Bowls, Jan. 1-7

Here we go kids. Are you ready for this? All times central.

• Outback Bowl, Penn State vs. Tennessee (10:00am, ESPN): I hesitate to call this heavy-weight. Neither team is really in the top tier of their conference this year, but I see UTenn as a more solid team that should pull out a victory.
• Cotton Bowl, Nebraska vs. Auburn (10:30am, FOX): Name programs, to the rescue! The Big 12 North still sucks, though, and if Auburn's offense shows up to this game they should prevail.
• Capital One Bowl, Arkansas vs. Wisconsin (Noon, ABC): Don't look, but Wisconsin's only loss all year was to Michigan. The only reason they're not in a BCS bowl is because OSU and UMich are. While I like the SEC in the Outback Bowl, I have go with the Big Ten this time around.
  
• Gator Bowl, Georgia Tech vs. West Virginia (Noon, CBS): I honestly can't believe we're playing in a New Year's Day Bowl. This hasn't happened since I've been there, and indeed, not since the last time Tech was a Gator Bowl (I'd guess, too tired to look it up).
  Obviously, WVU worries me. And Tech has had a lot going on behind the scenes. Of course, you'd think Tech would be at a disadvantage without their starting quarterback, but our starting QB has, for lack of a better word, sucked in his last two and now he can't play. Taylor Bennett, you best be stepping up.
  WVU's backfield worries me. There's a ton of speed back there, and I watched those guys run all over Maryland. Tech's defense blitzes hard and often, and the question is whether or not we can stay with the ball no matter where it goes. The soft spot of our defense - the secondary - is not as big of a concern here because WVU does not pass very well. (A sort of Arkansas of the Big East, perhaps?) Corners and safeties blitz a lot in our defense, and I expect to see 8 guys in the box a lot.
  On offense, Tech need to use the best damn WR in the country to exploit WVU's dreadful secondary. Expect, however, to see a healthy dose of #22 from the backfield. That's not really a bad thing, though.
  Overall, this game will be very tough for the Jackets. I'm not one, however, to predict my team to lose. Bowl games present a quandry - unless you're playing in Glendale for the crystal football, none of these games really matter. But the intangible factors do matter. Everyone at Tech remembers the bad taste of the Emerald Bowl last year and absolutely rotten offense in the past two games. WVU can score in bunches, the question is, will Tech's offense show up? We need at least two touchdowns, something we only accomplished once in our last four games, and that was against Duke. The Jackets really need this to show that this season wasn't a fluke.
• The Rose Bowl Game, Michigan vs. Southern Cal (4:00, ABC): Man, this is weird. This is ABC's 2nd and last bowl broadcast - the rest of the BCS games are on FOX. As much as I hate Musburuger, I dislike FOX announcers on the whole and I'm not that optimistic. Anyway, I always like watching the Rose Bowl, but we have two very disappointed teams here. I fell Michigan is the better team here, and should win as long as they are not overcome by bitterness.
• Fiesta Bowl, Oklahoma vs. Boise State (7:30, FOX): I like rooting for the little guy as much as anyone else, and will probably take a rooting interesting the boys from the blue turf. But, seriously, I don't see how they can beat Oklahoma. This is BSU teams is not nearly as good as that Utah team that last busted the BCS. Look for scoring, but look for OU to win by at least two scores.
• Orange Bowl, Wake Forest vs. Louisville (Jan. 2, 7:00, FOX): So, uh, Wake is a pretty decent team. They execute well and take their time on offense. Louisville does the same thing, except they can throw the ball and put up some points in a hurry. I like rooting for the ACC and teams like Wake, but I don't know how they can prevail over Louisville. They will really need to take the Cardinals out of there game to do so...
• Sugar Bowl, LSU vs. Notre Dame (Jan. 3, 7:00, FOX): Notre Dame is here for one reason - to sell more tickets. I'm not sure they need the help, though - LSU should have well more than a simple majority of the fans. ND has failed to beat any major oppenent they've played this year. Their best win remains - you guessed it - the opening weekend victory against Georgia Tech. Look for LSU to win a rout.
• International Bowl, Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati (Jan. 6, 11:00am, ESPN2): This is sort of anticlimactic, you might say. I say it helps re-whet your appetite for college football leading up to the title game. The scheduling quirk is probably a result of the 31st being a Sunday, which means NFL games rule the roost. And I like Cincy here.
• GMAC Bowl, Ohio vs. Southern Miss (Jan. 7, 7:00, ESPN): C-USA isn't exactly a power conference, but Mobile is 100 miles from Hattiesburg so this should pretty much be a home game for USM. I like them to win.

I'll do a separate preview for the title game. For the time being, though, can we scratch "it'd take too long" off the list of reasons not to have a playoff since the bowls now go into the second week of January. Just sayin'.

Bowl Season is Officially Here!

Well kids, apparently ESPN feels the same way I do, since they busted out Herbstreit and Fowler for the Holiday Bowl. Cal's taking TAMU to task at the moment, and bolstered by our Internet connection not sucking for the time being, here's the predictions for the games up to the first (confusingly, Tito's times are Eastern and mine are Central!):

• Music City Bowl, Kentucky vs. Clemson (ESPN, noon): Clemson totally outclasses Kentucky in probably every phase of the game. Clemson may be disappointed they fell to the Music City, but at least they're east of the Mississippi. Clemson rolls.
• Sun Bowl, Oregon State vs. Missouri (CBS, 1:00): Sweet, the first non-ESPN game of the year! (NFL Network doesn't count.) It's tough to get a read here, except that I think the Beavers are pretty decent and Mizzou sucks.
• Liberty Bowl, Houston vs. South Carolina (ESPN, 3:30): For reasons I don't exactly recall, I picked Houston. I'm sure I had a good reason for doing so and I stand by it.
• Insight Bowl, Texas Tech vs. Minnesota (NFL, 6:30): Uh, TTU should win. Same no one will get to see it.
• Champs Sports Bowl, Maryland vs. Purdue (ESPN, 7:00): I see Purdue as a sort of "Georgia Tech of the Big Ten" due to their strong engineering program and a skewed male/female ratio (though they have 30,000 undergrads and it's only 58:42, but eh), so I have a soft spot for them. But not soft enough. Much like VPI, Maryland finished their season strong and I like their chances.
• Car Care Bowl, Boston College vs. Navy (Dec. 30, ESPN, noon): I hate to admit this (as the soon of an Army grad), but I like watching Navy's offense. Who doesn't love a well-oiled triple option machine? Unfortunately, the machine tends to break down against teams that don't suck, as the Midshipmen lost 34-0 to Rutgers and lost 38-14 to Notre Dame. Boston College is probably not that much worse than Rutgers and certainly better than Tulsa, who also beat Navy, so I like BC here.
• Alamo Bowl, Texas vs. Iowa (ESPN, 3:30): I'll go out on a limb here an say that Sun Belt officials probably won't be working this game. I'll also say that Iowa is pretty boned unless Texas is just really depressed or something.
• PeachChick-fil-a Bowl, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia (ESPN, 7:00): Okay, let's see. I hate UGA, and VPI, while not exactly my favorite team ever, is in my conference. They've also finished the season red hot, though I guess you could say UGA has as well with consecutive victories over the teams we at this site like. (Ugh.) That said, more of UGA's offensive lineman got arrested/suspended, so VPI's defense should be able to take them to task. VPI should also fill their 50% of the dome against the exceedingly obnoxious UGA fans.
• MPC Computers Bowl, Nevada vs. Miami (FL) (Dec. 31, ESPN, 6:30): The Miami players, confused over this "snow" shenaniganry, without a coach, and, oh, yeah, in damn Boise, Idahoa will probably not be terribly excited. I think Nevada wins. That said, the Humanitarian Bowl was a much better name. And for the record, I like the blue turf. There, I said it.

Check back Sunday for the big New Year's Day Preview bash!

The Bowls, 12/28-12/31

Well, it looks like I was pretty much wrong about UCLA. Somehow the Bruin defense that held USC's offense to 7 points gave up 37 to anemic Florida State. (We have Patrick Cowan to thank for the Seminoles' other seven points.) Time to set myself up for more ridicule! Commentary will be light; I'm about to leave for my grandparents' house. (All times Eastern, fools.)

Oklahoma State vs. Alabama, PetroSun Independence Bowl (Dec. 28, 4:30 PM, ESPN): I hope Alabama loses, but that's only because I'm an Auburn fan.

Rutgers vs. Kansas State, Texas Bowl (Dec. 28, 8 PM, NFL Network): It's kind of sad that Rutgers, once the favorite for the Big East BCS bid, is now relegated to playing long-gone Kansas State on a channel few people can watch. The Scarlet Knights will ride all over the Wildcats in retaliation for such an assignment.

Texas A&M vs. California, Pacific Life Holiday Bowl (Dec. 28, 8 PM, ESPN): Texas A&M finally won a big one against Texas about a month ago, and California still hasn't recovered from the embarrassments of their performances against Tennessee and USC. I say the Aggies take the momentum from a victory here into next season.

Clemson vs. Kentucky, Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl (Dec. 29, 1 PM, ESPN): Kentucky made a bowl game? (Clemson wins.)

Oregon State vs. Missouri, Brut Sun Bowl (Dec. 29, 2 PM, CBS): Oh man. I don't even care about this one.

Houston vs. South Carolina, Autozone Liberty Bowl (Dec. 29, 4:30 PM, ESPN): Steve Spurrier will curse out all of the officials at least twice each as Houston almost proves itself decent against a mediocre SEC opponent. The Gamecocks will pull it off and regroup to wreak havoc on the SEC's national title hopes next year.

Texas Tech vs. Minnesota, Insight Bowl (Dec. 29, 7:30 PM, NFL Network): Not the NFL Network again!

Purdue vs. Maryland, Champs Sports Bowl (Dec. 29, 8 PM, ESPN): Neither of these teams matter, and neither does this game.

Navy vs. Boston College, Meineke Car Care Bowl (Dec. 30, 1 PM, ESPN): Prepare to see those annoying Meineke Car Care commercials ad nauseum. Blech.

Please, make it stop...

Texas vs. Iowa, Alamo Bowl (Dec. 30, 4:30 PM, ESPN): Texas is playing in the Alamo Bowl, which is awesome, considering the school is pretty close to San Anton'. Unfortunately, Matthew McConaughey will probably be too busy promoting his lame-0 film We are Marshall to jump around on the sidelines and provide some much-needed distraction from the Longhorns destruction of the Hawkeyes.

Georgia vs. Virginia Tech, Chick-fil-A Bowl (Dec. 30, 8 PM, ESPN): Georgia is so fickle this year. They lost to Vanderbilt and Kentucky then managed to beat Auburn and Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech only lost two games and somehow didn't get any media attention this year. I'm not really sure who to pick here. Chick-fil-A will probably win.

Miami (FL) vs. Nevada, Bowl (Dec. 31, 7:30 PM, ESPN): Miami (FL) has fallen farther than any other team in Division I-A. It was just years ago that they were setting win-streak records and winning national championships. Now they are overrun by thugs and controversies and losing games left and right. They will probably barely beat Nevada.

This post is kind of weak. Hopefully I'll make another post before New Years' Eve to close out the season and redeem myself.

Bowl Previews

Well, the internet connection here at the asimsports compound kind of sucks, so here's a whole batch of stuff right through the 28th:

• Motor City Bowl, Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee State (ESPN, 6:30 CST): Well, about the only thing of interest to me is that I know a guy who went to MTSU. Unfortunately for him, CMU should roll.
• Emerald Bowl, Florida State vs. UCLA (ESPN, 7:00 CST): I assume that this game is still played at whatever they're calling Pac Bell Park these days (AT&T Park I think, but whatever), which should give UCLA a slight home field advantage. I can't forsee anyway that FSU would be into this game - I watched their game against Wake when they just absolutely quit, and then they lost to Florida. FSU also still doesn't have an offense, as far as I know. UCLA should roll.
• Independence Bowl, Oklahoma St. vs. Alabama (ESPN, 3:30 CST): I know a couple things about this game. OSU is a decent team, and I hate Alabama and they just fired their coach. So I like OSU here.
• Texas Bowl, Kansas State vs. Rutgers (NFL Network, 7:00 CST): Rutgers wraps up their dream season with a bowl that has it's like 4 name in 5 years and no one will watch because it's on the NFL Network. Whoops. Kansas State isn't very good and Rutgers should win, you know what they say about "if a tree falls in a forest and no one's around..."? Yeah.
• Holiday Bowl, California vs. Texas A&M (ESPN, 7:00 CST): Now here we go. I don't feel like it's bowl season for real until the Holiday Bowl, usually because it provides the first real matchup of the season. I'm still a bit baffled the Holiday didn't take Texas - despite TAMU's victory over UT, I still feel the latter is probably a better team. At any rate, I like the Bears here.

That's it, kids! Tune in the 28th or 29th for the remainder of the non-Jan. 1 bowls.

Hawaii Bowl Preview

A little late, but yeah....I don't have much to write, just want to keep up the streak. Anyway.

Hawaii has a decent team this year. However, it's hard to predict what they'll do against this Arizona State squad. They played Oregon State in their last regular season game and despite the massive home field advantage for the Warriors they still lost.

Once again, Hawaii has the home field advantage here. Will they be able to pull it off against a Pac-10 team this time? I think ASU is not nearly as good as OSU, so they have a shot and I've picked Hawaii to win. We'll see what happens.

To Hell With Georgia/More Bowl Predictions

Lots of stuff on the plate the next couple of days.

• Georgia @ Georgia Tech (FSN, 6:00 PM CST) in basketball. Tech has struggled since their victory over Memphis in Maui. It's hard to take away much of anything from the blowout over Centerary Monday night other than that Morrow shot well, which may indicate he has a finally recovered from an off-season injury. Georgia is playing very inspired ball right now and beat Gonzaga earlier this week. Tech has played with little inspiration, especially on defense. Hopefully we can crank it up tonight.
• New Orleans Bowl, Troy vs. Rice (ESPN2, 7:00 PM CST): WTF, mate? Rice makes a bowl for the first time since 1961, Troy makes a bowl for the second time in their history. No idea who is going to win this. C-USA is obviously a better conference than the Sun Belt, but I mean, we're talking about Rice here. I've seen Troy in person this season, but I'm not sure that helps. I don't even know if Rice still runs that wishbone/flexbone offense - I'd have to guess not since they have a WR who's caught 20 TDs. Troy runs a wide open offense - usually 4 or 5 WR on the field at a given time. I expect some points to be scored, but the question is who will come out on top? I picked Troy here, but it could go either way.
• Papajohns.com Bowl, East Carolina vs. South Florida (ESPN2, Noon CST): There is nothing remotely interesting about this game except that it's being played down in Birmingham at the legendary Legion Field. Expect to see lots of Iron Bowl footage during the game. I probably won't even be able to see it. Also, I thought the ".com" thing died like 3-4 years ago? Even the Insight.com Bowl is now the Insight Bowl. Just silly. I also like USF for what that's worth.
• New Mexico Bowl, New Mexico vs. San Jose State (ESPN, 3:30 CST): Did You Know that SJSU has their own passenger jet plane? It's true - I saw it while I was landing at San Jose's airport. It was one of those old tri-engine jets from the early 70's, like the DC-10 or the Lockheed 1101 or some such. Anyway, while New Mexico has home field advantage here, they're just not a good football team. SJSU is back from the basement of the WAC and should take care of business.
• Armed Forces Bowl, Utah vs. Tulsa (ESPN, 7:00 CST): The Mountain West started well, but I don't see New Mexico winning and I don't see Utah winning either, though I don't really know to be honest. Tulsa should be much more motivated than Utah's previous bowl opponent, and Tulsa is a lot closer to Fort Worth than Salt Lake City is, so I give Tulsa the edge.

That takes care of the bowls through Saturday. I'll put something up about the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night or sometime Sunday. Enjoy the holidays and the bowl games, kids!

Hehehehehe

In a recent article in the Macon Telegraph:

Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson expects one-on-one coverage from West Virginia's secondary, which allowed 236 passing yards per game this season.

"We see opportunities there," Johnson said of watching film of WVU's cornerbacks, "so yeah, we're looking forward to it."

Opportunities indeed. Hopefully we can take advantage of them.

In The News; Las Vegas Bowl

Couple of news items of interest to, well, me before I talk about tomorrow's bowl game.

• FSN fires one of my least favorite announcers ever. It's hard to explain how idiotic I thought Bob Rathburn was. My only question is whether or not he's going to continue doing other FSN broadcasts, namely, college basketball and baseball. Now only if FOX would fire Joe Buck and ESPN would fire Joe Morgan, we'd be in business.
  
• CB Kenny Scott and QB Reggie Ball declared academically ineligible. I don't have a lot to say about this, except I remember being on that field after that Auburn game and carrying Reggie off. Times have changed mightily since then.

So, the Las Vegas Bowl: BYU-Oregon. Oregon is an okay Pac-10 team, meanwhile, BYU is the best Mountain West team. It's hard to get a read on that, though. BYU lost to both of the BCS conference teams they played (Boston College and Arizona), but if there were any justice in this world Oregon would be 6-6. Oregon has also lost 3 straight games, including a loss to their rival. Meanwhile, BYU hasn't lost since September 16th and beat their rival. The edge, for me, has to go to BYU - these are two teams heading in completely opposite directions. That said, I only like the Stormin' Mormons by a touchdown, so I'm not certain of this one.

Also, my completely bowl predictions have been uploaded, and the link to your right is updated with the new URL.

"Live" commentating the Poinsettia Bowl

Because no one asked for it, I'll be talking about the game for the rest of the night, just for no other reason than because I can. The comments will be in the, well, comments.

The Bowls, 12/19-12/27

There are less than two hours left before the bowl season starts, but I guess now is as good a time as ever to make my predictions on the first week and a half of the postseason. Here are my thoughts (all times Eastern)...

TCU vs. Northern Illinois, The San Diego County Credit Union Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 19, 8 PM): The CFP picked TCU, and I don't see why to go against it. Northern Illinois lost to Western Michigan, Iowa, and Toledo. Ouch.

BYU vs. Oregon, The Pioneer Pure Vision Las Vegas Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 21, 8 PM): Oregon's only marquee win was the non-win against Oklahoma. BYU looked better in comparison. The Mormons, I mean, Cougars will continue to an 11-2 season.

Rice vs. Troy, The R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 22, 8 PM): Man, how do teams like Rice and Troy get to play in December? There are definitely too many bowl games. I don't even know who the R&L Carriers are. I'm so annoyed that I'm not going to make a prediction here.

Is college football related to highway transit? Not really.

South Florida vs. East Carolina, The Papajohns.com Bowl (ESPN2, Dec. 23, 1 PM): South Florida beat West Virginia and was very close to doing the same to Rutgers. East Carolina lost to Navy, UAB, and Rice. Also, East Carolina's mascot is a pirate. I'm definitely picking South Florida.

New Mexico vs. San Jose State, The New Mexico Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 23, 4:30 PM): New Mexico lost to Portland State, a Division I-AA school. Even with New Mexico's home-field advantage, I'll stick with San Jose State.

Utah vs. Tulsa, The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 23, 8 PM): Tulsa at BYU, 25-49. BYU at Utah, 31-33. Go Utes!

Hawaii vs. Arizona State, The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 24, 8 PM): Hawaii will probably beat lackluster and quarterback-less Arizona State (I bet the Sun Devils wish they hadn't let Rudy Carpenter go). Hawaii QB Colt Brennan will throw for 1,424 yards in the first half out of frustration with the awards committees. In the second half, he will throw a pass around the world into the end zone, just for kicks.

Central Michigan vs. Middle Tennessee State, The Motor City Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 26, 7:30 PM): This matchup is so uninteresting that it can only be described by the tagline for Alien vs. Predator: "Whoever wins, we lose."

UCLA vs. Florida State, The Emerald Bowl (ESPN, Dec. 27, 8 PM): This is the first bowl game of the season that I am actually going to try to watch. UCLA just came off a huge defensive win against USC, the greatest offense of all time. Florida State just came off a moral victory against Florida, holding the Gators to only three touchdowns and scoring two of their own. I think the Bruins will turn their momentum into bowl season victory, but it will not be easy.

I'll be back the night of the 27th to close out the calendar year.

It's Bowl Time!

That's right folks, it's bowl time! I'm looking forward to it...since it's exceedingly likely I won't be able to upload the predictions anytime soon, I'll say it here:

Garret Wolfe nonwithstadning, TCU has a good football team this year. Teams from the MAC usually don't. I say 28-21 in a shootout for TCU, which is basically my way of saying "I don't really know who's going to win, but I like TCU better for whatever reason."

More to come in a few days, hopefully.

My BCS Complaints and Heisman Ballot

I was going to write about how Michigan should be in the championship game instead of Florida, but Gene Wojciechowski from ESPN.com said it better than I ever could have. I'm not saying that the two teams aren't close, but when you take out all your SEC/anti-Big Ten biases the Wolverines make a better case. That's all I'm going to say about the BCS standings for now. I may come back sometime next week with a more thorough comparison of the two teams.

Here's my Heisman ballot and the method behind my madness:

3. Darren McFadden: McFadden ran for 1,558 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also threw for 3 touchdowns on 8 passing attempts with one interception. Injured at the beginning of the year, his development as a player is what kept Arkansas' title hopes alive (since Casey Dick, their quarterback, is awful). He's a sophomore, which means he will be back next year to do some more damage in the SEC. I hope Auburn figures out how to tackle by then.

2. Troy Smith: Troy Smith dominated every defense he played. Like Peyton Manning in those Sprint commercials, Smith has a "laser, rocket arm" that he uses to throw a football wherever he wants on the field. He threw for 2,507 yards, 30 touchdowns, and only five interceptions. Those stats are ridiculous. Smith is the first Ohio State quarterback since some guy named Tippy Dye, who played in the 30s, to beat Michigan three times in a row. "So," you may be wondering, "if Troy Smith is this amazing, why don't you rank him number one?" The answer is...

1. Vince Young: Let's all be real for a second. Vince Young got robbed of the Heisman Trophy last year. Reggie Bush, as good as he was, was only the second-best player in the nation. Young proved that during the 2006 Rose Bowl when he dominated USC once and for all. Plus, Young's presence made it possible for Texas to beat Nebraska this season, and his spirit was with Oregon State and UCLA when they beat USC. Finally, he is already a pretty good NFL quarterback. C'mon, folks. Let's make up for last year's mistake.

Feel free to post your unconvincing pro-Florida/pro-Quinn/anti-Young arguments here. I'll be back before the 19th to predict the first round of bowl games.

Good Luck Rich

You're going to need it.

Edit! I spoke too soon! He definitely made the right call here.

New Bowl Predictions Up

These are the final predictions of the year. After the schedule is set, I'll start predicting games.

That's all I really have to say right now.

Edit: Final bowl schedule is up. More to say probably after finals next week.

So Long, Farewell...

I'm sure you are all dying to read about how my predictions turned out. Die no more!

"Calvin Johnson has been shut down all year, and Reggie Ball hasn't done too well without him. Wake Forest hasn't put up many points either this year. I'm expecting a close defensive struggle. Neither team will score more than thirty points, but it's impossible to pick the winner. No one seems to want the ACC title this year."

Once again, Reggie Ball and the Tech offense he "leads" looked awful. The quarterback hit the Johnsons a few times, but most of his passes were not on target. I still can't figure out why the Yellow Jackets continually called deep shots downfield when Ball kept missing his receivers. Ball's scrambles seemed impulsive and didn't produce many yards. I was right about the close defensive struggle, but I should have said the two teams would score less than thirty points combined. This was probably the worst game of the day for those watching TV. Due to the drizzly weather, the fans in the stands probably didn't have much fun either.

"USC returns to the Rose Bowl nearly eleven months after Vince Young denied them a second straight national championship. UCLA almost upset Notre Dame at home, but USC just smashed Notre Dame, so that doesn't mean much. The Trojans will win, but I will get my hopes up anyway and spend the entire game yelling at the television."

I did spend the entire game yelling at the television, but not in vain. UCLA's defense stepped up in a big way, and the final interception was amazing. I think Vince Young's spirit was with quarterback Patrick Cowan, whose scampers down the field were just enough to put the Bruin offense in scoring position. The Trojans' title hopes were destroyed in the Rose Bowl for a second straight season. (Ironically, they might lose in the stadium again in the Rose Bowl [bowl] on New Year's.)

After the game, Carroll looked dumb-founded, and Booty looked like the pretty-boy quarterback I now expect to see at USC. Seriously, does Carroll recruit his quarterbacks from the sets of soap operas? Here's my question before I move on to other games: Now can the media stop talking about USC? I doubt it. ESPN has probably already projected the Trojans to win the next ten (if not twenty) national championships.

"You're going to change the score so we win, right?" "No."

"Will Arkansas rebound from a close loss to LSU? Will Florida rebound from a string of flat offensive performances? Both will probably happen, making this matchup the best game of the day. I'm pulling for Florida for the sake of BCS controversy, but the Razorbacks will probably be so upset about last week that they'll win."

It wasn't the best game of the day, but this was one of the wildest I saw all season. Chris Leak threw two interceptions and fumbled to himself twice in the nightmare that was the Florida quasi-option offense. Inside his own ten, Arkansas punt returner Reggie Fish attempted to catch a football that even Auburn's Tre' Smith would have avoided. The Gator recovery in the end zone, followed by a beautiful touchdown run by Percy Harvin, put the game out of the reach of the Razorbacks. I was wrong about the Arkansas win, but the BCS controversy was right on target.

The Big East might not be on par with the nation's other top conferences just yet, but it sure can produce a thriller. Last night's matchup was one of the most exciting games I saw all year. Kicker Jeremy Ito had another chance for glory, but his 52-yard field goal attempt to win the game fell short. I was disappointed when Scarlet Knight quarterback Mike Teel failed to complete the two-point conversion that would have sent the game into a fourth overtime. It has been exciting to see a program like Rutgers come so far (even if their schedule is worthless).

Yesterday was a bittersweet ending to the 2006 college football regular season. It produced some great televised matchups, but now I have to find something else to do with my weekends. I'll be back later this week to post my Heisman ballot and complain about the final BCS standings.

Football, TV, Saturday

Well, I'm watching Southern Miss and Houston go at it right now for the C-USA title and I figured, eh, let's do this.

Noon- Connecticut @ Louisville (ESPN): Whet your palate with this Big East tilt. A UL win here and a Rutgers lost in Morgantown sends UL to a BCS bowl.

1:00- Georgia Tech vs. Wake Forest (ABC): I've been asked numerous times this week if I planned on going to Jacksonville. My answer was, and is, no. I have a project due Monday, blah, blah, you don't care. However, I care greatly about graduating in two weeks....
So what do I think about this game? Well, it's tough to get a read on it. Obviously, Reggie needs to play better. The main key is whether or not Wake's misdirection will cause our fast defense to overpersue. We shall see.

2:30- Army vs. Navy (CBS): My Dad is an Army grad (class of '73), so I feel obligated to say "GO ARMY BEAT NAVY", despite the fact Army probably doesn't have a chance. :(
Also rooting for former GT head coach Bobby Ross, who during his tenure here won a national title.

3:00- Stanford @ California (FSN): The Big Game isn't, well, terribly big this year. But did you know that GT's official fight song, "Up With the White and Gold" (though, of course, "Ramblin Wreck is much more famous") was stolen from Cal during GT's trip to the 1929 Rose Bowl (GT won, by the way)? Compare this to this lyrics for "Up With the White and Gold" I posted last week. (Though, of course, I like this Cal song better....)

4:30- USC @ UCLA (ABC): I think we're all aware what's on the line here, and I think most of us are also aware UCLA doesn't have a chance.

6:00- Florida vs. Arkansas (CBS): Well, just down the road from here there's playing a conference championship game. Arkansas's situation seems pretty similar to ours, honestly. Both teams are coming off disappointing losses to major rivals. It'll be interesting to see if either, or both, can recover. UF, meanwhile, is looking to put an impressive game together, but I think it'll be too little, too late.

7:45- Rutgers @ West Virginia (ESPN): Battle for the Big East! Kind of.

8:00- Nebraska vs. Oklahoma (ABC): Two traditional Big 12 powers! Still surprised OU made it, I mean, they only lost the best RB in the country and all. And I think the most insightful thing one can say about Nebraska is what my Dad said last weekend: "Man, it's weird to see Nebraska throw the ball all over the place." Indeed.

12:00am, Sunday- Oregon St. @ Hawaii (ESPN): I love it when BCS teams use a trip to Hawaii as, basically, a bowl game. Thing is, OSU is a decent squad and all (they beat USC), but Hawaii isn't bad either. If I'm still conscious, I'll watch.

And that's it, folks! Have a good weekend, and Go Jackets!

These Predictions are 100% Reliable

Alabama currently has six more Iron Bowl victories than Auburn. The Tigers have won five in a row and seven of the last ten, so they are clearly dominating the modern series. Let's say that Auburn wins, on average, three out of every four matches in the next half century. In that case, they would close the gap by two wins every four years and pass Alabama's win count around 2020. I'll give them another ten and make it 2030, just in case the 'Bammers decide to hire one of their secret clones of The Bear.

"Well," you may be thinking, "It's great to know that Auburn will eventually own the Iron Bowl series. When will Tommy Tuberville pass Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno as the winningest coach in Division I-A college football history?" Tubbs has 95 wins right now, and JoePa, who will probably pass Bowden (364) in the next year or two, has 362. JoePa is already 79, but I can't see him retiring until he is at least 90. By that time, Tuberville will be 63. Let's assume for simplicity's sake that the two coaches stay even until JoePa retires/dies.

If Tuberville loses more than four games in consecutive years, Auburn alumni would probably kick him out of office. That won't happen, since Tuberville and Borges are a force that can only be stopped by inept defensive coordinators. Just to be safe, let's say he only wins eight games a year for the rest of his career. In that case, Tuberville would need 34 years to pass Joe Paterno's record. So when Tubbs is 97 in 2051, he'll be the winningest coach ever with over 450 wins. I hope I'm alive to witness the achievement and yell "I told you so!" at passers-by.

Bowl Predictions - Week 7 (I think)

They're up and at the link to your right. I'll explain my BCS selection process real quick:
Ohio state has locked up a spot in the title game, and if USC wins they weekend like they should, they'll remain #2 and go to the title game. The Rose gets the first two picks in compensation for losing both their teams. The easy pick is Michigan. The second pick isn't as easy - they basically have two options:
1) Take Notre Dame, who just lost big to USC and lost big to Michigan already
2) Take a second team from the SEC, like LSU
Honestly, I think both will sell plenty of tickets. LSU fans are high off their win over Arkansas. It's not exactly every day either ND or a SEC team goes to the Rose - neither set has been there since the 40's. I hope against hope the Rose tries to produce a good football matchup and takes LSU.
Next is the Sugar, which needs an opponent for the SEC champion (either Arkansas or Florida). I like Notre Dame here if the Rose doesn't take them.
After that is the Orange, which needs an opponent for the ACC champion. The only teams left to pick at this point are the two remaining auto-bids: the winner of the Big East (either Rutgers or Louisville) and Boise State. The Orange will likely take the Big East champ, leaving Boise State to play the Oklahoma-Nebraska winner in the Fiesta.

The Rose is where this whole thing hinges. If they take Notre Dame (or someone else besides LSU, basically) then the Sugar will probably wind up with the Big East champ, allowing the Orange to take LSU or some such. In any scenario, the Fiesta goes last, meaning they get Boise State. (I'm all for mid-majors getting chances in the BCS, but that Utah team in 2004 was scary good. Boise State, not so much.)

Other games of note:
Cotton: I'm tentatively sending Auburn out here, but the Cotton is always reluctant to pick teams from that far east. They may take Arkansas if they are available (like if Tennessee or Auburn were taken in the Capitol One).
Peach Chick-fil-a: The bowl said last week they'd take the UGA-Tech winner, but at any rate it seems like they want 10-2 Virginia Tech a lot. The ACC title game loser will probably fall to the Gator for the second year of the row, which the Gator people probably isn't terribly happy about. Look for the ACC title game to move out of Jacksonville in the few years, either further south or back up to the heart of ACC country in Charlotte.
Holiday: This is usually a good game, but this year, the Pac-10 team brings the rushing offense (relatively) and the Big 12 team bring the West Coast style offense? WTF, mate?
Emerald and MPC Computers: FSU and Miami play on a baseball field and the blue turf! My schadenfraude knows no bounds here.

Also, Kansas, Rice, and Kentucky all making bowls? Mama mia, what a year!

CFP, Week 14

It's the CFP! (Yeah you know me!) It's the CFP! (Yeah you know me!) So, this week's seventeen games are all predicted at http://tito.asimweb.org/cfp/week14.html. After that, just the bowl games to go. Peace.

The Final Countdown

Well, my rivalry predictions weren't quite as bad as I thought they'd be. I was actually 4-0 going into Thanksgiving with confidence to spare. When Texas A&M pulled off the upset in Austin, I switched to the LSU/Arkansas game on CBS with hopes of an undefeated weekend. Then, the following words came back to haunt me:

"McFadden, Jones, and Monk will destroy the Tiger defense and prepare for a showdown with the Gators in Atlanta." Well, McFadden and Jones certainly showed up. The Razorbacks actually lost due to the inefficiency of quarterback Casey Dick. I'm still trying to figure out why Arkansas tried four consecutive pass plays. I guess that's why it pays to have a balanced offense.

"I think the Yellow Jackets have a little more incentive, don't you?" Tech turned in a performance against Georgia that was just as uninspired as Auburn's. As a result, they lost.

"The luck of the Irish will overcome USC's 31-game home win streak, and it will be beautiful." None of my predictions were more off than this one. USC dominated Notre Dame with the arms of John David Booty, Steve Smith, and Dwayne Jarrett. The Irish secondary looked awful, and Brady Quinn's response to the Trojan offense, while impressive, was not enough.

Charlie Weis, get rid of the hoodie. You look like a bum.

Now that those are out of the way, it's time for me to make some more ridiculous predictions (all times Eastern):

The ACC Championship, Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech (ABC, 1 PM): Calvin Johnson has been shut down all year, and Reggie Ball hasn't done too well without him. Wake Forest hasn't put up many points either this year. I'm expecting a close defensive struggle. Neither team will score more than thirty points, but it's impossible to pick the winner. No one seems to want the ACC title this year.

The Army/Navy game (CBS, 2:30 PM): Looking at their records and common opponents, I'd put money on Navy. Will these two teams will ever matter again nationally? Nope. I'm predicting the announcers will use the word "tradition" at least thrice during the broadcast.

USC at UCLA (ABC, 4:30 PM): USC returns to the Rose Bowl nearly eleven months after Vince Young denied them a second straight national championship. UCLA almost upset Notre Dame at home, but USC just smashed Notre Dame, so that doesn't mean much. The Trojans will win, but I will get my hopes up anyway and spend the entire game yelling at the television.

The SEC Championship, Florida vs. Arkansas (CBS, 6 PM): Will Arkansas rebound from a close loss to LSU? Will Florida rebound from a string of flat offensive performances? Both will probably happen, making this matchup the best game of the day. I'm pulling for Florida for the sake of BCS controversy, but the Razorbacks will probably be so upset about last week that they'll win.

Rutgers at West Virginia (ESPN, 7:45 PM): Both of these teams lost to lackluster opponents last week. If Rutgers wins, they get a BCS bid. If Rutgers loses, Louisville gets it. Thankfully, the nation is disinterested in the Big East again. I can now refocus my slander efforts on the Pac-10.

The Big 12 Championship, Oklahoma vs. Nebraska (ABC, 8 PM): Texas gave away the Big 12 South, so now Oklahoma gets to play the Cornhuskers in what may be the most interesting Big 12 Championship this decade. I'm predicting Oklahoma to win, but that's only because I'm feeling too lazy to look into the statistics.

Finally, why doesn't the Big Ten pick up Notre Dame and split into divisions? (Sure, the Pac-10 and Big East don't have them, but they both play a full round-robin schedule. You don't need a championship to decide who's the best when everyone plays everyone else.) The Irish already play four Big Ten teams a year. They'd have to give up their service academy/bottom of the Pac-10 schedule, but they could still play USC every year.

Oh man, it's the last week of the regular season. I wish it hadn't come so soon. Soak it up while you can!

I have no words...

But I do have statistics:
Ball (Passing): 6/22 for 46 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT
Ball (Rushing): 11 carries, -10 yards, -0.9 ypc, 1 fumble
Johnson (Receiving): 2 catches, 18 yards
Team: 4/14 on 3rd down

Your Turkey Weekend Viewing Guide

Let us give thanks that there will be a college game tonight, even if it is Boston College - Miami. I want to fall asleep every time I watch an NFL game, and I was watching the FOX pregame show earlier for the 4:30 game and just remembered how much I really hate Joe Buck.

As I mentioned, we have BC-Miami tonight on ESPN for the usual Thursday night time slot. You'll probably see that Doug Flutie hail mary about 20 times, but that aside BC shouldn't need any miracles against a down-and-out Miami team.

Since there's games on Friday and Saturday, I'll do a double feature for them. Since I'm at home, this'll reflect games shown here, but times will still be Eastern.

Friday, noon - Texas A&M @ Texas (ABC): If there were at Kyle Field, I might give the Aggies a chance. Otherwise, Texas should roll. But what a way to start off the day!

2:30 - LSU vs. Arkansas (CBS): Doesn't count for the SEC standings, but possibly were the SEC stands in terms of BCS bids. LSU might be able to sow one up if they win, but it looks better if Arkansas heads into the SEC title game with 1 loss.

3:30 - Colorado @ Nebraska (ABC): Nothing at stake here, Huskers roll.
Oregon @ Oregon State (FSN): The Civil War has some bowl position at stake here - OSU has proven to be the better team since their victory over USC. A win or loss for either team doesn't effect USC that much.

9:00 - Fresno St. @ Louisiana Tech (ESPN2): Uh, okay. I think this was schedule back when no one had any idea Fresno St. would suck as badly as they do this year.

Saturday, noon:

• Florida @ Florida State (ABC): FSU lost 30-0 to Wake a couple weeks ago at Doak Campbell. Is there really anything else to say here?
• South Carolina @ Clemson (ESPN): It's been a relatively disappointing season for both these teams. Clemson looked like a legit top-10 contender after destroying GT, but got destroyed themselves @VPI. South Carolina lacks a signature win this season, and I have my doubts they'll be able to get it in Death Valley.
  
• USF @ West Virginia (ESPN2): Uh, okay.

12:30 - Kentucky @ Tennessee (local SEC station): Will Tennessee suffer another devastating loss to the dregs of the SEC East this year? Kentucky is bowl-eligible this year and not completely horrible. Tennessee shouldn't have any issues, but we'll see what happens.

2:30 - Oklahoma @ Oklahoma St. (FSN): This is one of those throw-out-the-record book rivalries. Always at stake and always insane. Does OU still remember the 2001 season, where a 4-7 OSU team beat Oklahoma? OSU is 6-5 this year, but they always get up for this game (to continue using bad cliches).

3:30:

• Georgia Tech @ Georgia (CBS): Hopefully we'll run all over them like they're Wake Forest or Maryland or somebody.
  I'll serenade you with some songs. The second two correspond to the two played in the video.
  To hell, to hell with Georgia!
  To hell, to hell with Georgia!
  To hell, to hell with Georgia!
  The cesspool of the South!
  -----
  Oh well, it's.....
  Up with the White and Gold
  Down with the Red and Black
  Georgia Tech is out for a victory
  We'll drop our battle axe on Georgia's head
  When we meet her our team is sure to beat her!
  And down on the farm there'll be no sound
  'Till our bow-wows rip through the air!
  And after the battle, Georgia's team will be found
  With the Yellow Jackets swarming 'round!
  ------
  I'm a Ramblin Wreck from Georgia Tech and a helluva engineer
  A helluva, helluva, helluva eingeer
  Like all the jolly good fellows
  I drink my whiskey clear
  I'm a Ramblin Wreck from Georgia Tech and a helluva engineer
  
  Oh, I wish I had a daughter sir
  I'd dress her in the White and Gold
  Put her on the campus to cheer the brave and bold
  But if I had a son sir
  I'd tell you what he'd do
  He'd yell, "TO HELL WITH GEORGIA" like his daddy used to do!
  
  Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three thousand pounds
  A college bell to put it in, a clapper to stir it 'round
  I'd drink to all the jolly good fellows who come from far and near
  'Cause a I'm a ramblin', gamblin', HELLUVA ENGINEER, HEY!
• Louisville @ Pittsburgh (ESPN): Pitt isn't horrible this year, but they're not good either and UL should win this one going away.

4:15 - Boise St. @ Nevada (ESPN2): This is the best (and last) chance for BSU to lose. Should, they? No. But the Wolfpack is a pretty decent team and with the game in Reno they should stand a chance to pull the upset.

6:00 - Arizona St. @ Arizona (FSN): Each of these teams has had their ups and downs this year, but this is always a pretty decent game, and with each team at 6-5, this year should be no exception.

7:45 - Wake Forest @ Maryland (ESPN): This for all the ACC Atlantic marbles. I think I spelled it out below, but I'll do it again: If Wake wins, they're in. If those lose, then if BC wins tonight they're in. If BC loses, then and only then could UMD go.

8:00 - Notre Dame @ USC (ABC): This is always one of those where I'm not sure who to root for. USC does have the song girls, and a USC loss to ND doesn't help anyone. For maximum BCS chaos, USC needs to beat ND but lose to UCLA, which knocks both USC and ND out of the title game picture (though their loss to Michigan really hurts ND's chances anyway).

That's all folks. I hope you enjoy your turkey tonight and give some thanks. I don't really recommend shopping tomorrow because, after all, it's cold, the traffic is bad, and hey, there's football on!

And TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!

On Notice!

This one pretty much speaks for itself.

Bowl Predictions, Week 6

Perhaps it's my fever-induced state, but I just convinced myself that Auburn still has a good shot at a BCS Bowl bid.

Imagine the expected OSU-USC matchup shakes out. The Rose gets the first two picks, so naturally they take Michigan first. But who else does the Rose pick? The SEC title game loser? If that's Arkansas, they would probably get hammered in the polls. If West Virginia beats Rutgers, I think the Rose wants a conference champion, and they can get that in WVU. (Of course, what the rose really wants is OSU-USC, but oh well.)

So the next to pick is the Sugar. The Sugar gets UF as the SEC title game winner. Notre Dame is still available, so the Sugar picks them.

Next is the Orange, and this is where it gets interesting. Provided Boise State beats Nevada, they get a BCS bid. Since none of the bowls actually want Boise St., they will fall all the way to the Fiesta. Auburn is currently 12th in the BCS standings, and at 10-2 they meet both of the criteria for at-large selection. Ahead of them are the following teams likely to lose in the next few weeks (whereas Auburn is done): LSU, Arkansas, and Notre Dame. ND won't fall that far when/if they lose this weekend, whereas LSU probably will (3rd loss) and Arkansas will face the usual title-game loser curse. Based on what I've said, the Orange could select from a pool of Arkansas, Louisville, Boise State, Auburn, and maybe Oklahoma. If I'm a bowl game committee chairman, I want people in the seats, so I want a SEC team. Arkansas is far away and will be coming off a loss, whereas Auburn is closer and just beat their arch-rival. Auburn is not likely to fall any further despite not playing. (Especially if UF wins the SEC title.)

As usual, I refuse to predict Tech to win the ACC, though I like our chances.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of eligible teams this year - especially from the Big 12 and SEC, which I thought might not make it. The Big 12 even has an extra team this year, and plus their weakness sorta helps them (in the sense they won't get 2 BCS bids). The Big Ten will fall short, but Cincinnati should be able to go to the Motor City, and Washington State isn't that far away from Boise.

Anyway, I'm tired and sick and heading back to Madison later today. And To Hell With Georgia.

CFP, Week 13

So, I managed to pump out this week's CFP. You can read it at http://tito.asimweb.org/cfp/week13.html. I'm too tired to comment on the predictions, or the results of yesterday's games. I will say, however, that the $60 I paid to see this year's Iron Bowl in person (albeit in the upper deck) was well worth it. War Eagle!

THWG

With a resounding victory over, well, Duke, To Hell With Georgia week begins here on ASimSports.

Ehren and I, of course, go to GT (as does Will). Tito goes to Auburn, but they're rivals with UGA, too, and UGA knocked them out of a BCS at-large bid. So while they may lack the "Clean Old Fashioned Hate", there's certainly plenty to be bitter about.

There were several rivalry games played today. OSU beat Michigan, USC beat Cal, Tennessee beat Vandy, UNC beat NCSU, Purdue beat Indiana, Northwestern beat Illinois, Kansas beat Kansas State, Washington beat Washington St., and, last but definitely not least, Auburn beat Alabama (woo!).

Also, speaking of rivalries, apparently Duke-GT used to be big back in the day. Of course, GT used to have huge rivalries with other old foes that lasted longer than the Duke thing did. Schools like Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn used to appear on the GT schedule every fall, but no more, killed initially by joining the ACC and then in the late 80's when another conference game was added. Alas. But, hey, GT did play Auburn in 2003 and 2005, and has a series coming up against Alabama in a few years...

Rece Davis apparently said that Colonel Reb is no longer crying, hooray Internet memes! And of course, Ole Miss still blew it in the end.

Who wants to win the ACC Atlantic? No one, apparently. Maryland's luck ran out and they lost to BC, but Wake lost to a rejuvenated (and still dirty) Virginia Tech. Wake still controls their own destiny, but if they lose, all then things get interesting. Here's the lowdown:
Wake plays @Maryland and BC plays @Miami. If Wake wins, it's over, as they hold all tiebreakers. If Wake Forest loses and Boston College loses, then Maryland goes to Jacksonville. If Wake loses and BC wins, then BC goes to JAX.

Speaking of Miami....I guess they really don't want to go to Boise. They lost to UVA, which means they're 5-6. How the mighty have fallen. And that fall started with that splendid victory by GT last year at the Orange Bowl....

With the Rutgers loss, things just got a lot more interesting in the Big East. If WVU wins out, they should have a BCS advantage over Louisville, otherwise, who knows? I'm not even in a position to speculate about the BCS right now. Here's my wild-ass guess to close out the night:

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. UF
4. ND
5. Arkansas

The wild-cards are West Virginia and Michigan. The computers loved Michigan due to their schedule (there are 2 teams out there whose only losses are to Michigan), and losing to a 12-0 team doesn't really hurt you that much, but the loss in and of itself does. The question is- how much does that loss hurt, exactly? We'll find out tomorrow. And then I'll do my bowl predictions, if I have time.

Also, since there's a good number of games on Friday due to Thanksgiving, expect a post about those too. Later!

Football on TV This Weekend

First, go read this.

Now, take a deep breath, and let's do this thing. All times Eastern and reflect the games being shown on the Georgia Tech Cable Network.

Noon:

• Maryland @ Boston College (ESPN): BC desperately needs a win against one of the ACC's luckiest teams.
• Michigan St. @ Penn St. (ESPN2): The Fightin' John L. Smiths try to save their season, but it's probably too late, and PSU will rally behind a returned JoePa.
• Oklahoma @ Baylor (FSN): Sooners have nothing to worry about here.
• Buffalo @ Wisconsin (ESPNU): Once again, why?
• Miami @ UVA (LF ACC): Miami should win here, as but UVA is also trying to salvage a decent season.

12:30 - Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (LF SEC): The 'Dores won last year. Will they win again? I wish, but they probably won't.

3:30:

• Michigan @ Ohio State (ABC)
• Auburn @ Alabama (CBS): War Damn Eagle
• Kansas St. @ Kansas (FSN): Can K-State keep the momentum going heading into Lawrence. Or will the Mangino prevail?

6:45 - Washington @ Washington State (FSN): Meanwhile, U-Dub has anti-momentum coming into this game, losing to one of the worst teams in DI-A

7:00 - Virginia Tech @ Wake Forest (ESPN2): Wake Forest needs the win here, lest Maryland pass them. VPI wants to continue to salvage their season. I like Wake, though.

7:30 - USF @ Louisville (ESPNU): BIG EAST BATTLE!@#%$!

7:45 - Rutgers @ Cincinnati (ESPN): It's Big East night on the ESPN family of networks! Rutgers should roll.

8:00 - California @ USC (ABC): I want Cal to win anyway, and not just to cause a Mich-OSU rematch. The Cal Drinking Song is probably the best post-3rd quarter tradition, ever.

10:15 - UCLA @ ASU (FSN): Uh, why is this being broadcast? At least the crowd has some talent to scope out.

It's the End of the Season as We Know It

Well, it's finally time for me to dispense my thoughts on the next two weeks of football. I'm sure you have all been waiting eagerly at your computer screens to read this. I stayed up past my bedtime to get this in by the promised Tuesday night deadline, so you'd better all be appreciative. In chronological order, here are the rivalries! (All times Eastern!)

Tennessee at Vanderbilt (11/18, 12:30 PM, ESPN Plus): The Commodores pulled off an upset last season, their first win in the series in twenty-two years. Vanderbilt hasn't beat Tennessee twice in a row since the 1920s. I don't expect that streak to end any time soon.

Michigan at Ohio State (11/18, 3:30 PM, ABC): As good as Michigan is, they won't beat Ohio State in this year's "Game of the Century": "Judgment Day". The real shame is that the loss will prevent the Wolverines from reaching the title game. Because they will be idle, Michigan will be passed by whoever emerges victorious from #3-#8. None of those teams deserve it more, but that's the way the BCS cookie crumbles.

Auburn at Alabama (11/18, 3:30 PM, CBS): Thankfully, there is now nothing to distract Auburn from their trip to Tuscaloosa. I'm kind of scared that the Tigers could blow it anyway, considering how bad they looked against Georgia last weekend. Will Cox duplicate last Saturday's "which team is which?" performance? Doubtful. Plus, there's no way I could pick the Tide with a clear conscience. Let's make it five in a row, Tuberville!

I hope these guys need their paper bags again when Auburn comes to town.

California at USC (11/18, 8 PM, ABC): As much as I want it to happen, I don't think California's going to beat USC. The Bears are coming off a devastating loss to Arizona. Even though a win would mean the first Rose Bowl trip for the school since the 50s, I don't think the motivation will be enough to overcome USC's frustrating luck.

Texas A&M at Texas (11/24, 12 PM, ABC): With Texas' starting quarterback injured and their defense in a slump, this year is the best shot the Aggies have had at beating their long-time rivals in a while. I'm tempted to predict an upset here, but A&M hasn't been able to win close games this season (see Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Nebraska). What the heck. I'll pick the Aggies anyway.

LSU at Arkansas (11/24, 2:30 PM, CBS): LSU was barely held off at Auburn, trounced at Florida, and last-minute victorious at Tennessee. I'm hoping they'll improve to 2-2 away in Fayetteville, but there is too much riding on this one for the Razorbacks to falter. They are the real deal, folks. McFadden, Jones, and Monk will destroy the Tiger defense and prepare for a showdown with the Gators in Atlanta.

After taking care of the Vols, few are doubting Arkansas any more.

Florida at Florida State (11/25, 12 PM, ???): Last year's matchup was an embarrassment to the Seminoles, and this year won't be much different. Now that Jeff Bowden has resigned, Florida State can work towards winning this rivalry by the end of the decade. They might as well start Saturday.

Georgia Tech at Georgia (11/25, 3:30 PM, ???): Georgia's win at Auburn was probably the worst thing that could have happened to the Yellow Jackets. The Bulldogs will carry the rivalry momentum back to Athens with high hopes to recover an awful season. However, Tech hasn't won for five years straight and is on its way to an ACC championship. I think the Yellow Jackets have a little more incentive, don't you? Nick and Ehren, I hope you enjoy the win!

Notre Dame at USC (11/25, 8 PM, ABC): The privilege of closing the "four-peat" (actually, "'two-out-of-three'-peat") door on the Trojans will be reserved for Notre Dame. Brady Quinn is going to use Army as a warm-up for his destruction of USC's defense. Touchdown Jesus is going to fly from his end zone in South Bend to get revenge for last year's "Bush Push" nonsense. The luck of the Irish will overcome USC's 31-game home win streak, and it will be beautiful.

I'll be back in two weeks to see how wrong I was and offer my thoughts on Rutgers/West Virginia and the conference championships. Enjoy these matchups while you can. After that, it's another month until the good bowl games, then eight months until college football returns. Dang.

CFP, Week 12

Well, the CFP was destroyed once again by an onslaught of upsets. The falls of Auburn, Texas, and California were all noteworthy, but the worst came at Washington, where Stanford overcame a ratings margin over 16 points for the first time in the history of CFP. Looks like I'm gonna have to narrow my gimmees a little bit. No surprise, Notre Dame did not fall to Air Force, and Florida State didn't win, either. Oh yeah, and Connecticut beat Pittsburgh on a gutsy two-point conversion in double overtime. Connecticut?

Six gimmees this weekend: Wisconsin/Buffalo, Navy/Temple, Georgia Tech/Duke, Boise State/Utah State, BYU/New Mexico, and LSU/Ole Miss. Close matchups to watch: Pittsburgh is picked over West Virginia by the tip of a nose, Cincinnati is not that far behind 10-0 Rutgers, and Wake Forest has only a slight edge on Virginia Tech, even with the home field bonus. Oh, and Ohio State is up 9.3 points on Michigan. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

You can read the rest of the predictions of Tito's system at http://tito.asimweb.org/cfp/week12.html. Here's hoping the last four weeks of the season are kind to the CFP's record.

On Notice!

Just gonna hit the highlights this week:
Auburn, Texas, and Cal - You all lost, ending any chance of playing for the title.
FSU - Losing by 30 at home to anyone is embarassing.
Offense in the SEC - When the Fightin' McFaddens of Arkansas are the closest thing you have to a high-powered offense, there's something wrong.
Maryland - All of your wins have come by 6 or less - at some point (against either BC or Wake), your luck will run out.
Notre Dame - Going for the Commander-in-Chief trophy this weekend against Army. Notre Dame, why do you hate America?
Duke - You suck so bad, you probably can't beat hurt Reggie either.

Bowl Predictions, Week 5

I somehow lost count of the weeks. This is week 5.

Thanks to Texas, Auburn, and Cal, these are especially confused rankings.

I see a OSU-USC title game at this point, which is hilariously what I had the first two weeks I did this. Why Rutgers in the Rose? Well, with Cal's loss, the only way they make the Rose now is by beating USC, so I had to use another team. I figured that an undefeated Rutgers might be attractive enough for the Rose. I would've put Florida there, but this year the bowls have actual tie-ins again and therefore Florida is tied to the Sugar unless they make it to the BCS title game. Notre Dame was also attractive, but they've already played Michigan this year.

I still don't want to predict GT into the Orange Bowl, and could see them falling as far as the Gator. Also, check out Miami and FSU, the darlings of the ACC. (Whoops!) Despite what everyone thinks, Wake has the inside track to win their division.

Not much else to say. The picture will be clearer after this weekend, at least a little.

The BCS Survives Again

Last weekend, Louisville was poised to win the rest of its games and finish third in the BCS standings. The debate raged over whether an undefeated Big East team should be ranked above a one-loss team from one of the other six major conferences (the answer, in my opinion, is no; see my last article for an explanation). When Rutgers beat the Cardinals Thursday night, a crowd of one-loss'ers and the undefeated Scarlet Knights all looked like they had a chance at reaching the title game. How would the BCS successfully rank this many good teams? The system everyone loves to hate looked like it was going to reach a new low of confusion.

Then, the unthinkable happened: three of the teams in the top ten of the BCS standings lost to unranked opponents.

First, Auburn was dominated at home by Georgia, whose 37-15 romp of the Tigers was a perfect storm of sorts. Stafford displayed confidence at quarterback, while Cox completed as many passes to Bulldogs as he did to Tigers (four to each group, out of twelve attempts). Auburn's defense, which my friend Kyle compared to a block of Swiss cheese, was finally exposed as hideous. Punter Kody Bliss had a serious off-day. Wide receiver Courtney Taylor led the Tigers in rushing with 51 yards. "It isn't good when your wide receiver is your leading rusher," said tailback Brad Lester. Agreed.

Later in the day, California fell at Arizona, 20-24. The Bears outproduced the Wildcats 356-262, but three California turnovers and two fourth-down conversions by Arizona made the upset possible. I never thought California was all that amazing, but to see them fall like this is a bit surprising. Perhaps there is more parity in the Pac-10 than SEC fans like myself give it credit for. (What am I thinking? Of course not.) At Kansas State, another Wildcats team upset Texas. On the Longhorns' first drive, star freshman quarterback Colt McCoy was injured underneath a pile of players. Unfortunately for Texas, the Longhorns' defense couldn't slow down the Wildcats enough for the offense to outscore them.

#5: Auburn, California, and Texas.

#88: Georgia, Arizona, and Kansas State.

Basically, these three upsets of major teams were a huge break for the BCS, which should be renamed "Benefits from Chaotic Seasons". Barring a rematch of the Big Ten Championship, six teams now have a reasonable chance of reaching Arizona in January: USC, Florida, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Arkansas, and West Virginia. What's amazing is that all six of those teams will play one of the others by the end of the season, simplifying the BCS headache. What's ridiculous is that USC is ranked above Florida and Rutgers is ranked above Arkansas.

I'll be back by Tuesday night with my terribly uninformed game predictions for the next two weeks. Until then, please write angry emails to the AP Poll voters for ranking USC #3.

What the Heck Is Going on Today?

Georgia Tech scraped by UNC to clinch the Atlantic Division title. Auburn lost. Virginia Tech and Florida are struggling.

Only Michigan and Ohio State are rolling right now. Can we just go ahead and let them play a best 2 of 3 for the national title? Man.

Collegiate Football Constests on the Television

Well, I watched Tech take apart the Elon Fightin' Wes Durhams Phoenix earlier tonight. It's nice having a point guard again.

That said, I hear they have some college kids tossing an oblate spheroid on TV this weekend, so let's get to it.

As always, time are eastern and coverage reflects game show on our cable network at GT. You mileage may vary (i.e., pretty sure Alabama is getting a different 3:30 ABC game).

Noon:

• Georgia Tech @ UNC (affiliate list): A Tech win here clinches a spot in the ACC title game and will mark the first time Tech has won more than 7 games in the Chan Gailey era. I'm moderately excited about this.
• Minnesota @ Michigan St. (ESPNU): I just don't really have anything funny to say about John L. Smith anymore.
• Wisconsin @ Iowa (ESPN): If things fall a certain way, Wisconsin could be looking at a BCS bid. Iowa's pretty much boned in that department though, and I'll leave it to Ehren to tell you why. ;)
• Cincinnati @ West Virginia (ESPN2): WVU looks to stay alive in the Big East race. Have to always like WVU at home, even if it is a day game.

12:30:

• Georgia @ Auburn (affiliate list): AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....I'm sorry, that's me every time I remember Georgia's record against Vandy and Kentucky this year (0-2). When was the last time The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry was played on LF/JP Sports?
  Also, here's a trivia question for you: Auburn has played Georgia 109 times. It has played only two other teams more than 80 teams, having played one 86 times and the other 82 times. Without looking it up (obviously), who were they? (Answer in the comments.)
• Baylor @ Oklahoma St. (FSN): Why?

2:00: Colorado St. @ Utah (Versus): Why am I listing this? Beats me. Utah looks to maintain it's shot at going to a bowl again. Or something.

3:30:

• Miami @ Maryland (ABC): Will Miami be able to get up for this game? Or will they be fired up? They can still salvage their season and knock UMD out of contention in the Atlantic. But The Fridge seems to have recaptured some of the old magic...this game won't be middling. It'll be a blowout for UMD or a really tight game.
• South Carolina @ Florida (CBS): The Visor steps into the Swamp again. Unfortunately for him, he is going to be on the USC sideline. UF rolls.
  
• Kent St. @ VPI (EPSNU): Tin soldiers and Beamer's comin'...
  Sorry, that was probably in bad taste. Nonetheless, VPI rolls.
• Michigan @ Indiana (ESPN): A trap game if there ever was one. Indiana has looked decent at times this season. Michigan is essentially playing for the national title next week. But the maize and gold need to remember it's one at a time.

7:00:

• Duke @ BC (ESPNU): People say ESPNU broadcasts games that wouldn't ordinarily be televised. Sometimes I wonder if that's really a good thing.
• Tennessee @ Arkansas (ESPN2): How was this not the 7:45 ESPN game? Lunacy. Auburn fans will be cheering like hell for Tennessee and LSU over the next few weeks. If Arkansas wins, they have the SEC West pretty much wrapped up. Since it's @Ark, I like them.

7:45: Alabama @ LSU (ESPN): Once again, how was this the 7:45 game and the UT@Ark game the 7:00 game? Alabama sucks, and doesn't stand a chance down in the craziness that is Baton Rouge on gameday. Geaux Tigers!

8:00: Wake Forest @ FSU (ABC): Ordinarily, this would look like an easy game for the 'Noles. Ordinarily. The ACC is just tops-turvy this year - usually UMD vs. UM and FSU vs. WF are expected to decided in favor of the teams from Florida.....

10:15: Oregon @ USC (FSN): If Oregon beats USC here, they give Cal a 2 game lead in the Pac-10, nearly clinching a Rose Bowl bid for the Bears.

Undefeated: The Big East? Big Deal!

Last night, #15 Rutgers overcame an 18-point deficit to beat #3 Louisville. As sad as it is, this was the biggest win for the New Jersey school since it beat Princeton 6-4 in the first college football game ever. As I see it, the Knights need more than a great story and a top-10 win to earn respect as a premier Division I-A football squad. ESPN seems to think otherwise. Following the game, Kirk Herbstreit was already fueling the Big East vs. BCS debate that will no doubt flood the sportswriting airwaves until Rutgers plays West Virginia on December 2.

Yes, it's impressive that Schiano's Knights held the powerful Brian Brohm-led Cardinal offense to 25 points overall and forced seven straight punts in the second half. However, one has to wonder how Louisville became the second-ranked offense in the country. Yes, Rutgers is 9-0, but how did they get there in the first place? The answer to both questions is the same: Rutgers, Louisville, and West Virginia haven't played anyone of consequence. Let's take a look at their schedules, shall we?

Rutgers' opponents have a collective record of 42-40, but their nonconference wins were over 1-8 UNC, 2-8 Illinois, 7-3 Ohio, and 3-6 I-AA Howard. The only respectable team they have played so far is Louisville. Louisville's opponents are 47-35 and played more teams from major conferences than the other two. Miami was considered a big win early on, but the Hurricanes don't look so good any more. So the Cardinals are left with big games against...Rutgers and West Virginia. West Virginia's opponents are 35-38, and the Mountaineers did handle 7-2 Maryland. However, Louisville is the only other team that is worthy of serious consideration.

Here's Chris Fowler praying that I wouldn't expose ESPN's defense of the Big East as unreasonable. Nice try, Chris.

Even if Rutgers had a halfway respectable schedule, I seriously doubt they could muscle their way to second place of the undefeated/one-loss heap. Texas A&M doesn't have the defense to stop Texas in Austin, and the Longhorns won't lose to the Big 12 North champion, either. Florida, Arkansas, and Auburn are in a weird SEC triangle that will produce at least one one-loss team. Since those four teams are all above Rutgers in the BCS standings, even a decisive victory at West Virginia couldn't put the Knights into the title game. And I didn't even mention the possibility of an Ohio State/Michigan rematch.

They haven't been as dominant in the ACC, but the departure of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College left the Big East with nothing more than a few posers and a bunch of nobodies. If you look at their records, Rutgers, Louisville, and West Virginia don't look so great after all.

BCS Shenanigans

With the Rutgers win tonight, here's the lo-down:

Assume UF continues to run the table. Their current strength in the computers will keep them up and put them in the title game.

Assume the following auto-bids and at-large selection by the Rose:
Rose: USC/Cal winner vs. Michigan/OSU loser
Fiesta: Texas
Orange: ACC winner
Sugar: 2 at-large slots

The Sugar loses the #2 team (UF) to the title game, so they get the first two picks (they already had the first pick after the title-game compensation). Boise State (if they win out) and the Big East winner must be picked by someone. However, the Sugar would have a chance to match up Auburn and Notre Dame for the first time.

So the Orange gets the next pick. They take the Big East winner, and then the Fiesta gets stuck with Boise St.

There's a chance Notre Dame losing again would knock them out of the top 14, but I have my doubts about that.

Bowl Predictions, Week 3, and more

Just an FYI, I updated the bowl predictions already. I'd elaborate on them, but, eh, a few days have already passed. Just know, Hawaii accepted their bid to the Hawaii Bowl and Navy will go to Charlotte for the Car Care Bowl.

That said, I'd like to take a minute to step back from our football discussion.

Ismail Mohammed - still the man

Yup, that's right folks, Georgia Tech's basketball season begins this Friday against Elon. It won't be broadcast, but I'll be there - a great start to a hopefully great weekend.

In case you didn't know (which I doubt, considering the places this is linked to), Tech has a lot of lofty expectation this year. I've been told that our new PG, Javaris Crittendon, is the real deal (as in, he passes to people and doesn't turn the ball over all the time). Thad Young is, of course, also the real deal and we'll be lucky to have him after this season. The upside of being so young last year is that several of those guys are back this year, giving us what is now one of the most experienced squads in the conference.

I'm not sure what to expect, but it's sure a heck of a lot better than 11-17. I'll have a report Friday night as I put up the TV Guide.

Just One More Week

Considering that it was the beginning of a two-week lead-in to Michigan's visit to Ohio State, last weekend was pretty good. The best game of the day was probably LSU at Tennessee, two teams that had little to play for but pride and an unlikely BCS berth. JaMarcus Russell was super-clutch in the final drive of the game. The senior delivered a bullet to Early Doucet (who was right on time, nyuk nyuk nyuk) for the winning touchdown with nine seconds remaining.

Ohio State and Michigan both survived scares against much lesser opponents. Who would have thought that Illinois and Ball State could give the top two teams in the country a run for their money? The Buckeyes and Wolverines will probably pummel Northwestern and Indiana to make up for last weekend's embarrassment. In other Big Ten (Eleven?) news, Joe Paterno is still alive and well after being knocked over by a Nittany Lion receiver Saturday. If any complications do arise, Penn State won't need him to coach their weekend romp of Temple.

The Pac-10 is looking much more interesting than it has the last three years. If USC loses its first home game in a while to Oregon, then Cal can coast to the conference championship, win at USC or not. (I doubt 4-5 Arizona or 0-9 Stanford will pose any serious problems for the Bears.) The Big East is unsettled, too. Louisville beat West Virginia 44-34 in a battle of running and passing offenses. Hopefully, the Cardinals will lose to Rutgers this Saturday. If they don't, I'm praying for a Ohio State/Michigan rematch in January.

In the ACC, Maryland and Wake Forest pulled off rather exciting upsets against Clemson and Boston College, respectively. Although both are in the driver's seat of the ACC Atlantic Division, neither is guaranteed a trip to face Georgia Tech in December. The Terrapins and Demon Deacons have some work to do before their November 25 showdown. Maryland hosts Miami, then travels to Boston College. Wake Forest travels to Florida State before hosting Virginia Tech.

The ACC isn't the only conference with a weird divison race. Florida clenched the East with a win over Vanderbilt, since Tennessee lost twice and Georgia underwent self-destruction. This year's incarnation of the Oldest Rivalry in the South, the Auburn/Georgia game, is actually set to kick off at 11:30 AM Central. It's not even on CBS; it's on Lincoln Financial Sports. If that's not an indication of how bad Georgia is, I don't know what is. I'm hoping Auburn doesn't completely embarrass themselves by losing to the Bulldogs.

Elsewhere in the SEC, LSU is preparing to destroy Alabama in Baton Rouge. Last year, the Tigers went to Tuscaloosa and exposed the #3 Crimson Tide squad as overrated. This year, there's nothing to expose. (Losing to 3-7 Mississippi State makes your strength pretty obvious.) Tennessee goes to Arkansas to find out if the Razorbacks are really a new conference power. The Vols need to win to keep Auburn's SEC (and probably national) championship hopes alive. I bet Kenton $5 that Arkansas would lose the two games required for Auburn to win the West, so you know I'll be watching this game when I get out of Jordan-Hare.

Arkansas could have lost last weekend, but South Carolina threw away their chance. On the last play of the first half, two Gamecock defenders bounced a pass into the hands of Marcus Monk for a Razorback touchdown. Later, the Gamecock defense seemed unable to defend Monk, who might as well have had a target on his jersey whenever Casey Dick was in the pocket. Down 20-26 late in the fourth, Blake Mitchell began what looked to be a comeback drive, but a quick switch to zone by the Razorback secondary tricked him into throwing an interception.

Just one more week until the three week stretch of rivalries and conference championships begins. I'm excited to see how this season ends, and I think the finale will be worth the wait.

CFP, Week 11

Last weekend, the CFP posted a dismal 38-17 record, lowering the year-to-date percentage to 74.8%. Many of the mispredicted games had margins over ten points. However, the CFP did manage to correctly pick Kentucky over Georgia.

This weekend, some repeat offenders have a chance at redemption. Michigan State, Clemson, Arkansas, Maryland, and Texas A&M have all tripped up the CFP, some more than once. Other teams, like Air Force and Florida State, seem doomed to fail once more. Those two were picked to beat Notre Dame and Wake Forest, respectively. Six teams are favored by ratings margins greater than sixteen points, the most gimmees I've had so far this season; Virginia Tech, Penn State, Washington, Nevada, Boston College, and Hawaii are all but guaranteed victories over their opponents.

Well, that's all I have for this week's CFP report. You can read the rest of this week's predictions at http://tito.asimweb.org/cfp/week11.html.

On Notice!

West Virginia University - 6 turnovers in an ugly loss to Louisville? You're fast, but you have to play better than that to be #3.
Clemson University - Lost 2 straight to teams that GT has beaten - after they owned GT. More proof that the Transitive Property of Football is not true.
University of Iowa - You lost to North-freakin'-Western. Not just perennially overrated, now just plain bad.
University[sic] of Georgia - You lost to Kentucky! Wooooooo!
Wake Forest University - WF and GT are on a collision course for the ACC Championship Game - aka John Swofford's Nightmare. Just a little pre-emptive taunting to psyche them out ;)
Duke University - Now that basketball has started, no one in Durham has to watch this putrid team.
Guy Who Broke JoePa's Leg - In the Wisconsin-Penn State game, JoePa got hit when someone went flying onto the sideline. JoePa stayed around for a quarter before being carted off with a broken tibia. Hardcore for an old dude.
University of North Carolina - Repeat what I said about Duke, but replace Durham with Chapel Hill. You and Duke are next up on the GT hit parade.

This Weekend's Games That I Probably Won't See

Well kids, I'm in Nashville this weekend and will probably miss most of today's games. But just for my readers (all two of you), here's this week's line up as though I were on Georgia Tech's campus:

Noon:

• Missouri @ Nebraska (ABC): Winner gets to lose to Texas in the Big 12 title game!
• UVA @ FSU (local ACC): Honestly, FSU has only gotten worse this season, while UVA has gotten better. Still, though, I've seen no evidence that UVA's quarterback can complete a pass to anyone, or that any of his receivers can catch a pass. So I like FSU here.
• Ball St. @ UMich (ESPNU): I can't come up with anything that explains why this game is being televised anywhere besides ESPN's deal with the Big Ten.
• Maryland @ Clemson (ESPN2): UMD needs a win in Death Valley to stay alive in their division's race. The odds of them getting said win, however, do not seem high.
• Baylor @ Texas Tech (FSN): Baylor's halfway decent again this year, thus continuing to cement their status as the Vandy of the Big 12 instead of the Duke of the Big 12.

12:30 - Florida @ Vanderbilt (local SEC): Go 'Dores, but UF rolls.

2:30 - UNC @ ND (NBC): Notre Dame seeks to go 2-0 against the ACC this year....

3:30:

• Washington @ Oregon (TBS): Washington needs the win to try to get to a bowl, but the Ducks need it to stay alive in the Pac-10.
• LSU @ Tennessee (CBS): Game of the week right here, or it would be, if anything was actually riding on it. A LSU win here gives Florida some breathing room in the East, and a UT win gives LSU 3 conference losses.
• Purdue @ Michigan St (ESPNU): Well, since John L. Smith has already been fired, you can't really watch him try to get fired anymore. Can MSU rally behind their soon-to-be-departed coach? I wouldn't bet on it.
• Ohio St. @ Illinois (ESPN2): The non-hit parade continues! Can't OSU and Michigan just play and get it done with? Sheesh.
• Kansas St. @ Colorado (FSN): Why?!? In a way, I picked a good weekend to not watch games.

7:00:

• Oklahoma St. @ Texas (TBS): Man, TBS had a full-slate of games today! Too bad they all suck.
• Georgia Tech @ NC State (ESPNU): Well, I'd watch this if I could, but oh well. I'm somewhat nervous about this - NCSU needs to win in order to have a chance at a bowl game, and I think the best thing Tech could do is sweep their last four games. Hopefully GT is focused and comes out ready to play after the huge win against Miami last week. If GT can win this game....yeah.
• Boston College @ Wake Forest (ESPN2): Probably the game with the most conference champion implications of the day. Yes, that's right folks, BC@WFU is probably the most important game of the day. (Don't worry, I also struggle with this notion.) Provided UMD loses to FSU, the winner of this game is in the ACC Atlantic driver's seat. I have to like BC here - Wake Forest is a good team, but they just have played anyone at all except for Clemson. (In fairness, WFU played Clemson a heck of a lot closer than we did. But they still lost.)
  
• USC @ Stanford (FSN): OH GOD WHY!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Stanford isn't just bad, they're horrible. The closest they've come this year was a 1 point loss to San Jose St. They haven't been within a touchdown of any of their other opponents. Is USC down? Sure. But Stanford is beyond down. Duke could probably beat them by a couple of scores, though of course Duke lost to a DI-AA team. Still, though, someone should figure out a way to those teams to play each other....
  

7:45 - Arkansas @ South Carolina (ESPN): Well, Auburn desperately wants a USC victory here, which could set up a course for Arkansas to lose to either Tennessee, LSU, or both. However, Arkansas only has 1 other road game after this- @Miss. St.

8:00 - VPI @ Miami (ABC): Well, this game isn't nearly as big of a deal as it used to be. I don't know who to go for here - unless both teams lose, a loss doesn't really help Tech since we beat both of them. Miami has the best chance to lose again after this, so I guess if they win it helps. Oh well.

That's all I got folks. It's unlikely the bowl predictions will be posted this weekend - I'd guess Tuesday at the earliest. Later.

Better Late than Never?

Many people (actually, just Elliott) were severely disappointed that this week's sermon did not hit the blogosphere on its normal schedule. As usual, I have a few excuses for my tardiness. I spent the entire weekend with my girlfriend Laura at Michigan State University, and I definitely wasn't going to post my thoughts there. When I got back to Auburn, I had a ton of work (one project) to catch up on before Tuesday's class.

Because I wanted to spend time with Laura, I didn't watch many games this weekend. I did see Indiana's 46-21 (let's just admit it: 46-7) trouncing of Michigan State. The Spartans recently announced the end of the Smith era, which is understandable, considering his season-ending performances the past few years. I also got to watch the last five minutes of Oregon State's "upset" of USC. Laura and I were eating dinner with some of her friends during the second half, so I had to leave the table a few times to check the score online.

Like I predicted, USC did not going to go undefeated this season. Still, who would have guessed that their first loss would come so early? Here's hoping one or two (or three) of California, Oregon, and Notre Dame will deliver another loss to the Trojans. Vanderbilt-ed Georgia, another early loser, is still on track to make me look like a genius (or Captain Obvious). The Bulldogs lost a dogfight (literally: think "Smokey vs. Ugga") against Tennessee and a Florida game that was not as close as the final score. Now, Georgia has a week at Kentucky before being slapped around by Auburn and Georgia Tech.

The ACC: what is up with this now-whacky conference? Miami, then Virginia Tech, was the favorite to win last year's ACC, which was ultimately won by Florida State (who finished 5-3 in conference play). This year has been just as ridiculous. BC, Wake Forest, Maryland, and Clemson all seem to have a shot at the Atlantic Division title. Georgia Tech, after getting past NCState this weekend, should have an easy road to taking a 10-2 record into the conference championship. I guess I shouldn't complain. The ACC of the recent past is definitely more interesting than the decade beforehand, when Florida State never lost.

Virginia Tech plays Miami this weekend, and honestly, I'm not sure who to pick. This used to be the game that determined the Big East championship, but now it seems to determine who is the best decent team in the ACC Coastal Division. Larry Coker is basically done at Miami, but a decisive win against the Hokies could make his argument for continued employment a tiny bit more interesting. He'd probably have to win the rest of his games (at Maryland, at Virginia, Boston College) to keep his job, though.

This weekend is chalk full (what does that even mean?) of interesting conference matchups. West Virginia goes to Louisville to decide the Big East (until they both have to play Rutgers and Pittsburgh). Missouri goes to Nebraska to decide the Big 12 North. Oklahoma travels to College Station, where Texas A&M must win to have a shot at the Big 12 South. Arkansas goes to South Carolina to begin a three-game crusade for the SEC West. Tennessee hosts LSU, trying to keep their SEC East hopes alive. Boston College plays Wake Forest, and Maryland plays Clemson to bring the ACC Atlantic race into focus.

I'll end this week's sermon by addressing the question on everyone's mind: who will play for the national title on January 8? The Ohio State/Michigan winner looks like a lock for No. 1, but the No. 2 BCS spot is still up for grabs. A close loss by Ohio State could set up a rematch, but that seems unlikely. I'm guessing West Virginia, Louisville, Florida, Auburn, or Texas will face the Buckeyes in Arizona, and I don't think any of those teams would win. Thankfully, there is still a lot of football to be played (and watched) before then.

Which Hilariously Bad Coach is Next?

Bunting got the axe. We all figured Amato might be next, but then we got this out of East Lansing:

With three games remaining in another disappointing season, Michigan State has decided that John L. Smith will not return to coach the 2007 season.

Giving up 46 unanswered points to Indiana probably wasn't good for the ole job security.

ACC Football

Sometime next week I may ave a more substantive post than this (two projects, going to be out of town this weekend, woo-woo). For now, though, my thoughts on the current state of the ACC were summed up by this conversation with a friend of mine, talking about the Maryland-FSU game:

Me: UMD's only conference loss is to us
Me: they win and they're right up there with WFU and BC
Him: RIGHT *UP THERE*
Him: With WAKE FOREST
Him: ACC FOOTBALL

Bowl Predictions - Week 3

No post for now, except that more than 1 Sun Belt team will get a bowl bid this year. You can access them via the link on your right. I may edit this if I have some sort of free time later this week (hah!).

On Notice!

1. Michigan State University - Well, you've now gone from being the worst finishing team in land to the worst starting team in the land. You were down 46-7 before 2 meaningless TDs in the 4th to make it kind of respectable.
2. University of Southern California - Oops. Well, USC fell, but not to one of the teams that people were expecting. They hadn't been playing well lately, but this time they couldn't quite recover. (Missed a 2-pt conversion that would've tied it at the end)
3. University of Nebraska - After looking respectable against Texas, you fell to Oklahoma State this week, making the Big 12 North race a lot more interesting.
4. University of Miami - Two in a row! GT now has the easy road to the ACC Championship Game.
5. Clemson University - After reaming GT, you go and lose to VT, making the ACC Atlantic race wide open. On the other hand, I'm glad you lost, because I didn't want GT to play you again for the Championship.
6. Ohio University - Despite sucking, you're now bowl eligible. Wooo.
7. University of Alabama-Birmingham - (Honorable mention to UConn, Rutgers, Idaho, and Hawaii) - The upcoming UAB-SMU game (and the Idaho-Hawaii game) is being played this Tuesday night, which makes absolutely no sense. Rutgers and UConn play on Sunday night, which is odd since neither of these teams are in the NFL. Stick to Thursday and Saturday during the regular season, ok?
8. North Carolina State University - Chuck Amato has apparently decided that he is not, in fact, the man. You're next.

This Weekend's Games

Before I begin, I think yesterday's whipping of Clemson by Virginia Tech officially ends any validity of the Transitive Property in application to college football. If you forgot, recall that: 1) GT whipped VT a few weeks ago in Blacksburg, 2) Clemson whipped GT last weekend in Clemson. So, yeah.

Anyway, let's do this. As always, this reflects my being here in Atlanta, which means these are the games I get on the Georgia Tech Cable Network and that the times are Eastern.

Noon:

• Oklahoma @ Missouri, ABC: A close game, I think, and a win established Mizzou as the class of the Big 12 North, and perhaps a re-emergence of some evenness in terms of the competitiveness of the Big 12's divisions.
• Notre Dame @ Navy, CBS: ND rolls.
• NC State @ Virginia, local ACC affiliate: Well, NCSU came back and beat BC and FSU and seems to have a quarterback again. I have to like them here, even at UVA. Also, Virginia still doesn't really have an offense.
• Northern Illinois @ Iowa, ESPNU: Well, Ehren, Iowa may be overrated, but you have to like them here.
• Northwestern @ Michigan, ESPN: Well, let's see, Michigan is good this year, and not only did NU's coach die in the offseason, they just allowed the biggest comeback in DI-A history. UMich rolls.
• UIUC @ Wisconsin, ESPN2: The Fightin' Ron Zooks head up to Madison, WI. Did you know that Wisconsin's campus has 6 pubs on it, and unlike GT's so-called "pub", they actually serve, you know, alcohol. Wisconsin also plays the Budweiser, but they say "When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all!" instead of the proper way (like we do). At any rate, they win.

12:30: Auburn @ Ole Miss, local SEC affiliate: FOOTBAW

3:30

• Miami (FL) @ Georgia Tech, ABC: I have no idea what to make of this game. It's homecoming for us, and Miami returned a lot of their tickets, so this may be the largest Tech crowd ever. Miami may have an "us against the world" mentality due to their recent "adversity". We got blown out at Clemson last week, but a GT win here pretty much seals the division for us. There's a lot riding on this, and in several ways, is probably our most important game of the season.
• Florida vs. Georgia, CBS: I'll still call it "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party", but honestly, since when do rednecks drink cocktails? Also, UF rolls.
  
• Wake Forest @ UNC, ESPNU: Ironically, UNC's players may now play better since it's confirmed that their coach is gone after the season. Nonetheless, Wake is a solid team and avoid the loss.
• USC @ Oregon State, FSN: Who will knock off USC? Probably not the beavers.

7:00

• Texas @ Texas Tech, TBS: Texas Tech doesn't really seem to have the "magic" this year, and so Texas will probably be the ones scoring 60 points here if anyone does.
• Arkansas vs. UL-Monroe, ESPNU: I can't tell if this is being played at a neutral site or counts as a "home" game for UL-Monroe, but honestly, I don't care.
• FSU @ Maryland, ESPN2: Remember when these teams were good at that offense thing? Yeah. FSU should win.

7:45: Tennessee @ South Carolina, ESPN: Fulmer! Spurrier! The UT of the South seems to be good this year, and despite Spurrier blowing out Vandy last week, UT should roll.

That's all I got kids. Feel free to dispute below.