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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/39067-lsu-tigers-a-bcs-repeat The last time we saw Les Miles and Co. they were hoisting up the Waterford Trophy that is given to the BCS National Champion. LSU had a dominating performance over Jim Tressel's Ohio State Buckeyes, as they beat them with a little bit of trickery mixed with hard-nosed SEC football. Now they've reloaded and seek to not only become the first team in the BCS era to win three national titles, but also to win two straight. Though many of the LSU faithful believe that Miles can "get 'er done", it's going to take a little more than just belief and a warm fuzzy feeling for them to repeat. LSU will have to traverse the shark-infested SEC waters without their All-American Glenn Dorsey and stud running back Jacob Hester. Both brought toughness and swagger to their respective units, as well as quarterbacks Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux. One might say, "Well, this is LSU and we don't rebuild, we reload". That definitely is true, however, having a team littered with seniors, All-Americans, and All-SEC players is invaluable and can't easily be replaced by just talent alone. Even with a team that had so many standout players, LSU still managed to lose twice, and it took a few teams to lose for them to get a spot in the BCS game. Oh...did I mention Bo Pellini is coaching Nebraska? With all that said, can LSU actually repeat and win the SEC? Lets look at a few factors. Experience Looking back at past champions in the BCS era, they all had a good or dominate defense and a good or dominate offense. Some might argue that Ohio State had a dominate defense but a terrible offense, however, a good offense to me is one that A) doesn't turn the ball over, B) plays smart, and C) wins games when it counts. You can put up all the points in the world, but if it doesn't win games, then it's meaningless. In '07, LSU had both in spades, however, this year, they have five returning starters on both offense and defense. Yes, they have stars waiting in the wings, however, last time I checked, freshmen and sophomores win games, not championships. With no Flynn and Perrilloux, Miles has to turn to either Jarret Lee or Andrew Hatch to run the show. bleacherreport 7/18/08

http://www.cfb360.com/articles/2008/07/rich-rodriguez-michigan-football-fans.html Trying to keep up with the major College Football programs can be an arduous task. What's happening at Southern California, Texas, Louisiana State, Georgia, Florida, Ohio State and Michigan during off-season workouts alone, can keep one busy. And sure, checking in on the likes of the traditional inflated expectations at schools such as Purdue, Michigan State, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and UCLA, does take place, but it simply is not worth discussing here. Those programs are almost always a day late and dollar short with regards to raw talent to win a National Title. Just the way it is. Two schools seem to have some unusual expectations for the upcoming season, most likely due to each school's tradition. Michigan and Texas fans, simmer down. Take a deep breath. Relax. Your time may yet come, but certainly not this year. The coaching trees at each institution may not be that far away from being in left field either. With Michigan, here it is short and sweet. Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez does not plan to alter his system despite the fact that he does not have the proper personnel to run his spread offense this season. Bad move. There is something called a happy medium that coach Rodriguez apparently does not grasp. A spread offense with a pocket passer running the show? Not a good idea (This article explains in more detail). And the Wolverines' win-loss record will prove that notion worthy. At absolute best, Michigan goes 7-5. More likely, Michigan goes 5-7 and stays home for the holidays (Utah will win in Ann Arbor). The funny thing is many Michigan fans still expect eight, nine, even ten or more victories this season. No, that was not a joke. Scanning numerous Michigan message boards, many Wolverine fans seem to have bought into Rodriguez's shtick. The biggest fallacy of them all, Michigan is going to Columbus, Ohio and defeating the Buckeyes this season. Oooooooooh please. Several Michigan fans truly believe that. What could possibly be in the water in Ann Arbor? In a few years, Michigan will be a good team again. This year, they are going to struggle. Period. And then there is Texas. Common knowledge around The Forty Acres notes that last season the Longhorns had little chemistry. No kidding? Texas head coach Mack Brown has yet to mentally win a big football game using Xs and Os. He's an average head coach for the upper echelon of College Football. Yes, he can recruit like few others, and he's at Texas, an easy sell for recruiting purposes, but last season the Longhorns displayed a roller coaster attitude during several games – a common theme during coach Brown's coaching career – making it easy to predict that the trend will continue. In short, the Longhorns were not mentally tough enough on offense, defense, or special teams to even come close to living up to their potential during the 2007 season. Coach Brown, as the program's CEO, must be held responsible, and he did take some heat for the team's lack of focus. Until proven otherwise, each Texas team should be considered an underachiever while under coach Brown's direction. cfb360.com 7/20/08