Now that the 2014 College Football Season is almost finished, it is time for the first annual G5 News and Issues G5 AWARDS:
MOST OVER PERFORMING G5
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This award goes to......C USA. We ranked CUSA as the worst G5 at the start of this years football season, boy were we wrong. (Conference USA ranking) The league was lead by a very strong Marshall team. In addition to Marshall however, La Tech , Rice and Western Kentucky proved that they could compete and compete well on the gridiron. Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky can breath a small sigh of relief this off season, as the newest incarnation of C USA seems to be working.
MOST UNDERPERFORMING G5
The award goes to.....the AMERICAN ATHLETIC . The AAC spent its first official year as a G5 searching for an identity. Hopes and expectations were high, maybe to high this season, as the conference was coming off a great win by UCF in last years Fiesta Bowl. Mike Aresco the American Commish, has to have some heartburn, when after taking the best of CUSA last year, still did not manage to get the G5 Access spot. With the best tv contract among the G5 and with very good basketball in the conference , the AAC should begin seeing its national coverage and branding pay off in terms of recruiting and winning. This however, did not help the underperforming league this year compete when it mattered the most.
MOST, THINGS DON'T LOOK AS GOOD AS WE THOUGHT THEY DID AT THE START OF THE SEASON AWARD
This award goes to....the SUN BELT . Okay, okay, maybe we are being to hard on the SUNBELT. Or,, um,maybe we are mad at them because we ranked them as the 3rd best G5 at the start of the year. A ranking that they clearly did not deserve and one in which we were clearly out of my minds for doing so. Look, we like the Sun Belt, we really do. When however, La Tech made a good ULL team look like the JV , you could just feel see the sweat coming from Sun Belt Commish's Karl Benson's forehead. Better luck next year.
MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER TO THE TEAM AWARD
This award goes to....MARSHALL'S RAKEEM CATO. Every decade or so there emerges a football player that is so powerful a force that they have the ability to transform a team into a winner almost entirely by themselves. Cato is that player for Marshall. Cato is simply a winner. It is hard not to cheer for this guy. Marshall will not be able to replace Cato next year, no team could. Cato leaving Marshall however, is not just a bummer for them, it is also a bummer for College Football.
MOST, THESE GUYS ARE DESTINED FOR THE ACCESS BOWL AND GREATNESS ONLY TO STUMBLE AND CAUSE HEARTBREAK AMONG THEIR FAN BASE AWARD
This award goes to.... the East Carolina Pirates. Look, the Pirates have a great program, and have arguably the best fan base among the G5. We gushed about ECU at the start of the season like silly school girls(ECU Football) We were wrong. Yes the Pirate have a history of winning big games, but they also have a history losing to teams that they should easily beat. After a great win against Va Tech and then beating UNC to an embarrassing pulp, ECU went on to lose a head scratcher to Temple. They also dropped games to Cincinnati and UCF on questionable coaching calls. Either way, Pirate fans experienced the joy of victory and the agony of defeat like few others in the G5.
IT TAKES A LICKING BUT KEEPS ON TICKING AWARD
This award goes to.....Boise State. Raise your hand if you thought that Boise State would end up as the Access Bowl rep. Unless you are a Boise State fan and you raised your hand you are lying.( Okay Boise State fans , you can put your hands down now and wipe that smug look off of your face) Boise simply did what it has done for a long time now. It won the games that it needed to win. Boise has winning in their DNA. We wrote off Boise State this year( see article:Boise State and the Access Bowl). Big mistake on our part. Boise State equals Ballers. Enough said.
COMEBACK COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD
This award goes to .... La Tech's Skip Holtz. Skip not only officially resurrected his career this year, he also had the La Tech Bulldogs looking very good this season. I have always believed Skip could coach ( see article for shameless pat on the back from this writer predicting a La Tech turnaround:Holtz turn around prospect high) and this year proved it all over again. Skip, who won two Conference USA champions with ECU, seems to have discovered the winning formula for Conference USA. Welcome back Coach Holtz, you have made the La Tech fan base happy campers.
COACH OF THE YEAR
This award goes to....Memphis Head Coach Justin Fuente. Coach Fuente has Memphis looking good and winning football games. Fuente has turned Memphis into one of the best G5 programs. An accomplishment that seemed nearly impossible just a few short years ago. Need we say more?
G5 CONFERENCE OF THE YEAR
This award goes to the... Mountain West. We picked this league to finish second(Conference Rankings) IF your conference produces the Access Bowl representative, you are doing something right and are the envy of the other G5.
BEST NEW COMER OF THE YEAR AWARD
This award goes to....The Georgia Southern Eagles. The Eagles entered their first year of FBS football with a bang. The Eagles beat SEC powerhouse Florida and came close to knocking off NC State and Ga Tech as well. G5 Conference News and Issues has been high on Georgia Southern all year(Shameless Ga Southern Plug) The Eagles have put the Sun Belt on notice: They are here to win championships.
MOST DISAPPOINTING TEAM AWARD
This award goes to... The UL Ragin Cajuns. G5 Sports and News gushed about the potential of UL at the start of the season. We predicted them to easily win the Sun Belt and perhaps even be a dark horse candidate for the Access Bowl (UL ACCESS BOWL CONTENDERS) Of course neither of these two predications materialized. So what happened?...Um ,we have no idea. UL clearly had the talent to win and win big this year( We are not counting their victory in the New Orleans bowl this year as a swag win, sorry UL fans) UL fans now have a long season to reflect on what could have been. We still, however, like the UL program and think they can be a dominant force in the Sun Belt for years to come.
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE AWARDS WE GAVE THIS YEAR. WHAT OTHER AWARDS WOULD YOU HAVE GIVEN OUT THIS SEASON?
I think you pretty much nailed it. I didn't want to agree with your comments on Boise State, but guess what...until someone knocks them off their lofty perch, they are the class of the G5.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that I think might have improved your article is telling us who else you considered for each of your awards. That might have been an interesting read and certainly might have generated some spirited discussions.
Charles,
ReplyDeleteTHanks for your comments. I appreciate you reading the blog. Great idea about a runner up category. I certainly had several teams and people in mind for this. For Coach of the Year for example, Doc Holiday and Jim McElwain were two that almost got the award. Happy New Year by the way.