Oct. 20, 2006

By Trev Alberts

Special to CSTV.com

	TREV ALBERTS Trev Alberts is a football analyst for CSTV and CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- TREV's MAILBAG 2/20: Show Some Patience 1/23: Cutcliffe Can Be Successful At Duke 1/16: To Each His Own 1/10: Watching Different Games 1/2: Brennan's Sugar Performance Won't Hurt Him 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 12/19: Rodriguez Licking His Chops 12/12: Buckeyes Have A Chip 12/05: Missouri Got Hosed 11/28: Some Coaching Changes Ludicrous 11/21: Love Woodson's Poise 11/14: Dixon Can Be Contained, But Not Stopped 11/7: Pac-10 Far From Overrated 10/31: Appalachian State Loss An Afterthought 10/24: No Halves Off In College Football 10/17: Nebraska In Good Hands With The Doctor 10/10: Trojans Still A Player 10/03: Don't Hate On South Florida 09/26: Hangovers Part of The Game 09/19: Nebraska's Performance Disappointing 09/12: DeSean As Explosive As It Gets 09/05: Tebow Impressive In First Start 08/29: ACC QBs Better Than Advertised 08/24: McFadden Not Quite In Bush's Class 08/17: From Overrated To Underrated 08/10: Florida's Overrated 08/03: Spurrier's Got That Twinkle 07/27: Big East Deserves More Credit 07/20: Badgers Playing For Second, At Best 07/13: Gators Repeat? Not So Fast 07/06: Pac-10 Still Owned By USC 06/29: One Big's Better Than The Other 06/22: WAC Ain't All That 06/15: Text Messaging Ban Excessive 06/08: Fifth Year of Eligibility A Good Idea 05/25: Hot Seat Warming Up For Some Coaches 05/18: Big Ten Falling Behind SEC 05/11: 'Canes, Seminoles Have Ways To Go 05/07: Sleeping Dawgs 04/20: Look Out For South Florida 04/13: Boise's Johnson Has No Shot At '07 Heisman 03/30: The Best Atmosphere In College Football Belongs To... 03/23: Tough To Compare QBs With Different Styles 03/16: Top Coaches Need To Be Appreciated 03/9: Woodson Nation's Most Indispensable QB 03/2: Things Just Not The Same At Nebraska 02/23: Rodriguez Does Well With His Chips 02/16: Believe It Or Not, I Don't Have An FSU Agenda 02/09: Yes, I Do Know College Football 02/02: Of Course Huskers Make Adjustments 01/26: Coach Alberts In Lincoln? No Chance 01/19: Can't Begrudge Kids For Leaving Early 01/03: Saban Heads to Alabama 12/29: Some Coaching Changes Come As Surprise 12/22: Too Many Bowl Games Way of Life 12/15: Who Has The Best Talent In The Nation? 12/7: Who's The More Deserving National Title Participant? 12/1: Irish Don't Deserve BCS Bid 11/16: Ohio State the Better Team 11/9: Give the Big East Its Due 11/2: What's Wrong With D at USC? 10/26: Where Will Bowden Be in '07? 10/20: Who Belongs in the Top 20? FOOTBALL 1/8: In Surprise, Ohio State Beats Itself 1/6: Good Start Vital For Buckeyes 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 11/23: LSU Loss A Microcosm Of The Season 11/19: Give It Some Time 10/13: Give Kentucky All The Credit 10/7: USC Loss Sends Shockwaves 9/1: Michigan's Loss Nothing Short of Stunning 6/19: Hoeppner Did Things His Way 4/27: Unexpected Reigned In 1994 02/22: Combine Experience Can Be Eye Opening 02/08: Signing Day Observations 02/07: Walk Down Recruiting Memory Lane 11/17: Remebering Schembechler 9/5: One Week Is Just One Week 8/25: The Return Of Trev

You've got college football questions and CSTV Football Analyst Trev Alberts has answers and opinions. Each week Alberts will be answering questions and queries on the world of college football. Got a question for Trev? Just ask him.

Does Rutgers really deserve to be ranked in the Top 20 and how good are they?

I think they absolutely deserve to be ranked in the Top 20. I was more of a cynic than anybody before I went down to cover the game in Annapolis to take on Navy.

I saw some of the young kids and I was really impressed. They completely dominated the game. They're truly remarkable in terms of their speed. They deserved to be ranked. They are where they should be. Now going forward, we find out the most. They have taken the next step. They are a top 25 program. But the one thing I want to see is a big offensive line run right at them for four quarters.

They have so much talent, especially at wide receiver. Greg Schiano is legit and so is his team. Every year they get a better recruiting class than the last because of their success and the exposure they're getting.

If people are concluding that Larry Coker is fired and that Greg Schiano would obviously leave Rutgers for Miami, I would say not so fast. He loves where he is and told me directly that he envisions the day when he'll never even have to leave the state of New Jersey - he won't have to get on an airplane to recruit. There's that much talent.

Is the Big East really better than the ACC this season?

Without a doubt. One of the most disappointing things this year is how bad the ACC has been this season. That's no disrespect to the teams have played well this season like Clemson and Boston College. Wake Forest has also had a nice year.

But really, Florida State and Miami are just very, very average football teams. They're just not very good. They have no depth, no identity on offense. Virginia Tech has been a huge disappointment.

In the Big East, Rutgers is legit, Pittsburgh is legit, West Virginia is legit and Louisville is legit.

The biggest difference is the influx of coaches and the energy they have brought to the conference - Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia, Dave Wannstedt at Pittsburgh - has been great. Of course, there is also Rutgers and Schiano and Louisville and Bobby Petrino, who is, in my opinion, one of the best minds in college football. And don't forget about USF and Jim Leavitt. They're also legit.

The ACC needs to get going. It's an embarrassment. The ACC shouldn't be this bad.

Do you think Florida would be better off with Tim Tebow at quarterback than Chris Leak?

No. I've said it consistently and I'll continue to say it: one of the most underappreciated, disrespected, great college quarterbacks of all-time is Chris Leak. I think there will probably be a day when Florida fans will look back and realize their stupidity in not appreciating Chris Leak.

Look at his raw numbers. And don't come with this "Well, we judge quarterbacks at Florida with the number of championships." That's nonsense. I don't remember Florida winning hundreds of championships.

I think he's a remarkable player. That being said, I think Tim Tebow has had a remarkable impact on the team. And I think Urban Meyer deserves some credit for how he's handled the deal and that it hasn't become a distraction. But I think first and foremost, it hasn't become a distraction because of the class that Chris Leak has showed in not allowing it to become one.

I continue to become frustrated with how the Gators' fans have treated him. It's not about Chris Leak. It's about the schedule. They play six unbelievably difficult games this year. And if they get the chance, seven if they play in the SEC championship games. That's seven opportunities against the best defenses in college football.

Does Arkansas have any real chance of coming out of the SEC West?

I think that race is about as interesting as any to me. In my opinion, Auburn is still the class of the West. When properly motivated and focused, they're as good as anyone in the country. They still have some issues, but they're one of the best football teams in the country.

The Arkansas offense has really developed and been pretty darn good. Mitch Mustain has really developed. They're a physical team. When Darren McFadden is right and healthy, he's pretty difficult to stop. I think the defense has been okay, but at times dominating.

I don't see them coming out of the West, but it's been a nice surprise for Houston Nutt compared to what's happened last year. Auburn is still the class of the West, though.

What game has the most riding on it this weekend?

I think a game that is flying a little bit under the radar is the Iowa-Michigan game, simply because there's a general consensus that Iowa is completely overrated. They got blown out against Ohio State and lost that lead to Indiana. We've assumed that one of the BCS participants will come from the Michigan-Ohio State game later in the season. Well, if Michigan or Ohio State loses before that game, that changes things.

Iowa has been a disappointment on defense this season, but I just wouldn't count out Kirk Ferentz. I just think that Drew Tate is the type of quarterback where you never know what he'll do next. He can pull some tricks out of the bag. It's a game that everybody assumes and thinks is a Michigan win, but I still think is a potentially dangerous game.

Clemson-Georgia Tech is a really intriguing game. I think Clemson is the best team in the ACC. Obviously there's a lot riding on that one.

Nebraska-Texas is intriguing because when Steve Peterson took over as the athletic director at Nebraska and fired Frank Solich, his comment was, "We will not stand idly and watch while programs like Kansas State and Texas take over us." They're looking forward to see where they stand up.