Briles and Sherman > Hawkins?

Now I don't like lists and rankings of arbitrary things because as my colleague Woodrow says, "Now you see why ESPN is having them do all of these lists. It pisses people off and leads people to talk/complain/drive traffic to their site. Its brilliant." I, for one, am one of those people who gets pissed off and Tim Griffin's Big 12 Coach's Ranking has got me a little perturbed. Let me preface this by saying Tim is doing a "good" job and has a lot material pumping out of the ESPN Big 12 blog, plus its one man's opinion. That being said, sometimes I find his lists lacking substantial evidence and reasoning for his conclusions. Maybe he has a perfectly good statistical backing that isn't noted.

Before you call me a homer for defending Dan Hawkins, I believe as a CU fan, that Bo Pelini should be moved up out of the cellar at least above Prince and Sherman, possibly Briles. Prince has not been able to carry the torch passed on from Bill Synder and except for a few major upsets of Texas, he probably doesn't have a job at Kansas State right now. I know Pelini hasn't had the head coaching experience, as Griffin notes, but the one coach on the hot seat in the Big 12 is Prince and it's for a reason. Kansas State might be decent this and next year with 19 JUCOs coming in but by year 3 or 4, if not sooner, he will be gone. Pelini should be successful at Nebraska because he has inherited talent and tradition. And while Pelini hasn't had too much head coaching experience at the college football level, he has more than Mike Sherman at A&M. Oh right, Mike Sherman had a 59 - 43 record (with Brett Farve) in the pros but ask Al Groh, Pete Carroll, Steve Spurrier, Dennis Erickson and Chan Gailey how much the pros and college football differ. So if we are going to base this list on experience then Sherman can't be a #7 coach when he has proven nothing at the college level. Which segues me to my next qualm.

Maybe Art Briles is the next Bill Walsh or Bill Belichek but until about one week ago, I didn't know who Art Briles was. In fact, I don't know who Baylor's last coach was because it usually didn't matter. And I live, eat and sleep football. Baylor isn't relevant so I don't waste the time on it. So my first thought is that the ranking is based on college experience but that doesn't really jive because of Mike Sherman being ahead of Dan Hawkins, Mike Gundy, Gene Chizik and Ron Prince.

Maybe he is basing this list off of past performance and potential. Follow me in the time machine on my adventure of facts. Let's do this list as if we were doing it two years ago and Dan Hawkins and Art Briles were entering the Big 12 at the same time. Dan Hawkins would be coming from Boise State with a 53 - 11 (83% win percentage) record and 2 - 2 in bowl games. Art Briles was 34 - 28 (54% win percentage) with an 0 - 2 record in bowl games with Houston, another non BCS school. Who would you take? Let me give you a hint. Yes, Houston is in Texas and Boise State is in Idaho. Who is a better recruiter and who do you think had the most talent to pick from? Two different answers to that question my friends. Did you see Boise State beat Oklahoma a couple of years ago - who's players were those?

Go back now two years to 2006 where, as an honest Buffs fan, the first year at CU for Hawkins was rough, losing to Montana State. But year two there was light and in his third offseason, there was a recruiting class that makes a return to dominance seem realistic. Now fast forward two years to Art Briles third year in 2010. Do you think that Art will win more than 2 games in his first year at Baylor? No. Do you think that he will go to a bowl game and beat the likes of Texas Tech and Oklahoma in his second year like Hawkins did? No. Do you think he will get a top 15 recruiting class? Maybe, he is in Texas. So the rankings cannot be ranked on potential because Briles has none in the foreseeable future. And past performance can't be the determining factor of who is the best coach in the Big 12 now because Dan Hawkins is 100 - 41 as a collegiate head coach and 2 -3 in bowl games while Art Briles is 34 - 28 with a 0 -2 bowl record.

Something tells me Mr. Griffin in two years will be putting Hawkins a lot higher. Briles is like the new girl in college who transferred from another school. You have heard great things and she is a supposed tomcat but as you look at her more closely, she isn't all that she is cracked up to be. Plus that girl came from a lower level group of girls and now she is in a class with models and sorority girls who all want one thing. Maybe that was a lame analogy but lets rub the shine off Briles before we anoint him at Baylor.

The Calm Before the Storm

Last week we received the first wave of football season with the Big 12 media day and preseason predictions every where you looked. Once again, we have slipped into the dog days of summer with the next wave of Colorado football coming next week with the start of two-a-days. Here are some stories that should hold you over for a little while.

- It looks like Lynn Katoa can now move on from his early troubles at CU. Katoa avoids jail time and felony charges if he can stay clean for the next three years. This ruling is huge granted that Katoa stays out of trouble because he should be all cleared up to play next year with no additional rulings needed from the CU administration. It would have been nice to have Katoa get some action this year but with a relatively deep linebacker position aided by the influx of Shaun Mohler and Jon Major, redshirting the 5 star recruit won't necessarily be a bad thing.

- If you have been coherent over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed ESPN's Big 12 blog has been putting out about 95 reads a day mostly written by Tim Griffin. Woodrow and I got into a little discussion on one article Griffin posted rating the most hated programs in the Big 12. I would make a few changes to Griffin's list. Oklahoma State needs to be put in the top 5. Is there a more annoying school out there in the Big 12? I mean all you hear about is Boone Pickens and Mike Gundy and the foundation they are laying in Stillwater. Do you really think that they will ever recruit better than OU and UT? Do you really think that Boone Pickens, with all his business savy, believes Mike Gundy is the man to lead OSU to the promise land? And there is no question that the superiority complex that Nebraska has merits a higher rating on the most hated list than the #9 spot. Something was sweet about watching the Corn Nation bring on a former Raider in Bill Callahan and watching them implode. It was like a perfect storm. And lets give Kansas one more year to prove they are relevant in football before we start hating them. I couldn't have named 3 players that played for Kansas ever before the pre-2007 magic. And has the Missouri vs Kansas game ever been relevant until last year? It certainly doesn't merit a #2 rivalry ranking.

-Onto a more Buff centric locale, the Daily Camera's blog written by Kyle Ringo does a pretty good job on his outlook of the Buffs (I mostly say this because we agree on a lot of things!) His most recent post detailed players who need to exceed expectations or improve on past performances for the Buffs to take the next step in '08. I don't think he could have picked 4 better players to highlight. Like we have said numerous times on this site, if WR Patrick Williams comes to play week in and week out up to his potential (and not just versus teams like Montana St. or Colorado St.), the Buffs could be one of the top offenses in the Big 12. You talk to any knowledgeable CU fan and ask them what they want for Christmas, it would be a productive WR. Williams has the ability but never seems to follow through. The CU defensive line has the ability to resemble the dominant CU lines of Williams, Steed, Holland, etc. But it will take improvement in the productivity of Maurice Lucas and Brandon Nicolas. He also talks about OL Nate Solder making the transition from TE to OL with a bunch of athleticism to boot. I don't think there is a doubt that he can be good, its a matter of when. If he can gel with Ryan Miller and Daniel Sanders, it would go along way in the success of the CU offense.

-Something tells me that the reason we hate the BCS is that it revolves around computers. This little simulation makes me hate computer generated football even more. Just brings up the golden opportunity to use the line, "That's why they play the game." If CU finishes in 59th behind teams like FAU...well I don't even know how to comprehend such a thought right now. If Baylor wins 4 games, I will be shocked.

-Keep it on the down low...Buffs single game tickets go on sale Friday, August 1st. We are still trying to get a few extras for the UT and West Virginia games so don't take them all.

Barringer Qualifies for Olympics, Other Buff News

--Jenny Barringer, the star of the CU Track & Field time, has qualified for the Olympics and will be off to Beijing. Last night at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus, Barringer finished third in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Barringer was expected to win the event as she set the fastest time in America this year during her collegiate season and won the World Championships two years ago. Expect Barringer to compete for a medal next month. The good thing for the Buffs is that Barringer is back next year to dominate the Big 12.

--The West Virginia Charleston Gazette has previewed the Colorado and West Virginia game coming up in Boulder. It seems to me that West Virginia is a little worried about this game. Whether it be new coach Bill Stewart, the Colorado recruiting class, the Boulder altitude or the thought of Oklahoma last year at Folsom field getting upset, the Mountaineers are very cautious of this game. This is a CU Blog and I am 100% pulling for the Buffs but if the Mountaineers return the same speed I saw them live put on the field versus OU in the Fiesta Bowl, the Buffs are going to be in for a very long day.

--Note to Bruce Feldman, Toledo and Miami of Ohio are not powerhouses! How in the world does CU not get on the top 10 list for the hardest non-conference schedule. I am not so much disappointed on the Buffs missing the list, its teams like Michigan making the list. Look at the adjectives he uses to describe the opponents for the Wolverines. "A very underrated Utah team, Miami of Ohio "a team projected to be in the hunt for a MAC title," Notre Dame (come on, I love the Irish but they sucked last year and they will be really young) and then he says Toledo and tries to validate it with "they beat Iowa State last year." Ridiculous. I can't even laugh at this. How does CU not beat this! So they play Eastern Washington but FSU and West Virginia run circles around all of these teams and probably beat Notre Dame handedly. Also on the list include Troy, East Carolina and Marshall

CU Has Been Nominated for a New Award by "LSU Fan"

Now, now LSU... slow down, take a breath and stop feeling like your team and the SEC gets an unfair shake on everything. Over the past couple of days since CU announced that it was going to place Fresno State on the 2011 - 2012 schedule instead of LSU, the Bengal faithful have been acting extra distraught. The comments have ranged from "these are the types of things that keep us from scheduling BCS out of conference games and why we get reamed for playing weak schedules" to wishing "all SEC teams beat those hippie bastards" to my favorite, "still, Colorado is now dominating the front running for gaping vajayjay of the year for dropping us for Fresno State. Dan Hawkins, this is Division One football brother, you don't like it, go play intramurals. And from the appearance of your scheduling, you should be playing girls lacross in Bossier, punk."

Makes me laugh every single time I read it.

First of all, nothing was really official with LSU and CU. The papers weren't signed and no one had officially committed to anything. Second, CU got a better deal. They got 2 home games from Fresno State. You would have to be stupid to not take that deal regardless of the team. Third, in all likelihood CU would probably get torched by LSU. I don't think there is a Buffs fan that would ever argue against that, even the most passionate would say that in 2011, LSU would win. That being said, "LSU fan" is acting like CU is the difference to a make or break their schedule in 2011. Hey "LSU fan", I thought the Big 12 was overrated...? Finally, I think the 2011 LSU non conference schedule with or without Colorado is in the running for this new "gaping vajayjay" award. Lets see, week 1 we have the powers of Northern Illinois coming in followed by the courageous Cougars of Houston and then the powerful waves of Tulane in the middle of the season. I can hear it now, "LSU fan" will try to rationalize the Tulane game as "trying to keep money in the state of Louisiana." Save it, Ohio State already used that one. Meanwhile, Colorado will be playing Colorado State (not scheduled yet), California and Hawaii. Not brutal but I am pretty sure no one will argue who is playing a non conference schedule closer to girls lacrosse or lacross, as "LSU fan" calls it, in 2011.