As Bowl Season approaches hopefully we will have a Bowl Podcast Show up and going. You can email us at Mail@pigskinfootballguys.com with anything you want to know or want us to talk about. We will post the PODCAST here on our blog. We are working kinks out of the forums, but we also are going to need moderators. We will hand select some of you as you post on the forums. Please post as often and consistently as you can. As the season comes to a close recruiting and drafting will soon arise. If you hear something in your area about recruits or draft picks. Please post! The longest part of the year is going to be off-season. You guys have made this site what it is. We had a record day with 4,700 hits within the first month of existence. That is pretty unheard of for a blog sites. So we thank you for linking us up on forums, telling a friend or emailing articles. Please continue to spread the word!

Patriots- they are dominating.

Cowboys-I am not a Cowboy fan, but Tony Romo has carried 3 out of 4 of my teams to the next round in Fantasy Football Playoffs. These guys are great. They out score you on both sides of the ball. All sides of the ball have stepped up at different times of the season to get the job done. Hamlin and Newman have been amazing. Ware has been awesome. Romo and his arsenal of receivers have dominated the opposing defense. Barber is a mad man and shouldn't come off the field.

Colts- It hasn't always been pretty and the finesse of teams past has been lacking. But THEY GET IT DONE. Addai has fulfilled and exceeded expectations becoming a dominant back when needed. Peyton while he is arguably the 3rd or 4th best QB in the league hasn't been himself the last bit of the season. However, Peyton is clutch and cool under pressure; don't be surprised if his peak is in the beginning of the playoffs.

Green Bay- Farve is having one of his best years ever and Grant has taken the reigns of the running game to the next level. Which for the Packers is just above serviceable. They have 3 sets of the best hands in football and not to mention Donald Lee who is showing himself to be a threat. Their defense struggled at times with dallas but the Cowboys have the best offense after you step way down from the Patriots. If they stay healthy, I wouldn't want to play them come playoff time.

Seattle- It's Up for Grabs but they've won 5 straight. Despite injury and an aging Alexander, they have found a way to get it done. If Hackett comes back in time for the playoffs they may be a team to reckon with. Seattle has found a Morris Solution beginning to peak its head. They have a great passing attack with Burleson stepping up. Other teams such as the Steelers, Charger, and even the 7-6 Vikings could make an argument for this spot but I feel like the Seahawks have played well enough to deserved this spot.

"ESPN is reporting

"Bobby Petrino abruptly resigned his position as coach of the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday, and multiple sources told ESPN he is negotiating an agreement to become the new coach at Arkansas. Petrino and his agent had been talking with the Falcons about his preference to return to the college ranks. The former Louisville coach was looking for an opportunity to break into the Southeastern Conference ranks, and Arkansas was a natural fit."
 
 So is this for real Petrino? As we reported many coaches have used Arkansas as leverage. If you're reading and you're a hog fan give us your thoughts. I for one as a hog fan would be pumped. Having lived in Arkansas for a period of time, I feel like there are a lot of idiots up in Arkansas. I had a buddy labeled me a realistic Hog Fan because I didn't buy into the hog hype every year. That being said Arkansas should have been a Contender this year. As a season ticket holder I witnessed the mediocrity that was Arkansas Football turn into the team that could have been. And if you are honest with yourself, Hog fans don't get to feel like that often. "Could have been teams" weren't apart of my upbringing. SEC contenders rarely came along. After Houston Nutt got to Arkansas I got to watch my team win and contend. We by no means were a Florida or USC but we were a winning more than we were losing. We were beating Texas and to a true Arkansas fan that meant a lot. I think Nutt did more for Arkansas Football then anyone other than the D-Mac. This illusion that Big Coaches would want to come to a McFadden-less team is not hard for to dismiss. But I do feel like we are at a pivotal point. We need a coach who can get the job done. Big Name, small name, it doesn't matter. Do we deserve, better I think so. And Petrino just might be it!

I've played sports my whole life and the one thing people always say is this. "You can't practices against speed if you don't have it." And the Big 10 doesn't have the speed. (speed is only one part of the game) In high school, we were a bunch of white boys playing basketball on daddy's dime against far superior talent. We had some good players, but we were slow. Granted we had some guys who had some speed and those guys I mean maybe two. We had a few guys go play at D1 levels in football and two of them are playing pro-ball. But our basketball team was slow. So slow that coach put 6 defenders out on the court multiple times to simulate the amount of speed we would  be playing against. Now our football team wasn't the fastest but they won two state titles in 5yrs not bad for 2a school. And they weren't blazing any trails. Or burning a lot of people deep on sheer speed. They had great coach, great execution, and heart (bring the wood was their battle cry, so look out McFadden, they brought it a long time a go.) So my point is: You can still play a sport well with out speed. But why would you. It makes up for so many things!

The Big Ten is largely a smash mouth offense, hard nosed, at that. They do put up legitimate teams who play good football. The difference here is the type of game played. The Pac 10 is the only conference who can rival the SEC. The explosiveness of those two conferences towers over the Big 10. I agree with the theory "just cuz the best team is in your conference doesn't mean you are the best conference." But the SEC is the best conference.

I'll tell you why. They have the most talent. LA, FL, TX, and CA have the best high-school football programs in the nation.  You can double check my stats but I'm pretty sure LA the state puts more players in the pros per capita than any other state. TX has top recruits every year go to the SEC. UF get the cream of the crop in its own state. I know there are great players all over the country. But the football in La, TX, and FL  is just better. You won't find many programs that don't have players from one of those states. And the SEC get the best of them. USC is the only school that consistently steals TOP recruits from those states. But their success in the last 10 years was started by in state recruiting allowing; them improve. Therefore giving them a chance to regularly compete with the SEC in the fore mentioned states. The SEC is the faster conference, they bring in more talent, and they are the better conference. 

This is a good article by a pro-footballreference.com

The BCS Bowl Selections came out yesterday, and like almost every other year, many people are unhappy. I’ve got lots of random thoughts, so I figured I’d just start collecting them here.

• No one got a bad deal here. Yes, if you root for Georgia, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma or USC (we’ll get to Hawaii later), you are understandably disappointed today. On Sunday morning you thought your team might luck into the BCS Championship Game, and in the end LSU and OSU took those two spots. But all four schools lost two games each, and had multiple blemishes on their resumes. This is *not* 1998 Tulane, 2000 Florida State or Washington, 2001 Oregon or Colorado, 2003 USC, 2004 Auburn, Boise State or Utah, 2006 Michigan or Boise State. The ‘04 Tigers probably have the biggest complaint in BCS history, and no one this year has much to complain about. The argument boils down to “we weren’t lucky enough to be selected”, hardly a sympathetic complaint. Each team had more than enough chances to make the title game.

 

• The BCS has increased my interest in college football. Maybe it’s because I’m a math geek or maybe it’s because I like controversy, but discussing who the top two teams are is pretty fascinating. It’s probably not as fair as a playoff, but if it wasn’t for the BCS, we wouldn’t be talking college football this morning. Further, …

 

• If the BCS never came about, here’s what we’d be looking at:
  Rose Bowl: USC vs. OSU
  Sugar Bowl: LSU vs ???
  Orange Bowl: Oklahoma vs. ???
  Fiesta Bowl: ??? vs. ???
  Those ???s would be filled by at large teams, of course. Maybe we’d get Oklahoma against Georgia, LSU against Virginia Tech, and Hawaii facing Kansas. Who knows. But we wouldn’t be any closer to crowning a college football champion before the BCS came about.

 

After showing my pro-BCS stance, let me now get to my biggest pet peeve with the BCS and the polls. No one really knows how teams are supposed to be ranked. This bothers me and perplexes me more than just about anything in sports. How can we have polls where there’s no guidance on how to rank the teams? While most rankings are easy, on the edges you really need some guidance. The big question is the retrodictive vs. predictive distinction: we don’t know what the rankings are supposed to be. Are the polls supposed to be designed so that the team ranked X is always a favorite in a neutral site over the team ranked X+1? Should the polls reflect who has accomplished the most to date? Should they reflect who has looked the best to date? Should they reflect which team we subjectively think is the best team in the nation? I’ve got no idea, and frankly, it’s impossible to rank the teams in a meaningful way until you know what you’re ranking them on.

I read this article, you can go to  www.pro-footballreference.com to read the rest. 

Posted by Chase Stuart on Sunday, December 2, 2007

 

I am not betting man. Ask BWebb. After my honey moon gambling experience (which was my first real experience), I have never won again. Never, so I just don't do it. I don't think it is wrong or anything. I just used all my luck up getting my wife. Or out punting my coverage as most say. First game I ever bet on I lost. In fact, I usually lose gentlemen's bets. On a trip to Houston to see my beloved Padres play, I lost 30 dollars betting with my friends on non sports related bets.

So the question is why would I call an 800 number yesterday to get a free pick. Why would I tempt my fate? Let me tell you why, because me and BWebb did pretty good on the pro pick'ems last week... Not Great or Phenomenal, just good. This guy was running a national add to get the two free picks and I thought maybe I should. So I call, they ask you if you wanna join and you say no and they try to get you join up for couple of hundred dollars. They guarantee, these two picks for last night, the Steelers by 16 and the parlette to go with it. Now I am not a betting man but I thought this is a great game to bet on because Miami is one dimensional. So I entertain the guy, He cuts me a deal.  And I finally turn him down. But let's say I didn't, lets say I bet $250 on the game with their picks and front some money for the advice. (Now to some that is not a lot of money but to me it is.) I know it wouldn't be my finest moment but it was a sure thing, Ricky Williams was starting and the Steelers have one of the top defenses in the league. I would have lost 350 dollars just like that. To make a long story short my wife would have killed me. But that still wouldn't have been as bad as the game last night. It will probably make high-light and blooper reals for a while. The ball was punted and stuck in the ground. Like golf ball in a bunker. Just going to show, that anything can happen in sports. The best team doesn't always cover the spread, the Patriots don't always win by 21, and grounds crew doesn't always give you a field you can score on.

Miami can't win to save their life. But anything can happen. Just look at the Cleveland Browns. So what has to happen for Miami to contend. Will the draft change anything? Who are they going to take with their 1st pick. Some would say _Brian Brohm, QB, Louisville_ but I'd say John Beck looks serviceable. Some say McFadden, but Ronnie Brown will be back. And others say Glenn Dorsey. I say trade down and get some good receivers. They know how to run block, so hit the pass blocking hard in preseason. Trade down and get a late first and 2nd if you can, picking up some stellar receivers. With a draft position like that I think you need to get the most for you money. Miami has lost 6 games by 3 pts or less. So it isn't going to take much. They had the leading running back for 2 to 3 weeks after he (Ronnie Brown) went down. Cam Cameron is good coach he'll figure it out.  But who do you think will go first in the Draft?

After today the BCS should get all wrenched up. Give us your top five and be prepared to defend it. This should create some good discussion on who hates the BCS and open up some playoff comments so feel free to post those as well.

If you have to compare Saban to a historic event it would be the sinking of the Titanic. He is arrogant, over confident, and doesn't seem to have enough life boats to get himself out of the giant wake his low-class actions are making. First off, he reinstates a DJ Hall after suspending him for one game because he is losing to the lowly Warhawks of Monore, LA.( GO ULM! ) Then he compares a football game to events that have shaken the very core of our country. I am not big into blowing things out of proportion because I know people say things they don't mean. However, this is another example of Saban Looking Out for Saban. We all remember his big mouth at Miami and don't forget the Dynasty he was going to start at LSU with Louisiana's own. This guy is a jerk, and a classless peice of work. I know it may sound like bashing...actually it is bashing. The bashing of a guy who looks out for "numero uno" at a unniversity who is no stranger to corrupt classless situations. It wasn't to long ago that Alabama was on probation and now they are adding another shady character to the organization. This organization kicked Shula out and he was a perfectly good coach. As a disclaimer, I want it to be clear that I think Alabama has a great football team and those students on the field have nothing to hang their head about. It is their  ridiculous coach that I have a problem with. So here's to Saban, may his ship sink in a puddle of his own filth and hopefully Alabama Football won't go down with him. 

Check out the Article on Yahoo by clicking the Picture.