Tomorrow is National Signing Day for all of you already-football-starved folks out there.  We have finally reached a time where football is so popular that people will latch on to something that is about as irrelevant as my top 25 most played list on my IPOD just because it's about football.  ESPN.com has an entire page dedicated to tomorrow's college football "event".  Don't be fooled folks, this is not an event.

We all (especially Arkansas fans like myself) remember the circus a month and a half ago surrounding Mitch Mustain's mother, along with two other highly touted freshmen's parents questioning the role of their children to Arkansas A.D. Frank Broyles.  Why was this a story you ask.  Tomorrow is the reason.  We give stardom away to college kids, even high school kids now because we are so determined to find the "next one".  Without this hype, Mustain and the others would be seen for what they are, spoiled, overhyped brats who are nothing more than a backup QB, blocking TE, and fast, no hands WR.  We can't enjoy the greatness that is Peyton Manning for one week without digging out Tom Lugginbill's rankings of the incoming freshman prospects to find out who will steal Manning's throne in 2015.  Let me tell you something folks, HE DOESN'T KNOW who will be great at the college level.  Even more, you don't know either!  You won't know until these kids play the game.

I'm so sick of hearing about these recruiting classes.  How many years did we hear about Texas's incoming class?  We heard all about it until they got beat by 50 in the Red River Shootout from about 1998-2004 (give or take a year or two).  Can we please give it a rest?  Can we please reserve news for. . . well. . .NEWS?  These are glorified children that are about to start playing a young man's game.  Some will be great, others will never be heard from again.

If you are interested in what happens tomorrow, I challenge you to do one thing.  Print off your little ESPN top 150 list and save it.  Four years from now, when you watch the NFL Draft (and you will because anyone who cares about signing day would absolutely treat the NFL Draft like Christmas morning) take out your list and see how it stacks up.  See how many people go in the first round.  See how many get drafted at all.  I guarentee that you will look at the list and say, "Boy, I really wasted a lot of time worrying about which school Noel Devine was going to attend."  You're right.  You did.  I'm trying to help you save that time.  You'd be much better off taking Martin Lawrence's advice and having a Coke and a smile.  It will last a lot longer.

The Heisman Trophy is one of the easiest awards to predict.  The only time in my life that I was surprised was when Carson Palmer won it over Larry Johnson.  With that being said, we all know that Troy Smith is going to walk away from tonight's ceremony with the most "hallowed" award in college sports.  So why?  We have three finalists, Troy Smith, Brady Quinn, and Darren McFadden.  All great college players.  Two seniors and one sophomore.  So, why is Troy Smith going to win?  First, let's look at who I would vote for (in case the picture didn't give it away, it's Darren McFadden):

McFADDEN’S STATISTICS RUSHING     

                             G          Att        Yds      TD        Lg         Avg/C   Avg/G

2006                 13         265       1558     14         80         5.9       119.8

 RECEIVING        G          Rec       Yds      TD        Lg         Rec/G   Avg/C   Avg

 2006                 13         11         149       1          70         0.8       13.5      11.5

  PASSING           G          Att        Cmp     Int        Yds      TD        Lg         Pct

  2006                 13         8          6          1          72         3          28         75.0     

KICK RETURNS  G          No.       Yds      TD        Lg         Avg/R   Avg/G    

   2006                 13         8          226       1          92         28.2      17.4

Unfortunately for McFadden, Reggie Bush was last year's winner.  Reggie was probably the most versitile player in college football history.  He was Rocket Ismail, but much better.  McFadden also deserves to be considered in that category with Bush.  Thanks to the famed "Wildcat" formation, McFadden had the unique opportunity to not only run and catch the ball this year, but to run the offense out of the QB position.  He proved to be Arkansas's best player at every position he played.  The great thing about McFadden is that he had his best games against Arkansas's toughest competition.  McFadden's rushing yards and TDs were:  112 and 1 vs. Alabama, 145 and 1 @ Auburn, 219 and 2 @ South Carolina, 181 and 2 vs. Tennessee, 182 and 2 against the nations #1 defense, LSU.  Darren also caught a 70 yard TD vs. Ole Miss that led to that victory, and had a 92 yard kickoff return that won the Mississippi State game.  Darren also entered the year with an injury and played sparringly against USC, which proves his "MVP" status because the Arkansas team was certainly not the same without him as they got drubbed by the Trojans.

Now let's look at the man viewed as the perrenial favorite and certain winner, Troy Smith:

Smith is 199/297 for 2507 yards, 30 TDs and only 5 INTs.  Certainly very good, but Heisman Trophy material?  His supporters will say, don't forget his mobility.  Okay, his rushing stats are:  62 carries for 233 yards and 1 TD.  Not exactly Vince Young is he?  Supporters then will point you to the Michigan game.  Troy had his best game on the biggest stage. Troy was 29/41 for 316 yards with 4 TDs and 1 INT.  Great game!  No question.  But does one game a Heisman winner make?

The point is that, once again, the trophy is going to the most recognizable, not best, player on the best team.  Troy Smith is a "great" story, if you think someone that would've been dismissed from the team a few years ago is a great story.  However, the Heisman shouldn't be about a story.  It shouldn't be about a team.  It shouldn't be about NFL value or the popularity of your program (notice the finalist I didn't talk about, this is why).  It should be given to the best football player in America.  Is Darren McFadden the best player in country?  I don't know.  It would be hard to argue against him if you've watched many Arkansas games this year.  I don't know if he's the best football player in the country, but I know he's the best player that has been nominated for the award this year!

(Darren McFadden's stats were gathered from hogwired.com and Troy Smith's from ESPN.com)

I'm gonna make this short and sweet.  There are a two major keys to solving who should be #2.  First, any one loss team that lost to another one loss team cannot go ahead of that team.  Second, Michigan got its shot yesterday, and looked good, but that was their shot.  No rematch unless it comes down to Mighigan and Notre Dame as the only two loss teams.  So with these simple rules in mind, this is how it SHOULD break down:

Ranking of the contenders to play Ohio State in the order they should appear assuming that they win out.

1- USC - They will have defeated California, Notre Dame, and UCLA coming down the stretch

2-Florida - Florida would have defeated Arkansas in SEC championship game and would deserve to go as the SEC champion

3- Arkansas - Arkansas would have won @Auburn and defeated LSU and Florida on back to back weeks.  They just can't go ahead of USC because of their head-to-head loss to them.

4- Michigan - Michigan is placed here because they simply have to be ahead of Notre Dame thanks to the wood-shed special they gave them in the regular season.  Michigan may be the second best team in the country, but a rematch opens up too many problems.  Who deserves the title is Michigan wins since they are 1-1 head to head?  If Ohio State wins, We already saw OSU beat them once; are we slow learners?

SInce Michigan has no remaining games, everyone else has no shot to make it.  Sorry Notre Dame and all Big East teams.  If Notre Dame pulls their popularity play and actually beats USC and becomes #2, I will officially withdrawl my support of the BCS on the spot!  I'm not a ND hater, but it's completely ridiculous that they are even in this conversation.  Look at ND's schedule vs. some of these Big East schedules and tell me why we're not talking about West Virginia in this converstation.  If the Big East is too weak, then why is no conference better?  Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Air Force, Navy, Army, North Carolina, Purdue, Stanford, UCLA, Michigan (blowout loss), Penn State, and USC (we'll see what happens) make up a national championship caliber schedule?  Come on!

The BCS!  Just the words envoke thoughts of hatred, passion, cries of getting ####, and millions of dollars to University Presidents and Conference Commisioners everywhere.  Personally, I like the BCS because it's fluke proof.  Which is the anti-March Madness, anti-wild-card spot and anti-any other fly-by-night playoff system that other sports use.  A system that rewards the best team from the regular season?  Hogwash!  Balderdash!  Who cares about the 4 months of games, we just want to watch the month long sprint to the finish!  Anyway, I'm getting side-tracked!

The teams of the year in college football this season are Rutgers and Arkansas, period.  Simply put, Rutgers has won every game it's played this season.  That's pretty good!  They beat the #3 team in the country on national television, while even half of the people in Pascataway don't know any of the players besides. . . Glen Rice. . .uh . . .Jerry Rice. . . no . . .Condie Rice. . .no. . .  Ray Rice!  That's it.  Rutgers has been as much of a doormat as a team in a BCS conference can be.  A team that had never played in a game involving two ranked teams, EVER, before last Thursday's classic.  A team that endured even worse losses than some high schools that cancel seasons due to players' inability to even protect themselves(illegedly) is now America's darlings. 

Then there's Arkansas.  Members of the mighty SEC since 1989 and have never won the conference title.  A team whose coach was coming into the year on one of the hottest seats in the country after two disappointing seasons.  A team so desperate for recruiting talent that it turned the play-calling duties over to a high school coach, A HIGH SCHOOL COACH, that had no college experience.  A team that went into its season opener without its starting QB due to a back injury and its now Heisman contending RB due to a bar fight injury.  A bar fight?  Isn't McFadden only 19?  Nevermind. 

These two teams are flying higher than high.  Sure, Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Notre Dame, are having great years (even though ND has beaten absolutely no one!  Sidetracked again.), but we expect this from them.  Rutgers and Arkansas are in unchartered waters, breaking new ground, greener pastures, etc.  Can we please, please, please spare these players and coaches of the pressure of national championship talk for five seconds and let them enjoy their respective historical seasons. 

Every year, only one team wins the national championship (sometimes two, sidetracked again!)   That does not mean, despite our #2 is the first loser mentalities, that there is only one successful team each year.  Boise State, Maryland, Rutgers, Arkansas, Wake Forest, and so many others are having phenominal seasons and people are missing it because they're so worried about that Whinermaker (because it makes whiners, doesn't it coach Tuberville?  That's for you golf fans.) trophy. 

I urge you to look beyond Ohio State/Michigan this weekend.  Now, I'm not crazy.  I'm going to watch that game too.  However, this is a special college football season for many teams around the country.  Don't miss what are truly historical seasons by some of the historically less fortunate among us.  Oh by the way, its kinda fun to watch Florida State and Miami struggle too! 

Not really.  However, yesterday he made a decision that officially puts him on a hotter seat than any coach in college football.  Coming off of a disappointing 4-7 season, the Razorbacks are optimistic for a return to a bowl, and possibly being a dark-horse contender for an SEC West crown. 

The two major reasons for this optimism if Fayetteville are:

1)  Arkansas finished very strong with a young team last year.  Arkansas won two of its final three games last year, and in the last five games lost to South Carolina, Georgia, and LSU by a combined 9 points.  The Razorbacks became much more competitive when starting quarterback Robert Johnson was benced in favor of Casey ####, who moved the team far more efficiently.  So many feel that with a year of experience of competing at the highest level in the SEC, the Razorbacks can get over the hump this season with 19 returning starters. 

2)  The signing of consensus high school All-American Quarterback Mitch Mustain.  Mustain is easily the biggest recruit ever signed by the University of Arkansas.  Arkansas's biggest question mark could now be an exclamation point.  Mustain is such a star in Arkansas, being from Springdale (suburb of Fayetteville), Nutt hired Springdale head coach Gus Malzahn to run the Razorback offense.  Many people feel this was a desperate effort to sign Mustain after having reservations about his initial verbal commitment. 

No question that the turning point last year was when Robert Johnson went to the sideline and Casey #### took over the offense.  Many fans were anticipating either Mustain starting as a freshman, or red-shirting a year and letting Casey take this season.  Houtson Nutt chose option "C" last night by re-naming Robert Johnson the starting QB for 2006.  That moan that you heard late last night coming from the Southwest wasn't thunder, it was Hog Nation responding from a devestating shot to the gut.