Friday, November 25, 2011

Rant Time: Save Some Brawl for Me

It’s one of my all-time favorite stories to tell people. On a cold and rainy November night in 2010, I took the long haul up to Morgantown, West Virginia. My extended family owns some incredible season tickets right behind the bench, and I was treated to my first basketball game in over ten years in the WVU Coliseum. The trip was far from ideal, crammed in the back of a friend’s sedan with four other guys and who knows how many bags. I was dropped off a mile downhill from the Coliseum and had to walk uphill in a horribly misty rain carrying my stuff for the weekend. But as I walked into that arena, I had forgotten all that. I sat soaking it all in. As the warm-up ended and the national anthem started, I tried to savor every esoteric flavor of the moment, but one in particular stands out above all the rest.



“…and the home of the brave!” Loud applause. Cheers everywhere. And then, from just a couple rows behind us:

“BEAT THE HELL OUTTA PITT!”

That’s all well and good, but this was the home opener. We were there for a fall game against Oakland College. Pitt is always played in February, usually on or within about three days of my birthday.

It didn’t matter. Beat the hell outta Pitt. As West Virginia, we must beat the hell outta Pitt. It is our primary purpose of life.

Rivalries are the crack that makes college football so addictive. More people probably watch the NFL, with its top notch talent, wild personalities, and Superbowl winners. But everyone loves a good college football rivalry. From proximity-induced rivalries like the Iron Bowl to the how-did-this-even-become-a-rivalry rivalries like USC-Notre Dame, Thanksgiving week might be the only week of the year where college football is watched much more fervently than the NFL. Yet a seemingly unavoidable conflict seems to be moving through college football, hellbent on tearing rivalries apart. I am talking, of course, about the juggernaut that is conference realignment.



To say I’m sick of conference realignment stories would be an understatement. It has dominated the headlines of college football this year in an incredibly boring, ball-hog fashion. Nobody can talk about anything else but the Big East constantly escalating suckiness, the Big 12 having who-knows-how-many teams, and the ACC rising from low level mediocrity to mediocre mediocrity with the addition of Pitt and Syracuse. Will Texas A&M make it in the SEC? Who knows? Who cares? At this point, why don’t we just wait until they move and find out?


But to ignore conference realignment and the disbanding of prominent national rivalries in this context would be utter negligence on my part. Just yesterday, the Texas Longhorns played what looks like it might be their last game against the Texas A&M Aggies. They have played since 1894, and it is the 3rd longest running rivalry in division 1A college football. Common sense would probably dictate that they keep the rivalry going, but combine a little anger over a TV network with conference realignment, and wham. You’re looking at the end of a historic rivalry.


It’s certainly a sad trend to witness as a passionate fan first, journalist second. But apply that trend to West Virginia, the team I’ve been groomed to love just about all my life, and it’s downright depressing.


West Virginia-Pitt might be a mere regional rivalry, but it’s one of the most heated rivalries I’ve ever seen. Think Alabama-Auburn without the national title implications (though there’s an exception for every rule- my apologies, fellow mountaineer fans), except maybe even meaner. I don’t expect there to be any ESPN documentaries about my beloved Backyard Brawl any time soon, but it doesn’t mean the players aren’t out for blood. Last time the Brawl came to Morgantown, there were so many state troopers on the field that you could have robbed every bank in West Virginia blind and nobody would have been any wiser until you were three states away.


But like any good rivalry, a team is really defined by their rival. Try thinking about Auburn’s 2010 national championship year without reminiscing over that miraculous Cam Newton-led comeback over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. West Virginia and Pitt are no different. Penn State hasn’t played Pitt in years, and you can hardly call the Marshall-WVU series a real rivalry when the Thundering Herd has actually never beaten WVU. With a shocking absence of true rivalries around, the Backyard Brawl means more now than it ever has.


Here is the part of the story where realignment rears its ugly head. The athletic directors of both schools want the rivalry to continue. The fans and players all want it. I’m sure ESPN and the NCAA still want it. So if literally everyone still wants the rivalry, why on Earth would it be discontinued? Ahh, but with Pitt going to the ACC and WVU to the Big 12, it might just not be possible. WVU would have to play nine games in conference alone, and Pitt would have to play a similar schedule in the ACC. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for a big rivalry, especially when the strength of schedule is already so high with teams like Oklahoma/Virginia Tech, Texas/Florida State, and Oklahoma State/Clemson.


Conference change or no conference change, though, WVU and Pitt hate each other. Even more so, the fans hate each other. Hop on any messenger board and the vitriol spewed at opposing fans is downright filthy- and that’s coming from a college guy with an admittedly colorful vocabulary (Colorful here translates to “must remember to censor self in front of parents at all times.”). But despite all the hate, it’s really an incredibly twisted love. It’s a real, down-to-the-core love… to hate. What is WVU without eat shit Pitt? What is Pitt without Morganhole? The rivalry does indeed define the schools on more than one occasion.


So yeah, I hate Pitt. I have as long as I can remember, and I probably always will. But if we stop playing Pitt, I will be incredibly, incredibly angry. Because I love Pitt. I love to hate them. Pitt is the creepy neighbor down the street that you love making fun of. You can’t stand their weirdness, but who would you rag on if they moved out of the neighborhood? I need that creepy neighbor in my life. I need Pitt.



Tonight is the 104th Backyard Brawl. Here’s to hoping that it isn’t the last time these two teams meet on the football field. Here’s to the continued tradition of rivalries in college football. Here’s to the 105th Backyard Brawl.





Oh yeah. And eat shit, Pitt.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Win, and You're In (Maybe)

At 6-4 and less than 24 hours away from their final regular season game, James Madison is probably the most interesting team in all of FCS football this year.  Here is everything you need to know about the defining game of JMU's 2011 football season:



How We Got Here: One year removed from a program-altering upset of Virginia Tech, JMU brought a veteran defense and a surprisingly capable offense back to the gridiron.  Big things were expected of the Dukes.  FBS foe North Carolina beat the Dukes in Chapel Hill, but back to back FBS upsets are literally  unheard of at the FCS level, so no surprises there.  Many fans I talked to were afraid that such a beatdown at the hands of even an average FBS teammeant that the Dukes were bound were mediocrity for the third straight year.  Whatever the negative perception was, the team clearly didn't feel the same way.  JMU eeked out a close win over possible playoff team Central Connecticut State at the inception of the new Bridgeforth Stadium. 

The offense really started to mesh after that.  JMU defeated a very good, playoff-bound Liberty team in Lynchburg.  After the Liberty football team realized they were about to break curfew, they retreated indoors, and the Dukes headed Williamsburg and picked up their first conference win against #6 William and Mary. 

But all good things must come to an end.  Justin Thorpe was promptly suspended for five games, and via federal family protection laws, we were not offically told why.  Pretty much everyone understands that he failed a drug test, sources telling me because of nothing other than weed.  Backup linebacker Chase Williams was also suspended, but let's face it, when the quarterback and anyone else on the team is indefinitely suspended, the quarterback will be the main one in the spotlight.

Freshman quarterback Jace Edwards takes the snaps at this point in time.  With Family Weekend's annual rivalry against the Spiders looming, many wondered if JMU would fall to the creepy crawlers to the third straight year.  Not the case.  In his JMU debut, Edwards managed a rushing romp of epic proportions as Richmond was promptly squashed.


If you're squeamish, look away.  This next part gets nasty.


JMU loses to Maine in overtime on a gadget 2-pt conversion play.  Maine's play rises to #2 on Sportscenter's Top Plays.  Dae'Quan Scott and Jace Edwards both suffer separated shoulders.  JMU bounces back to thrash cellar dweller Villanova, but JMU loses the inaugural ODU game to second half injuries after somewhat controlling the first half.  Hope floats with the possibility of a would-be impressive road victory at New Hampshire, but injuries and the far travel distance prove too much for JMU, and lose their third in a four game stretch.

That is, of course, five games.  Justin Thorpe returns and leads a romp over Rhode Island on Senior Day in Bridgeforth.  And now here we sit with the Dukes (6-4, 4-3). 


On the Precipice of Glory:  JMU travels to UMass Saturday, an average team who has had a tough go of it this year and is inelligible to make the postseason anyway.  They have very little to play for.  JMU, on the other hand, has everything to play for.  By rule, a team must win seven games to qualify for the postseason in FCS football.  This is as must-win as must-win gets.  Should JMU beat UMass, the selection committee will have an admittedly hard decision- JMU beat two solid out of conference opponents, and they followed those wins up by playing a season in what is probably the toughest division in FCS football (with apologies to the Big South.  The committee will also need to consider the fact that JMU is appealing for more than just their football program- the Dukes are one of the most spirited and supported teams out there, and Bridgeforth Stadium in its entirety is second to no other stadium on the FCS level.  The committee does consider these things when deciding not only who makes the playoffs, but where the home games are played.

On the Verge of Defeat: The return of Justin Thorpe really fired some people up last week, and we played great against Rhode Island.  But it doesn't change the fact that we are really, really injured.  The offensive line is a mess at this point, and it won't get any better soon.  It's not unreasonable to think we could travel all the way up to the northeast tip of the country and lose another game up there.  That would definitively end our season at 6-5 for the third straight year, and the coaching carousel would begin.  But even if we stand at 7-4 after the UMass game, a playoff berth is not guarenteed.  While its true that JMU has played admirably in the face of hardship and played some tough opponents, the bottom line is that JMU's only CAA wins have come from teams under .500 in conference play.  That is a pretty damning statistic, and a win at UMass (5-5, 3-4) won't change that either.  They might prefer a Delaware team that has been a little inconsistent, but has beaten both ODU and conference leader Towson.  Either way, it could be bad.  Should I prefer the quick death of a UMass loss, or the slow, drawn out pain of a no bid from the FCS playoff committee?  Neither one sounds incredibly appealing.


The Verdict: An inspired JMU squad goes up to Massachusetts and sends a message to the committee.  The game is close early on as JMU leads by only 6 at halftime, but the Dukes turn it up in the second half as they have in most of their wins this year.  Good guys win 27-13.  The playoff committee wants to allow JMU in, but they soon realize too much of the JMU appeal comes from Bridgeforth Stadium.  After a tight vote, JMU is awarded a first-round home rematch against Liberty, with App State looming around the corner for the winner.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Keeping up with the Coastalashians

The Atlantic division of the ACC can be summed up pretty succintly:

Clemson.

Aside from an unsuccessful bout with the dangerous Georgia Tech, Clemson has really dominated most of its ACC competition.  Frankly, its not very interesting to talk about.  With Florida State dropping two games in conference play (and I expect a third is on the way, but more on that later), the Seminoles gift wrapped the inside track to the conference title game and gave it to Clemson in a rather bottom-heavy division:

+Maryland- It was cute when people thought Danny O'Brien was the best quarterback in the ACC in the preseason.  Now though... it's just gotten kind of sad.

+NC State- After 11 weeks, they're 5-5.  Their last two games are against Maryland and Clemson.  After a bowl win over West Virginia last year, it's pretty feasible that the wolfpack doesn't even qualify for a bowl one year later.  Is this what happens when Russell Wilson leaves your program for a state whose biggest upside is belt-centric touchdown dances and lots of cheese?

+Boston College- Hasn't been relevant since Matt Ryan.

+Wake Forest- Wait, they have a football program?  All kidding aside, Wake is probably the best of these four... but it's not saying much.  The DD's actually don't own an out of conference win against an FBS school on any level.  So color me unimpressed.


This is the division that Clemson has run through.  Not a lot of excitement here, especially when you consider that Clemson has already clinched the title berth.  So instead, today we are going to look at the Coastal division of the ACC- a race that is not quite as decided.


Virginia Tech- The hokies being in the title hunt is nothing new.  So I will spare you an elaborate team introduction and point out that, against bowl-qualified competition (ie teams that have qualified for a postseason berth by winning six games), Virginia Tech is 1-1.  This is a telling statistic in a couple of ways.  First of all prior to four days ago, VT was 0-1; they got their first quality win on the road against Georgia Tech last Thursday.  The loss came in early October at home against Clemson.  That's really all I can say that matters about Tech, all their other games have come against ACC pretenders, conference USA schools, or FCS teams.  You really just have to go with a gut feeling on Tech, and my gut tells me that they are physically gifted but not disciplined or schematically unique enough to keep up with top-tier talent.  Most imporantly, my intuition SCREAMS that, at #8 in the BCS, Tech is wayyyyyy way way way overrated.  But before we start talking about BCS games, we need to talk about winning the ACC championship.  And for Tech to get there, they have to beat...


Virginia- Former U of R coach Mike London hasnt turned them into a powerhouse quite yet, but the Cavaliers are well over .500 and probably on their way to a bowl game.  Before the postseason though, UVA will face Virginia Tech in a monster regular season finale in Charlottesville that has huge implications every which way.  To start with, if UVA can keep pace with Virginia Tech for one more week, UVA could win the Coastal division on the head to head tiebreaker with a win over Virginia Tech two weeks from now.  UVA hasn't beaten Virginia Tech in who knows how long (pretty sure it's over 10 years now) but if you recall some of my preseason predictions from this year, I did think that UVA and Virginia Tech would have close records by the end of the year.  Now, here comes the second half of that prediction:  The Cavaliers will beat Virginia Tech during rivalry week and play in the ACC championship game.  They've got to win at Florida State to have a shot at stealing the bid from Tech (unless the hokies drop their home game to UNC this Thursday, which is unlikely).  But the Cavs are really hitting their stride and playing with some tenaciousness for the first time in about five years.  I think they upset both ranked programs and take their spot in the sun.  UVA fans will rub it in the faces of Tech fans; Tech fans will ask UVA fans how many years it's been since the Cavs have been relevant.  In the end, isn't the return of a viable college football rivalry to Virginia what really matters?


Check out my Big East breakdown right here tomorrow.  Bring your calculators and your bibs.  There's gonna be math... and it's gonna be messy.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Mini-Series Coming This Week

Lots of big things happening next weekend.  Just so everyone can keep up with all the information and title races out there, I'll be doing a mini-series this week on the CAA, Big East, and ACC title races.  All three are absolutely fascinating, and when you see  the competitions and possible winners that are out there right now, I think you'll all be pretty shocked. 

Can't way to see you all this week in between frequent bursts of THIS!!!

Rating the Hangovers

They say that November is the month where championships are won.  I disagree- I think November is the month where championships are lost.  Lots of BCS and conference championship implications in week 11.  Lots of dreams foiled here, and I'll be counting them all down right here.


7. South Carolina- Sure, they won (barely) over a Florida program that is akin to the kids throwing the party while their parents are out, and haven't realized how trashed their house has gotten.  The 5 point home win has to feel good... I guess.  But now that South Carolina has completed their SEC schedule 1/2 a game behind Georgia, they are left hoping that Georgia loses their SEC finale next weekend so that they can represent the SEC East in the championship game.  The final punchline?  Even if South Carolina gets back to the championship game, they really have no chance at all against LSU, especially without Garcia and Lattimore.

6. Stanford- Probable #1 draft pick Andrew Luck saw the Cardinal's long winning streak get doused by Oregon... again.  Stanford sat at #4 and was in line to get to the national championship in the event that Oklahoma State lost, but this loss all but eliminates them from that conversation.  As if getting booted from title contention wasn't enough, they lost to the Ducks, that same team that has owned them the last three games.

5. Texas A&M- Oh how they mighty have fallen.  The Aggies were my preseason sleeper pick to win the Big 12, and... well, I just flat out wrong.  A&M certainly has the talent, but they just don't execute OR hold leads.  After two early losses where they embarassingly releashed two gigantic leads to Oklahoma State and Arkansas.  Recently, Texas A&M lost in overtime to Missouri AND got blown out by the Sooners.  In this latest contest of whats-a-new-way-we-can-embarass-ourselves, A&M lost to overrated kansas state in four overtimes.  They certainly be blamed for a lot of shortcomings, but on some level you've got to feel bad for this team that just keeps finding ways to lose.

4. Texas-The longhorns scored five points.  That could be a punchline.

3. Penn State- Hell?  No, that's just been happy valley, pennsylvania the last few weeks.  State college has been absolutely put through the ringer through a combination of the firing of a legend, the scandal of a generation, and a media blitz that could rival an apocalypse.  After the dust settled and penn state actually needed to, you know, play a football game... things didn't go so hot.  PSU got behind early and made a valiant comeback... but it wasn't enough.  You just have to feel bad for the Nits, even if they were hugely overrated, you just kind of hoped they pull out a win after such a nightmare of a week.

2. Boise State- Raise your hand if you've heard this one before.  Kellen Moore and Boise State cruise through the first couple months of their season, only to lose in November to a conference rival on a missed field goal at the end of the game that keeps them out of fringe National title contention.  Wow, that was oddly specific wasn't it?  Yet it's now happened twice in a row.  Big picture, the Broncos week 11 home loss to TCU is just freakishly similar to last season's loss at Nevada.  Sure, there are some key differences like the kicker's pedigree, but the bottom line is we won't have to hear about how Boise State belongs in the national title game anymore... and frankly, I am really, REALLY happy about that.  Still, awful hangover for the boys in blue.

1. Cincinatti- It's true, I have Cincinatti here as the worst hangover despite the fact that they are actually in first place in the Big East.  I'm not saying grabbing your first loss at home on a blocked field goal as time expires is all rose petals or anything.  That's gotta leave you smarting a bit.  But the real pain comes here with the additional loss of senior bearcat quarterback Zach Collaros.  Backup quarterback Munchie Legaux seemed to share the raw running power that Collaros also had, but he's far from a polished signal caller when it comes to passing.  Questionable decision making and footwork may not be enough to will Cincinatti through their final three games, but the team won't have much of a choice- Collaros is out for the season with a broken ankle.  UC still holds a half game lead in the Big East, but a whopping five teams are within that very short striking distance.  I would not be surprised at all if a team that is not Cincinatti wins the Big East.