BCS TITLE PREVIEW

#1 OKLAHOMA SOONERS

vs

#2 FLORIDA GATORS

I would first like to say that I think it is a real shame that college football does not have a tournament to decide its champion like EVERY other sport does. I would love to see Utah, USC, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida fight it out on the field rather then a bunch of computers crunching numbers to decide who should play in the National Title.

On to the game.

Although I think that Texas in particular got jobbed and should be playing in this game, I will say that after the last week of the season the two best teams in the country were Oklahoma and Florida, so at least the BCS got that much right. This games pits SEC vs Big XII. Tebow vs Bradford. Stoops vs Meyer.

OKLAHOMA WITH THE BALL:
OU has scored more points this season than any other school in D1 history. The Sooners use a spread set with a hurry up mentality. This offense is all based on the efficiency of QB Sam Bradford, who threw for 48 TDs and just 6 INTs this season. The Sooners will be missing RB DeMarco Murray who tore his hamstring in the Big XII Championship game against Missouri, but will have Chris Brown to replace him. Although Murray was listed as the starter on the team Brown actually led the Sooners with 1,110 yards on the ground this year and 20 TDs. The Sooners also use the hurry up to keep the defenses from making personnel changes to match-up against the Oklahoma four and five receiver sets. Bradford has completed 30 or more passes to five different OU players and ten different players have caught touchdown passes. OU has averaged a play every 23 seconds on offense. The numbers are mind-boggling, take a look:
TOTAL OFFENSE – ranked 3rd nationally
7.05 yards per play
562.08 yards per game
PASSING OFFENSE – 3rd
9.74 yards per attempt
356.6 yards per game
49 touchdowns
7 interceptions
RUSHING OFFENSE – 18th
4.77 yards per carry
205.54 yards per game
45 touchdowns
SCORING – 1st
54.00 points per game
5 straight games of 60+ points

OKLAHOMA ON DEFENSE:
It is somewhat interesting that Bob Stoops is considered a defensive minded coach. He was a defensive coordinator for Steve Spurrier at Florida and his defenses when he first arrived at OU were spectacular, but recently he has left a lot to be desired. The Sooners rush the passer well, averaging over three sacks per game, but then that they won’t show up in the top 40 nationally in any defensive categories. This however can be misleading. The Big XII offensives are all so high powered that the defenses in the conference naturally will have high averages than most. There are five Big XII offenses in the top nine of overall offenses in the nation. The biggest thing that this OU team does on defense is it gives the high-powered offense a short field repeatedly. The Sooners forced 32 turnovers this season (15 fumbles, 17 INTs).

OKLAHOMA ON SPECIAL TEAMS:
The Sooners rank 5th in the nation in kickoff returns, but that is one place they will miss DeMarco Murray. He was their big threat returning kicks. With him gone it is not as dangerous to kick it deep to either Chris Brown or WR Juaquin Iglesias, both who returned kicks after Murray was injured. The kicking coverage is a different story. The Sooners have allowed five kicks to be returned for touchdowns this season, more than any other team. In a game that may come down to field position and who forces the other team to go longer for their touchdowns OU punting situation is not good. The OU punter Mike Knall averages just over 33 yards per kick, and the returners are only getting about 8 yards a try.

FLORIDA WITH THE BALL:
What more can be said about Tim Tebow and what he does for the Gators offense? Tebow has run for over 500 yards (3rd on the team) and passed for over 2,500 yards. If you thought Bradford’s TD to INT ratio was good, how about 28 TDs and just 2 picks all season for Tebow. Plus all the weapons that Urban Meyer has put on the field with him. Percy Harvin, who injured his ankle against Florida State and missed the SEC Title game, will not be 100% but will still play. He is probably the single most dangerous player in all of college football when he touches the ball. He has accounted for over 500 yards in both rushing and receiving and scored 16 touchdowns on top of that. Get this, he has 61 rushing attempts this season and has only been tackled behind the line on scrimmage three times. The team speed that the Gators have is what really separates them from every other team in the nation. On offense you have WR’s like Louis Murphy and Harvin as well as hybrid style players like Chris Rainey and Jeffery Demps that can just flat out fly. Teams cannot run with these guys in one-on-one coverage, and that lets Tebow pick apart zone defenses. The Gators scored 40 or more in five straight games this season against SEC teams, that had never been done before.

FLORIDA ON DEFENSE:
This is the place where the game will be won or lost. The Florida defense will be bigger, stronger and most importantly faster at every position then any team the Sooners have faced this year. Florida will challenge the big OU line with their aggressive pass rush, but for the most part will do that with only their four down linemen. The Gators will not be afraid to match up in single coverage with OU, even with their linebackers, because of their speed. The Gators are very young on defense. They start 1 freshman, 7 sophomores and 3 juniors, so they will have to be very disciplined because this will also be the best offense that Florida has faced this year. The Gators rank in the top 15 in every defensive category, check out the numbers:
RUSH DEFENSE – 15th
3.33 yards per carry
105.3 yards per game
PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE – 2nd
10 touchdowns allowed
24 interceptions
TOTAL DEFENSE – 7th
4.40 yards per play
279.31 yards per game
SCORING DEFENSE – 4th
12.8 points per game
19 touchdowns allowed
1 team has scored over 20 points since loss to Ole Miss Sept 27th
TURNOVER MARGIN – 2nd
+22 for the season

FLORIDA SPECIAL TEAMS:
I give a big edge to the Florida special team units and I predict a score for the Gator special teams in this game. The return men are all very dangerous and the kicker has only missed two kicks all season

IF OKLAHOMA WINS THE DIFFERENCE MAKER WILL BE…
Tight End Jermaine Gresham. I know it seems odd to select a TE to be the difference maker in a game packed full of speedy playmakers, but nobody has been able to stop Gresham this season. His size (6’6”, 261) makes him a tough match up for everyone. If the Gators can get away with using a linebacker on him then they win this battle, but if he is running up against guys in that secondary, good luck bringing him down.

IF FLORIDA WINS THE DIFFERENCE MAKER WILL BE…
The defensive line. All season Sam Bradford has been able to sit in the pocket and pick apart defenses, if the Gators can get to him and put him on the move or hurry a few throws it might be enough to throw off the timing of that OU offense.

PREDICTION

I think both teams are going to have success moving the ball, but I think that the difference in the game will be the overall speed of the Florida secondary and skill players. They will give the Sooners something they have not seen all year. I expect it to be close throughout the first half with Florida ahead by 3-7 points, but I expect Florida to pour it on in the second half and win their second title in three years rather easily. FLORIDA 45, OKLAHOMA 24

The Long and Winding Road of a Pitt Fan

A little music for this blog:

Being a 27-year-old Pitt fan is hard work. Think about this, I was 19 months old when Dan Marino took his last snap as a Panther. Since then, there have been some ups and downs, but mainly downs. Paul Hackett. Barry Goheen and the Vanderbilt Commodores. Back To The Future with Johnny Majors. Fred Primus. Chris Seabrooks. The entire 1995 recruiting class of Ralph Willard (minus Vonteego Cummings). Khalid El-Amin. The Swinging Gate. MAC teams like Kent State, and as recently as this fall, Bowling Green... just to name a few. It seems Pitt athletics play with your mind and heart more than any teams in the history of sports. Just when your hopes are high, they come crashing back to earth. Well this time, down is the only direction Pitt can go, and that is fine with me.

The Pitt Panthers Men’s Basketball team is the new #1 team in the nation for the first time in the history of the university. It is also the first time that I know of that ANY Pitt team was ranked number one since that final season for Marino in 1982.

The moment I saw my first basketball game, I fell in love with the sport. Add the fact that my first game was a Pitt game, in which they won in overtime, and what could be any better, right? Every since that night, I was addicted. I watched every game that was on television and listened to the games that weren’t. When I played, I wasn’t Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, I was Sean Miller or Jason Matthews. I thought the Little Panthers were amazing halftime entertainment and wanted to be one.

My father and some of his fellow FIJI brothers have been going to the Big East Basketball Tournament in New York since 1988. Oddly enough, I happened to be sick from school the opening day of the tournament every year since 1988. I remember watching Sean Miller play his last game as a Panther and losing to a winless Miami team that just entered the Big East. I watched in awe during the Ray Allen vs Allen Iverson championship game in 1996. I remember watching Ricardo Greer turn in the first and still only triple double performance in Big East Tournament history. These are just some of the reasons I was ecstatic when my dad invited me to join the Crew as an early high school graduation present in March of 1999. I had heard all the stories, watched all the big games, and now I was going to experience the real thing.

As usual, Pitt lost Wednesday night before we even arrived in New York, but I still loved every second of New York and all of the basketball. I was hooked and have attended every year since. I would like to say that my presence in New York is what changed things for the program, but it was not. After the championship game that year, the whole group walked down the street and into The Blarney Stone on 33rd to get a drink and watch more basketball. (yes I was underage, but the others were not, and no bar is going to turn away thirsty FIJI’s if they know what is good for business.) At that point the only game that was on was Weber State playing Northern Arizona in the Big Sky Tournament Championship. We sat down and watched the game, and my Funcle (fake uncle) Harry commented on the rumors we had heard about the coach of Northern Arizona, possibly being the next coach at Pitt. We watched the rest of the game with a little more interest as we criticized every move the guy made. Of course, Northern Arizona lost the game, so we, in turn were not impressed by his coaching ability. That coaches name: Ben Howland.

The 2000 season was a bit of growing pains for the Panthers and their new leader. They once again were ousted on Wednesday before we arrived in New York.

Beginning in 2001 though, the Panthers, led first by Howland and now by Jaime Dixon, have been the best team in the Big East Conference and one of the best teams in the nation. They have appeared in seven Big East Tournament Championship games in eight years, going 19-6 during that span (my record is 17-6 all-time at the BET, missing two 1st round games).

Even though all of this seems like it has been nothing but success recently for the Panthers there have been some downfalls. All of these happened in March, all of these happened in the NCAA Tournament. In 2002, at Jeremiah’s house, we watched Indiana upset #1 ranked Duke, opening the door for Pitt to stroll into the Final Four, only to also get upset that night by 10-seeded Kent State. Or in 2004 when Pitt played Oklahoma State for the right to play St. Joe’s and get to the Final Four. Being very confidant that beating Oklahoma State was the tough game, and that St. Joe’s was incredibly overrated, we again lost and still had not made it past the Sweet 16. In 2005, sending Chevy Troutman out to end his career at Pitt with back-to-back losses to Villanova in the Quarterfinals of the BET and to Pacific in the 1st round of the NCAA’s. In 2006, we saw Pitt roll Kent State (a revenge game for every Pitt fan that remembered the agony of the '02 loss) and Bradley upset Kansas, only to then watch Bradley upset Pitt also, two days later. And last year, Pitt losing to Michigan State in the 2nd round.

This Pitt team is special. They are more athletic than years past. They have the dynamic scorer that they lacked in years past, and they are the deepest team that Pitt has ever had. And right now, they are on top. I do not expect the number ranking to last all season, but I do like the possibility that this year's “let-down” will not end the year. The Panthers are #1 in the country right now, which is a dream come true for a fan like me. However the more important time to be #1 is that first Monday in April. With this Pitt squad, they very well could be!

Pitt Finally Reaches the Top

Contributed by: Jason Dugan

Unlike most of the City of Pittsburgh, throughout my lifetime my Sports Universe did not run directly through the middle of Three Rivers Stadium or Heinz Field.

Sure, I have been a fan of the Steelers for my entire life (except for the brief period when I was a Lions fan. I know, a Lions Fan? Barry Sanders electrified me in a way no player ever had or ever will) and I did my fair share of celebrating when the Steelers won Super Bowl XL, but for me basketball has always been the left, right and center of my Sports Universe.

Growing up I had the privilege to see the Pittsburgh Panthers play many games at both Fitzgerald Field House, and the Civic Arena (Now the Mellon Arena). 1986 is the year it started for me. Guys like, Jerome Lane, Charles Smith, Demetrius Gore, Jason Matthews, Rod Brookin, Brian Shorter, Darren Morningstar. I remember all the success and great games, but I was still a kid that was a fan, not a fan's fan. I would much rather play than watch any game at that point.

I followed Pitt for the next 12 years almost as an after-thought thanks in large part to Ralph Willard being arguably the worst game coach I have ever seen. In 2000, Ben Howland took over, and although he was a relative unknown coach, you could feel that there were changes coming soon.

Pitt started its unprecedented run to seven of eight Big East Tournament Championship games in March 2001 before losing to Boston College. The following season Pitt started the season 12-0 before going to Chestnut Hill to take on 12th ranked Boston College on January 5th 2002. What happened that day was, in my opinion, the turning point of the Pitt basketball program. I do not have the details of the victory, but PITT beat a good Boston College team that day 77-74.

Since January 5th 2002 there have been a total of 18 teams ranked #1 in the country in Men's College Basketball. There are 18 weeks per season in which the rankings are published including pre-season and after the Championship game, so being ranked #1 even for a short period of time is a pretty exclusive and prestigious club to be a part of. As of 1:06pm today, January 5th 2009, PITT became the 19th team since January 5th 2002 to be ranked #1 in the Nation.

Is it a coincidence that exactly 7 years after that one victory was the day Pitt finally climbed to the top of the mountain? Maybe. Is it also a coincidence that the same team Pitt defeated to start their "run" of success was also the team that had to win for PITT to claim #1? I think not.

In basketball, as in life, you always have to play the hand you are dealt, the only problem with that is that there countless outside influences that directly impact your path. Let us call them bad breaks, maybe you did not get a call, you missed some shots, you did everything you could and still did not get the results you expected. That is the game. When you do everything in your power to succeed, and still come up short all that you can do is keep working until the day comes and you do succeed. That is what Pitt has done for the last 7 years; work at moving forward, no complaints, no blame, just working to move forward. That is why it is not a coincidence.

It has been a great 7 years since that turning point in Chestnut Hill, with too many great memories to recount each one. There have also been too many slights to recount each one as well. The question now is does Pitt stay among the elite, and retain their #1 ranking for a significant period of time? Or, do they go the way of some other teams that have reached the pinnacle of the rankings and now become afterthought? Alabama, St. Joe's, and Stanford to name a few.

I am no expert, but I think that Pitt will be at or near the top for a very long time.

A Fun Finish to '08 and a Crazy Start to '09

Wow, so much has happened since I last Ranted. So this will be a Cliff Notes version of what has been on my mind over the Holiday break.

- Notre Dame won a bowl game, first time since 1994, yes 1994. So does everyone still think Notre Dame is the end all in college football? I have something on that coming up after the season officially ends with Florida stomping Oklahoma Thursday night.

- The Trouble Tracker will need an update, Miami had five more players suspended, all for their bowl game, which they then went out and lost to Cal. Those five players put Miami's season total to 12, placing “THE U” in commanding lead for the top spot.

- Pitt played their bowl game on New Year’s Eve. Wait, let’s re-phrase that. Their defense played in their bowl game on New Year’s Eve. In one of the poorest offensive displays in the history of the game, Pitt managed to be shut out against Oregon State. Just when you thought Matty Cav could not be any worse, he goes out and gives his star running back ONE touch in the 1st quarter.

- In better bowl news, Penn State was embarrassed even worse when they were dismantled in every facet of the game by USC in the Rose Bowl the next day. I was really feeling bad about that 3-0 loss, but watching USC move the ball on that “vaunted” Penn State defense made me feel much better about Pitt’s bowl performance.

- Utah opened everyone’s eyes when they lined up toe-to-toe with Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and beat them. And they beat them soundly. Utah beat Bama much easier and more convincingly than Florida did a few weeks earlier in the SEC Title game, which makes you wonder if Utah, at 13-0, deserves to be the National Champion. I say yes!

- Pitt hoops made a statement to the nation in the nation’s capital when they manhandled Georgetown on Saturday. That was the first time the Hoyas had lost at home in their past 29. Plus, the Hoyas became everyone’s favorite Big East team earlier in the week when they knocked off #2 UCONN in Storrs. A reminder to everyone, the Big East championship comes through Pittsburgh, and the BET Championship goes through Madison Square Garden (aka. Pittsburgh North).

- The untouchable North Carolina Tar Heels were beaten soundly by an unranked, 23-point underdog Boston College team AT HOME. Boston College never stepped down and played very physical basketball (well, physical for the ACC, which means they bumped Hansbourgh at least 4 times) and completely threw off the tempo that the Heels like to play.

- The Pitt win, and the UCONN and UNC losses set up, for the first time in school history, Pitt being the #1 ranked team in the country. The Panthers received 70 of the 72 first place votes in the AP poll, and 30 of 31 in the ESPN Coaches poll. (See Jason's guest Rant above).

Not a bad week, huh? We will have a BCS Championship preview coming up later this week as well as the Final T3R for the football season following that game.

Next week, once the football season is complete, I will start the college basketball portion of T3R.