0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 1/15/2015
With the recently completed College Football Playoff crowning the clear best team in the nation, the excitement around college football is erupting, surging to all-time highs… at least as a measurement of cable television viewers. With this in mind, what better time to think about the four teams that will compete for a title next […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 1/13/2015
It is hard to win a football game when losing the turnover battle by three. It is nearly impossible to win that same game by three scores. However, Ohio State claimed the first playoff-era national championship in those very circumstances. The recipe for victory was quite simple: dominance up front on both ends of the […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 1/11/2015
It is hard to make the Notre Dame and Virginia offenses look bad. No one had been able to do so prior to Saturday. However, the proverbial rock met the hard place when the two squared off in South Bend. Coming into the game, Notre Dame was leading the nation in offensive efficiency while Virginia […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 1/10/2015
Sept. 6, 2014. The best thing that could have happened to this Ohio State team did. It lost to Virginia Tech and the season was altered completely. The work that started on Sept. 7, 2014, is what has the Buckeyes where they are Monday – on the verge of a national championship against Oregon. While […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 1/8/2015
Is Jameis Winston an elite pro talent? That question now needs to be answered by either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Tennessee Titans, after Winston (and his dad) decided to take their talents from Tallahassee to the next level on Wednesday. There is no doubt that Winston’s arm strength and pocket presence make him […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 1/6/2015
When searching for the more competitive conferences in America, there aren’t many folks who would vouch for the Missouri Valley Conference… well, maybe they should. The last time the Missouri Valley Conference got more than two teams in the NCAA Tournament was 2006 – a year that saw a pair get to the Sweet 16. […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 1/2/2015
For the Alabama football program, gritty defense and making plays when they mattered the most on that side of the ball have been staples in the Nick Saban era over the past decade or so. Success in these and other realms of competition have allowed the Tide to earn BCS national championships in the 2009, […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 12/31/2014
TCU came out and had a point to prove. The Horned Frogs did just that in the Peach Bowl with a dominating win over Ole Miss, which defeated both of the SEC participants in the “New Year’s Six.” While being left out of the playoff along with conference-mate Baylor, one had to wonder if TCU […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 12/29/2014
As the 2015 Rose Bowl approaches, the defending national champions from Florida State return to the scene of their crowning moment nearly 12 months ago against Auburn. The team that stands in their way has been more than a decade in the making. A perfect storm in the 21st century has made Oregon an annual […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 12/27/2014
With all of the talk about Kentucky running the table, the Wildcats survived their toughest battle of the season in the KFC Yum! Center against previously unbeaten Louisville. With the victory 58-50 victory Saturday, Kentucky answered several questions. However, a few more were raised as well. Questions Answered: Let’s start with the answered questions first: […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer
With conference play beginning across the nation next week, one pressing question applies to much of the Midwest: When did the Big Ten become the “Mediocre 13 and Wisconsin?” Outside of the Badgers, nearly every other team has fallen to a lesser opponent or otherwise faces serious issues coming into Big Ten play. However, it […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 12/12/2014
Home is where the heart is… or it could simply be where you come from. For heavy Heisman Trophy favorite Marcus Mariota, home is Honolulu, Hawaii. The finalists for the Heisman Trophy Award were announced on Monday: Mariota, Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon, and Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper. The trio’s trip to New York […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer
What a difference three weeks make. When Kansas fell to Kentucky by 32 points over three weeks ago, and the Wildcats blocked as many shot attempts as the Jayhawks saw go through the net, panic for this reloaded Kansas squad set in. However, victories over Rhode Island, Tennessee and Florida at home; over Michigan State […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 12/9/2014
A lot more will be written about the first College Football Playoff’s two spectacular semifinals in the coming weeks. Here’s an initial assessment of these two games: * Semifinal No. 1 2015 Rose Bowl: (3) Florida State vs. (2) Oregon OVERVIEW: The seemingly bulletproof team of destiny meets the most electric team in the country. […]
0 comments by Ryan Palencer on 12/6/2014
The SEC Championship Game that everyone thought would be a blowout did not defy expectations. After a full season in which the SEC West and SEC East lived in different worlds, the matchup of champions from the two divisions was as lopsided as it figured to be. From the first drive of the game, Alabama […]
