FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

Today is the day that the top High School prospects can officially sign with their chosen college.  Most of the athletes will stay with the schools that they verbally committed to - however things can change. Here is our first run down of who signed where and who has yet to make a official decision.

• Top quarterback recruit, and the player with the most buzz this year, Terrell Pryor did not commit anywhere and said that he needs more time to think this through.
• Top wide receiver prospect Julio Jones (ESPN #2 overall) signed with Alabama.
• Running back Jamie Harper (ESPN #3 running back) signed with the Clemson Tigers.
• Defensive End Robert Quinn has chosen North Carolina.
• Running back Joe Adams has switched from USC and signed with Arkansas.
• Top Tight End prospect Dwayne Allen switched from Georgia (who he verbally committed to) and signed with Clemson.
• Running back Jermie Calhoun has signed with Oklahoma.
• Shockingly, Al-American wide receiver Martin Bayless is going to play at non-BCS powerhouse Northwestern.
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish have signed 10 ESPN 150 players - including defensive end Ethan Johnson and quarterback Dayne Crist.
• Defensive End Nick Perry has chosen USC over Michigan.

Ok that is it for now, we will post another update from College Football Signing Day later.

The 2008 College Football Senior Bowl ended in dramatic fashion as Florida Gators wide receiver Andre Caldwell scored on a 2-yard end around to give the South a 17-16 victory.

Caldwell was handed the ball by Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Erik Ainge, who took the place of Louisville’s Brian Brohm. Ainge drove the south 86-yards in 14 plays on the final drive, finished the game with 159 yard passing yard and earning the south offensive MVP honors.  “It’s fun to end your college career like that,” said Ainge. “I’ll remember handing the ball to a Gator to win for the rest of my life.”

Most of the game was dominated by the defense who made the majority of big plays, including USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis sacking Kentucky Wildcats quarterback Andre’ Woodson for a safety.

The North were led by Michigan Wolverines quarterback Chad Henne who threw for 2 touchdowns and earned the north offensive MVP award.

Tulane running back Matt Forte won the overall MVP award, Forte ran for a game high 59 yards and had 38 receiving yards.

USC Trojans freshman guard OJ Mayo may have violated an NCAA rule this week when he accepted tickets to an NBA game. Denver Nuggets star forward Carmelo Anthony gave the soon to be high NBA Draft pick tickets to Monday night’s game between the Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers. The news came out Tuesday when Mayo told reporters about the gift and that the tickets were located behind courtside seats near mid-court. The face value of the tickets is $230 each.

It does not seem like that big of a deal except that NCAA rules specifically say that student-athletes may not receive “free or reduced-cost admission to professional athletics contests from professional sports organizations, unless such services also are available to the student body in general.” Not sure but I don’t think the entire USC student body was asked to go.

Mayo, who is averaging a team-high 19.7 points per game, could face disciplinary action if the NCAA finds he broke the rules. However, since Mayo was at a party the night before that Anthony hosted he could be labeled as a friend and not have broken the rules. Either way Mayo is heading to the NBA next year and can go to all the games and parties he wants.

College Football and the NFL has been buzzing the past few days with the news that USC head coach Pete Carroll might be interested in the Atlanta Falcons opening. Do not do it Pete…under no circumstances should you ever leave USC. Why you ask…oh I am glad you asked because here are the top 11 reasons why he should stay at USC.

1. Two words for you Pete… College Co-eds. Or how about 3 words for you…California College Co-eds. You want 4 words…Hot California College Co-eds. Why not go with 14 words…Hot California College Co-eds who wear mini-skirts all year long and like to party.
2. USC is in Southern California. The Atlanta Falcons are in Georgia…no offense to Georgia or anyone who lives in the south but Southern California is as close to paradise (minus the smog of course) that you can get. Celebrities, sun, sand and surf for humidity, “crunking” and Ludacris? Come on, it isn’t even close.
3. Remember when you were the head coach of the New York Jets and New England Patriots? Yeah, no one else does either.
4. Bobby Petrino - you do not want to follow in this guys footsteps. He ran away from the NFL with 3 games left in the season and headed back the comfy confines of College Football. Do you really want to be the College Football coach who replaces a hated /despised College Football coach?
5. Joe McKnight. This kid is for real and what he did in the Rose Bowl is just the start of what will be an amazing College Football career.
6. Big Fish in a small pond or a small fish in a large pond? You are the king of College Football, you can do anything you want…you laugh at recruiting violations. You can have 3 all-American running backs on the same team if you want. In the NFL you will have to answer to a owner, fans, players, media…why subject yourself to that.
7. During your 7 years at USC you are 76-14 and have won 2 national championships. You can only go downhill from here, especially since…
8. …the Falcons Suck! Between Michael Vick being jailed and the mess Petrino made, the Falcons are in a serious rebuilding mode. You have some good players but it is going to take a great 2008 NFL Draft and some some serious personnel moves to start winning. Do you really want to be part of a rebuilding project? Yeah I didn’t think so when USC is coming back next year as a favorite to win another National Championship.
9. That USC Cheerleader who cheers at the wrong time…love that girl! You wont see that kind of stuff in the NFL.
10. O.J. Simpson is an alumni of USC. If that doesn’t make it the coolest school / place ever, nothing will. Who do the Falcons have? Vick? Matt Schaub? Jamal Anderson? Jeff George? Andre “Bad Moon” Rison?
11. In-N-Out Burger.

Wait, Notre Dame can’t beat USC…hmmm. Never mind Pete, going to the NFL is a great idea!

With the BCS Title game done what better time to put together a Pre-preseason College Football Top 10 ranking. 2008 promises to be another year for the record books in College Football as a good amount of top schools are bringing back their star players and lesser known programs look to follow in the footsteps of Kansas and Missouri. Expect a great deal of chaos and change in the rankings / polls up until this time next year.

So, here is my first Pre-preseaseon College Football Top 10 Rankings*:

1. USC Trojans - Yup, a great deal of people will questions why I put USC up top but I don’t care. Joe McKnight is the real deal at running back and the Trojans should be bringing back the core components of their defense.
2. Georgia Bulldogs - The Bulldogs deserved to be in the title game, much more then Ohio State - sorry Buckeyes. Watch out for the Bulldogs in 2008, I am predicting a BCS Title game for them.
3. Oklahoma Sooners - Perfect example of a young team who will only get better. If the Sooner do not stumble early expect them to make a run at the top spot in October.
4. Missouri Tigers - With most of the same team returning I don’t think anyone can overlook the Tigers anymore - next year we will see if they are the real deal or not, but until proven otherwise I am ranking them high.
5. Florida Gators - Any team that returns a deal threat like Tim Tebow should be in the top 10. The Gators do have a series of question marks that will determine how good they really are…i.e. how good will Emmanuel Moody be?
6. LSU Tigers - How good will the new class be and how big will be the impact of all the players leaving this year?
7. Ohio State Buckeyes - Another young team who will not be getting any credit based on their BCS Title game issues and perceived weak conference / schedule. Their defense will have question marks around it until we know exactly who is leaving for the NFL (e.g. Laurinaitis will, but what about Gholston?)
8. Wisconsin Badgers - Seems like this time last year I was talking about how good the Badgers will be in 2007. I guess I didn’t learn from my mistakes and go with the Badgers being a top-tier team based on so many starters coming back.
9. West Virginia Mountaineers - The Mountaineers season and ranking all depend on whether or not Pat White and Stever Slaton head to the NFL or head back to the hills.
10. Kansas Jayhawks - The only big loss for the Jayhawks will be All-American CB Aqib Talib. So, now that Kansas cant take teams by surprise how good will they be? Oh and BTW - you know have a huge target on your backs. Welcome to big time College Football.

There we have it, my Pre-preseason College Football top 10 Ranking…let the arguments begin
* Subject to change whenever I feel like!

The biggest day in College Football has finally arrived, tonight the LSU Tigers will face the Ohio State Buckeyes to see who will hold up the crystal BCS championship trophy. However, from most people I talk to it seems as though playing the game is just a formality as many feel LSU will roll over Ohio State - just like the Florida Gators did last year. I would be careful of getting caught up in that type of thinking if I were LSU. Why? Ohio State has two very dangerous things on their side…first is motivation and the second is that they really have nothing to lose. Funny thing is that this is almost the complete opposite of last years Ohio State team that came into the title game being almost to cocky, will LSU fall victim to the same fate? Being a 2 loss team I can’t see LSU getting to full of themselves - but they have always been a cocky team.

Ohio State is probably the most disrespected 11-1 team ever to be ranked #1. All you have to do is look at their schedule this year and you will be underwhelmed by who they played and beat, granted they beat a Michigan Wolverines team that finally got some respect after beating the #9 Florida Gators in the Capital One Bowl. But the Buckeyes schedule is filled with cream-puffs…Youngstown State, Akron, Northwestern, Minnesota, Kent State - those are not teams I would be proud of beating. LSU on the other hand seemed to play a big game every other weekend - instead of cream-puffs the Tigers played football powerhouses.

So what do i see happing in this game? It is going to be a lot closer then what most people predicted - I see Ohio State keeping it close for most of the game, maybe even taking the lead at some point, but in the end LSU will make some big plays and pull ahead for good.

Final Score: LSU tigers 31 - Ohio State Buckeyes 24

Another topic, imagine if LSU - and their 2 loses - win the game? Get ready for another few months of everyone in the world ripping the BCS system and fans of the other 2 loss teams who won big bowl games ready to riot. Both Georgia and USC won and played like they belonged in the BCS title game. This is the perfect reason for some sort of playoff…but no of course that wont happen for like 15 years.

I don’t think many people were surprised by the outcome of the Georgia / Hawaii and USC / Illinois games. It was clearly obvious that both USC and Georgia are top tier teams, while Hawaii and Illinois might be teams on the rise but would be drastically over matched by true BCS worthy teams.

The Georgia Bulldogs and their defense didn’t give Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan any chance yesterday during the Sugar Bowl as he was sacked 8 times, threw 3 interceptions and fumbled twice - one fumble was returned for a touchdown. Brennan, a Heisman Trophy finalist, finished with just 169 passing yards, I am sure this wasn’t how he envisioned his college football career ending. Meanwhile the Bulldogs combined their suffocating defense with a well rounded offense attack. After this game, Georgia will have to be a pre-season top 5 next year. and a favorite for another BCS bowl game

In the Rose Bowl, USC showed everyone why they are much better then their ranking / record shows in dismantling the Illinois Fighting Illini 49-17. The USC Trojans looked good, no great, putting up 633 yards and led by John David Booty (255 yards passing, 3 touchdowns) and freshman running back Joe McKnight (125 yards rushing, 1 touchdown). The Illini were able to move the ball putting up 445 total yards but couldn’t score on the Trojans.

So what did we learn from these 2 games? Illinois is overrated, Hawaii is not Boise State, USC running back Joe McKnight is going to be awesome next year and of course College Football needs a playoff.