We promised the college football season would not disappoint for the fans that thirst for upsets, surprises, and excitement. Entering the season there were a number stories surrounding college football to keep an eye on and now since the start of the season there has been even more shocking headlines to emerge. With only 3 weeks of football in the books, what will happen next? We take a look at the Top 10 biggest headlines to date early in the 2009 College Football Season as we prepare for even bigger stories as the year progresses.

#10. Ohio State Buckeyes “Big Hump”

Ohio State entered the 2009 season with tons of anticipation behind their new star quarterback Terrelle Pryor. However, the one common agreement among college football enthusiasts is that the Buckeyes would need to finally win the big games. The Buckeyes knew they would have to beat USC this season if there was to be any glory. However, the Buckeyes failed to deliver yet again losing 18-15. The focus now turns back to salvaging the Big Ten Title and possibly making a BCS Bowl Game. Ohio State is now 0-4 against Top 5 teams over the last two seasons not to mention losing 3 straight losses in BCS Bowl Games over the last 3 seasons. If the Buckeyes are to return to the National Championship stage, they must find a way to get over the hump against the top teams in the country.

#9. “BCS Busters”

Heading into the 2009 season there was tons of talks surrounding the “BCS Busters.” Teams that were outside of BCS conferences played well in 2008 highlighted by Utah who took down Alabama out of the mighty SEC in the Sugar Bowl. BYU seemed to be the most likely candidate for this season after upsetting Oklahoma in week 1. However last Saturday both BYU and Utah suffered critical losses. It now appears that the non-BCS teams have their work cut out for them if they are to somehow make noise again in the 2009 postseason. Only Boise State and TCU has legitimate opportunities remaining. TCU still has a difficult schedule with meetings with Clemson and BYU. If any team is to become a BCS Buster this year it will likely be the guys in blue out of Boise State.

#8. ‘Rich Rod’ “Under Fire”

Coach Rich Rodriguez had much higher expectations for his first season in Ann Arbor in 2008. After introducing the spread offense at West Virginia, Rodriguez was considered a modern day mastermind with the headset. Anticipation was high in the “Big House” for the 2008 season, but the Wolverines just managed a 3-9 record struggling all season on the offensive side of the ball. However, the Wolverines have found confidence in year 2 of the Rodriguez campaign and are off to a solid 3-0 record including a big victory over Notre Dame 38-34. With the restored faith from Michigan faithful, perhaps in time Michigan will return to the national prominence.

#7. Blount “Punch seen around the world”

Do you think college football fans were disappointed after the opening night of the season for 2009? As Boise State and Oregon took center stage on the opening night of football, football fans tuned in around the world to the first meeting between top 25 teams in a premier match-up on Thursday night. Oregon came out flat and was never able to get things rolling in the game. The Broncos rolled in a low scoring 19-8 victory. However, it was the post game activity that had everyone in America talking that Friday morning. Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount was held to an ineffective performance on the playing field. Frustration reached its boiling point after the game when Blount was taunted by Broncos Bryon Hout who taunted the Ducks tailback during post celebration. However, things took a quick and sudden turn when Blount landed a right jab that sent Hout to his knees. Making matters worse, Blount was out of control while ushers attempted to escort him off the field making moves towards Boise State fans on the exit ramp. The “punch” ended Blount’s career as he was suspended for the rest of the season while this was his anticipated senior season.

#6. The SEC

One of the biggest questions heading into the season was if anyone would be able to stop the SEC from their 4th consecutive National Championship? All indications early on say no. The Florida Gators entered the season with the most 1st place votes in history. Until last week’s 23-13 victory over the Tennessee, the Gators seemed invincible. However, they are still going to be extremely difficult to beat. Also, the likes of Alabama and Mississippi have joined the Gators making up 3 of the top 5 teams in the country. Throw LSU in the picture at number 7 and the SEC is controlling the top of the rankings and it appears they will have their share of teams in BCS Bowls this year. With the former top 5 teams like Oklahoma, USC, and Oklahoma State already suffering losses, the best conference in football looks like they have all the making to bring home another crown.

#5. California at its “Best”

If you paid attention to any of our preseason conference breakdowns, we warned that the Pac-10 would be wide open this season. USC is under the control of a freshman quarterback and Oregon does not appear to be the front runner many thought they could be. While much of the Pac-10 is struggling, California is striving. The Golden Bears have climbed the polls to number 6 in the country with a 3-0 start outscoring opponents 146-41 in the process. One of the main factors in the Golden Bears success is no surprise by the name of Jahvid Best. The star running back is averaging a lucrative 7.8 yards per carry and already has 8 touchdowns in just 3 games which also have him catching some Heisman Trophy attention. Best is undoubtedly the top running back in the land and he has the Golden Bears prime success. If California contends to roll and can take out USC at home on October 3rd, then Best could lead the Golden Bears back to the BCS or even National Title stage.

#4. Trojans Fall

The USC Trojans entered the season ranked 3rd in the country, but the story surrounding the team evolved around freshman quarterback Matt Barkley. Barkley is the first ever freshman to start at quarterback for the Trojans. While the Trojans returned numerous starters on the offensive side of the ball, many figured they would not be as dominate as they have been over the Pac-10 in year’s past. However, nobody expected the Trojans would lose their first game of the year to Washington. The Huskies were winless last year at 0-12, but pulled off an amazing upset over USC kicking a field goal in the final seconds to lift the Huskies to a 16-13 victory. The Trojans losing seemed inevitable, but who would have thought it would have come from one of the bottom dwellers in the Pac-10. Now the question is will they be able to salvage a chance at their 8th straight Pac-10 Championship?

#3. The Return of the U

Entering the season there may have been no other team in the country with more concerns at quarterback than the Miami Hurricanes. After backups Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith announced plans to transfer, the Hurricanes were looking very thin at the most important position on the field. However, sophomore Jacory Harris has ended all concerns at the quarterback position. Harris has been spectacular in charge of the Miami passing attack. The Hurricanes have been absolutely dominant through the air averaging 328 yards each of their first two games. The emergence of the offense has contributed to Miami knocking off two straight Top 25 teams while looking unstoppable on offense. The Hurricanes who entered the season outside of the Top 25, have vaulted all the way to a number 9 national ranking. If the passing game continues to roll, Miami has all chances at contending for an ACC Championship. Perhaps their biggest test of the year will come this weekend when they travel to Blacksburg to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies.

#2. Sooners and Bradford Go Down

The return of the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford had expectations riding high for the Sooners. Oklahoma sported the best offense in the country last season averaging over 50 points per game including an NCAA record 5 straight games over 60 points. The beloved offense was supposed to lead the Sooners to another shot at the National Championship after falling last year in the championship game to Florida. However, Oklahoma never made it past week 1 before those dreams were shattered. Oklahoma was upset by BYU 14-13. Not only did the Sooners offense fail to produce, but they lost Sam Bradford to a shoulder injury during the game as well. The loss ended most chances at contending for a National Championship, but any shot Bradford may have had at repeating for a 2nd straight Heisman Trophy.

#1. Gators “Road to Glory”

The biggest question of the year has yet to be answered, but it remains at the top of the list. The Florida Gators have already won two National Championships in just 3 seasons and are now big favorites to repeat again. The Gators entered the season as an overwhelming favorite and blew out their fist two inferior opponents 118-9. The Gators defense returned all 11 starters, and of course on offense they have the heralded former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. All indications show that Tebow is the front runner for another Heisman Trophy, but it is still early in the season. The Gators appeared untouchable until Tennessee kept the game close last week 23-13. Florida has already rewritten a bunch of pages in the record books. However, if they are to win another National Championship they will likely be considered the greatest team of the modern era. As for Tebow, he is already considered one of the greatest college football players of all time and winning another Heisman Trophy would concrete his legacy for all eternity.

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The National Football League, along with the NCAA and the other professional sports leagues in the United States, have filed suit against the state of Delaware (on July 24, 2009) to prevent legal sports betting from taking place. The state of Delaware passed a law (on May 12, 2009) which gives the state the right to allow and accept legal sports wagers. The newly passed law would, in-turn, make Delaware the 4th state in the U.S. to allow legal wagering on major sporting events. However, the NFL has led other sports organizations in legal battles opposing the state of Delaware’s legislation. The NFL claims that sports betting “would irreparably harm professional and amateur sports by fostering suspicion and skepticism that individual plays and final scores of games may have been influenced by factors other than honest athletic competition.”

These actions from the NFL, and the great lengths the league has gone in opposing this new law has escalated a new nationwide debate amongst sports bettors and sports fans alike. Many fans and discerning voices have questioned why the NFL would spend millions of dollars tackling an issue as large as sports betting.  After all, most would agree that preventing football betting would seriously jeopardize the NFL’s popularity.  Other sports writers and fellow bloggers across the web have voiced their displeasure in the NFL’s actions, stating that the league’s actions are extremely hypocritical, and that the true motives behind the NFL’s fight are being concealed from the public.

The NFL has long been the leader of major sports in the United States. However, their firm stand opposing legal sports betting has produced a lot of mixed emotions. Most people would question why the league would contest the sports betting industry when it promotes so much attention to the NFL. The NFL states that the intentions behind their actions are to keep illegal favoritism out of pro football. However, their stance is a completely unfair assumption to connect that type of illegal activity with the sports betting industry as a whole.  Wouldn’t legalization and more regulation make it easier to spot the cheats and scandals in their game?  One would think that a computerized system taking bets would be more likely to notice a fix or irregular betting patterns then many illegal bookies.  Perhaps the National Football League is worried that some of the gambling issues that have risen in sports like baseball and basketball will carry over into the NFL. Over the past few years there have been cases where players, coaches, and referees have wagered on sports, meaning their actions may have threatened the true outcome of the game. If that were to happen in professional football, it would have a much bigger impact on the sport. However those instances, where “unfair favoritism” has been questioned in sports, have been very rare occurrences; Most of those instances were related to illegal sports betting operations rather then a legal and regulated type of sports betting.

The NFL’s fight against legal and regulated sports betting also shows less faith in the league’s own governing body and the people that are hired to make sure the game is “on the up and up.” Does the NFL really think that the referees they hire would show favoritism in any relation to sports betting? If a referee or any other type of league official were subject to some type of influential favoritism, then perhaps they should have never been given that opportunity or job in the first place.  Instead of spending millions on legal teams to fight online gambling, perhaps the league could put their money toward hiring and testing full-time officials; refs that work all year round, which in turn would improve the overall quality of the game.  If the NFL wants to spend millions cleaning up the “integrity” of the league, perhaps they could put that money toward hiring better referees and actually improving the screening and testing that these officials are put to.  I am sure most would agree that there are more productive ways to spend millions of dollars (toward improving the quality and the integrity of the sport) then to spend it on bunch of lawyers. It makes you wonder who is really making these decisions.

NFL may be in a losing battle here as they are contesting not only an industry that allies their own popularity, but they are also taking on issues like personal rights. Most people would agree, whether you approve or oppose legalized sports betting, that any type of gambling is, and should continue to be a personal right that one can participate in by choice. Along with personal rights, the NFL is trying to prevent policy that could generate billions in revenue for the states, which in turn would help a dire economy; taking money away from illegal betting operations, turning them into regulated and controlled business enterprises.  Again, most would also agree that legal and regulated businesses are much less open to corruption then illegal bookmaking operations, often run by the mob and criminal enterprises.  Does the NFL really have the power and money to prevent an industry from legally flourishing, which in turn could create millions of jobs and bring in billions of revenue for state and federal governments?

People must abide by governing laws, but the National Football League is suggesting that even legal types of sports betting are wrongful by nature and will negatively impact all sports by producing the possibility of “unfair competition”.  However, many issues of possible “corruption” and “unfair competition” are even questioned today, in NFL games over the past few years; instances where favoritism was perhaps being shown to teams with larger fan bases (or teams who are bet on less with bookmakers).  Many people have raised their own “fair competition” issues following games where there public is clearly betting on one side and the opposite side seems to somehow cover the spread on what fans would characterize as “unfair” and “skeptical” calls by officials.

An excellent example of this would be in the 2008 regular season Chargers vs. Steelers game (on 11/16/08).  In this game, a last second, and 100% meaningless (to the winner of the game), touchdown by the Steelers would have produced a win for all the people who bet on Pittsburgh (-4 points) that day.  This touchdown (which would have put Pittsburgh up by 8) was removed and taken off the board without any explanation by the officials (video).   Immediately after the game, the league stated that this was a “mistake” by the officials.  The “removed touchdown mistake” ended up making all Steelers bets losses.  The Steelers just happened to be the most commonly bet NFL wager of the day on that Sunday (with over 10 million dollars in action on them).  As a result, this “removed touchdown mistake” (which was discussed for 15 minutes by the officials with no time on the clock) ended up generating tens of millions of dollars in gambling profits for the Vegas casinos and illegal bookmakers.  This “mistake”, for some reason, took the game’s officials fifteen minutes discuss and eventually make (while zero seconds were left on the clock).  Despite the fact that the 15 minute discussion HAD NO BEARING ON WHO WOULD WIN THE GAME (only the cover was decided by the call), they still spent considerable time discussing it (I wonder why).  This “mistake” sure did work out well for Vegas and illegal bookmaking operators.  Now, after seeing this, I am supposed to believe the NFL when they tell us that a completely regulated (and 100% legal) form of sports betting in Delaware would actually increase skepticism by fans; and at the same time, also increase fixed games by officials.  Personally, I find that to be entirely unreasonable speculation (and quite frankly, completely hypocritical).  That game was clear evidence that the referees are 100% aware of the game’s spread.

Again, the NFL (and many other sports leagues in this fight) could take the money (and the time) that they are currently putting behind this fight (to prevent legal betting), and spend it on increasing regulation in their own sport, in effort to prevent cheats, sports betting scandals, and “mistakes” by their referees.  But, an overall opposition to the legalization of sports betting and firm stance against all types of betting seems to baffle the NFL’s fans; whom have knowledge on the subject. Why would the NFL want to prevent this?

For the most part, the NFL has done a good job throughout their history at keeping instances of cheating and “unfair competition” from evolving.  It is very unlikely that a legal and controlled sports betting industry could change those values; not to mention how the NFL is villainizing their fans who actively participate in legal betting, by suggesting that all types of sports gambling are wrongful by nature. This article is not an attempt to debate whether or not sports betting (in general) is morally right or wrong, but new legalization laws shouldn’t give the NFL the right to have their own preference towards the gambling industry and state law. It’s just not their decision to make.

This particular story has grown into a much bigger issue and debate outside of the state of Delaware. I have to ask…If the NFL opposes the Delaware sports betting legislation, does this mean they also oppose all other states that allow legal sports betting? Why don’t they feel the need to oppose the sports betting laws in Las Vegas? Why release injury reports a week before the game to the general public?  If sports betting as a whole were to cease existence as of today, the National Football League would feel a tremendous impact. The NFL television ratings would take catastrophic drops.  Think of all the sports bettors that tune in every Sunday to games after making a wager or filling a parlay card in hopes to make a few bucks. One thing sports betting does provide, is an uncontested excitement to the games, whether the wager is large or small.  Those who appreciate that very excitement would not have nearly as much interest in the NFL or sports as a whole. However, I believe the real issue here lies in the NFL’s firm stance to prevent a person from making their own choice. The National Football League should not have the right to insist that those who participate in sports betting are doing wrong.

For any free-thinker and general skeptic, this entire issue and debate has to raise other questions. Some of the  questions one might ask include;

Are there perhaps other motivations behind the NFL’s fight to stop legal sports betting in the United States?

Why would the NFL care if Delaware legalizes betting similar to the type of sports wagering that goes on in Las Vegas and other legal venues?  Why don’t they take Nevada to court?

If the NFL is so extremely anti-gambling, why doesn’t the league assist the authorities in cracking down on illegal bookmaking operations.

Why doesn’t the NFL put all the money they are using on lawyers into increasing the league’s own conduct and integrity (if that’s what they care so much about)?

If you get answers to these questions from the league, please let me know.  The truth is, there are so many much bigger issues that the NFL could (and should) be focusing their attention on, rather than blurring the lines of such a personal issue that would most likely have no impact on the actual game.

Perhaps one of their focuses could be an actual effort to keep their athletes safe off the field (and away from criminal activity). In the last year, the NFL has lost two star players (in Sean Taylor and the retired Steve McNair) from murders.  Additionally, NFL players are constantly filling up newspaper headlines in reference to criminal activity. Meanwhile, (instead of fixing the game’s real problems) the NFL is trying to control their fans (preventing them from placing a $100 bet on the game) when at the same time, the league can’t even control their own players.  The NFL is actually attempting to tackle a legislative issue in order to prevent their fans from participating in a safe, legal, and what would be, a completly regulated activity.  At the same time, they can’t even keep their own employees from criminal, unlawful, and harmful behavior.

Is it really worth the time and money to go to a legal war with an industry that has helped make the NFL the leading sports association in the world; particularly when the league has so many other problems that need addressing?  If you ask me, it flat out does not make any sense at all.

What do you think?  Let the Bankroll Sports staff and other NFL fans aware of your thoughts on this major issue by leaving your comments below…

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NFL/College Football News & Headlines Cycle:

• 49ers.com; 49ers Sign Rookie (QB) Nate Davis To A 4-Year Deal
• AnnArbor.com; Wolverine Sophomore Corner Arrested
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• 12th Man Rising; Seahawks Sign Sophomore (WR) Deon Butler 
• NFL.com; Cribbs & The Browns To Meet Again To Discuss Contract
• NFL.com; Lions Trade (WR) Ronald Curry To The Rams For (DT) Orien Harris
• Fox Sports; Vikings Sign All-Pro Corner Antoine Winfield To 5-Year Extension
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• Major League Jerk; The SEC’s New TV Deal; Fan’s Perspective
• College Sports Fans; 2009 Big East Conference Preview & Picks
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2009 Fantasy Football Cycle:

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• Fantasy Football Info; 2009 Draft Cheat Sheet With Detailed Analysis
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Football News & Info Cycle:

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Fantasy Football Cycle:

• Sharapova’s Thigh; Ranks The Top Running Backs For Keeper Leagues
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• CBB – Connecticut Violates NCAA Recuiting Rules (Yahoo News)
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