Buffalo Bulls News

Conf. rankings No. 1 SEC No. 2 Big 12 No. 3 ACC No. 4 Big Ten No. 5 Pac-10 No. 6 Big East No. 7 Mountain West No. 8 C-USA No. 9 WAC No. 10 MAC ... No. 11 Sun Belt Each week, Sporting News' Matt Hayes ranked the Division I-A conferences—and the teams within each league. 10. MAC 1. Central Michigan 2. Western Michigan 3. Toledo 4. Ohio 5. Bowling Green 6. Northern Illinois 7. Temple 8. Akron 9. Buffalo 10. Kent State 11. Eastern Michigan 12. Miami 13. Ball State Rising Temple. A horrible start to the season (home loss to I-AA Villanova) has shocked the Owls into a strong finish in the month of September. A respectable 25-point loss (if there's such a thing) at Penn State was followed by a complete game rout of preseason MAC favorite Buffalo. Falling Buffalo. More proof it's all about the quarterback: last year's starter Drew Willy threw six interceptions in 14 games (468 attempts). This year, first-year starter Zach Maynard has six interceptions in four games (130 attempts).more>>

Each week, Sporting News' Matt Hayes ranked the Division I-A conferences—and the teams within each league. Conf. rankings No. 1 SEC No. 2 Big 12 No. 3 Pac-10 No. 4 Big Ten No. 5 Mountain West No. 6 ACC No. 7 Big East No. 8 C-USA ... No. 9 WAC No. 10 MAC No. 11 Sun Belt 10. MAC 1. Buffalo (1-0) 2. Western Michigan (0-1) 3. Central Michigan (0-1) 4. Bowling Green (1-0) 5. Northern Illinois (0-1) 6. Akron (0-1) 7. Ohio (0-1) 8. Toledo (0-1) 9. Kent State (1-0) 10. Ball State (0-1) 11. Temple (0-1) 12. Eastern Michigan (0-1) 13. Miami (0-1) Rising Buffalo. The Bulls' victory at UTEP barely recorded a blip on last weekend's radar. Wait and see what happens this weekend if Buffalo beats Big East heavyweight Pitt in its home opener. Falling Ball State. No team has fallen further: From Ball State's fun chance at an unbeaten season in 2008, to losing the season opener at home to North Texas a year later. New Hampshire this weekend won't be easier.  more>>

Dave Curtis and Matt Hayes, Sporting News Each week, Sporting News college football columnists Dave Curtis and Matt Hayes tackle hot topics in their sport. First down Q: Which recent starting QB announcement was the best decision? Curtis: Kevin Riley at Cal. Attention, Golden Bears: this is your time. Your starting lineup includes the most complete running back in the country and the best defense that's rolled through the area in some... time. USC is on the south side of great, and though Oregon might score some on you, you can score on them (and love playing in Eugene, as history shows). The question is the quarterback, and Riley, despite his mixed results, has the experience to be the best bet behind center. If he keeps his interceptions to single digits for the regular season, Cal could play in January. Hayes: I'm going with Pete Carroll holding off on canonizing young Matt Barkley at USC. Barkley is obviously talented and could eventually develop into a fixture at the most high-profile position in college football. But you simply don't take a true freshman and give him the job because the guy who won the job in spring drills—Aaron Corp, who won it rather convincingly—gets hurt in Week 1 of camp. I think we're all overlooking the fact that Barkley hasn't played a down of college football—and has been on the USC campus for all of nine months. This is Corp's third year at USC; he knows the offense, he knows the team's personnel, he knows how to physically and mentally manage the team and the huddle. And he can make all the throws. That can't be overlooked. I expect Corp to win the job this week and don't see why he wouldn't play very well. It's what USC quarterbacks do when they've invested time as reserves and finally get their chance as starters. Happened the same way with Matt Leinart, John David Booty and Mark Sanchez. It will be the same way—barring injury—with Corp. Second down Q: And the worst? Curtis: Rutgers held a scrimmage Wednesday morning, and maybe things will change after it. But the Scarlet Knights would be best served with true frosh Tom Savage taking the bulk of the snaps in the season opener against Cincinnati. Word is he's the most talented of the quarterbacks in camp, and coach Greg Schiano has raved about the kid's poise since Savage signed his letter of intent. Slimming down the playbook is OK. Ditto for sprinkling in run threat Jabu Lovelace behind center every now and then. It's time to give the ball to the kid and let Rutgers' present and Rutgers' future become one and the same. Hayes: There wasn't a worst. There were a few odd decisions—Syracuse with Greg Paulus and Utah with true freshman Jordan Wynn—but nothing that really stood out. In fact, this is the first fall camp in years where there simply aren't many significant quarterback competitions. You could call Michigan's three-quarterbacks system a bad idea, but really, what alternative does Rich Rodriguez have? Nick Sheridan proved last year that he wasn't the answer, but you can't start a season with a true freshman quarterback (Tate Forcier or Denard Robinson). So why not rotate them on plays or series to make sure each gets gameday coaching and experience before finding a starter? Michigan will start out with three quarterbacks, but one of the three—Robinson is perfect for the offense—will take control of the position by midseason.  Third down  Q: Does Buffalo, the fun Cinderella program a year ago, now vanish without its best player? Curtis: Maybe. Buffalo figured to struggle some this year anyway, with quarterback Drew Willy and three offensive line starters gone from the '08 MAC title team. And those Bulls didn't exactly dominate the league—they twice needed overtime to win and they beat Temple on a Hail Mary. Still, Buffalo remains in the hunt in the East along with Bowling Green and the Owls. More important for the nation, coach Turner Gill could become more of a target for bigger schools. The Bulls repeating would make Gill's run at UB extraordinary and no fluke; he'd be up to make millions this offseason if he chose to. Hayes: Gill is too good of a coach to have his program fold because of one player. The reality is, Buffalo was going to have problems defending its MAC championship with James Starks. Western Michigan and Central Michigan are the league's elite teams, but Buffalo should still win the MAC East as long as it beats Bowling Green in the first week of November. The true test of this team, though, will play out in October with games against Central Michigan (Oct. 3) and at Western Michigan (Oct. 24). Fourth down Q: If you could play for one coach, who would it be? Curtis: Joe Paterno. First, he's a legend, the closest thing (for now) college football has to John Wooden. Second, he's got a winning program again. That means a chance to get me to play in Pasadena, which still must rank among every player's dreams. Third, odds are I'm playing for a whale of a position coach who's brought in a bunch of strong players to put around. So much more ... my teammates and I would be encouraged to go to class ... the white-out home games ... my grandmother could hit on him by talking ball. Not a bad deal all around. Hayes: Depends on what position I play. If I'm a 6-6 fleet wideout like Dangerous Dave Curtis, I'll play for Mike Leach at Texas Tech and catch 70-80 balls a season.   Anywhere else, I'm going where I can play early and play often—and play on national television. You know, like every other wide-eyed, innocent 17-year-old. This story first appeared in the Aug. 27, 2009, edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today for free. Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com. Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.more>>

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