Comparison of Scott's Preseason Top 25 with CK's and The Coaches

Who got it right?


COACHES                                      SCOTT                              CK

1.LSU                                               1.Alabama                           1.USC

2.Alabama                                         2.Oklahoma State                2.Alabama*

3.USC                                               3.LSU                                 3.LSU

4.Oklahoma                                       4.Oregon                             4.Arkansas

5.Oregon                                           5.Arkansas                          5.Michigan

6.Georgia                                           6.Michigan                           6.Oklahoma

7.Florida State                                   7.USC                                 7.South Carolina

8.Michigan                                         8.Boise State                        8.Oregon

9.South Carolina                                9.Stanford                            9.Michigan State

10.Arkansas                                      10.South Carolina                10.Georgia

11.West Virginia                                 11.Michigan State                11.West Virginia*

12.Wisconsin                                     12.Baylor                             12.Wisconsin*

13.Michigan State                              13.Georgia                           13.Nebraska

14.Clemson                                       14.Wisconsin                        14.Texas

15.Texas                                            15.Virginia Tech                    15.Florida State

16.Nebraska                                      16.Houston                          16.Ohio State

17.TCU                                             17.Kansas State                   17.Kansas State

18.Stanford                                        18.Oklahoma                       18.Clemson

19.Oklahoma State                            19.West Virginia                    19.Baylor

20.Virginia Tech                                 20.Clemson                          20.TCU

21.Kansas State                                 21.Southern Miss                  21.Oklahoma State

22.Boise State                                   22.Florida State                     22.Virginia Tech

23.Florida                                         23.Nebraska                          23.Notre Dame

24.Notre Dame                                 24.Northern Illinois                 24.North Carolina State

25.Auburn                                         25.Texas                                25.Louisville

*Indicates pick was same as Coaches Poll

With this in front of you, who do you feel did the best job? The coaches obviously, because that's the one that counts right? Well I disagree. Texas #15? Yeah right. Florida State #7? Get real. Florida is on this list but Baylor isn't? Give me a break. We all know that this doesn't amount to anything the first few weeks, but it sure is nice coming out with the confidence it gives your team outside of the top 5. Inside the top 5, nothing but pressure, especially for the guys starting off with highly ranked opponents.

More posts coming soon!

2012 Rules Change on Kickoffs

In case some of you are unaware, the NCAA has announced some new rules for the upcoming season. Most notably, the rules pertaining to special teams. What will happen is kickoffs will now be at the 35 yard line instead of the 30. Touchbacks will be placed at the 25 yard line instead of the 20. Touchbacks on punts rolling into the end zone or fumbles into the end zone will remain at the 20 yard line. Any player who loses his helmet must sit out the next play also. There is also a new rule that will prohibit players from leaping over blockers when attempting to block punts. I believe these are great rule changes concerning the safety of players on special teams, which is where several injuries often occur.

Other changes are dealing with blocks below the waist. Specifically the wording. It will now state that offensive players in the tackle box at the snap who are not in motion may block below the waist without restriction. All other players are restricted from blocking below the waist with exceptions, such as straight ahead blocks.

Other than the placement of the ball on kickoffs and touchbacks, these other changes will probably not even be noticed by most spectators but will ensure a safer field of play for our team members.

6 more months folks.. WAR EAGLE!

-Scott

The wows and woes of signing day 2012..

Hello football fans. Scott here, and man it's been awhile. I was able to duck away from my very demanding schedule for a moment to discuss a little football. What better day to make time than the end of National Signing Day?

The SEC is stacked again with 10 schools falling into the top 25.

25.Vanderbilt
24.TCU
23.Tennessee
22.Texas Tech
21.Missouri
20.UCLA
19.Oregon
18.Auburn
17.California
16.LSU
15.South Carolina
14.USC
13.Texas A&M
12.Oklahoma
11.Miami
10.Stanford
9.Notre Dame
8.Clemson
7.Ohio State
6.Michigan
5.Georgia
4.Florida
3.Texas
2.Florida State
1.Alabama

Now a little detail:

Bama stole the spotlight once again, pulling the number 1 spot out in recruiting. Saban and company pulled in a hefty class of 28 with 13 in the ESPNU 150. This includes RB T.J. Yeldon, DB Landon Collins, and LB Reggie Ragland to name a few. What a haul.

WOE: Kwon Alexander snagged by LSU when Bama is losing so much on defense.



Auburn finished 18th, but more importantly, recruited in the right positions to fill some holes in the weak areas. With a class of 17 headlined by OT Avery Young, things are looking up for the tigers. Picking up QB Zeke Pike, WR Ricardo Louis, and CB Josh Holsey certainly can't hurt this young team in need of big time play makers.

WOE: T.J. Yeldon picked up by Alabama after Michael Dyer's departure.



Honorable mentions:

Missouri- Snagged top prospect WR Dorial Green-Beckham.
Tennessee- S LaDarrell McNeil tops a class containing 3 in the ESPNU 150.
LSU- OLB Kwon Alexander leads a hefty class of 22.
South Carolina- WR Shaq Roland comes in with a class of 24.
Texas A&M- WR Thomas Johnson and QB Matt Davis should give Kevin Sumlin's offense some firepower.
Georgia- Got a top 5 class. Georgia.... Got a top 5 class? 21 commits led by RB Keith Marshall. Look out East.
Florida- Landing the #4 class might lengthen Muschamp's stay in the swamp. DE Dante Fowler and DE Jonathon Bullard should bring Florida's D closer to SEC quality.
Vanderbilt- Congrats Coach James Franklin for pulling in what is possibly the best class in Vandy history. Look out for RB Brian Kimbrow.

Now, is it September yet???

Joe Paterno: Farewell to a Champion

Sunday morning was a sobering one for most of us who hold college football dear in their hearts. As the fog was slowly lifting from the night before, the sad news was delivered that the world had lost Joe Paterno. For people like me who grew up watching this amazing man on and off the field, it was a devastating blow.

Joe Paterno was a part of everything that drew me into the world of college football as a child, and for a lifetime, I was in awe of him. As the news poured in from media sites and statements were made by family, friends and former players, I could not help but feel that even I had lost a dear family friend.

For the past twenty-four hours I have received a ton of messages and e-mails from friends and readers asking how I can mourn the loss of a man like Joe Paterno who, in his final weeks, was brought under fire for something so heinous? To this I simply say... 'How can I not?'

I spent a lifetime looking up to Bear Bryant and Joe Paterno. I waited each year with baited breath for the college football season and when it finally arrived, it was like coming home. I watched as those coaches paced the sidelines and I felt their joys, their frustrations, their excitement and their love for the game and for the players. In so many ways, they touched my life from miles away and they were always 'my heroes'. How could those feelings ever go away or be swayed?

It saddens me to see the way things ended for Joe Paterno. My heart hurts for a man who was revered on Saturday and then fired on Wednesday and treated as a blemish on Penn State by the following week. I watched as people's view of Joe Pa shifted from respect and love to disdain and hatred within minutes and it changed me a little as well. It didn't change how I felt about Joe Paterno or the incredible things he had done in the lives of so many young men, but it did change the way I looked at people. I felt sad for Joe, I felt sad for college football, but mostly I felt sad for those wavering souls who chose to give away their right to think for themselves. In an instant these people managed to know more about the Sandusky case than even the victims and they knew that Joe Paterno was guilty. They knew this because they saw it on the news or Twitter or Facebook and that made it real for them. They chose to believe the very thing they wanted to believe, not because they knew one way or the other, but perhaps because they always felt deep down that Joe Paterno was just too good to be true.

What do you think it says about a person whose loyalty shifts in a millisecond? Should we praise them, slander them, pity them? For me it was a simple thing, If I respected and loved Joe yesterday, then today I respect him and love him the same. Before the hate mail starts to fly, let's get a few things clear... I was a victim of multiple molestations as a child, so please don't say I am forgetting the victims. I could never forget the victims, I was one. I make a decision everyday to no longer be a victim and I pray for that kind of peace and understanding for Jerry Sandusky's alleged victims as well.

Now ask me again how I can be a supporter of Joe Paterno or how I can be so saddened by his death and I will tell you...

I am sad at the loss of an incredible man who did amazing things with the time God gave him on Earth. I am saddened that the wonderful things Joe Paterno accomplished in his life are cheapened and lessened by the naysayers, band wagoners and pitiful sheep who have no mind to lead, but instead only follow.

I am deeply saddened when I try to wrap my mind around what it must have felt like to be in Joe Paterno's shoes toward the end... to give everything; your whole life to a place and its people only to have them turn on you and throw you to the wolves. What must that kind of heartache feel like to a man that loved and gave all that he was and ever had to the University of Penn State?

There are questions that we will never have answers to and his story will never be told, but I know the things that he accomplished in the years leading up to his death. I know that he gave his money, time and heart to that campus. I know that he was instrumental in establishing college funds and that he took the time to see his kids get an education. I know that he was active in his community and that he and his wife were revered and highly thought of by everyone for over forty-five years. I know that the list of awards and acknowledgements he has received is so extensive, you need to download a whole file in PDF just to grasp the magnitude. I know that Penn State has one of the highest percentages of graduates of any FBS school in the nation and Joe Paterno is credited with so much of this. I know that his life's body of work is something the rest of us should strive to do in our own lives. If we can do a small percentage of what he did in his life, imagine the possibilities!

My questions for those of you reading this post are pretty straight forward... Did you look at Joe Paterno as an inspiration, as a leader and as a class act? Was he always at the top of the list when someone said 'college football' or 'all-time best caoches'? If your answer was 'yes' then what changed? Were you given some inside information that the rest of us were not privy to? Do you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Joe Paterno was anything less than what you always believed him to be?

I can answer those questions for you... No! You know nothing any different than the rest of us and what you learned, you got from CNN or NBC or CBS. Don't be a follower. Be a leader. Ask the tough questions and use that brain for its intended purpose... to make your own decisions. No one can tell you how to feel or what to believe and at the end of the day, you will remember Joe Paterno the way YOU want to remember him.

If there are any lessons to be taken away from this terrible situation it is...

The things you do in life matter...

Sometimes, the things you don't do in life matter...

and the most important one that I hope you will all take away from this is...

A lifetime of good can be erased in an instant. Every choice we make is somehow important and it impacts, not only us, but those around us. How do I want to be remembered when I die? Before every decision I make I should consider that it could be my last, I will do my best to make the right choice. I only hope my timing is good, if it's not, then I could be remembered for a bad decision in spite of all the good ones I have made.

Joe Paterno was a part of the life that I chose for myself and he made me want to be a better person. Will people say the same about you once you are gone? To those who have called him a child molester and slandered his name and memory, I ask you... What did you do today to speak out against child abuse? What have you done to make this world a better place for our children?

We can't point fingers and never lift a single one to make change.

Joe Paterno will be greatly missed by me. There will never be another like him and the world is a bit colder and sadder without him in it. I will forever remember him as I have always seen him... a true class act and a man among men.

CK

IF

by: Rudyard Kipling

*read to Joe in his final hours by his grandson*

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Auburn-Year in Review

Alright football fans, let's jump right into it. With what some would call a "rough season" for Chizik and company, I would like to highlight the ups and downs of AUBURN's 2011 season in order to move on to 2012.

First off, as I've said many times, I would like to point out that we lost most of our 2010 championship team due to them being seniors or declaring for draft a year early. This left us with 26 freshmen, mostly coming from 2 years of top ten recruiting classes. So while many will consider a 8-5 record with a slaughtering bowl win against Virginia a tough season, I couldn't be happier. Be reminded that those five losses came to top 15 teams, 3 (should have been 4) of them landing in BCS games. Not bad for a group of rookies.

With the suspension and what is likely a transfer of Michael Dyer and a possible early departure of Onterio McCalebb to the NFL, it seems our offense will be more questionable than ever. Barrett Trotter stated his case to regain the starting position at QB during the Chik-Fil-A Bowl after a very shaky run that took place with the injury of Emory Blake. With the return of Blake, Trotter found his mojo again and is my top man for QB. Clint Moseley will return and he isn't much to write home about. The man takes more sacks than he completes passes and that just won't do. Kiehl Frazier also returns as a sophomore. Frazier has Cam Newton ability written all over him, but with our offensive coordinator position still empty, who knows what his future may be? We are still deep at back with the return of Tre Mason and Quan Bray. We also have transfers coming from Florida and Alabama as well as what should be another top 10 recruiting class. Our O-line has a year of experience against the nation's elite under it's belt, so expect to see maturity there.

With one of the worst defenses in the country, expect to see a huge difference here. Chizik is a defensive guru and that was shown full force in the bowl game. That coordinator spot is also still vacant so expect a hire that will fit Chizik's style and maybe bring back the infamous Tampa 2 that he's so fond of. Also, with mostly freshmen on the D, there is a year of growth and experience behind them to look forward to.

So with position changes, coaching changes, players moving on, and what would seem to be turbulence on the plains, comes maturity, contending ability, and in my opinion, an optimistic future. The pieces are coming together to become what Auburn football was based on for years. No trickery, no smoke and mirrors, just a defense that can't be moved and will swallow you whole. A running game that is unstoppable and a warrior's mentality that is unmatchable.

With this said, here's to a great 2011 season, with congratulations to Gus Malzahn and Ted Roof, and the hopes of superlative hires to replace them. Bring on 2012!
War Damn Eagle!!

Scott

FIRST THINGS FIRST

We are super excited to launch THE NCAA IRON BLOG: Where SEC rivals collide to talk ALL things football, BUT before we move forward, let's clear the air a bit...
Anyone can comment on any post, all you have to do is sign up for e-mail updates OR follow the blog.
We will never delete a post for dropping the 'F' bomb, for speaking their mind or for severely lacking knowledge about the game of football (Though we WILL most likely make fun of you)
We will delete you if you SPAM our blog...
So before you post that link for Asian mail order brides, million dollar business schemes or penis pumps, implants or enhancers, ask yourself one very important question...
"Does my million dollar, Asian bride with the penile implants have anything to do with NCAA football?"
If however, you want to talk teams, conferences, stats, players, rumors, or smack about NCAA football...
YOU my friend, have come to the right place.
NOW... let's get out there and have some fun!!

CK