Look closer, and there's still plenty to love about college football | KEN WILLIS
All politics is local, the old saying suggests.
Well, not so much anymore, but there was a time when most Americans, for instance, disliked Congress but liked their congressman. Strange dynamic, but almost universally true in earlier times.
Right about now, that’s a good way to treat college football, which transitions from last week’s soft opening into high gear over these next five days and nights.
We’re all familiar — all too familiar — with today’s big-picture college game. It’s a mess.
From the NIL and transfer portal basically ushering in a no-guardrails era of free-agency, to tectonic-shifting conference realignments, what’s to love?
There’s actually still plenty to love, but you now need to narrow your gaze. Pay more attention to the little things — almost all local — that differentiate campus ball from the NFL variety.
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Dotting the i in Columbus.
The cowbells in Starkville.
Sooner Schooner.
Toomer’s Corner.
Hotty Toddy.
“Jumping around” in Madison.
Between the hedges.
“Play like a champion today.”
Closer to home, “We are the Boys” and Chief Osceola.
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And undergirding it all, the wonderful bands, providing the bed of sound that immediately tells you this is Saturday and not Sunday (well, most weeks).
You can love the product while hating the industry. And right about now, it’s all we’ve got.
Rank & File
Speaking of realignment, this fun exercise has been imported from the “State of Football” column of recent years. There were no promises of network money or contractual buyouts involved, trust me. Here we go …
The ranking of Florida’s seven big-league college football programs, based on results versus expectations, current trends, and coded footnotes within the Kiplinger Letter. Also, this week’s picks …
1. FSU (0-0). This week: LSU in Orlando, Sunday. Coaches hate disrupting the routine, and routine is fractured when one eye is constantly on the weather forecast. The pick: Tigers by 2.
2. UCF (0-0). This week: Kent State at home, Thursday. Freebies will be harder to come by from now on for the Knights. Enjoy. The pick: Knights by 24.
3. Florida (0-0). This week: at Utah, Thursday. This one hinges highly on the status of Utah QB Cam Rising, and the Utes ain’t saying because the Utes doesn’t have to. These are the situations ripe for gambler shenanigans. The pick: Utes by 7.
4. Miami (0-0). This week: The other Miami (Ohio) at home, Friday. Remember, one is named after an Ohio valley or river (take your pick) while the other is named for an ’80s TV show. One is UM, the other MU. The pick: Um … ’Canes by 18.
5. FAU (0-0). This week: Monmouth at home. Kevin Callahan, in his 31st year, is the only head coach Monmouth has ever had. Tom Herman is FAU’s eighth Head Hoot Owl in a decade (yes, counting a couple interims). The Pick: Owls by 12.
6. USF (0-0). This week: at W. Kentucky. New Bulls coach Alex Golesh was born in Moscow, and not the one in Idaho. True story, and a long one for another day. He previously ran offenses for Josh Heupel and is bringing the go-go juice to USF's offense. Will it work? Maybe, but not yet. The pick: Hilltoppers by 12.
7. FIU (0-1). This week: Maine at home. Panthers only lost by 5 at LaTech last week. Not bad, actually. Also, you know why “The I” is ranked seventh? Because there aren’t eight teams. But they’re trending well right now. The pick: Panthers by 3.
The (other) Picks
It’s not like this was easy pickin’s before the Wild West era kicked in for college football. The odds makers now have to plug into the transfer portal, determine whose roster has been dramatically upgraded or degraded, and put a number on it.
In a more inexact science, they also look at incoming freshman classes, some aided tremendously by flush NIL booster offerings (“collectives,” is the rather proper term used), and guess which group of 5-stars will produce and which will perform like buck privates.
Here in this corner, as always, the blind-stab technique is alive and well …
Michigan handles E. Carolina; same with Tennessee over Virginia; TCU probably beats the Colorado Deions; Ohio State by just 10 over Indiana; Washington over Boise; Georgia by 58 over Tennessee Ernie Martin; Memphis beats B-CU; Penn State by 12 over WVU; Rutgers over Northwestern by 13; Alabama over MTSU by halftime; South Carolina beats North Carolina; Clemson big over Duke; and smack-dab in the middle of Arkansas, the Bears of Washington U, on the road, by 10 over the Hendrix Warriors.
BTW: Hendrix College is in Conway, host of the annual Toad Suck festival. And though I believe it’s purely coincidence, Hendrix is the alma mater of the longtime (and long-ago) “most powerful man in Washington,” U.S. Congressman Wilbur Mills, who devoted his post-political life to helping others beat the bottle.
... But not before Wilbur’s image was derailed with the help of an Argentine-American entertainer named Annabel Battistella — when the lights dimmed and the brass section cranked to life, she answered to Fanne Foxe. She danced better than she spelled, I’m told.
Anyway, you can look up the whole story, but rest assured, those kids were ahead of their time in D.C.
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: From Sooner Schooner to Hotty Toddy, college football still a joy
