Chase Daniel Need Not Listen to Mel Kiper
In the build-up to this weekend’s unofficial “Bragging Rights” game, Mizzou is sifting through some serious preseason publicity. It’s not exactly unexpected, but it’s still unfamiliar territory for fans and players alike (don’t worry, it’s totally cool for me to speak for the players).
ESPN.com published their bowl projections yesterday and for the sake of the fans, I hope the looks aren’t deceiving. Mark Schlabach pegged Mizzou for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl against Brigham Young while his colleague Bruce Feldman had Mizzou fighting for the national title in the FedEX BCS National Championship Game against USC.
While Schlabach’s projection may look weak to the naked eye, Feldman had Brigham Young in the All State Sugar Bowl, proving both of the “experts” see big things for the school that helped Ty Detmer win a Heisman.
While that news looks positive, Mel Kiper surely ruffled a few Mizzou feathers (Tigers have feathers?) when he awarded Chase Daniel the title of most overrated quarterback in college football for the ‘08 season. Naturally, Kiper failed to include Daniel in his top five list for college quarterbacks making the jump to the pros. His adversary and bitter hair rival Todd McShay ranked Daniel 3rd overall in his list of 2008 college quarterbacks, which was strictly based on “college play” and not potential NFL success.
What does it all mean? Absolutely nothing. Both Kiper and McShay are idiots. And truthfully, “Feldman and Schlabach” sounds like a scheming legal practice. The odds of Brown and Crouppen projecting a more accurate picture of bowl games for ESPN are very high, so take it with a grain of salt. But just because we’re in a giving mood, we’ll take Feldman’s words to heart.