One failed game

I had noted earlier to another blogger that if the BYU Cougs came to play they could take this game. They were one of the Jekyll and Hyde teams I saw play this year. Well, they came to play. Add that to the fact that the Beavers seem pretty deflated by the second half and you had the recipe for a pretty disappointing game as far as competition. I am sure there are a million Mormons who loved it though.

Oregon State 35, BYU 24

EOM

Southern Miss

I will take Southern over Middle Tenn, 35-24.
Today, it was a most delightful day in the NFL. It would have been stupendous had Chicago beat the Ravens and put the playoff picture in complete disarray, but as it is, it is pretty scary for a lot of teams. My sentimental favorite is Tennessee, which started off the season by losing six games and now stands a chance of making the playoffs at 7-7. Why? Because Miami, NYJ, Pitt, and Jacksonville are all at 7-7 also. With the Ravens at 8-6, they are in great shape, however, they do have to play the Steelers. The Broncos have limped to an 8-6 record and may not make it to ten wins, at that rate it will depend on the tie breaking rules.
Over in the NFC, it is all but decided. Only the Giants, Cowboys and Falcons have a chance at that last spot, with the Cowboys in the driver's seat. With that said, they have a tough schedule still left, ending their season against the Eagles.

It was a good game

Fresno blew their chance to give me the correct winning total of 35 by not making a goal line TD, but my hat goes off the Wyoming who hung in there and pulled off a double OT win.

tough call, going with Rutgers

Although the Scarlet Knights have a much much better rushing defense, I don't see that as being that critical to Rutgers, since they aren't a ground and pound offense. 21-20 Rutgers.

Fresno

Fresno over Wyoming 35-17

Call me the boss!

Not that it was a surprise, but as I said would happen, Ingram won the Heisman. Call it an East Coast bias, or the fact that Stanford didn't get the primetime they needed, but I just don't see how a running back with lesser stats could win, be damned that they were a title contending team. Stanford was a team that with a better O line might have garnered their star running back two thousand yards, not to mention, week in and week out, he played Pac 10 schools, that in and of itself speaks volumes for Gerhart.

Early predictions

Based upon some early predictions, this is who I have winning, however, I will be reviewing these this week and I may have some changes. (Need to get thorough with my statistics)
Minn
USF
Fresno
Bowling Green
UCLA
Texas Tech
UCF
Nevada
So Miss
U So. Car.
Georgia
Clemson
NW/Auburn tossup
Mizzu/Navy tossup
USC
Houston
Miami/Wisc tossup
ECU/Ark tossup
CMU
Ole Miss/Ok St. tossup
VTU
Cal
Pitt
Ore St.
GT
Arizona
Stanford
Penn St.
Cincy
WVU
Oregon
Texas

The unexpected in the NFL, that wasn't that unexpected, and the BOWLS

Well, today some would have said that the NFL had some unexpected wins and losses. Lets start with New England losing to the Dolphins. Although this game should have gone to the Patriots who had early success, the truth is, they haven't been that impressive since their stunning loss to the Colts, and if you take that into account, then the near loss of the Saints to the Redskins shouldn't be that surprising, although, I will say that although I had this a close game, I thought it would be a close game with a low score, because the one thing that the Redskins have proven this year, is that they can play defense. The Oakland Raiders, or as I like to call them, the Dr. Jekylls beating the Steelers shouldn't be a huge surprise, they did after all beat the North leading Bengals two weeks ago. The only other games that had any intrigue at all (minus the one playing at this minute Minn/Ari) were the Cowboys/Giants, of which I have said all along that neither is that good, and the 49ers/Shehawks of which I know neither one of them is any good. The Cowboys may now be in position to appear to have a huge collapse, although if you look at their schedule if they do have a breakdown and miss the playoffs, it will be because that is a tough schedule they have left. However, with all three of those teams in that division vying for a spot, I still think the Cowboys make the playoffs, especially since only the Packers are a playoff team left in the NFC wildcard race, with Atlanta losing today.

The Bowls are out and nothing is really that surprising, although the TCU/BOISE game may be the most interesting game in the whole series. Florida staying in the BCS after that embarassing loss is absurd, but oh well, who else are you going to let have it?
I will make a prediction right here. I am going to be IRATE when Ingram wins the Heisman. He is the leading candidate of runningbacks, but how can you give it to him when he pales in comparison to Gerhart? Just watch, because of Alabama beating Florida, Tebow won't win, and because McCoy stunk, he will be out as well. Ingram just backed his way in.

One more note

Colt McCoy, if there was a close vote, didn't help himself at all. Nebraska's D pummeled him all day and his performance was second rate at best. In their final games, only Gerhart had an A+ game.

College football lost my respect.

Through the entirety of this football season, I had to watch the SEC officials make one call after another to assure that the RIGHT team would make it to the championship game and that no matter who one, they would have one of the national title contenders. Yesterday, I watched the BIG 12 do the same thing for Texas. Nebraska scored the go ahead field goal (after a suspect no call against Texas, which would have given Nebraska a first down), and then kicked off to Texas. Immediately, the officials tack on an extra 15 yards on a VERY suspect call. They gave Texas the opportunity to march close enough to kick a 40 yarder and win the game. I am not sure I can accept college football as legitimate anymore. Why not just tell us who is going to win the National title at the beginning of the year so we don't have to ACT surprised.

Today was A DAY!

We knew one of two things had to happen, either Florida was going on to the national championship or Alabama was. The game remained close through the half, but there were two very discouraging signs for Florida, one being Alabama's 3rd down conversion rate, and the other was time of possession. Both were pretty incredible stats for Alabama. Throw in the fact that Florida couldn't stop Alabama's run, and it wasn't because Ingram was great, but rather Alabama's O line dominated Florida's D line, and you have the recipe of what was cooked today, Florida's goose. Tebow and Ingram did nothing to help nor hurt their Heisman chances and I have to believe that whomever gets the coveted trophy, it was probably already decided before this game, however, the Nebraska/Texas game could have a bearing on that award.
Likewise, I really thought if Nebraska beat Texas, Cincy would leap over TCU for the National title, but afterSURVIVING Pittsburg, I am not so sure of that anymore.
USC proved what I have said all along, the Pac 10 is the toughest league in the nation. Seven of the ten teams will go on to bowls and I am pretty sure that most, maybe all will win their respective games. (However, I really think UCLA will lose.)

The Civil War was entertaining.

Although the Oregon Ducks won the game, it was a much more difficult task than last years rout. Out of the nationally televised game, the biggest star wound up being Oregon State's James Rodgers. I believe he will have a prosperous pro career ala Duper and Clayton of the Dolphins many years ago, small but resourceful wide receivers. I held off on a prediction because I really thought this could go either way, and but for a lapse of offense in the fourth quarter, this could very well have been Oregon State's time to go to the Rose Bowl. But alas, it was not and Oregon, the team that I said at the beginning of the year was the best team in the Pac 10, is going to the grandaddy of them all. (However, the team playing the best at the end of the year is Stanford.)
College Basketball: So what have we learned this early in the season? First, the pac 10 isn't very good. Second, the Big 10 is, evidence being the ACC/Big 10 challenge won for the first time by the Big 10. I still can't tell you how good Kansas is, they haven't played anyone. They just added Alcorn State to their list of unimpressive victories. Their opponents have gone a combined 16-28, with all but 7 of those victories against EACH OTHER. It appears that Kansas is playing a pre league season with a bunch of JUCO schools. Kansas may be a good team, but we just don't know yet.
Texas has played a better schedule so far, but none of their opponents have been the cream of the crop in their respective big boy conferences, (Pitt, USC, Iowa, Rice.) But at least they are playing schools with more than 10,000 students.
Villanova is the third ranked them and they have played two quality teams, again so early to really know how good these teams are. Really, what we see is that the Big 10 and the ACC, which are absent from the top of the rankings, are the only teams that have played anyone and that is because they played each other. Look for those two divisions to dominate the rankings come late in the season.
Pro Basketball: Consistency is something I like in sports. It allows me to better follow the progression and to really speculate on what impact players have. Take the World Champion Lakers, are they going to be as good with Ron Artest? Clearly he is better than Trevor, the man he replaced, but is he a cancer? Will his arrival doom the Lakers? Will the arrival of Shaq in Cleveland be the inside presence that Lebron needs to win a championship? Will AI be a one man wrecking crew for Philly? Can a team like Denver that stayed pat with their roster be the best in the west? Finally, the most visible change was the Orlando Magic. They added Sgt. Carter. Is that the best team in basketball?
I disagree with one of my avid responders, College Football doesn't rock my boat like Pro Football. I love the pro set, I love the schemes they run, I enjoy the progression of the learning curve I get every time I watch a coach coach the same guys over and over. More than that, I LOVE STATISTICS I can sink my teeth into. With that said, I used to love college football much more than pro, but I tired of the lack of playoffs. It is tiring watching the same schools work their way into the national championship, undeserving and unfairly there. If college football keeps it up, it will be a recreational sport, watched while drinking beer at Islands.
I watched MMA last night, oooh how I wish I had been 25 years younger. It would have been a sport I would have participated in after college wrestling. It makes boxing borish.
How I can't wait for the baseball season to begin.