I’ll admit I’m a little scatterbrained this morning after staying up so late last night, and following/covering the 2017 signatures of Texas recruits as they roll in this morning. That’s what coffee and breakfast tacos are for, though. Here is a long list of random thoughts on everything Texas, recruiting, NBA and NFL, Gold Gloves, and more:
Photo: Fansided.com
1) I think it’s fair to say that normally Texas football players get a lot of hype or attention from the national media when they play at a high level. After all, it’s Texas. The program is one of the true titans of college football, attracts constant attention, and has its own network.
That’s why the lack of national love for Texas running back D’Onta Foreman is so surprising to me.
Sure, Texas’ record has some, and maybe a lot to do with Foreman not being talked about enough. Maybe his lack of accolades as a recruit and not breaking the 700-yard rushing mark last season plays into it too. But we’re basically three-fourths of the way through the 2016 season and after eight-straight 100-yard or better performances, the national eyeballs are just now focusing on how incredibly dominant and productive the junior running back has been.
Consider this: The only team Foreman didn’t play against this season is UTEP. The Miners are arguably the worst team in FBS football, rank 118th in S&P+ defense, and rank 101st in S&P+ Rushing Defense. Basically, UTEP’s defense is Texas Tech’s defense. Foreman would have blasted through those hapless defenders like a bowling ball off the hand of Donny Kerabatsos exploded through pins as The Dude and Walter looked on.
If Foreman played in that game, we’d be discussing him eclipsing 2,000 yards this weekend against West Virginia. And even though he didn’t appear in that contest, that shouldn’t affect his Heisman candidacy. Yes, Heisman candidacy.
There isn’t anything that says “fluke” about what Foreman is doing. The Big 12 isn’t great or loaded with defenses, but it’s still a power-five conference. And the product of Texas City High School is going to finish the season, assuming he stays healthy, with 11 regular season performances against 11 power-five teams. Foreman runs through people, he beats defenders to the edge and outruns them, and he’s shown impressive vision and patience.
Why are the lights just now starting to shine brighter on Foreman? I don’t have that answer. However, he’s a special talent, and special player that deserves to be included whenever anyone is discussing the best in 2016. Period.
2) Some of y’all have heard the story already, but I did go see D’Onta Foreman play in high school. I didn’t come away very impressed, and neither did the Big 12 assistant watching beside me that was recruiting Foreman as a defensive end or linebacker. That’s not to say talent and physical tools weren’t visible, and positively impressive. They were. However, Foreman didn’t stand out in the way elite backs do. Obviously, we, along with many others including a ton of college programs, were wrong.
What it’s taught me is to take this outlook when watching film and looking at numbers: approach the discussion and evaluation looking for reasons to prove the numbers rather than discredit them. This applies universally in sports too. When I attended the Pittsburgh Pirates' Scout School, the message was to arrive at the park looking for things that stand out not searching for negatives. There always should be some significant value placed in film and production.
That’s not to say people set out to discredit Foreman’s production and status as a recruit. But sometimes we look for reasons not to believe in the production when the prospect doesn’t fit into the typical box, and when college programs aren’t flooding his inbox with offers.
3) Getting back to the Heisman discussion briefly, consider how rare it would be for a player of Foreman’s high school prospect status, who was rated a three-star prospect in the top 100 by the OB LSR 100 and a two-star prospect by Rivals.com, to arrive in New York City as a finalist.
Since 2005, this is the breakdown for players that were finalists in the Heisman voting:
Five-star prospects – (11)
Rivals100 prospects – (6)
Rivals250 prospects – (4)
Four-star prospects – (8)
Three-star prospects – (11)
Two-star prospects – (2) (Northern Illinois QB Jordan Lynch and Hawai’i QB Colt Brennan, in case you’re wondering)
Basically, 70-percent of Heisman finalists since 2005 have been a four-star prospect or higher.
Is there precedent for a player like Foreman – dominating at running back for an average at best team – in recent races? Yes.
Boston College’s Andre Williams was a finalist in 2013 for a 7-5 team in the regular season. He finished that season with 2,177 yards rushing (6.1 yards per carry) with 18 touchdowns and had zero receptions. In three regular season games, Williams didn’t break 100 yards. Foreman is a better player than Williams was, and will likely finish the season as the more productive one too. Similar to this year, there isn’t, outside of Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, a clear favorite or finalist, which was the case when Williams made it to NYC.
Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, who finished barely finished second in the voting behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram and just over 100 points ahead of Colt McCoy, rushed for 1,871 yards (5.5 yards per carry) with 28 touchdowns in 2009. Stanford finished the regular season 8-4 that year, and Gerhart didn’t eclipse the 100-yard mark in two of Stanford’s losses. As a player, Foreman is similar to Gerhart and his bruising style at Stanford, but more explosive with more speed and burst.
4) Let’s look at where Texas ranks statistically in a few areas:
F/+ overall team ranking – 42nd (No. 47 in overall FEI and No. 37 in overall S&P+)
Note: opponent strength is factored. You can read about that here – click.
S&P+ overall offense – 17th
Note: opponent strength is factored in S&P+. You can read about that here – click.
S&P+ rush offense – 45th
S&P+ pass offense – 53rd
FEI offense overall – 61st
Note: FEI is opponent-adjusted drive-based efficiency rather than play-by-play efficiency like S&P+.
S&P+ overall defense – 85th
S&P+ rush defense – 54th
S&P+ pass defense – 52nd (was 75th last week, and Texas’ S&P+ Passing Downs Defense improved from 90th to 54th)
FEI defense overall – 46th
5) Texas’ three remaining games ranked by current F/+ overall ranking: West Virginia (No. 21), TCU (No. 28; up 20 spots after it blasted Baylor on the road), Kansas (No. 117).
Up to this point, Texas has, according to FootballOutsiders.com’s FEI, played the No. 76 Strength of Schedule. The rating of its remaining games is No. 58, which is skewed some by Kansas being horrible.
Does that change your thinking about the season’s results up to this point, and the evaluation of Charlie Strong at all?
So far this season, Texas doesn’t have a win over a team in the F/+ top 40, and assuming it beats Kansas, that would mean two of its wins came against teams rated No. 110 or worse and three against No. 90 or worse.
What West Virginia represents this weekend is a chance for Charlie Strong to beat a legitimately solid football team because we know Baylor is proving not to be that kind of top 25 team. And TCU, if it stops being providing highs one week and lows the next and resembles the team that hammered Baylor, might represent that too in a lesser sense.
6) Speaking of West Virginia, it’ll be one of the best defenses Texas has faced. The Mountaineers are solid against the run (No. 29), against the pass (No. 33), and limit explosive plays (No. 30). If it does have one defensive weakness, it rates No. 110 nationally in First Down Rate, but it’s No. 12 at touchdown rate in drives that it surrenders a first down; bend but don’t break approach.
Offensively, West Virginia is above average across the board, but it does have a glaring issue in one area – turnovers.
7) Big 12 Power Poll
1 – Oklahoma
2 – West Virginia
3 – Oklahoma State
4 – Kansas State
5 – Texas
6 – Baylor
7 – Texas Tech
8 – TCU
9 – Iowa State
10 – Kansas
Oklahoma dealt with a scare on the road, but held on to beat Iowa State. At halftime, West Virginia led Kansas 31-0. That game was not as close as the final score indicated. With a second and goal at the Oklahoma State three with four seconds left, Kansas State was called for offensive pass interference. The next pass was intercepted, and Oklahoma State escaped in Stillwater. The Wildcats have now lost on the road to Oklahoma State and West Virginia by a combined seven points.
Baylor is now 6-2 against the No. 118 strength of schedule in the country, and its remaining schedule is No. 18. Here comes that slide to end the season when Baylor starts playing real football teams. Judging from the despicable stuff that surrounded McLane Stadium prior to TCU treating Baylor like a basic morals and ethics test would overwhelm Art Briles, that slide might not end at this season.
To be honest, I have no idea how to rate TCU. It played Oklahoma very tough, and then needed a comeback to beat Kansas. It lost to Texas Tech at home in double overtime, then blasted Baylor.
8) This is the point in the column where I just realized Arkansas is actually ranked. What in the hell? Arkansas lost to Alabama by 19, Texas A&M by 21, and Auburn by 53. It is ranked No. 46 in the F/+ overall rankings, and that’s after moving up 18 spots this week due to crushing an overrated Florida team.
By ranking Arkansas, voters are basically saying college football is the big party that runs out of decent beer so people begin to willingly drink Busch Light to keep the party going.
9) You can apply that same example to the College Football Playoff rankings as well. After getting mauled by a terrible Mississippi State (No. 61 in F/+ overall ranks) team, Texas A&M is No. 8 in the rankings.
As for the rest of the rankings, the committee didn’t have too tough of a job this week. Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Washington are all undefeated, and were all impressive last week. Yes, Alabama covering on the road against LSU is impressive regardless of how it looked; Alabama controlled that game from beginning to end.
Do Louisville and Ohio State have a legit claim to that No. 4 spot? Absolutely. Louisville nearly won at the No. 2 team, and Ohio State lost to the No. 10 team on the road by three. Both teams have, generally, been impressive, although Ohio State was out of whack a little bit against Northwestern and Indiana, both of whom rate better than Mississippi State in F/+ (Northwestern is way up there at No. 38).
Is the committee going to have some very tough decisions to make later in the year? It sure appears that way right now. Imagine if Auburn beats Alabama, Ohio State beats Michigan, Louisville smashes Houston, and Washington loses either against USC or at Washington State. Each outcome is plausible, and it feels like the Mayhem guy from Allstate is just lurking in the shadows ready to start a riot.
10) If I had an AP vote…
1 - Alabama
2 – Clemson
3 – Michigan
4 – Washington
5 – Louisville
6 – Ohio State
7 – Auburn
8 – Wisconsin
9 – Penn State
10 – Oklahoma
Good luck ranking that second tier after the first six, although I feel pretty strongly about the resumes Auburn, Wisconsin, and Penn State have right now.
Reminder because this has proven tough for some to grasp lately: this isn’t a vote for A would beat B on a neutral field.
11) Curious what year coaches are in at their respective, top-ranked programs? I added it beside their CFP ranking.
Alabama – 10th
Clemson – 8th
Michigan – 2nd
Washington – 3rd
Ohio State – 5th
Louisville – 3rd
Wisconsin – 2nd
Texas A&M – 5th
Auburn – 4th
Penn State – 3rd
Oklahoma – 18th
Colorado – 4th
Oklahoma State – 12th
Virginia Tech – 1st
Utah – 12th
West Virginia – 5th
North Carolina – 5th
Florida State – 7th
Number of coaches with a top 10 finish within their first four years – 9 (six coaches on the list have a shot at accomplishing this for the first time at their respective programs this season)
Number of coaches with a top 25 finish within their first four years – 13 (eight coaches have yet to even complete their fourth season)
12 - Week 11 games of interest with picks included (1-1 ATS, 2-0 SU last week; 16-12 overall ATS; 22-6 SU)
No. 20 USC at No. 4 Washington (-8.5) – 6:30 p.m. on FOX
USC is better than it record indicates, and doesn’t resemble in any way the team Alabama hammered to open the season. The Trojans won’t beat Washington, but they have the defense, quarterback, and talent in the trenches to cover.
That’s your only matchup that includes two ranked teams this week because I’m not acknowledging that Arkansas is ranked against LSU.
13) In case you missed it, today began the early signing period for basketball and baseball. We’ll start with basketball. Texas has already received the signed paperwork for commitments Jase Febres, Royce Hamm, and Jericho Sims.
If you need a refresher on each, below are published stories that detail what kind of prospects they are, what they’ll bring to Texas, and more:
Jase Febres
Royce Hamm
Jericho Sims
All three will bring size, length, athleticism, versatility, skill, and potential to Texas.
14) Here’s a look at the 10 baseball prospects that signed with Texas today:
What you’ll notice is a lot of JUCO flavor. Get used to that. In the past, Texas wasn’t able to, and didn’t try to dip into the JUCO talent pool much; Texas made it difficult for JUCO players to get in, and the Longhorns just started sticking more and more with high school players. That hurt them in the past. JUCO prospects can provide an immediate boost, contribution, and depth. Texas will need that next season because it could lose a ton of regulars.
As for the MLB Draft and this Texas class, I think, right now, Landon Leach and Tristen Lutz could be ones Texas sweats when the 2017 MLB Draft eventually rolls around. But neither are locks at this point. Kamron Fields could explode and join that group too, but he’s not there yet.
By the way, how about Texas signing a prospect born in Canada and one born in Italy? That’s pretty cool.
15) While I have baseball on the brain, the more I think about Morgan Cooper’s fall and the more I think to MLB evaluators, I think there’s a slim chance he could join the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft. Seriously. Again, the emphasis is on “slim chance” because the growing consensus, which isn’t yet unanimous, is that he’s a first-round pick, but he must sustain that in the spring to solidify the 15-35 overall-type of range. That's not a given, but at this point, I wouldn't bet against an All-American-type season.
Texas fans are going to want to turn Cooper starts into must-see events next season.
16) I’ve already prepared myself for the Cowboys rolling into Pittsburgh and beating a Steelers team that looked pathetic for three quarters in a rivalry game against an average-at-best Ravens team. Dallas has consistently looked like one of the NFL’s best teams in all-around fashion. Pittsburgh has looked like that at times, an average team other times, and a bad team at other times.
17) The Raiders are for real. They lined up and ran the ball right at and through that Denver defense, and dominated the Broncos’ offense.
18) You probably missed this because why would Major League Baseball and Rawlings choose last night to release this? But the Gold Glove winners were announced.
For those of you that haven’t been around too long, the Gold Glove winners normally drive me into a pissed off, unreasonably perturbed frenzy because of how inaccurate they’ve been in the past. Lately, “I’ve got to admit it’s getting better.”
Seriously, I don’t have a legitimate beef with any of those selections. Sure, I can find some areas to poke at. Kevin Kiermaier played just 105 games and the AL had some really good defensive center fielders. Cesar Hernandez has a legit case at NL second baseman, but Joe Panik is deserving. But overall, they did a great job with the selections.
And for those of you looking at the first base winners with confused looks, first base defense as a whole was pretty bad.
19) A few stats from the NBA that stood out to me:
Your NBA leader right now in assists per game (12.7) and assist percentage (61.4 percent) is James Harden. The current rate at which Harden is dishing out assists would be the highest in NBA single season history.
Dwight Howard leads the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage, total rebounding percentage, and is third in block percentage. The Harden/Howard divorce is working out fine for both parties, and Howard is, again, proving he’s one of the league’s most valuable bigs.
The Los Angeles Clippers entire starting five ranks in the top 16 in defensive rating, and Chris Paul (84.4), DeAndre Jordan (89.0), and Blake Griffin (90.6) rank first, second, and fourth, respectively. Currently, the Clippers are playing defense at an all-time elite rate. Paul has been as good as anyone in the NBA to open the season.
Kawhi Leonard’s usage has gone up 7.2 percent to 33.0 percent, and his true shooting percentage has increased from 61.6 percent to 63.0 percent. He leads the NBA in PER at 35.0. That’s frightening.
20) The best, non-sports story I read this week only requires the headline for description:
Man looking for a place to pee stumbles upon one of Australia’s oldest prehistoric sites
Photo: Fansided.com
1) I think it’s fair to say that normally Texas football players get a lot of hype or attention from the national media when they play at a high level. After all, it’s Texas. The program is one of the true titans of college football, attracts constant attention, and has its own network.
That’s why the lack of national love for Texas running back D’Onta Foreman is so surprising to me.
Sure, Texas’ record has some, and maybe a lot to do with Foreman not being talked about enough. Maybe his lack of accolades as a recruit and not breaking the 700-yard rushing mark last season plays into it too. But we’re basically three-fourths of the way through the 2016 season and after eight-straight 100-yard or better performances, the national eyeballs are just now focusing on how incredibly dominant and productive the junior running back has been.
Consider this: The only team Foreman didn’t play against this season is UTEP. The Miners are arguably the worst team in FBS football, rank 118th in S&P+ defense, and rank 101st in S&P+ Rushing Defense. Basically, UTEP’s defense is Texas Tech’s defense. Foreman would have blasted through those hapless defenders like a bowling ball off the hand of Donny Kerabatsos exploded through pins as The Dude and Walter looked on.
If Foreman played in that game, we’d be discussing him eclipsing 2,000 yards this weekend against West Virginia. And even though he didn’t appear in that contest, that shouldn’t affect his Heisman candidacy. Yes, Heisman candidacy.
There isn’t anything that says “fluke” about what Foreman is doing. The Big 12 isn’t great or loaded with defenses, but it’s still a power-five conference. And the product of Texas City High School is going to finish the season, assuming he stays healthy, with 11 regular season performances against 11 power-five teams. Foreman runs through people, he beats defenders to the edge and outruns them, and he’s shown impressive vision and patience.
Why are the lights just now starting to shine brighter on Foreman? I don’t have that answer. However, he’s a special talent, and special player that deserves to be included whenever anyone is discussing the best in 2016. Period.
2) Some of y’all have heard the story already, but I did go see D’Onta Foreman play in high school. I didn’t come away very impressed, and neither did the Big 12 assistant watching beside me that was recruiting Foreman as a defensive end or linebacker. That’s not to say talent and physical tools weren’t visible, and positively impressive. They were. However, Foreman didn’t stand out in the way elite backs do. Obviously, we, along with many others including a ton of college programs, were wrong.
What it’s taught me is to take this outlook when watching film and looking at numbers: approach the discussion and evaluation looking for reasons to prove the numbers rather than discredit them. This applies universally in sports too. When I attended the Pittsburgh Pirates' Scout School, the message was to arrive at the park looking for things that stand out not searching for negatives. There always should be some significant value placed in film and production.
That’s not to say people set out to discredit Foreman’s production and status as a recruit. But sometimes we look for reasons not to believe in the production when the prospect doesn’t fit into the typical box, and when college programs aren’t flooding his inbox with offers.
3) Getting back to the Heisman discussion briefly, consider how rare it would be for a player of Foreman’s high school prospect status, who was rated a three-star prospect in the top 100 by the OB LSR 100 and a two-star prospect by Rivals.com, to arrive in New York City as a finalist.
Since 2005, this is the breakdown for players that were finalists in the Heisman voting:
Five-star prospects – (11)
Rivals100 prospects – (6)
Rivals250 prospects – (4)
Four-star prospects – (8)
Three-star prospects – (11)
Two-star prospects – (2) (Northern Illinois QB Jordan Lynch and Hawai’i QB Colt Brennan, in case you’re wondering)
Basically, 70-percent of Heisman finalists since 2005 have been a four-star prospect or higher.
Is there precedent for a player like Foreman – dominating at running back for an average at best team – in recent races? Yes.
Boston College’s Andre Williams was a finalist in 2013 for a 7-5 team in the regular season. He finished that season with 2,177 yards rushing (6.1 yards per carry) with 18 touchdowns and had zero receptions. In three regular season games, Williams didn’t break 100 yards. Foreman is a better player than Williams was, and will likely finish the season as the more productive one too. Similar to this year, there isn’t, outside of Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, a clear favorite or finalist, which was the case when Williams made it to NYC.
Stanford’s Toby Gerhart, who finished barely finished second in the voting behind Alabama’s Mark Ingram and just over 100 points ahead of Colt McCoy, rushed for 1,871 yards (5.5 yards per carry) with 28 touchdowns in 2009. Stanford finished the regular season 8-4 that year, and Gerhart didn’t eclipse the 100-yard mark in two of Stanford’s losses. As a player, Foreman is similar to Gerhart and his bruising style at Stanford, but more explosive with more speed and burst.
4) Let’s look at where Texas ranks statistically in a few areas:
F/+ overall team ranking – 42nd (No. 47 in overall FEI and No. 37 in overall S&P+)
Note: opponent strength is factored. You can read about that here – click.
S&P+ overall offense – 17th
Note: opponent strength is factored in S&P+. You can read about that here – click.
S&P+ rush offense – 45th
S&P+ pass offense – 53rd
FEI offense overall – 61st
Note: FEI is opponent-adjusted drive-based efficiency rather than play-by-play efficiency like S&P+.
S&P+ overall defense – 85th
S&P+ rush defense – 54th
S&P+ pass defense – 52nd (was 75th last week, and Texas’ S&P+ Passing Downs Defense improved from 90th to 54th)
FEI defense overall – 46th
5) Texas’ three remaining games ranked by current F/+ overall ranking: West Virginia (No. 21), TCU (No. 28; up 20 spots after it blasted Baylor on the road), Kansas (No. 117).
Up to this point, Texas has, according to FootballOutsiders.com’s FEI, played the No. 76 Strength of Schedule. The rating of its remaining games is No. 58, which is skewed some by Kansas being horrible.
Does that change your thinking about the season’s results up to this point, and the evaluation of Charlie Strong at all?
So far this season, Texas doesn’t have a win over a team in the F/+ top 40, and assuming it beats Kansas, that would mean two of its wins came against teams rated No. 110 or worse and three against No. 90 or worse.
What West Virginia represents this weekend is a chance for Charlie Strong to beat a legitimately solid football team because we know Baylor is proving not to be that kind of top 25 team. And TCU, if it stops being providing highs one week and lows the next and resembles the team that hammered Baylor, might represent that too in a lesser sense.
6) Speaking of West Virginia, it’ll be one of the best defenses Texas has faced. The Mountaineers are solid against the run (No. 29), against the pass (No. 33), and limit explosive plays (No. 30). If it does have one defensive weakness, it rates No. 110 nationally in First Down Rate, but it’s No. 12 at touchdown rate in drives that it surrenders a first down; bend but don’t break approach.
Offensively, West Virginia is above average across the board, but it does have a glaring issue in one area – turnovers.
7) Big 12 Power Poll
1 – Oklahoma
2 – West Virginia
3 – Oklahoma State
4 – Kansas State
5 – Texas
6 – Baylor
7 – Texas Tech
8 – TCU
9 – Iowa State
10 – Kansas
Oklahoma dealt with a scare on the road, but held on to beat Iowa State. At halftime, West Virginia led Kansas 31-0. That game was not as close as the final score indicated. With a second and goal at the Oklahoma State three with four seconds left, Kansas State was called for offensive pass interference. The next pass was intercepted, and Oklahoma State escaped in Stillwater. The Wildcats have now lost on the road to Oklahoma State and West Virginia by a combined seven points.
Baylor is now 6-2 against the No. 118 strength of schedule in the country, and its remaining schedule is No. 18. Here comes that slide to end the season when Baylor starts playing real football teams. Judging from the despicable stuff that surrounded McLane Stadium prior to TCU treating Baylor like a basic morals and ethics test would overwhelm Art Briles, that slide might not end at this season.
To be honest, I have no idea how to rate TCU. It played Oklahoma very tough, and then needed a comeback to beat Kansas. It lost to Texas Tech at home in double overtime, then blasted Baylor.
8) This is the point in the column where I just realized Arkansas is actually ranked. What in the hell? Arkansas lost to Alabama by 19, Texas A&M by 21, and Auburn by 53. It is ranked No. 46 in the F/+ overall rankings, and that’s after moving up 18 spots this week due to crushing an overrated Florida team.
By ranking Arkansas, voters are basically saying college football is the big party that runs out of decent beer so people begin to willingly drink Busch Light to keep the party going.
9) You can apply that same example to the College Football Playoff rankings as well. After getting mauled by a terrible Mississippi State (No. 61 in F/+ overall ranks) team, Texas A&M is No. 8 in the rankings.
As for the rest of the rankings, the committee didn’t have too tough of a job this week. Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Washington are all undefeated, and were all impressive last week. Yes, Alabama covering on the road against LSU is impressive regardless of how it looked; Alabama controlled that game from beginning to end.
Do Louisville and Ohio State have a legit claim to that No. 4 spot? Absolutely. Louisville nearly won at the No. 2 team, and Ohio State lost to the No. 10 team on the road by three. Both teams have, generally, been impressive, although Ohio State was out of whack a little bit against Northwestern and Indiana, both of whom rate better than Mississippi State in F/+ (Northwestern is way up there at No. 38).
Is the committee going to have some very tough decisions to make later in the year? It sure appears that way right now. Imagine if Auburn beats Alabama, Ohio State beats Michigan, Louisville smashes Houston, and Washington loses either against USC or at Washington State. Each outcome is plausible, and it feels like the Mayhem guy from Allstate is just lurking in the shadows ready to start a riot.
10) If I had an AP vote…
1 - Alabama
2 – Clemson
3 – Michigan
4 – Washington
5 – Louisville
6 – Ohio State
7 – Auburn
8 – Wisconsin
9 – Penn State
10 – Oklahoma
Good luck ranking that second tier after the first six, although I feel pretty strongly about the resumes Auburn, Wisconsin, and Penn State have right now.
Reminder because this has proven tough for some to grasp lately: this isn’t a vote for A would beat B on a neutral field.
11) Curious what year coaches are in at their respective, top-ranked programs? I added it beside their CFP ranking.
Alabama – 10th
Clemson – 8th
Michigan – 2nd
Washington – 3rd
Ohio State – 5th
Louisville – 3rd
Wisconsin – 2nd
Texas A&M – 5th
Auburn – 4th
Penn State – 3rd
Oklahoma – 18th
Colorado – 4th
Oklahoma State – 12th
Virginia Tech – 1st
Utah – 12th
West Virginia – 5th
North Carolina – 5th
Florida State – 7th
Number of coaches with a top 10 finish within their first four years – 9 (six coaches on the list have a shot at accomplishing this for the first time at their respective programs this season)
Number of coaches with a top 25 finish within their first four years – 13 (eight coaches have yet to even complete their fourth season)
12 - Week 11 games of interest with picks included (1-1 ATS, 2-0 SU last week; 16-12 overall ATS; 22-6 SU)
No. 20 USC at No. 4 Washington (-8.5) – 6:30 p.m. on FOX
USC is better than it record indicates, and doesn’t resemble in any way the team Alabama hammered to open the season. The Trojans won’t beat Washington, but they have the defense, quarterback, and talent in the trenches to cover.
That’s your only matchup that includes two ranked teams this week because I’m not acknowledging that Arkansas is ranked against LSU.
13) In case you missed it, today began the early signing period for basketball and baseball. We’ll start with basketball. Texas has already received the signed paperwork for commitments Jase Febres, Royce Hamm, and Jericho Sims.
If you need a refresher on each, below are published stories that detail what kind of prospects they are, what they’ll bring to Texas, and more:
Jase Febres
Royce Hamm
Jericho Sims
All three will bring size, length, athleticism, versatility, skill, and potential to Texas.
14) Here’s a look at the 10 baseball prospects that signed with Texas today:
What you’ll notice is a lot of JUCO flavor. Get used to that. In the past, Texas wasn’t able to, and didn’t try to dip into the JUCO talent pool much; Texas made it difficult for JUCO players to get in, and the Longhorns just started sticking more and more with high school players. That hurt them in the past. JUCO prospects can provide an immediate boost, contribution, and depth. Texas will need that next season because it could lose a ton of regulars.
As for the MLB Draft and this Texas class, I think, right now, Landon Leach and Tristen Lutz could be ones Texas sweats when the 2017 MLB Draft eventually rolls around. But neither are locks at this point. Kamron Fields could explode and join that group too, but he’s not there yet.
By the way, how about Texas signing a prospect born in Canada and one born in Italy? That’s pretty cool.
15) While I have baseball on the brain, the more I think about Morgan Cooper’s fall and the more I think to MLB evaluators, I think there’s a slim chance he could join the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft. Seriously. Again, the emphasis is on “slim chance” because the growing consensus, which isn’t yet unanimous, is that he’s a first-round pick, but he must sustain that in the spring to solidify the 15-35 overall-type of range. That's not a given, but at this point, I wouldn't bet against an All-American-type season.
Texas fans are going to want to turn Cooper starts into must-see events next season.
16) I’ve already prepared myself for the Cowboys rolling into Pittsburgh and beating a Steelers team that looked pathetic for three quarters in a rivalry game against an average-at-best Ravens team. Dallas has consistently looked like one of the NFL’s best teams in all-around fashion. Pittsburgh has looked like that at times, an average team other times, and a bad team at other times.
17) The Raiders are for real. They lined up and ran the ball right at and through that Denver defense, and dominated the Broncos’ offense.
18) You probably missed this because why would Major League Baseball and Rawlings choose last night to release this? But the Gold Glove winners were announced.
For those of you that haven’t been around too long, the Gold Glove winners normally drive me into a pissed off, unreasonably perturbed frenzy because of how inaccurate they’ve been in the past. Lately, “I’ve got to admit it’s getting better.”
Seriously, I don’t have a legitimate beef with any of those selections. Sure, I can find some areas to poke at. Kevin Kiermaier played just 105 games and the AL had some really good defensive center fielders. Cesar Hernandez has a legit case at NL second baseman, but Joe Panik is deserving. But overall, they did a great job with the selections.
And for those of you looking at the first base winners with confused looks, first base defense as a whole was pretty bad.
19) A few stats from the NBA that stood out to me:
Your NBA leader right now in assists per game (12.7) and assist percentage (61.4 percent) is James Harden. The current rate at which Harden is dishing out assists would be the highest in NBA single season history.
Dwight Howard leads the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage, total rebounding percentage, and is third in block percentage. The Harden/Howard divorce is working out fine for both parties, and Howard is, again, proving he’s one of the league’s most valuable bigs.
The Los Angeles Clippers entire starting five ranks in the top 16 in defensive rating, and Chris Paul (84.4), DeAndre Jordan (89.0), and Blake Griffin (90.6) rank first, second, and fourth, respectively. Currently, the Clippers are playing defense at an all-time elite rate. Paul has been as good as anyone in the NBA to open the season.
Kawhi Leonard’s usage has gone up 7.2 percent to 33.0 percent, and his true shooting percentage has increased from 61.6 percent to 63.0 percent. He leads the NBA in PER at 35.0. That’s frightening.
20) The best, non-sports story I read this week only requires the headline for description:
Man looking for a place to pee stumbles upon one of Australia’s oldest prehistoric sites
