Xtra Point Football is proud to announce its association with Rivalspot. Rivalspot is an innovative company helping lead the charge in providing video-gamers a place to put their money where their mouth is, letting users play for money in 100% legal video-game tournaments.
The folks at Rivalspot have been accommodating enough to organize a FREE Xtra Point Football EA Sports Madden 11 Tournament. Any of our readers are welcome to enter with the winner receiving a free copy of Madden 11 or any other game that Rivalspot offers.
We will have two tournaments; one for X-Box360 users and one for PS3 users.
The tournaments will be held 7:00-11:00pm EST on Friday, August 27th.
As mentioned, this first tournament will be free to enter. You must be 18 years of age to enter and compete in RivalSpot sponsored game.
The Champion of the Xbox360 and PS3 tournament will each receiving a free copy of Madden 11 or any other game that Rivalspot offers.
These two free tournaments will have 16 slots and will be on a 1st come first serve basis.
CLICK HERE to register with Rivalspot and enter the Xtra Point Football Madden 11 Tournament.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DEPOSIT ANY MONEY TO ENTER
After the tournament is over, go ahead and test your skills against other Xtra Point Football readers by entering in tournaments and challenge games to win some real money.
Things you have to do BEFORE participating in RivalSpot challenge games and tournaments.
1) IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY. Go to EASports.com and register an account. Follow the step by stem instructions that will tie your XBOX/PS3 gamertag to your EA account. 2) To check if your account is set up properly, replace XXX in the links below with your gamertag, and your recent activity will be shown: PS3: http://www.easports.com/player-hub/ps3/xxx XBox360: http://www.easports.com/player-hub/360/xxx 3) Any other questions, check out the Rivalspot FAQ.
Head over to Rivalspot and get the job done. Both Tournaments can be found at the 'FEATURED TOURNAMENTS' Link under the "TOURNAMENTS" Tab.
For those of you interested in playing EA Sports NCAA 11, you can play that too. All you have to do is register. After your all set-up, goto the NCAA Lobby by clicking LOBBIES & CHALLENGES and then going to NCAA Football Arena
Good luck and good gaming.
P.S. - I'll see you online. Just try to beat me in a $5 game and see what happens as your head spins like an owl as I send blitz packages after you that Rex Ryan's hasn't even thought of yet. Then let's see how you respond as your defense crumbles and wilts under the pressure of my relentless running attack. And then when you least expect it, and I insult your manhood and run the "fumblerooskie / hook-and-lateral" on you; we'll see what kind of will you have. Or you can just give me your $5 now and save the embarrassment.... - Mike Cardano
A recap of what went down and what you should take away from the past week in college football.
Injuries continue to pop up across the nation in the worst possible way. The AP Poll released its preseason edition. The Mountain West got two stronger, but did they lose one of their strongest members and, as a result, their chances to become one of the privileged AQ conferences? The Mountain West has also been in discussions with another conference regarding a play-in for the BCS. Will the BCS go for it?
Recapping the week in 500 words or less, this is what we learned about the upcoming season:
The MWC has reportedly held discussions with Conference USA regarding a 'play-in' in which the two conference champions would square off with the winner receiving an automatic BCS berth. Something tells me that the BCS won't like this idea, or any idea that has 'PLAYOFF GAME' written all over it.
After returning to Iowa and participating in practices, running back Brandon Wegher has again left the team for personal reasons. His head coach has been supportive, telling FOX Sports Radio, "I'm totally respectful of his intentions and desires, and I think he just needs a little time right now, a little space to sort a few things out." His return is no guarantee, although the coaching staff remains hopeful that he returns at some point.
Other teams across the nation will also be without some key players. Here's a quick rundown of players that were lost to injury or suspension in the past week: Connecticut- Marcus Campbell (injury, entire season); Washington- Delontae Cooper (injury, entire season); Florida State- Dionte Allen (transfer), Nigel Carr (released from scholarship); Oklahoma- Austin Box (injury, 3-6 weeks); Michigan- Troy Woolfolk (injury, expected to miss season); Texas- Trey Graham (injury, entire season); Kansas- Jacoby Thomas (academics, dismissed from team); Syracuse- Ri'Shard Anderson (injury, entire season); Miami- LaRon Byrd (injury, questionable for opener); Rutgers- Quoron Pratt (injury, up to a month); South Carolina- Quintin Richardson (indefinitely suspended).
Some quarterback battles became a little less murky last week. Kale Pick will be the man at Kansas, while Colorado State will start true freshman Pete Thomas. In Colorado, Tyler Hansen won the job.
Michigan received a bit of a scare when rumors surfaced that Tate Forcier asked for a transfer. Forcier's father, however, shot down the rumors according to Tom VanHaaren of MGoBlog.com.
Between now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily.
2009 final record (overall, conference): 13-1, 8-0 Bowl Game:Sugar Bowl (W 51-24 vs. Cincinnati) Final Ranking (AP, Coaches'): 3, 3 Conference finish:1st SEC East Offensive rank: 6 Defensive rank: 4
October 2 @ Alabama: This could be a prequel to yet another Florida/Alabama SEC Championship. These teams last met in the regular season in Florida's 2006 championship year with the Gators winning 28-13 in Gainesville. The Tide won the previous year by a score of 31-3 in Tuscaloosa.
October 9 vs. LSU: Florida gets the West's top two teams this season in back to back weeks. If they split the two games, they're in pretty good shape with just once loss in the SEC. While these two games could get more fanfare, a matchup a few weeks later could make or break Florida's 2010 season…
October 30 vs. Georgia: So it's a pretty rough October for the Gators. They'll have to be careful not to drop one against Tennessee in Knoxville, will face an early season challenge against a hungry South Florida team and finish the year against arch rival Florida State. However, Georgia presents a great opportunity for Florida to drop one whole game in the East standings against a Bulldogs team who deserve more respect than they've been getting this preseason.
November 27 @ Florida State: It may not matter in the SEC, but arch rival Florida State, who should be much improved in 2010, in hostile territory is nonetheless one of the bigger games on the Gators' schedule. If they get their shot in the SEC title game, their bowl fate will be decided then. But a win or loss against the Seminoles could do a lot to determine where the Gators will play their bowl game should they fail to win the SEC.
AP:4
Coaches': 3
Key Losses
Tim Tebow, QB; Riley Cooper, WR; Aaron Hernandez, TE; Maurkice Pouncey, C; Carlos Dunlap, DE; Jermaine Cunningham, DE; Brandon Spikes, LB; Ryan Stamper, LB; Joe Haden, CB; Major Wright, S
Key Returning Players
Jeff Demps, RB; Emmanuel Moody, RB; Deonte Thompson, WR; Mike Pouncey, C; Brandon Hicks, LB; Janoris Jenkins, CB; Ahmad Black, S
Between now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily.
2009 final record (overall, conference): 8-5, 4-4 Bowl Game:Independence Bowl (W 44-20 vs. Texas A&M) Final Ranking (AP, Coaches'): NR, NR Conference finish:2nd SEC East Offensive rank: 75 Defensive rank: 38
October 30 vs. Florida: Plain and simple: win this one and they're East champs with a shot at the SEC title. Losing five of the last six matchups against the Gators doesn't bode well, but with Florida losing plenty of talent to the NFL and Georgia returning talent where it counts, this should be a good opportunity for the Bulldogs to turn their luck around in the annual Jacksonville matchup.
The rest of the SEC schedule: Of course, if they want to be in a position to win the East with a victory over the Gators, they'll have to take care of business against the rest of the conference. They luck out tremendously getting a relatively soft SEC schedule in a year Alabama and Florida have a few unproven question marks. The toughest road game is against Auburn, with South Carolina, Mississippi State and Kentucky also on the road. Tennessee comes to Athens, as does Vandy and Arkansas, and as mentioned above, the Florida game is at a neutral site.
AP:N/A
Coaches': 21
Key Losses
Joe Cox, QB; Geno Atkins, DT; Jeff Owens, DT; Rennie Curran, LB; Reshad Jones, S
Is your favorite NFL team aggressive upon crossing mid field or do they frustrate you with 3rd and 20 draws? Can they throw the ball with confidence in the shadow of their own end zone? Are they able to routinely move the ball in short yardage situations? How about two point conversions, do they make them at a higher percentage than the league average? Can they regularly convert third downs sustaining drives? When they have a lead in the 4th quarter, can they matriculate the ball down the field and burn time off the clock?
How about the defense, can they generate a pass rush without blitzing? When they do blitz, can the corners cover one on one? Can they stop the run? Are they creative or predictable? Do they drop linemen and send backers or do they sit back have the chains moved on them all day. Can they get off the field on third down or does the punt return team only get to play in practice? Does their prevent defense prevent the long ball or prevent them from winning?
Each week our own Hank Koebler comes up with a suggestion for a different NFL team to help play to their teams strengths, guard against their weaknesses, take advantage of upcoming mismatches and attack vulnerabilities of the other teams defense or offense.
In this segment, Hank tells the Pittsburgh Steelers to TRY THIS!
Between now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily.
2009 final record (overall, conference): 7-6, 3-5 Bowl Game:PapaJohns.com Bowl (L 20-7 vs. Connecticut) Final Ranking (AP, Coaches'): NR, NR Conference finish:5th SEC East Offensive rank: 82 Defensive rank: 15
2009 Individual Statistical Leaders
Rushing:Kenny Miles, 626 yards, 1 TD Passing: Stephen Garcia, 2,862 yards, 17 TD, 10 INT Receiving:JAlshon Jeffery, 763 yards, 6 TD Tackles:Shaq Wilson, 85 total tackles; Eric Norwood, 81 total tackles Sacks:Eric Norwood and Cliff Matthews, 7 sacks (7 solo) Interceptions:Eric Norwood, 2 interceptions (1 touchdown)
2010 Season Outlook
Schedule
(* denotes conference game)
Key Matchups
September 11 vs. Georgia: This is a tough way to open conference play, but at least they get the Bulldogs at home. Getting off on the right foot against one of the SEC's better teams would be a nice boost for a team with such a tough schedule ahead of them.
September 25 @ Auburn: This is the first road test of the season and it comes against a pretty tough Tigers team. The talent is there to pull out a victory, which would be nice considering they get the defending champs the next game.
October 16-30 @ Kentucky, @ Vanderbilt, vs. Tennessee: Winning the softer matchups in their own division will be important if this team hopes to finish in its upper half. Kentucky and Vanderbilt should be wins and Tennessee was in a rebuilding year before injuries and off-field issues wreaked havoc on the depth chart.
November 27 @ Clemson: It won't affect the conference record, but heading into the bowl season (hopefully) coming off a win over in-state rival Clemson would be huge.
AP:N/A
Coaches': Not Ranked
Key Losses
Moe Brown, WR; Clifton Geathers, DE; Eric Norwood, LB; Darian Stewart, S
Key Returning Players
Stephen Garcia, QB; Alshon Jeffery, WR; Weslye Saunders, TE; Jarriel King, G; T.J. Johnson, C; Cliff Matthews, DE; Ladi Ajiboye, DT; Shaq Wilson, LB; Stephon Gilmore, CB; Chris Culliver, CB
&amBetween now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily.
2009 final record (overall, conference): 2-10, 0-8 Bowl Game:Chick-fil-A Bowl (L 37-14 vs. Virginia Tech) Final Ranking (AP, Coaches'): NR, NR Conference finish:6th SEC East Offensive rank: 110 Defensive rank: 56
September 4 vs. Northwestern: After this one is LSU at home, Ole Miss in Oxford and Connecticut in East Hartford. If they don't beat Northwestern, where they'll also be the underdog, they're likely to start their season 0-4 before…
October 9 vs. Eastern Michigan: This is the one game that should be a guaranteed Commodore victory. If wins were handed out without playing the games, Vandy would finish the year 1-11.
November 27 vs. Wake Forest: The Commodores haven't beaten Wake Forest since 2005 when Vandy went 5-6. This is one of the teams that they may have a better chance of beating, and would be a nice way to close Robbie Caldwell's first year as head coach.
AP:N/A
Coaches': Not Ranked
Key Losses
Thomas Welch, OT; Bradley Vierling, C; Broderick Stewart, DE; Patrick Benoist, LB; Myron Lewis, CB; Ryan Hamilton, S; Brett Upson, P
Key Returning Players
Larry Smith, QB; Warren Norman, RB; Zac Stacy, RB; Brandon Barden, TE; Adam Smotherman, DT; Chris Marve, LB; Casey Hayward, CB; Sean Richardson, S
Xtra Point Football is proud to announce its partnership with Live Chat Concepts.
This venture was one of the first projects of Live Chat Concepts envisioned by three guys in their quest to change how fans view live events. Through LiveFootballChat, Live Chat Concepts provides live chat rooms for each NFL game starting 30 minutes before game time and extending for 30 minutes after. The chat rooms are an excellent way for fans of a given teams to communicate with each other during live action team play as the exchanging in commentary is instantaneously enhanced.
LiveFootballChat provides a better environment to converse then team forums and Twitter do. While team forums are more like "blogs", LiveFootballChat gives fans a chance to interact and converse during a game. Twitter, while better than team forums, does not work as well as in promoting back and forth conversation.
The steps to join a live NFL game chat room are easy. Simply go to the Top Menu Bar here on the site, click on "Live NFL Game Chat" and register a username and password. There's nothing to download or any executable to click. Just confirm your email and view the schedule page.
OTHER FEATURES:
Invite a friend by email and use of CHurl. Or use it with Twitter or Facebook.
Know who's chatting by clicking "Who is Here" button.
Learn more about users by clicking "User Name" in "Chat Panel" or "Who is Here Panel".
Auto log in post to Twitter and Facebook.
Buddy Alerts through your Email.
New Features in "Quick Tips" box.
Live Chat Concepts "Badge" system
Team Walls for finding users with same favorite teams.
Go ahead and register and experience a new way to share your favorite team's games with other team fans!!
2009 final record (overall, division): 1-15, 0-6 Division finish:14th NFC West Offensive rank (Points, Total Yards, Passing Yards, Rushing Yards):32nd, 29th, 28th, 20th Defensive rank (Points, Total Yards, Passing Yards, Rushing Yards): 31st, 29th, 25th, 27th
2009 Individual Statistical Leaders
Rushing:Steven Jackson, 1,416 yards, 4 TD Passing:Marc Bulger, 1,469 yards, 5 TD, 6 INT; Kyle Boller, 3 TD; 6 INT Receiving:Donnie Avery, 589 yards, 5 TD; Brandon Gibson, 348 yards, 1 TD; Steven Jackson, 322 yards, 0 TD; Daniel Fells, 273 yards, 3 TD Tackles:James Laurinaitis, 107 total tackles; Ronald Bartell, 61 total tackles Sacks:Leonard Little, 6.5 sacks; Chris Long, 5.0 sacks; James Hall, 4.5 sacks Interceptions: James Butler, 3 INT, 0 TD; James Laurinaitis 2 INT, 0 TD; Oshiomogho Atogwe, 2 INT, 0 TD; Leonard Little, 1 TD, 1 INT
2010 Season Outlook
Schedule
(* denotes division game)
Key Matchups
October 10 at Detroit: The Rams come to visit the only team they beat this year, and St. Louis's top draft pick will probably spend most of the game getting slammed to the turf by the Lions' top draft pick. The Lions have assembled a pretty intimidating front four, and the Rams' offensive line will have to have a phenomenal day to keep this game from getting ugly.
October 17 vs. San Diego: This, like every other game on the Rams' schedule, is a long shot for St. Louis to win. Their only chance of a victory lies in the fact that the Chargers will likely be without the services of receiver Vincent Jackson, and may be without left tackle Marcus McNeill as well. As I wrote in my Chargers preview, the loss of Jackson makes the offense a whole lot more one-dimensional and predictable. So the Rams have an outside chance of giving the AFC West Champions a run for their money.
Key Losses
Marc Bulger, QB; Leonard Little, DE; Adam Carriker, DT; Alex Barron, OT
Key Returning Players
Steven Jackson, RB; Donnie Avery, WR; James Laurinaits, LB; Oshiomogho Atogwe, FS
It is baseball season, but there are plenty of ways to get your fill of football too. Our own Danny Hobrock is on the beat making his way across the College Football landscape exhaustively covering team after team. These previews will get you up to snuff with everything you need to know about the transition to each 2010 team.
Each team preview covers the team's outlook and projection for the 2010 season. We've got in depth coverage of each team's offense, defense and special teams. We'll cover who's in and who's out, and players from true freshmen to four year starters and pro prospects. Finally, we'll look at strategy and style of play on both sides of the ball, as well detailed information about coaches and players.
Today Danny is previewing the Big Ten Conference teams - Ohio State Buckeyes, Iowa Hawkeyes, Wisconsin Badgers, Penn State Nittany Lions, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan Wolverines, Northwestern Wildcats, Purdue Boilermakers, Illinois Fighting Illini, and Minnesota Golden Gophers. Clicking on each team's logo will take you right to the team's preview.
Check back often between now and the September 2nd season kick-off as new team previews are going up almost every day. Clicking here or on the NCAA Football in the right sidebar will take you to the page containing all the previews published to date.
This is one hell of an Ohio State team. They lose some good defenders, but the core of their defense is back to go along with an offense that loses just one starter. The schedule is built in such a way that if they get by Miami, against whom they'll be favored, they will start the year 6-0 before heading to Madison to take on Wisconsin. The second half of the schedule is tough with road games against three teams that went to a bowl game last year and home games against Purdue, Penn State and Michigan. There is plenty of potential to slip up somewhere in there, or in the second week against Miami, but Ohio State has the inside track to the BCS National Championship Game if they can get by unscathed.
The Buckeyes should know what they're getting on offense with 10 starters returning, but they'll still be looking at Pryor to be more of a leader. He'll throw more, which should take a little pressure off the running game, but whether he is successful in getting teams to respect his deep pass and his mid-range passing game is something we'll have to wait to see. Some questions will have to be answered on defense as well, notably if their safeties can prevent big plays and whether their front seven can get pressure on the quarterback. There aren't a lot of world-class quarterbacks on the schedule, but if the secondary cannot hold their own and the opposing quarterback has time to throw, teams could find a way to exploit this defense. That said, expect another premier effort from this team as a whole.
Iowa has a team that could down anybody that comes their way in 2010. The problem is that if last year is any indication, they're also susceptible to dropping a game against a team they should have no problem handling. There was one such loss last season when Northwestern beat the Hawkeyes 17-10, but Stanzi was injured in that one and had to watch from the sidelines as the Hawkeyes could not find their late game magic. Northern Iowa gave the Hawkeye nation a bit of a scare early on as well. There was also a three point victory over Arkansas State the week after they beat the fifth ranked Nittany Lions and then a couple tight ones against Michigan and Michigan State. If this team is to challenge for the conference title, they'll have to make sure they take care of business against their softer opponents, even if a star player or two is temporarily sidelined.
The November 20 matchup with Ohio State could decide the Big Ten champion this season, although both teams will have to get through Wisconsin and Penn State first. The good news for the Hawkeyes is that they get the Badgers and Nittany Lions at home this year, and won't have to play a de facto Big Ten title game in the 'Shoe. There are no glaring question marks on this team with an offensive line and linebackers corps expected to be just fine after losing some key players, although staying healthy will be key in the backfield as well as for their starting safeties.
Xtra Point Football is proud to announce its association with Rivalspot. Rivalspot is an innovative company helping lead the charge in providing video-gamers a place to put their money where their mouth is, letting users play for money in 100% legal video-game tournaments.
For those of you interested in playing EA Sports NCAA 11, you can play that too. All you have to do is 
A recap of what went down and what you should take away from the past week in college football.
Between now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily. 
Between now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily. 
Is your favorite NFL team aggressive upon crossing mid field or do they frustrate you with 3rd and 20 draws? Can they throw the ball with confidence in the shadow of their own end zone? Are they able to routinely move the ball in short yardage situations? How about two point conversions, do they make them at a higher percentage than the league average? Can they regularly convert third downs sustaining drives? When they have a lead in the 4th quarter, can they matriculate the ball down the field and burn time off the clock?
Between now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily. 
Between now and the September 2nd season kick-off, Danny Hobrock will be previewing all the major college football teams with new teams being released daily. 
Xtra Point Football is proud to announce its partnership with Live Chat Concepts.
Between now and the September 9th season kick-off, Hank Koebler, IV will be previewing all the NFL teams with new teams being released daily. 
