So much for the easy to predict college football season...

Newbie,

So much for the easy to predict college football season, huh? We’ve reached the
rough midpoint (choking back sobs) and it's just like last year – upsets a plenty, no one looks particularly dominating, and just when you think you have a handle on things, three of the top five go down in an afternoon.

Te-jas has played exceptionally well, and the Austinians deserve their #1 spot for the moment, but are you convinced that will last? I can make an equally strong case that we'll get a USC-Ohio State rematch in the title game as anything else (not predicting that, but it could easily happen). OU and Florida and UGA and all the other powers who lost in the last few weeks are still very much alive, and if a 2-loss team makes it to the Big Show, like LSU last year, I won't even blink.

So what has caught your eye in the first seven weeks of action?

RW

Weiner:

Beyond impact freshmen. Or another super sleeper upset loss for the Men of Troy. Beyond Saint Nick and the rolling Crimson Tide. And even the serial face planting among the Preseason Top 25.

There’s the Real McCoy. Say what you want about the Horns’ staying power – you can no longer question their talent under center. Yeah, he set freshmen records, but he also wasn’t really asked to carry the weight of Longhorn Nation. Translation: his instant success was refreshing, almost a blessing in disguise. Great expectations produced a fabled cliché: sophomore slump of epic burnt orange proportions. His bounce-back ability is based on true grit – and he deserves mad love for it.

I’ll see your two-loss title preview and raise you this: would the college football universe end if we have multiple undefeated non-BCS squads come season’s end? Or if the conference wars of attrition leave no one undefeated? Several “little brothers” of the NCAA could run the slate; a dozen or more monster BCS squads could finish with a single loss.

Leaving the voters to decide.

NB--
I for one would love to see the winner of the Utah Holy War take on Boise or Ball for the championship. It's already been a strong season for the "mid-majors" who got left out of the big dollar party, and it can only go up. I am hyperventilating over the potential clash of unbeatens in Salt Lake City in late-November. I'd love to see one of those teams force the hand of the voters to put them in the title game, and against a 2-loss team no less.

Meanwhile, in terms of individual performers, how about the bruiser from East Lansing? Sparty has been off the radar for a while, except as underachievers. But JR's giving them a shot at a Big Ten title, something that hasn't happened since Hector was a pup. Nick Saban has done a great job in lifting the Tide, but don't overlook the interior line All-Americans in Tuscaloosa--they have been the most physical team in the nation. And it isn't just the Texas QB--at least six signal-callers in the Big 12 are having seasons worthy of post-season honors.

Any forecasts for the second half?
RW

Weiner:

Holy War? More like “holy cow” – when the winner emerges unblemished, yet gets no title shot. I really do think a non-BCS team (or two) will run the table, I just don’t see any of them playing for the chip. Coaches, voters – even you and your drool – will watch this happen. And it will be the correct decision – with potential for a zero-loss Happy Valley squad to join them as well. Then we’ll witness the greatest championship game in modern day history: Big XII vs. SEC heavyweight brawl.

For the eighth time in nine years, a QB will stiff arm his way into the record books and take home that little bronze statue.

Other than that, how can I predict ANYTHING?! Experts keep saying ’07 was the most unpredictable season in CFB history. The second half of ’08 is going to rewrite the books.

Newbs—
Well, so much for the Holy War being a precursor to a title shot, at least for the bunch from Provo, who went down hard against a surly group of Horned Frogs on Thursday night. I’m with you though—some little guy is going unbeaten, but it might not get them a shot against the big boys.

It will be fascinating, and we’ll be watching closely and passing our opinions along as it plays out.