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Sporting News released a magazine with 2008 conference breakdowns, and they suckered me into buying it by making retarded statements and predictions. Somehow, PSU is slated to finish 7th in the Big Ten. Don't chuckle too hard, Pitt fans, they have you behind Connecticut.

There is no chance in hell that Penn State finishes 7th or Pitt finishes behind UCONN.

Let me break down this Penn State retardation. First of all, the whole offensive line is back, including a Rimington nominee in Shipley. The line played well last season, and we all know they'll get at least a bit better. The RB situation is fine for 2008, with Royster taking over for Kinlaw. Royster is a much better RB than Kinlaw, and Kinlaw did well behind that line. The WR's are the second best WR corps in the country behind Ohio State. At TE's, Quarless and Shuler will both have legitimate shots at getting drafted. On defense, PSU loses 2 guys: King to early entry, and Lee to injury. Lee will be redshirted. King had a terrible season last year, yet the loss of him is still a selling point for the critics of this defense. The rest of the defense returns, including everyone's favorite DE Mo Evans. On the line, they all return. Everyone knows that Kelly and Boone are among the elite special teams combos in college football. Even the magazines agree with that. And everyone has Wallace as one of the best returners in the Big Ten.

So with that all being said, we take a look at quarterback. This is the first time since I can't even remember, when a team loses the worst player they have on offense, returns everyone else, and they get criticized for it. I do think Morelli got a screw-job as far as development goes, but I said the same about Mills and Seneca and everyone else, too. So Morelli is gone, they name a much more mobile and much bigger threat as the new starter, and still Penn State is slated to finish 7th in their own conference.

What does this defense have to do to get some respect? They actually said this in the magazine: "Colasanti needs to live up to his hype and emerge as the next big thing at Linebacker U." Chris Colasanti is a sophomore, dude. Do you actually think that Penn State doesn't have serious competition at linebacker? They gave this defense a 3 out of 5. This irritates me and also made me laugh out loud because Connecticut, Kansas, Wake Forest, Pitt, and LSU all got 5 out of 5. LSU returns 4 people. I'm not even going to start on how Pitt's defense doesn't deserve a 5 out of 5. I don't even know if any Pitt fans would support that claim.

To further make me laugh, Clemson's offense got a 5 out of 5. Clemson has the worst offensive line in the country right now. They gave up 14 sacks in their spring game, and return 2 guys. Yet they are a 5 out of 5.

Ranked 8th in the nation, WVU somehow escapes all questioning by anybody. Take a look at WVU and Penn State. Both have what very well might be the best O-lines in their conferences. They both have good but ultimately inexperienced RB's. They both have a mobile QB who can scare teams with his feet. PSU's WR's are a lot better than WVU's, though. On defense, PSU brings back 9 solid starters and WVU brings back 4. As far as coaches go, Penn State's defensive coaches are elite. Offensively, they are all questionable. As far as head coaches go, I still think Joe is a better head coach than 80% of the rest of the nation. WVU has ONE coach returning from last season, and they made him the head coach. In 8 seasons, he never became more than a position coach. Yet, with all the new staff members and question marks, this is a team you have ranked in your top 10? This WVU season could end up being a nightmare in Morgantown as this whole program goes through an ENORMOUS change.

Now you guys see why I get so worked up that I challenge people's wives to Guitar Hero contests.

I love SportingNews for Fantasy sports, though.

I can go with Penn State and West Virginia having similar lines
But you really understated the Qb situation Darryl Clark and Pat White in the same sentence......He can seriously be considered the best player and most valuable player in the Nation....The 'Eers 2 losses this year came to Pitt and USF....Pat white played in neither game. If he does play WVU was 12-0 and most likely would have beat LSU or Ohio State...

Penn State does have better wideouts but WVU doesnt pass so that argument doesnt make sense either....
Noel Devine is inexpierenced ill give you that but certainly is more talented the Royster and Stephon Green


I dont think you can compare the teams but if i ranked the Big 10 the Lions would be 3rd and i know how much you respect my opinion.......

1.Buckeyes
2.Fightin Illini
3.Nittany Lions
4.Badgers
5.Spartans
6.Wolverines
7.Boilermakers
8.Hawkeyes
9.Hoosiers
10.Wildcats
11.Golden Gophers

I want to know what 6 in the Big Ten they have better:

I will give them Ohio State, Wisconsin, Illinois, and maybe Michigan but I dont see who else they could have better?

Michigan State maybe but I do not know what they can base that on.

Here is how I see it playing out:

Ohio State 7-1
Penn State 6-2 (beating Illinois head-to-head)
Illinois 6-2
Wisconsin 5-3
Michigan 4-4
Michigan State 4-4
Indiana 3-5
Iowa 2-6
Purdue 2-6
Minnesota 1-7

Crimson,

I do respect your opinion, we just disagree. As far as Devine being a lot better than Royster (let's not even use Royster, let's use anyone) what is this based on? The kid is simply inexperienced as a starter. You don't know how this kid is gonna turn out. All the LSU defensive hype is centered around a kid named Ricky Jean-Francois. He's supposed to be the next great LSU player. I don't doubt this one single bit. But he's not a returning starter, and he surely cannot be used as ammunition as to how a defense returning 4 measly guys should be given a 5-star Defensive status. Keep in mind that both WVU and LSU are both breaking in new coordinators. Especially WVU.

As for the White and Clark comparison, no doubt is White better. I'm just saying that they are both mobile guys who are behind 5-star O-lines. I actually didn't even realize that White didn't play in the USF or Pitt games.

I actually think Penn State will beat Illinois. I think they'll lose 2 games: Ohio State and Michigan State.

Here are the SN Big Ten rankings:

1. Ohio State
2. Illinois
3. Wisconsin
4. Michigan
5. Purdue
6. Michigan State
7. Penn State
8. Northwestern
9. Iowa
10. Indiana
11. Minnesota

It's insanity and it's based on nothing. They said that NW is the best up and coming team. I realize recruiting isn't everything, but NW has not had a commit from a kid higher than 3-star status since 4-star DT Loren Howard committed in 2002. Northwestern is a joke. They are terrible, they run around clueless. Where the hell has Terrell Sutton been since he picked NW over Ohio State? They're without a doubt the worst program in the Big Ten right now, and they are being outrecruited by lowly Indiana. No chance in hell are they the up and coming team.

It makes me so dang mad because I really do try to be objective with my sports teams. I have always said that I am a college football fan first and a PSU fan second. You have a team who returns the whole offense except an inept QB, and on defense they lost an underachieving CB and a LB went down but they have insane LB depth. How can you justify saying this is not a top team in the conference, let alone the whole country? Why do other schools get ridiculous credit for returning their whole line, but PSU does not? It is simply not objective.

If I wrote down 119 scenarios without attaching the actual name of the team to those 119 scenarios, you'd put PSU in the top 7 in the country. They would absolutely be the number 2 team in the Big Ten. The same crap applies to everyone. If I told you that a team lost their top 2 offensive weapons from a 3 man offense, and only brought back 4 guys on defense and ONE coach, you'd rank West Virginia at about 25th.

Maybe that's the way teams should be ranked in the preseason. 119 scenarios with no names attached. Give those scenarios to to someone who you think is a sports genius and let them rank the team based on the scenarios. What you'd get as an outcome would be unbiased and startling. I can tell you right now, as an objective fan, that if you gave me a scenario where both lines came back intact, WR's were amongst the best in the nation, only lost 2 guys on defense, and only hole was an underachieving QB who is GONE, I'd be tempted to rank them number one in the country!

Crimson,

As a Pitt fan, I am surprised that you say Pat White did not play in the Backyard Brawl. Someone on Pantherlair.com broke down the entire game and the number of snaps that White played and did not play. He missed somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-14 snaps. By the way, WVU's only touchdown came with the back up quarterback under center.