Thursday Quick Hitters

First, we must lead off with a link to EDSBS as it features a wonderful picture, courtesy of LSUFreek. And yes, I would love one as an early Christmas present if anyone is shopping yet (since we can't display that one, we've chosen another Mangino shot done by LSUFreek).

Next we have an interesting article about controversial officiating in college football from the Orlando Sentinel's Mike Bianchi. It seems this week's foe was the recipient of some favorable calls last week. One can only hope they'll be on the other end of that tomorrow.

News out of Tampa says that USF will be starting a place kicker and a new RG this week, the former on account of performance and the latter because of the injury we linked to yesterday.

This next link isn't to a specific post, but to Timmy G.'s blog that has a few Jayhawk features today. The one you might find most interesting is when he picks against the Hawks, saying USF wins it 23-20. Not surprisingly, Bruce Feldman is also picking against the Hawks.

While discussing picks, we should probably also alert you that ESPN has posted their Scouts.com preview. The people at Scouts like the Bulls to win it 35-34, which is not all that surprising. But for those of you without Insider, here's a real quick breakdown of which team they give the edge to, by position.

QB: Kansas
RB: USF
WR: Kansas
Ol: USF
DL: USF
LB: USF (WTF?!)
CB: USF
ST: Kansas
Coach: Kansas
Overall: USF

I can certainly understand the people at Scouts, or anyone for that matter, picking USF to win the game. For one thing, they may be just as good as KU for all we know. And more importantly, they'll be playing at home in front of a presumably raucous crowd. But bear with me for just one second, as I take a look at their ratings from above. First off, from everything I've heard and seen, the two best things South Florida has going for them are their coach and their quarterback. Obviously Kansas isn't lacking in either category; I just find it funny that Scouts realizes this in their breakdown. I say that only because, aside from Reesing, all I have read nationally about Kansas this year is how their defense is going to carry them. And given that they've allowed 3 points through two games, this has proved somewhat prophetic. Yet, despite giving up 24 to UCF last week, Scouts claims that South Florida is better at every position on the defensive side of the ball, including LB. I won't get into a huge thing here, but just found that amusing. (Also, for those of you that can't access the report, they also list Dedeaux as the first string tight end and cite Kansas' poor run defense as a reason that they'll have so much trouble with the USF offense. Just saying.)

Meanwhile, CFN labels it the Big XII game of the week and picks the Jayhawks in a tight one, 27-24. On that much happier note, we will leave you for now, but be sure to check back soon for something on the game that isn't just lifted from elsewhere.