Who'd have believed it? A top 25 that includes Rutgers before the season even starts. (And no. I don't remember if they were ranked pre-season last year, and, darnit, I'm not looking it up.) The Scarlet Knights, I believe, owe their lofty ranking to 2 things, and 2 things only: Runnig Back Ray Rice and Head Coach Greg Schiano. If either one of these 2 figures so much as develops a bad cough during the season, they're going to bleed votes. (This mostly holds true for Ray Rice - who ...
HLS Top 25
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #12 – Cal
Head Coach Jeff Tedford has taken Cal and absolutely splattered them all over the national college football scene. There's just no way you can ignore them anymore. Not while Tedford keeps doing what he's doing. Tedford has lead Cal to a string of 4 bowl games in a row. It's the first time Cal has ever been to 4 straight bowl games, and it sure looks like they'll add to that record for at least the next few years. So long as they can keep Tedford a) happy and b) employed at Cal. The guy's ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #13 – Georgia
Of all the teams in the country that I'd really like to see Notre Dame play in the near future, Georgia is probably #1. Not because I hold any animosity towards them, but because they're a bit of a curiosity to me. They're Georgia, and for a guy like me who had a childhood like mine, that means they're good. And that they're always going to be good. So if that hold true, and, clearly, all anecdotal evidence from my childhood holds true, then I'd like to see Notre Dame, when we're really ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #14 – Ohio State
From ESPN's declaration that Troy Smith was God's gift to football, to Ted Ginn Sr. actually entering the national college football fan consciousness, to Sweatervest McCheatypant's efforts to look like some sort of father figure, and, of course, their fan base's ability to remind one of the scene with all the locusts from Exorcist, there is perhaps no team in the Top 25 that earns more scorn than Ohio State. This year they must replace the man, the myth, the legend: Troy Smith. How this will ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #15 – Auburn
Having never met anything about which he would not whine and complain, Tummy Tuberville has had himself quite a career. Whether it's moaning about the BCS, or just how gosh darn hard the over-hyped SEC may be, Tommy always finds a way to play victim despite having won 5 of the last 7 SEC West championships. (Note to Tommy: That doesn't sound like a very balanced division.) This year may be different. And while we probably ranked Auburn this high on mostly reputation, it looks like there's ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #16 – Louisville
Louisville first came onto my radar (and I'm sure many others) back when they became "the little team that almost beat Miami" back when Miami was still in the Big East, and it actually sorta meant something to be able to beat Miami. Much of the buzz behind this program was courtesy of their very own "mad scientist" head coach, Bobby Petrino. And when Bobby decided to move up in the world, and work on solving the Michael Vick as a NFL QB conundrum (interesting solution, Bobby), the team ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #17 – Penn State
The Daywalker, has seen many things over the millenia. And he's known among many cultures. In Eastern Europe, he was known as "Drago." In South America, "The Great Bat." And in the United States, he's gone by the name "Joe Paterno" since well before Thomas Jefferson began making bold claims about man and their equality. Today, Joe Paterno rules over a valley in Pennsylvania with an iron fist. But he's a crafty one, and of late he's been making sure that everyone start to wonder if maybe ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #18 – Tennessee
Ok. Let's try this again. I just tried to write this all up once, and my computer went all Ed Orgeron on me and I couldn't save the text before it was too late... When I think of Tennessee, I think of the 2005 Notre Dame/Tennessee game when Tennessee was thoroughly beaten and it seemed quite clear the beating was mostly at the hands of the ND coaching staff more so than at the hands of superior talent on ND's side of the ball. That sort of performance, coupled with the fact that Tennessee ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #20 – Oregon State
The first thing I thought when I realized that the HLSTNHT25-PE had The University of Oregon With Fewer Uniforms Than The Other One ranked number 20 is that we, the Loyal Sons, are still wincing from the painful memories of 2 spankings applied to the rear of the Notre Dame football program by the Beavers. The first, of course, came in the form of the 2000 Fiesta Bowl. I attended that bowl. It was easy to do so b/c it seemed like almost no other ND fan did. It was pretty much just me, the ...
The HLS Totally Non-Homer Top 25 – Preseason Edition: #21 – TCU
Read this to understand what the glorious HLSTNHT25-PE actually is. Then look up at the stars tonight and try to convince yourself that everything up there is bigger than everything down here. Even this… It seems weird to be putting a MWC team in here. Seems even weirder to put a team that's been in 4 different conferences in 10 years in here. Despite that inconsistency, the Horned Frogs are a very consistent team in terms of quality. At least recently. They've managed a seemingly ...