College Sports

More thoughts from the weekend’s festivities.  I didn’t get a chance to get out to LandShark Stadium for Canesfest, but from what I heard, it was a great event.  This event pretty much culminates a summer filled with the Canes doing more than just playing football.  Over the summer, members of the football team have been very involved in the community.  UM has hosted several youth camps, where players can interact with youngsters from south florida.  This weekend, Canes fans could come to LandShark stadium to hang out with the team, tour the locker room, and of course, buy their season tickets.  It was a free for all where anybody could come (for free) and meet their favorite players and get autographs, and things like that.  Players were even sitting in the dunk tank as part of the festivities.  Read more... (383 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

The last of the six major conferences I will cover is the SEC.  This conference has consistently had top tier teams and has been considered by many to be the strongest conference in the country.  I can definitely agree with this, but it always seems there are unexplained games that take shots at this conference power and  make me think its not leaps and bounds better than the rest of the conferences.  Read more... (1566 words, estimated 6:16 mins reading time)

Its now time to head out west as we take a look at the Pac 10 Conference.  This conference has been dominated by one team for most of its history, and pretty much the entire decade: Southern Cal.  With 2 national championships and 4 bcs bowl wins since 2001, the Trojans are the cream of the crop in the Pac 10 and that is where the conference championship goes through.   Read more... (1211 words, estimated 4:51 mins reading time)

We now turn our focus to the great plains, the middle of the country, where the football features massive offensive lineman and high scoring offenses.  This conference holds just about as much history as the Big 10 but more so probably because the areas these football teams are in don’t have much else to do there.  I have always felt these schools are overrated, simply because they all run the spread offense and score loads of point, then they usually end up losing their out of conference bowl games (except Vince Young and his heroic championship comeback).  I believe Bob Stoops has made his way to 5 championship games that he was overmatched in since winning it back in the 90’s.  Yet this conference keep getting loads of national respect.  I still think they have to earn it.  Read more... (1511 words, estimated 6:03 mins reading time)

It’s now time to focus on one of college football’s most historic conferences.  These school’s have been living and breathing football for a very long time and are extremely rich with tradition.  As of late, their credibility has fallen off when playing out of conference, but there probably isn’t another conference where every team has resounding support.  Read more... (1321 words, estimated 5:17 mins reading time)

The next major conference on our list is the Big East.  This is a conference that has been struggling for national respect for years. Every year it seems they may finally earn it, and then they find a way to lose it.  Read more... (1185 words, estimated 4:44 mins reading time)

As July continues to move slower than molasses, it’s time to embark on a conference by conference preview of the upcoming college football season.  Teams are beginning to start summer workouts, and players are trying to crack that 2-deep chart.  Don’t get me wrong, a lot can change between now and September; players could get injured, have academic problems, or even have run-ins with the law (plenty of those to go around…..COUufGH!).  My point being, that this is more like a “throw it on the wall, see what sticks” preview of the conferences.  Right before the season, you’ll get my predictions on various components of the upcoming season, now you’ll get some nuggets to chew on to hold you over ’til then.  Our first conference to be examined, the ACC, a traditional basketball conference that has made several moves to bolster it’s football prowess.  Read more... (1616 words, estimated 6:28 mins reading time)

Now that we have taken a look through the roster and picked out some key players. It’s time to take a look at the schedule and see how the Canes should fair this year. Without even looking at the schedule, just gauging the state of the program, how Coach Shannon has adjusted the last couple years, and the talent on the field, I believe Miami should post about a 9 win season. They have loads of talent, but most impact players are still pretty young. Here is a look at the schedule, looking at what happened last year, and how it will be different this year.  Read more... (2709 words, estimated 10:50 mins reading time)