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Bearcat News
Big East position rankings: Cornerback - Big East Blog - ESPN
While I agreed with the Big East blog's safety rankings, I felt like Cincinnati's cornerback ranking was a little low. This is a little surprising considering Andrea earlier claimed Dominique Battle as her impact player for the Bearcats in 2011. Personally, I think he's going to have a tough time passing Cam Cheatham and Rueben Johnson, especially considering he's coming off knee surgery. However, Butch has a history of choosing the senior over the more talented underclassman (Cobb over Hooey last season). Added to the depth chart are Adrian Witty who also had tons of playing time last season with the experienced Chris Williams in a nickelback role. Overall, I think Cincinnati's corners should be either 5th or 6th.
J.K Schaffer and Derek Wolfe Named To 2011 Nagurski Trophy Watch List - University of Cincinnati Official Athletics Site
More Bearcats were added to watch lists as this time J.K. Schaffer and Derek Wolfe were named contenders for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. It honors the best defensive player in college football. Schaffer has tallied at least 100 tackles in the past two years and Wolfe, while he underperformed last year, he was one of the nation's best defensive tackle in 2009. Both have tons of experience and will be the anchors of the defense because of the added depth at linebacker and the defensive line, as more rest will ensure they are playing at 100%. In addition to the Bronko Nagurski, Wolfe was also named to the Outland Trophy watchlist, which honors the nations best interior lineman. I guess they, like me, think Cincinnati's defensive line, led by Wolfe, will be greatly improved in 2011.
Cincinnati Bearcats: Could Isaiah Pead Be the Nation's Best Running Back? | Bleacher Report
This is definitely wishful thinking on this guy's part. If Isaiah Pead was playing behind an All-American line from tackle to tackle, he could win this award by halfway through the season. But, the fact is, UC's offensive line outside of maybe Alex Hoffman probably isn't winning any awards anytime soon. Now, the coaching staff could turn this questionable unit into a solid one but, based on last year, their abilities are also in question. I think the best running back in college football will be either Marcus Lattimore, Michael Dyer, or Trent Richardson, but Pead should be in the top 5 by the end of the season.
Recruiting
Maty Mauk picks Missouri - CBSSports.com
In case you missed it, Maty Mauk officially verballed to Missouri last week. Cincinnati legitimately had a shot at him as his older brother Ben was a Bearcat, for the arena league Cincinnati Commandos, and was involved with the team on campus. In addition, his #1 wideout at Kenton high school, Max Morrison, signed with Cincinnati for the 2011 class. He broke tons of records in high school and would have been a great fit for Cincinnati's offense. However, because they don't run the quarterback as much, Mizzou is actually a slightly better fit. Michigan and Notre Dame were also in on him and I would have undoubtedly been pissed if he signed with either of them. Since he chose Missouri, I can safely wish him all the luck in the world in a great college career.
Around the BEast
Spit Blood: TCU-LSU to be an annual affair?
This would be incredible for both TCU and the Big East as this series would likely draw huge crowds on both sides. Of course, both this site and the source are purely speculating as it would probably be unlikely for any two schools to lock in an out of conference series unless the two had a long-standing rivalry (i.e. UC-Miami, Louisville-Kentucky). The best they could hope for is that a home-and-home series is so bloody and draws in so much money that both schools would want to do it over and over again. Who knows in fifty years we could be talking about this rivalry up along side Alabama-Auburn or Texas-Oklahoma.
Why USF QBs keep getting overrated - On the Banks
Man this guy really doesn't like USF's quarterbacks. Despite the rant, he does bring up a good point. I've always thought that year-in and year-out, South Florida has had monsters on the defensive line that continuously finishes in the top half of the conference (if not THE top). However, they've never really been able to find a solid quarterback to run their offense. Matt Grothe was, well, decent for a BCS QB but his lifetime numbers were never all that impressive. Now comes in BJ Daniels who, until the second half of last season, never showed much consistency at the position. Sure there's time for him to mature as a passer, but he's going to be known as a dual-threat QB who's much better as running the ball than passing it until he sheds that reputation.
Around the Nation
Which Football and Basketball Programs Produce the Largest Profits? «
Another solid financial analysis from the also informative (and very hot) Kristi Dosh at The Business of College Sports. For the most part, no matter where the money comes from, just about every school turned a profit during the 2009-10 school year. Only 6 programs broke even and 7 actually lost money. Interestingly enough, Rutgers basketball actually lost only $2. If only they had turned those gym lights off instead of leaving them on for an extra 5 minutes. Both Bearcats programs were in the black and brought in a combined profit of about $3 million dollars. It will be interesting to see how much money these programs can churn out if both are regularly going to the postseason.
Ohio State Buckeyes vacate wins from last football season - ESPN
This is honestly just the Buckeyes continuing to mock the NCAA. Vacating wins from games already played is the stupidest excuse for a penalty as there is in college sports. The game was already played, Ohio State already collected their bowl money, and the players got their rings. Maybe if the NCAA made O$U pay back the money earned in that game and forced the players to give back (or, more likely, buy them back from the tattoo parlor), then I would think this would be a legitimate punishment. Keep in mind, the NCAA has yet to lay down the law on the Buckeyes so don't think they will just go easy on them now, despite being a joke of an organization.