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 So much for predictions
Posted: Tuesday August 31, 1999 12:54 PM
Click here to send your college football questions to SI's Ivan Maisel. After touting Arizona as the real deal and saying Miami had no chance of beating Ohio State, I have decided to go into telemarketing. Please send me your phone numbers, along with any future mailbag questions, so that I may call you during your dinner or while you're changing a diaper. Actually, CNNSI.com has eased up and has decided to allow me to continue covering the sport I know oh-so-much about. So let's do a few last-minute gassers and get ready for the real opening weekend. All right, I started out badly. But I feel a lot better today than Drew Henson (more on that below) and Eric Crouch do. It's all relative. On to your questions ... Bill Stockwell, who says he's from Jordan, but doesn't specify whether that's a city, or the kingdom or Michael, is curious if Miami's defeat of Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic means that the "'Canes are back to where they were in the early '90s. What are their chances of pulling an upset of Penn State or Florida State? Could they make a run at the national championship?" Slim, slimmer and no. Miami isn't all the way back. They're not good enough to beat either Penn State at home or especially Florida State on the road. But wasn't it great to see Hurricane receivers who could make a play the way Santana Moss and Reggie Wayne did? Enough to give a man hope. Daniel Teachey of Spartanburg, S.C., the home of the Marshall Tucker Band, asks, "What do you think of the race for No. 2 in the ACC? Is it Georgia Tech's to lose, or is there another team (possibly N.C. State, UNC or Virginia) poised to make a run for the Gator Bowl? And, seeing FSU's lackluster first-half performance against Louisiana Tech, what are the odds that an ACC team may surprise the 'Noles?" Second place is not Georgia Tech's to lose. It's Joe Hamilton 's to lose. Without the senior quarterback, Tech is toast. The big question is whether he can produce in Tallahassee on Sept. 11. I don't see an ACC team beating FSU. Between the N.C. State loss last year and the first half Saturday, the 'Noles have had two wake-up calls. D. Hitchins of Toronto says, "Hello, Ivan, just a few questions surrounding Michigan. Tom Brady or Drew Henson? Got to ask what everyone wants to know as a UM fan. I would prefer Henson. What are their chances at a national championship? Sure, the schedule is tough, but I'm only really concerned with the last two games. They should beat Notre Dame, Syracuse and Wisconsin. Is the A-train Heisman material? I'm part of the Brady bunch (for the record, I preferred Marcia), because I like fifth-year guys, but I don't like the Wolverines' national championship chances and I don't like their chances this week against Notre Dame. The A-train, a.k.a. Anthony Thomas , has got to show me something this week. He needs to be the Thomas of the second half of last season, not the first half. Terry Meyerhoffer of Hastings, Neb., the home of Tom Osborne, has a question about, hard as it is to believe, Nebraska. "Why isn't Nebraska a candidate for the Big Ten's expansion plans? This would leave Colorado able to pursue the Pac-10 as willingly as they appear to want them. The Pac-10 then goes after either BYU or San Diego State, the remaining Big 12 brings SMU and TCU back and we're that much closer to a national playoff picture for Division I-A. What do you think?" Terry, what is the upside for Nebraska in your scenario? Why go to a tougher league when you can go to a big bowl and win a national championship and play long-time rivals in the league you're in? Trust me, the Big 12 doesn't want TCU and SMU. Texas broke up the Southwest Conference to get away from those schools. By the way, the Pac-10 has more interest in Utah than in BYU. Brad Fenton of Austin, Tex., writes: "Ivan, inquiring minds want to know what you based your decision on when you picked Randy McCown and Tony Lindsay as better quarterbacks in the Big 12 South over Major Applewhite of Texas?" Brad, I won't take the cheap shot and say something about the game Saturday night. Totally beneath me. I like McCown's toughness and his fire. I think Lindsay's got more athletic talent than McCown and Applewhite. He's just taken longer to mature. Applewhite's good but I'm like everyone else; until he goes to the Cotton Bowl without Ricky Williams , I'm withholding judgment. "How come none of the sportswriters are giving Southern Mississippi any respect?," asks Mike Harvey of, go figure, Hattiesburg, Miss. "All I ever hear about is how good Louisville quarterback Chris Redman is. Southern Miss had the best defense in Conference USA last year and has eight starters returning from that group. Louisville has an easy schedule just like Tulane had last year." Concerning L'ville: Winning at Kentucky will be no picnic. Tulane's easy schedule last year included whipping the Golden Eagles by two touchdowns even though Green Wave quarterback Shaun King played one-handed because of an injury. What I'm trying to say, Mike, is STOP WHINING. The sportswriters who pay attention know what kind of coach Jeff Bower is and they know Adalius Thomas will be playing on Sundays. But the Cardinals have a lot of flash in their offense. It's easy to fall in love with flash. Rial Fitch of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., is either a Clemson honk or a downtrodden Gamecock. "How soon will Lou Holtz quit or how many loses will it be before he is tired of USC football and wants to retire?," Fitch asks. After you've experienced him down there a little while longer, you'll figure out that Lou won't quit before he succeeds. He doesn't know how to quit. "Now that Arizona is going down like the Hindenburg," asks Terry Doernner of Charleston, S.C., "will you admit that picking proven winners like Tennessee and Florida State in the preseason polls is preferable to falling for the hype like Arizona?" Hey, Terry, you mean proven winners like Ohio State? "Should the Downtown Athletic Club start painting Peter Warrick's portrait?," asks Ray Buday of Atlanta. Absolutely. It will be available at one of my favorite events on the D.A.C. calendar: the annual portrait clearance sale in January. I'm staring at my Tyrone Wheatley and Peyton Manning paintings right now. "If Nebraska's DeAngelo Evans stays healthy he should have a great year," Jane Williams of Colorado Springs asks. "Do you see him as a Heisman contender?" Not yet. If he stays healthy -- which he hasn't done since he played high school ball in Wichita, Kan. -- and Nebraska wins a lot, he'll have a chance. But I'd put money on Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey winning the Democratic nomination before I'd take a DeAngelo for Heisman bet, and Kerrey's not running. Send a question to Ivan Maisel, and check back every week to read more of his answers. Sports Illustrated senior writer Ivan Maisel covers college football and
appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated.
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