Great Jet Quarterback of the Past

Most of us are too young to remember Super Bowl III, but have heard of the legend of Joe Namath. This video, though, shows us what we really remember Joe Namath for..

May the newest Jets quarterback stay off this path..

F-A-V-R-E, Favre! Favre! Favre!

It happened after all. After denials during the past 10 days, the Green Bay Packers managed to trade Brett Favre today to the New York Jets. This is a win-win situation for everyone involved (except Jets QB Chad Pennington, who was cut today).

The Packers were anxious to move on to the Aaron Rodgers era. The team believes that they have gotten all they can get out of Favre.

The Jets improve themselves at the quarterback position. QB Kellen Clemens can learn for a year or so from a Hall of Fame quarterback before becoming the starter once again. Plus, the Jets improve from a bad team to at least a mediocre team instantly. And, they’ll get the back page of the New York papers tomorrow.

Favre just can’t walk away from the game. He now gets to play for a team that he can help. He also gets to keep playing for as long as his mind and body can hold up, or for as long as the Jets will have him.

Good move by the Jets.

College Football Projections-WAC

There'll be no video tonight, but there is a set of predictions for the WAC.

The WAC has had teams crash the BCS party two years in a row. Boise State capped an undefeated season in 2006 with an upset win over my Oklahoma Sooners (boo, hoo). Last season, the Hawaii Warriors dominated their opposition in cruising to a 12-0 regular season record. They were then throttled in the Sugar Bowl by a very good Georgia team. Will a WAC team crash the BCS for the third year in a row? Doubtful.

There is strength at the top of the conference. Fresno State returns 17 starters and is favored by some to make a run at the BCS. I think they'll be pretty good. However, so will Boise State. And, the road to the BCS (or at least a conference championship) goes through the blue turf in Boise. In college football, it's not just how good you are, but who you play, where you play them, and when you play them. The schedule works against Fresno. I pick Boise State to win the conference based on their home game with the team from the San Joaquin Valley.

The Hawaii Warriors will slip this year. It would be hard for them to top last season ever again. Plus, coach June Jones took the money from SMU and ran to Highland Park. Still, Hawaii should finish with a winning record, finish 3rd in the conference, and qualify for a bowl game, most likely the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.

New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech are improving, and will be tough games for anyone in this conference. San Jose State and Nevada will be right behind, and can both have a good season with some luck. Utah State and Idaho are both in for long seasons. This conference has defined top-heavy in recent years, but is slowly improving.

Projected Finish:
Boise State 11-1, 8-0
Fresno State 7-5, 6-2
Hawaii 7-6, 5-3
New Mexico State 6-6, 5-3
Louisiana Tech 6-6, 4-4
Nevada 5-7, 4-4
San Jose State 5-7, 3-5
Utah State 1-11, 1-7
Idaho 1-11, 0-8


Next: Conference USA

College Football Predictions: MAC

As we move up the ladder of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the next conference to be explored is the Mid-American Conference. These schools play pretty good football in spite of flying under the radar of the Big Ten.

This conference currently has 13 football playing members. Not every team will play every other team in its division, so all conference games will count in the standings this year. The conference succumbed to the temptation of the Philadelphia market and added Temple last year for football only.

The class of the conference resides in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where the Chippewas of Central Michigan return star QB Dan LeFevour as they attempt to defend their conference championship of a year ago. I don’t see any team in this conference as able to touch them this year. The West division has three teams (Ball State, Western Michigan, and Toledo) that will compete for second place. Northern Illinois will continue to rebuild, and Eastern Michigan will bring up the rear.

In the East, the Falcons of Bowling Green look to dominate the rest of their Ohio brethren along with the interlopers from Buffalo and Temple. The rest of this division will be pretty bunched up, with Miami getting a slight nod over the rest of the division for second place. Akron and Kent State will be competitive. Buffalo and Temple will continue to improve. Ohio is dangerous, but faces three road games in their non-conference schedule, at Wyoming, Ohio State, and Northwestern. The Bobcats will bounce back to an extent in the conference, but their conference schedule works against them, as well. It’s not always how good you are, but who you play, where you play them, and when you play them.

Projected Finish:

East
Bowling Green 8-4, 7-1
Miami, Ohio 7-5, 5-3
Buffalo 6-6, 4-4
Kent State 6-6, 4-4
Akron 5-7, 4-4
Temple 5-7, 4-4
Ohio 4-8, 3-5
West
Central Michigan 10-2, 8-0
Ball State 6-6, 4-4
Western Michigan 6-6, 4-4
Toledo 5-7, 4-4
Northern Illinois 2-10, 1-7
Eastern Michigan 1-11, 0-8

Next: WAC

College Football Projections: Sun Belt

Tonight is the first installment of projections for the 11 major college football conferences. The projections will be posted in order of relevance to the college football landscape and my personal preference.

I will predict the five non-BCS conferences first, followed by independents, then the six BCS conferences.

The first conference I will predict is the Sun Belt Conference. Traditionally known as the dregs of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Sun Belt is becoming increasingly more competitive. Ask Alabama about the Sun Belt, as the Tide lost at home to Sun Belt middle-of-the-roader Louisiana-Monroe last season. These schools still play a lot of money games against the big boys, but they are becoming more competitive against the rest of the division formerly known as I-A.

Why am I predicting the Sun Belt? Why does it matter? It matters to people in places like Murfreesboro, TN and Monroe, LA. These are athletes playing big-time college football. The winner earns a bid to a bowl game. Ok, it’s the New Orleans Bowl, but Florida Atlantic won that game over Memphis last year. Plus, Troy won 8 games last year but was passed over for a bowl bid after losing the last game of the year to Florida Atlantic. This conference is part of the FBS, so I’ll pick it.

This year, Middle Tennessee looks to be the team to beat. Troy will be good as well, but the schedule favors the Blue Raiders of MTSU. The conference could be decided in the first week of the season, when Troy travels to Murfreesboro to play MTSU. By the way, Troy will be making some serious dough for its athletic department by playing a killer non-conference schedule with trips to LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma State. Florida Atlantic will also be decent, as well. These three teams will be the class of the league.

Projected order of finish:
Middle Tennessee 8-4 7-0
Troy 7-5 5-2
Florida Atlantic 7-5 5-2
Louisiana-Monroe 5-7 4-3
North Texas 5-7 3-4
Arkansas State 4-8 3-4
Louisiana-Lafayette 2-10 2-5
Florida International 1-11 0-7

Coming up next: MAC