Sully Talking Stuff

Wisconsin: Jordan Kohout, a defensive tackle for the Badgers has left the team for medical reasons. Last spring he began to experience migraine headaches and a recent MRI has revealed that he actually has suffered two minor strokes! Kohout appeared in all 14 games a year ago and will be missed. That said, Jordan caught a break, he and the Badger nation could be dealing with something far worse, and while this is tough, the alternative could have been fatal. Wisconsin has offered a medical scholarship and Jordan has indicated he will stay on with the team as a student assistant.

Texas: For those of you who remember the computer game “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego”, a clear walkover would be “Where in the Doak Walker world is Malcolm Brown?”  The Doak Walker Award is given annually to College Football’s best runner. This year 52 players have been placed on the “watch list” and 7 of them are from the Big 12; John Hubert, Kansas State; Waymon James, TCU; Joseph Randle, Oklahoma State; Jarred Salubi, Baylor , Eric Stephens, Texas Tech, Matthew Tucker, TCU; & James White, Iowa State. So where is Brown? I can tell you…. he is a first team selection on the All-Big 12 Pre-season team. He is regarded as one, if not the best (or at least most talented) runner in the Big 12 Conference.  Lindy’s Sports and Phil Steele both have Brown as a Big 12 first team selection in their respective magazines.  I’d bet Doak is not happy about this Texas slight. For those of you who do not know about Doak Walker, he is from Texas, he attended SMU where he won the Heisman in 1948 as a Junior (first Junior ever to win the award).  So forget Carmen, where’s Malcolm?

Conference Ranking: There is little to no question that the SEC is the #1 conference in the nation. After that let the debate begin…. well maybe not yet… the Big 12’s addition of TCU and West Virginia to Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State & Kansas State, in my view makes them a solid second. The third through fifth spots is where the ranking will vary. Sully’s CFP says: 3) Big Ten, 4) ACC,& 5) PAC 12. That said, The PAC 12 has two teams that are better then any squad that the ACC or Big Ten will put on the field this year. SC or Oregon would win the ACC or the Big Ten, but after those two clubs the league is not that strong. Stanford will be down with Luck gone… period … end of discussion! Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, & Washington all have 1st year coaches. Colorado is bad and while Cal & Oregon State have talent (especially Cal) they are struggling. Utah is a good program (good skill and well coached), but I saw them against ND… they need to get better athletically to compete at this level! So it is down to the ACC &  Big Ten for the third spot. You could argue that Florida State is the best team in either of these leagues and have a very strong case…. while the Big Ten could counter punch claiming that Ohio State & Wisconsin are better clubs than the ACC’s next best, Clemson. Sully’s CFP lists Michigan State, Michigan & Nebraska as better teams in 2012 than the ACC’s Virginia Tech (Michigan beat the Hokies 23-20 in the 2011 Sugar Bowl), North Carolina (although…this team may have more raw talent then any team in either the ACC or Big Ten…  FSU excluded) & Georgia Tech. The Big East is 6th, followed by the Mountain West at 7th, C-USA @ 8th, the MAC 9th, Sun Belt 10th & WAC 11th! In fact, the Big Sky, an FCS Conference, led by Montana, may be a better league right now than the WAC!