So the weirdest story of the last 24 hours might or might not be a story. It turns out that Derrick Washington isn't a member of the Doak Walker Award watch list. Who is? Well, Texas A&M's Cyrus Gray, for one. Jake Sharp. UTEP's Donald Buckram. Kent State's Eugene Jarvis. La Tech's Daniel Porter. UConn sophomore Jordan Todman. A lot of players infinitely less proven than D-Wash. How does this happen? Dave Matter's got a theory (via Twitter): "Players make the list as long as they're nominated by their school. Methinks MU forgot."
So there you go. I will say that the whole idea of watch lists is stupid. Maybe it made sense in the 1970s or something, but we've got The Internets now. If D-Wash rushes for 2,300 yards and 29 TDs (he won't), he'll win the Doak Walker Award, watch list or no.
Speaking of Twitter and Mizzou snubs...really, Stewart Mandel?
@espn4d Really enjoyed the between-pick banter. Good stuff. But you do realize Mizzou will be the first one bumped?
That of course is in reference to ESPN's weird relegation draft from yesterday. The list includes ATM, but Mizzou's going to be the first one bumped? Really? Really. Really?
To...well, the opposite of snubbing: CFN, always higher on Mizzou than most, has Mizzou ranked...#20.
To Rivals, where 'Spooooooooon was on Rivals Radio yesterday and PowerMizzou has listed its top ten storylines of fall camp. Meanwhile, the Illinois Top 30 has been released, and Mizzou commit Jimmie Hunt comes in at #5. Kyle Prater is #1 (he considered Mizzou for a while), and Corey Cooper is #4 (Cooper is a soft Illinois commit but has talked of visiting Mizzou in the fall). It's amazing how many of those 30 listed players have already committed somewhere (21 in all).
To basketball, where...
- Leo Lyons is headed to Israel
- Mardracus Wade might announce his commitment soon
- Norm Stewart = Coach Emeritus
Finally, if you're so inclined...here's my SEC country podcast debut (regarding the Football Outsiders Almanac) from last night with SBN's Team Speed Kills (I come in at the 10 minute mark):