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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
September 27, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
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Congrats to South Florida for winning its first-ever game against Florida State 17-7 yesterday in Tallahassee. Not only did they win, but they also won without injured senior QB Matt Grothe, who torn an ACL in his left knee against Charleston Southern. USF redshirt freshman QB B.J. Daniels, who went to high school in Tallahassee, played remarkably well going up against Florida State's athletic defense. USF did make it to #2 in the rankings at one point two years ago, but the FSU win further solidified USF's place as a bona fide contender.
 | B.J. Daniels played very well against Florida State. (Icon SMI)
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As for as South Florida goes with players related to the draft, casual fans may be unfamiliar with USF redshirt senior DE George Selvie. But Selvie has been considered a potential NFL first round pick dating back to his redshirt sophomore season with the Bulls, and he did a tremendous job leading the defense in Tallahassee.
USF head coach Jim Leavitt doesn't get anywhere near the credit he deserves from literally launching that program from nothing to being a BCS automatic bid conference contender. Not only did he raise the program from nothing, but he also has stayed at USF for the long-haul despite tempting offers from other schools coming his way in the past several years. Leavitt concentrates his recruiting to the state of Florida (to keep costs down), which has proven to be a brilliant strategy with the team managing to land some high-end talent.
As of this writing, Boise State is #5 in both the AP and coaches polls, just behind #4 LSU. With Ole Miss, Penn State, and Cal all losing this past week, Boise State is right up there in the mix for potentially playing in the BCS Title game. Consider what remains:
-Only one team between #1 Florida, #3 Alabama, and #4 LSU can go undefeated in the SEC.
-#2 Texas could run the table but still faces Oklahoma, who might have Sam Bradford back in time for the Red River Shootout/Rivalry game, plus Oklahoma State and possibly the Big XII Championship Game.
-It's possible that Oklahoma could run the table, including beating Texas, and somehow end up ahead of an unbeaten Boise State. Don't count it out. The major conference school presidents are powerful. Very powerful.
Beyond that, would an unbeaten Boise State finish in front of, say, an unbeaten Cincinnati or TCU team? It would seem so at this point, particularly with Oregon looking so good in demolishing Cal yesterday (you might recall Boise State's season-opening win over the Ducks). Boise State vs. an unbeaten SEC team (or an unbeaten Texas team) might seem improbable, but it's in play.
Let the annual call ring out: FBS/I-A college football needs a playoff system. 16 teams, just like FCS/I-AA and Division II and Division III. Either include the bowl games in the process or move them to the beginning of the regular season. This is a strong example of the choking power of the status quo.
Coming this weekend is a much-needed revamp to the Draft King 2010 NFL Mock Draft. Jermaine Gresham still remains the top tight end prospect out there, at least in my estimation, though him missing all of the 2009 season due to having torn cartilage in his right knee makes him a major unknown related to the draft. Because he didn't redshirt as a freshman, Gresham could opt to return to Oklahoma in 2010, but from all indications Gresham is heading to the NFL. Keep in mind that, in theory, both Gresham and QB Sam Bradford could return to Oklahoma in 2010 if they wanted. I'm not holding my breath on that to happen, though.
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