Don't hold back, Mr. Columnist

I've spent much of the past six months talking about coaching changes, players getting in trouble, etc., but with the countdown at exactly six weeks until the start of the regular season, it's time to start looking ahead.

And what better place to start than with one of the two most popular (and surprising) bandwagon teams of the offseason: Oklahoma State.

The Pokes have joined Ole Miss as everyone's favorite sleepers, with both teams appearing in pretty much everybody's preseason top 15. And while I certainly think Oklahoma State will be good -- the offense is too good for them not to be -- the prognostications of an 11-win season, top-five finish and possible Big 12 title seem a little extreme.

I know what you're thinking: Who has Oklahoma State going 11-1? Well, Sporting News' resident college football idiot Matt Hayes, for one.

But what really amuses me is analysis like this, which comes from Tulsa World writer Dave Sittler in an effort to back up his prediction of an 11-0 start:

Oct. 31, Texas: Halloween is perfect for OSU to finally put an end to the spooky, mysterious hex the Longhorns have had on the Cowboys.

That's deep. They will win on Halloween because ... well, I have no good reason, but it's Halloween, so something crazy could happen, right?

That, my friends, is unbridled preseason optimism at its finest.

Like I said, Oklahoma State will be good -- if the Cowboys can beat Georgia at home in the season opener, a 10-1 start isn't out of the question -- but besides Texas, potential landmines loom against Houston, Missouri and Texas Tech, all of whom will be competitive. One big advantage for Oklahoma State is that all of those teams (including Texas) have to visit Stillwater, but it's just too big of a leap of faith for me to believe that a team with no experience in big games will be 11-0 heading into Norman on Nov. 28, especially with the big bad Longhorns looking as strong as ever.

It's on in the Bronx

The rumored Notre Dame-Army matchup at Yankee Stadium is officially set for 2010. There will be gold helmets everywhere, and apparently this won't be a one-time deal for the cadets:

The Hudson Valley-based Times Herald-Record, citing unidentified Army sources, said Friday that Army also will play games at Yankee Stadium in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons. Rutgers and possibly Syracuse could be involved in future games at the stadium, a person familiar with the scheduling told the AP on condition of anonymity.

My interest level in a Rutgers-Army game will be fairly low regardless of where it's played, but the rich history surrounding Notre Dame, Army and Yankee Stadium makes the 2010 game must-see TV. I didn't even know this until I stumbled across it in a story, but the two schools played at the original Yankee Stadium every year from 1925-1946, and renewing old traditions is almost never a bad idea.

Like I said two months ago, I don't care if Army is terrible or if Notre Dame falls into a relapse of mediocrity; NBC can go ahead and put me down as a viewer for this one.

Was it "the crowd" or was it playing time?

I originally included this in yesterday's post, but I decided to pull it out because I wanted to delve into the issue a bit further.

After one-time stud recruit Dan O'Neill announced last week that he's leaving Michigan to transfer to Western Michigan (he was simply unable to crack the depth chart and has a brother in Kalamazoo), fellow offensive lineman Kurt Wermers joined the MAC exodus by announcing Wednesday that he'll transfer to Ball State ... and he took a few parting shots at the UM coaching staff on his way out the door.

Wermers, much like former Michigan (and current Ohio State) guard Justin Boren, cited the coaching staff and some other vague issues in an interview with an Indiana newspaper:

"I really didn't get along with the new coaches," Wermers said. "They were bringing in a lot of different kids that were not my kind of crowd. Coach Carr's staff was a whole different ballgame. It was like a family. But when Rodriguez came in it was a whole different feeling. It was more of a business. I figured I'd get out while I could."

Yes, because once Rodriguez has you in his grasp, there is NO ESCAPE. Seriously though, there are a couple of things in his statement I just don't understand.

First, it's odd that Wermers calls the new staff "a whole different ballgame" from Lloyd Carr's "family" atmosphere considering that Wermers was still in high school at the end of the previous regime. Carr had retired and Rodriguez had been named coach before Wermers even signed his letter of intent, so it's not like he didn't have a choice (Boren did NOT have a choice, but that's a different story that I'll get to in a minute*).

But what really bothers me is the "not my kind of crowd" statement. Considering that Rodriguez's first recruiting class consisted almost entirely of Carr holdovers, the only guys Wermers played with who were Rodriguez-specific recruits (guys Carr's staff hadn't expressed interest in) were the following: Ricky Barnum, Justin Feagin, Martavious Odoms, Patrick Omameh, Terrence Robinson, Roy Roundtree, Vlad Emilien, Vincent Smith, Brandin Hawthorne and Mike Jones.

Roundtree and Omameh were both low-profile Ohio kids who could have been roster fillers in any recruiting class; it's doubtful that those are the guys Wermers was referring to. Everyone else on that list has two things in common:

1. All are black;
2. All (except Texas native Terrence Robinson) are from Florida, mostly from either the Orlando area or a dirt-poor town called Pahokee.

I have never met any of these players, so I have no particular insight into their character or their "type of crowd," but I don't see how I can interpret Wermer's statement as anything other than blatantly racist (and if that was truly the reason for his transfer, that's a little frightening).

In reality, though, I don't think it was the coaching staff or the "crowd" that compelled his departure -- it seems all too convenient that he decided he didn't get along with anybody right after the end of a spring practice in which he was unable to crack the two-deep, instead being passed over by a number of players in his same class.

I have no problem with a player who simply gets beat out by better players and decides to head for greener depth-chart pastures -- as I think was the case here -- but there's no reason to throw your former school, coaches and teammates under the bus while doing so.

* Boren's comments caused more of an uproar (probably just because of the shock value), but his situation was a little different. Boren had not only played for Carr but had earned a starting spot as a true freshman, and his father, Mike, is a Michigan alum. So when he spouted off before last season about the decline in "family values," his comments carried some weight.

UM offensive line coach Greg Frey had some interesting information, though, that he shared with an insider at a recent fundraising breakfast. It was widely known that Boren had an agreement with Carr that he could miss some team functions in order to help his dad with the family snowplow business, but Frey said that Rodriguez felt this privilege was being abused, which created some tension with the family. Frey also mentioned that Boren wasn't a big fan of running -- something Michigan emphasizes over strength training in order to keep offensive linemen quick and agile -- and that he once walked out of a difficult training session.

Again, these are third-hand facts that I have no way of verifying, but it's worth noting that there may have been just a bit more than "family values" involved in his decision.

Catching up: Going the supplemental route

* While Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon was the only player selected in the NFL supplemental draft Thursday -- going in the third round to the Washington Redskins -- it was announced this week that two other players had quit school to submit their draft eligibility: Texas Tech defensive end McKinner Dixon and Kansas State receiver Deon Murphy. Dixon, who had nine sacks last season, had been suspended indefinitely for academic reasons and then arrested on a gun charge in the spring, so it's not too stunning that he decided to bail on school. Still, his loss is a downer for the Red Raiders since he probably would've been the team's best defensive player. Murphy was the Big 12 newcomer of the year in 2007, had a mediocre season in 2008 next to Brandon Banks, then left the team in the spring for reasons that I can't seem to uncover. His career seemed to be trending downward, but K-State (especially the post-Josh Freeman version) isn't exactly overflowing with offensive talent.

* Speaking of Kansas State, rumor has it that Bill Snyder is trying to get the school out of its contract with UCLA for the Wildcats' home game next season (they play at the Rose Bowl this year). If you remember anything about Bill Snyder's first tenure at Kansas State, you know the following two things:

1. His reclamation job was one of the best in college football history;
2. Part of his success came from scheduling the softest, yummiest nonconference cupcakes he could get his hands on.

It would appear that even in old age, little has changed.

* Southern Miss got some good news and some bad news Thursday. The good news: Damion Fletcher, the school's all-time leading rusher, was reinstated from suspension and will not miss any games. Fletcher, as you may remember, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge after firing a gun into an apartment building over the winter. The bad news: DeAndre Brown, the freshman receiver who put up ridiculous numbers before suffering a horrific, Joe Theismann-esque broken leg in the New Orleans Bowl, had to have his leg put back in a boot after re-injuring it while playing basketball. Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said that despite the re-aggravation, Brown's timetable remains the same: he'll miss the season opener against Alcorn State but likely return in Week 2 for Conference USA opponent Central Florida.

* Urban Meyer will never, ever, EVER coach at Notre Dame. Ever. Meyer's statements this week conjured up images of Nick Saban, and honestly, it's pretty hard to take these denials seriously. There's just no way to know what a coach will do until a job is open and offered to him ... oh wait. The Notre Dame job WAS open and WAS offered to Meyer just four years ago, and he turned it down. So as difficult as it is for me to say this, I'm willing to take Meyer at his word on this one -- unless he has some drastic change of heart, it's hard to see him leaving Florida when he's built the program into something even better than it was when he got there.

Take your shots, SEC

I imagine that when Lane Kiffin was a rising assistant at USC, he didn't envision his first collegiate head coaching job going like it has. Granted, most of his problems so far have been due to his own big mouth and lack of thinking, but I think we'll just have to file this news under the "karma" category:

With senior Austin Rogers out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Friday, the Vols now face the likelihood of going into the season without junior Denarius Moore.

Moore, Tennessee's top returning deep threat, has a broken bone in his left foot and will be sidelined for eight to 12 weeks. He's currently in a walking boot and is facing surgery.

Yikes. Kiffin was already in for a challenge at Tennessee, but I'm not sure "challenge" quite covers it anymore.

The only remaining options at quarterback are disappointing senior Jonathan Crompton and uninspiring redshirt junior Nick Stephens (third-stringer B.J. Coleman transferred and Kiffin declined a commitment from five-star dual-threat QB Tajh Boyd, who ended up at Clemson).

Talented freshmen Bryce Brown and David Oku will help Montario Hardesty in the running game, but there was plenty of backfield talent last year, too, and Tennessee finished 88th nationally in rushing offense behind a surprisingly poor offensive line.

And with three of last year's top four receivers -- Rogers, Moore and graduated senior Lucas Taylor -- now out of the equation (junior Gerald Jones is all that's left), I just don't see where the offense will come from this year unless Eric Berry (pictured) quickly learns how to pass, run, catch and return kicks.

Relying on Crompton seems like a dicey proposition at best, and unless the running game makes MASSIVE strides, competence seems like the best-case scenario at this point (and abysmal remains a distinct possibility). And considering that Kiffin -- and Tennessee, by extension -- will have a gigantic target on his back after the Piss Off Everybody Tour he's embarked on since his arrival ... well, for Kiffin's sake, I hope his offensive prowess is all it's cracked up to be.

Meanwhile, to the rest of the SEC: Enjoy.

Wanted: 2010 opponent

As you may or may not know, Michigan is in the midst of a massive stadium renovation. The primary reason -- as is the case with pretty much all stadium renovations -- is money, as the addition of luxury boxes will bring in all the big corporate spenders and help add to the athletic department's already-ridiculous income.

But one upside to the renovations is the opportunity to add some features that have been desperately needed, including my personal favorite: a classic brick exterior that not only ties the stadium's architecture to that of the surrounding campus, but also covers the metal framing that was terribly bland and for some reason had always been left exposed.

The first picture below is a rendering of the stadium last fall, while the second rendering is the finished product (which should be completed prior to the 2010 season).

It's been known for some time that UM has been seeking a quality opponent for the 2010 opener in the completed stadium -- the usual mid-major/Notre Dame/MAC/MAC nonconference slate doesn't really get people excited -- but that opponent has been difficult to find.

Michigan originally sought out Minnesota (a team UM doesn't face in conference play), which would have been interesting just because of the Little Brown Jug and the Big Ten rivalry and all that. A good idea, but the Gophers declined (they do already play USC that year, so I can't really blame them).

Michigan's student newspaper, The Michigan Daily, then reported that UM was discussing a possible home-and-home series with Georgia in 2010-11. I'm not sure exactly what the source was on this, but it seemed highly unlikely from the start: Georgia already faces both Georgia Tech and Colorado on the road and has only five total home games in 2010, and the 2011 schedule is completely full. And when Michigan officials said that there was "no truth" to the rumor, well ...

That brings us to Boise State. The Broncos were identified as a potential opponent early in the process by Mgoblog, and that would make sense -- they have an open date and they've made it clear that they're willing to travel in return for a decent paycheck. There'd been nothing official from anybody, though, until this intriguing quote from Boise State President Bob Kustra about a deal the Broncos have reached to fill the final spot on their 2010 schedule:

"It's going to be a good one," said BSU president Bob Kustra, who would not disclose the opponent or the game location.

There aren't a whole lot of "good" teams still looking to complete their schedules, and Bronco Nation basically narrows the list of likely opponents to Michigan and Oklahoma State. It sounds like an official announcement is coming next week, so we'll know something soon one way or another, but I'm somewhat lukewarm on this one.

Yes, I know Boise State has one of the highest winning percentages in the country over the past decade, but they still rarely start the season in the top 15. The payoff for a Michigan win would be relative low, while a loss would cause the irritating "Michigan can't even beat mid-majors" meme to continue indefinitely.

That being said, I would MUCH rather play Boise State than a MAC team or another Delaware State-type filler (heck, I'd even sign up for a home-and-home just to find out if I can watch an entire game on blue turf without having a seizure). Compared with Georgia or even Minnesota, Boise State isn't all that exciting, but from the list of available teams that would be interested in a visit to Michigan Stadium, the Smurfs are about as good as it gets.

Linebackers can't drive

It hasn't been a good week for linebackers behind the wheel.

First, North Carolina State's Nate Irving, one of the best linebackers in the ACC, apparently fell asleep while driving near Raleigh at about 4:40 a.m. Monday morning and crashed his car into two trees. Irving suffered a broken leg and a collapsed lung and has been charged with careless and reckless driving. It appears that he'll fully recover from his injuries, but his status for the season is unknown.

Fortunately for Irving, he didn't hurt anyone else or damage any property ... which is more than Texas outside linebacker Sergio Kindle can say:

Texas linebacker Sergio Kindle was treated for a concussion after crashing his car into an Austin apartment building last week while he was either sending or receiving a text message, his attorney said Monday.

Yikes. The school estimated the damage to the building at just under $9,000, but no one was injured (remarkably) because the students who live in the room Kindle crashed into weren't home at the time. And in a bizarre string of events, Kindle pushed his car back into the street, went home and went to sleep before reporting the crash the following morning.

The police haven't charged Kindle with any crime (because the crash was reported in a "reasonable" amount of time) and Texas has indicated no pending punishment, which is more than a little surprising. See, this could be mistaken for a young guy panicking and doing something stupid, but Kindle was arrested on a DWI charge less than two years ago and was suspended for the first three games of the 2007 season.

Dr. Saturday sums up the situation nicely:

So we have a legal adult with a history of reckless driving who loses control of his vehicle in a densely populated area with potentially tragic results and ... no harm, no foul?

Word.