Week 1 Reactions

Week one was something else. Between Texas, Wisconsin, and Houston pulling off landscape-shaking upsets and our beloved 'Noles' comeback win over Ole Miss, the weekend was packed with exciting action to bring in the new year.

Sean and I had many a discussions after the Week 1 slate as to what we thought about the chaos. Here are 6 observations and our cumulative top 10 after the Week 1 action:

1) Football is awesome.
Absolutely wonderful. We are so happy it has returned to us. There are few things better. This Week 1 schedule had all of the hype in the world and more than lived up to

2) Texas is... actually pretty good.
What a difference a quarterback makes, huh? Notre Dame is a very good team with two solid quarterbacks (Kizer > Zaire if you ask me) but young Buechele looked like a veteran dropping dimes all over the field. It's good, at least for me, to see Charlie Strong succeeding in Texas. I hope they have an excellent season but I don't see them making them playoffs, not with that defense.

3) Houston is looking at a playoff spot, however.
I'm not sure how I feel about Tom Herman but whatever the dude is doing IT IS WORKING. Houston is rolling with great play-makers, schemes, and most importantly, heart. They are a fun team to watch and I really hope they run the table and make the final four.

4) Large gap between Alabama and the rest of the SEC.
Boy there were some ugly performances from SEC teams this weekend. Tennessee, with all of their hype, was an absolute train wreck. So were Arkansas (1 point win over LA Tech), Kentucky (blew a huge lead and lost to Southern Miss), Missouri (scorched by West VA), Florida (didn't pull away until 4th quarter), OH, and LSU. LSU will apparently never have solid quarterback play ever again under Les Miles. Wisonsin came to play and, despite the score, outplayed the Tigers throughout the games. The SEC looked pretty awful in week 1, we'll see if that changes in the coming weeks. You do, however, have to give it to Texas A&M and Georgia for their big wins to bring in the season.

5) The ACC is looking pretty damn good.
Despite Clemson squeaking one out against the other Tigers, the ACC had a solid weekend. 10-2 vs non-conference competition to be exact. Louisville, Clemson, and Florida State will lead the ACC charge with North Carolina right behind them. If Florida State and Clemson win every game outside of their matchup on October 29th, as they're each expected to, they could both be in playoff contention despite having a loss.

6) ... and so are the 'Noles.
Speaking of our Seminoles WHAT A GAME. I was there and can tell you that the atmosphere was 100% electric and rightfully so. Deondre Francois surpassed many people's expectations after he found his confidence. The defense was nasty when it got lined up correctly. There is talent and depth across the board for the 'Noles, we knew that, but now they know that and what they are capable of. Shoot me for saying it, but that third quarter was 2013-esque. Look out.

OUR TOP 10:

10) Washington
9)   Texas
8)   Michigan
7)   Georgia
6)   Stanford
5)   Ohio State
4)   Houston
3)   Florida State
2)   Clemson
1)   Alabama

Pictures are not ours.
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2017 Basketball Recruiting Update

Everyone is pumped about football so I thought that it would be a great time to talk about FSU basketball recruiting. The 2017 'Noles class will not be as star studded as the last two cycles, but I am okay with that. If Florida State wants to compete consistently in the best basketball conference in the nation (a.k.a. the ACC) they will have to do so through teams made up of high tier three star recruits and four star recruits. Do not get me wrong, we should go after one and done type talents but we should not put all of our eggs in a recruit's basket that is also hearing from Duke and Kentucky, because 9/10 times we lose that battle. This year's class could have as many as six spots and we currently have two commits. This article has three groups of recruits: the commits, the one-and-done recruits, and the program building recruits.

THE COMMITS

Bryan Trimble Jr. 6'3" 190 lbs, 3-star Shooting Guard

FOOTBALL. IS. HERE.

AW YEAH. Florida State football held their first installment of fall camp yesterday and the Seminole beat was lighting up with tweets,stories, pictures, and videos. Here we have a collection of the best snippets of coverage for you to view and there may or may not be a hype video at the end to send you over the edge so keep an eye out for that as well. (Click on the pictures they are links to external articles).

Full opening Jimbo Press Conference:

Here Come the Sixers #2017NBAFinals

It's over. It being the 2016-2017 NBA season. No that is not a typo. So you're confused? Dude, I know the 2015-2016 season ended Sunday night with the Cavs winning one for the "Land," but the 2016-2017 season ended today. Reports from Philadelphia are that we (yes, we) informed Ben Simmons that we will pick him with the #1 overall pick in Thursday's draft. Ben Simmons is one of the more unique talents as he is 6'10" 240 lbs with elite vision and the ability to finish with either hand around the basket and he is a Sixer. But wait the great news does not stop there, as the Sixers twitter legend Joel Embiid is cleared to scrimmage in 5 on 5 action. The Sixers should dominate the NBA next year with these two elite talents.

TRUST THE PROCESS FAM #WeWereTalkingAboutRihanna lol pic.twitter.com/xdswU4NjAF

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) June 21, 2016

With today's news, the Rookie of the Year race has become the race for third place. It'll be intriguing to see if Simmons or Embiid will be Rookie of the Year in the 2016-2017 season. Don't worry Steph Curry, you will still be the only unanimous MVP in league history just because Simmons and Embiid will split MVP votes next year so rest easy Mr. Curry and prepare to get dominated in the Finals. Also Ayesha Curry do not start a twitter war with the Sixers as Joel Embiid will end you. Without a doubt. All I am trying to say NBA, is be prepared.

Hopefully you believed very little in the previous two paragraphs, except for the fact that Joel would own Ayesha in a twitter fight. I do not think the Sixers are winning the championship next year. What this news truly means is that Philadelphia finally has a star to build the team around in Ben Simmons and if Embiid reaches his potential this is a scary team for the future. The Sixers can now build around their superstar, or superstars with this draft, next year's draft and in upcoming free agency. The future is bright in Philadelphia no matter what people say. Also, thank you Hinkie and as always: #TrustTheProcess

What if 1 and Done... Wasn't?

With the NBA draft approaching, Sean and I have had many discussions about potential moves and picks for our Celtics and Sixers. Both teams have assets and draft picks and a lot of room for improvement ('76ers probably more than anyone in the NBA which Sean actually talked about) but the one thing that stuck out to us when talking about these young prospects is just how many have left early, especially from teams like Duke and Kentucky. I started thinking (which isn't a normal occurrence): what if the rule was the same as football and these players were forced to give a damn about the college experience and school pride, staying around at least three years? What would the landscape of talent look like across college basketball?

The Sixers: Frustrating Fanhood

To the 12 readers that have been asking: I am still a Sixers fan even though they got rid of the genius that was President of Basketball Operations, Sam Hinkie.

Since I became a Philadelphia fan roughly two years ago, we have struggled mightily. We drafted Joel Embiid with all of the promise along with overseas wonder Dario Saric, neither of which have played a single minute. Is it frustrating that two of our top picks during Hinkie's Era have not played? Yeah it is frustrating, very frustrating, but it is all about collecting assets folks.

Status Update: FSU Basketball

First off, I want to apologize to my mother and the other eight people who read this blog as our posts about this team being "different" and "tournament bound" misled our readers. To say this year was a disappointment is an understatement. Yeah, I know, let's blame Leonard Hamilton. I believe we can, but we have to put the blame on the players as well.

When it comes down to it, their effort on the defensive end for the majority of the season was terrible. That is on the players because Hamilton has a proven record on the defensive side of the ball. We focused our complaints on Boris (rightfully so) but, plain and simple, our defense sucked because our on ball defense and off ball defense on opposing guards was terrible. Basketball is a guard driven game right now and there was nobody on this team who was an elite defender. Devon Bookert was a good defender because he paid attention to player tendencies and gave his all on every position, something I cannot say about any other player on the team. During our four straight years to the tournament every player on our team bought into the defensive scheme of Leonard Hamilton. We used to have great on-ball defenders like Toney Douglas, Deividas Dulkys, and even Michael Snaer. The closest thing we have had to this on the perimeter in the last four years was Aaron Thomas but that was a short stint. The biggest issue with this team over the last four years is its lack of toughness and that has to be what bugs Leonard Hamilton the most.

Potential Breakout 'Noles for 2016

With FSU spring practice in full swing, the thoughts of what 2016 could be are fresh in Seminole fans' minds. Pictures and videos are constantly being tweeted out from the scarce amount of time media is allowed to peak into practice and it gets fans giddy about the future. I'm one of those fans. This team has real talent, real depth, and some scary-real potential. We already know about key pieces returning to the team from 2015 that will keep the team towards the top of the ACC, but what players will emerge to take the Seminoles to that next step? Here are 8(ish) players currently participating in spring practice that haven't seen much playing time but could be big names by the end of the season.

Sophomore DT, Walvenski Aimé
Meet JUCO transfer Walvenski Aimé. Walvenski Aime is a bad dude. As a 6'4", 289 early enrollee, Aimé could find his way onto a loaded defensive line for the Seminoles come fall. Out of JUCO he was rated as the 3rd best defensive tackle prospect and the 30th best prospect overall. With other players Derrick Nnadi and DeMarcus Christmas already on the depth chart - with experience - it may be another year until Aimé sees considerable playing time, but if he is able to break into the starting lineup it will be because he has earned it and is the real deal. If not, that's okay too, Aimé comes into FSU with three years of eligibility.

Sweet 16 Preview

By now there is a solid chance that your bracket resembles a dumpster fire with the crazy amount of upsets that took place in the first two rounds. The madness will continue tonight through Sunday as we find out who will get a trip to the Final Four.

South

The South Bracket will be in action tonight starting with (3)Miami and (2)Villanova before (1)Kansas vs (5)Maryland. 

Miami is led by point guard Angel Rodriguez who is averaging 26 points in the tournament including a huge 3-point dagger to hold off Wichita State. Villanova has coasted to the Sweet 16 with two 20+ point wins. Miami will have their hands full tonight with the Wildcats.

Another Tournament Pool...

Think again. This isn't just another tournament pool. Sean and I drafted 8 teams each, one by one, whom we think will have the best tournament showings. We will be keeping track of each group of teams by points and whoever ends with the most points will be buying the other a 12-pack of Barq's Root Beer, same as our college football pick 'em wager. The points system is simple (because we have to keep track ourselves), each team that advances will get points for each round they advance. We will multiply each rounds' point-worth by two so 1st round will be 1 point, 2nd round will be 2, 3rd round will be 4 points and so forth.

Here are our picks. I let Sean go first since I may or may not have ever gotten him the root beer I owed him from the college football picks, and why we picked the teams we did. Oh, and just for fun, our last pick had to be a 10+ seed.

1st - 2 Michigan State
Sean: It's Tom Izzo's time of the year and his team has a good draw to get to the Final Four. Denzel Valentine might be the nation's best player and I look for Bryn Forbes to hit some big threes along the way.

2nd - 1 Kansas
JK: Kansas is probably the best team in the nation right now and they're on a roll. I passed on North Carolina because I think their region is the toughest of the 4 - Xavier, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Notre Dame are all lethal contenders.

Kansas' 12th-year senior Perry Ellis Jr./Joakim Noah's older brother

The Alaskan Assassin Bids Farewell

On Saturday the Noles will honor five seniors before they take on the Syracuse Orange. Boris Bojanovsky, Devon Bookert, Montay Brandon, Michael Ojo (Ojo could be granted a medical redshirt) and Michael Saxton will play their last game in the Civic Center but this article is not about these five seniors, it is about the one who has made Seminole fans everywhere proud. Devon Bookert, the Alaskan Assassin, has had an amazing senior year. I will not give my opinion on the other seniors that play as I am glad they are moving on but we will miss Devon Bookert next year. Bookert is the closest thing that the 'Noles have had to a leader this year and you could see his frustration and disappointment during Florida State's recent 5 game losing streak. The senior from Alaska, would be awesome to have next year if Bacon and Beasley were to come back and accompany Jonathan Isaac but that won't happen. This article is about appreciating Devon Bookert for the player he is and understanding that he was asked to do too much in his previous three years.

Huge Week for FSU's Tournament Hopes

The Seminoles seem to have found their stride recently. We've beat four teams that we should have beat. That alone is a big deal if you have ever followed Florida State basketball, and that's great, but it is our next two games that could lock up a tourney berth for the 'Noles. We play at Syracuse tonight, a fellow bubble team, and host #12 Miami on Sunday. These are two chances at statement wins and I believe Florida State can win them both if we come out and play with focus and energy. All of a sudden we are talking about a team fighting for higher tournament seeding rather than reading everything Joe Lunardi puts on ESPN to see if he thinks we are in or out.

#Tribe16 Draft Grades

I am sure you have heard the news by now that Jimbo Fisher did his thing on the recruiting trail once again. After the 2016 version of National Signing Day added 6 new 4-star prospects to the newest Seminole recruiting class, Florida State jumped to - depending on what site you look at - the number one recruiting class in the nation. This was a major statement for coach Fisher and his staff after what was considered to be a "down year" for the 'Noles, bouncing back to dominate the recruiting trail and letting the college football world know that Florida State isn't going anywhere.

So, since you have heard all of the hype around how great Tribe 16 was, let's take a deeper look into how these new players will fit into the squad with some position-by-position grades.

(rankings according to ESPN.com who ranked Tribe 16 #1)

Quarterbacks: A
We all know about how difficult of a year 2015 was on our quarterbacks, especially a year removed from one of the best to ever play the position, but the future has a great deal of promise. Despite Maguire returning, Deondre Francois is the guy many think will be taking the reigns of the offense come fall. With those two in place along with JJ Cosentino in the mix, it was likely that whoever came from this class would not be starting immediately; therefore this cycle was likely going to bring in someone who will red-shirt.

But that didn't happen. Instead, Jimbo brought in Malik Henry who he recently said has a "tremendous chance to start." Henry (6'2", 185) is rated as the #2 dual threat quarterback in the country. He stole the show in the Under Armor game (highlights below) going 9-12 for 72 yards and a touchdown. There is not only a lot of talk about this kid's arm talent but also that he is a very smart player which will be crucial in picking up Jimbo's offense. It also helps that he is an early enrollee. I don't see Henry starting this year but we will get to see some of him this spring and he should be THE GUY in a year or two.