51 Days Till College Football/50 Things I’m Looking Forward To
Editors Note: 5.22.12 marked 100 Days Till College Football Kicks Off. Each day I’m going to post once thing I can’t wait to see. These will be in random order, some sappy, some funny, some serious. But it’s something to do until the season gets here. I would love to hear some comments about what you’re looking forward too.
51. What happens with Brady Hoke and Michigan. I’ve been a fan since Ball St. and thought he was a great hire for both SDSU and Michigan. The Brady Hoke/Urban Meyer rivalry will be fun to watch.
52. Can Nebraska win the Big 10? Ok I’m a closet Nebraska fan, have been since I chose to cheer for Nebraska over Oklahoma back when I was a kid. And if you’ve ever met people from Nebraska, you know they are just incredibly nice. Not to mention any school who tells Texas to suck it, I admire. (It’s why I want to hug you A&M). So, I don’t really know if Nebraska is a Legend or a Leader or who they have to beat, but good luck Huskers.
53. The end of football in the Western Athletic Conference. I’m not so much looking forward to this as waving a fond farewell. You see I wrote my senior thesis in history on the WAC and honestly it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. I grew up in the Wacky WAC and to see it all fade away is a little sad. God’s Speed WAC.
54. Everyday Should Be Saturday stories. If you don’t read edsbs.com you should. These kids bring the funny each and every week. They are my heros.
55. The annual list from the SEC of which school has the hottest girls. Look I love the Pac-12 but top to bottom the SEC has the best looking women. The Pac-12 has talent, don’t get me wrong, but SEC girls just want it more I think.
56. Will Mack Brown finally be done at Texas? I’ve never gotten any of the Mack Brown love. Texas has more money and resources than God and doesn’t get 1/10 of the results they should. Things looked like they might be blowing up without Coach Boom around.
57. An excuse to drink alcohol at 9AM without looking like an alcoholic. The theory of It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere only gets you so far.
58. All the tweets, facebooking and message boarding in November by people who don’t realize the playoff doesn’t start this year. You know its coming.
59. Erin Andrews and Gus Johnson on Fox. Ok this is mostly to show a picture of Erin Andrews, but Gus Johnson calls one of the best games around and excitement always seems to follow him. Unlike with the BCS Bowl Games, Fox seems to really be making a college commitment this time around.
60. Who wins the MWC conference? Will Boise win in it’s final season? What will SDSU do? What will the newcomers offer. I guess I consider a lot of the MWC teams old friends and how things work out for them I find interesting.
61. Mike Reilly and Oregon St. football. Last year we saw a purge in the Pac-12. Arizona St., UCLA and Wazzu all fired their coaches. This year one would guess that Mike Reilly is really the only one on the hot seat. And I don’t really see a ton coming from the Beavers in Corvallis so this might be it for him.
62. Arizona St. Cheerleaders and Co-eds. Yes I hate Arizona St. and yes most of these girls are bound for a life as porn stars, strippers, trophy wives or all of the above. But they are easy on the eyes and I haven’t shown a cheerleader/co-ed shot in awhile.
63. Stanford in the post-Andrew Luck era. I like the plan Jim Harbaugh brought to Stanford. Load up on the kinds of guys Stanford can get and design everything around that. I liked most of what David Shaw did right until he blew that bowl game to Okie Light. I know Stanford will take a step back but I wonder if Shaw can limit how far that goes.
64. Continuing my irrational hatred of Arizona St. Well maybe its not so irrational. But their douche fans were easily the least welcoming of any of the Pac-12 fans. Hell USC fans were nicer. And that makes them douchy for two reasons. One what the hell has Arizona St. done to be arrogant about anything. Frank Kush has been gone for A LONG TIME and you gave us Jake Plummer for God sakes. Two, ASU came from the WAC just like us. I guess when you’ve never really done anything in the Pac-10/12 (at least Arizona has basketball) you have to wear Affliction T-Shirts and have neck beards to make everyone think you’re tough. If it weren’t for the women of ASU there is no point to that school.
65. The Heisman Trophy Race. First I’m excited because perhaps Juan Blanco IV could find his way into the hunt. And with our real conference affiliation, he could even win the thing (okay he won’t but still). And I find the arguments fun to watch. I love watching SEC honks explain that hey this guy plays in the SEC so he should win the Heisman. I enjoy small school guys trying to get attention. And just maybe on Oct. 4th a certain Utah running back leads Utah to a win over a certain USC QB? HMMM HMMM Just might be fun.
66. TCU and West Virginia in the Big XII. Okay I don’t care about West Virginia, but having shared a conference and some battles with the Horned Frogs, it will be interesting to see how they handle the upgrade.
67. How does Penn St. move forward. With Jerry Sandusky’s conviction, this program might start to be able to heal. But it will be interesting to see what the long term ramifications are to this once proud program.
68. The first reference by a BYU fan to beating Miami in 1990. For outsiders reading this list, every BYU fan is required to memorize a list of things BYU football has done which proves they’re the bestest. Tops on this list was beating Miami in 1990. Now most fans wouldn’t think a 20+ year old victory is proof of your eternal greatness, but then BYU fans aren’t most fans. The first reference to this once fall practice starts is just one more sign college football is here.
69. The Texas Dance Team. Yeah this is a cop-out. But considering this is 69, I had to think of some cheerleaders of some sort. And don’t you love those chaps?
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70. A College Football Playoff. Okay, its not coming till 2014 and there will be a lot of talk about it, but seriously how can every college football fan not be excited about this in some manner.
71. Utah Cheerleaders. But not for the reasons you think. In a Pac-12 world, our cheerleaders are decidedly MWC. This is one more area in a wide variety of area’s, that we need an upgrade. Is that former Oregon Coach available?
72. How will the Boise St., MWC negotiations resolve themselves? This one might not take till the season but it is still fascinating to watch. And the side story to this is that the MWC has shown some willingness to do something to keep Boise but was not willing to do anything to keep BYU. And that despite all that BYU claims that it brings to the table. I find that interesting.
73. UCLA Cheerleaders. Yeah, every once in a while I just want to show a photo of some cheerleaders. What are you going to do, sue me? UCLA has a lot of “talent” in the cheerleader department without the fame of the USC Song Girls or the “sluttiness” of the gals in Oregon. A special group IMO.
74. Rich Rod and The University of Arizona. This one piques my interest a bit more because I’ll be able to see it in person. I’ve already said I think Todd Graham is a disaster in the waiting and Mike Leach will at least be fascinating. But what will Rich Rod do. Arizona has been a hard place to win at football, but RR seems to be doing all things right including signing his next great QB.
75. How the Big East and ACC perform. These two “conferences” having auto-BCS bids and the MWC before the breakdown, not having one, was a crime. Now that we’re entering a no auto-bid world soon, it will be interesting to see who does well, who finds a way off their sinking ship and what reasons they give. Yes, Florida St., I’m sure the reason you’re no longer good at football is because the ACC is run by Duke and UNC.
76. The Pac-12 Network. And not for the reasons you might thing. I think “exposure” is a terribly over-rated thing. I used to work in the non-profit world and “exposure” was a word that people use to polish the turd of a failed fundraiser. The Pac-12 Network will let Pac-12 fans see Pac-12 games, regardless of who else is watching. And that is a great thing, especially for Pac-12 fans who have dealt with a dog-crap TV contract for years, nice work Tom Hansen.
77. Live Mascots. From Mike the Tiger at LSU and his multi-million dollar habitat to UGA and the Falcon at Air Force, live mascots are one of the truly cool things about college football. Ralphie, BEVO and so on, they all rock.
78. Texas A&M marching band. Honestly, I think a great many things about Texas A&M are goofy. But I think their band is the coolest in the nation for my money. If you haven’t seen them, do yourself a favor and click here.
79. The next scandal. And I hope its nothing like the Sandusky case. Most college football scandals are really victimless crimes, the sort of thing that makes for TMZ gossip and internet fun but no one in the real world is harmed. May we return to a year of fun scandals.
80. The next great Ute star. Every year someone takes the field, and maybe it won’t be this season but you know that guy is going to explode, like Sylverster Stevenson. It will be fun to see the next guy to wow us.
81. Former Notre Dame coaches. We have Charlie “Fatt” Weis at Kansas and Bob Davie in the land that football forgot, New Mexico. Charlie will have Dayne Crist at QB and Davie will have no actual players due to what Mike Locksley did to that program. Oddly, I think Davie will resurrect his career and this will be the final nail in the extra wide coffin of Weis’.
82. Oregon’s Cheerleaders. Look this one just might be a cop-out so I have an excuse to look up photo’s of Oregon’s cheerleaders. But seriously were do these girls come from? I’ve been to Oregon, whose women have been referred to as the other white meat. But not these beauties. And this woman coached them. Wowza.
83. The first really dumb thing SEC fan does. SEC fan is not smart as a rule and the dumbest among them, as pointed out by this blog, are ‘Bama and Kentucky fan. So when this seasons version of murdering trees comes up, I’ll be there watching with popcorn.
84. The Return of Mandi. For those of you new to Hoyo’s Revenge I have a football gambling column written by a sorority girl named Mandi. She picks games against the spread and posts pictures of hot coeds. I personally think it’s fantastic and cannot wait for it to reappear.
85. Seeing what Mike Leach can do at Washington St. At the end of last season Washington St. was showing some signs of life especially on the offensive end. Can the Pirate come to the Palouse and kick start this program into something that it hasn’t been for about a decade. Could be a whole lotta shootouts in eastern Washington.
86. Oregon’s New Uniform combinations. Say what you will, but Oregon has gone about redefining cool for 1000’s of prospective college athletes. Honestly, I love that Oregon takes chances, some hit’s some misses. I love it when someone is bold. I’d love to see Utah take a couple of more chances beyond the black (which are hella-COOL by the way and yes I said hella). Utah has no longstanding uniform tradition and it would be an excellent idea for us to turn that into a strength by coming out with several.
87. Just how bad Todd Graham will be at Arizona St. The ASU coaching search was a mess and almost everyone thinks that Todd Graham is first a world class a-hole and second not a good football coach. I think the question is how quickly will he run ASU to the bottom.
88. The first time I hear that it is obvious we should have another SEC rematch or that two loss SEC teams should play for the title because it is just so very obvious that they’re the better. The shine really came off the SEC when Utah was kicking Alabama’s ass in the Sugar Bowl. But it has become one of those annual rites of passage for some idiot to talk about the glory of the SEC. It will be interesting to see what happens if a playoff ever comes and SEC teams actually have to leave the south and prove it.
89. Marching Bands. It’s one of those little things but I love the first time I hear the famous fight songs live. The first chance I get to see, Michigan, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and so on will be just glorious. And that doesn’t even mention hearing Utah Man live. Isn’t it just one of those things that gets you going?
90. How Good Can the Utah running game be? We have Juan Blanco coming back, a very talented JC transfer and very well thought of Harvey Langi who will find his way at some point, not to mention Jarrell Oliver who looked very good in the spring. With so much talent and so many styles to offer, it will be interesting to see how it breaks out. However it does, it will be fun.
91. Wyoming Cowboy Football. Look I grew up a Wyoming fan and now that Utah has moved to the Pac-12, it gives me a chance to follow the Pokes again. Last year they made a bowl game, but one would think they need to continue to progress under Dave Christiansen. But it’s nice that Wyoming has had this kind of stability from a coach who knows what Division One talent looks like. So it will be interesting to see if the Cowboys can take another step forward.
92. BYU fans reaction to their schedule in November. After October 13th, BYU fans have one home game and its against Idaho. We’ve heard repeatedly about how they love Independence and I’ve decided to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they do. But it will be interesting to hear if that remains true come November.
93. How good will USC be? If USC is to win a national title, it has to be this year. They have the QB and after this year, despite what many Trojan fans think, those sanctions will start to have an effect. So it will be interesting to see what USC can do. Can they still get a shot at the national title with one loss like all SEC teams are afforded, or will they have to run the table. Honestly if you were looking one story to follow going into this fall, it is USC.
94. What will Boise St. look like in the post-Kellen Moore era? I’ve always felt that Boise is walking a bit of a tight rope and that it wouldn’t take a ton to knock them back a fair distance. They’ve lost a lot of talent over the past couple of years. Will their final year in the MWC bring them a MWC title or will the stumble their way to the Big East. I think it’s an interesting story to watch.
95. Can Jordan Wynn stay healthy? I’ve always been a big Jordan Wynn guy. He was sort of thrown to the wolves against a great TCU team and damn he just kept fighting. I’ve never gotten why some Ute fans are so down on him. Of course there are the same Ute fans who were down on Brian Johnson, said things like, “he just doesn’t have it” or “he should move to receiver,” so perhaps I shouldn’t worry so much. I think Jordan is a great kid and I’d love to see him come out and really blow it up. We’ve got a whole lot of toys on offense so if Jordan can bring it, we could be very special.
96. Missouri and Texas A&M in the SEC. They probably won’t do much but I’m oddly cheering for them to make some noise if only to have to listen to all those SEC honks back-peddle. I haven’t heard SEC back-peddling since the ’08 Sugar Bowl and well it was a whole lotta fun then. I’d like to hear it again.
97. The Brian Johnson Offense and Ute Fans reaction to it. Ute fans have long had a I hate you relationship with their offensive coordinators. I think only the greatest offense in Utah history, the 2004 Alex Smith/Urban Meyer Ferrari began to satisfy them. It will be interesting to see what happens on the first play we don’t score a touchdown.
98. The USC Song Girls in Rice Eccles Stadium on October 4th. The USC Song Girls are one of the truly tremendous traditions of college sports. To this day wearing those lovely sweaters that any red-blooded American man should love. I know I’m supposed to hate USC since we’re all Pac-12 and stuff. But most things USC are truly part of college football tradition and the Song Girls are second to none.
99. The return of Urban Meyer to college football. God I love Urban Meyer because he makes things more fun. People love or hate the guy and there is no in between. He pissed of the MAC, the MWC, the SEC and now he’s on to rage in the Big 12. Love him or hate him, college football is more fun with Urban Meyer on the sidelines.
100. My son’s first college football game. He’s turing three this fall so its time to see how far he gets through a college football game. He made it through two basketball games this past season so I’m excited to see. The downside is, it will be an Arizona Wildcat football game. However, I may make it the Oklahoma St. game. Anyway this is a big deal, a kids first football game. My first game was Wyoming vs. New Mexico in Laramie.