2013 College Football rankings 1-77


2013-college-football-red-grange

Welcome to the 2013 college football preseason! It officially starts today. Whatever keeps me from having to write about baseball; as that actually subtracts page views from my website- for whatever reason.

Sadly, the 2013 college football 77 in 77 does not include the Illinois Fighting Illini. We’ll rank and preview one team a day for the next 77 days, ending with #1 Alabama Crimson Tide on the Thursday before the 2013 college football season begins.

This is the first year I’ve done the 77 in 77 in which my alma mater, the Illini, are not included.

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Chicago Bears trade Gabe Carimi to Buccaneers


gabe-carimi

Gabe Carimi has been a huge bust with the Chicago Bears. There’s no denying that. “The Bear Jew,” I’m not kidding that is his nickname, has stood out as a horrible offensive lineman; even amidst a really bad O Line. Sunday night reports said Carimi and the Bears have parted ways. Two sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that the Bears received a sixth-round pick in 2014 in return for Carimi, a former first-round pick. Since regular Chicago Bears beat writer Sean Jensen is no longer with the Sun-Times, this story was reported by S-T Blackhawks writer Adam Jahns.

Carimi will travel to Tampa Bay tomorrow. He was taken by the Bears 29th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. He began the 2011 season as the Bears’ starting right tackle.

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Ohio State’s Gordon Gee retires from being DUMB SELF


gordon-gee

Yes, Gordon Gee is as stupid as he looks. Or at least acts as stupid as he looks. Quite often. BUCKNUTS!!!!

He certainly says things equal in stupidity to his appearance in the above picture. The president of THE Ohio State UNIVERSITY apologized to the Big Ten Conference for remarks he made last year about a few athletic programs. And it’s all over Twitter now that Gordon Gee is retiring.

In a crafted statement Sunday, Gordon Gee said he made “misguided attempt at humor” in December. He says the Big Ten universities are “some of this country’s most highly accomplished research institutions” and he’s honored to lead a Big Ten school.

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Former Chicago Bulls Assistant joins Wisconsin Badgers staff


badgers

Former Chicago Bulls Assistant Erik Helland has joined the Wisconsin Badgers basketball program as the team’s strength and conditioning coach. Helland served on the Chicago Bulls strength and conditioning staff since 1988 and the head strength coach since 2001.

Helland’s tenure with the Bulls included six NBA championships, including a pair of three-peats, and an NBA record 72 regular-season wins in 1995-96. Helland also oversaw the strength and physical development of Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame honorees Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Robert Parish.

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Big Ten ACC Challenge match-ups announced


ohio-state-girls-big-ten

This year’s Big Ten ACC Challenge will be Dec. 3-4. It features a lot of college basketball teams from the ESPN.com early preseason top 25: No. 3 Michigan State, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 20 Indiana and No. 25 Iowa.

Three of the games will pit ranked teams against each other: No. 9 Michigan at No. 5 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina at No. 3 Michigan State and No. 20 Indiana at No. 8 Syracuse.

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Ron Dayne joins Wisconsin Badgers, College gridiron Pantheon


ron-dayne

Following the announcement that Ron Dayne was a now a member of the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2013, Ron Dayne and his former coach, current Wisconsin Badgers Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez met with the media.

Archived video of the media session is available here, and a complete transcript of their remarks can be found here.

Concluding his career with 7,125 career rushing yards, Ron Dayne became the all-time leading rusher and first player to reach the 7,000-yard plateau in FBS history during the 1999 season. Ron Dayne becomes the eighth Badger to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

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Big Ten officially buries AWFUL “Legends” and “Leaders” Names


rebecca-martinson-big-10

Yesterday, the Big Ten officially announced what we all knew for at least a week. However, for those who are oblivious I’ll reiterate: new realignment and division names starting in 2014 and nine-game conference schedules starting in 2016. Most important about this college football news nugget or tidbit if you will, the Big Ten has laid to rest the HORRIBLE division names: Legends and Leaders.

Thankfully we only suffered through that pathetic pablum masquerading as division names for just two years. With Rutgers and Maryland joining the conference, where’s Rebecca Martinson when you need here? I’d love to hear her SCREAM and CURSE LOUDLY IN ANGER at whoever came up with that Legends and Leaders garbage.

Moving on, the new division alignments are:

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UPDATED 2013-2014 preseason top 25 college basketball rankings


With the Louisville Cardinals cutting down the nets, the book was officially closed on the 2012-2013 college basketball season.  Hoop junkies like myself are already looking ahead to next season so allow me to present to you my updated way too early 2012-2013 preseason Top 25 college basketball rankings.

So here is my preliminary preseason Top 25 college basketball rankings for next season.  I have updated these rankings since the NBA Draft early entries list is complete and a number of transfers have since been announced.  There is still one major x-factor out there, the undecided Andrew Wiggins who is the #1 prospect in the 2013 class.  Leave a comment below if you think a team is too high, too low, not getting enough respect, or if you notice an error in a projected roster.  (Click here to see how my 2012-13 way too early preseason college basketball rankings turned out.)

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UPDATED 2013-2014 preseason top 25 college basketball rankings (part 2)


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Here are teams 16-25 in my updated 2012-2013 preseason Top 25 college basketball rankings and other teams who just missed the cut.

CLICK HERE FOR TEAMS 1-15 IN MY 2013-14 PRESEASON TOP 25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS

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Wisconsin Badgers 2013 NFL Draft Rewind


Montee Ball denver

Who knew that the University of Wisconsin would become one of the best factories for NFL prospects, it’s surely come a long way in the last twenty years.

The Badgers nine top-75 picks over the last three years are as many as Ohio State, Nebraska and Michigan combined. The only two schools in the nation with more top-75 picks over that span are Alabama (13) and LSU (12).

Here’s what I thought of each of Wisconsin’s three picks in the 2013 NFL Draft:

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Wisconsin’s Montee Ball a perfect fit for the Denver Broncos


NFL: Combine

With the 26th pick in the second round (58th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos made a long-life dream come true when they selected Wisconsin Badgers running back Montee Ball.

Montee Ball grew up idolizing the Broncos as a small kid, particularly running back Terrell Davis (1998 MVP and two-time Super Bowl champion).

“It’s a dream come true,” Ball said. “I’ve been a Broncos fan since the age of seven, and now to be a Bronco, is something very special.” [Read more...]