For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
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Email me: mike.wilson
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Pac-12 Football in 2015
It's only April, but summer/fall football practices will be here before you know it and the anticipation that comes with a new season will be overtaking college football fans to a frenzied level. 2015 for the Pac-12 North will be one of change. Quarterback changes at the Oregon schools, an uprising at California, and what will the Huskies do?
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Deregulation and the Big 12/ACC Connection
Here comes the word that many people hate. Deregulation. People here that, and they go into a frenzy. The sky is falling, it's raining cats and dogs, Purdue is good in football, it's raining in Phoenix, or the SEC doesn't win a National Title in football. Things that you just don't see a lot of, but deregulation is coming in some form to college football. The Big 12 will be the spearhead on this one, with the ACC coming with possible changes....
For the entire column go to: www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to: www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Under Center in Corvallis
Change is inevitable they say. Well, change has occurred in Corvallis, Oregon over the past few months and the fans have embraced it. Embracing change can be a difficult thing to do, but Beaver fans have no other choice, BUT to welcome it. At first, it was the change in coaching staffs. Riley out, Andersen in. Old style out, new style in. Now it's the quarterbacks.
If there was one thing Beaver Believers could count on the last few years it was that they had a good quarterback under center. He wasn't a Marcus Mariota, but Sean Mannion was pretty good for a college quarterback. Sean Mannion had some very good moments for Oregon State and those moments will be missed because what the fans have coming is not a Mannion type of quarterback this year. It will be a freshman and with young players, come young mistakes and lots of growing pains. Beaver fans are going to see something with the offense that they haven't seen before. They are going to see an up-tempo spread offense with Head Coach Gary Andersen. What does that mean? Well, if you pay attention to college football or football in general that simply means that the Beavers are going to try and make the game a "track meet". They have seen this kind of thing 45 minutes to south of them in Eugene with the Ducks. Now it's their turn at it. Well, this also means that they are going to expose their quarterback to possible big hits. Whoever the quarterback is, they are going to get hit, it then becomes the job of the coaching staff to minimize the BIG hits.
With the departure of incumbent quarterback Luke Del Rio to a transfer, Oregon State is left with three young freshmen quarterbacks. Nick Mitchell, a redshirt freshman, Seth Collin, a true freshman, and Marcus McMaryion, a redshirt freshman. In other words, young, young, and young.
The competition for the starting position will be wide open for all three of these kids, however, after watching film on these kids, the one that sticks out in terms of what the new coaching staff wants to do is Seth Collins. He'll be a true freshman this upcoming fall and this kid has all the intangibles that you would want to see. He's 6'3", he's a 170lbs, he's athletic as any high school kid I've seen, he's a leader, strong arm and possesses good speed when he's running with the ball. Now, Collins is only listed at 170lbs, but I'm sure he'll be weighing in at more than that when he finally arrives in Corvallis. He was a late edition to the Beavers recruiting haul, but once a Riley quarterback recruit de-committed then that open the door for this kid to come to Oregon State. Collins will certainly be a player to keep an eye on during the summer practices and into the fall.
Nick Mitchell is another quarterback that is in the mix for the Beavers starting job. He is 6'2", 185 pounds, but was recruited by Riley as a pro-style type of quarterback, so given that the new offense is an up-tempo type of offense he may be at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to getting the starting nod. Being on the scout team last year he showed the ability to throw the ball pretty well, with accuracy, but he did show that he could run with the ball. He may not be able to run the ball with the athleticism and speed that Collins will show.
Next on the quarterback possibility sheet is Marcus McMaryion. He is a dual threat quarterback and also ran the scout team for the team last season. Like Mitchell, he's a redshirt freshman with no game experience, so the growing pains would be just as pronounced as it would be with any of the other two quarterbacks. He's 6'1", 193lbs, mobile, strong arm. The film I saw with this kid was pretty good. He can certainly move around and his arm showed pretty good strength, so he certainly has some promise to be the starter as well.
At the end of the day, it's going to be a battle for the starting quarterback position. In my humble opinion, I think the true freshman out of El Cajon, California, Seth Collins may just be "the guy". Could be totally wrong, but he certainly passes the eye test with me. McMaryion and Mitchell will push him, but in the end, I think Coach Andersen has certainly found a player that he wants on the field. It's going to be interesting times in the Willamette Valley this fall. I, for one, will be watching.
If there was one thing Beaver Believers could count on the last few years it was that they had a good quarterback under center. He wasn't a Marcus Mariota, but Sean Mannion was pretty good for a college quarterback. Sean Mannion had some very good moments for Oregon State and those moments will be missed because what the fans have coming is not a Mannion type of quarterback this year. It will be a freshman and with young players, come young mistakes and lots of growing pains. Beaver fans are going to see something with the offense that they haven't seen before. They are going to see an up-tempo spread offense with Head Coach Gary Andersen. What does that mean? Well, if you pay attention to college football or football in general that simply means that the Beavers are going to try and make the game a "track meet". They have seen this kind of thing 45 minutes to south of them in Eugene with the Ducks. Now it's their turn at it. Well, this also means that they are going to expose their quarterback to possible big hits. Whoever the quarterback is, they are going to get hit, it then becomes the job of the coaching staff to minimize the BIG hits.
With the departure of incumbent quarterback Luke Del Rio to a transfer, Oregon State is left with three young freshmen quarterbacks. Nick Mitchell, a redshirt freshman, Seth Collin, a true freshman, and Marcus McMaryion, a redshirt freshman. In other words, young, young, and young.
The competition for the starting position will be wide open for all three of these kids, however, after watching film on these kids, the one that sticks out in terms of what the new coaching staff wants to do is Seth Collins. He'll be a true freshman this upcoming fall and this kid has all the intangibles that you would want to see. He's 6'3", he's a 170lbs, he's athletic as any high school kid I've seen, he's a leader, strong arm and possesses good speed when he's running with the ball. Now, Collins is only listed at 170lbs, but I'm sure he'll be weighing in at more than that when he finally arrives in Corvallis. He was a late edition to the Beavers recruiting haul, but once a Riley quarterback recruit de-committed then that open the door for this kid to come to Oregon State. Collins will certainly be a player to keep an eye on during the summer practices and into the fall.
Nick Mitchell is another quarterback that is in the mix for the Beavers starting job. He is 6'2", 185 pounds, but was recruited by Riley as a pro-style type of quarterback, so given that the new offense is an up-tempo type of offense he may be at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to getting the starting nod. Being on the scout team last year he showed the ability to throw the ball pretty well, with accuracy, but he did show that he could run with the ball. He may not be able to run the ball with the athleticism and speed that Collins will show.
Next on the quarterback possibility sheet is Marcus McMaryion. He is a dual threat quarterback and also ran the scout team for the team last season. Like Mitchell, he's a redshirt freshman with no game experience, so the growing pains would be just as pronounced as it would be with any of the other two quarterbacks. He's 6'1", 193lbs, mobile, strong arm. The film I saw with this kid was pretty good. He can certainly move around and his arm showed pretty good strength, so he certainly has some promise to be the starter as well.
At the end of the day, it's going to be a battle for the starting quarterback position. In my humble opinion, I think the true freshman out of El Cajon, California, Seth Collins may just be "the guy". Could be totally wrong, but he certainly passes the eye test with me. McMaryion and Mitchell will push him, but in the end, I think Coach Andersen has certainly found a player that he wants on the field. It's going to be interesting times in the Willamette Valley this fall. I, for one, will be watching.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Quick Hit: Spring practices and Spring Games
I always like this time of year in sports. Spring training has come and gone, college football has their practices and games, the NBA and NHL are gearing up for their playoffs, and the biggest thing is that hope springs eternal. Fans want to see their teams succeed every year. It doesn't matter if it's in the professional ranks or the college ranks. For my purposes, we will concentrate on the college ranks.
I'm not a guy that reads all that much into recruiting or spring games/practices. Recruiting is really a crap shoot, a gamble. You could have a stud linebacker, offensive lineman, defensive tackle, or any number of skill players coming your way and you don't know what you have until you see them perform in practice or in games. Most of the time it takes the high school player at LEAST a year to develop at the college football level. It's hard to read a player until he catches up to the speed of division one college football.
The same can be said for these spring practices and the much over hyped spring game that schools put on for their fans. Many schools have their spring practices open to the public which is a little strange to me only because any person from another school could just put a hat on and go watch their rival go through a practice and evaluate some of the talent on the field. Other schools choose to shut the public out from practice, which I understand. The media is allowed into these practices however, and come away with takes that seem familiar to me when these same people talk about a schools recruiting class. Practices are controlled drills and short scrimmages for the players. It's not exactly "flying bullets" of a real game. When I see people making comments on how good the O-Line, D-Line or skill guys look I usually take it with a grain of salt. Here's why. Many of you will probably agree with this. Players are going to look good when things are controlled because the coaches are not going to let things get to wild. Coaches don't want players going down to injury every practice, it's part of the reason players are treated with a kind of "kid glove" mentality. There is a lot invested in these players, even though they are not paid (yet). The scholarship investment alone is massive. They invest in tutors, training time, physical therapy, and making sure these kids get to class. When the media tries to read into how a practice went, it is always pretty subjective. People are going to see what they see. Getting an accurate assessment of how players will perform on game day from practice is always a bit dicey.
The Spring Game. Down here in the desert we just had Arizona and Arizona State have their spring game. The Sun Devils made this event a weekend event. A type of fan appreciation thing. I totally get it. The goal is to get people interested in the program and to have them buy season tickets in droves. The University of Arizona allowed fans to call plays during the game. Rich Rod went into the stands and gave a fan or two the play call sheet to make the call. If that was me, I would be telling Rich Rod two words: Hook and Ladder.
Spring games to me are pretty over-hyped. Guys are hitting each other, but I look at it like I look at the NFL's Pro Bowl. It's not really a true game. You can see how players going full speed and how they react to hits or different situations that arise during the game, but it is still a controlled situation. Quarterbacks are not allowed to be hit most of the time and once again, people are going to see what they see, opinions are very subjective with this. What I like seeing is how fall practices go leading up to the regular season. That's where you see stuff happen. Until then, there isn't a reason to get to hyped up or let down based on what you see in spring practice or the spring game.
Telling fans to do that is a little easier said, than done. Just saying...
I'm not a guy that reads all that much into recruiting or spring games/practices. Recruiting is really a crap shoot, a gamble. You could have a stud linebacker, offensive lineman, defensive tackle, or any number of skill players coming your way and you don't know what you have until you see them perform in practice or in games. Most of the time it takes the high school player at LEAST a year to develop at the college football level. It's hard to read a player until he catches up to the speed of division one college football.
The same can be said for these spring practices and the much over hyped spring game that schools put on for their fans. Many schools have their spring practices open to the public which is a little strange to me only because any person from another school could just put a hat on and go watch their rival go through a practice and evaluate some of the talent on the field. Other schools choose to shut the public out from practice, which I understand. The media is allowed into these practices however, and come away with takes that seem familiar to me when these same people talk about a schools recruiting class. Practices are controlled drills and short scrimmages for the players. It's not exactly "flying bullets" of a real game. When I see people making comments on how good the O-Line, D-Line or skill guys look I usually take it with a grain of salt. Here's why. Many of you will probably agree with this. Players are going to look good when things are controlled because the coaches are not going to let things get to wild. Coaches don't want players going down to injury every practice, it's part of the reason players are treated with a kind of "kid glove" mentality. There is a lot invested in these players, even though they are not paid (yet). The scholarship investment alone is massive. They invest in tutors, training time, physical therapy, and making sure these kids get to class. When the media tries to read into how a practice went, it is always pretty subjective. People are going to see what they see. Getting an accurate assessment of how players will perform on game day from practice is always a bit dicey.
The Spring Game. Down here in the desert we just had Arizona and Arizona State have their spring game. The Sun Devils made this event a weekend event. A type of fan appreciation thing. I totally get it. The goal is to get people interested in the program and to have them buy season tickets in droves. The University of Arizona allowed fans to call plays during the game. Rich Rod went into the stands and gave a fan or two the play call sheet to make the call. If that was me, I would be telling Rich Rod two words: Hook and Ladder.
Spring games to me are pretty over-hyped. Guys are hitting each other, but I look at it like I look at the NFL's Pro Bowl. It's not really a true game. You can see how players going full speed and how they react to hits or different situations that arise during the game, but it is still a controlled situation. Quarterbacks are not allowed to be hit most of the time and once again, people are going to see what they see, opinions are very subjective with this. What I like seeing is how fall practices go leading up to the regular season. That's where you see stuff happen. Until then, there isn't a reason to get to hyped up or let down based on what you see in spring practice or the spring game.
Telling fans to do that is a little easier said, than done. Just saying...
Ranking the Power 5 Conferences
The offseason of college football. Recruiting, spring practice, and the much over hyped Spring Game. One other thing that comes with the offseason is sitting back and trying to figure out which is the best conference out of the Power 5, otherwise known as Pac-12, Big 12, Big 10, ACC, and the SEC. Throwing opinions out on who is the best is fun because you always get people chiming in on how I or anybody else "disrespected their conference". I ranked them....
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email me: mike.wilson
Friday, April 10, 2015
Sun Devils Get Their Duke Man
It took a little longer than originally thought, but the Sun Devils finally got their Duke man to lead their basketball program. However, it wasn't the Dukie that they thought they would get. The man on their radar for the majority of their search for a new coach was Jeff Capel, head assistant at Duke right now. They ended up with Bobby Hurley, former head coach at Buffalo.
Anybody that knows anything knows that Hurley is a Duke guy. He played at Duke under Coach K, won 2 consecutive national championships, was a NBA player, and has the coaching pedigree from his father who is considered one of the best, if not, the best high school coach in the country. With all those credentials, Hurley certainly brings the "splash" effect to Tempe, Arizona. He should "win" the press conference when he is formally introduced in the next couple of days.
The ASU basketball program is in need of some serious attention right now. The program is not relevant in the least, they don't make the NCAA tournament that much, attendance is atrocious, the facilities are sub-par, and overall interest in the program is just non-existent. With Hurley in the fold, interest in the program should see a marketable uptick in interest, but lets keep this a bit real. If the wins don't come and he can't get the program to be competitive or get to the NCAA tournament, then this will be for naught. I believe with all the swag he will initially bring that he will get the program to be competitive. What does that really mean though?
With a perennial top ten program only 90 minutes away in Tucson, Hurley has some serious work to do. Initially, he may not win like the alumni want him to, but an angle he may want to look at is to go the international route with recruiting. Get some kids in the program that have some experience playing on a high level and that may just get those important wins for him at a struggling Power 5 school. Just a thought on my part. Right now, ASU won't get the type of players that the University of Arizona gets all the time in the basketball program. Hurley is going to have to be a major seller of the program and the surroundings in the Valley of the Sun. An international kid that gets recruited here may look at the Valley of Sun and think that this area is paradise and may also think, I can become a big time player here. Hurley has said the right things in his initial statement to the press, but he needs to be a recruiter on an elite level to do things that he thinks he may be able to do here in Sun Devil land.
In the end, the Devils got their man, maybe not the man they originally thought they would get, but a guy that I can see being here for more than just three years or so. He has his work cut out for him, but if attacks this job like he played on the court, then there is nothing, but blue skies ahead for the Sun Devil program. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. Forks Up!
Anybody that knows anything knows that Hurley is a Duke guy. He played at Duke under Coach K, won 2 consecutive national championships, was a NBA player, and has the coaching pedigree from his father who is considered one of the best, if not, the best high school coach in the country. With all those credentials, Hurley certainly brings the "splash" effect to Tempe, Arizona. He should "win" the press conference when he is formally introduced in the next couple of days.
The ASU basketball program is in need of some serious attention right now. The program is not relevant in the least, they don't make the NCAA tournament that much, attendance is atrocious, the facilities are sub-par, and overall interest in the program is just non-existent. With Hurley in the fold, interest in the program should see a marketable uptick in interest, but lets keep this a bit real. If the wins don't come and he can't get the program to be competitive or get to the NCAA tournament, then this will be for naught. I believe with all the swag he will initially bring that he will get the program to be competitive. What does that really mean though?
With a perennial top ten program only 90 minutes away in Tucson, Hurley has some serious work to do. Initially, he may not win like the alumni want him to, but an angle he may want to look at is to go the international route with recruiting. Get some kids in the program that have some experience playing on a high level and that may just get those important wins for him at a struggling Power 5 school. Just a thought on my part. Right now, ASU won't get the type of players that the University of Arizona gets all the time in the basketball program. Hurley is going to have to be a major seller of the program and the surroundings in the Valley of the Sun. An international kid that gets recruited here may look at the Valley of Sun and think that this area is paradise and may also think, I can become a big time player here. Hurley has said the right things in his initial statement to the press, but he needs to be a recruiter on an elite level to do things that he thinks he may be able to do here in Sun Devil land.
In the end, the Devils got their man, maybe not the man they originally thought they would get, but a guy that I can see being here for more than just three years or so. He has his work cut out for him, but if attacks this job like he played on the court, then there is nothing, but blue skies ahead for the Sun Devil program. The proof will be in the pudding as they say. Forks Up!
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Best and Worst: Final Four Weekend and Championship Monday
It's all over. The tourney is done. Do we want more? Of course we do, we always want more. It's how college basketball fans are. There were some things that were great, like Kentucky getting beat, Duke showing some big heart, and Izzo getting to another Final Four. Parts of the Final Four were not so great. Such as whining after EVERY call by the refs or sour grape type of comments after a game or a racial type of slur in a post game presser...
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson@campuspressbox.com
For the entire column go to www.campuspressbox.com
Follow me on Twitter @pigskinopinion
Email: mike.wilson
Monday, April 6, 2015
Three Point Play: Kentucky Wildcats and Lost History
Some people like seeing history made, others don't. I tend to be one of those kind of people like seeing history made. Sports fans like history, but usually when it only applies to their team in a positive way. I mean, nobody likes seeing their team make history for having the longest losing streak or for fewest points in a game. Fans want to see their teams make history for going undefeated or winning the most championships. Well, Kentucky fans had visions of winning another college basketball championship while going undefeated at the same time. Some times the best laid plans get wrecked by something that you may not have seen coming.
Kentucky came into the year as one of most heralded teams in recent history with their collection of McDonald's All-Americans, the length, and the possibility that some mentioned even before the team played a single minute on the floor in an actual game. For young players, that is a lot of hype to live up to. Do you young players pay attention to the hype? Of course they do. Any player that tells you differently is lying to you. To his credit, John Calipari has figured out how to manage the collection of talent he has amassed for the Wildcats. People may hate on Calipari, but he gets the talent, and somehow, someway, he manages to coach these kids up to get them to perform at a extremely high level.
History seemed to on course for the Wildcats. They played to the strengths and kept winning no matter the circumstance. They had length more than anybody else, which helped them on the boards, blocking shots, and scoring because they could just over the smaller player. There was a game or two that Kentucky's smallest starter was bigger than the other teams tallest player. That is some serious height advantage to have going into most, if not all, games.
Watching Kentucky multiple times, a couple of things stood out to me. One, the lack of shooters. Besides Aaron Harrison, I didn't really see a guy that could stick a jumper on a consistent basis. They had so much size they usually could dominate in the paint, but unlike, a Wisconsin type of team, who has shooters everywhere, didn't have that luxury and I think that was one of the reasons they came up short in the Final Four.
The other aspect that I saw was that they were not a particular good free throw shooting team. The one thing that I always look at is free throw percentage as a team. That is something that decides/finishes off teams in the last few minutes of a game. If a team knows they can't foul because it's fruitless in terms of keeping the other team off the scoreboard, then you have a weapon you can count on in crucial situations.
At the end of the day, Kentucky didn't make plays when they had to and thus, they are sitting at home watching Duke win the title that they thought they would be winning. Calipari will have another crop of young stud players, but he would be wise to recruit some kids who are shooters and can shoot a good percentage at the free throw line.
Kentucky came into the year as one of most heralded teams in recent history with their collection of McDonald's All-Americans, the length, and the possibility that some mentioned even before the team played a single minute on the floor in an actual game. For young players, that is a lot of hype to live up to. Do you young players pay attention to the hype? Of course they do. Any player that tells you differently is lying to you. To his credit, John Calipari has figured out how to manage the collection of talent he has amassed for the Wildcats. People may hate on Calipari, but he gets the talent, and somehow, someway, he manages to coach these kids up to get them to perform at a extremely high level.
History seemed to on course for the Wildcats. They played to the strengths and kept winning no matter the circumstance. They had length more than anybody else, which helped them on the boards, blocking shots, and scoring because they could just over the smaller player. There was a game or two that Kentucky's smallest starter was bigger than the other teams tallest player. That is some serious height advantage to have going into most, if not all, games.
Watching Kentucky multiple times, a couple of things stood out to me. One, the lack of shooters. Besides Aaron Harrison, I didn't really see a guy that could stick a jumper on a consistent basis. They had so much size they usually could dominate in the paint, but unlike, a Wisconsin type of team, who has shooters everywhere, didn't have that luxury and I think that was one of the reasons they came up short in the Final Four.
The other aspect that I saw was that they were not a particular good free throw shooting team. The one thing that I always look at is free throw percentage as a team. That is something that decides/finishes off teams in the last few minutes of a game. If a team knows they can't foul because it's fruitless in terms of keeping the other team off the scoreboard, then you have a weapon you can count on in crucial situations.
At the end of the day, Kentucky didn't make plays when they had to and thus, they are sitting at home watching Duke win the title that they thought they would be winning. Calipari will have another crop of young stud players, but he would be wise to recruit some kids who are shooters and can shoot a good percentage at the free throw line.
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