Ranking the Daytona 500s of the Last Thirty 30 Years; 21-25

25. 2003 Daytona 500

About the only thing anyone remembers from 2003 besides the rain.

The 2003 Daytona 500 may go down as one of the strangest Daytona 500s ever. This was during the period of DEI dominance at the restrictor plates, and the 2003 Daytona 500 was no exception. Just the previous Thursday, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Michael Waltrip had started, and finished, first and second in their Gatorade 125 Mile Qualifier. And on an overcast Sunday at the beach, it appeared a similar story was being written.

Earnhardt however would suffer from electrical problems and would fall multiple laps in arrears, effectively taking him out of contention for his first Daytona 500 victory. Waltrip however was still around, and it appeared his stiffest competition would be from either Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson. While Earnhardt may have no longer been in contention for the victory himself, he still was in position however to play a huge role in deciding just who would go to victory lane.

A caution flew on lap 96, and following the pit stops by the leaders, Jimmie Johnson emerged as the leader for the first time. Waltrip (64) and Earnhardt (22) had led 86 of the first 95 laps of the event and it would appear to only be a matter of time before Waltrip would make his way back to the front. Earnhardt was at this point still battling to make up the multiple laps he’d lost while suffering through his ailments earlier in the day. Time, however, was not on anyone’s side this day. Well, perhaps it was on one man’s side.

The race restarted and only three green flag laps were run, as another caution flew, this one for debris. Johnson still maintained the lead, but lining up to his inside on the restart would be the car of Dale Earnhardt Jr, who was two laps down. This was before the days of the double file restart with only lead-lap cars, and wave arounds, and lucky dogs. This was when the lead lap cars restarted on the outside, and the cars one or more laps in arrears restarted on the bottom. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts. It made all the difference in the world on this day.

Immediately after the green dropped on lap 106 Waltrip dropped from his spot on Johnson’s bumper to the bottom line behind teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt raced past Johnson to bring himself back to just one lap down, but more importantly, he pulled Waltrip with him. Everyone knew that the two DEI cars hooked up together were next to unbeatable. So the circumstances surrounding what turned out to be the final restart did not at all make Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus very happy.

While the leaders were coming off of turn four, defending Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton crashed, bringing out the race’s third caution in the last twelve laps. It would be the final caution. The skies completely opened up while the field was pacing around the track, and it did not take long for NASCAR to call the race after just 109 laps, or 272.5 miles.

The irony in it all was that once again, Waltrip was denied a true victory lane celebration of a Daytona 500 victory. Amazing, for a man who won two Daytona 500s (though many hesitate to say that, considering this one wasn’t even the distance of the Nationwide race that precedes it on Saturday), he’s yet to truly experience victory lane in The Great American Race.

Kurt Busch would wind up second, and it would not be the last time he would be the bridesmaid while Johnson took third. Earnhardt would never get the chance to make up his other lost lap, but of course, if you’ve been reading you know, he would take the checkered flag the very next February.

The race itself saw just 11 lead changes during its 109 laps, and only Waltrips pass of Johnson on the restart took place under green. Coupled with the weather, and the shortened distance, there really wasn’t much to enjoy about this Daytona 500. Ryan Newman’s accident, and the sublots of Waltrip winning another Daytona 500 that seemed to be marred and overshadowed by a bigger story are the only things that made this race remotely memorable.

24. 1985 Daytona 500

A portrait of dominance

When it comes down to it, there may not have been a less competitive Daytona 500 in the past 30 years than the 1985 edition. And it’s for that reason, actually, that it doesn’t rank as the least enjoyable of the past thirty years.

The 1985 Daytona 500 should in fact be appreciated for what it was. And what it was was a domination of unheard of proportions, and of proportions that will never be seen again at the famed 2.5 mile track. What Bill Elliott managed to do to the field at Daytona in the February of 1985 bordered on criminal.

Elliott had already won the pole with a track record lap that bettered 205 mph, and was over a full mph faster than outside pole sitter Cale Yarborough. On Thursday, Elliott went out and proceeded to absolutely crush what fleeting hope anyone had of catching the red Ford by leading all 50 laps of his Twin 125 Qualifier…..and lapping all but five cars. That’s right, in a 50 lap sprint at Daytona, Elliott left a mere five cars on the lead lap and won by 37 seconds. Yes, 37 seconds. If Elliott didn’t break, nobody had a chance on Sunday.

And as it would happen, Elliott did not break. But just about everybody else did in their attempts, futile at that, to try and keep up the pace. By days end, only 18 of the 40 starters were still running at the finish, and only Lake Speed finished on the same lap as Elliott. The list of names who succumbed to Elliott’s prowess was long and distinguished. Nobody had anything for the youngster from Georgia, and anyone who tried to keep the pace found themselves in the garage.

At one point in the race Elliott built up a 44 second lead. Again, you’re reading this right, a 44 second lead. Apparently NASCAR didn’t like the way Elliott was stinking up their show however and had him come to pit road to repair a hole over the headlight cover. Elliott made his stop, lost the lead as the crew made the repairs, rejoined the fray and he was back in the lead again in 10 laps.

The 1985 Daytona 500 was not particularly enjoyable to watch, and it certainly was not competitive as Elliott led for 136 laps. However, what it was, was something we won’t ever witness again. What it was was a case of man and machine completely dominating every other combination of man and machine to levels that were just unfathomable. People talk about how dominant the Morgan-McClure car was at the plate tracks for a stretch in the mid 90s, or the DEI dominance of the early 2000s, or even of Jimmie Johnson’s success at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. None of those compare to how dominant Bill Elliott was at Daytona during Speed Weeks in 1985. Never since has one man been such a heavy favorite entering a NASCAR race, and for good reason. This sort of thing just doesn’t happen.

23. 2012 Daytona 500

Perhaps the most surreal moment in Daytona 500 history

The most recent edition of the Daytona 500 is remembered much more for things that happened while the green flag was NOT out, than what took place at speed on the racetrack.

For starters, for the first time ever, the Daytona 500 was pushed to Monday. The race had been shortened in the past, and it had been delayed. But it had never been postponed. As they say, there’s a first time for everything. Not that FOX, or NASCAR really seemed to mind. With inclement weather still lingering around on Monday, NASCAR was able to get a prime time Monday night showcase slot for it’s premier event, which so happened to also be the debut of one, Danica Patrick.

The race itself, to long-time NASCAR fans, wasn’t exactly a lot to write home about. The two Jack Roush cars of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle were clearly the class of the field, with seemingly the only driver with any possibility of besting the two blue ovals being Denny Hamlin. A first lap crash had already taken out Jimmie Johnson, as well as Danica Patrick. Hamlin seemed early on to be the class of the field, but anyone who’d seen the Roush cars all week long knew how stout they were. And in the second half of the race the two flexed their muscle.

The end was fairly anti-climatic. Kenseth led the final 38 laps, an unheard of number in today’s day and age of plate racing, and was never seriously challenged at the end. Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to get around Kenseth’s teammate Greg Biffle for 2nd, but Earnhardt had no chance of passing Kenseth without any drafting help, and obviously, Biffle wasn’t going to be helping a Chevrolet beat his teammate.

However, it almost came to be that Kenseth never got to lead those last 38 laps. And had that stayed true, this Daytona 500 would have gone down as one of the most memorable ever.

NASCAR has a way of having big moments happen when the national television spotlight is brightest. In 1979 when they televised the race flag to flag live for the first time, there was the fight. In 2001, when FOX televised its first race, there was Dale Earnhardt’s death. And, then in 2012 when NASCAR got its first Monday Night race, there was Juan Pablo Montoya and the jet-dryer. Darrell Waltrip likes to say in the booth, “have you ever?” The answer in this case, from anyone who saw this, was, “No”.

Montoya’s escapade into the jet dryer left jet fuel spilling all over the race track in turn three, and the possibility of damage to the track’s surface made it very possible the race would not be restarted. Had that happened, Dave Blaney would be your defending Daytona 500 champion.

Of course, after a lengthy clean-up, and lots of Tide, and Brad Keselowski tweeting pictures from inside his car, the race did re-start. So, as it stands, the Montoya/jet-dryer explosion makes this race memorable. But had it allowed Dave Blaney to be a Daytona 500 winner, it would have been one of the most memorable of all-time.

22. 2006 Daytona 500

With his victory in 2006, Jimmie Johnson has avoided the question that dogged Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip, and now haunts Tony Stewart; Will you ever win the big one?

It wasn’t that the 2006 Daytona 500 wasn’t competitive, there were 32 lead changes among 18 different drivers. It was just that it was…….well, what was it? And there in lies the problem. There is no identity to this edition of the Daytona 500, nothing memorable to stand out. Well, I guess you could count Tony Stewart body slamming Matt Kenseth into the grass down the backstretch, only days after Stewart himself claimed, “We’re going to kill somebody driving like this”. But aside from that?

Perhaps it’s more memorable for Ryan Newman, Dodge, and Chip Ganassi. It was on this night that they realized Casey Mears would opt to help someone from his home state win, and driving a rival team’s car, in a rival manufacturer, as opposed to helping a fellow Dodge. Newman made a move on race leader Jimmie Johnson on the back stretch of the final lap, expecting help from a fellow Dodge lined up behind him. Instead, the Dodge driver decided his allegiances to California were deeper than those to the manufacturer of his race cars, and he Mears stuck with Johnson, handing Johnson the win.

For Johnson it was particularly sweet, as early during Speed Weeks NASCAR had kindly, or maybe not so kindly, escorted Chad Knaus out of the race track, and told him he was not welcome back to the track for six weeks after they found some creative workings of his on the race car to be a little too blatant a smudging of the rules. Interesting enough, the man filling in on the top of the pit box for Knaus was none other than Darian Grubb, he off the 2012 Sprint Cup championship with Tony Stewart.

I feel like there should be more to say here, but, really, there just isn’t. The race was competitive, so it wasn’t boring, and there was drama at the conclusion. There was just something missing…….

21. 1986 Daytona 500

Quite possibly the finest looking race car to ever win a Daytona 500

The 1986 Daytona 500, despite NASCAR’s efforts to slow down the Fords, particularly one built in a tiny shop in Dawsonville, Ga, seemed very similar to its predecessor. Bill Elliott was on the pole, qualifying at over 205 mph….again.

But Elliott’s ’86 Ford wasn’t as dominant as his 1985 model had been. Partly due to NASCAR rules aimed to slow him down, and partly due to the diligence and work of the other teams in the garage, particularly the Chevrolets owned by Richard Childress and upstart owner Rick Hendrick.

Childress and his driver Dale Earnhardt had already established a bit of a rivalry with Rick Hendrick and Geoff Bodine. On track skirmishes were frequent between the two, and even after this Daytona 500, would remain so. So much so, the feud between Rowdy Burns and Cole Trickle, and the meeting with NASCAR at the hospital was modeled after the rivalry between these two Chevy drivers. Bodine had qualified on the outside pole along side Elliott and finished 2nd in his Twin 125 Mile Qualifer…..second to Earnhardt.

The race saw 19 lead changes in the first 113 laps, as the Fords, particularly Elliott, were not able to run away and hide. Elliott was in contention of course, but the race changed dramatically on the 117th lap. Neil Bonnett, who had led 32 laps earlier in the race, had suffered mechanical problems and found himself 18 laps off the pace. Yet, for some reason, he was still up at the front of the pack mixing it up with the leaders. This proved to fatal to the hopes of many contenders. Bonnett broke a wheel on lap 117, and by the time he had collected all he was going to eliminate, he’d ended the hopes of Elliott, Cale Yarborough, Joe Ruttman, Buddy Baker and Tommy Ellis among others. At this point, it was pretty much down to Earnhardt and Bodine.

Bodine would dominate the second half of the race, but many, Bodine included, will tell you it was only because Earnhardt let him. Bodine would later say that as the race wound down, that Earnhardt’s Wrangler Monte Carlo was the faster of the two Chevrolets, even though Bodine led over half of the event.  Bodine held the lead late, but Earnhardt was in the cat bird seat, exactly where he wanted, and needed to be, to win the Daytona 500. Ultimately, it didn’t matter.

Despite pitting one lap AFTER Earnhardt came to pit road, Bodine was able to stretch his fuel to the end, while Earnhardt could not. Earnhardt, likely from frustration and anger at losing the Daytona 500 in heartbreaking fashion (and it would not be the last) slid through his pit, and then when taking off from pit-road, tore something up in the motor, relegating him to a 14th place finish.

For Bodine and Hendrick, it was a sign that the used car salesman from Charlotte was serious about this stock car racing thing. It was the first big win for Hendrick, and as we all know, it would not be his last. For Bodine, this win would easily mark the highlight of his career. It also wouldn’t be the last time a Hendrick car won the Daytona 500 thanks to some impressive fuel mileage.

The budding rivalry between Bodine and Earnhardt had a few more coals added to the fire with this outcome. And for Earnhardt, little did he know how many more tries it would take him to get a Daytona 500, it was already the second time he’d lost one in the closing laps, and as mentioned, it would not be the last time.

Ranking the Daytona 500s of the Last Thirty 30 Years; 26-30

2000 Daytona 500

Dale Jarrett captures his third Daytona 500. Only Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough have more

Rules had been changed prior to the 2000 season for NASCAR’s restrictor plate races, and the result was one of the most boring Daytona 500′s in the sports history. For a race that in years since has seen as many as 74 lead changes, a pass for the lead under green flag conditions simply was not going to happen on this particular Sunday. In fact, for the duration of Speed Weeks, the only passes made for the lead were made immediately after a restart.

None of this of course diminishes what Dale Jarrett and his Robert Yates team accomplished. The defending Winston Cup Champion and two time Daytona 500 winner had been the class of the field all week, so it was probably appropriate that he still won the Daytona 500. The only race that Jarrett did not win that week his Gatorade 125 mile qualifier, as he finished 2nd to Bill Elliott who, took the lead on the opening lap and never relinquished it. Jarrett though had already won the pole for the Daytona 500, and won the Bud Shootout as well.

The race was perhaps best known for the frustration and anger expressed afterwards by Mark Martin. With 14 laps to go, Martin was running second to surprise leader Johnny Benson when he made his move to the outside of Benson’s pontiac in turns one and two. Martin was under the impression that Jarrett, along with fellow Ford drivers Jeff Burton and Bill Elliott, would go with him. Martin was wrong.

Jarrett bailed on Martin, and Burton and Elliott had no choice but to follow Jarrett through on the inside. On a restart with just a handful of laps to go, Jarrett would get underneath Benson coming off of turn two and the Ford contingency, including Martin would follow.

The race only had nine lead changes, and just four over the duration of the final 165 laps in an event that would lead Dale Earnhardt to tell reporters that, “Bill France Sr. probably rolled over in his grave if he saw that”. Ironically, it would be this race that would prompt NASCAR to look into a new rules package for future plate events, and it would be those changes in the rules packages that helped contribute to the events of the 2001 Daytona 500.

29. 1992 Daytona 500

Only two of these cars would remain intact for the finish, robbing us of what could have been a thrilling Daytona 500

Personally, this probably ranks as my least favorite Daytona 500, ever. I wasn’t but 7 years old at the time, but I think this particular race was the first time I ever wished death upon another human being, or said so aloud anyway.

This year marked the first year that my parents hosted a Daytona 500 party as well, and I remember many of my parents friends and some of their children at the house. I remember being very excited for this particular Daytona 500 as well. My favorite driver, Bill Elliott, had qualified on the outside poll and had won his Gatorade 125 Mile Qualifier on Thursday in his first time out driving for Junior Johnson. It was the first time in his career that Elliott had driven for a team other than the family outfit in Dawsonville, and it was off to a smashing success. Throw in the fact that the last time the circuit had come to Daytona in July of 1991 Elliott had been victorious, and I was feeling awfully good about his chances on this Sunday.

This race also marked the final Daytona 500 for Richard Petty, the undisputed “King” of the sport. By the halfway point of the race, both feel good stories were over.

Elliott and teammate Sterling Marlin (the pole sitter) dominated the early portion of the race, leading a combined 56 of the first 91 laps, with Davey Allison leading 28 thanks to a two tire pit stop. In other words, the Junior Johnson cars were the class of the field, and the world knew it.

But on lap 92 everything changed. First Marlin made a move on Elliott, then Irvan made a move on Marlin on the exit of turn two putting the three three abreast across the track. Calamity ensued. Just about anyone who had any chance of winning this race, and certainly anyone who I cared about winning, was involved. Pick a name, Martin, Earnhardt, Petty, Jarrett, Waltrip, Wallace, any of them, they were involved. The only three cars of consequence not involved were Allison, Morgan Shepherd, and Michael Waltrip. Every other contender was eliminated.

I remember crawling up on to my mom’s lap in absolute tears, yelling, “I wanna kill him, I wanna kill him”. The “him” I was referring to was Ernie Irvan. Two years ago at Darlington, while multiple laps in arrears, Irvan had caused a massive crash that effectively ended the career of Neil Bonnet. A year later, Irvan once again caused a massive crash, this time at Talladega, resulting in Kyle Petty suffering a broken leg. Needless to say, Irvan’s nickname of “Swervin Irvan” was well deserved. Unfortunately, this would not be the final time his wreckless and aggressive driving style would cause a problem.

In any event, the accident left Davey Allison with virtually no competition. He easily led all but 10 of the remaining 109 laps on his way to a Daytona 500 victory. In a season where Elliott lost the championship by a mere 10 points, I think one can see why I’m still very bitter about this race.

28. 2009 Daytona 500

Matt Kenseth won the first of two career Daytona 500s in 2009, and it’s almost like nobody knows he even has one

The previously mentioned two Daytona 500s may not have been a very good show to watch, but for their own reasons, they were at least memorable, even if not for something positive. The same cannot be said of the 2009 Daytona 500.

For starters, this was the third Daytona 500 I’d been to in person, and it was the third time I’d been treated to poor weather. So things were already off to a bad start.

Secondly, Kyle Busch led 88 of the races first 120 laps, and if you know anything about my fandom in NASCAR, you know I harbor an extreme dislike of the Busch boys.

Third, the race ultimately did wind up being actually affected by the weather. Rain cut it short after just under 400 miles.

Fourth, the winner, well, he’s about as interesting as a manilla folder. It’s not that I have anything against Matt Kenseth, but he’s not exactly the big name you’re looking to see win if your guy can’t.

As mentioned, Kyle Busch led 88 of the first 120 laps, so I suppose it could have been worse. I could have been forced to watch him win the thing, as it certainly appeared that was going to be the case. However, after a caution on lap 120, Busch found himself out of the lead after pit-stops. And soon after, he found himself out of the race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had already been having a bad day, the issues ranging from picking the wrong lines in traffic, to errors on pit road, to driver mistakes getting on and off pit-road. Apparently the frustrations affected his driving, and on the restart Earnhardt triggered a massive wreck on the backstretch that took out Busch, ending his day early.

Eventually on the restart, Matt Kenseth would work his way around Elliott Sadler, and when the rain fell following a caution for Eric Almirola with Kenseth leading, his place in Daytona history was secure.

27. 2004 Daytona 500

Few Daytona 500 wins were as popular as Junior’s in 2004

Did I mention I was three for three when it came to bad weather at the Daytona 500? Fortunately, the race itself wasn’t impacted by weather in 2004, and in fact, once the show got going, the day turned out to be quite nice. But it didn’t start that way. I distinctly remember having to use my shirt as a koozie so my hands wouldn’t freeze while holding my beer can before the race got going.

Once underway though, the race was anything but exciting. A big crash on the backstretch where Michael Waltrip first unveiled his new roof hatch exit was about it for the excitement of the day.

Tony Stewart used the 2004 Daytona 500 to put into full-gear his apparent quest to join Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip as multi-time NASCAR champions who could win any and everything at Daytona, but for years, be unable to claim a Daytona 500 trophy for themselves.

Dale Earnhardt Jr led the first 29 laps, and the last 20. In between though, Stewart led 98 of 151 laps, and during that stretch, the nine laps led by Jimmie Johnson from laps 44-52 were the most consecutive laps led by anyone not in an orange chevrolet.

The race itself saw the final caution flag fly on lap 72 with the previously mentioned massive pile-up on the back stretch being the final wreck of the day. That, coupled with a rules package that much major emphasis on tire wear, resulted in the field becoming exceptionally spread out.

In fact, for the first time in about ten years, there was no lead “pack” fighting it out for the win. It was just Earnhardt and Stewart. Earnhardt had followed Stewart for much of the mid to late portion of the race, but with twenty to go, and with Stewart’s tires fading, Earnhardt seized the lead and never let it go. In fact, Stewart hardly even was able to put up much of a fight, doing all he could just to keep Earnhardt’s Budweiser chevrolet within reach.

For Earnhardt, winning the Daytona 500 obviously carried special meaning, and perhaps due to that and the popularity of his  victory, this could be ranked a little higher. But those things don’t make up for the fact that the race itself really stunk.

26. 1995 Daytona 500

Sterling Marlin became just the third man to ever win back to back Daytona 500s, joining Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty.

Not since the Elliotts in the 80s had anyone been as dominant at Talladega and Daytona as Sterling Marlin and his Kodak Chevrolet were during the mid 90s. If there was a restrictor plate race to be run, you could bet your bottom dollar that Marlin and his bunch were going to be among the favorites. The Runt Pittman built engines in Marlin’s cars even sounded different, in addition to clearly just being better than anything else on the track.

The year before, Marlin had won his first career race, in the 1994 Daytona 500, marking the 2nd time (Ernie Irvan, 1991) n four years that the Morgan-McClure Racing team had won the Daytona 500. Marlin didn’t visit victory lane again that season, and finished only 14th in the final points standings. He did however finish in the top ten of both Talladega races and also lead six laps in the July race at Daytona.

In 1995 however Marlin and the team would take steps to becoming a more complete team, and a true championship contender. And it started with the Daytona 500.

Marlin’s victory in the 1995 Daytona 500 was the most thorough victory by anyone in the Daytona 500 since Bill Elliott’s wins in 1985 and 1987. A late caution and mini-charge after getting on four fresh tires by Dale Earnhardt were the only things keeping things interesting, and even then, you had to force yourself to believe Earnhardt had any real shot at getting by Marlin.

I remember running across Bill Elliott at an autograph signing a few days after the race, and I asked Elliott if he hadn’t had a flat tire that cost him a lap if he’d had anything for Earnhardt and Marlin. His reply, “We coulda beat Earnhardt, but I don’t know about Marlin”. In other words, the four car was in a whole ‘nother zip code.

Marlin though wasn’t entirely alone in that zip code however. A flat tire didn’t only claim Bill Elliott, it also eliminated the only car that looked like it could run with Marlin; Jeff Gordon. Gordon suffered a flat tire, and on the pit stop to change tires also had the car slightly roll off the jack curling back the left front fender behind the wheel. Those two things combined were enough to eliminate Gordon from contention as he, like Elliott, was never able to make up the lap he’d lost while dealing with his tire issues. Gordon was however, the only guy not named Marlin to lead more than 23 laps. In fact, Gordon led 61 of the races first 98 laps.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Gordon chasing Marlin at the finish, and we were denied a battle between the two best cars on the track, as with Gordon and Marlin leading a combined 166 of 200 laps, we were also denied a show worthy of watching at all.

There were only two green flag passes made for the lead all race long, both of them coming when Dale Earnhardt was passed by Sterling Marlin. Marlin passed him on lap three, and then passed him for good on lap 181. In between, every lead change came during a caution period. Thrilling right?

Earnhardt’s continued quest to finally snare a Daytona 500 was at this point, reason alone to watch any Daytona 500, and the fact that he made something resembling a charge at Marlin late in the going is pretty much all that keeps this from ranking as perhaps the worst Daytona 500 of the last thirty years.

Pre-Bowl Rankings, 1-124

So, it’s late, because bowl games have already begun, but I wanted to get out my ranking of all 124 teams in the FBS level of division 1 football. In doing so, I didn’t go strictly by records, or head to head. It was much more of on a feel basis, as if they all were to line up tomorrow on a neutral field and play each other. The key word being tomorrow. Injuries, and recent performance factor in quite heavily. September results weigh in much, much less than what a team did to close the year. As a result, there will be plenty of arguments based on the Team A beat Team B premise. Oh well. I also refuse to play the daisy chain game. So, in any event, here they are, all 124 teams, in the order of who I think is the best, to the worst, right now.

 

1	Alabama
2	Notre Dame
3	Stanford
4	Oregon
5	Georgia
6	Texas A&M
7	Kansas State
8	Oklahoma
9	LSU
10	Florida
11	Ohio State
12	Oregon State
13	UCLA
14	Vanderbilt
15	South Carolina
16	Florida State
17	USC
18	Texas
19	Clemson
20	Northern Illinois
21	Wisconsin
22	Utah State
23	Kent State
24	Nebraska
25	San Jose State
26	Oklahoma State
27	Louisiana Tech
28	Penn State
29	Ball State
30	San Diego State
31	Toledo
32	Boise State
33	Michigan
34	Arkansas State
35	Fresno State
36	Louisville
37	Baylor
38	Northwestern
39	Louisiana Lafayette
40	Rutgers
41	Texas Tech
42	TCU
43	Cincinnati
44	Michigan State
45	West Virginia
46	Bowling Green
47	Arizona State
48	Syracuse
49	Arizona
50	Ole Miss
51	Mississippi State
52	Louisiana Monroe
53	Nevada
54	North Carolina
55	Miami
56	Washington
57	Pittsburgh
58	Iowa State
59	Arkansas
60	Tulsa
61	Ohio
62	BYU
63	Missouri
64	Tennessee
65	N.C. State
66	Middle Tennessee State
67	Central Florida
68	Virginia Tech
69	Western Kentucky
70	Troy
71	Navy
72	Rice
73	East Carolina
74	SMU
75	Georgia Tech
76	Minnesota
77	Duke
78	Purdue
79	Marshall
80	Connecticut
81	Utah
82	Houston
83	Indiana
84	Iowa
85	Temple
86	Wake Forest
87	Air Force
88	Buffalo
89	Virginia
90	South Florida
91	California
92	Memphis
93	Western Michigan
94	Auburn
95	Central Michigan
96	Miami Ohio
97	UAB
98	Illinois
99	Kentucky
100	Boston College
101	Maryland
102	Wyoming
103	Kansas
104	Colorado State
105	Colorado
106	Washington State
107	UTEP
108	Tulane
109	Eastern Michigan
110	Army
111	Texas State
112	Hawaii
113	Florida International
114	UNLV
115	North Texas
116	New Mexico
117	Florida Atlantic
118	Southern Miss
119	UT San Antonio
120	South Alabama
121	Idaho
122	Massachusetts
123	Akron
124	New Mexico State

 

Georgia Tech to the Big Ten Makes No Sense, At All

Georgia Tech to the Big Ten makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever, and for so many reasons.

1) We have established ACC rivalries. There are no rivalries that could be established with Big Ten teams. None. Northwestern, on the basis of academics, might be the only thing that strikes me as a possibility. But the rest of the conference is already full of established rivals, that Tech isn’t going to break through. I mean, I could maybe see potentially Penn State being one, MAYBE.

1b) The addition of Notre Dame, and it’s a matter of time before they play football full time, presents an opportunity to establish a bit of a rivalry there. The academic rigors make these a good match, and their football history is actually a bit deeper than one probably assumes off the bat. Take advantage of this.

2) We have a seriously costly buyout we’d be forced to pay the ACC. We already are paying an expensive buyout for Paul Hewitt, and it’s very, very possible we are about to be paying one to Paul Johnson as well. So we’re going to scrape up the money to pay the ACC as well?

3) We have a chance in the ACC in football. Hell, we’re playing in our third ACC title game in seven years. Do you know how many SEC championship games Georgia has played in in that time span? Or Florida? Or Alabama? Bama and Florida have each played in three. Georgia, one less. I say this to illustrate, the fact that, in the SEC, those are the “elite” programs and that’s how often they play in conference title games. So in the ACC, as sad as that is for the rest of the league, Tech is one of the big dogs. Only Virginia Tech has played in more, and this will also be the third trip for Florida State.

4) Seriously, let’s ask the fans to shell out even more money to take even longer road trips in this economy. Replace an hour and a half drive to Clemson by making us play in Ann Arbor, or up in Happy Valley. Or maybe, maybe we can travel to Bloomington, Indiana, or even Chicago every other year. Lincoln, Nebraska sounds like a really awesome trip, just like Minneapolis. And, in case you haven’t noticed, which all Tech haters have , we don’t sell our tickets very well to our own fans, at home. We NEED visiting fans to fill the stadium, to help us reach our budget. You think Gophers fans are coming down from Minnesota to a game at Tech? Right. Sure, the big fan bases like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska are appealing in this sense, but you will only get two of them on an every other year basis. It will be like once every 10 years or something for the others, all the while trying to basically sell Duke and Wake Forest on your home schedule, but only having them have to drive from 10 plus hours away.

5) We don’t even have a friggin Athletic Director. So just who the hell anyway would be making this decision? I would think, to switch conferences you are athletically affiliated with, one would first need an A.D. to make such a move…..

So, I hear the rumors, and I think it’s bullshit.

Complete National Rankings; Every Team 1-124

So I decided for this installment of my top 25 to completely throw away any previous rankings, any pre-season expectations, and any conference bias. I just looked at what each team has done through this portion of the season, and judged each team solely on that. Sure, there will be the cases of where team A may have beaten team B and still be ranked behind them, but such is the way of things this late in the season.

I’m sure there will be a lot of disagreement. People may wonder how in the world I can have South Carolina as far down as 16 (losing your best player from a team who, other than the UGA win, hasn’t exactly been super impressive all year doesn’t scream top ten to me). Some may think I’m out of my mind for still considering Florida State ahead of Florida and LSU (aside from one horrible day against N.C. State, they’ve been rather impressive, very impressive, in every game they’ve played, including Clemson, in what has been the only subpar performance by Clemson all year) and deride me for SEC hate.

Some may question why USC is still in the top 15. Well, two close losses to two top ten teams can do that (so does a team still loaded with talent). Fact of the matter is, I think on a neutral field, if they line up tomorrow, USC probably beats anyone I have below them. Feel free to disagree.

And how on earth can I rank Vanderbilt so highly? Northwestern, South Carolina, and Florida will all tell you what a tough opponent the Commodores are. They could conceivably win their next three and finish the year 8-4. You don’t think an 8-4 SEC team deserves such a ranking?

Ohio was at one point a potential BCS buster and a feel good story for everyone. One loss, and now they’re ranked 71st? Yep, that’s when happens when you continuously struggle with inferior opponents, and then finally lose to one.

So let the bashing begin, and feel free to remind me what an idiot I am.

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Kansas State
4. Notre Dame
5. Georgia
6.  Florida State
7.  Florida
8.  LSU
9. Oregon State
10. Stanford
11. Clemson
12. Ohio State
13. Texas A&M
14. Oklahoma
15. USC
16. South Carolina
17. Louisville
18. UCLA
19. Nebraska
20. Louisiana Tech
21. Penn State
22. Texas
23. Northwestern
24. Oklahoma State
25. Michigan
26. Texas Tech
27. Kent State
28. Wisconsin
29. Toledo
30. Rutgers
31. Washington
32. TCU
33. West Virginia
34. Miami
35. Arizona
36. Vanderbilt
37. Michigan State
38. Mississippi State
39. North Carolina
40. Utah State
41. Central Florida
42. Cincinnati
43. Boise State
44. San Jose State
45. Iowa State
46. Ole Miss
47. Arkansas
48. Fresno State
49. Arizona State
50. San Diego State
51. Tulsa
52. Tennessee
53. North Carolina State
54. Navy
55. Utah
56. BYU
57. Virginia Tech
58. Troy
59. Syracuse
60. Nevada
61. Baylor
62. Iowa
63. Pittsburgh
64. Bowling Green
65. Middle Tennessee State
66. Northern Illinois
67. Georgia Tech
68. Ball State
69. Duke
70. Indiana
71. Ohio
72. Missouri
73. Minnesota
74. Miami Ohio
75. North Texas
76. Air Force
77. Western Kentucky
78. Arkansas State
79. Wake Forest
80. California
81. East Carolina
82. Louisiana
83. Virginia
84. Auburn
85. Louisiana Monroe
86. Temple
87. Purdue
88. South Florida
89. Florida Atlantic
90. SMU
91. Illinois
92. UConn
93. Marshall
94. Western Michigan
95. Army
96. Houston
97. Boston College
98. Central Michigan
99. Kentucky
100. Buffalo
101. Maryland
102. Kansas
103. Rice
104. Eastern Michigan
105. Wyoming
106. UTEP
107. Colorado State
108. Colorado
109. Washington State
110. Tulane
111. UAB
112. UNLV
113. New Mexico
114. Texas State
115. Memphis
116. Southern Miss
117. Florida International
118. Texas San Antonio
119. South Alabama
120. Hawaii
121. Idaho
122. New Mexico State
123. Akron
124. UMass

New Top 25; Logjam at the top, Just Who IS #2? Big Ten Making a Comeback

A lot of talk was made of the whipping Florida gave South Carolina, but I’m gonna hold off on that kool-aid for just a second. Yes, they hammered the Gamecocks, however, when you still don’t top 190 yards of total offense, you need to temper the excitement a bit. Personally, I think the other three teams in the top four were more impressive last week. I’ll go so far as to say I thought Oregon and Kansas State were FAR more impressive as well. That said though, beating LSU and South Carolina in the past few weeks certainly holds a lot of water. I’ve said it before, and still say it, you can throw a blanket over teams 2-4 right now.

The loss of Braxton Miller could really hurt Ohio State, as in the last two weeks they’ve been less than convincing in wins over Indiana and Purdue. But, the fact is, they’re still unbeaten. Notre Dame wasn’t exactly impressive either, but they too remain perfect. That tilt with Oklahoma this week is going to be huge. Two storied programs, any hopes of a national title on the line for both, should be great.

Speaking of Oklahoma, that loss to Kansas State looks less and and less damning as the season goes on. Perhaps the Sooners have been underrated. We’ll see soon enough.

I’ve railed on the Big Ten all year, and it got off to a pretty bad start with Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin all suffering underwhelming losses out of conference early on in the year. However, the superior teams in the Big Ten have begun to assert themselves, and all have the looks of solid top 25 teams. Nebraska in particular, broke Northwestern’s heart last week.

I’m really looking forward to seeing Mississippi State play Alabama. The Bulldogs are off to a fantastic start, and a lot of people are saying ‘Bama hasn’t really been tested yet. We have a chance to learn a lot about both teams this week. Though, I get a feeling that if ‘Bama doesn’t blow them out, you’re going to be hearing from Oregon, Florida and Kansas State fans that it won’t be because Mississippi State is that good, but that ‘Bama is overrated.

1.  Alabama

2.  Oregon

3. Florida

4.  Kansas State

5.  Ohio State

6.  Notre Dame

7.  Oklahoma

8.  LSU

9.  USC

10.Mississippi State

11.Florida State

12.Oregon State

13.Louisville

14.South Carolina

15.Clemson

16.Rutgers

17.Georgia

18.Texas Tech

19.Ohio

20.Nebraska

21.Wisconsin

22.Texas A&M

23.Michigan

24.Penn State

25.Louisiana Tech

Others

West Virginia

Texas

UCLA

Stanford

Toledo

Cincinnati

TCU

Northwestern

N.C. State

Tulsa

Get Off Lance Armstrong’s Nut

Cheating: to break rules to gain an advantage: to break rules in a game, examination, or contest in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage

So in a sport where it’s been pretty much proven that everybody who has won anything in recent years is cheating, then how is it considered cheating? In that definition, “to gain advantage” seems to be a key part of what it means to cheat. So if everyone is “cheating”, what advantage is being gained?

This isn’t like baseball, where some guys were juiced, and others weren’t. This is a sport that is as “dirty” as they come. This sport goes beyond the old NASCAR saying of, “if you ain’t cheatin’ you ain’t tryin’”. In this sport, if you aren’t cheating, you likely don’t even exist.

In baseball, if you want to do things the clean way, and the honorable way, you can do that. You won’t hit 65 homeruns, and you might suffer some injuries, but you can still go out and be a legendary player. Ask Chipper Jones. You don’t have to cheat to still have success. In baseball, you don’t have to be the very best baseball player on the planet for people to know who you are, for your efforts to be worth while, to have a chance of making any kind of career out of it.

But for a cyclist? Name me someone who finished second to Armstrong in one of his seven Tour de France victories……waiting……It’s probably not even that easy to look up. Okay, it probably is, but still, the point is made. If you are a cyclist, or a track runner, or any one of those individual sport athletes that only gets a few stages a year, if that many, to shine on, you have to be the best. No, not among the best, not just good enough to be in the show, you have to be the absolute best of the best, otherwise, nobody has a clue who you are. And if nobody knows who you are, you’re not making any money.

So get off your high horses about how Lance Armstrong has let you down by being a “cheater”. You can sit there all you want and say you wouldn’t have ever done it. Bulls**t. If that was your life, that was your dream, that was your everything, and you saw the people standing in your way of achieving it doing it, knowing you had no chance of overtaking them unless you did it yourself;  If you even then still wouldn’t do it, you’re a bigger person than I, and most everyone else on the face of the earth.

So Lance Armstrong took some steroids……Okay. Did he not still come back from cancer? Did he not still defeat all those other cyclists seven consecutive times? Cyclists, who mind you, were on the same sort of chemical enhancement.

Lance Armstrong didn’t take steroids to beat them. He took steroids to keep the playing field level. And then he beat them.

Now, if you want to talk about him lying about the steroids, that’s a slightly different topic. But what did you want him to do? Come clean immediately, fess up, even though he’d done this well enough to be competitive, and not get caught? Why? So he could see all the work he had done for the cancer community immediately come undone?

Yes, at this point, he has stepped down from his position with the Livestrong organization, but would you have preferred this happen sooner? Why? So less people would be aware of cancer? Less people would be aware of it? Sounds reasonable.

Had Lance Armstrong decided to go about his return to cycling in the clean, “honorable” way. Nobody would have the slightest clue who he even is. Do you know how many additional people aside from those who knew him he would have made more aware of cancer? Zero. Do you know how many dollars he would have raised? Zero. Do you know how many people he would have inspired? Zero. So yeah, shame on you Lance, you didn’t do the “honorable” thing. All you did was provide hope and inspiration, awareness, and raised money, for a horrible disease. I don’t know I could even look at you.

The argument that he shouldn’t have had to cheat is naive, and uninformed. Plain and simple. Lance Armstrong had a mission, and without the use of steroids he never could have accomplished it.

So quit villifying him for it. If anything, villify the sport that let doping get so out of control that any hope whatsoever of competing depended on one’s willingness to do so.

Do not villify the man who defeated cancer, then set out to complete a mission of achieving his dream of winning the Tour de France and of bringing this disease to the attention of millions of people with the hope of one day defeating it. And he did this the same way he beat cancer, he did everything he possibly could and had to do, to do it.