Toledo Rockets 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>>

COLUMBUS, Ohio-You can't spell upset without UT. Just ask Michigan.

TOLEDO, Ohio- Toledo's first-year coach Tim Beckman sees his team as a family - a philosophy shared by his dad, a former college assistant who got his start at Baldwin-Wallace under Lee Tressel.

Matt Hayes Here are five thoughts, observations and predictions as I look forward to what might happen in the week ahead: 1. The dreaded quarterback controversy I'm not exactly sure what was more perplexing last week: that, on third and long and the game on the line, Ohio State had linebacker Ross Homan covering speedy tailback Joe McKnight, or that ABC's Brent Musburger acted like a queasy schoolgirl with his mancrush on freshman Matt... Barkley. Despite what Musburger and many others have proclaimed about The Next John Elway, Joe McKnight won that game last week. Ask Homan. Or Jim Tressel. Why is this significant? Because the last thing USC needs right now is a quarterback controversy. And if Barkley can't go against Washington this weekend because of a bruised shoulder, backup Aaron Corp will take over and the offense will suddenly have an added dimension it hasn't had since Pete Carroll arrived at Troy in 2001. Yes, everyone, the Trojans will have a quarterback who can hurt you with his legs, too. Remember, Corp won the job in spring practice -- clearly won it -- and was the leader going into fall camp and Com-Pete was gushing about Corp's potential. Then Corp broke a bone in his leg and got Wally Pipp'd. Aaron Corp can be very dangerous for USC. Make no mistake: Corp is good, really good. That he can scramble and make plays with his legs -- and throw with accuracy on the run -- gives the predictable USC offense more of a threat from the most important position on the field. USC didn't need to score last week because Ohio State couldn't do anything offensively -- and that had very little to do with the USC defense (see: Ohio State vs. Navy). If Ohio State had any semblance of offense, it would've won that game by two touchdowns. (Quick aside to wacko USC fans: If Ohio State is overrated, so is USC). 2. Bluster and blowouts If we've learned anything, it's things rarely are what they seem in the SEC. Case in point: Last week's Georgia-South Carolina game, where two brutal offenses that combined to score 17 points in Week 1, somehow found the wherewithal to score a combined seventy-flipping-eight points in Week 2. Let's go back six months -- not all the way back to Lane Kiffin's gigging of Florida that started this fabricated nonsense of Florida getting paybacks … ooooooh … for the way mean Lane talked about the Gators. But back to the spring, when I was sitting in Monte Kiffin's corner office in the Tennessee football complex and he already was breaking down tape of the Gators. His greaseboard was full of Florida's personnel and plays and specific sets and looks. Monte Kiffin had back surgery this spring, and was supposed recuperate for a week before returning to work. He left the hospital the day after surgery, went to his office and started breaking down Florida. "Have you seen this team?" Kiffin asked this spring. "I'm not wasting any time." Now, back to things not being what they seem: Kiffin's defense has given up bubkes in two games, and the guy knows a little about the sport considering, you know, his defense merely revolutionized the NFL over the last decade. All this talk about a Florida blowout, and all I can think about is Florida hasn't found a go-to receiver yet, hasn't played a meaningful snap against a legitimate team yet, and hasn't face a Monte Kiffin defense. The Vols aren't going to beat Florida, but it certainly won't be the beatdown everyone expects. 3. The BYU question Frankly, we're getting way ahead of ourselves. But since this is the 25th anniversary of BYU's national championship season, and since Utah and Boise State have been banging on the BCS door the previous five seasons, we may as well go ahead and get it out of the way now. Does BYU deserve to be in the BCS national championship game if it wins out? The fact that we're even addressing this so early is absurd, but because the Cougars could get another boost this weekend with a victory over BCS big boy Florida State (which, at this point, is no better than a win over any other middling BCS team; but that's a story for another time), we must at least all come face-to-face with our BCS snobbery. Let's say every BCS team had one loss with the exception of Cincinnati. There's no doubt the Bearcats would be in the BCS national championship game. It's not even a question; don't bother raising any doubts. If that's the case, why wouldn't unbeaten BYU be just as, if not more, a legitimate pick for that big game? We can all agree that the Mountain West is at least as good or better than the Big East. And BYU would have wins over Oklahoma and Florida State and a MWC schedule that includes ranked TCU and Utah. Cincinnati's resume couldn't match that. A lot has to happen for BYU to find a way to the BCS national championship game, but let's not rule it out completely. Related Links Barkley, Mays limited for third straight day Staff picks for Week 3 Shanoff: Ryan is who Kiffin should be Ohio St. QB coach on Hayes' hot seat 4. Letdown from the showdown I don't know about you, but I've watched Toledo twice now, and even though the Rockets' defense couldn't stop my local high school team, the offense behind senior quarterback Aaron Opelt (nine total TDs) is flat-out ridiculous. The reality is, Ohio State's defense is much better than the Purdue and Colorado units, which Toledo torched for 85 points and 1,117 total yards. So let's say Ohio State still is in the jar about the loss to USC, a game it should've won and let slip away in the last two minutes. Let's say Tressel's dressing down of lunatic Buckeye fans earlier this week has created a distraction, and suddenly his still maturing, still uneasy quarterback Terrelle Pryor presses too much, commits a couple of turnovers and the next thing you know Ohio State is trailing by a couple of scores and has to actually, you know, score points with its offense. For all we know, Ohio State will play the same attacking defense it did against USC and Toledo won't have a prayer. But this game screams letdown -- especially as a faux road game at Browns Stadium where 90 percent of the crowd will be wearing scarlet and gray and will panic at the first sign of something wrong. 5. Payback time Two plays, two hard-to-imagine plays kept Texas from the BCS national championship game last season. That and the weird other storyline (see: 45-35) I'm sure Texas already has forgotten. The Longhorns get their first crack at redemption this weekend when they play host to Texas Tech. You remember last year's game, right? Tech used a dropped interception by one Texas freshman safety (Blake Gideon) and a missed tackle by another Texas freshman safety (Earl Thomas) a play later to upset the Longhorns in Lubbock. But this is a Tech team with Joaquin Phoenix, I mean Taylor Potts, as its starting quarterback and a whole lot of newness on defense. In other words, this game in Austin will look a whole lot like the previous five under coach Mack Brown vs. Texas Tech in Austin. In those five games, Texas has scored 58, 42, 43, 52 and 59 points. This one may hit 60. Not because Texas is trying to prove a point or anything.   Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.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>>

The nation's top dual-threat QB? He might play at Central Michigan. That's where Dan LeFevour, alongside only Vince Young in the record books, is looking to earn a seat in New York City, Eric Kay says.

His school is steeped in hoops tradition, yet Mark Mangino has made Kansas football relevant while making all the jabs about his physique irrelevant. KU is 51st in Dennis Dodd's decade rankings.

NIU season preview-Part 2-1st half MAC schedule

NIU football 09-10 preview-Part 1-OOC schedule

Picking the MAC

DETROIT- A not guilty plea has been entered on behalf of a former University of Toledo football player who is accused of a key role in a point-shaving scheme.

TOLEDO, Ohio- Court documents say former Toledo athletes charged in an alleged point-shaving scheme talked and met several times with two suburban Detroit men who bet large amounts on Toledo basketball and football games.