During the college football season, I'll have ten thoughts on the Mizzou game specifically, then ten on the weekend around the country and then we'll do our regular Monday morning ten. But there weren't that many games last weekend so we're kind of rolling everything into one here for week zero. We'll focus on Mizzou for most of this, but we're starting nationally.
1) College football is back and it's good to know that some things haven't changed. For example, Scott Frost will continue to be a terrible in-game coach and Nebraska will continue to be good enough that Nebraska fans think they are just a play or a player away but bad enough that the rest of the country can continue to celebrate their misery. Frost is now 5-21 in one-score games. He is 15-30 overall at Nebraska. He would need a 15-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Mike Riley, the worst coach the Huskers have had since Tom Osborne. He would need a 22-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Bill Callahan. He would need a 51-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Bo Pelini. And he would need a 76-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Frank Solich. Nebraska fired all those guys because they weren't good enough. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
2) Here's what's unique about college sports: It's as much about celebrating the failures of the teams you don't like as it is about celebrating the success of the ones you do. It's different in the pros because it's not as emotional. Chiefs fans don't root for the Broncos or Raiders, but I really don't think there's the same level of outright dislike. Don't get me wrong, you like to see them lose. But you're not celebrating every Denver or Vegas loss (or to go to the other side of the state, Cards fans aren't tweeting till their fingers bleed every time the Cubs lose a game). In college sports, the fans enjoy seeing others fail at a very similar level as they enjoy seeing their own teams succeed. It's what makes it great. For anyone who grew up a fan of a Big Eight team, there's joy in seeing Nebraska suffer. Because for 25 years, they beat your brains in and then they gave you the "Thanks for trying, but we knew and you knew how this was going to go" clap on the way out. And then they applauded themselves for being kind enough to clap for you. And to see them having suffered through relative irrelevance for about a decade before sinking into downright crappiness, well, yeah, everybody outside the state of Nebraska has enjoyed that. Or, to put it more succinctly, this is exactly the attitude that has earned them the scorn of every other fanbase:
3) I do feel for Nebraska fans in one regard: This season is now simply a death march to a coaching search. They know it. We know it. Scott Frost and Trev Alberts know it. Here are a few names I think they should consider when they eventually make the move:
Mark Stoops--If he can do it with Kentucky's resources he can do it with Nebraska's
Bret Bielema--A lot of Missouri fans dismissed it when Illinois hired him, but he's a good coach
PJ Fleck--Personally, I'm not completely sold on him. But he's a Midwest guy and he's likely to be an improvement.
Regardless, the whole Frost thing is a reminder that we have no idea what a good hire or a bad hire is. There were a TON of people who thought Frost was a home run that was going to return them to glory. And there was almost no one who thought it would be the disaster it's been. We'll continue to judge hires on the day they're made. And it will continue to be incredibly stupid.
4) Before we get to Mizzou, here are five games I'm looking forward to seeing in week one:
West Virginia at Pittsburgh, 6 pm Thursday, ESPN--College sports are better when certain games are played. This is one of them.
Oregon at Georgia, 2:30 Saturday, ABC--I like it when the best teams challenge themselves. Oregon won at Ohio State last year. The Ducks are coached by the Bulldogs' former defensive coordinator. Can't miss this one.
Cincinnati at Arkansas, 2:30 Saturday, ESPN--Can Cincy come close to repeating its dream season from a year ago? Are the Hogs as good as most seem to think? This should be a great one.
Utah at Florida, 6:00 Saturday, ESPN--The Utes are my non-Bama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State pick to make the playoff. They're really good and I think they'll win the PAC-12. This one would help boost the resume.
Notre Dame at Ohio State, 6:30 Saturday, ABC--The Buckeyes are my pick to win the whole thing. Welcome to the big time, Marcus Freeman.
1) College football is back and it's good to know that some things haven't changed. For example, Scott Frost will continue to be a terrible in-game coach and Nebraska will continue to be good enough that Nebraska fans think they are just a play or a player away but bad enough that the rest of the country can continue to celebrate their misery. Frost is now 5-21 in one-score games. He is 15-30 overall at Nebraska. He would need a 15-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Mike Riley, the worst coach the Huskers have had since Tom Osborne. He would need a 22-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Bill Callahan. He would need a 51-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Bo Pelini. And he would need a 76-game winning streak to match the winning percentage of Frank Solich. Nebraska fired all those guys because they weren't good enough. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
2) Here's what's unique about college sports: It's as much about celebrating the failures of the teams you don't like as it is about celebrating the success of the ones you do. It's different in the pros because it's not as emotional. Chiefs fans don't root for the Broncos or Raiders, but I really don't think there's the same level of outright dislike. Don't get me wrong, you like to see them lose. But you're not celebrating every Denver or Vegas loss (or to go to the other side of the state, Cards fans aren't tweeting till their fingers bleed every time the Cubs lose a game). In college sports, the fans enjoy seeing others fail at a very similar level as they enjoy seeing their own teams succeed. It's what makes it great. For anyone who grew up a fan of a Big Eight team, there's joy in seeing Nebraska suffer. Because for 25 years, they beat your brains in and then they gave you the "Thanks for trying, but we knew and you knew how this was going to go" clap on the way out. And then they applauded themselves for being kind enough to clap for you. And to see them having suffered through relative irrelevance for about a decade before sinking into downright crappiness, well, yeah, everybody outside the state of Nebraska has enjoyed that. Or, to put it more succinctly, this is exactly the attitude that has earned them the scorn of every other fanbase:
3) I do feel for Nebraska fans in one regard: This season is now simply a death march to a coaching search. They know it. We know it. Scott Frost and Trev Alberts know it. Here are a few names I think they should consider when they eventually make the move:
Mark Stoops--If he can do it with Kentucky's resources he can do it with Nebraska's
Bret Bielema--A lot of Missouri fans dismissed it when Illinois hired him, but he's a good coach
PJ Fleck--Personally, I'm not completely sold on him. But he's a Midwest guy and he's likely to be an improvement.
Regardless, the whole Frost thing is a reminder that we have no idea what a good hire or a bad hire is. There were a TON of people who thought Frost was a home run that was going to return them to glory. And there was almost no one who thought it would be the disaster it's been. We'll continue to judge hires on the day they're made. And it will continue to be incredibly stupid.
4) Before we get to Mizzou, here are five games I'm looking forward to seeing in week one:
West Virginia at Pittsburgh, 6 pm Thursday, ESPN--College sports are better when certain games are played. This is one of them.
Oregon at Georgia, 2:30 Saturday, ABC--I like it when the best teams challenge themselves. Oregon won at Ohio State last year. The Ducks are coached by the Bulldogs' former defensive coordinator. Can't miss this one.
Cincinnati at Arkansas, 2:30 Saturday, ESPN--Can Cincy come close to repeating its dream season from a year ago? Are the Hogs as good as most seem to think? This should be a great one.
Utah at Florida, 6:00 Saturday, ESPN--The Utes are my non-Bama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State pick to make the playoff. They're really good and I think they'll win the PAC-12. This one would help boost the resume.
Notre Dame at Ohio State, 6:30 Saturday, ABC--The Buckeyes are my pick to win the whole thing. Welcome to the big time, Marcus Freeman.
