Following the Compass round up

This only post at the Rhino and Compass site intermittently strategy means that the close overage of Following the Compass (adopting 2 teams a year, then keeping close tabs on one of their games in a season) has been lax. Both games for the 2018 calendar have been played, and the teams for next season have also been selected, so let’s just chat about all of it.

The first game this season featured the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team. They’ve recently been very good, and a very fun team to follow, thanks to a high flying passing game. It started with Mike Leach, but now his former QB Kliff Kingsbury is at the helm and continuing that strategy. This year hasn’t been a standout for the Red Raiders, as they have only gone 503, but they’ve had a big win against Oklahoma State and TCU.

One of the games that they won was their non-conference home game against Lamar, from Beaumont Texas. It was a complete whitewashing for the Red Raiders. They failed to score only once after throwing an interception, while Lamar was held scoreless. The final was 77-0, and was far more out of hand than even the most optimistic Texas Tech fans had presumed.

On the other hand, Syracuse, the other selection for the 2018 calendar, is ranked in the top 25 for the first time in over a decade. They’ve defeated Florida State and North Carolina State, while remaining competitive against Clemson The game preceded the FTC game against Pitt, played at Heinz Field.

Pittsburgh is not having a great season, however they aren’t a poor team, on the level of the Lamar Cardinals, and they gave Syracuse a game.The Orange seemed to have some momentum leading to the half, but a long weather delay at half time really threw things off. The Panthers made a hard charge to make a game of it.

Eventually, they did tie it up and sent the game to overtime,a very long time after the game kicked off. The Panthers scored on their first possession, but the Orange looked lost when they took control, despite having put up 37 points already, and were unable to put the ball in the end zone, allowing the Panthers to steal victory form a superior opponent.

Next year, things will be entirely different. Instead of two college football teams from major conerences, we'll be following two college basketball teams from minor conferences. One of the schools is one of the most prominent mid-majors from the last decade or so, switching conferences from the SoCon to the OVC in a hunt for greater challenges. The Belmont Bruins are one of the preeminent teams to rise up through the small conference ranks in recent years. Located in Nashville, the Bruins are going to be traveling to Cape Girardeau, Missouri on March 2nd in their regular season finale, taking on one of our old Following the Compass sides, Southeast Missouri State.

The other team has had some small conference success in the past, but have recently been overwhelmed by the influx of teams from the Dakotas in their conference. Frankly, though, I think most people know this Oklahoma school because of the strange namesake. Oral Roberts University in Tulsa is the second game on the calendar. Unfortunately, the game we selected, #10, will be a part of the 2019-20 season, so we will need to wait until late next fall to figure out exactly who and where they will be playing. They play a fairly regional schedule, including teams from the Dallas area, Oklahoma and Missouri, but also have one big neutral site tournament in Michigan. This season, game 10 for Oral Roberts is against SMU in Dallas, if that gives you an idea of what the game might be. Game 10 will likely fall in early December next year. . 

It's been since 2015 since I drew two college basketball teams in the same year. The fact that those teams are everywhere, though, can make it so much more fun. 

You aren’t paying close enough attention to college football

I am speaking to the college football fans, who often come to me to talk about the game and the news of the world. If you don’t like football, this isn’t for you. If you are a college football fan, you definitely should have mentioned this to me.

Kentucky is actually good this year? I never thought I would see the day that anyone outside of Alabama, LSU, Florida or Georgia would ever have any kind of resurgence, but now the Wildcats are ranked 13^th or 15^th depending on the poll you choose, and are 5-0, including a win at Florida and at home against Mississippi State, who was ranked #14 at the time.

That means that Kentucky, the football version, are ranked higher than
Michigan (every team in Michigan)
Miami (both of them, if you’re counting)

Oregon (every team in Oregon)

Texas

Colorado (all of the Colorados)

Florida

North Carolina State(Every team in North Carolina)

Oklahoma State

And those are just the few that I notice, because they (or a team similar to them) are ranked.

Looking ahead, the Wildcats will probably finish about 10-2 and end up playing on New Years Day. Teams that have a surge like that always seem to get paired with other up and comers, rather than getting the challenge they desire, so I’m calling it right now: Kentucky is playing Central Florida in a bowl game this year. By the  way, why didn’t anyone tell me that UCF was good again this year?

The new UEFA is very different, but probably better

Asia’s continental tournament is severely bifurcated, with smaller countries left with no avenue for making it to the Champions League. North America is similar, in that it mostly excludes the Caribbean. Europe has started a move in that direction, making it difficult for the smaller countries of Europe, or those with a shorter history to get into the Champions League group stages.

This isn’t as terrible or elitist as it sounds though. There truly are only a handful of Associations in Europe that just outclass the rest of the world, let alone the continent. Getting another team from Germany in there over getting BATE from Belarus year after year, only to stumble in the group stage just makes for a more compelling tournament.

Not only does this make for a compelling Champions League, but it also sweetens the pot in the Europa League, the little brother to the Champions League. There are more chances for smaller nations to get teams deeper into that tournament, and it’s not assured that the groups will be won by English, German and Spanish sides, like in the Champions League, with Turkey, Austria, Greece and Belgium all having teams charting among the top 12 in the group stage, eligible for a top seed in the Group Stage draw.

Having the best teams in Europe playing all year long, and promoting competition at the middle tier of European football (rather than simply demolition) is going to be more entertaining, and more indicative of the overall health of the game. Also, from UEFA’s standpoint, this encourages the clubs still involved to be invested, rather than feeling like they are in the loser’s bracket, as the 4^th place team from Italy, or something.

As it stands, Rosenborg is one of two teams from Norway that finds itself in the group stage of the Europa Leage, which seems about given the current talent level now in the Europa League. There was room for Dudelange to become the first Luxembourgian team to qualify for a group stage of any European tournament. They will get a murderer's row, however, of down on their luck European powerhouses, with Real Betis, AC Milan and Olympiakos all scheduled to visit the tiny enclave.

As for the Norwegian sides, the outlook is less daunting. Rosenborg will get a pair of Red Bull affiliated teams from Salzburg and Leipzig, as well as frequent European opponent Celtic, who they have played well against in the past. Sapsborg will contend with Malmo, Besiktas and Genk, surely a manageable group. 

And that's the whole point. Everyone stands to be competetive this year, regardless of the tournaments they find themselves in. Sure, you can be upset that not as many small associations get a crack at the Champions League, but this is going to make for better, more engaging soccer all the way around. 

We get it. The SEC is good

Here, after 2 weeks of college football, is a comprehensive list of the entire conference's non-conference losses.
Tennessee: Lost to #17 West Virginia
Arkansas: Lost at Colorado State
Texas AM: Lost to #2 Clemson

Now, here is a list of the major conference opponents felled by SEC teams:
Kansas State
Louisville
Washington
Miami
Texas Tech

And then, of course, there are all the mid majors that were felled by the SEC. We get it, the SEC is good.

Banging the same drum

I harp on this all the time. It’s stupid that Minnesota only has one D1 college. I’ve heard people talk about their reasons, but the simple fact is that there aren’t any good ones. There are two local events that bring this to my attention this weekend, one on the field, and one at home.

Down in Iowa, the Iowa State Cyclones are playing the Hawkeyes for the annual Cy-Hawk trophy. The game will get national attention because of the heated rivalry between the two in state schools. In Minnesota, the only in D-1 rivalries in the state are in hockey. There are no multi-sport rivalries, and hockey doesn’t have the national attention necessary to attract attention, cash and interest from lucrative out of state students.

So that irked me. Iowa has a big rivalry game, and Minnesota doesn't. And then this morning, my wife and I were discussing out children's college, when it comes time for that (only 18 years to go!), and my wife and I each reflected on our personal journey towards picking a college. 

For me, I had two goals. One, I wanted to go somewhere with meteorology program, and I wanted to go somewhere where the athletics could be a major part of the student life (AKA, I wanted D-1). In Minnesota, the only school available was St. Cloud, and the next door options (with reciprocity) were North Dakota (not D-1 at the time, and in North Dakota) and Wisconsin. So I broadened my horizons and ended up at Purdue. 

My wife had an educational that was more broadly available, and a charge from her parents that she keep it affordable by staying in state. The breadth of opportunity with her major allowed her some options in state, which was different from me, but also, if she had the desire to go to a school with division one athletics, she was in Wisconsin, and had choices like Wisconsin, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Marquette. 

The fact that the there is only one D-1 option in state, with it's finite selection of educational programs, has to force some kids to look elsewhere. It did me. Maybe it will my kids too. In conclusion, it remains profoundly stupid that the state of Minnesota can't muster a second D-1 college.

Veteran rappers just hate everyone

I think that over the past year or so, particularly with a credit to Black Panther, modern hip hop has really received a big boost. Kendrick Lamar might end up with an Oscar for the sound track to the movie, while Donald Glover/Childish Gambino also made waves thanks to This is America, which was released concurrently with an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
It is at the height of popularity as well. J. Cole and Travis Scott sold best selling albums this year, not to mention the continuing efforts of a wide variety of artists like Pusha T, Rae Sremmurd and Big Sean, and the new to the scene Cardi B is featuring on nearly every song that she isn't the main artist. Hell, Migos became only the second group in Billboard history to place 14 songs songs in the Hot 100 at the same time. The other group? The Beatles.
That's all well and good, but just know that Eminem and Nikki Minaj hate you. Here are a couple of videos that break down exactly which people Eminem and Nikki Minaj have problems with.

The Rhino and Compass guide to your Fantasy Football Draft

Training camps are opening across the country. Absurdly, the preseason starts on Thursday. I’m sure you knew all of this already, because if you interact with anyone in the United States, you’ve already been asked if you are playing fantasy football this year. I’m not any expert on fantasy football, but I do have some ideals when it comes to drafting players, and in the paragraphs below, please find the Rhino and Compass fantasy football draft philosophy.

Quarterbacks:
It used to be that I would suggest a running quarterback would be the top bet, because rushing yards always counted more than throwing. Mike Vick, Cam Newton and Russell Wilson all fit this category, and it seemed like more were cropping up. Now, Newton is practically the only real mobile threat under center in the game.

Now I would say just get a healthy veteran. UIt’s the most stable way to go, and it’s one of the rare positions where players actually get significantly better as they get older. Don’t waste time getting a QB early, but getting QBs in back to back rounds in like the 6^th or 7^th isn’t a terrible idea.

Running BacksHave you ever heard anyone say that they won their fantasy league despite not having a great running back? No? Because that doesn’t happen. The core of any championship team is a good ground game.

With that in mind, you almost certainly should draft a running back in the first round, unless there is something extremely compelling available, or the best running backs are already gone. The best running backs, I should say, excepting a few vital rules.

Rule #1 – The shelf life of a running back is short. Don’t draft a running back in the first round that is older than about 28, because they are pretty much at the back end of their career by that point.  The second is don’t draft a running back that’s already had a major knee injury.

After you draft your star back in the first round, consider another in the 2^nd round, so long as they follow the first two rules, and really consider it if they are good receivers. Other than that? Wait until later in the draft and load up on rookies and second year players. That’s where the value is, and those are the guys that will break out and win your league for you.

Wide ReceiversThe modern game is vertical, and as you might imagine, wide receivers are becoming increasingly important. Make sure that you hit the early and middle rounds hard. Veterans aren’t a bad idea here. Round 2, unless there is a great RB option, should be dedicated to WRs. Maybe even 3 and 4, possibly 5.
The type of receiver should depend on what league you are in. Is it PPR? Then possession receivers, especially a QB favorite, are your best options. Not PPR? Then go for the home run hitters that will be streaking downfield on every possession. Well, do that with the first pick, then grab the other variety a little later on.

This is an area where I would lean towards veteran receivers, but maybe get young depth late in the draft. You aren’t going to find break outs among the veterans that have been playing for years, and you aren’t going to win by being conservative. Draft some young guys late.

Tight EndsThis is very important: there are two good tight ends, and then everyone else. Don’t be afraid to draft Gronk or Travis Kelce in the first round, because the drop between TE 1 and 2 and the rest of the league is much greater than at any other position. Drafting one of those two guys early gives you the most positional value, really of any player in the draft.

When you are looking in the 10^th or 11^th round, you can see if the Jimmy Graham’s of the world are available, but you will get much better bang for your buck by looking for tight ends of bad quarterbacks. Tight ends are their security blankets, and can rack up catches and yards as a result.

Defense
Did you know that if you play the defense that plays the worst offense every week, rather than the best defense, you will end up with the most points? Don't waste a high pick on a defense. Wait until the very end, and then take the Saints who are playing the Bucs in week 1.

Kicker
Just take whoever Yahoo has as the first available kicker. Or find one with a bye week as late in the year as you can find so you only have to change him once during the season.

All right, that's all you need, I think. At the very least, if you don't win your league, you can blame me.