Fantasy Cup College Lineup Edge

November 26, 2009 1:05pm CST

Every Wednesday, we'll release this article aimed at helping you start your best lineup for the week in the Fantasy Cup Challenge.

Byes

Air Force
Army
Cal
Florida International
Fresno State
Indiana
Iowa
Iowa State
Kansas State
Louisiana Tech
Miami (OH)
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Ohio State
Oregon
Oregon State
Penn State
Purdue
Vanderbilt
Wisconsin


Significant Suspensions and Injuries

Zac Robinson (QB, Oklahoma State) missed last Saturday's game against Colorado but is expected to start the rivalry game against Oklahoma. It's doubtful you were starting him anyway with Case Keenum in the same tier but you now have the green light if you like living on the edge.

Jimmy Clausen (QB, Notre Dame) was sucker punched in the face Saturday night. No official status has been released for the game Saturday against Stanford but I find it unlikely he'd be out if there's no word by now.

Vic Anderson (RB, Louisville) had surgery Tuesday to repair his broken collarbone. Again, Anderson is not a player you should've been starting in the first place but now you know he will score nothing.

Bryce Beall (RB, Houston) unexpectedly missed Saturday's game against Memphis, causing pain for many owners. Unfortunately, Houston typically does not release injury information so there is no way of knowing if Beall will be back. You have three good options of C.J. Spiller, Jonathan Dwyer and Noel Devine in that same tier.

A.J. Green (WR, Georgia) is a game-time decision for this Saturday's game against Georgia Tech with a shoulder injury. He's not produced at a level commiserate with his talent this year so look everywhere anyway.

Naaman Roosevelt (WR, Buffalo) tore his meniscus in the right knee and will be out this week. With his absence, the last of the offensive talent on Buffalo is on the sidelines.


Early Games

It's important to make sure you have your lineups submitted before these games if you have players who play in them.

* Texas at Texas A&M (Thursday)
* Buffalo at Kent State (Friday)
* Rutgers at Louisville (Friday)
* Eastern Michigan at Akron (Friday)
* Alabama at Auburn (Friday)
* Nevada at Boise State (Friday)
* Northern Illinois at Central Michigan (Friday)
* Illinois at Cincinnati (Friday)
* Nebraska at Colorado (Friday)
* Wyoming at Colorado State (Friday)
* Memphis at Tulsa (Friday)
* Temple at Ohio (Friday)
* Pitt at West Virginia (Friday)


Stock Review

Buy

C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson - Of the three running backs to consider in this tier, Spiller faces the one with the worst rushing defense.

Damion Fletcher, RB, Southern Miss - This tier only has a couple options playing this week and Fletcher is the best of what's left. Fletcher hasn't been as hot as expected at the start of the year but he should be able to carry you this week.

Damian Johnson, WR, Tulsa - After being erratic for the early part of the season, Johnson is averaging 32 points over the last four games. This week's opponent, Memphis, has lost their head coach and have nothing left to play for - they could easily roll over to the Golden Hurricane.

Dexter McCluster, WR, Ole Miss - It's finally time to move on McCluster and include him in your lineup. He's averaged almost 60 points over the last four games.

Sell

Kendall Hunter, RB, Oklahoma State - Hunter has been on the field the last four weeks but has lost his position as the lead back to Keith Toston. There's no reason to expect him to get the position back so get rid of him.

Jamad Williams, RB, Tulsa - While Damaris Johnson may have a chance to score big this week against Memphis, don't expect the same from Williams. He's averaged just 20 yards in the last three games.


Review of my teams in Fanball's Fantasy Cup

The Frozen Draft team appears to be stuck in making any great strides. With no injuries or suspensions to the team in place, I have to stand pat this week on this team. The team is up to 331st place (up 7) and is comprised of:

QB: Case Keenum - Houston
QB: Max Hall - BYU
RB: Jacquizz Rodgers - Oregon State
RB: Toby Gerhart - Stanford
RB: Ryan Mathews - Fresno State
RB: Mark Ingram - Alabama
WR: Golden Tate - Notre Dame
WR: Tyron Carrier - Houston
WR: Kris Adams - UTEP
WR: Bryan Anderson - Central Michigan
K: Philip Welch - Wisconsin
K: Dan Bailey - Oklahoma State

The other team is one where I'm free to make as many transactions as I want. Finishing 148th for the week helped move this team up 24 spots to 178th place. It could've been a better week had I not gambled on Ryan Mathews playing (he didn't) and instead gone with Damion Fletcher who would've added another 20 points to my total.

QB: Case Keenum - Houston
QB: Max Hall - BYU
RB: Jacquizz Rodgers - Oregon State
RB: Toby Gerhart - Stanford
RB: Ryan Mathews - Fresno State
RB: Mark Ingram - Alabama
WR: Golden Tate - Notre Dame
WR: James Rodgers - Oregon State
WR: Dexter McCluster - Ole Miss
WR: Michael Floyd - Notre Dame
K: Philip Welch - Wisconsin
K: Hunter Lawrence - Texas

This week, I'm going to replace Rodgers and Mathews with C.J. Spiller and Damion Fletcher. I'll also get Damaris Johnson in for James Rodgers.


Try out NCAA Football SnapDraft

Fanball has rolled out NCAA Football on their SnapDraft system. This system is great for those who want another place to get their college football fantasy fix, especially when your other leagues are wrapping up.

The scoring is fairly standard - the only oddity is that players also get three points if their team wins. It's not a lot but when you add it up across nine players, it could make a difference. Keep in mind that SnapDraft only uses players from BCS conferences, so no Case Keenum or Ryan Mathews.

For quarterback this week, there are a number of choices and none of them obvious winners. You have Jake Locker going against the worst defense in Division I-A football in Washington State and the return of Tony Pike against a struggling Illinois team. I think the best answer, though, will be Colt McCoy, in his last game, trying to make another Heisman statement against a Texas A&M team that will not be able to do much to stop him.

I don't see any reason to get off the Ingram/Gerhart train at running back. Both face defenses in the 80s in rush defense. You could also consider Spiller against South Carolina or Dwyer versus Georgia but I'm more confident in Ingram and Gerhart.

Wide receiver will be tough yet again. All Danario Alexander has done the last three weeks is average 196 yards and he faces a Kansas defense that Colt McCoy and Texas shredded last week. On the other side of the ball is Dezmon Briscoe who is fifth in the nation in receiving yards per game. Finally, you have Dexter McCluster who is serving as the main running back at Ole Miss, but who counts as a wide receiver here. In fact, I'm going to go with all three and pick one as my flex player.

We're going to try Aaron Hernandez one more time at tight end, not because he's done anything over the past couple of weeks, but because there are so few choices. I'm also going to go with Hunter Lawrence to pair up with Colt McCoy as I expect the Longhorns to put up plenty of points. I'm going to throw a wild card in at defense - Rutgers. They are ranked nineteenth in scoring defense and play a Louisville team ranked 109 in scoring offense. None of the other matchups feel great so I'm going to take a chance here.