Longhorn fans have holiday cheer

22 12 2009

They say everything’s bigger in Texas. This holiday season, it’s true.

Being a Texas Longhorns sports fan could not be any sweeter. On Saturday, the #2 ranked volleyball team closed a tremendous season with a heartbreaking five-set loss to undefeated and three-time defending champion Penn State. Despite the loss, the ‘Horns finished 29-2 on the season.

For most schools, a runner-up finish in volleyball would be the highlight of the athletic year. But Texas isn’t most schools.  The football team is also playing for the national championship.  This ‘Horns team is also underdogs against a very good Alabama team, but don’t count them out just yet.  No one gave them a chance in 2005 before they shocked the world by beating USC to win the national championship.  The Trojans haven’t been back to the big game since.  And before I forget, it’s worth mentioning that this team has a player (Colt McCoy) who has finished in the top three in Heisman voting two straight years, and another player (Jordan Shipley) who just might be the best all-purpose player in the country.

Playing in the national championship in football is pretty cool.  But even if the ‘Horns drop the highly anticipated contest, they can fall back on their men’s basketball team, which also ranked…you guessed it…number two.  Until this week, the team hadn’t played anyone who will come within an earshot of making the NCAA tournament, but two double-digit victories against the two teams who played in the national championship game just nine months earlier has me convinced.  So what if they’ve only played two games outside the state.  This is the deepest team in the nation, and as long as they stay healthy, I think they can win a title in this sport too.  They don’t even need to win their own conference to earn a number one seed come March.

Speaking of March, that’s about the time when preseason baseball rankings will be released.  Expect the Longhorns to start number one in most polls.  In the meantime, look for the women’s basketball team to make a sweet sixteen run.  The lady Horns of the hardwood are ranked #17 nationally.  Are you a fan of swimming?  If so, check out the men’s swimming and diving team, currently ranked number one in the nation, or the women’s swimming and diving team, ranked number four.

Before this year is over, the Longhorn athletic department is going to have a lot of banners to hang, and possibly some trophies to polish.

Everything is bigger at Texas.  At least this year.


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Five must-see bowls, five snoozers

8 12 2009

The 2009-2010 bowl season is sure to produce some interesting storylines, even if the games may not be great.  In the Sugar Bowl, a top five offense will clash with a top five defense.  In Dallas, a Cotton Bowl matchup features two teams with explosive offenses who both have to feel disappointed to be in that game.  The day after Christmas, USC will play a bowl game.  Six days later, Bobby Bowden will coach his final game, against his former team.  Three days after that, two non-BCS schools will meet in a BCS bowl.

Here, I give you five bowls to watch even if it means skipping work or family reunions, and five bowls with which you can hit the snooze button.

Sleep through…

5)  Chick-fil-A Bowl:  When Virginia Tech meets Tennessee on New Year’s Eve, things will get ugly.  The Hokies have to consider this season a disappointment, yet they have a chance for another 10-win season under Frank Beamer.  The Hokie defense will make life miserable for a vanilla Tennessee offense and should win comfortably.  Alternative suggestion: start your New Year’s Eve plans early.

4)  Fiesta Bowl: Is the BCS really this scared?  Two of the past three years, a BCS buster has knocked off a powerhouse.  So logically, the BCS puts its two undefeated busters up against each other as to not ruin this system by having another Oklahoma or Alabama fall in the spotlight.  I thought the point of these teams making it to a BCS game was to see how they matched up with BCS schools.  Now we’ll never know.  Alternative suggestion: rewind time and put TCU up against Georgia Tech and Iowa against Boise State.

3)  Texas Bowl: Navy still has one more game to play, meaning they lose two weeks of preparation on Missouri, whom they will play on New Year’s Eve in Houston.  Not only that, but Navy can’t throw the ball.  In fact, they won a game this year in which they didn’t even attempt a pass.  If they try to run, Missouri will stuff it (12th in the nation against the run).  If they try to throw, they will be out of their element.  On the other side, the Tigers have scored at least 32 points in five straight games.  It won’t be close.  Alternative suggestion: see Chick-fil-A Bowl suggestion.

2)  Gator Bowl: That’s really nice of the Gator Bowl to invite Bobby Bowden to play his last game there.  So cute.  Too bad the whole nation will be watching a different 1 p.m. New Year’s Day bowl instead.  Bowden and Florida State do not belong in this game after a .500 finish.  Not only that, but they are going up against a talented West Virginia team which ended the season with wins over Pitt and Rutgers, and a near shocker in Cincinnati.  The ‘Noles don’t have a defense, and West Virginia will exploit that early and often.  Alternative suggestion: watch ABC (see below for why).

1)  Emerald Bowl: Yes, the most boring yet comedic thing to watch will be Boston College trying to move the ball on USC’s defense.  Despite the Trojans’ struggles this season, the defense has been relatively stable against bad offenses, and Boston College’s is ranked 97th in the country.  Give Pete Carroll a month to prepare for anyone, and they’re in trouble.  The Eagles don’t have a chance, especially in San Francisco.  Alternative suggestion: leave one Christmas present unopened so you have something to look forward to the next day.

Must-see games

5)  Holiday Bowl: What a dandy this will be.  Heisman candidate Ndamukong Suh and the ninth ranked Nebraska defense faces a top 20 defense in Arizona.  Normally I like Nebraska in this game, but the game being in San Diego neutralizes things.  Arizona is riding high after winning at USC, and Nebraska is feeling good about their “win” against Texas.  Double digits may be enough to win this game.

4)  Rose Bowl: The best BCS matchup features the perennial Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes and…someone other than USC.  This alone makes it a must watch, but considering it’s the Ducks, a team that got white-hot after an opening night loss to Boise State, it should be a classic.  Terrelle Pryor and Jeremiah Masoli should set off plenty of fireworks.

3)  Las Vegas Bowl: It’s amazing that a team can go from playing on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl to playing in a bowl on Dec. 22.  But that’s exactly what happened to the Oregon State Beavers after a heartbreaking loss in Eugene Thursday night.  In comes BYU, a team with lofty expectations before being trampled at home by Florida State, then TCU.  And if there’s anyone who can take apart the Beavers, it’s underrated senior quarterback Max Hall, who is ahead of Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow and Kellen Moore in passing yards per game despite fewer passing attempts.  Buckle up for an offensive explosion.

2)  Poinsettia Bowl: Ironically, last year’s Poinsettia Bowl featured Boise State and TCU, with a final scored of 17-16.  This year the San Diego bowl game should be equally entertaining.  Two teams ranked in the preseason top 25 meet, and this will be about Utah’s defense trying to stop California’s Jahvid Best, who will be returning from a concussion suffered last month.  Both teams are out to prove that early season losses were a fluke.

1)  Capital One Bowl: The best bowl game of the season takes place in Orlando on New Year’s Day.  LSU will face Penn State, and if you recall, things were looking up for these teams in November.  Penn State had Ohio State coming to Happy Valley for the conference championship, while LSU actually held a lead on Alabama.  Neither team came through though, and wind up here instead.  The key to this game is LSU’s defense.  They must hold Penn State down, because the Tiger offense, ranked #108 in the country, won’t have a lot of opportunities against Penn State’s eighth ranked defense.


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Categories : Sports

ACC can thank Clemson for loss

5 12 2009

The Big Ten won the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the first time ever, a 6-5 victory thanks to a second half meltdown by the Clemson Tigers which allowed Illinois to rally from 23 down to win.  The Tigers, for as good as they looked in the first half, went ice cold from the field in the second half and turned the ball over too much.  It was a big win for the Illini, but a bigger statement for the conference, which had lost to the ACC 12 straight years before winning the 2009 version.  Other big wins included Wisconsin upsetting Duke and Penn State escaping Virginia.

Here are this week’s picks from the staff:


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USC loss creates chaos for BCS

16 11 2009

When the smoke had cleared in the Coliseum Saturday, all that remained was the remnants of a 55-21 thrashing USC took at the hands of upstart Stanford.  Two years ago, Stanford pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time with a 24-23 win that spoiled USC’s national title hopes.  This time, Stanford’s win spoiled the Trojans’ BCS hopes.

And who gains as a result of USC’s loss?  That would be the Big East.  More importantly the loser of the Dec. 5 showdown between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.  Now that USC has lost again, the loser of that game could still make it to a BCS bowl, especially if that loser is the Bearcats.

Cincinnati is in a position where even a loss to Pitt won’t mean exclusion from the BCS.  They would still be 11-1 and likely in the top 10 in the BCS rankings.  As we learned in 2007, the BCS bowl committee favors one loss teams over strength of schedule, so Penn State and Iowa won’t have much of an argument even if both schools finish 10-2.

If the Panthers lose to the Bearcats, things really get interesting.  The Panthers, as well as a trio of Big Ten non-conference champions (Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin) and Oklahoma State would all be 10-2.  That’s five teams fighting for one spot.

- First, the committee should determine the best of the Big Ten schools.  Iowa should get the nod because they beat both Penn State and Wisconsin, and took Ohio State to overtime in the Shoe without their starting quarterback.  That leaves Iowa, Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh.

- From here, strength of schedule plays a role, but the committee will also look at which teams’ fans travel the best and which are most marketable.  Iowa probably has the advantage in terms of being marketable and traveling well, followed by Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh.  However, Pittsburgh would likely end up playing the most difficult schedule by season’s end.  Their schedule is ranked 57 by the computers right now, but will go up after games against West Virginia and Cincinnati to close the year.  Oklahoma State has the weakest SOS at 60.  Iowa is 33, but with a game against Minnesota remaining, which will deflate the ranking

It will be tough for the committee to call this one.  I can see them taking Iowa because they have been historically kind to the Big Ten.  Iowa has been arguably the surprise team of the year, and they do have quality wins over Penn State, Wisconsin and Arizona.  However, Pittsburgh, again, will probably have the toughest strength of schedule, and more than half of their conference contains teams with three or fewer losses.  That’s quite an argument as well.  Here’s how I see it playing out:

Sugar Bowl:  Alabama vs Cincinnati – The SEC runner-up playing the Big East runner-up.  Both teams will be in the top 10 despite losing their respective final games.

Orange Bowl:  Georgia Tech vs Pittsburgh - The ACC champion against the Big East champion.

Fiesta Bowl:  TCU vs Boise State – Both teams will be automatic qualifiers because they will be in the top eight.  The BCS…and the nation…wants to see this game.

Rose Bowl:  Oregon vs Ohio State – The traditional Big Ten champion against Pac 10 champion game.

BCS National Championship:  Florida vs Texas – The BCS #1 against the BCS #2.


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Categories : Sports

Hawkeyes deserve to be #3

27 10 2009

You may have noticed that I have Iowa ranked #3 in my latest college football rankings.  That looks bad after Iowa needed a last second play to beat Michigan State, while Texas blew out Missouri in Columbia.  The reality is, I’ve been stupid not to put Iowa head for the past few weeks.

Iowa has wins against Penn State in Happy Valley, Wisconsin in Madison, and Michigan State in East Lansing.  The last team to do that was Michigan in 1997.  As for Texas?  They have road wins over…Wyoming and Missouri?  Neither of those teams are ranked in the top 60 in the computers.

Iowa played and beat two nonconference BCS teams (Iowa State and Arizona) that have a combined record of 10-5.  Oh by the way, both of those teams are in the top 60 in the computers. Texas did not play a single BCS conference team.

Speaking of rankings, Iowa has defeated two teams ranked in the BCS top 20.  Texas hasn’t played a single ranked team.  The reason the Longhorns are ranked ahead of the Hawkeyes is because the human voters don’t look at the schedules.  They base their decisions on what the AP writers decide early on in the season.

That’s the wrong way to do it, and that’s why the computers are a better determining factor.  The computers look at what has happened so far.  They ignore prestige, Heisman candidates, and preseason expectations.  If the computers were the only rankings used, Iowa would be #1 and Texas would be #5.  The human polls have too much influence, and it is clearly being demonstrated by ranking Texas ahead of Iowa.

Iowa’s average opponent so far this year is ranked #48.  Texas’ average opponent is ranked #72.  If Iowa and Texas both win out, it would be hard for me to watch a national championship game with Texas in it, knowing Iowa deserves it.  But that’s what will happen, because the human polls are two-thirds of the BCS standings.


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College football picks – TCU falls

22 10 2009

TCU has made its way through a cupcake schedule without a blemish so far, but they haven’t played a team like BYU yet.  The Cougars made a splash with a 14-13 win over OU in Dallas on kickoff weekend, then have quietly flown under the radar after a blowout loss to Florida State.  Max Hall has already thrown for over 2,000 yards, good for third in the nation.  Harvey Unga is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and has nine rushing touchdowns.  The offense is averaging 35 points per game.  All in all, this team is clicking.  Meanwhile, TCU has struggled, especially on the road.  They’ve won their three road games by a combined 23 points against teams that are a combined 10-9.  The offense finally woke up last week in the drubbing of Colorado State, but what they will be able to do against a good team remains to be seen.  Last year TCU knocked BYU out of the BCS picture with a 32-7 win in Fort Worth.  BYU will return the favor this year.

(9) LSU 32, Auburn 25

(22) West Virginia 38, Connecticut 21

(20) Pittsburgh 40, South Florida 20

(13) Penn State 24, Michigan 23

(16) BYU 28, (10) TCU 21

UPSET SPECIAL:  Tennessee 27, (1) Alabama 24

Last week:  3-3
Overall:  26-16
Upsets:  5-2


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10 college football games I’d love to see

14 10 2009

The nonconference season is over except for a few games sprinkled in here and there.  Here are 10 games I would have loved to have seen in 2009 but didn’t.

10 - Iowa State vs Auburn because if Gene Chizik loses to his former team, Auburn will fire him, then interview Tony Dungy, Barack Obama and Albert Pujols before eventually hiring Rush Limbaugh.

9 – Washington State vs Colorado because I want to know who is the worst team among the BCS conference teams.  Too bad they both have a win already.

8 – Duke vs Idaho because both teams have better records than Florida State, Colorado, Louisville and Illinois.  Which game would draw a bigger crowd – this game at Idaho’s Kibbie Dome or a Duke basketball game at Cameron Indoor?

7 - Texas vs Mississippi because Jevan Snead could finally show Texas that they made a mistake by not playing him.  Just like he showed South Carolina.  And Alabama.  Now Texas is stuck with this McCoy guy, who by the end of the year will have more FBS wins than anyone.

6 - Florida vs St. Louis Rams because everyone knows it would be funny seeing Florida win.  It’s fair to put the Rams in this category right?  They certainly aren’t “pros.”

5 - Alabama vs Houston because no one will care that Alabama wins by 50.  Case Keenum vs the #1 defense in the nation is all that matters here.  Of course, he could throw for almost 600 yards and five touchdowns, and still lose the game (see UTEP).

4 - Nebraska vs LSU because the defenses may outscore the offenses.  And because Bo Pelini would probably get a warm welcome in his return to Death Valley, right?  All kidding aside, this would actually be a very good game.

3 – Texas vs Penn State because neither team plays anyone better than my middle school team out of conference.  And because it would be a joy watching these two coaches go easy on each other.  Neither knows how the BCS system works – a.k.a neither coach knows how to run up the score.

2 – TCU vs anyone in the top 25 because three point wins over dismal ACC schools won’t help your BCS cause.  Neither will three point wins over Mountain West schools, although that conference may carry more merit than the ACC.

1 – Boise State vs anyone in the top 10 because after the Broncos flee flicker four times, do football’s hidden ball trick and not have any players get punched after the game, the nation will know that this team deserves its title shot.


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SEC/Big 12 football challenge

23 09 2009

My friend Kyle came up with what I think is a genius idea, though I’m sure it’s been talked about before.  College basketball has the ACC/Big 10 challenge and the Big 12/Pac 10 hardwood series.  Why can’t college football do that?  Kyle wants it to happen, and came up with a way that in can happen – all in one Saturday.  The SEC would play the Big 12, the Big 10 takes on the Pac 10, the Big East tangles with the ACC, and even the smaller conferences get in on the action.  Check out what he says…

I wanted to find out how conferences in major college football matched up with one another.  Big 12 vs. SEC, Big Ten vs. Pac 10, ACC vs. Big East, C-USA vs. MAC, MWC vs. WAC, Sun Belt vs. everyone else…top to bottom.  Basically, the best team from one conference plays the best team from another conference all the way to the worst playing the worst to see which conference gains bragging rights.  I alternated East vs. West, North vs. South and Coastal vs. Atlantic where needed so it wasn’t unfair to one particular division.

This project was much harder than I originally anticipated.  I think I worked on it for three hours, but it was very fun.  It would appear that all of the conference match ups were fair as, according to my predictions, no conference beat another conference by more than two games.  I need more of the season to occur to make some of these calls.  Some of these teams are undefeated with two FCS opponents while some of them are 0-2 against Division 1 Powers.  I randomized which teams got home games and which teams got road games.  Then I realized it wouldn’t be fair (you probably won’t play the same team next year so you may have two or three straight years with this day as a road game).  Some of these games were ridiculously close to call.  Penn St. over USC was tough because Penn St. has played no one, and you know Pete Carroll would have the Trojans ready at Penn St. Ohio St. going across the country to Oregon was tough too because both teams are worse than originally anticipated (I know OSU played well against USC, but a four point home win against Navy?)  In some of those games, I went with the home team by default.  If you have problems with any of my picks, I have reasoning behind all of them and I’d love to hear your opinion.  This format did produce some very intriguing games.

The teams without an opponent will inevitably play each other.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to set up the annual event of Navy losing to Notre Dame (except for 2007).  Everyone else gets a Sun Belt team.  Fun Stuff.

Both Kyle and I made our picks for every game, and we listed them below.  Here are a few points to remember:

- There is no room for subjectivity here.  All of these games are determined strictly by 2008 season results using the formula 1v1, 2v2, ect., and our picks are based on the 2009 season’s teams.

- You will notice that, for example, in the SEC/Big 12 series, the #1 Big 12 South team played the #1 SEC East team.  That means the #2 Big 12 South team plays the #2 SEC West team.  This way it’s not just divisions playing divisions.  That means next year the #1 Big 12 South team plays the #1 SEC West team and alternates from there.

- Home field is determined randomly, then alternates after that.  For example, in the SEC/Big 12 series, the SEC East #1 team (Florida) got the home draw, meaning the SEC East teams #3 and #5 also get home, while #2, #4 and #6 are away.  In the West, #2, #4 and #6 are home.

- This whole weekend would have to take place sometime in September as to not interrupt the conference season.

And now on to the games and picks!

SEC vs Big 12

Oklahoma at Florida
Kyle:  Florida
Jaryd:  Florida

Alabama at Missouri
Kyle:  Alabama
Jaryd:  Alabama

Texas at Mississippi
Kyle:  Texas
Jaryd:  Texas

Georgia at Nebraska
Kyle:  Nebraska
Jaryd:  Nebraska

Texas Tech at South Carolina
Kyle:  Texas Tech
Jaryd:  South Carolina

LSU at Kansas
Kyle:  LSU
Jaryd:  Kansas

Oklahoma State at Arkansas
Kyle:  Oklahoma State
Jaryd:  Oklahoma State

Vanderbilt at Colorado
Kyle:  Vanderbilt
Jaryd:  Vanderbilt

Baylor at Tennessee
Kyle:  Tennessee
Jaryd:  Tennessee

Auburn at Kansas State
Kyle:  Auburn
Jaryd:  Auburn

Texas A&M at Mississippi State
Kyle:  Texas A&M
Jaryd:  Texas A&M

Kentucky at Iowa State
Kyle:  Kentucky
Jaryd:  Kentucky

Results…
Kyle:  SEC wins 7-5
Jaryd:  SEC wins 7-5

Big Ten vs Pac 10

USC at Penn State
Kyle:  Penn State
Jaryd  Penn State

Ohio State at Oregon
Kyle:  Ohio State
Jaryd:  Ohio State

Oregon State at Michigan State
Kyle:  Oregon State
Jaryd:  Michigan State

Iowa at California
Kyle:  California
Jaryd:  California

Arizona at Northwestern
Kyle:  Arizona
Jaryd:  Arizona

Minnesota at Arizona State
Kyle:  Arizona State
Jaryd:  Minnesota

Stanford at Wisconsin
Kyle:  Wisconsin
Jaryd:  Wisconsin

Illinois at UCLA
Kyle:  UCLA
Jaryd:  UCLA

Washington State at Purdue
Kyle:  Purdue
Jaryd:  Purdue

Michigan at Washington
Kyle:  Washington
Jaryd:  Michigan

Results…
Kyle:  Pac 10 wins 6-4
Jaryd:  Big Ten wins 7-3

Big East vs ACC

Cincinnati at Virginia Tech
Kyle:  Virginia Tech
Jaryd:  Cincinnati

Florida State at Pittsburgh
Kyle:  Florida State
Jaryd:  Pittsburgh

West Virginia at Georgia Tech
Kyle:  West Virginia
Jaryd:  Georgia Tech

Boston College at Rutgers
Kyle:  Rutgers
Jaryd:  Rutgers

Connecticut at North Carolina
Kyle:  North Carolina
Jaryd:  North Carolina

Maryland at South Florida
Kyle:  South Florida
Jaryd:  South Florida

Louisville at Miami
Kyle:  Miami
Jaryd:  Miami

Wake Forest at Syracuse
Kyle:  Wake Forest
Jaryd:  Wake Forest

Results…
Kyle:  ACC wins 5-3
Jaryd:  Tied 4-4

Conference USA vs MAC

Ball State at Tulsa
Kyle:  Tulsa
Jaryd:  Tulsa

East Carolina at Buffalo
Kyle:  East Carolina
Jaryd:  East Carolina

Bowling Green at Rice
Kyle:  Bowling Green
Jaryd:  Rice

Southern Mississippi at Western Michigan
Kyle:  Western Michigan
Jaryd:  Western Michigan

Central Michigan at Houston
Kyle:  Houston
Jaryd:  Houston

Memphis at Temple
Kyle:  Memphis
Jaryd:  Memphis

Akron at UT-El Paso
Kyle:  UT-El Paso
Jaryd:  UT-El Paso

Marshall at Northern Illinois
Kyle:  Northern Illinois
Jaryd:  Northern Illinois

Eastern Michigan at Tulane
Kyle:  Tulane
Jaryd:  Tulane

UAB at Kent State
Kyle:  UAB
Jaryd:  UAB

Southern Methodist at Ohio
Kyle:  Ohio
Jaryd:  Ohio

Central Florida at Toledo
Kyle:  Toledo
Jaryd:  Toledo

Results…
Kyle:  Conference USA wins 7-5
Jaryd:  Conference USA wins 8-4

Mountain West vs WAC

Utah at Boise State
Kyle:  Boise State
Jaryd:  Boise State

Louisiana Tech at TCU
Kyle:  TCU
Jaryd:  TCU

BYU at Nevada
Kyle:  BYU
Jaryd:  BYU

Hawaii at Air Force
Kyle:  Air Force
Jaryd:  Air Force

Colorado State at Fresno State
Kyle:  Fresno State
Jaryd:  Fresno State

San Jose State at UNLV
Kyle:  UNLV
Jaryd:  UNLV

New Mexico at Utah State
Kyle:  Utah State
Jaryd:  Utah State

New Mexico State at Wyoming
Kyle:  Wyoming
Jaryd:  Wyoming

San Diego State at Idaho
Kyle:  Idaho
Jaryd:  Idaho

Results…
Kyle:  Mountain West wins 5-4
Jaryd:  Mountain West wins 5-4

Sun Belt, Independence and Leftovers

Navy at Notre Dame
Kyle:  Notre Dame
Jaryd:  Notre Dame

Troy at Indiana
Kyle:  Indiana
Jaryd:  Troy

Louisiana-Lafayette at Clemson
Kyle:  Clemson
Jaryd:  Clemson

Florida Atlantic at N.C. State
Kyle:  N.C. State
Jaryd:  N.C. State

Arkansas State at Virginia
Kyle:  Arkansas State
Jaryd:  Arkansas State

Florida International at Duke
Kyle:  Florida International
Jaryd:  Duke

Middle Tennessee State at Miami-Ohio
Kyle:  Middle Tennessee State
Jaryd:  Miami-Ohio

Louisiana-Monroe at Army
Kyle:  Army
Jaryd:  Army

Western Kentucky at North Texas
Kyle:  North Texas
Jaryd:  North Texas

Now what a weekend that would be!


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Categories : Sports

Dear Pete Carroll, stay quiet in January

20 09 2009

Dear Pete Carroll,

When does this stop becoming shocking and start becoming comical?  No, I’m not talking about Brett Favre unretiring or another celebrity dying.  I’m talking about your team’s early season success (or lack thereof) against Pac 10 opponents.

Your all-mighty Trojans bit the dust before the month of November for the fourth straight season, this time losing 16-13 at Washington, a team that won exactly zero games last season.  Last year your meltdown came in Corvallis against Oregon State.  Two years ago Stanford won when they were 40 point underdogs.  And three years ago your inexcusable loss again came in Corvallis.  To make matters worse that year, your team still had an inside track to the national championship but dropped the final game of the season to inferior rival UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

In each of these seasons, it seems that people have forgotten about these letdowns by January and are set to rank you number one or two in the post-championship poll.  Meanwhile, you always seem to be complaining about why they have to be left out and get the Rose Bowl instead.

But please Pete, don’t complain this year.  Yes, you’ll probably win the rest of your games and go 11-1 again.  By I must say that any other one-loss team out there deserves to play in the national championship game more than you.  After all, you just got beat by Washington.

And before you write back to say that Aaron Corp was filling in for Matt Barkley, let me remind you that your “stout, NFL-style” defense let Washington pass all over you on that final drive.  They could have scored a touchdown if they wanted to, but a win is a win.  And for you, a loss is a loss.  And because you’ve choked again, you will not get a chance to play for a national championship.

Penn State loves you.  Texas loves you.  One of them will now get their shot at Florida when it should have been you.  I can already see you complaining about an unfair BCS system come January, when your one loss team is playing in the Rose Bowl while another one loss team is playing Florida.  Just remember this game before you do any griping.  Remember that your defense allowed 237 passing yards.  Remember that they allowed Washington to hold the ball for the final 3:58, yielding 63 yards in 10 plays.  Remember that you scored your only touchdown fewer than three minutes into the game, then never saw the endzone again.

And Pete, if you don’t want another reason to be peeved, you better root for Penn State not to make it to the title game.  Because with the new rules, if a Big 10 or Pac 10 team goes to the national championship game, the Rose Bowl is obligated to replace them with a non-BCS school if it qualifies.  So your high-profile team could end up facing those feisty Broncos from Boise.  And you don’t want that.  Not because you won’t win.  You’ll win.  But because playing a school like that does nothing for your recruiting, nothing for viewership and nothing for revenue.

Just look at it this way – it can’t get any worse.  If you lose to Washington State next weekend, at least you can say you lost to a team that went 1-11 last year.


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No love for KU in first coaches poll

9 08 2009

The debate about whether or not the coaches poll should help determine BCS rankings was heightened last season when Oklahoma won the Big 12 South three way tiebreaker by one hundredth of a percentage point over Texas.  The first 2009 coaches poll was released Friday, and there are sure to be a few schools with Texas-like feelings of snubbery.

I’ll start by lobbying for Kansas, a team that should be in at least the top 20 if not the top 15. Quarterback Todd Reesing, KU’s all time passing leader, is back with the usual suspects.  Dezmon Briscoe was fourth in the nation last season in receiving yards, and set school records for receiving yards and touchdowns.  And Kerry Meier shattered the school record for receptions, including 14 against rival Missouri.  All in all they have 17 returning starters, the Nebraska game at home, and only two other tough ones (Texas and Oklahoma).  This team could finish 10-2, but they’ll have to (and will) prove the coaches wrong as they did two years ago.  They currently are not ranked.

Florida got all but six first place votes to start the season #1.  Texas is #2, edging #3 Oklahoma by fewer than 30 points.  With Oklahoma having to retool its offensive line, I agree with giving Texas a slight edge.  Let’s also not forget the fact that Texas beat OU last season, although it seems like the Longhorns are the ones out for revenge come Oct. 17.

A lot of eyes are on Jevan Snead of Ole Miss, who will start with his team in the top 10.  That Cotton Bowl victory must have gone a long way for these coaches, because I don’t think the Rebels are that good.  The scheduling gods did shine light on them though.  They avoid Florida, Georgia and Kentucky in the SEC East.

An opening day showdown between #13 Georgia and #11 Oklahoma State is exactly what the coaches will need to see to believe that the Cowboys are underranked and the Bulldogs are overranked.  Oklahoma State should win going away.

Somehow Florida State always seems to find its way into the preseason top 25, and for much of this decade, they’re out of it by midseason.  This year should be no exception.  The spotlight is on the cheating scandal and Bowden’s wins, but it should be on FSU’s schedule.  Conference road games include Boston College, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Clemson, and the nonconference schedule includes road trips to BYU and Florida.

The jury is still out on Butch Davis’ Tar Heels.  They start the season #20, but I thought last year was supposed to be the year.  Same goes for Iowa at #21.  The defense will be good, but there’s no Shonn Green this year.  The Hawkeyes, like FSU, may be doomed by the road schedule.  They go to Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

My complaining ended when I saw Notre Dame ranked.  Yep, I’ll leave it to you.

Overall a pretty fair first assessment by the coaches.


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