least one touchdown return for kickoff and punt? Bonus if you can name who holds the record. Place your guesses in the comments.
LAST WEEK'S TRIVIA ANSWER
Last entry's trivia question was, "USC was torched by Oregon on Halloween evening, October 31. Losing on Halloween allowed USC to keep one streak alive. How many consecutive games have the Trojans won in the month of November?" The answer was 28, before last week's obliteration at the hands of Stanford.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
3. California v. Stanford - Not only is this a big rivalry game, Stanford needs it to stay in the Pac-10 championship hunt.
2. Oregon v. Arizona - Oregon can win the Pac-10, and they are simply exciting to watch. Arizona has come out of nowhere.
1. Harvard v. Yale - THE GAME! Enough said.
No comments:
Post a Comment