Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Minor distractions: Storylines in 2008

FPS COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW (Part 2)

Every fall campuses across the country come back to life and the attention starts to focus on Saturdays. That's right college football is back in full force.

Unlike its professional counterpart, the college game has richness with a plethora of new storylines each season. This year is no different.

Here's a brief glimpse at what's been going on and what will shape this season's headlines.

"The gold standard of college athletics," the conference that has won the past two BCS National Championships, the Southeastern Conference has inked what appears to be a monster 15-year deal to broadcast football games. Now, can they prove they're worth it? Fox Sport's Randy Hill doesn't think so, and I am hedging that way too.

Love him or hate him, the face of the SEC, Tim Tebow won last year's Heisman trophy. So how does a Heisman winner spend the summer? Not studying football apparently, which could be "Superman's" kryptonite.

Looking out west, the year is off to an itchy start at Southern Cal. A rash of unusual maladies and injuries at USC has struck the perennial national power early. QB Mark Sanchez suffered a freakish knee injury, the single returning starter offensive lineman has Rocky Mountain spotted fever and groin irritation is running rampant. What's next? Try a dorm accident.

Arizona State QB Rudy Carpenter has one season to define his college career. Carpenter has started 31 consecutive games and has three wins against arch rival Arizona, but is reviled by many Sun Devil die-hards. SI.com's Arash Markazi takes an in-depth look at Carpenter's image issues.

In a football season that could be overshadow by political fervor on campus, Cal defensive end Rulon Davis wants to be known for tackles and sacks, not the six months in Iraq he spent as a Marine.

On the Palouse, the Washington State Cougars were making headlines but not for good news. The Cougs lost eight scholarships after failing to meet NCAA Academic Progress standards (which are a big joke in themselves). But then the Seattle Times nailed Wazzu with an expose on the 25 player arrests over the last 18 months. Not a great start for new head coach Paul Wulff and company.

These are a few storylines for this 2008 NCAA football season, but it's really just a scratch on the surface.

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