college fantasy coach

Ahh…college football is finally here this week.

Presbyterian mascot

And, we get to see so many stunning week one match ups.  Can’t wait to see Stamford take on the Seminoles.  Or, Stony Brook playing in South Florida.  How about the Mountaineers hosting Coastal Carolina?

But, the worst game of the year isn’t this week, but next week when Clemson hosts Big South member Presbyterian in Death Valley.

You may have heard of Clemson.  The Tigers have been a pretty fair team over the years and have the tenth top defense in the NCAA this season.

Presbyterian, on the other hand, has not.  The Blue Hose were a perfect 0-11 last year so this year they decided to upgrade and play two ACC schools to start off the season (It’s Wake Forest this weekend.).

Located in Clinton, South Carolina, the Blue Hose have 1200 students to pick from in their student body (including girls of course).  There are 84 professors on the Presbyterian campus.  The Tigers have more cplayers than Presbyterian has professors. The Blue Hose play in a stadium that seats 6500 Presbyterians and non-Presbyterians.

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The chances that college football sees a two time Heisman Trophy winner for the second time in history took a big blow this week as last year’s winner and front runner Mark Ingram was ruled out for week one with a knee injury.  His return date has not been set, and some rumors are swirling that he could miss up to a month.  It’s unlikely that Nick Saban will risk rushing Ingram back due to the presence of Trent Richardson.

It would also be unwise to risk Ingram becoming reinjured as its unlikely he will truly be needed before week 4 when Alabama takes on Arkansas.  Alabama would be heavy favorites against week 2 opponent Penn State with or without Ingram.  (I don’t think they’ll need him for Duke, either.)  One final benefit of holding him out rather than rushing him back is the prospect of having his legs be fresher than everyone else’s when the Tide enters their conference schedule.  Needless to say at this point, but Ingram is much further down our list of Heisman hopefuls than he was a few days ago.

With Ingram’s possible absence for a few games, Terrelle Pryor moves up to the top of the list among Heisman hopefuls.  Pryor has every advantage someone could ask for.  He’s a big name playing for a big time program that’s likely to be near the top of the polls all season.  He’s also likely to play in several big games including Miami, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Iowa; all of which will be on national television and give Pryor plenty of exposure which is essential.  Ingram and Pryor seem to be the clear favorites, and the possibility of Ingram only being able to play 9 or 10 games makes Pryor the heavy favorite heading into the season.

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Looking to make some last minute futures bets before the college football season officially gets underway on Thursday?  We’ve got you covered at CFC with the latest BCS National Championship and BCS conference betting odds.

Not surprisingly, Alabama is the favorite going off at 4/1 to win it all.  They are trailed closely by Ohio State who is at 5/1.  Oklahoma is rather surprising at 15/2, but the fact that the Sooners have appeared in more National Title games than any other school certainly works in their favor.  You have to get there to win it, and Bob Stoops knows how to get his team there.  Boise State at 8/1 and Florida at 9/1 round out the top five.

Other Notables:

• Texas 14/1
• Nebraska 15/1
• TCU 16/1
• Miami 18/1
• Virginia Tech 18/1
• Iowa 20/1
• Penn State 25/1
• LSU 30/1
• Notre Dame 35/1
• Oregon 35/1
• Wisconsin 40/1
• Auburn 40/1
• Florida State 50/1
• Michigan 70/1

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Count CFC among the scores of other sources that place Alabama atop their preseason top 25.  Will the Crimson Tide be able to repeat as BCS champions?  History would suggest not seeing as how no team has ever repeated since the dawn of BCS era in 1998.  However, Alabama appears to be in as good a position as any to accomplish such a feat.

Alabama returns eight starters on offense, including the three headed monster of quarterback Greg McElroy, running back/Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, and receiver Julio Jones.  The defense lost nine starters to graduation and the NFL, but with the likes of Dont’a Hightower, Marcel Dareus, and the defensive genius of head coach Nick Saban, the unit should recover nicely.

Ohio State leads the way among teams hoping to dethrone the champs.  Terrelle Pryor appears to have realized his potential after an phenomenal performance in last year’s Rose Bowl.  If these sorts of games become the norm in 2010, expect to see Pryor in New York come Heisman time, and the Buckeye’s in Glendale playing for it all.

Boise State, Florida, and Texas round out our top five.  Florida and Texas both lost a lot, but are programs that reload rather than rebuild.  Boise’s high preseason ranking puts them in position to become the first non BCS conference team to play for a National Title.

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College Fantasy Coach will feature a weekly non-AQ top 20 throughout the season in addition to its weekly top 25.  This will give us a chance to heap some praise on the little guy; or not so little guy in the case of the Boises, TCUs, and Utahs of the world who will most likely appear in both sets of rankings throughout much of the year.

Not surprisingly, THE Boise State University tops our non-AQ preseason ranking.  The Broncos are tired of just BCS busting and have moved their sights towards the National Championship.  This goal seems completely within their grasp as they enter the season #5 in the Coaches poll and #3 in the AP.  They return 21 starters from a 14-0, Fiesta Bowl champion a year ago.  Any other team, BCS conference or not, would have a National Championship on their mind as well with that much talent returning.  We’ll learn early on just how capable Boise is when they play fellow top ten member Virginia Tech on a “neutral field” in Washington DC on September 6.

Our rankings illustrate the Mountain West’s dominance among non AQ conferences with 4 teams ranked in the top 10 and 5 ranked overall.  The CUSA shows its depth with 6 teams featured in the rankings, the most of all the conferences.  Elsewhere, the WAC and MAC each have 3 teams in the rankings, and the Sun Belt has two.  Navy is the lone independent.

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