NBL Pre-Snap Read 12/04/2008

Welcome Bootlegers, to the last edition of the Pre-Snap Read for the year. Next week we will begin our post season analysis of awards and bowl games. There is plenty of big news this week including the conference championshipmatchups , a few pieces of news related to bowl games, trouble on the Plains of Auburn, but the biggest news of all, and it is not that BarryMelrose is returning to ESPN, is that my recording partner Eric won’t be joining us tonight due to some last minute changes to his work schedule.

First in the news is the conflicting reports on the departure of Tommy Tuberville from Auburn. Some people say he was forced out and some are saying that he left against the wishes of the university and the athletic department. Whichever is true is mostly irrelevant as the fact remains that he is no longer the head coach of the Auburn Tigers. What is extremely relevant is that this is the worst thing outside of NCAA major infractions that could have happened to Auburn. At a time when Alabama is at its strongest point in over a decade coupled with the resurgence of Ole Miss and how strongLSU , Georgia and Florida are we can expect to see Auburn struggle, and quite possibly not just for the next few years. Anytime there is a coaching staff change it affects recruiting, and we know that five verbals have informed Auburn that they will seek to play elsewhere, but it also can have a huge effect on the current roster. At this moment there isn’t a leading candidate to replace Tommy T, but whoever it is better beware as some of the top Auburn boosters aren’t satisfied enough with SEC titles, a perfect season, and even a 7-3 record against hatedBama.

In other news a few rumors have leaked out about bowl invitation. Georgia Tech is scheduled to play in the the Chick-Fil-A bowl in Atlanta, Clemson is scheduled to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Southern Miss will face off against the Sun Belt Champion in the New Orleans Bowl held at theSuperDome, Fresno State will accept a bid to play in the New Mexico Bowl and lastly the Rice Owls, the NBL Honorable Mention of the Year will play in the hometown Texas Bowl on Debember 30th.

Randy does a live look-in at the thrashing that Rutgers is putting down on Louisville

Ball State vs Buffalo – Buffalo looked lazy in their loss to Kent State…Ball State has stayed hungry and brings the bigger crowd

ECU @ Tulsa – Tulsa’s offense overpowers an ECU team that has slid too much since big early season wins

Navy vs Army – Navy wins big!!!

BC vs VT – VT’s offense is too inconsistent and BC’s defense should be able to stop them even if they were not

AL vs FL – Maybe next year Tide…Florida is simple the better team offensively and defensively, with better and more experienced talent that knows how to play for these kind of stakes

Ark St @ Troy – not the tastiest item on the menu, but it should be close nonetheless, but Troy wins, simply on their ability to get the better win and stay respectable in their losses

Mizzou vs OU – Bradford for Heisman! Another big offensive performance for the Sooners, and in spite of Daniels best efforts, he will not be able to keep his offense on pace

ASU @ AZ – The Devils seem to have overcome its mid-season ugliness. Arizona lost to New Mexico…ouch!

Randy agrees with Eric’s picks (bolded above) with the exception of the AZ/ASU game which he is certain will go the way of the Wildcat with Tuitama at QB.