College Football Top 10 (Part 1)

By Bryan Leonard

This week I’ll run down ten college football teams that could be in the running for the national title, based on returning starters, talent and schedule.

10. Georgia: The quiet football factory at Georgia continues to impress under Head Coach Mark Richt. The defense allowed 16 ppg last season and will lead the way again, led by All-America candidate DE Quentin Moses, a fierce pass rusher. The linebacking corps is also deep behind senior Jarvis Jackson.

The offensive line has new pieces and QB D.J. Shockley is gone. But senior QB Joe Tereshinski (371 yards) stepped in when Shockley was hurt last season and played well. Richt likes a balanced offense and has a powerful ground game behind junior RB Thomas Brown and junior Danny Ware. Georgia is 21-6 SU/17-10 ATS on the road under Richt! Six of their first eight games are at home, with only tough road games at South Carolina and Auburn.

9. Miami: Head Coach Larry Coker revamped his coaching staff, bringing in Rich Olson to run the offense and John Palermo will run the defensive line (from Wisconsin). Olson ran the Miami offense during some of their glory years in the 1990s. Junior QB Kyle Wright (18 TDs, 10 INTs) returns, along with junior WR Lance Leggett and 6-foot-6 junior TE Greg Olsen. The running game provides balance because of senior tailback Tyrone Moss (701 yards, 5.1 ypc) and the tough defense allowed just 14 points per game and 3 yards per rush! Run stuffers like DE Bryan Pata and senior DT Baraka Atkins return and there are several revenge games, including Florida State and Georgia Tech (the latter upset Miami at home). Is this still a great football program? Miami just had a first-round NFL draft choice for a record 12th consecutive year.

8. L.S.U: LSU impressed under first-year Head Coach Les Miles, going 11-2. They played a lot of road games, too, because of Hurricane Katrina. The Tigers averaged 29.5 points, 150 yards rushing and 224 passing. Junior Quarterback JaMarcus Russell returns despite a serious shoulder injury late last season.

The ground game features senior RB Alley Broussard and Justin Vincent, while there is good depth at wideout. One thing Nick Saban left Miles was a talented defense, which has five starters back to a unit that ranked among the top five in the nation in three categories. The line is solid behind senior DT Glenn Dorsey and junior DE Carnell Stewart. This year’s schedule is challenging, with road games at Auburn, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas. But LSU was 5-0 SU, 4-0 ATS on the road last season!

7. Notre Dame: Hats off to Charlie Weis, who electrified the Irish attack in his first year as head coach. Under his imaginative spread offense Notre Dame averaged 36.7 points, 147 yards rushing and 330 passing per game! 7 starters return on offense, so watch out. Senior QB Brady Quinn is back after passing for 32 TDs, just 7 INTs and 3,919 yards.

Three starters return to the offensive line. Junior RB Darius Walker (1,196 yards, 9 TDs) led the Irish in rushing and caught 43 passes for 351 yards. Quinn has quality targets in 6-foot-5 senior WR Jeff Samardzija (1,274 yards, 15 TDs), senior WR Rhema McKnight and 6-foot-6 junior TE John Carlson. The defense is average, though 9 starters return, so the offense may have to carry the load. The schedule isn’t that bad, outside of a revenge trip to USC.

6. U.S.C: 2006 hasn’t been kind to the Trojans, with the shocking loss to Texas in January for the national title, the loss of its best offensive players to the NFL, and some embarrassing off-field problems. The offense won’t be as devastating, but will be potent. New quarterback junior John David Booty steps in (327 yards, 64.3% completions, 3 TDs, 2 INTs in 2005). The best news of all is that the best wide receiving duo in the nation is back in senior Steve Smith and junior WR Dwayne Jarrett (1,274 yards, 16 TDs). Pete Carroll has some teaching to do with the defense, especially with a young secondary. USC is 20-0 SU, 14-6 ATS at home the last three seasons! Road trips to Arkansas and UCLA could be challenging, along with home dates with Nebraska, Arizona State, Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame.

Bryan Leonard is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com/Bryan_Leonard.htm

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NFC North 2006 Previews and Projections

By James Campbell

1) Chicago: da’Bears made the playoffs by breaking out with an 11-6 record last year which was their first winning season since 2001 and figure to battle a now healthy Packer team for the divisional crown this season. In truth these Bears were able to win the divisional crown last year because of the fact that the rest of the division had a very down year as evidenced by GB, Detroit, and Minny combining for a shoddy 18-30 record in 2005. Chicago had a very strong defense last season and good play on that side of the ball will be needed again this year if they want to match last years win total. The Bears have a lot of question marks on an offense that ranked a shoddy 29th overall last year and it starts with QB Rex Grossman’s ability to stay off the injury list, as an insurance policy Chicago brought in Brian Griese to back up Grossman. The Bears also have disgruntled RB Thomas to deal with and a possible training camp injury to starting RB Cedric Benson. Projected record: 10-6

**Look to play AGAINST these Bears in their Monday Night game on October 16th at Arizona, the Cards are only the 2nd playoff caliber team the Bears will have faced at this point in the season. Brand new Cardinal Stadium will surely be rocking and rolling since this is the Cards first MNF appearance since 1999, its also nice to know that four of the Bears six losses from a year ago occurred when playing on the road.

2) Green Bay: Never mind the fact that QB Brett Favre finished last year ranked a very shoddy 14th out of 16 starting NFC Quarterbacks in terms of QB rating and threw an eye opening 29 interceptions against 20 TD's, they begged him to come back, instead the blame was placed solely on HC Mike Sherman. The Packer organization fired HC Mike Sherman for having a 4-12 season last year after he had posted winning seasons in each of his first five years in Packer land and had made the playoffs in each of the four seasons prior to last year. The truth of the matter is that GB suffered serious injuries to key players on both sides of the ball last year and especially on offense where virtually every starting skill position had players succumb to injury except for QB Brett Favre and WR Donald Driver. In Sherman’s place the Packers hired first time HC Mike McCarthy who will look like a genius in winning 10 or 11 games this year, all because the Packers will be healthy once again and were able to pick high in the draft which allowed them to snag linebacker A.J. Hawk with the 5th overall selection, the free agent signing of CB Charles Woodson should shore up the Packer defensive secondary as well. Projected record: 10-6

**Look to play ON these Packers in their October 8th home game against the visiting Rams, St Louis will be playing on the road for the 3rd time in a 4 week span and has a divisional battle versus Seattle on deck, meanwhile, according to the ole history book GB is a perfect 4-0 ATS in their last 4 home games against NFC West teams.

3) Minnesota: These Vikings are one of three teams in this division to bring in a new first time head coach to take the helm with the hiring of HC Brad Childress. The Vikes have won 9 games each of the past three seasons which is really a middle of the road kind of performance, not bad enough to garner top draft picking and not good enough to consistently make the playoffs, hence the reason for HC Mike Tice’s firing (finally!!). For a second straight year the Vikings let a franchaise player get away with the loss of QB Duante Culpepper to Miami and will start 38 year old journeyman QB Brad Johnson who played very well for the Vikes during the second half of last season following Culpepper’s knee injury. Minny had a terrible draft and really didn’t help themselves much in free agency other than the acquisition of RB Chester Taylor and LG Steve Hutchinson to bolster the running game. The Vikes are an aging team with a new first time HC who is installing all new schemes and it adds up to a sub par season. Projected record: 6-10

**Look to play ON these Vikings when they visit Buffalo on October 1st, the Bills will be coming off three straight divisional games and thus will experience a natural let down in this situation, Minny will probably be getting a couple of points and its nice to know that Minny has covered 4 of their last 5 games ATS following a game against the hated Bears.

4) Detroit: What is up with this Lion organization, when are they going to wake up and get rid of GM Matt Millen? Millen was nothing more than a former player who had a broad casting gig with Fox Sports, he had no coaching experience at all nor did he have any front office experience. Yet Millen was hired to assume the GM Duties following the Lions 9-7 season in 2000. Since Millen’s arrival in Detroit the Lions have not had a winning season nor have they won more than 6 games in any single year over the past five seasons under his guidance. Its head shaking stuff that in Millen’s five years in Detroit the Lions have posted a shoddy combined mark of 21-59 and yet he is still the GM! This year the Lions will start their 3rd head coach since Millen took over, this time around they start a brand new HC that has never held the head position (Rod Marinelli). In the big picture these Lions have a brand new first time HC, they have the “mad bomber” Mike Martz installing his complicated offense, they have a new QB under center, and they have a losing mentality to overcome, add it all up and it equals yet another losing year for the Lion faithful. Projected record: 4-12

**Look to play the UNDER when Detroit visits St Louis on October 1st, both teams are in transition with new first time HC’s who want to control the game’s tempo by using the running game, meanwhile, the public will in all likelihood expect a high scoring affair because that is usually what they got in Ram home games.

Jim Campbell runs http://www.FootballForecastor.com which has been an internet based sports handicapping service since 1997, you will be hard pressed to find another handicapper that has had the kind of success Jim has had, over the past eight years he has maintained one of the very best winning percentages of any sports handicapping service.

Jim Campbell finished the final four weeks of the 2005 NFL regular season with a mark of 14-5-2 ATS coming down the stretch for a winning rate of 73.68% and for the season in the NFL he finished with an overall mark of 48-33-4 ATS for a winning rate of 59.26% and that includes a perfect mark of 7-0 ATS in the NFL Playoffs, Jim has posted a mark of 6-2 ATS over the past EIGHT years with his Super Bowl selecton.

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A Legacy Matched by Few – That of Marshal Faulk

by Kevin Cundick

Being a BYU fan, it was sure tough to like as Marshal Faulk, then of San Diego State, run circles around the BYU defense. Despite all of that however, even then, I had a lot of respect for Marshal Faulk, even as a BYU fan. Then to learn that one of the reason’s he chose San Diego State was because it was the only school in the country that would let him be running back. You see he was also a good defensive back and that is what most schools were recruiting him for. San Diego State gave him the opportunity to do what he really wanted…to be a running back.

My respect of Marshal Faulk was so great that I watched his career with interest as he was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts. He ended up his first season as Rookie of Year. As a rookie he tore it up. After watching him run over BYU, that was not a surprise to me.

Having been an avid Rams fan since I was a young kid, my excitement couldn’t have been any greater in 1999 when the Rams traded a second and fifth round draft pick to get Marshal Faulk. Having been a true blue Rams fan and sticking with the team through 3-13 and 4-12 seasons since 1990 it was thrilling to see watch the birth of the “Greatest Show on Turf”, with Marshal being the key to this most feared offense. I don’t think there ever was a better fit than Marshal Faulk and Mike Martz. Between them and Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, there wasn’t a defense in the league who had an answer for such an explosive offensive. I was in Heaven. Thanks to Marshal my Rams were finally alive and alive in a big time way.

Marshal led the league in total yards for the next three years winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award in 2000. In 1999 and 2001 he was only beaten out for the award by his quarterback, Kurt Warner. No defensive had an answer for how to stop Marshal.

It was truly an honor to be able to watch Marshal through his college days at San Diego State and into his pro career with the Colts and Rams.

On Friday July 21, 2006, it was announced by Rams current head coach, Scott Linehan, that Marshal Faulk will have to have reconstructive surgery on his knees. This will likely be the end of his Professional Football career.

My hats off to you Marshal. I have been and always will be one of your biggest fans. It was a pleasure watching you through your career. Thanks!

Kevin Cundick runs the Best Football Source website. For more information on Football see the Best Football Source website at http://www.bestfootballsource.com. This article may be freely distributed provided the text, URL's, and this author bio remain intact.

Certain Players Facing "Make Or Break" Season In 2006

by Jay Nault

The career of an NFL player can be a long and twisting road. There are no formulas for success and no tangible formulas for failure. However, every season, certain players have to know that if they don't perform that year, their future earning potential could be seriously hampered to the point where they are either out of the league altogether or they must begin to view themselves as "journeymen" who will never sign that elusive enormous free agent contract that sets them up financially for life.

We've identified five such players whose situations will be most interesting in 2006. Surely there are more than five players in the NFL who must perform this season in order for their high earning potential to remain a real possibility, but we feel that these five present the most intriguing situations.

1. J.P. Losman

It seems awfully early for this year to be Losman's make-or-break season, but the young QB is facing the possibility of being traded, released or being relegated to a long-term backup role if he doesn't show improvement early in the 2006 season. The Bills gave up a lot to earn the right to draft Losman in 2004, and the team jettisoned established starter Drew Bledsoe last year to give Losman the opportunity to start. Losman struggled mightily, and was replaced by Kelly Holcomb. This offseason, the Bills signed Craig Nall from the Packers and currently have Holcomb listed at the top of the depth chart. Losman needs to grab hold of the job immediately and hold onto it, lest he be cast to the scrap heap.

2. Chad Pennington

Pennington was seen not long ago as the possible "next Joe Montana" given the similarities in style, statistics and leadership he appeared to have in common with the 49ers' legend. However, his throwing shoulder was shredded twice, and his ability to stay healthy and viable in the long-term is in serious doubt. The Jets have a new coaching staff and have no prior commitment to Pennington, who needs to show that he is healthy and can be durable in order for him to stick with the Jets. If not, the team will almost assuredly look in a different direction for a QB.

3. Aaron Brooks

Brooks took the league by storm in 2000 when he lead the New Orleans Saints to the playoffs, and his career seemed destined for certain stardom at that time. Since then, his long-term outlook, as well as his play, has regressed dramatically. The Saints let him go after last season, and he was signed by the Raiders. The Saints replaced Brooks with Drew Brees, another QB with shoulder questions, and Brooks must perform with the Raiders in order to prevent his new team from turning to a young and promising QB currently sitting behind Brooks on the depth chart, Andrew Walter.

4. Jamal Lewis

Lewis was one of the most feared RBs in the NFL as recently as 2003, when he rushed for an astounding 2,066 yards. His career has taken a turn for the worse since then as a result of injuries, legal problems and a baffling decline in production. Lewis was a free agent after the 2005 season, but after getting no big-time offers, returned to the Ravens with a relatively modest one-year contract. Although Lewis doesn't turn 27 until August, he has taken a beating in the NFL and must show that he can still carry the load if he's to get a big payday in 2007.

5. Charles Rogers

Rogers was the second overall pick in the 2003 draft by the Detroit Lions, and he came into the league with enormous expectations. Since then he has done nothing but disappoint his team and their fans. Rogers has been hurt repeatedly, and played in only six games in his first two seasons. Not only has his health been questioned, as he broke his clavicle several times, but his work ethic has also been assailed by various officials associated with the team. The Lions have many other WRs on the roster who came into the league with the same expectations, and if Rogers doesn't show something immediately, he may not even make it to training camp.

Over the course of history in the NFL, many players face the same situation in a given year as the five mentioned above. Some have seen the writing on the wall and excelled, and others have faded into the sunset. History also tells us that some of the players listed here will go on to successful careers and others will not. What is certain is that each of these situations bears watching in the coming weeks and months.

About the Author

Written by Jay Nault sponsored by http://www.stubhub.com/. StubHub sells sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and more to just about any event in the world. Please link to this site when using this article.

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Listen Up: It's Football Season Again!

It's starting to get a bit chillier outside and the sun is setting earlier. This can only mean one thing. Football season is upon us again. As the New England Patriots embark on an historic attempt to win three consecutive Super Bowls, every other team in the league is gunning to take them down. The Philadelphia Eagles are hungry to the championship having been to four consecutive NFC championship games. And the AFC is stacked with several teams who would love to dethrone the Patriots including the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders with new addition Randy Moss. And in the world of college football it's up to everyone to see if they can upset vaunted USC from their throne and prevent another team from winning three straight titles.Let's face it. You love football. But sometimes sports talk radio gets a little tiresome. So if you're looking to learn a little more about the game you love why not check out some football audio books and podcasts? It's a great way to gain a great understanding of the history and intricacies of the game.Why not start your football audio odyssey with "Namath" a biography of Joe Namath, one of the sports' most colorful characters. Follow "Broadway Joe" his childhood, collegiate career and the Super Bowl III victory where Namath infamously guaranteed victory. Namath was a trend-setter both on and off the football field and his story is truly an amazing one.Another interesting looking title is "The Junction Boys". This is the story of Paul "Bear" Bryant's 1-9 Texas A & M team of 1994. If this title sounds familiar it's likely because this book provided the inspiration for an ESPN movie bearing the same name.Interested in learning more about some of the game's most vaunted coaches? Try taking this trifecta of audiobooks on for size. "When Pride Still Mattered" is the story of Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers. "Bootlegger's Boy" by Bud Shrake is the story of Barry Switzer, the outspoken former coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys. "Paterno By the Book" wanders from football but is insightful nonetheless as would be expected from one of college football's winningest coaches.Round out your football knowledge by learning more about fantasy football from a trio of new podcasts. Regardless of whether you're a hardcore fantasy football with a half-dozen teams or simply a newbie who belongs to the local office league, you'll be able to gain the edge on your competitors by listening to The Fantasy Football Guys Podcast, The Football Fantasyland Podcast and THE Fantasy Football Podcast.The best part of all of these football titles is that they can be listened to on your way to work or while you're on the treadmill burning off all those calories you ate last Sunday when you were watching…football. Happy listening!About The Author: Jon Bischke is the Founder of LearnOutLoud.com and is passionate about helping you improve your life. He invites you to check out the complete selection of educational and self-development audio and video material at http://www.learnoutloud.com For the HTML version of this article complete with links to the titles that were mentioned, please visit http://www.learnoutloud.com/football01Article Source: ArticleWorld.net

NFL All-Time Undrafted Team

Evaluating players is not an exact science. Regardless of the constant study, the workout numbers and the hours of game film scouts and coaches watch, sometimes great players slip through the cracks and aren't drafted.
For every Manning, Sanders and Dickerson there's a Couch, McCown and Mandarich. That's the nature of player evaluation - no matter how sure someone is about a player, you just never know until it's time for them to step on the field.
This got me thinking about all the great players who were never drafted and went on to have highly successful careers. So I decided to do some research and the results were shocking to say the least.
Six, count 'em six, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and more will be joining them soon. I decided to compile this research into my very own NFL All-Time Undrafted Team. This is just one individuals opinion, if you feel different, comment below with your choices.
Carson's Corner NFL All-Time Undrafted Team
Offense
QB: Warren Moon - Fourth on all-time passing list. Nine Pro Bowls. Hall of Fame. RB: Priest Holmes - Has rushed for 8,035 yards and 86 TDs. Four Pro- Bowls. FB: Kimble Anders - Went to three Pro Bowls, finished with 369 catches. WR: Rod Smith - Headed for Canton. 797 catches, 10,877 yards and 65 TDs. WR: Wayne Chrebet - Second in Jets history with 588 receptions. TE: Antonio Gates - Former hoops player who has 194 catches, 2,454 yards and 25 TDs in just three years. C: Jim Langer - Hall of Fame. Played in three Super Bowls and six Pro Bowls. Part of undefeated 1972 team. G: Larry Little - Teamed with Langer for Dolphins. Played in five Pro Bowls. Hall of Fame. G: Mark Tuinei - The late Cowboy guard played 15 solid seasons. T: Joe Jacoby - One of the famed Hogs. Played in four Pro Bowls. T: James Williams - Switched from defense and started nine seasons for Chicago. K: Adam Vinatieri - Mr. Clutch. Kicked game-winning field goal in two Super Bowls. Defense
DE: Coy Bacon - Came from semi-pro league and had great career. Played in three Pro Bowls. DE: Rich Jackson - 4x All-Pro with Denver Broncos. DT: John Randle - Future hall-of-famer who played in seven Pro Bowls and collected 136.5 sacks, the most ever by a tackle. DT: Keith Willis - Fourth all-time in Steelers history with 59 sacks. MLB: Antonio Pierce - Young guy only getting better. Over 100 tackles last two seasons. LB: Jessie Tuggle - Undersized backer who played in five Pro Bowls. Holds the NFL record for career tackles with 1,830. LB: Sam Mills - Another undersized linebacker with a huge heart. Five Pro-Bowl appearances and over 1,300 career tackles. Mills died of cancer in 2005. FS: Willie Wood - 10x All-Pro with 48 career picks. Played on five championship teams. Hall of Fame. SS: Donnie Shell - 5x All-Pro, Four Super Bowl rings and 51 career interceptions, the most in history by a strong safety. CB: Willie Brown - 54 career picks for the Hall of Fame inductee. Seven interceptions in the playoffs with three going for scores. CB: Dick 'Night Train' Lane - Seven time All-Pro with 68 career interceptions, third most in NFL history. Holds single-season record with 14 picks in 1952. Hall of Fame. P: Sean Landeta - Elected to two Pro Bowls. Played 22 years in the NFL.
About the Author
Brian Carson is a writer and sports fanatic who, along with a select group of coaches has created the ultimate multimedia guide to coaching youth football at http://www.pigskinplaybooks.com. To read more football articles go to http://carcorner.blogspot.com/

Pro Football’s NFL – The Largest American Pro Football League Has Significant Rivalries

The National Football League or the NFL is the biggest professional football league in the United States. The NFL has thirty-two teams that are based in a variety of cities across the country. Originally known as the American Professional Football Association when it was formed in 1920, the Association assumed the name “National Football League” in 1922.At first, the most popular way people enjoyed their football was by watching their favorite college team play but the focus of the country changed in 1958. That NFL game went into overtime and captured a number of new fans who found that they enjoyed the professional football league just as much as if not more than their college football teams. Due to the rising popularity of professional football, the NFL merged with the American Football League in the 1960’s to form what is now the National Football League.Over the years, some friendly and some not-so-friendly rivalries have come about due to a number of circumstances. These rivalries can be categorized into three separate groups. The first is the ‘intradivisional’, which is a rivalry between teams in the same NFL division. The second is interdivisional, which is a rivalry between teams in the different divisions but in the same conference. The third is the ‘interconference’, which is a rivalry between teams in different conferences. Many times fans will hear sportscasters refer to team rivalries as “divisional rivals”, “division rival” or “conference rival” instead of including the appropriate prefix.For example, in the AFC North, there is a rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns based on the when the team’s owner, Art Modell, moved the Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore. Fortunately for Cleveland Browns fans, the “Dawg Pound” and its colors remained in Cleveland. The Cleveland Browns were reactivated as a NFL team in 1999. The “Dawg Pound” fans waited for their revenge and got a taste in 2001 when the Browns won against the Ravens after only four games.Another famous rivalry began in the AFC East when the Buffalo Bills owner, Ralph Wilson, wasn’t allowed to base an AFL team in Miami and went on to establish the Buffalo Bills as a charter member of the AFL. The Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins have maintained a rivalry based on this history since 1967. This particular rivalry has had a number of key moments that continued to fuel their contention over the years including playing against each other in the ultimate game of the football season- the Super Bowl.
About the AuthorLarry Woods is a sports writer for http://www.pro-college-football-jerseys.com Source: ArticleTrader.com