Reflecting on the Big Unit going into the Hall of Fame

One of the players whom I covered with the Arizona Diamondbacks was enshrined into Hall of Fame on Sunday, and since players get to pick which team logo is on their plaque Randy Johnson goes down as the franchises's first inductee.

"The Big Unit" was definitely deserving, and every time he pitched I wondered if I was going to see something special. Quite often I did. He was nothing short of dominating.

Something that we quickly learned after Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) opened was that when a left-handed pitcher threw a fastball and a right-handed batter couldn't get around on it the ball could shoot straight up into the press box. 

I actually had my laptop nailed by a line shot off the bat of Angel Echevarria of the Colorado Rockies (off a pitch by Omar Daal), which broke the screen. I still have the ball. A PR person from the San Diego Padres had the same thing happen when he leaned down to get something out of his bag on the floor -- BAM! After the Diamondbacks signed Johnson, though, well let's just say some of the holes in the press box wall were pretty impressive. 

One of my favorite moments regarding Johnson was when Diamondbacks outfielder David Dellucci was visited by wrestler Kevin Nash in the locker room. I lingered until Johnson walked by because I wanted to see who was taller (It was Johnson, but barely, 6-10 to 6-9). 

My last year there I was asked to be a judge for the inaugural Arizona Sports Awards, which was like a junior version of the ESPYs. For athlete of the year, which was was supposed to go to someone who made a big difference in the community, I backed emotional pitcher Todd Stottlemyre for making a $1 million donation toward the fight of cancer, and all the things he did behind the scenes when the cameras weren't on -- especially for sick kids. He had a brother die of leukemia at age 11. 

I'll never forget a TV reporter saying "Well anyone could do that, that's no big deal," and I was outvoted in favor of Jason Kidd. I was still annoyed at the awards banquet, but purchased some raffle tickets for the event charity. One of them won an autographed baseball and I had to choose between three singed by Diamondbacks players. Since I covered the team I asked if I could trade prizes and avoid any potential conflict on interest. The person in charge of prizes had no idea what I was talking about so I selected the one of the player who I thought might be in the Hall of Fame someday. 

P.S. A few months later Kidd was arrested for a domestic issue. He and his wife eventually got divorced and he's now the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. ... Stottlemyre's career ended shorty after that due to arm/shoulder issues. His father Mel Stottlemyre, known mostly for his years with the New York Yankees, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2000. The cancer re-appeared in 2011 and he's still fighting it. ... If there was ever a second Arizona Sports Awards I never heard of it. 

Hey look, work swag!

So the mailman, UPS and FedEx all made deliveries today, the last of which was a care package from the home office (which is San Francisco if anyone was wondering).

In it was what I call work swag: A new Bleacher Report polo, jacket, hat and backpack, which will be getting lots of use this season. The hat and jacket are going straight into my car for those times I get caught in the rain at practice, and I might wear out the polo by midseason.

FYI: I usually go jacket and slacks for games, but for the me the key to covering games is comfortable shoes. There's always some walking involved to get postgame stuff, and if you're on the road it may be a hike to car afterward. You just never know.

(I always cringe when I hear the words: "There's a postgame shuttle" because half of the time they aren't running any more when the writers get done. But I digress).

The point of this post was to express just how close we are to things really ramping up. Two weeks from today I plan on being at by first practice ... and looking good.

SEC Media Days

So the annual craziness known as SEC Media Days has come and gone, and not only was it the usual  exhausting exercise for those of us who went all four days, but it's definitely grown past the point that it has a life of it's own.

I was asked on a a radio show if I could ever see the day that the SEC doesn't do media days any more and the answer is clearly no. It's gotten too big, so big that I wouldn't be surprised if moves in the near future to a bigger city.

Personally, I hope I'm wrong about that because Birmingham is only an hour drive for me.

Some observations from this year's event:

1) With ESPN involved it's become more of a production than ever. You couldn't spill a drink without hitting a TV camera.

2) Despite all the hoopla there was almost no news that came out of media days other than the news that it directly created (order of finish poll, All-SEC selections, etc.).

3) Put me down as impressed with new commissioner Greg Sankey's opening speech. However, it's pretty obvious he won't be quite as open in terms of access as Mike Slive.

4) There was absolutely no buzz about LSU. I'm still trying to get used to that.

5) The number of people interviewing media personalities was ridiculous.

6) I actually heard someone say that the "shoe war" was the story of media days, and meant it.

7) The highlight may have been national writers Andy Staples, George Schroeder and Dan Woken on the Paul Finebaum Show.

8) I don't care if you think Nick Saban was making excuses or not, he made a good point that draft evaluations shouldn't happen until after the season is over.

9) The best tweet may have been about the Dr. Pepper fountain being on the fritz by @MattScalici. For those who don't know joking about unlimited Dr. Pepper, and not voting Mississippi State last, really is a media days tradition.

10) I'm always a little sad at media days when I realize who isn't there due to newspaper buyouts and cutbacks, etc. This year was no exception.

11) To me the most telling thing was Auburn brining quarterback Jeremy Johnson. Gus Malzahn clearly has his guy, and the coach had his best turn at the podium yet.

12) For for the first time during my career I can honestly say that there was a significant increase in the number of female reporters at a major event I was covering. It was terrific to see, and long overdue, even if it was more on the social media and TV side than with the number of writers.

Time to make some early predictions ...

With the start of SEC Media Days it's time to make some season predictions -- and this year's a little different for me.

After spending most of the last six months only working free-lance, I didn't really keep up with a lot of spring football. So to compensate I've probably done more research to prepare for the start of the season than ever before.

I have no idea if that'll mean my picks are better or worse than usual.

Last year I had Alabama winning the West, SEC title and advancing to the inaugural playoff. My other three teams were Oregon, Florida State and either Oklahoma or Ohio State, depending on when you asked me (it was Oklahoma in the early summer and Ohio State before Media Days started).

However, that's pretty much what everyone else had.

This year is much trickier, especially with the SEC West being so loaded (see my Bleacher Report column on that -- link to be provided when it posts). Granted, I might change my mind on one or two before the season starts, but here goes:

- The winner of Baylor/TCU runs the table and ends up the No. 1 seed for the playoffs. TCU is the safer pick, but with so many returning players I'm going with Baylor for now.

- Ohio State drops a game, but makes the playoff as the No. 2 seed.

- Southern California returns to prominence and wins the Pac-12, travels to the Orange Bowl to face the Buckeyes.

- Alabama takes two losses but still represents the SEC West in the league championship and squeezes into the playoff. Destination: The Cotton Bowl.

Conference rankings: Why the SEC still reigns

Ever since the national championship game, which was the second straight not won by a team from the Southeastern Conference (gasp!), there have been rumblings that the other leagues have closed the gap.

Well of course they have somewhat. It's not like the SEC's seven-year title run was going to last forever. However, it has given some of the other leagues some more hope. 

"Maybe the Big Ten isn't that bad," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said during his press conference after beating Oregon. "Maybe the Big Ten is pretty damn good, or certainly getting better. The mind is a fragile thing. ... There's no doubt that when we saw Wisconsin beat Auburn, that was a major, major moment for us to win this game."

He has a point, but does the Big Ten have a program that can contend for the national title other than Ohio State? Probably not, especially with Penn State still in the early stages of its rebound and Michigan only beginning to rebuild under new coach Jim Harbaugh.

Every year with my program rankings I add up the points by conference, and every year the outcome has been the same, with the SEC on top. Here are this year's totals: 

Conference totals

(Based on 2014 conference alignment)

Southeastern              7          929.3

Big Ten                       6          732.15

ACC                            4          398.2

Pac 12                        4          387.95

Big 12                         2          330.9

Independent               2          231.4

Mountain West           0          51

Conference USA        0          50

American Athletic       0          29

Mid-American             0          18

Sun Belt                     0           0

So how much did the gap close? Not as much as you probably guessed. 

Team (Top 25) Total points

1. SEC: One-year change -29.1; two-year -12.7; three-year +77.8; four-year -5.68

2. Big Ten One-year change +30.45; two-year -28.85; three-year -22.35; four-year +130.65

3. ACC: One-year change -4; two-year +3.7; three-year +28.2; four-year +25.7

4. Pac-12: One-year change +45.05; two-year +50.95; three-year +41.95; four-year +70.95

5. Big 12: One-year change -10; two-year +24.4; three-year -62.1; four-year -176.1

The real test for me is to pick a program in the middle of a league and compare it to the others. By my updated rankings the seventh-best program in the SEC is Texas A&M, which just spent $450 million to renovate Kyle Field. 

In the Big Ten that's Wisconsin (although it should probably be Minnesota) -- ok, not too far off.

In the ACC it's Wake Forest. Big difference. 

For the Pac-12, there's 12 teams so we'll use the sixth-ranked program, Arizona State. 

Finally, with the Big 12 having just 10 teams it's the fifth-place program: Kansas State. 

Have a good and safe 4th of July weekend everyone!

10 years of asking, "Who's No. 1?"

Ok, the preliminaries are over, time for the 10th anniversary of my annual program rankings. 

In 2005, I came up with the idea of trying define the hierarchy of programs -- not teams, programs -- to not only provide a little perspective on how there are really a couple of top tiers in college football, but also measure how they’re rising and falling.

It highlights 10 categories, five focusing on the previous year with the other half all-time (but slightly weighted to emphasize the modern era), while trying be as opinion-free as possible. They gauge the sport nearly every way possible, measuring the past and present to see which way the college football winds are blowing.

Or in other words, try and answer the question “Who’s No. 1?” because while the national championship may determine the best team of a particular season it doesn’t automatically translate to having the best overall program.

The categories:

From the previous season:

The final Associated Press poll

Recruiting rankings (247Sports composite)

Attendance figures (NCAA)

The number of former players on NFL rosters opening weekend

Academics (graduation rates)

As for the All-Time categories:

Bowl appearances

National championships (since 1936)

The All-Time Associated Press Poll (originally devised by former SEC assistant director of media relations Charles Woodroof)

Coaching legacy

College Football Hall of Fame inductees

The players on NFL rosters and academics rankings have already appeared on this blog. As for the all-time categories there are only a couple of changes from last year's rankings: The NCAA reinstate Joe Paterno's vacated wins (coaching legacy) and the Hall of Fame changed how it listed its inductees, putting each person with just the one school he's best associated with instead of with every school (I'll post something on that soon). 

For coaching legacy, which is easily the most controversial category, only the top coach in each program was considered. The rankings are a combination of an elaborate survey taken a few years ago, “Dell Presents College Football’s Greatest Coaches,” which included media, coaches, former great players and just about anyone associated with the game, and a point-based formula. 

Schools in the top 25 in each category received points similar to the weekly top 25 polls, going from 25-24-23, down to 3-2-1. The points were then added up and the programs listed in order.

So that's the full explanation. Are the numbers perfect? Of course not. It's essentially throwing everything into a blender and seeing what pours out. However, the wide range of categories appears to balance out the numbers, so while a program may score very well or poorly in one category it’s usually offset by another.

With all that in mind, there was no change at the top this year:

Rank   Program                                Points

1          Alabama                                  205.5  

2          Ohio State                               191.5              

3          USC                                         157.5  

4          Notre Dame                             153.5              

5          Florida State                            142.5  

6          Tennessee                              138.5  

7          Oklahoma                                136.5  

8          Penn State                              131                 

9          Texas                                      129                 

10        Georgia                                   124.9

11        Michigan                                 118

12        LSU                                         114.5

13        Nebraska                                107.75

14        Florida                                     84.5

15        Auburn                                    81.5

16        Clemson                                 69.4

17        UCLA                                      69.65

18        Miami                                      68

19        Texas A&M                              53.65

20        Army                                       51

21        Michigan State                        49

22        Oregon                                    44.5

23        Georgia Tech                          43.4

24        Minnesota                               42

25        Stanford                                  40.5

Others scoring points: Wisconsin 40; Ole Miss 38.75; TCU 31.9; Arkansas 29; Texas-San Antonio 25; California 24.5; Mississippi State 23; Northwestern 23; Rice 22;

Arizona State 21; Yale 21; South Carolina 20.5; Pittsburgh 20; Princeton 20; Air Force 20;Boise State 20; Baylor 19; Boston College 19; Northern Illinois 18; Central Florida 17; Chicago 17; Pennsylvania 16; Wake Forest 16; Washington 15.9; Missouri 15; Navy 13.5; Brigham Young 13.4; Illinois 11.5; Utah State 11; Harvard 11; Tulane 9; Iowa 8.5; Kansas State 8; North Carolina 8; Rutgers 8; Arizona 7; Texas Tech 6.5; Virginia Tech 6; Utah 5; Marshall 3; Louisville 2; Virginia 2; Temple 2; Colorado 1.9; Maryland 1.9; Syracuse 1.9; Cornell 1.5; Memphis 1; West Virginia .5

So what did we learn?

For the fifth straight year the top two programs didn’t change and the gap between them and everyone else has only grown. Paterno’s career numbers reinstated put Penn State back in the top 10 and knocked Michigan out, albeit probably only temporarily. Programs on the rise include Clemson, Tennessee and UCLA, and with Oregon close to making a dent in the all-time categories it’s close to perennial power status.

Also, the tiers I had previously mentioned, which used to be prominent after the top six or 7, and again after No. 15, are really beginning to fade. 

One thing that will surprise some people is that Alabama's gap over the field widened after it lost to Ohio State in the playoffs and the Buckeyes led the nation in home attendance last season. The reason why is the Crimson Tide climbed to third in number of former players in the NFL. When Nick Saban arrived in 2007 it wasn't in the top 25 in that category.  

No. 1 teams and total points

2005-06 Southern California 176.5

2006-07 Southern California 176

2007-08 Ohio State 182.5

2008-09 Ohio State 194.5

2009-10 Ohio State 186

2010-11 Alabama 204

2011-12 Alabama 184.5

2012-13 Alabama 199.5

2013-14 Alabama 194

2014-15 Alabama 205.5

Next: Conference rankings