CollegeBowlProjections.com

Does top recruiting add up to victories? CollegeBowlProjections.com has put together a list of the top 25 recruiting classes and the top 25 best teams from 2002 to 2008. We’ve added up all the results with Rivals top recruiting list and the final AP polls for the last seven years.

The USC Trojans were the champions of both lists.  Their recruiting has definitely turned into wins on the football field.  The 2008 top ranked Florida Gators might not be as high in the football poll as expected. You must remember besides the two national championships in the last couple of years the Gators haven’t ranked high in the polls.

Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer and his coaching staff  ranks as the top team not on the top 25 recruiting class.  The Hokies ranked 10th on our football poll.  Blacksburg, Virginia might not be the favorite spot for top recruits in high school but Beamer and his staff appear to coach their players to their very best once they reach college.

You be the judge if these rankings have any relation to success on the football field.

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The best conferences in bowl games:
Pac-10 5-0
SEC 6-2

The worst conferences in bowl games:
Mid-American 0-5
Big Ten 1-6

Great Defenses:
Florida holding Oklahoma to 14 points.

TCU holding Boise State to 16 points.  The last time Boise State was held under 20 points was September 8, 2007(Washington 24 Boise State 10)

Lousy Offenses:
Oregon State 3 Pittsburgh 0.  The Beavers had an excuse missing the Rodgers’ brothers for the game but Pitt needs to desperately find a quarterback for next season. Pitt quarterbacks completed 9 of 27 passes for a total of 89 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception.  Can you imagine how many more yards LeSean McCoy could run for if they had a decent pass game?

We didn’t see that coming:
Notre Dame thumping Hawaii 49-21 in the Hawaii Bowl.  After all the debate about Charlie Weiss returning, the Irish gave the Warriors a whoopin on their home turf.  Casey Clausen went 22/26 401 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Ole Miss putting 47 points on Texas Tech in Texas at the Cotton Bowl.  We knew the Big 12 didn’t have the best defense but we didn’t see the Rebels giving Tech a bunch of their own medicine.

Utah 21 Alabama 0 after 11 minutes in the first quarter.  The Crimson Tide were blown away by a far better prepared team in the Sugar Bowl.

We saw that coming:
USC dominating another Big Ten team in the Rose Bowl.  Pete Carroll prepares his team as well as anyone for bowl season.

Virginia Tech winning the Orange Bowl.  The Cincinnati Bearcats are new to the BCS and showed they didn’t have the poise to defeat a young Hokie team.

Another BCS mess:
Why do we continue to deal with this terrible system?  Who is rolling in all the cash from the bowl systems that won’t allow a change?  Why aren’t the over 50 non-BCS schools not working together to destroy this system?

We endure another year with controversy about the number one team in the nation.  Florida, USC, Utah and Texas should all have a piece of the title this season until they fix this joke of a system.

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Kyle Whittingham and his coaching staff at Utah completely embarrassed “the genius” Nick Saban and his staff in the Sugar Bowl tonight.  It appeared the Crimson Tide team had spent too many late nights on Bourbon Street because the Utes were faster and more tenacious in every aspect of the ballgame.

The Utes victory puts non-BCS teams with a 3-1 record in the championship games.  Utah claims two of those victories.  Although the Utes dominated tonight in the Sugar Bowl, they didn’t have an easy road to get to this game. They lived a very charmed season this year.

• The Utes scored a touchdown in the last minute at Air Force to claim a 30-23 victory.
• Its three toughest opponents (Oregon State, TCU and BYU) were at home this season.
• Behind 28-20 to Oregon State with 2:18 left in the game, the Utes scored a touchdown, two point conversion and last second field goal to win the game.  They also benefitted from a controversial pass interference call in the end zone.
• The Utes claimed victory against TCU(13-10) after the Horned Frogs missed two field goals attempts in the fourth quarter.

Utah capitalized on their opportunities and played their best game of the season against Alabama.  They turned their 10 point underdog situation into a 14 point victory in the Sugar Bowl.  The Utes deserve huge praise tonight in New Orleans.

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