Northwestern- (Big 10) This team went through some growing pains last season after the tragic loss of HC Randy Walker, and some bad luck with the injury bug. However, I believe that new HC Pat Fitzgerald made the best of a bad situation in his first year at the helm at only 34 years of age. I think Fitzgerald has the makings of a very good head coach, and improvement was apparent on the defensive side of the ball as they held 3 of their last 4 opponents (Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois- all capable offensive teams to varying degrees) to less than 17 points and 320 yards of offense, and on the offensive side of the ball after QB CJ Baucher returned from injury. This is a team that when they are capable (16 returning starters and last year’s improvement as the season progresses constitutes capable) often gets overlooked in a conference full of bigger names and fanbases. This has led to some monster ATS seasons in the past, and I think we may see that in ‘07. I’ll lean to the Wildcats as my Big 10 sleeper over more-talented Illinois due to Fitzgerald over Zook on the sidelines. Miami (FL)- (ACC) You can only put so much into fall practice reports, but this Canes bunch really seems revitalized by the new regime, which features a lot of high-energy, younger-type coaches. The offense under new OC Patrick Nix is finally making plays, and it looks like Kirby Freeman is very close to nailing down the starting QB job, beating out incumbent Sr. Kyle Wright. There is major competition at multiple positions, including O-line which should be UMs best in the last 4-5 years. UM’s bad season was magnified after the shooting death of DL Brian Pata, which in all reality, most likely padded that loss column by one or two, thus leading to value in the early going here. This is a team on a mission in ‘07, and although former HC Larry Coker left some holes in the depth chart with shaky recruiting, UM appears to be headed in the right direction. New HC Randy Shannon runs his practices at a very high tempo, and is really working on eliminating penalties and misuse of timeouts, etc… things that have plagued Miami in every big game the last couple of seasons. Should be especially dangerous when taking points in ‘07. Oklahoma St. - (Big 12)- While I won’t predict the Cowboys to win the talented Big 12 South, one thing is for certain: teams are going to have to score to beat them. 3 year starter junior Bobby Reid (24-11 ratio) leads 8 returning starters to an offense that was one of only 3 Division 1 teams (Ohio St, Boise) to average 200ypg both rushing and passing last season. No suprise being that OC Larry Fedora has had success everywhere he’s been, and it the Cowboys are very lucky to have retained him this past offseason as his name was mentioned for a lot of openings. They also return two of the conference’s best specialists this season as well as their entire defensive back 7. The only area of concern appears to be the defensive line, as replacing your 3 top DT’s is never a good thing against the monster Big 12 O-lines. I actually like the fact that the schedule is rugged, as I love backing an explosive offensive when catching big points.
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