As is the way of things, another year of college football is upon us. Sure, the games that matter are still quite a ways off, but that glorious thing that is spring ball has arrived. This is a great time of year for college football fans.

It is a time when many fans are filled with hope and confidence that the players moving up the ranks this spring will lead their teams to the Promised Land in the fall. It is a time to look both at the season left behind and the season up ahead. It is also a great time for prognostication.

Gone are the seniors from everyone’s favorite teams. One of the highlights of spring ball is the debate and anticipation over who will step up and take over for the players who have departed.

Gone off to the NFL draft is Tim Tebow. If you are a Florida fan, you probably miss him. If you are not, you are probably glad you won’t have to hear about him anymore. I mean, was it necessary for coverage of college football to include asking players if they are still virgins? Really?

Just arriving are new coaches. How will Tommy Tuberville fare as the new head coach at Texas Tech? Will Brian Kelly have more success at Notre Dame than Charlie Weis? How will the controversial Lane Kiffin fare as the new head coach at USC?

I could write forever on these questions and many more like them. However, due to space restrictions, I’ll settle on writing about one area of debate and prognostication: My top five teams for the upcoming season and the reasons I picked them. I bet you didn’t see THAT coming. . . . Here we go.

#5 - IOWA HAWKEYES

Why? – Iowa won 11 games last year with a really good defense and an offense that was decimated by injury. Their two losses were by a total of 10 points. For 2010, they bring back nearly their entire defense. They also bring back their quarterback and seven total starters on offense. In college football terms, the Hawkeyes return intact with a year’s more experience. If their offense can stay healthy, there’s a lot to like with this team that was so close last year.

#4 – OKLAHOMA SOONERS

Why? – This is another team that had a very good defense and an offense that was decimated by injury. The Sooners lost four games by a total of 12 points despite so many missing players on offense. The silver lining to having players like Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham miss their last season is that the next players in line get to play. The Sooner offense returns pretty much everyone, and the defense is mostly intact. Like Iowa, this team was very close last year, so if they can stay healthy this year, there’s a lot to like.

#3 – NEBRASKA

Why? – You should be seeing a pattern here. Nebraska is yet another team that, like Iowa and Oklahoma, had a dominant defense and really struggled on offense due primarily to injury, but still got very close to a big year. Nebraska lost three games by just one point, including the Conference Championship game to Texas on a last second field goal following a controversial clock ruling. Next year should see a healthier and more experienced offense. I have Nebraska at #3 because they had the best defense of the three teams I’ve listed so far, and because they have a favorable schedule. Nebraska gets to play Texas in Lincoln next year. That controversial ending to the last game Nebraska played against Texas might just come up.

#2 – BOISE STATE

Why? – The Broncos are here because they have earned it. Boise State has played in a BCS game twice in the past three seasons and won both times. I’m a big believer in returning experience as a way to judge teams. Well, Boise State has 21 returning starters, out of 22, for 2010. They went undefeated last year. Enough said.

#1 – OHIO STATE

Why? – In the Rose Bowl, this team played one of those speedy-type teams that usually give them fits, and they won when they played Oregon, and they finally got over their BCS curse. The Buckeyes bring back 15 starters from last year’s team, including nine on offense. If Ohio State had a weakness last year, it was on offense. Well, by bringing back nine starters, including their quarterback, they should be improved and more experienced, and the Buckeyes always play strong defense.

On a final note, this article is the last entry for my two-year college sports column. It has been my pleasure to contribute to The Commentator, and I hope that everyone who has read my articles has found them enlightening and entertaining. - Matt

The theme for this issue is “judicial.” Since my articles arise from the world of college sports, the topic was a no-brainer: it has to be the Mike Leach saga. For those that do not follow college sports, Leach was the head football coach at Texas Tech University. He is no longer its head coach because he was fired. That doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with the theme of “judicial,” but I assure you it does. Bear with me.

Now, at the end of every college football season there are a lot of coaching changes. It is often referred to as the “coaching carousel.” This year was no exception. However, rarely does the coaching carousel include an attraction as tumultuous as the Leach firing.

Here’s the back story in a nutshell. About a year ago, Leach and the Texas Tech administration engaged in prolonged and heated contract negotiations, which led to Leach getting what he wanted because he was the most successful coach in the history of Texas Tech’s football program.

It was well-known that some parties on the administration side were unhappy with Leach and his new contract. The story then fast forwards to the end of this past season. One of the players on the Texas Tech squad was a wide receiver named Adam James. Around mid-December James was diagnosed with a concussion that he got during a team practice.

That, in and of itself, is not unusual. Players get hurt sometimes. However, in this case the common occurrence of a player getting hurt in practice set of a chain reaction of events that made headlines on sports media outlets across the country for weeks.

It turns out that James is the son of ESPN analyst Craig James, who was a standout college player himself and who played in the NFL. Craig James did not approve of how Leach handled Adam James’ concussion. Craig James’ employment threw an interesting twist on this whole mess because it raised the issue of whether he used his position at ESPN to not only air his grievances, but also to influence how much playing time was given to his son. Some argued that there was reason to believe that Craig James was not happy with Leach before the concussion issue.

Each side has its own version to tell about what happened. The truth is somewhere in the middle. What seems clear is that Leach did not think much of Adam James as a player due to his attitude and work ethic, and Craig James did not think much of Leach as a coach due to Adam James’ lack of playing time in games.

The actual details of just how Adam James was treated are actually fairly inconsequential for my purposes, so I’ll skip that. The bottom line is that Craig James made accusations, which Mike Leach denied, but which led to the administration suspending him. This is where the judicial element comes in.

You see, Leach has a law degree. So, predictably, after he was suspended he went straight to court to get an injunction that would allow him to coach in Texas Tech’s bowl game. He sued his employer to force them to let him do his job. So, they fired him. Leach’s attorney actually received the official notice of termination at the courthouse where they were set to hold a hearing on the issue of the injunction. In hindsight, Leach probably could have thought that through a little better.

So, in the end, there are numerous subplots roaming around. Was Adam James mistreated after he got his concussion? Did the Texas Tech administration use the Adam James situation as an excuse to fire Mike Leach because they were still unhappy with the contract issues from a year before? Did Craig James use his position with ESPN to push Leach and his coaching staff to give his son more playing time or preferential treatment? We on the outside don’t really know.

This simple coaching change has turned into a circus that has sucked in nearly everyone involved. Coaches and team trainers are already on record with statements that they gave. A court hearing had been scheduled. Will we ever know what really happened at Texas Tech over the last year? We might. Predictably, Leach has filed a new lawsuit against the administration. Time will tell if he thought this one through better than the first one.

Written by Matthew Welde, 3L Senior Staff Writer

The theme for this issue of The Commentator is health. In honor of that my column will deviate away from rankings, oddities and prognostications of college football and focus on the impact of injuries on the game. It’s with no small amount of irony that I’m writing this article on Nov. 20. I’ll digress on that later.

Injuries are simply a huge factor in every college football season. This season is no different. Football is a physical game. Other than the benchwarmers, there’s really nobody who makes it through a season without some bumps, bruises, and soreness.

The truly unfortunate minority are those players who suffer major injuries, such as those that require surgery and end those players’ seasons. Those are the types of injuries that have the biggest effect on the season, but also on those players’ futures. Most, if not all, players in major college football have dreams of playing in the NFL. Major injuries can hinder or even derail those dreams. So, in honor of this edition’s topic, here’s a look at how some big name players and big name teams have been affected by major injuries.

Everyone who knows me can tell you without hesitation where this is going. Of course I’m starting with Oklahoma. Unfortunately, that’s not because of any personal bias. The plain truth is that Oklahoma lost last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Sam Bradford, and an All-American tight end, Jermaine Gresham, before the end of their first game. Both players fell to injuries that ultimately required surgery.

Both of those players were projected as first-round NFL draft picks, but both opted to return to school. Bradford returned after his initial shoulder injury but played less than two games before re-injuring the same shoulder and opting for surgery. Gresham was injured before the first game and never even saw the field for a single play.

Both players have had their potential draft prospects for next year suffer due to their injuries. That may cost them both a lot of dollars in guaranteed money. Their injuries also left huge holes to be filled for Oklahoma’s offense, which was already suffering from a lot of attrition from graduation. Its offense has consequently struggled this season.

Oklahoma does not have any kind of monopoly on injuries though. The list of schools that have had their seasons take a bad turn due to injury is lengthy. USC is a good example. Its starting quarterback, Matt Barkley, was unavailable for its road game against Washington. The back-up struggled in his place, which contributed to a tough loss to a team with a bad record.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are another good example. Theirs was a dream season. The Hawkeyes were undefeated and one win away from a Rose Bowl berth and a conference championship. Of course, that one win was a road trip to Columbus to play Ohio State. Iowa lost that game in overtime. It was a tough loss.

Considering that they lost in overtime, it’s a safe assumption that they could have won if they had their starting quarterback. Unfortunately they did not. He was injured in their prior game, and so Iowa lost in overtime with its backup quarterback and will not go to the Rose Bowl. Devastating.

Now, as bad as it might sound to have a team’s season or a player’s NFL hopes derailed by injury, we can at least take solace in how much better things are now than they were in the past. That brings me back to today’s date.

One hundred years ago today Harvard played Yale for the college football championship. Yes, times have changed. In that game, Harvard won 8-0 and completed the season having given up zero points for the year. Back then there were few pads and fewer helmets. Spectators at the game described the bloodied faces of every lineman for both teams. At least, however, nobody died.

It may seem odd to think of a football game and say to yourself that it was good that nobody died, but in the 1909 season 26 players died from in-game injuries. After the season there were rule changes that helped curb such brutality. That season ended 100 years ago today.

Written by Matthew Welde, 3L Senior Staff Writer

The 2008 college football season was one large contradiction.  The season seemed to be defined by controversy and yet, everything that happened was the sort of things that have become normal in major college football.  Read the full story

The college football season is two weeks away from being over. The Big Ten teams are all finished. Pretty much everyone else has just one game left on their 12 game schedules, and will finish up next week. The rankings at this point of the season Read the full story

The onset of college football means preseason polls and rankings.  Nearly every sports media outlet has a preseason list of top 25 teams.  I’ve compiled the preseason rankings from five large sports media outlets.  I averaged out the rankings to see which five teams had the highest average rating.

The five preseason rankings I included are the Associated Press poll, the USA Today Coaches poll, the CNNSI.com power rankings, the ESPN.com power rankings, and the FoxSports.com rankings.  Along with the average ranking for each team I take a look at how things have played out through the first three weeks.  Like all things that have to do with college football, there’s bound to be people who don’t agree.  That’s part of what makes it fun.  Here we go.

GEORGIA BULLDOGS

Average ranking - 2.2

Biggest concern - the SEC schedule

Georgia’s SEC schedule is simply brutal.  The Bulldogs have four teams on their schedule that are currently ranked in the top 10.  Two of those games are road games.  It doesn’t get harder than that.

How they’ve fared

So far they’ve beat up on a pair of inferior teams and scraped out a win against the Gamecocks.  They’ve passed their first SEC test against a South Carolina team that beat them last year, but they only managed 14 points, which is a troubling sign for Bulldog fans.  They are one of the rare teams that won and still fell a few spots in the polls.

What lies ahead?

Scoring fourteen points on South Carolina is a bad omen for a team set to face opponents that have a comparable defense and a better offense than the Gamecocks.  A 14-7 win at home against South Carolina translates into a long night playing at LSU.  The Bulldogs are guaranteed a spot in the BCS Championship Game if they run the table, but their path to Miami is the most difficult among these teams.

Were they right?

No.  Their quarterback has put up mediocre numbers, including a paltry four touchdown passes in three games.  Their schedule won’t allow them to score fourteen points and win very often.  The pollsters gave too much weight to a returning quarterback that was mediocre last year and not enough weight to the schedule.

Read the full story