This is somewhat random, but what the hell right? Right? No? Whatever, this is my blog and I'll post it if I want to. (post it if I want to, post it if I want to. You would post too if it happened to youuuuuu. Duh-du-du-dun-dun...)
I've run down my Top 5 Non-ND teams that I want to see do well this year. Various reasons, somewhat outlined below. Yes, again, random. I know. At the least, this shows you who out there I don't outright hate (well, that's not really true - I hate #5.) Don't get me wrong, Notre Dame stands alone in my view of the College Football World, but I do have respect for some programs, and there are some good storylines out there that make me want teams to succeed this season. Here are a few of them.
Almost Made the List: G. Tech (cuz I like Coach Johnson and Tech tends to operate above the frey a bit), V. Tech (cuz they had a rough year last year with the shootings and all that), Cal (because they're always THIS close to being good, and they're not USC), Stanford (bc I kinda like Harbaugh and they do things the right way - they didn't make it because their band mocked my Pope. So suck it Cardinal.)
Top 5:
#5) Michigan State
Okay, the only reason I put MSU on here is that I have a bet with my UM nemesis DTK about MSU beating UM. I clearly want ND to trounce MSU, especially after the flag-planting garbage and all that El Smith stood for (Yes, MSU will forever be linked to John "The El Train" Smith for me, regardless of who is coaching. Deal.) Frankly, I want MSU to lose every game all year, except for when they play Michigan (sucks!). Because then I win the bet. And, in the end, a loss for Michigan is a win for all that's good in the world.
#4) Duke
Okay, this is a sad place to put my hope. It really is. It's just not gonna happen (at least not this year) and we all know it. But Duke tries to do things the right way, and Cutliffe is a good guy. So, I'm hoping that the Blue Devils can at least pull out a few W's this year.
#3) Navy/Air Force/Army
I always root for the Academies when they're not playing ND. These guys have much bigger things to worry about, and they're doing us a great service. Plus, they do 200 push-ups and then go to class and then do more push-ups and then work their day job and then have practice and then do more push-ups and then study and then sleep (and do push-ups in their sleep). They deserve some Wins. Go USA!
#2) Youngstown State/Ohio/Troy
It'd be nice to see one of these teams knock Ohio State off early in the year. Teach these 'title contenders' to schedule teams like this to sneak into a NC game. Just ain't right.
#1) West Virginia
WVU got crapped on by their coach, who stole his entire staff and tried to steal $4M and some recruits when he left. And then this nice guy Bill stepped in as the head coach. Is Bill 'qualified' (in the traditional sense of the word) to take over this squad? Probably not. But I think Bill is a good guy, with a lot of belief in his team and his program (and West By God Virginia!) and so I hope he does well. With Pat White and Noel Devine in the backfield in the vastly improved by still fairly weak Big East, he's got a good shot at it. Added bonus in that WVU winning makes RichDick look like an even bigger tool while he struggles to .500 in a weak Big Televen.
Who else out there deserves non-hatred?
*at least once
By domer.mq July 28, 2008 - 7:57 pm
I’m really hoping GaTech does well in Johnson’s first year. The guy has thus far managed to be exactly the sort of guy I want a football coach to be.
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By trey July 28, 2008 - 9:25 pm
Texas A&M – By all accounts, Mike Sherman is a good guy who cares about the kids he’s in charge of. not to mention the university itself has a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE fan base and a great tradition that has been crapped on in recent years because of the success of UT.
Colorado – like A&M, tradition rich and a long run of bad years. That was NEVER a clipping in any sense of the word, let me get that out there. However, I’d like to see CU come back to prominence.
Miami – Dont you hate this school? Me too, but Thug U really brings a big following like ND. And like ND, college football is better when Thug U is good.
Auburn – WAR EAGLE!!
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By The Biscuit July 28, 2008 - 10:16 pm
Nice call trey with A&M. CU I wouldn’t mind, but I disagree about Miami. While everyone wants a ‘bad guy’ to be good again so you can hate them even more, I’d prefer for Thug U to stay down, down down. Too bad for us (well me, not you), Shannon seems to know what he’s doing. At least in recruiting.
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By Elkona July 28, 2008 - 10:17 pm
Just my thoughts on your thoughts:
MSU — I’d choose being put under a bright white light without blinking while watching Desmond Howard’s 4th down catch on a never-ending loop with Kirk Herbstreit narrating before watching Sparta win anything.
WVU — Any university whose president awards an unearned MBA to the daughter of a former governor has no business getting self-righteous about the decision of a football coach to go play his game someplace else.
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By The Biscuit July 29, 2008 - 1:20 am
Elkona. Fair enough on MSU. If my bet wasn’t involved, I’d be with you.
I don’t blame coach Bill or the players or any of the students at WVU for what the President did. And that said, I certainly can be righteous about it. And I am.
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By gwzimm July 29, 2008 - 8:18 am
I’d like to see Appalacian State win all their games…..I love those guys for what they did last year. My sons and I got ASU T-Shirts to wear when we go near a UM grad who lives down the street.
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By Pops July 29, 2008 - 9:29 am
No worries about posting whatever your want, Biscuit. That’s what these blog things are for, right? Plus it gave me something to read at the office, which is always a good thing.
I’m a big fan of your number 2. I’ll definitely be rooting (even though it will likely be a lost cause) for the Penguins, Bobcats, and Troy when they square off against tOSU. Could you imagine entering the ticket lottery as a student there and drawing one of those games? It’s borderline embarrassing.
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By DeepTeaKup July 29, 2008 - 11:48 am
Elkona,
I have an auotgraphed 8×10 of Desmond’s 4th down catch hanging on my wall at home.
Biscuit, all hatred for UM and RichRod aside, how can you say what he did was “stealing the staff”. Assistant coaches work for HC’s, you telling me that all of those assistants would have been kept if they hired from outside the program.
I think your favorite UM blog (mgoblog) said it best, congrats WVU you just hired Bobby Williams (more MSU references). A nice guy coach that the players love who had a big win after the HC left for greener pastures. Stewart could work out, but do you really think WVU may not regret hiring a special teams coach who bombed out in his only other HC job.
In terms of this post, I second the A&M sentiment. Texas as a state should be good enough to support 2-3 top 20 CFB teams.
I really hope Washington does well this year too, good HC and how can you not like the way their QB plays the game.
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By The Biscuit July 29, 2008 - 12:13 pm
Nice Washington dig DTK. Good HC. HAHAHA. You are funnnnnnny.
You’re 100% right on the assistants thing – I just needed more examples of his stealing things – that was a stretch. Guess I should’ve said “cheerleaders’ virginities” instead…
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By trey July 29, 2008 - 12:47 pm
I wanted to put Texas Tech and SMU in there too, but I didnt want to sound too local homerish.
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By DeepTeaKup July 29, 2008 - 12:48 pm
Biscuit,
How many virgin cheerleaders have you met in your life?
gwzimm,
So last year ND got smoked by a team that lost to ASU? Using transitive association, what does that say about how ND might have fared against the same team?
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By DeepTeaKup July 29, 2008 - 12:49 pm
trey,
Good call on SMU, they have suffered long enough. Love the Mustang nickname.
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By domer.mq July 29, 2008 - 12:55 pm
DTK,
Let me remind you that Biscuit attended ND. So, to answer your question: 2.
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By The Biscuit July 29, 2008 - 2:10 pm
But, neither are now. ZING!
DTK, transitive property doesnt work. If so, ND was better than USC last year, since we beat Stanford and Stanford beat USC.
I’d add SMU to my ‘almost made it’ list too.
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By Quixotehan July 29, 2008 - 2:10 pm
Nice question, with no regard to likelihood here are my rooting interests for conference champs:
Big Televen: Indiana (there’s just no reason to hate them)
SEC: Vanderbilt
Big Twelve: Texas Tech (a tip of the hat to EDSBS’ pirate love)
Pac Ten: Stanford (noticing an academic theme?)
Big East: Syracuse
ACC: Wake Forest
MAC: Temple
MWC: Air Force
CUSA: Rice
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By DeepTeaKup July 29, 2008 - 2:45 pm
Bicuit,
But since ASU did not play ND last year, this is all we have. ND did in fact play (well, shared a field anyway) with USC. We do not need to try to infer how ND would have done against USC.
This has been fun but I really need CFB season to start. I hate this time of year.
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By The Biscuit July 29, 2008 - 3:30 pm
My point is that transitive doesnt work, and the ND example proves it. Yes, we’re all very bored and desperate.
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By domer.mq July 29, 2008 - 3:32 pm
Speak for yourselves. I’m enthralled.
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By Mark July 29, 2008 - 4:04 pm
I can’t even describe how badly I want MSU to lose. And I’m not even talking about football, I really mean life too.
Agree with everyone that I want Johnson to do well at Ga Tech. And I will continue to root for Army/Navy/Air Force. Those men are doing 10 times the work of any other college athlete. They do not enjoy the same college perks of thirsty thusrdays or fraternity parties. And when it’s all said and done they give at least 2 years of their life to defending our country and they should be respected completely for that.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m rooting for UCLA. I like Nuheisel. I think he got the raw end of the deal at Washington. I also have never had ill will toward the band leader/clown/juggler of UCLA.
Lastly, go Wabash College. Would love to see the Little Giants take the Stagg Bowl.
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By gwzimm July 29, 2008 - 4:27 pm
I still love Appalacian State
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By trey July 29, 2008 - 5:23 pm
Wow, Im finally popular on a certain topic! Woop! Allow me to throw one last team out there…USF. They really seem to be on the rise, and nothing could be better than more good teams in college football.
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By The Biscuit July 30, 2008 - 12:03 am
I disagree on USF trey. Sorry to burst your popularity bubble. It’s a football factory with no regards for academics – pure and simple. Yes, competition is good. But that program is not.
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By DeepTeaKup July 30, 2008 - 11:39 am
I have a prediction, after reading this http://blogs.tampabay.com/usf/ , Biscuit has a change of heart on South Florida.
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By The Biscuit July 30, 2008 - 12:28 pm
Ha. While that’s funny, my position remains the same. Hilarious that they’re calling Rich out though, for pretty much no reason.
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By sagcat July 30, 2008 - 1:46 pm
(New fan of your blog)
It’s interesting to me how much difference ND fans have regarding different schools. I think it might be a generational thing.
In my sophomore year (1991) we traveled up to East Lansing for the game, and we beat MSU in a way that can only be described as utterly heartbreaking for MSU fans. We basically got away with murder that game. Yet to a person, everyone at MSU was gracious and friendly to us.
Contrast that with the 1992 Michigan game, when we got four tickets in the faculty section and the UM faculty – not street thugs (like at Miami 1987) but FACULTY – was one of the most mean-spirited, idiotic bunch of asshats I’ve ever had the displeasure of sitting with. Maybe I’m just bitter about watching Desmond Howard win the Heisman against us, but there was nothing about Ann Arbor that gave me anything but a lasting, serious hatred for everything Michigan.
But to my parents, who developed their feelings about MSU in the 1960′s, and to people who have been at school during the dark streak against the Spartans, they are just hated.
Then I watched the 2006 comeback in a bar filled with MSU fans, and I can guarantee you that after the final horn, I left that bar before they decided to take out their loss on the one ND fan in the room. Damn. Their hatred for us was deep and sincere.
But I still have a soft spot for MSU. When they beat us, it’s not as painful as Michigan – or the one school I hate above all others: BC. And when we beat them, it’s kinda like beating Purdue.
And of Boston College, it’s the one place in the world I’d choose to completely cease to exist. Just the whole institution to vanish from the face of the earth. About five people would mourn the loss anyways. I really, really hate BC. And yes, my senior year was ’93.
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By The Biscuit July 30, 2008 - 2:13 pm
welcome sagcat! yeah, it’s totally true – depends on when your fandom began and the circumstances around it. i used to HATE FSU – now they’re an after-thought. things shift and change, no doubt. i get your level of despise for BC given when you came into things, but for me they’re just another school…at least we can all agree that Michigan Sucks though!
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By trey July 30, 2008 - 5:33 pm
Im sorry, I can never cheer for MSU to win anything. It’s just too funny when they lose. Lest we all forget:
http://houserockbuilt.blogspot.com/2006/09/msu-radio-host-melts-fucking-down-on.html
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By gwzimm July 31, 2008 - 6:51 am
I STILL like Appalacian State. The UM grad down the street hates my shirt. I think “Appalacian” has too many syllables to understand. If you talk to a michigan (sucks) fan, you gotta use small words and talk slowly.
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