#4 IOWA (12-0) v #5 MICHIGAN STATE (11-1); BIG TEN Championship; Indianapolis; 8 PM ET; FOX: Hands up everyone that had Iowa versus Michigan State in the Big 10 championship game. Hands up anybody who had Iowa finishing the season unbeaten and ranked in the top 5. Certainly, this will be the test of the year for the Hawkeyes who took care of business this fall, but in the didn’t play a top 25 team all season long. And, at least on paper, Michigan State looks to be the more talented team. Certainly, the Spartans have much more in the way of potential prospects for the upcoming draft. QB Connor Cook, for example, is one of the top 2-3 prospects at the position for 2016, although he enters the game with a banged up shoulder. MSU junior OT Jake Conklin is a solid mid-to-late opening round candidate, while DE Shilique Calhoun, who had 8.5 sacks this fall, could also get some late first round consideration, although he is still likelier to be a second-day selection. Meanwhile, WR Aaron Burbridge is a rising mid-round prospect, while C Jake Allen, DT Joel Heath and DE Lawrence Thomas are later round prospects. In contrast, the only Iowa player likely to get even any second-day props at all is junior CB Desmond King one of the most productive DBs in the country this fall who had 8 picks this season, along with 11 other pass break-ups. However, the Hawkeyes do have a number of decent third-day candidates including FS Jordan Lomax, OG Jordan Walsh, C Austin Blythe, OLB Cole Fisher, WR Tevaun Smith and RB Jordan Canizeri. Prospects to watch:
IOWA MICHIGAN STATE
CB Desmond King; #14, 5-10, 200, JR QB Connor Cook; #18, 6-4, 220
FS Jordan Lomax; #27, 5-10, 205 WR Aaron Burbridge; #16, 6-1, 210
OG Jordan Walsh; #65, 6-3, 290 OT Jack Conklin; #74, 6-5, 325, JR
C Austin Blythe; #63, 6-2,2 290 C Jack Allen; #66, 6-2, 295
RB Jordan Canizeri; #33, 5-9, 195 DT Joel Heath; #92, 6-5, 295
WR Tevaun Smith; #4, 6-2, 205 DE Shilique Calhoun; #89, 6-5, 250
OLB Cole Fisher; #36, 6-2, 240 DE Lawrence Thomas; #8, 6-3, 305
#7 STANFORD (10-2) v #20 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (8-4); PAC-12 Championship; Santa Clara; 7:45 PM ET; ESPN: In many ways the PAC-12 match-up between Stanford and USC could be the more competitive championship game match-up; however, this is also the one power 5 championship game that likely won’t be sending the winner into the 4-team national playoff as the Cardinal already have a couple of losses and would need some kind of divine intervention to get a CFP bid, while USC, with four losses, has already been eliminated as a possibility. Pro scouts, though, will certainly be paying attention to senior QBs Kevin Hogan of Stanford and USC’s Cody Kessler. Neither is projected to be more than a mid-round pick this year, but both are solid veteran collegiate passers who could fill the void for a team looking for a developmental QB with some upside later in the draft. Both teams also have a possible second round choice in Stanford OT Kyle Murphy and USC LB Su’a Cravens, who could also get some looks at safety at the next level. Meanwhile, other later round prospects to watch for Stanford include OG Josh Garnett, WR Devon Cajuste, ILB Blake Martinez and OLB Kevin Anderson, while later round candidates to watch for the Trojans include RB Tre Madden, CB Kevon Seymour, DTs Antwuan Woods and Delvon Simmons and DE Greg Townsend. In the end, the best players on each are true sophomores RB Christian McCaffery of Stanford and USC CB/WR Adoree Jackson, but neirther is draft eligible until 2017.
STANFORD SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
QB Kevin Hogan; #8, 6-4, 220 QB Cody Kessler; #6, 6-1, 200
RB Christian McCaffery; #5, 5-11, 205, SOPH RB Tre Madden; #23, 6-0, 225
WR Devon Cajuste; #89, 6-3, 230 DT Delvin Simmons; #52, 6-5, 295
TE Austin Hooper; #18, 6-4, 250, RSO DT Antwuan Woods; #99, 6-1, 325
OT Kyle Murphy; #78, 6-5, 295 DE Greg Townsend; #93, 6-3, 275
OG Josh Garnett; 51, 6-4, 325 LB Su’a Cravens; #21, 6-1, 225
ILB Blake Martinez; #4, 6-2, 250 CB Kevon Seymour; #13, 5-11, 185
OLB Kevin Anderson; 48, 6-4, 245 CB Adoree’ Jackson; #2, 5-10, 185, WR
Bonus Coverage:The 4 power conference conference championships are not the only league title games on the college schedule weekend this weekend. The best of the rest looks to be the American Athletic conference title game at Noon ET Saturday on ABC between #19 Houston (11-1) and #22 Temple (10-2) for what is in essence the non-Power 5 conference championship and a likely spot in the Peach Bowl. And while none of these games have the same kind of NFL talent as the P5 games, the Houston-Temple game does feature several decent prospects including Temple LB Tyler Matakevich (#8, 6-0, 235), one of college football’s true throwback types, along with Houston CB Will Jackson (#3, 6-0, 185), both of whom are legit mid-round candidates. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky (10-2) will be lead by QB Brandon Doughty (#12, 6-2, 220) when the Hilltoppers play Southern Miss (9-3) in the C-USA final also at Noon ET, but on ESPN2. Have a great day!
