Panthers, Tigers and Blue Devils, Oh My!

So, this has been the year of the mobile quarterback with Cam Newton leading the bunch along with Denard "Shoelace" Robinson, who have been grabbing all the media attention since day one. Lackluster starts from major programs have been of great concern, thus far, as the top FBS schools have decided not to live up to pre-season expectations starting out quite lethargic. With bowl season around the corner, many of the schools have been receiving negative attention, be it recruiting violations, deals with agents, etc. Texas and Florida are having outright disappointing years after starting the season ranked in the top 10 and laying a giant egg the past three weeks. Mack Brown and Urban Meyer are going to have to re-amp their coaching staffs after what has been a complete nightmare for the two powerhouses, but many seem to think Mack's days as a Longhorn are numbered. In the SEC, Newton recently broke a conference record: passing for 2,000 yards and rushing for 1,000, to go along with single-handedly leading Auburn to its #2 BCS ranking. This kid is the real deal, receiving praise from every corner of the country, and even being compared to Gator legend Tim Tebow. The only thing holding Newton back from winning the Heisman this year is a pending investigation being run by the NCAA and FBI on recent allegations of violations taking place while he was attending Blinn College. The allegations accuse Newton's father of trying to reach settlements with recruiters at Mississippi State in order to get his son to play at MSU. He asked these recruiters for almost $180,000 to get young Cam to commit to playing for the Bulldogs.

With the debacles, come the cinderella stories. Up and coming FIU is quietly making its way to the national headlines in a poor SunBelt Conference and they are our Non AQ team of the week. They sit alone at the top of the conference for the first time in the program's young history after enduring two seasons where they won just one game. Head Coach Mario Cristobal has the Golden Panthers, Panthers, Isaiah Thompson's, whatever they are called, headed in the right direction. With two more wins, they clinch a bowl berth and maybe even the SunBelt crown.

In other news, the National Champion Duke Blue Devils received their rings this past week, we'll post a picture on the next blog of the bling. The Cameron Crazies are favored to win it all again this year, but don't count out all that is orange in Syracuse. It seems like every year the Orangemen make a push late in the tournament, and we here at Hi-Chuck pick the 'Cuse to head into the Final Four and take the crown. The NCAA season, which won't get exciting until March Madness comes around, is underway so check out all the exciting info here on the ever-reliable Hi-Chuck.