All week, we’ve looked at the Footballoutsiders 2009 Almanac and what it has to say about the Colts and the rest of the AFC South. The 2009 Almanac is more than just NFL football, however. It also covers a topic we rarely discuss here at 18to88, but is of great interest to many football fans…college football.
Though we’ve gone on the record about the Hoosiers once or twice, there is rarely anything good to say about them. So, since I won’t be unveiling any state secrets, I suppose it’s fair game to tell you that the Almanac is so thorough that it bothers to even cover the humble Hoosiers.
To start out with, the Outsiders declare the Hoosiers to be the only team in the Big 10 with no aspirations of a title at all. Ouch. The Hoosiers are ranked 77th overall among Bowl Tier schools. This comment essentially sums up FO’s opinion about the Indiana:
On defense, the good news is that eight starters return. The bad news is that they were part of a pretty bad unit in 2008.
Oh. Ok then. Moving on…
The Boilers get a look as well, but didn’t fare much better, barely cracking the top 60. FO sums up the Joe Tiller era quite nicely:
With the way his tenure ended, it is easy to forget just how successful Joe Tiller was at Purdue. He inherited a program that had not experienced a winning record in 12 seasons and immediately turned things around. The Boilermakers did not have a losing record until Tiller’s ninth season and had only two during his 12 years in West Lafayette. Unfortunately, his worst team was probably his last.
So, at least the Cream and Crimson can rejoice that they will likely be joined by the Black and Gold at the bottom of the Big 10 for another decade or so.
Finally, does Notre Dame offer us any consolation? Meh. They break the top 20…I suppose that’s good. Frankly, the Irish test the limits of ambivalence in my life. I’m Irish. I’m from Indiana. My extended family is all Catholic. I’m morally obligated to give a crap about lads up in South Bend.
But on the other hand…they also hired Charlie Weis, and frankly, watching him fail is fun. So I remain torn. Plus, when it comes to this year’s team, the refrain is familiar. I swear I’ve heard this ditty before:
Much will be made about Notre Dame’s schedule in 2009, which may be its weakest in years… A BCS bowl berth is plausible, but there are probably enough stumbling blocks to keep ND’s win total in the single digits.
Hmm, sounds about like nearly every other Fighting Irish team for the last 10 years. Maybe they make a big bowl, but if they do, they get destroyed. I guess that’s why we don’t cover college football very much.
So, in summary, if you love college football, you probably aren’t from Indianapolis, but you will love the Football Outsiders 2009 Almanac which has enough pro and college football to choke a camel.
Tomorrow, we’ll wrap up FO week with 18 Questions with Mike Tanier. You don’t want to miss it.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
