Why the ESPN-SEC Conspiracy is Nonsense

Alex Kirby FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The release of the first playoff rankings for 2014 saw three of the top four spots being taken — not surprisingly — by SEC West teams, and the other by the unbeaten defending national champion Florida State Seminoles. It also saw its fair share of fan conspiracy theories, especially from those fan bases whose team is currently on the outside …

Follow the Money: The Heisman, SEC and ESPN

Mike Merrell FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out Television as we know it today exists only because major corporations are willing to pay for the privilege of telling people how and what to think. From the Buick ads with the annoying music to the AFLAC Heisman Award to the Amway Coaches’ Poll to the Rose Bowl Presented by Northwestern Mutual, college football carries no exemption …

Oregon’s Road to the Playoffs

Tyler Robinson FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

We were dead Ducks, our season was (allegedly) over. Oregon was written off following a Thursday night loss to Arizona inside of Autzen back in the first week of October… But look at us now! Following two statement wins in which Oregon dismantled UCLA and Washington, the Ducks are in prime position to make it to the big dance, College …

Mike Merrell’s Three-and-Out: Damnation, Redemption and Hope

Mike Merrell FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Since the previous week featured so much condemnation and in-fighting among Duck fans, a win over a ranked UCLA team was just what the doctor ordered to settle down some heated feelings. It appears that it isn’t just Duck fans who have trouble getting along when their team is losing. UCLA coach Jim Mora blessed us with quite a show …

Gateway to the Playoffs: Ducks Don’t Coug It; ‘Noles Survive Sans Winston

Evan Gilges FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Marcus Mariota shines under pressure in conference opener  The first road trip for the Oregon Ducks was not pretty despite managing to survive. Highlighted by seven sacks, the Washington State Cougars exposed Oregon’s obvious weakness in Week 4. With three starting linemen sitting out Saturday due to injuries, the Oregon running game never got going, and the health of Mariota became a concern. Luckily we have this …

Scott’s Turf: Falling Skies

Scott Reed FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Chicken Little is alive and well. Yesterday’s landmark decision, the latest in a series of landmarks that is sure to change the way we think of college athletics well into the future, set the angst-ridden fans into a free fall of emotion that had them virtually writing their own version of “Death to the BCS” with an updated “”Death of …

2014 Predictions — Part One

Kim Hastings FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Boys and girls, fall camp has begun in the world of college football. This starts the official countdown until footballs are kicked off of tees and soccer is kicked back to Telemundo. Your friends at FishDuck.com have been hard at work consulting with the finest and the most brilliant minds in college football … We are here to bring you predictions …

Scott’s Turf: Unofficial Destruction of Recruiting

Scott Reed FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

  “Inebriate of air am I, And debauchee of dew, Reeling, through endless summer days, From inns of molten blue.” This is the second stanza from Emily Dickinson’s “Poem # 214.” Often referred to by the first line of the first stanza, this poem delves into what provides happiness to the soul. The voice of the poem is drunk on …

College Football Nation: Les Miles vs Tiger Woods and SEC Media Hype

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

  World Cup fever is all over America right now so I am sure everyone couldn’t care less about the NCAA trials or the off season action. The excitement soccer fans are experiencing with the world cup will be the same felt by college football fans when the playoffs start. While the world cup is going on, we have Les …

Who’s Headed to the SEC?

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

It has to be fun to be an SEC fan. Fans outside the conference may not like them, a sentiment many media outlets fuel, i.e., how much more “dominant” the SEC is than the rest of college football. What has people frustrated is that, while the conference may be producing more “NFL-ready”-types than any other conference, the disparity between the …

How the Pac-12 Wins Seven Straight Titles

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Amazing Moments Last Monday, I addressed the cracks that were beginning to form in the SEC’s mantle atop college football.  Saturday’s games helped to widen those cracks, as the conference saw member schools challenged by programs such as North Texas and lose a game to Rutgers.  The conference that had enjoyed a long-standing reputation as college football’s best now has …