Gold Rush – Your Twitter Q/A

College Football seems destined for a four-team playoff format to decide its champion, which means conferences are going to start fighting for their +1. The new SEC vs. Big 12 bowl guarantees that if a school is chosen for the playoff that a new team from either conference would fill the spot, and therefore the conference could still collect the bowl revenue. There is a ton of money at stake for both the individual schools and the conference, something the Big Ten and Pac-12 already figured out when the BCS was announced. They made sure that luxury was written into their Rose Bowl agreement. As far as the game itself I’m excited about the possible matchups but I don’t believe it changes much. For example, this past year I enjoyed the Oklahoma State vs. Stanford matchup much more than I would have Oklahoma State vs. Georgia.

I don’t think this game would affect Rose Bowl time since the sun setting over the San Bernadinos has become as much a part of New Years as champagne and dumb hats. It’s more likely you’ll see the Big 12 vs. SEC game cement itself as the nightcap after the Rose Bowl.

@Bandogypsys – “Who does Coach K have coming up the pipeline to replace Austin Rivers, any elite athletes in this year’s class?”

I don’t think Duke has to necessarily replace Austin Rivers in 2012-2013. His YouTube highlights were fun to watch, but judging by a 15-2 upset at the hands of Lehigh he didn’t make Duke a contender. They also bring back a good mix of veteran guards in Seth Curry, Andre Dawkins and the underrated Tyler Thornton.  As far as new players to add to the Blue Devil mix, remember the names Rasheed Sulaimon, Marshall Plumlee and Amile Jefferson. Sulaimon is a guard in the combo mold of Nolan Smith and should get early playing time behind the veterans. Plumlee is the last of his lineage, I think, and is supposedly the most athletic of the three brothers. And Jefferson is a long athletic ¾ hybrid out of Philadelphia, the type of player Duke has been lacking and Kentucky has been hoarding.

Very plainly, Oklahoma State missed their shot when they lost to Iowa State. Oklahoma State has won 23 games the past two years and Mike Gundy is establishing himself as one of the game’s best coaches, but replacing a quarterback-wide receiver tandem that was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft is next to impossible. Oklahoma State should do well in the weak Big 12 (they don’t play a good team until November) but they already named true freshman quarterback Wes Lunt the starter in Stillwater, which probably doesn’t bode well for National Championship aspirations.

After playing in back-to-back Rose Bowls, Wisconsin really wanted to challenge itself out of conference and scheduled powerhouses such as Northern Iowa, Oregon State, Utah State, and UTEP. Alright Dan, I’ll drop the sarcasm, I just think Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema have about as much “sand” as a glacier. In reality, I believe Wisconsin will be in the Big Ten title race for a couple reasons: First, I think Maryland transfer Danny O’Brien has a lot of talent at quarterback, and after Wisconsin’s system worked wonders for Russell Wilson’s accuracy and efficiency similar improvements should occur for O’Brien. Second, Wisconsin’s offensive line will reload (as always) and gel during that cupcake out of conference, well enough at least to spring Montee Ball. In conference Wisconsin dodges favorite Michigan on the schedule, but has a tough 4-game (3-of-4 game) stretch to end the year against Michigan State, Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State.

Jeff, I thank you for pumping the #GoldRush hashtag. If it was trending at any point I’d have to credit your desperately loyal fanship. As far as your greatest t-shirt I’m going with “The Jeff” shirt. Anyone daring enough to capture their moniker on their own vanity license plate deserves enough homage, but to then rile the gumption to print that  vanity plate on a t-shirt? Pure genius/insanity. If only Alvarez and Bielema had your raisins, we’d see better competition in Madison.

Have comments, questions, opinions or banter? Tweet me something interesting @Einsane and you’ll be included in next weeks Gold Rush

Ian Gold
Ian Gold is kind of a professional sports writer. Professional enough to run a fantasy football sports blog, and become a credentialed writer at the Newark Star-Ledger. Unprofessional enough enter into a full-fledged argument on twitter with a 15-year-old - but once again, professional enough to win said argument. Also, unless you're Matt Stafford, he can throw a spiral better than you.