We’re almost there, kids.  A few more miles and we’ll be able to see College Football in all of its glory.  And someone will also point out a few of its flatulent tendencies as well.  Let us get a couple of these out of the way right now.

OLE MISS

Hugh Freeze, the recently made former head football coach of the Ole Miss Rebels is now the former coach because of some poor personal behavior choices.  I have been a fan of Ole Miss Football for a very long time.  I hope to see them play in person in Lexington in November.  If I get there, I will root like I always do.  A few folks I know have made issue of the demise of Coach Freeze with an added vigor of sarcasm.  They have made fun of my being an Ole Miss fan.  So be it.

Press onward is what I say to the Rebels.  Matt Luke is now the head coach of the Rebels and when they line up eleven on eleven with poor field position on third down, there comes a moment when instinct takes over and all else is forgotten.  This is that special place a player finds and wants to keep finding.  Once he has found it, there is a love for it that never goes away, even after he has been a long distance from it.

To the Ole Miss Faithful, I sing “Hotty Toddy!”  Enjoy the time in The Grove.  Enjoy what college football means to you, come hell or high water or coaching change.  There is one head coach.  There are over 60,000 seats in Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium.  You win.

JOSH ROSEN

You will hear the name Josh Rosen more often in the future than you will in this season.  He is the quarterback at UCLA.  His is a gifted quarterback.  You will hear about him in the future based on one of two connotations.  He will be a great quarterback…or he will be one of those guys that gets kicked around for not living up to their potential.  Tom Brady v. Ryan Leaf.  Peyton Manning v. Jeff George.  You may get the picture.

This past week as the impetus of College Football is building and excitement of game day is boiling, Josh Rosen came out with a statement about how playing college football and going to school don’t go together.  Boo hoo hoo.  Take your ball and go home, Josh.  I don’t know what we have here.  A kid that likes the sound of his own voice more than the whistle of a ball on a crossing pattern or another guy with foot in mouth disease.  Is this easier to take from a kid whose parents are wealthy, as Rosen’s are.  Or would this come easier from a gifted kid whose family never had a member attend college let alone play football on TV or graduate?

The finger, be it index or middle, usually points to the pot of money created by College Football buoyed by the shoulder pads of its participants.  I have long been fearful that the amount of money paid to SOME college football coaches and the beans raked in by the college athletic programs will one day come back to haunt first and then wreak havoc later.  One day there will be a revolt and decisions will have to be made.  What the schools will have to tell the donors putting up the huge simoleons is a good question?  Regardless, it won’t be easy.  It could be ugly.

On a much better note…

INDIANA IS BACK

Words fail me when I think of the Halloween Massacre of 1996.  Like I remember where I was standing the day Elvis died, I remember where I was standing the day I got wind that Coach Bill Mallory had been fired as the Indiana University Head Football Coach on October 31st.  After the season, his thirteenth at Indiana where they went to six bowl games and  won a couple of them, Coach Mal was the former head coach.  It should not have worked out that way.  He should have been given carte blanche to the day he  turned in his keys.

 How did it work out?  In the twenty years after Coach Mallory the Hoosiers have made it to three bowl games.  The good news, two of them have been the last two years.  The bad news, the Hoosiers, who were 69-77-3 under Coach Mallory have been 80-155 since and the only winning season was in 2007 which sported a 7 win- 6 loss campaign.

At IU game last year with Brother Tim and Michelle.

Enter 2017 with new Head Coach Tom Allen.  Things are looking up.  You wait and watch.  Good things are going to happen under Coach Allen’s system

 There is a mysterious line between fear and respect when it comes to coaches and players.  If you are the head coach at Alabama or Texas or Ohio State or Michigan you have luxuries that other coaches can’t fathom.  The latest former coach at Indiana had a hard time deciphering that, I think.  The aforementioned schools all have a next man up luxury like Indiana University will probably never know. But good for Indiana.  They are in place to have an “us against the world” scenario with a team full of players the big boys most likely passed on.  With this I reiterate they will find that special place and time where things will come together…where this team will come together and do great things.  I have heard enough coach speak over the years…I have been ready to be uninspired  by Indiana’s football coach choices due to the taste of sour grapes.  In January 2016 in a speaktherights.com post,  I wrote the following…

I am also dumbfounded that Indiana University gave its head football coach, Kevin Wilson, with his 20-41 record, a six year extension that includes so much “geat” that it will be hard to impossible to pay him off until 2020.  All I can say is “Wow”.  I knew the folks in Bloomington were a little touched…but this?  This being a coach who made a bowl game with a team that finished with a losing record getting a million dollar-plus raise per season.  Kind of makes 80s music seem a little more legitimate, doesn’t it?

I don’t know Kevin Wilson, the Hoosiers gridiron coach.  I  met Bill Mallory.  I met Terry Hoeppner.  They were great for Indiana Football. So was Bill Lynch.  All I can say is that I believe Kevin Wilson was lucky enough to get into a bowl game the same season the Hoosiers had a great Big Ten home schedule and a great many fans showed up to watch…many from Ohio, Michigan, and Iowa.  We’ll take their money…no matter where they are from.  Now it belongs to Coach Wilson.  Good for your family!  Not so good, I am afraid, for IU Nation…however thin or thick it may be.  I am not saying Coach Wilson is not a good person.  In fact, I hope I eat every syllable I type unfavorably about him.  I just feel like I have seen this movie before and it doesn’t work out very well.

Sorry coach.  I hope you prove me wrong.  I hope to make it to the Rose Bowl one day.

Well, Coach Wilson is now the Offensive Coordinator at Ohio State and that should suit him very well.

Bring on Coach Tom Allen.  I am sold.  It took over twenty years.  I am finally excited about going to watch the Hoosiers play again.  I have been to a game or two year in and year out for the most part during these troubling Hoosier Football times.  My attendance has been largely out of a sense of obligation.  I didn’t want to give up…but I was usually glad when I could get to the radio on the way home to find a game to listen to.

No more.  I am fired up about the Hoosiers.

Not lost on me is also my affinity for The Marshall Thundering Herd.  They have held the interest that waned from the Indiana Hoosiers.  I will still root for the Herd.  Going to the Joan C Edward Stadium is one of the most unique experiences in College Football.  This is truly a special place. I look forward to being there this year.

So is this… a special place.

As was reported, Dad and I went to the USC-UCLA game in The Rose Bowl last year.  It was the most magnificent football watching trip one could ask for.

This one wasn’t bad either!

Sun going down over my head at Neyland Stadium for the annual Third Saturday in October.  What does that mean to those of you not SEC worthy?  It means The Vols against The Tide.

Brother Tim was pleased with the outcome of last year’s game.

This old boy above me was not.  He was just plain nasty.

A special thanks to Bob and Davis for bringing us along to the land of the Great Pumpkin.

It was a sight to behold.

With a nod to The Monkees’ 1986 hit, that was then and this is now.

On to the picks.

THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

There is a great deal of improvement ahead of the University of Louisville Cardinals.  They seemed to get a bit full of themselves last year.  The Heisman winner and a bad finish to the season.  They got beat by Kentucky!  I know.  I know.  UK is better.  Not that much better.

Atlantic Divison

1.  Louisville…I think they can do it.  Bobby Petrino, like him or not, will find a way.
2. Florida State….After Bama in the opener, U of L, Florida, and Miami cos concern.
3. Clemson….Deshaun Watson is gone.
4. NC State…Building off a 7-6 campaign last year including a win over Notre Dame
5. Boston College…Football and a quality lobster roll…wow.
6. Wake Forest….Deacon Hill will be more sociable than ever.
7. Syracuse…First three softer than the next nine…watch out for Middle Tenn.

Coastal Division

1. Miami…Coach Richt has them rolling again.
2. Pitt… They are not the pitts.  Beat Clemson last year.
3. UNC…Wish they didn’t have a basketball player on their apparel.
4. Virginia Tech…Five back on offense.  Question marks.
5. Duke…Breaks my heart to put Duke here. Hope I am wrong.
6. Ga. Tech…At least The Varsity is close by.
7. Virginia…Hoosiers come calling and give Cavs a taste of the rest.

The ACC is an interesting place.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I have adopted North Carolina as our second home.  The folks there have a grip on their sports that doesn’t seem to cut off any circulation.  The far reaching Louisville starts to tighten up just a bit….bit that is because it is so far from the ocean.

The BIG TEN

Firstly, thank the Lord this institution adopted an East and West format for its divisions.  Have you ever heard of anything more pretentious than Leaders and Legends?  No joke, that is what this conference, with 14 members by the way, used to call its divisions.

There is one Big Ten member school I have never seen in person and that is Rutgers.  I plan on being in Bloomington to see the Scarlet Knights visit the Hoosiers.  Rutgers and Maryland in the Big Ten still hurts a bit.  I wanted Missouri.  I still do.  I will try to get over it as the Big Ten Network counts its New York market dollars… Rutgers indeed.

Carrie and I went to he Big Ten Championship game last year.  It was our first trip to the House that Peyton built.  I am glad Penn State won.  There were nasty fans from Wisconsin whom apparently spend too much time allowing their brains to freeze while they are ice fishing in February.  Some of the things they were saying about Penn State, in reference to the scandal that rocked the place a few years ago was pure misery from folks I would call downright evil.  I don’t know how else to put it.  I hope Bucky Badger loses every game from here on out.

East Divison

1. Penn State…The Rose Bowl OT loss to USC meant one more sprint for the team.
2. Ohio State…8 back on Offense  7 back on D and new ones probably better.
3. Michigan…Coach H is not dull.  Lack of experience may make them 4 or 5 here.
4. Indiana…First three conf. games?  See list above.  Conspiracy theory?  GO IU!
5. Michigan State…Hard time in East Lansing last year.  11th year for Coach D’Antonio.
6. Rutgers….Cos I have to put’em here.
7. Maryland…See explanation to #6

West Division

1.  Northwestern….He who avoids Mich and OSU has West lead.
2.  Wisconsin…Stub thy toe!
3.  Iowa…19 years for Coach Ferentz and a new QB and new OC…slow or go?
4.  Nebraska…We’ll get good gauge after early trip to Oregon.
5.  Minnesota…Goldy has a new Coach ready to row the boat.  Hope they tackle.
6.  Purdue…Jeff Brohm  will make the Boilers better…then much better.
7.  Illinois…I didn’t know they still had a team…uniforms and everything?

The Southeastern Conference…THE SEC

Like it or not, this is still the bread with the most butter on it.  I kind of like it that way.  They take their football serious in the South.  It is a matter of pride more than anything…I think.  That “we want to be better than you” attitude is stronger in the South.  The North is fraught with more “we think we are better than you”.  That is how I see it, anyway.  It’s all good fun.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is the team to beat again.  So, what is new?  I just hope they have mercy when Mercer shows up in Tuscaloosa on November 18th for the annual practice game before the Iron Bowl on November 25th.  Amazing how that schedule works out.

Anyway, here it goes…

East Division

1.  UGA…The Bulldogs will shine for Lewis Grizzard one more time.
2.  Florida…Good team.  Two SEC champ trips in a row. Frosh QB?
3.  UT…The Vols need to do well.  Coach Jones needs the Vols to win 9 or 10.  Tuff folks.
4.  Kentucky…yes, Kentucky.  Finally going to win 8 or more in regular season.
5.  South Carolina…Got a bad feeling even though many come back.  Injuries?  Hope not.
6.  Mizzou…The Columbiaites used to visit IU.  I miss those days and bet they do too.
7.  Vanderbilt…Been to Nashville lately?  Keep the kids off Broadway.  Go watch football.

West Division

1.  Alabama…Brother Tim will be happy again.  The Tide won’t turn…it will ROLL.
2.  LSU…They have a great deal to prove in Tiger Town…Coach O will do it this time.
3.  Auburn…A great deal returning on both sides of the ball.
4.  Ole Miss…This team will play like a bowl is on the line every week.  All they have left.
5.  Arkansas…Coach Bielema had better get moving up the gut to find more O balance.
6.  Texas A&M…UCLA game in opener will get’em going or get’em packing.
7.  Mississippi State…I am obligated to place the Bulldogs here.  I’d put’em 9th if I could.

Other Conference Champs…

PAC 12

USC….Will meet Alabama in the Championship Game in Atlanta and The Tide wins.

American Athletic Conference

South Florida…Charlie Strong enjoys recruiting in Florida full time again.

THE MAC

Ohio…I would never pick against Coach Frank Solich…but beware the Miami Red Hawks.

SUN BELT

Ark. State…Red Wolves come off the likes of Miami and Nebraska ready to play their own.

BIG 12 (With ten members at least they have room to grow)

Oklahoma… Coach Stoops leaves cupboard stocked…Baker Mayfield leads offense.

Conference USA

Louisiana Tech…Rooting for the Herd, of course, but Coach Holtz has boys in Ruston doing good things.

Mountain West

Wyoming…I am picking an upset.  Coach Bohl continues his winning ways.  Pokes go.

So there.  The table is set and the meal starts in two weeks.

I am looking forward to the season.  My North Harrison Cougars start high school action in earnest next week against the Salem Lions.  Scottsburg is back to playing football and that gives us nine conference schools playing for the first time ever.  This is a good thing…though scheduling has been rather problematic.  We go to Brownstown again this year.  The odd years were always at North before.

I still root for Eli Manning and the Giants.  I have said it here before.  When it comes to pro teams I root for player first and team second.  I have always been that way.  When Ken Anderson retired from the Bengals after the 1986 season so did I.  I was a free agent until Peyton came along.  I rooted for the Colts.  When Eli came it was Giants first and Colts second…and so on.

I hope your teams win for you (unless you root Wisconsin and Mississippi State…but even more so if you root for Wisconsin).  But, most of all, I hope you enjoy the season.  Hang out with family and friends and take it all in.  I certainly plan on doing exactly that.

Speaking the football rights…

Danny Johnson