Common Sense Magazine

In this episode, Nick discusses how Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as running mate effects the election and talks about how this show the hypocrisy of Obama’s change message. Nick also explains the concept of political football and how both Republicans and Democrats take the same stances on critical issues and just the minute details of the same policy. Also this episode features the 2008 Rational Rants College Football Preview and Nick’s pick for the national title.

…

The Big XII conference historically has been known for tough football and the running game. However, there might be a change in identity this season. Four All American caliber Chase Daniel, Sam Bradford, Todd Reesing, and Graham Harrell lead four of the nations top passing offenses. As a result, quarterback play will ultimately determine who wins the Big XII.

Winner: (Missouri def Texas Tech) With the return of their quarterback and Heisman candidate Chase Daniel, their top wide receivers, and a relatively easy conference slate (being in the Big XII and not playing Oklahoma) Missouri has a chance at a national title.

Surprise: (Nebraska) The ousting of Bill Callahan may spark Nebraska to the top of the Big XII. With Bo Pelini at coach, he can retool the strategy tighten up the Big XII’s worst defense (and the worst rush defense in the nation) to at least mediocrity. Nebraska also returns its quarterback Joe Ganz and star rusher Marlon Lucky to lead a high scoring offense. If Nebraska can hold opponents under thirty points per game, the Cornhuskers can make a surprise run.

Disappointment: (Texas) First Texas loses star running back Jamal Charles and top receiver Limas Sweed, leaving an already interception prone quarterback Colt McCoy without his top weapons. Texas also retains only one starter from one of Big XII’s worst secondaries. With Texas playing against the potent passing offenses of Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Missouri, and Kansas Texas may have a down year.

Key Matchups:

Oklahoma vs. Texas Tech This game will determine the Big 12 South championship. Can Texas Tech repeat last year’s victory in Norman?

Kansas vs. Nebraska This game can dictate the direction of both of these programs. Will Kansas sustain its success from last season or can Nebraska find its way back to respectability?

Missouri vs. Kansas After Missouri thwarted Kansas national title hopes last season, can Kansas return the favor?

Oklahoma vs. Texas The Red River shootout is always a big game in the Big XII. Can Texas prove its doubters wrong and beat Oklahoma?

Projected Big XII Standings:

North

1) Missouri 12-0 (8-0) BCS Title Game

2) Kansas 8-4 (5-3)

tied 3) Colorado 7-5 (4-4)

tied 3) Nebraska 8-4 (4-4)

5) Kansas State 4-8 (1-7)

6) Iowa State 2-10 (0-8)

South

tie 1) Texas Tech (win head-to-head game versus Oklahoma) Sugar Bowl

tie 1) Oklahoma 11-1 (7-1) Fiesta Bowl

3) Texas 8-4 (4-4)

4) Texas A&M 7-5 (3-5)

5) Oklahoma State  5-7 (2-6)

6) Baylor 2-10 (1-7)

Despite bowl struggles, the ACC will still have a competitive race to reach the Orange Bowl. With Florida State and Miami facing down years, the ACC has its most wide open race in years. Can Clemson finally live up to its hype? With their talent and ability to win big games, Clemson should win the ACC and have an undefeated season. However, Tommy Bowden and his Tigers have struggled against teams they are favored to win, so they will be victim to a few upsets over the course of the season.

Winner: (Wake Forest defeats Virginia Tech) Quietly Jim Grobe has turned around Wake Forest from Duke like futility to a perrenial ACC title contender. Wake returns nine starters on defense along with their leading rusher Josh Adams. Junior quarterback Riley Skinner who started Wake’s run as a freshman returns as well to a team that went 9-4 last season. The Demon Deacons should improve this season to win their second ACC title in three seasons.

Surprise: (Boston College) With the loss of Matt Ryan, Boston College has been under the radar this season. The Eagles return the ACC’s second best defense along with senior linebacker Brian Toal. The success of the new starting quarterback Chris Crane and BC’s tailbacks will determine whether they can make a run in the ACC.

Disappointment: (Florida State and Miami) Part of the reason the ACC has a reputation as a weak conference is because of the downfall of its historically strongest programs in the ACC, Florida State and Miami. Neither team has any proven talent at quarterback and severely struggle on offense. Miami loses eight starters off a team that already had the ACC’s worst passing offense. Due to suspensions, Florida State loses six starters for half the season to add to Bobby Bowden’s problems. Overall, the ACC’s teams in the state of Florida will struggle this season. This will be the first year since 1978 that both the Seminoles and the Hurricanes will miss bowl games.

Key Matchups:

Clemson vs. Wake Forest: This game will determine the Atlantic Division title and a spot in the conference championship game.

Virginia Tech vs. Virginia: The Coastal division title is on the line in this intrastate rivalry. Can Virginia’s spotty front four stop Va Techs running game?

Clemson vs. Boston College: This game is a litmus test to see if Clemson can become a BCS bowl caliber team. Also an upset over Clemson can carry Boston College on ACC title run.

Projected ACC standings:

Atlantic Division

1) Wake Forest 10-2 (6-2) Orange Bowl

2) Clemson 10-2 (6-2)

3) Boston College 8-4 (4-4)

4) Maryland 8-4 (4-4)

5) Florida State 5-7 (3-5)

6) NC State 4-8 (2-6)

Coastal Division

1) Virginia Tech 10-2 (7-1)

2) Virginia 9-3 (6-2)

3) UNC 6-6 (4-4)

4) Georgia Tech 5-7 (3-5)

5) Miami 4-8 (2-6)

6) Duke 2-10 (0-8)

The Big Ten used to set the standard of a college football conference. Due its recent futility, the Big Ten is now a joke among college football fans across America. Ohio State the class of the Big Ten rose an easy conference schedule to get back to back blowout losses in the national championship game.  In BCS bowl games, the Big Ten losing record (8-9) including four straight Rose Bowl losses. When excluding Ohio State, that record drops to (4-7). Their overall bowl performance is just as bad as the conference has 3-5 and 2-5 bowl record the past two seasons. The newly formed Big East has even outperformed the Big Ten in recent seasons.

The Big Ten (except for Ohio State) also has lost recruiting battles to schools in more warm weather climates. A more enjoyable college experience to attend school in a warmer climate, the ability to practice year round (for NFL draft), and recent success of the Pac-10, Big 12 South and SEC team have drawn recruits south. As a result, the Big Ten has lost a step and their teams lack the team speed of schools from other conferences. Programs such as Iowa, Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota, and Michigan have also fallen in standing has created a sea of mediocrity under Ohio State and Wisconsin. Overall, the Big Ten has lost its national standing and now competes with the ACC as the worst BCS conference in the nation.

What can the Big Ten do to restore its credibility as a top BCS conference? First they can start by having tougher non-conference schedules. Ohio State has taken some initiative by playing USC in a home and home series, but other teams in this conference just load up on home against mid-major cream puffs or Notre Dame (see Michigan, Indiana, and Penn State) By inflating their records, mediocre to bad teams make bowl games. Scheduling is not enough, the Big Ten also needs to win these games and do better in bowl games in order to gain respectability. Within the Big Ten itself, schools in the conference need to acquire more speed players and rival schools need to do a better job recruiting against Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin so the Big Ten is one agian competitive.

Winner: (Ohio State and not even close) Ohio State is the class of the Big Ten and returns their quarterback, star running back Beanie Wells, wide receivers, and offensive line. The Buckeyes also return nine staters on defense led by Heisman candidate James Lauranitis. They should improve by retuning a team that appeared in last years title game. With the rest of the conference weakenig as a whole, Ohio State should dominate the Big Ten with an undefeated record, but playing USC will ultimately cost an appearance in the BCS title game.

Suprise/Disappointment: (None) The Big Ten is a pretty predictable and mediocre league outside of Ohio State and Wisconsin. Penn State and Illinois are slightly above the rest of the league, but other than that, no team seems to have potential to climb out of mediocrity this season. Michigan State has a chance to breakout, but they historically fizzle out after October. No one can unexpectedly drop in the league, because none of the teams were high enough to begin with (Michigan is expected to have a down year due a severe loss in talent). It is a year of mediocrity in the Big Ten. Expect to see several 7-5/6-6 teams to battle in the standings.

Key Matchups

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin: This game will determine the Big Ten championship. Also, this is the only game in the Big Ten where two top tier programs face each other.

Ohio State vs. Penn State

Michigan State vs. Michigan This game is a litmus test for the Spartans. Michigan State has not beaten the Wolverines since 2001, and a win can catapult MSU to a suprise run in the Big Ten. For Michigan, losing this game can cost them a bowl berth.

Projected Big Ten Standings:

1) Ohio State 11-1 (8-0) Rose Bowl

2) Wisconsin 10-2 (7-1)

tied 3) Penn State 9-3 (5-3)

tied 3) Illinois 8-4 (5-3)

tied 5) Purdue 7-5 (4-4)

tied 5) Michigan 7-5 (4-4)

tied 5) Michigan State 7-5 (4-4)

tied 5) Iowa 6-6 (4-4)

9) Minnesota 4-8 (2-6)

10) Indiana 5-7 (1-7)

11) Northwestern 2-9 (0-8)

In recent years the Big East has improved from being a joke of a BCS conference (now the Big Ten) to the fourth best conference in college football. Other than Syracuse, every team in this league has a shot at the Big East title.

Winner: (West Virginia) Despite losing coach Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia still has loads of talent. Most importantly, they have a Heisman caliber quarterback in Pat White. His ability as a runner and a thrower can carry a team to a BCS bowl game. Noel Devine will also more than make up for the loss of Steve Slaton.

Surprise: (Cincinnati) Cincinnati won ten games last year, yet they are not even close to the top of most projected Big East Standings. The Bearcats return one of the Big East’s top defenses while keeping their offense mostly intact except for loss of fifth year senior quarterback Ben Mauk.

Disappointment: (Pitt) I don’t see the hype behind Pitt.  They will improve their win total this year due to an easy non-conference schedule, but they will not improve in the Big East standings. This team only won five games last year and struggled until an upset against West Virgina. The talent level for this season (mostly freshman do not play, so their top recruiting class will not help immediately) has not increased and Dave Wannstedt has been a perennial underachiever in his coaching career.

Key Games:

West Virginia vs. Pitt Winning their second straight Backyard Brawl can bring Pitt back to Big East and national prominence, while West Virginia needs to win this to hold off South Florida for an Orange Bowl trip. Similar to last year, Dave Wannstedt may need to win this game to save his job.

South Florida vs. West Virginia This game will win the Big East championship for either team. Can USF get a big win on the road after winning last year in Tampa?

Rutgers vs. South Florida For a BCS at-large, South Florida needs to win this game. After a relatively disappointing season last year, Rutgers can make some national noise by winning this game.

Projected Big East Standings:

1) West Virginia 11-1 (6-1) Orange Bowl

2) South Florida 10-2 (5-2) Fiesta Bowl

tied 3) Rutgers 8-4 (4-3)

tied 3) Cincinnati 9-4 (4-3)

tied 5) Pitt 8-4 (3-4)

tied 5) UConn 7-5 (3-4)

7) Louisville 6-6 (2-5)

Syracuse 2-10 (0-7)

The Pac-10 is not as deep as last season but the league is top heavy with a national championship favorite in USC and three BCS bowl contenders in Arizona State, Oregon, and Oregon State. However, the middle and the bottom of the Pac-10 is woefully weak. Due to UCLA and Cal being down this season, as little as four teams could make bowl games this year.

Winner: (USC) USC has two top tier quarterbacks in Mark Sanchez and Mitch Mustain, who are both a significant improvement over John David Booty. Pete Carrol’s team is also stacked at running back with three returning backs with over six yards per carry. USC has unproven but NFL potential receivers and an offensive line. On defense, USC is loaded with talent and returns stars to improve an already formidable defense. With two All-American-caliber players in Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing at linebacker and a tough front four USC has the speed on defense to catch up to the spread.  USC also is the deepest team in the nation, whose second string can beat any other team in the Pac-10.

Surprise Team: (Oregon) Due to the losses of Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart, the Ducks have been under-looked coming into this season. Quarterback Nate Costa is a similar dual threat on both the run and the pass to Dixon and six all Pac-10 players on defense. The Ducks will continue to build momentum off of last year blowout bowl win over South Florida. Also Mike Bellotti is a nationally underrated coach and has brought in his highest ranked recruiting class in this season. The Ducks will be fighting for the top of the Pac-10 and a BCS bowl bid.

Disappointment: (UCLA) Similar to the plight of LSU, UCLA has quarterback trouble this season again after losing both Ben Olsen and Patrick Cowan to knee injuries. However, UCLA lacks the overall talent of LSU and has a very suspect offensive line. Those factors combined will make it a long season in Westwood. UCLA also has the toughest non-conference schedule in college football facing three national ranked teams (Fresno State, Tennessee, and BYU). Rick Neuheisel is known for quick turnarounds, but this roster lacks the talent to rise up in a top heavy Pac-10.

Key Match-ups:

USC vs. Arizona State This game will determine a trip to the national title game for both teams with the loser fighting Oregon for the Rose Bowl. Can the USC linebackers expose ASU’s suspect offensive line?

Oregon vs.Oregon State The Civil War is more heated now that both teams are Pac-10 contenders.

Arizona State vs. Oregon A high scoring thriller that will probably determine second place in the Pac-10 and a possible Rose Bowl appearance.

USC vs. UCLA UCLA has recently spoiled the Trojans championship hopes in 2006. Can Rick Neuheisel revive college football’s intercity rivalry and send the Trojans out of the title once again.

Projected Pac-10 Standings (do not count bowl games)

1) USC 12-0 (9-0) BCS Title Game

2) Arizona State 11-1 (8-1) Rose Bowl

3) Oregon 10-2 (7-2)

4) Oregon State 8-4 (6-3)

5) Cal 6-6 (4-5)

6) UCLA 4-8 (4-5)

7 tied) Washington 4-8 (3-6)

7 tied) Stanford 4-8 (3-6)

9) Arizona 4-8 (2-7)

10) Washington State 4-9 (1-8)

In this episode Nick discuss the looming foreign policy threat of Russia and China. Both of their governments are based off a psuedo-totalitarian system known as “authoritarian capitalism” which allows free markets without personal freedoms and/or civil liberties. This gives their governments absolute control of these nation’s citizens’ lives. Nick also explains how geopolitical and economic connections to the USA and Russia/China make these natiions potentially future enemies. As a result, Nick investigates into some foreign policy changes are needed and a few side rants.

In this episode of Rational Rants, Nick discusses the problems with the public education system in the United States of America.  There are four roots to America’s underachievement: government bureaucracy, the Teachers’ Union, a culture of anti-intellectualism, and a government monopoly. Nick also explains a more free market solutions to fixing the public education system and make the schools accountable.