It's A Mailbag! Your thoughts, comments and questions, 12/7/07

It's Mailbag time at Insights, where we take your comments, criticisms and e-mails and answer them or give them props in this space. Questions about football, basketball, lacrosse, soccer or anything else is fair game. Send your questions to mrothstein@jg.net or leave them in comment boxes below during the week. If you do ask a question, we ask that you list your name (at least first one) and hometown. And one day, we'll enforce it, too.

As always, our questions come from real readers:

Explanation for ranking Va. Tech over LSU?
-Patrick Mulvehill
Minnesota
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Don't worry about LSU's Top 25 wins over Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, etc....or the 30+ point win over Va Tech when they played.

Va Tech is obviously deserves #2 over LSU. (sarcasm)

Hopefully the people who actually have a vote (please tell me you don't have a vote) actually look at the whole body of work unlike you!

That being said, thanks for putting up a great blog this year and keeping us fans informed.
-J

Patrick and J,
Our theory for voting Virginia Tech over LSU (and no, J, we don't have an AP Top 25 vote) is that right now, the Hokies are one of the best teams in the country. They won the ACC and avenged one of their two losses (to Boston College) in the title game. Plus, we kind of went with the Charlie Weis model with the Hokies. They were next in line (although we admit we've been high on them all season) so they slid in. Right now, on a neutral field, I'd take Va. Tech over LSU. Again, this is just an opinion, which is part of what makes college football that much fun to discuss.

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What the (heck) is 'interesting' about Weis having Southern Cal and BC ranked?  Air Force ranked may be interesting, but not the other two. I think I would rank Navy before I would rank Air Force.
-Newt
Delaware

Also interesting how he put two teams he lost to in the last two bowl games in his top 5.  Also interesting how he put the last few national champions on his ballot.  Also interesting how he put only one directional college on his ballot.  Also interesting how he put 4 teams that start with the letter A on his ballot, but only 3 teams that start with the letter B.  How interesting; how bizarre.
-Ryan

Newt,
We found ranking Air Force to be interesting (and to be fair, we'd rank the Falcons before the Midshipmen, too). SC and BC, they should be ranked. The interesting was about Air Force. Sorry for the confusion.

Ryan,
We get the point. But we enjoy the creativity.

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Well Mike you were about as good at picking the winner in this game as you were at covering Notre Dame Football this year ! Your sports acumen is right up there with your reporting/commentary abilities.....they both (stink) !!!!!!
-Bill Fitzgerald

Bill,
Yep, we picked it wrong. Sorry to hear you didn't like our coverage, either, yet you're still reading....Hmmm. Interesting. And Kansas State, by the way, is a talented bunch of players. The Wildcats just aren't much of a team right now. Thanks for serving, though.

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I have to go with McFadden, here is my reasoning. If you put Mcfadden on Florida's team, he would even be better than he is at Arkansas, if you put (Tim) Teabow (sic) at Arkansas, I just don't think he would put up the numbers like he did at Florida. So, that says to me, Mcfadden would be up for the Heisman anywhere he plays, don't think I can say the same for Teabow. I think Teabow is amazing, he's just not Mcfadden. How do you think Brady Quinn differs from Teabow, how do you think Quinn would have done at Florida? Mcfadden had more votes the our Brady.
Go Irish!!!!
-Jim Settle

Colt Brennan - 131 touchdown passes, 23 NCAA records, only undefeated team in America.  Who else can say that? How can Colt Brennan not win the Heisman?  If you are skeptical, I challenge you to watch last week's Hawaii Vs Washington.  Colt is incredible.  You might become a believer.
-Joe

Jim and Joe,
Last question from Jim first: We think Brady Quinn would have done well at Florida. For those who are missing it, they are referencing our Heisman Trophy ballots (ceremony Saturday).We went with Tim Tebow because he had the best season -- and the season free of mistakes. Darren McFadden disappeared against Auburn and Mississippi State. And Jim, Tebow would be a beast in Arkansas' system, just look at what they did with McFadden. As for Colt Brennan, games with five and four interceptions are damning to a Heisman Trophy candidate. I did watch him. He is a heck of a player. Just not the best in the country this year. And for the record, IrishIllustrated.com writer Pete Sampson and I stayed up to watch Hawaii-Washington after the Eastern Michigan-Notre Dame basketball game. Brennan can play. But he's not the best player in the country this year. However, this is why the Heisman race was really a great one in 2007.

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OSU, Tennessee, LSU? Didn't realize football factories were academically sound. What does academics have to do with this list at all?
-Mike

Florida and Auburn are academic stalwarts?

Thats a knee slapper!
-Martin Doyle

Can you post the graduation rates (especially football) rates next to these elite schools.  Better if you multiplied each value by graduation rate, you would hear a lot of thuds hitting the bottom. 
-William Smith

Mike, Martin, William:
They aren't our rankings, they are STACK magazine's. That's our best answer for you. Have questions, we suggest you ask them. As for grad rates, it's an interesting question, William, and one we might just address in a future post.

Thanks for all the questions. Next mailbag -- hopefully a beefier one -- in two weeks as Insights will be on the road next weekend.
-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette