Bleacher Report - Articles by Ryan Stubbs

Arizona or Pittsburgh: Whom to Cheer For When You Really Don't Care

Ryan Stubbs — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:11:07 -0500

If you’re like me and aren’t one of the millions of Steelers fans or one of the tens of Cardinals fans, this Sunday is merely a ritual we all partake in as Americans: the Super Bowl Party.

Much in the same way St. Patrick’s Day, Fat Tuesday, and Cinco de Mayo are celebrated by countless non-ethnically aligned people, the Super Bowl is watched by everyone whether they like the teams or even if they didn’t know the Cardinals moved from St. Louis over 20 years ago.

So let me help you pick whom to cheer for this weekend by giving you a few ways to choose between the Steel Curtain and…and…OK, we don’t really have a clever alternate nickname for the Cardinals.

1.) College fandom

If you are a die-hard college football fan and your NFL team didn’t make the big game this season, why not revert to college allegiances?

Of course if your college team (Ohio State) was responsible for the same guy who just admitted to selling drugs as a kid and has a history of domestic violence charges and legal issues since leaving the school (Santonio Holmes), you may want to reconsider.

Likewise, if a player on one of the teams played for your alma mater’s arch nemesis (see Brady, Tom), well then, you’ve found whom to cheer against.

2.) Sworn Enemies

Going back to my conference superiority debate article, I will not spend the entirety of the NFL season cheering against my archrival and then turn around to cheer for them in the Super Bowl. I hate the Steelers 24/7, 365, and the same goes for Michigan and Duke.

Now if in fact both participating teams are sworn enemies, I say a good movie marathon would be a good replacement for the Super Bowl this season. Cheering against both teams has been proved to be difficult if not impossible, and trust me, I’ve tried (witness the Celtics/Lakers series and any Red Sox/Yankees LCS).

3.) The Friend’s Team

One of my steadfast rules of sports fandom is that if I can’t be happy, nobody can be happy. By that I mean if my team isn’t playing for the grand prize of the sports world, I don’t want my friends or those I’m close to to be happy either. Call me a jerk (or other bad names unprintable here), tell me I’m selfish, say I get a deranged sense of joy out of this; It’s OK. It’s true.

I’ll live with that over listening to my friends who are Steelers fans say, “Hey, dude, we got one for the other hand.” Yeah, well I just wiped my ass with your yellow towel. We’re even.

4.) The Media Darling (aka the Feel-Good Story)

Without fail every year the Super Bowl gives us new commercials, a four-and-a-half-hour-long game and a full week of coverage of one player who has become the media darling. In this year’s case it’s the QB of the Cardinals Matt Leinart…I mean Kurt Warner.

Past media darlings have included Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Brett Favre, John Elway, not Eugene Robinson, Tom Brady, Joe Jurevicius, Tom Brady, and Tom Brady.

So if you enjoy those sensationalized, feel-good stories, cheer for Kurt Warner. If you like to see the hopes and dreams of millions of little children crushed…well…I’ll let you answer that one.

(Tangent: So I was discussing with a buddy that if Tim Tebow was the QB for the Steelers and he was facing Warner, whom would God cheer for? I think that after a long week of both QBs wandering through Tampa’s entertaining Ybor City cleansing strip clubs and bars, followed by their miracle healing of all the sick children at the local hospital, God would have a hard time deciding. We might find him right before kickoff hiding in his closet curled up in the fetal position, sobbing “Don’t make me choose! Please, please I beg you to not make me choose between my sons!”)

5.) Follow the Money

Want to give yourself a vested interest in the game? Gamble…on everything.

Wager the money line on someone.

Wager on who will score first.

Wager on the Over/Under for rushing yards by the backup running backs.

Wager on the O/U for points in the first and third quarters.

Wager on the O/U for how long the Star-Spangled Banner will take (hint, take the over).

And no matter what you’ve heard, the coin does not land heads more often than tails or vice versa due to weight distribution. So wager on the coin toss, too.

Why not turn the Super Bowl into a true, money-making affair? That’s what a real American would do.

6.) Two Words: Larry Fitzgerald

If all athletes could act like Larry Fitzgerald both on and off the field, SportsCenter would run out of court cases to cover and have to get back to actual highlights.

What’s not to love about a guy who is possibly the best wide receiver in the game, doesn’t flaunt or brag about what he does, and doesn’t have a cheesy, poop-eating smile on his face every time he’s on camera (yes, I’m talking about you, Hines)?

I’ve had a running appreciation for the tremendously overlooked weakness that is Ike Taylor for years now. Guess who will be covering Larry Fitzgerald in Super Bowl XLIII? I’m hoping this ends as well as Byron Russell vs. Michael Jordan.

7.) Cheer Against That Guy

So if the six preceding steps didn’t help you decide who would best suit your fan cheering needs, wait until you get to your Super Bowl party.

Arrive shortly before kickoff, giving you ample time to sample the food spread, survey the attendees and of course pick the primo spot to see both the TV and yet hit the bathroom first during a commercial.

During this time you will no doubt figure out who is “that guy.” That guy may be a hardcore fan of one team or the other who is constantly bashing anyone that is cheering for the opposing team, and we haven’t even wrapped up the final pregame show yet.

That guy may be the guy who takes his fourth turn through the food line piling up two plates at a time, but it’s OK because he brought a two-liter.

That guy may be the guy who, even 30 minutes before kickoff, is highly intoxicated and therefore annoying everyone with comments like, “Dude, Mean Joe Greene was a good defender, but James Harrison is the greatest ever!”

Find that guy. Find that guy and channel every ounce of karma you can into cheering against him. More likely than not he’ll be a Steelers fan because, let’s face it, Steelers fans are annoying drunks. Unfortunately for him Tim Tebow isn’t quarterbacking the Steelers. God has a vested interest in this game, and now you do, too.

The 25 Changes I'd Make as the Attorney General of Sports

Ryan Stubbs — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:53:21 -0500

Goodbye college football...we'll see ya in a few months.

I like originality in writing, so I'm going to apologize from the start for what you're about to read. I stole this idea. Just letting you know upfront. Bill Simmons from ESPN.com did his own list of "if I were in charge of making all of sports better, this is what I'd do" and called himself the Sports Czar (Tsar if you like).

Well, I liked the idea, so I came up with my own list as "Sports' Attorney General." I don't believe in Communist titles.

I'm ripping him off and announcing my platform before he elaborates on his, my apologies, but I'm not going verbatim off what he had. I have a list of my own changes I'd like to make; some of them obvious, some of them merely nuances that irritate me.

I'm interested to see what other people would change as well, so feel free to elaborate in the comments section below. And yes, I'm avoiding the basic "change the BCS," "start playoff games earlier," "salary cap for baseball," and "Erin Andrews does her sideline reporting in a bikini and/or topless" comments because I think we all can agree on those.

My 25 Sports' Attorney General Changes

1) Tim McCarver—Gone

Much in the same way I never have understood who listens to Nickelback, I don't get why Tim McCarver gets the penultimate baseball gig every postseason.

No one claims to like Nickelback, and no one claims to enjoy listening to McCarver. Yet, each October we get McCarver telling us that a lead off home run usually leads to more runs than a lead off walk.

2) Universal Fantasy Football Rules

We've all had the same conversation with a friend or co-worker in which, in the midst of trying to explain your last fantasy football point explosion, you realize it means nothing to the person you're telling it to.

Your three quarterback, one running back, 17 points-per-reception league is completely different than his one quarterback, three tight end, two kicker league in which you get negative points for a team losing the coin toss.

Fantasy sports is just a sports version of WoW anyway, but at least they know what achieving the rank of paladin means.

Stop with the stupidity.

Fantasy baseball shouldn't include a WHIP, OBP, OBS, CS, WP, Balk, or anything else requiring more than pre-algebra to solve.

Fantasy football needs a universal setting of one quarterback, one running back, two wide receivers, one flex running back/wide receiver, one tight end, one defense/special teams spot, and one kicker.

That's it.

Until we all agree on fantasy sports rules, you'll continue getting glassy-eyed looks from co-workers everywhere.

3) The NHL Cuts Six Teams, MLB and NBA Cut Two Teams, and the NFL Moves a Team to the Second-Largest City in the Country

The NHL is easy: Bye-bye Columbus, Florida, Nashville, Atlanta, Carolina, and LA.

MLB is a little rougher, but I'm going to go with Florida and Toronto (goodbye "O, Canada").

The NBA contracts Charlotte and is banned from that experiment for 1,000 years, along with Memphis.

The NFL relocates Jacksonville to Los Angeles, and no one outside Northern Florida notices.

Furthermore, the city of Atlanta is put on notice that since it has the ninth-largest metropolitan population in the United States, it needs to support its teams as such.

They have four years to move their teams into the top half of average attendance in each league, or their teams will be the first to be relocated.

This is based on the fact that the Falcons (29th of 32), Braves (19th of 30), Hawks (20th of 30), and Thrashers (30th of 30) all rank in the bottom half of attendance respectively.

You've been warned (that's me channeling my inner Colbert).

4) Gambling Is no Longer a Dirty Word in Sports

Gambling is illegal in every state outside of America's Playground of Las Vegas, and yet open up your daily newspaper from Portland to St. Pete, and you'll get the daily lines in the sports section.

When was the last time you heard of someone being prosecuted for using online gambling websites like Bodog or Covers, even if they aren't from Nevada?

I'm not promoting the nationwide legalization of sports betting, I'm just saying, you don't see local marijuana prices everyday in the business section.

5) The Heisman Trophy Rewords its Definition of "Most Outstanding"

The Heisman Trophy website says the award goes to the "most outstanding college football player" each season. Since 1996 "most outstanding" has been synonymous with "best QB on a winning team" nine of 13 times.

The only other four that won it were RBs Ricky Williams (who set the all-time college football rushing record), Ron Dayne (who broke Ricky's record the following season), and Reggie Bush (a freakish return man and running back), to go along with all-purpose player Charles Woodson (who is still the only primarily defensive player to ever win the award).

So unless the Heisman voters start truly voting for the most outstanding player, they should add a clause that states, "unless you do something that has never, ever been done before at your position, we will award this trophy to some QB who led his team to a high ranking while having a historically above-average season."

6) NBA All-Star Weekend Adopts H-O-R-S-E as a Four-Man Game Involving a Rookie, a Superstar, a Former Legend, and a Celebrity.

Imagine Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Charles Barkley, and Jay-Z.

Or O.J. Mayo, LeBron, Bird, and Will Smith.

How about last season, with Kevin Durant, KG, Dr. J, and Billy Crystal?

Or see who would stop talking first between Joakim Noah, Allen Iverson, Reggie Miller, and Spike Lee.

Next year it could be Luke Harangody, Andrew Bogut, Greg Ostertag, and Conan O'Brien for large, white man supremacy.

I could go on for forever.

7) One PGA Tour Event on a Municipal Course

I want to see what Vijay Singh does on my local 495-yard par five with cars driving by, honking their horns. I want to see what Phil Mickelson does when he has to abide by the Municipal Tournament sponsored by Natural Light requirement of a six pack/nine holes rule.

I want to see Tiger Woods fly the green on a 345-yard par four. They either need to break 50 in a round or be plastered by the 15th with their shirts over their heads arguing with fans.

John Daly is host.

8) Congressmen Aren't Allowed to Involve Themselves in Matters of Sports, Unless...

If and when there is a comprehensive immigration bill finalized, there is no ongoing war, the economy is growing a five percent or more rate, unemployment is below three percent, a renewable energy resource has been found, and infrastructure has been built to support it. When people aren't filing for foreclosure like it's a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes, and that whole gambling thing I was talking about is fixed.

Then and only then can a U.S. Congressman state he's looking into the legalities of the BCS system, steroids in baseball, or any other sports topic. Until then, you're a self-serving ass that should have better things to do.

9) Institute a Three Strike Policy in All of Sports for Drug/Steroid/Conduct Violations: First Offense—a Month Suspension; Second Offense—a Year; Third Offense—Banned for Life

Let's say you're a banker, and you consistently show up late for work, argue with co-workers and whatnot, but you're a great banker. Then you get arrested over the weekend for assault and drug possession, and it's in the news.

Do you think you would or wouldn't have a job on Monday morning?

Let's say you sweet talk your boss into it, and he is willing to give you a second chance, and then three months later you're arrested for a DUI and leaving the scene of a crime. What do you think would happen? Would you work for that bank ever again?

10) Stephen A. Smith is...Ahem...Taken Care of...Ahem

Voice box removed, driven to the middle of the desert and left for dead, fired—I don't care. I just know my life would be more complete if I knew I never had to hear his voice ever again.

11) Rick Reilly Is Never Allowed to Write About Beer Pong (Retroactive)

Check his latest article. It's like Bob Costas reporting on the Hawaiian Tropic Bikini competition, or Jim Nantz reporting live from the infield of the Kentucky Derby—just weird.

12) NFL Sunday Ticket is Offered to All Cable Providers, Not Just DirecTV

"These cable operators are denying their consumers fair access to this popular NFL programming or charging them exorbitant monthly fees to view the Network," said Roger Goodell.

He was talking about cable operators not carrying the NFL Network. And yet, Sunday Ticket remains exclusively on DirecTV. I'm choking on irony.

13) The Elimination of the NFL's Touchdown-Timeout-Kickoff-Another Timeout Rule

This gets combined with a rule that no more than two promos for a single show are allowed to air during one sports broadcast, and if advertisers want to have 10 time spots in a three-hour game, they better have more than one commercial.

I have nightmares about The Mentalist going to buy a $5 dollar foot long with "it's just the beginning of a happy go fun day" playing in the background when President Palmer busts through the back door to tell him about Allstate's stand, and all the while the chick from the Prilosec commercials is just dancing behind the counter.

If you didn't get that tangent, then you didn't watch enough football this fall.

14) The NBA Either Rescinds its One Year Removed from High School Rule, or Enacts an NFL-Style Three-Plus Rule That Actually Makes Sense

Because Greg Oden wasn't spending more than one year at Ohio State.

Because O.J. Mayo was full of crap when he said he was contemplating staying for his sophomore year at USC.

Because the NCAA is providing a free minor league system for the NBA but receiving no benefit from returning players/developing rivalries/career record breakers.

Because Ohio State would have Greg Oden, Kosta Koufos, Daequan Cook, and Mike Conley. Because Texas would have Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin. Because the top five draftees from last season would still be at their schools as sophomores.

Because college basketball wouldn't be something people just paid attention to from after the NFL ended until baseball starts.

Because I'm a selfish person and would rather watch better quality college teams over the NBA. There! There's my real reason!

15) Either a Full Adoption of the DH, or Eliminate It

If the AFC played with 12 men on the field while the NFC played with 11, it would be like the MLB.

If the Eastern Conference of the NBA played with six players on the floor and the Western Conference played with five, it would be like the MLB.

Personally, and I'm a NL guy here, I'd love to see adoption of the DH in both leagues.

Pitchers batting is a farce nine times out of 10, so a DH would improve quality of play, I believe. Plus, it gives players like Hideki Matsui and Frank Thomas jobs that do not require them to bend over—I'm all about helping the elderly.

16) The Super Bowl Moves to Saturday Night and Employee Productivity for the Monday after a Super Bowl Increases Nine Billion Percent

Of the 97 million people who watched the Super Bowl last year, let's say for this exercise that I'm about to make up that 40 percent of those people drink during the game.

Of those 40 percent, half of them become highly intoxicated. That's nearly 20 million people who have to go to work on Monday hungover and thus, unproductive.

Throw in secretaries reading about the best commercials from the night before (okay, and me) and water-cooler talk about a spectacular helmet catch that crushed Tom Brady's soul, and the Monday after the Super Bowl is, to me, the least productive day of work in the year, edging St. Patrick's Day, the day before Thanksgiving, and Aug. 16 (my birthday—I don't work on my birthday).

Move the Super Bowl to a Saturday night and businesses everywhere benefit, thus lifting us out of a recession and creating millions of jobs.

See, I just solved the economy problem; you're welcome, random Congressman that wants to take on the sports world. There's one less step now.

17) College Football's BCS games are Played in College Stadiums

Further, they also aren't played in cold weather.

Sorry Boise, Toronto, Detroit, and Washington D.C. Since we aren't taking on the whole "the BCS must end" argument, let's just assume we are keeping the Bowl system for now. I don't want to see the Cotton Bowl move out of the Cotton Bowl stadium next season to go the new Texas Stadium.

I loved the atmosphere in 2002 for the Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium. University of Phoenix Stadium was horrific (and I'm specifically talking about the atmosphere, not the debacle on the field). College football, college stadiums: It makes sense.

18) The Stanley Cup Ends Before the Last Snow Has Melted in Montreal

Now don't think I'm out to get just the NHL on this one; the NBA's season is active in nine of 12 months in the year, too. But settling a cold weather sport's champion in the mid-June balm of Carolina isn't exactly what Lord Stanley had in mind.

Cut your playoff teams down to six per conference, at the most and reduce the regular season by 10-15 games.

Actually, just copy and paste that previous sentence and apply it to the NBA while we're at it.

19) If an Owner Maintains a Below .400 Winning Percentage for 10 years or longer, He/She is Forced to Sell the Team

(We'll call this the "Mike Brown Mandate," or in LA, the "Donald Sterling Clause.")

Lost in the Cardinals making the Super Bowl is the fact that one of the worst owners in all of professional sports finally gave up the reins to his team, and this is what happens when competency takes over.

Bill Bidwell held St. Louis hostage for a new stadium, and then moved the team to Arizona when he didn't get one. He then spent the better part of the past two decades whining for a new stadium in Phoenix while maintaining one of the cheapest payrolls in all of the NFL—The cheapest and the worst.

His son took over, and bam, people got things done.

As Sports' Attorney General, I would force any owner that continually runs a team into the ground to pay for his actions. Draft David Klingler, Ki-Jana Carter, Reinard Wilson, Peter Warrick, and Akili Smith all in the top 15 in the span of 10 years, and you deserve to have your ownership revoked.

Make a great investment in players like Michael Olowokandi, Darius Miles, or Chris Kaman, and you lose your ownership as well.

20) Vinny Testaverde Must Remain Retired—Just in Case

In a cultural sense, I'd also like to see the following remain retired with no comebacks, remakes, movie specials, or second go-arounds: The Wonder Years, Courtney Love, Nirvana with a new lead singer, Chevy Chase, Rax, McGyver, anything with Flava Flav, Dane Cook, Olean, ESPN original movies, Wham!, SNL's Jeopardy sketches, Pogs, and Brett Favre.

21) All Big Four Sports Leagues Must Carry All Games in HD

It's not too much to ask, is it?

I've gotten so bad, that I almost refuse to watch anything in non-HD. I don't get Comedy Central HD with my cable provider, and therefore that station has nearly become dead to me in the past four months.

Let's just say I've recently spent more time watching The Food Network than Comedy Central for this one reason.

It really isn't that hard to broadcast in HD these days, is it? It eventually is going to happen anyway, so why are we still waiting for some games?

22) The Elimination of the Sideline Reporter Asking a Coach Questions at Halftime

Have we ever had a truly profound question answered during one of these awkward things? A

ll the coach wants to do is get his stat sheets and instruct his team, and all the sideline reporter wants is to ask something like, "Coach, No. 43 had 32 points that half, what will you do next half to stop him?" Ummm, guard him maybe?

I just watched one of these interviews at the half of the UK/Tennessee game in which UK coach Billy Gillispie was asked a long, in-depth question by the reporter, to which he responded, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear any of that, the band was playing too loud," and then it had to be repeated. I changed channels.

23) Companies Allow Employees to Take Two-to-Three of Their Sick/Personal Days a Year for Sporting Events

Lying is bad. I don't want to lie to my boss that I'm sick when in actuality I just really like European soccer and want to watch the finals of the UEFA Champions League live and because of time difference it just so happens that occurs mid-afternoon.

Or maybe I want to go to Opening Day? Or what about when the U.S. Open went to a one-round playoff last year? And does any true sports hound really work on the first Thursday or Friday of March Madness?

Allow me to take two or three "sports days," and I'm much happier.

24) An MMA or UFC Fighter Behind Home Plate at Every Baseball Game

Hey D-bag behind home plate on your cell phone waving to your mistress, I'd like you to meet Randy Couture. Would you like to hang up the phone now and stop waving? Thanks.

And finally...

25) Bud Selig is fired as Commissioner of Baseball

So let's go back to the beginning and state that I do not know anyone who likes Nickelback, Tim McCarver, or Bud Selig. Baseball has gone from "America's Pastime" to "America's time spent in the summer waiting for football to start again."

If anyone thinks Bud Selig's positives have outweighed his negatives in the past 16 years, you probably also enjoy a good Vin Diesel movie, think Milwaukee's Best is delicious, and have Nickelback's newest CD on your iPod.

In other words, you suck. Just like Bud Selig.

College Football ADD: Fiesta Bowl Rant

Ryan Stubbs — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:11:29 -0500

Ohio State fans are heartbroken this morning, but for me, my heart breaks for Ohio State's seniors.

Seems eerily familiar to those playing their last game in the Scarlet and Gray—national spotlight, big-time opponent named Texas, epic battle, epic loss.

Move over Ryan Hamby—Anderson Russell will now be crowned "goat of the Texas game."

Ryan Hamby's dropped TD pass in the 2005 matchup of Ohio State and Texas (accusingly) cost OSU the game, and Anderson Russell's whiff on Quan Crosby did the same.

Doesn't matter that a 4th-and-3 play on the final drive should have been stopped. Or that Thaddeus Gibson shouldn't have tried to Mike Tyson Colt McCoy's head twice earlier in the game. Or that you can't tell me our defense as a whole couldn't have adjusted to stop the incessant three-step drop quick slants and stop routes.

Seriously, I'm going to have nightmares about three-step drops now. Just off the top of my head, I only remember one pass that was completed more than 15 yards downfield, a fly route to running back Ogbonnaya.

Yes, there were many completions of 15+ yards, but they were of the catch and run variety. Still deadly in the end, but it didn't allow Texas to get the big play they've killed teams on all season.

But I digress. Here are my quick hits on last night's game.

Random Thoughts

- For a season that started with as much hope and promise as any before it for Ohio State, it ended much the same way it started for this senior class: a last second loss to Texas. 28 returning seniors, eight of which started on the nation's top defense from last season, all walked out of University of Phoenix stadium last night with their bowl hopes defeated again. Let me be the one to stand up for them.

The 2005 edition of this matchup was the first big game witnessed by true freshmen James Laurinaitis, Donald Washington, Alex Boone, Brian Hartline, Brian Robiskie, and on down the line. Throw in redshirts Marcus Freeman, Todd Boeckman, Rory Nicol, Nader Abdallah, and others, and you have the majority of Ohio State's team from this season.

- Those seniors were able to compile a four-year record of 43-8 that ranks third in winning percentage in the history of Ohio State and ties for the most wins in a four-year span ever. The other two eras they rank with:

1995-1998: 43-7 (.860)
1972-1975: 40-5-1 (.870)

The laundry list of Ohio State greats on those teams reads like a who's who of Buckeye history. This group deserves to be held in the same regard.

A three-time award winner and All-American in Laurinaitis. A Thorpe Award winner in Malcolm Jenkins. All-Big Ten performers in Freeman, Robiskie, Boone, Russell, and Coleman. Throw into that the stiff-armed back who likely played his final game in Beanie Wells, and this group is as decorated as any before it and will challenge any after it.

- Team accomplishments for these seniors:

Four consecutive BCS bowl berths.
Back-to-back National Championship berths.
Four straight Big Ten Championships or Co-Championships.
A top 15 National ranking for four straight seasons (this season will be their lowest finish of the four, but no doubt still in the top 15).
A defense that ranked in the top 15 statistically each of the past four years, including two that finished top three.

- Ohio State fans: You lie to yourself when you say you'd be happier with a Capital One Bowl victory. And whether the Big Ten is down or not, four straight championships is a first in school history.

- To those calling for Tressel's or one of the coordinator's heads: Don't forget there's a coach on the other sideline paid just as much and with just as much talent on his team to beat Ohio State. Were there some questionable decisions made by the coaches? Yes indeed. Did Texas do the same? Yes indeed.

- Colt McCoy needs less than two seconds to complete a pass. If OSU was blitzing, it seems he found the hole every single time. OK, maybe just 41 of 59 times.

- I counted the number of times Alex Boone just got embarrassed by Brian Orakpo. I stopped counting when I was at five in the first half. Seriously, without Pryor's speed and mobility in the pocket, Orakpo could've set a Fiesta Bowl record for sacks easily.

- Thaddeus, please learn by next season to keep your damn hands down. You will be a force on that D-line next year, but it won't matter if you get clipped for 15-yard penalties at every sack.

- Buckeye Nation should send Beanie one giant "Please stay another year" card. Does Hallmark make those? They should.

- A breakdown of the final play: Anderson Russell looked like he got caught between swatting the ball and making the tackle. He chose wrong and got to Crosby a 10th of a second too late. That miss won't be forgotten too quickly.

- I don't believe in moral victories. I'm not lowering my standards because of the recent dry spell Ohio State has endured. The Buckeyes should have won that game, and I'm gonna get all Denny Green on you: "They were who we thought they were, and we let 'em off the hook."

Bitterness abounds in Columbus this Tuesday. But sometimes you just get outplayed. Sometimes your bend but don't break defense breaks.

College Football ADD: Time-Filling Edition

Ryan Stubbs — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:42:46 -0500

For those who don’t read full articles...

- Who won the Heisman? A quarterback from one of the best teams in college football. Shocking.

- Don't know if anyone was more deserving than Bradford, though. The after effect, however, turns him into bulletin board material for Florida until Jan. 8. I'm sure the Gators would love to knock down two Heisman winners in three seasons.

- I'm interested to see how the injury to DeMarco Murray affects the game plan of the Sooners. I'd be more interested if the Sooners didn't still have leading rusher Chris Brown. Times are tough in Norman when you can only muster two 1,000-yard rushers per season.

- Auburn fans...stop being irrational. Gene Chizik's hiring wasn't racism, and it wasn't blatant idiocy. It's Auburn remaining true to the good ol' boys club, and returning the favor to a former coordinator from the glory year (yes, I meant year).

No need to make it out to more than what it truly is. Not that what is isn't archaic anyway, but still, we don't need far-fetched allegations when the simple answer is right in front of you, no matter how stupid the hiring looks. That goes for you, too, Sir Charles.

- Can we just create an award for Louie Sakoda, the punter/kicker from Utah? I mean the guy was in the top 30 nationally in both categories and specifically No. 4 in the country in field goals made. Problem was the winners in both these awards categories were just as qualified, if not more so.

Doesn't mean Sakoda doesn't deserve some sort of award.

- Biggest shocker of the awards night: Malcolm Jenkins taking home the Thorpe Award. I was stunned at that one. Would've bet the farm on Eric Berry from Tennessee.

- So long, Beanie Wells, it was a fun ride.

- Welcome back JoePa, three more years of bowel movement jokes await you.

- Anyone looking for a challenge that thinks they know something about college football take out a piece of paper and try to come up with the full names of the 34 bowl games in less than five minutes. I had a buddy challenge me to this and I got 32 of 34 (missed the Insight and for some dumb reason the Liberty Bowl). It's a lot harder than you think, and I just gave you two.

- There's a new all-time rushing leader in NCAA history. Nate Kmic from the Purple Raider powerhouse of Mount Union ran his name atop the record book this past Saturday by surpassing former D-II back Danny Woodhead of Chardon State. Kmic will no doubt be the first player in NCAA history to rush for 8,000 in a career, as he sits at 7,986 going in to the D-III Stagg Bowl title game this Saturday.

Thing that cracks me up about the absurdity of that amount of yardage is that teams focused their efforts solely on stopping Kmic and couldn't. From Monday's Columbus Dispatch:

Saturday, in a Division III playoff semifinal, on their home field in Alliance, Ohio, the Raiders beat Wheaton (Ill.) College, 45-24. Afterward, Wheaton coach Mike Swider said he wouldn't have cared if his team allowed 500 passing yards; his game plan had focused on shutting down Kmic. And Kmic (pronounced "ki-MICK") rushed for 310 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries.

So, basically, your game plan failed horribly; that’s what you’re saying, coach? Thought I'd throw it out there.

- Whoever said the BCS gave us some intriguing matchups this bowl season apparently didn't consult Vegas. Three of the four BCS games are at least 9-point opening spreads and the one that isn't is probably the least intriguing—Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech. The opening spread for Oklahoma-Florida was Florida (-3.5).

- Most favorable opening line: Texas Tech (-5.5) over Ole Miss.
- Most questionable opening line: South Florida (-12.5) over Memphis. Memphis isn't exactly a powerhouse but South Florida ended the season by losing five of seven.
- Second most favorable opening line: Rutgers (-8) over N.C. State

With the college football season at a standstill this week, I thought I'd show that I can write about more than just college football and get some random thoughts on the NFL, NBA, MLB, and other various acronyms. Enjoy!

New Knowledge from the Past Week

- Did you know John Tesh wrote the NBA on NBC music back in the day? I had no idea.

- Over the next few years, the comparison of Adrian Peterson to Walter Payton is going to become less about being a complement for Peterson and more a complement for Payton. The physicality of how Peterson runs is just jaw dropping. I love watching Beanie Wells at Ohio State because of his devastating stiff arm, but Peterson is in an entirely different category when it comes to just running through, over, and, when he needs to, around people.

- I realize the collective consensus about the Pro Bowl is that it's the least important professional All-Star game, but here's one thing I'd like to point out. Which top two player from the 2006 draft is on the Pro Bowl roster and which is not? Why, yes, I am referring to Mario Williams over Reggie Bush.

- Jeff Fisher and the Titans are done. No wait...they are DONE. Capitalized. Regardless of when Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch return, they proved the No. 5 rushing team could only muster 100 rushing yards against the league's 24th-ranked rush D. Kerry Collins may be able to manage a game for you, but he's proven he can't win a game for you. DONE!

- Sign up now for the waiting list to be the next NBA coach. Spots open up daily!

- Here's the difference between college basketball and college football. Right now, Notre Dame has two losses on the season and is ranked No. 12. Ohio State has no losses, beat Notre Dame, and is ranked No. 17. In the college football world, planes would fly overhead of South Bend railing on the injustice Notre Dame is guilty of, page-long editorials would be written in papers across the nation about the atrocities of polls and what not.

College basketball has this beautiful thing called a tourney which means polls in the regular season are the equivalent of being a "partner" of Jenna Jameson. In other words, who cares?

- Regular season basketball game I'm actually excited for this week: No. 7 Xavier travels to Cameron Indoor to take on No. 6 Duke. What a game.

- The Cleveland Caveliers, explained: LeBron James is averaging 35.5 minutes per game this season and has only five games played out of 24 where he's logged 40-plus minutes. The last four seasons he's averaged a minimum of 40.4 minutes/game, and last season specifically he logged 14 40-plus minute games in the first 24 games of the year. Draw your own conclusions here.

The space above was for you to draw.

- I'm happy Columbus will get the opportunity to host a U.S. National qualifier vs. arch-enemy Mexico for the third straight time. I think the city could sell out Crew Stadium for the event...if it wasn't held in February. What logical sense does it make to host a soccer game in the middle of February in Ohio? I'm baffled by this.

- In seeing Jimmy Jackson as one of the newest color commentators for the Big Ten Network, I’m curious as to why/how Ohio State has so many former players in commentating/analyst positions. I’d like to think it’s a disproportionate amount compared to any other school, although I could be over-looking something.

Just a sampling off the top of my head:

Cris Carter (ESPN NFL Analyst)

Robert Smith (ESPN college football analyst)

Clark Kellogg (CBS lead college basketball announcer)

Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN/ABC lead college football announcer)

Chris Spielman (ESPN college football analyst)

Although few Ohio State people claim him Bob Knight (ESPN college basketball analyst).

Non-Sports Thoughts of the Week

- Tara Reid checked into rehab...I'm stunned. Chalk that right up there with Michael Jackson having plastic surgery.

I loved the titles for those news alerts though, "American Pie Star Tara Reid checks into rehab." Nevermind American Pie was what, eight or nine years ago? Yup, that's her pinnacle.

- If there is one show that has given my friends and I more inside jokes than any other, it's How I Met Your Mother. I hope it stays around for another season.

But for those of you yet to jump on the Barney Stenson/Doogie Howser and Co. bandwagon, next Monday (the 22nd) CBS will air one of my favorite TV episodes of all time for any show in "Slapsgiving." Watch it, and if you still don't like the show, I'm sorry; I tried to get you to open your horizons a little bit.

- I can't wait for The Dark Knight on DVD. Not because I loved the movie so much, but because I haven't seen it yet and I really do want to. Try finding another person out there that hasn't seen this movie yet...it's like trying to find someone who still does the Atkins Diet.

Next week's edition will focus on the opening games of bowl season and look ahead to who I think will win the most bowl games, by conference. Until then, enjoy college basketball season and the NFL Thursday night game.

College Football ADD: Pre-Bowl Edition

Ryan Stubbs — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:37:08 -0500

For those who don’t read full articles

(*note, picture above featuring team that won a conference championship game because they earned it on the field during conference play is fictional. It does not happen in real life.)

Let’s start from the top

1.) I’m sorry I missed a few weeks. Vacation and work happened, and I didn’t get an opportunity to do my duty over the two most important weekends of the season. My bad, I’ll take a pay cut.

2.) The BCS Mess…

- I belong to whatever religion acknowledges that Texas just got sodomized and that sodomy is wrong.

I belong to the group people that find it utterly ironic that Oklahoma fans had the nerve to tell Texas fans to stop whining. Really? 45-35 is THE FINAL STATEMENT.

I subscribe to the theory that someday we will decide that the archaic bowl system and biased polling used to determine the champion of my favorite sport is outdated. I hold on to the thought that we will not endure the idiocy of partial juries for the rest of my life.

I believe it is the duty of sportswriters everywhere, both nationally and locally (outside of the state of Oklahoma of course. Did you know Oklahoma is Indian for “one who takes advantage of the system; democrat”?), to write about the BCS Championship game in the following manner:

“Florida will be facing the Big XII co-champion and loser to a team that just as deservedly belonged in this game, if not more so Oklahoma...”

That’s how every reference to the game should happen, just so we’re reminded of the fact that, oh yeah...Oklahoma did lose to Texas, seems so long ago.

I also believe this story has been beaten into the ground and will therefore stop here. But to any and all sportswriters who sa,y “It is what it is, let’s just move on”, I say nay! Every article written about the BCS from now until Jan. 8 should include a giant asterisk.

This is the worst BCS atrocity in its 11 years, and it should be a sportswriter’s duty to say as much. No Auburn, put your hand down.

Thoughts on the end of the season

- Here’s my problem with giving de facto championship berths to the Big XII and SEC...let’s remember Ohio State/Michigan 2006. Now, this was before the fallout, so try to remember back to a time that people actually thought the Big Ten was good and recognized this as the “title” game.

Sports Illustrated ran a cover article the following week that I still have framed at home that proclaims “Ohio State: The Best. Period.”

I’m not saying Florida and the Big XII champ to be named later aren’t the best two teams in college this season; I’m just saying we don’t know for sure. And the fact that two of the teams tossed aside as irrelevant, Penn State and USC, play one another does nothing to prove anyone any different.

So the best/only top-tier opportunity to dispel the truth to Big XII/SEC supremacy this season lays solely on...The Ohio State Buckeyes...crap.

- Over the next few weeks, the big announcements besides the award ceremonies will be who is staying in school for another season and who’s going to the draft. My opinion on who should stay and who should go:

Players that should go get paid (a.k.a., first-round locks): LeSean McCoy, Sam Bradford, Andre Smith, Michael Crabtree, Vontae Davis, Brandon Spikes.

Players that should stay: Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, Chris Wells (ok, that one’s a hope and prayer from a Buckeye faithful), Jeremy Maclin, C.J. Spiller.

Just an opinion on whom I think is ready for the show and won’t be disappointed. We’ll see if I’m right or wrong.

- Think the ACC powers that be had these attendance numbers in mind when they set up the championship game four seasons ago?

2005 - 72,749 (94% capacity) at Jacksonville Municipal

2006 - 62,850 (81% capacity) at Jacksonville Municipal

2007 - 53,212 (69% capacity) at Jacksonville Municipal

2008 - 52,927 (80% capacity) at Raymond James, Tampa

Those were 52,927 tickets that were allotted, as you and I saw on TV there's no way there were more than 30,000 people in that stadium. Almost like Miami playing a home game...ha!

In contrast, the SEC Championship game attendance has been over the listed capacity of the Georgia Dome each season since it started playing there in 1994.

The ACC, basketball schools with a football problem.

- Oh...so that’s why Ball State wasn’t ranked the same as Utah and Boise State. I see, I see.

- Rutgers = college football’s version of the Houston Texans. My explanation: Expectations that they’ll finally make the leap, followed by a miserable let down to start the season and thus an assumed falling back to their former, horrible selves.

This is followed by a second half of the season rejuvenation finished off with one of the hottest stretches in all of football, thus saving the coaches’ job and securing their place at repeating the cycle again next season.

Thoughts on Bowling

- I’m so glad that we could rekindle the great clashes of the regular season in bowl games. I was just thinking to myself how great that Navy-Wake Forest game back in September was just the other day, and how I longed for them to meet again in the EagleBank Bowl to open bowl season. You have no idea how elated I am for this game.

Also, Air Force vs. Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl is a rematch of their thrilling 31-28 regular season matchup won by Air Force.

Seriously, make a ruling against this. If we’re going to have 34 bowl games, of which 25 suck any way, at least don’t allow them to be rematches of the regular season.

Where’s Bill Simmons’ Sports Czar policy on this?

- All I want for Christmas is a Hawaii victory over Notre Dame on Christmas Eve. Is that too much to ask?

- Best Chance to See a Four TD Blowout Bowl—Champs Sports Bowl between Wisconsin and Florida State. This is the same Wisconsin that needed three missed extra points from Cal-Poly to win their final game of the season...and it was at Camp Randall.

- Best Chance to See a Coach Fired/Resign Afterward—Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl between BYU and Arizona. I say this because I hear Mike Stoops found out he could still be relevant in January instead of playing in all these bowls he didn’t know existed before if he’d have just stayed at his brother’s side.

- The “Wait this isn’t the national championship we were supposed to be in” Bowl—Konica Minolta Gator Bowl between preseason BCS favorite Clemson and former college football ruler Nebraska. I’m glad we have a bowl for them, too.

- Great article hereabout the Super Bowl being determined by a BCS system. I know it’s been done before, but this is one of the better written ones I’ve read.

- What’s the over/under on amount of fans at the Motor City Bowl in Detroit between Central Michigan and Florida Atlantic? Ford Field’s capacity is listed at 65,000. I say two-thirds of that are empty seats.

And that still would easily outdraw the average Lions game by oh...10,000?

- I’m so glad bowl season brings us such great games like the one above and an Independence Bowl between WAC fourth place Louisiana Tech (7-5) and MAC West fourth place Northern Illinois (6-6). I now know my life is complete, now that they haven’t been left out of the bowl cold.

- Bowl eligible teams left out in the cold: Bowling Green (6-6), Arkansas State(6-6), UL-Lafayette (6-6), and San Jose State (6-6). This, to me, means we need two more bowl games so that such an injustice and travesty never occurs again.

Where is our Harrah’s Entertainment Biggest Little City in the World Reno Bowl? Or our Chi-Chi’s Salsa South of the Border Bowl played in Juarez, Mexico? The losers have to spend time working for a local cartel. Make this happen!

- This year’s bowl season ends up looking a lot like the final polls, top heavy. Of the 34 bowls, nine really look interesting to me. The rest pit either underachieving or undeserving teams against one another, sometimes both.

My Top Nine

1.) The BCS National Championship Game – No. 2 Florida vs. Big XII champ to be named later

No, the BCS didn’t get it right. I apparently was misled when I heard anti-playoff proponents say they didn’t want extra games because it takes away from the week-by-week drama in the greatest regular season in all of sports.

Thanks to the blatant disregard of the regular-season results, those people would be wrong. The BCS takes away the drama from the greatest regular season in sports.

I’m bitter…yes…but I’ll still watch. Bitterly.

2.) Rose Bowl – No. 8 Penn State vs. No. 5 USC

I hear you, Big Ten and Pac-10 fans. No one is talking about how you were arbitrarily eliminated just because of your conferences’ shortcomings. So your reward is to play one another.

Why do I have this as No. 2? Because missed in the talk of USC’s 5-1 record in BCS bowls over the past six seasons is that they’ve accumulated four of those wins against Big Ten teams. How bad does that sound boys from the Midwest?

Penn State had better draw up a game plan that resembles what they did vs. Oregon State and not their hesitant approach vs. Ohio State and Iowa.

3.) Sugar Bowl – No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 6 Utah

There’s only two ways this game gets analyzed when it’s over:

If Utah wins – who cares, they didn’t play the best team from the SEC.

If Alabama wins – that’s exactly why a mid-major doesn’t belong in the BCS.

Done, I just did the work for you media guys. You are welcome.

4.) Fiesta Bowl – No. 10 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Texas

Let me attempt to summarize every battered Ohio State fans’ thoughts on this game in the most positive way possible. It’s like Jan. 5 is Christmas morning and we should be excited for the presents and the food, but we know Mom and Dad have had a rough go of it this year with the economy and what not, so maybe it won’t be as special.

Maybe Dad, in this case Jim Tressel, shows up drunk and confused as to why this game is played in Glendale and not Tempe anymore, and why does this scenery look so familiar to the point of bringing back repressed memories.

We know we should be excited, but we know how this ends: Dad kicks the dog, and then passes out crushing all the cheap Wal-Mart presents. We just can’t look forward to that.

5.) Cotton Bowl – No. 7 Texas Tech vs. No. 25 Ole Miss

There are about 10 different reasons why I like this game and can’t wait to watch it and all of them have to do with the uncertainty of what you’re going to see.

Will Tech be able to move the ball vs. Ole Miss’s 15th-ranked defense? Will this game just be a flat shootout? What’s the over/under for great quotes by Mike Leach between now and Jan. 2?

I’m really excited for this game.

6.) Christmas Flower Bowl – #11 TCU vs. #9 Boise State

(insert funny joke about bowl game’s title sponsor here, everyone chuckle) Now let’s move on.

Great matchup between these two, but I feel like they did each other a disservice (and in turn let the BCS conferences off the hook) by agreeing to meet in this game.

I would have much rather they worked out an arrangement where they played a No. 3 or No. 4 team from a BCS conference, just to show if they could measure up.

All this game will show is that San Diego’s weather is sweet! Even in December.

7.) Orange Bowl – No. 12 Cincinnati vs. No. 19 Virginia Tech

I said sometime around October that I hoped Cincy’s run would lead them to an upper tier bowl game vs. another BCS school and not back to the Papajohns.com Bowl. I said that meaning maybe they’d get into the Sun Bowl or something but didn’t expect this.

Bearcats, welcome to the big stage. They want to step out of Big Brother’s shadow here in the state of Ohio, this is the way to do it. Can’t emphasize enough how amazing UC’s run has been with their QB troubles.

I would be a complete homer if I didn’t mention VaTech is making their third BCS game, only this time with a freshman QB. While these teams aren’t highly ranked, this could possibly pull off the best BCS game…if anyone watches.

8.) Sun Bowl – Oregon State vs. No. 20 Pitt

I think a few NFL scouts will be on hand to witness two of the best running backs in all of college football in El Paso. Jacquizz and LeSean will be on display with this game coming down to who can tackle the other teams’ future first rounder better.

9.) Capital One Bowl – No. 15 Georgia vs. No. 18 Michigan State

If you’re into that whole conference superiority debate, this game sits at the heart of it for Big Ten and SEC fans. Michigan State ended their season by getting spanked by Big Ten Champ Penn State.

UGA finished by getting run all over by rival Georgia Tech. Javon Ringer will be dutifully watching film of that game until New Year’s.

While the Sun Bowl pits the No. 10 and 13 rushers in yards/game, this one has the No. 3 in Ringer and No. 16 in Knowshon Moreno. Let’s see what you have left Dawgs.

So while there are other bowl games I’m interested in, and many more that I’m not interested in but will still watch because it’s the only thing on a Tuesday evening at 8:00 on TV, these are the ones I actually care about.

Thoughts on the Heisman

And the 2008 Heisman goes to: a top QB on one of the Nation’s best teams. Congratulations.

And the 2009 Heisman goes to: a top QB on one of the Nation’s best teams. Congratulations.

And the 2010 Heisman goes to: ok, you get the picture, huh?

My End of Year Top 10

1.) Florida (12-1)

2.) Texas (11-1)

3.) Oklahoma (12-1)

4.) USC (11-1)

5.) Alabama (12-1)

6.) Utah (12-0)

7.) Penn State (11-1)

8.) Texas Tech (11-1)

9.) Ohio State (10-2)

10 Boise State (12-0)

The All - A.D.D. Team

QB –The Big XII South QBs of Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford and Graham Harrell all received one-third of a vote each from me. A cop out? Maybe. But I can’t split up my Heisman vote, so I'll do this instead.

RB – Shonn Greene, Iowa – Read the second sentence of Shonn Greene's Wikipedia page hereand let that sink in for a second. He’s the No. 2 rusher in the nation in yards per game this season and was Iowa’s fire in their upset of then No. 3 Penn State.

RB – Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State – Only one game in which he finished with under 100 yards rushing (unfortunately that one was vs. Oklahoma) and had a TD in all but two games.

WR – Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech –Unable to duplicate last season’s freakishly amazing season, Crabtree still hauled in his second consecutive 1,000 yard season and caught 18 TDs. Oh and he had that one catch you may have seen a few times vs. Texas.

WR – Austin Collie, BYU – Who? He’s the nation’s leading Mormon receiver and college footballs’ as well. Collie led the nation in total yards and ended the season with 10 consecutive 100 yard receiving days.

WR – Dante Love, Ball State – Honorary A.D.D. Mention to a guy we’d no doubt been talking about more had his career not ended in the fourth game of the season. Love was one of the nation’s top receivers last season, but opted to return to Ball State for his senior year. Love had 25 catches for 433 yards through three games before he was suffered a spinal injury vs. Indiana.

I don’t like to be serious often but this kid could flat out play.

TE – Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma – Gresham had a knack for showing up in the biggest games of the season for the Sooners. Oklahoma’s six biggest games (Cincy, Washington, Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Missouri) were the six top receiving days for Gresham.

Offensive Linemen – I’m not going to lie to you and pretend that I’m Mel Kiper by awarding offensive linemen awards like I know what’s what. Whoever is on the majority of all the other All-American teams is who I pick.

DL – Nick Reed, Oregon – Got to see this guy a few times this season and I’m just amazed at home many plays end with him in on a tackle. He registered at least one sack in all but three games and led the nation overall.

DL – Brian Orakpo, Texas – With all the nationally televised Texas games this season, you have to know Orakpo is the Texas defense’s motor. Had four forced fumbles and 10 sacks on the year.

DL – Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech –I jumped on the GT bandwagon right about the time the North Carolina one lost two wheels. Johnson saved his best for last in the season ending win over rival Georgia getting seven tackles (two for loss) and a sack.

DL – Aaron Maybin, Penn State – In his first year starting, I learned I hate Aaron Maybin. He was the cause of nearly every scramble by Terrell Pryor in the Ohio State game and led the Big Ten in sacks. Great, he’s only a sophomore too. Can’t wait.

LBs – Brandon Spikes, Florida; James Laurinaitis, Ohio State; Ray Maualuga, USC

When you have three near unanimous linebackers of the year, why mess with the consensus when you agree?

DB – Malcolm Jenkins, Ohio State – Jenkins carried on the Ohio State defensive legacy of the No. 2 jersey. Mike Doss would be proud.

DB – Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest – He’ll be on draft boards this April. While the Demon Deacons as a team took a step back, this senior stepped up with six INTs on the year to go with leading the ACC in passes defended. If only they had four more of him.

S – Eric Berry, Tennessee – Berry does not lack confidence that’s for sure, what with his nickname being “The Phenom”. SEC Defensive Player of the Year and consensus All-American will also be adding an A.D.D. All-American award to his resume.

S – Michael Hamlin, Clemson – One of the only bright spots left in Clemson that lived up to his expectations this season. Hamlin finished fifth in the nation in INTs and 10th in the ACC in tackles from his safety position.

K/P – Louie Sakoda, Utah – When you double as your team’s kicker and punter while ranking in the top 30 national in both categories, you deserve an award. Here you go Louie, I nice shiny All-A.D.D. Award!

Coach of the Year, East of the Mississippi – Turner Gill, Buffalo.

From the program’s resurrection in 1999 until 2006, the Buffalo Bulls went a combined 12-79 including four losses to I-AA teams. Turner Gill has made the Bulls a non-laughing stock. Since taking over in 2006, his team’s have went from two to five to eight wins, including their upset of No. 12 and undefeated Ball State in last week’s MAC Championship.

I’ll be honest; the winning coach from that game was going to win this.

Coach of the Year, West of the Mississippi – Kyle Whittingham, Utah.

The former BYU Cougar player started the season as the potential spoiler for his alma mater’s perceived undefeated run. The season ended with the Utes claiming that undefeated spot and the school’s second BCS berth.

If I had a Heisman Ballot, what would it look like?

1.) Colt McCoy – Harrell and Bradford put up better statistics, but no one was more important to his team both passing and rushing. This kid has come a long way since I first saw him as a freshman in the Ohio State/Texas game. I’m less than excited to see him again in Glendale.

2.) Sam Bradford

3.) Michael Crabtree – Under the assumption that Harrell is better for having Crabtree than Crabtree is better for having Harrell.

4.) Tim Tebow

5.) Shonn Greene

And thus concludes a deluxe, mega-super edition of College Football A.D.D. I plan on getting another one of these out before the bowl games next week, so look forward to that.

As always, take care of the waitstaff, times are tough.

College Football ADD: Week 13

Ryan Stubbs — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:05:42 -0500

For those who don't want to read full articles

Attention everyone, I have an important announcement to make. The M*ch*g*n at Ohio State game has been cancelled this year. It seems that M*ch*g*n can’t get around Toledo. (Thank you, Shawn Collier)

I love M*ch*g*n Week. As far as weeks go, I think it narrowly edges out the week of Christmas, the week of Thanksgiving (every other year for the family vacation) and the first week of the NCAA basketball tourney for my favorite of the year.

This weekend just adds to the lore of making fun of that hated state up north.

- At noon on Saturday it will have been 1,826 days since M*ch*g*n’s last win over Ohio State. Here’s to 365 more!

- This season’s 20.5-point spread in favor of the Buckeyes is the largest in the history of the rivalry. It’s opened at 19; who knows what it’ll be by Saturday.

- Last week established the first time M*ch*g*n lost eight games in a season in their 129-year football history. I’m sure the Buckeyes would gladly enjoy making this the first time they’ve lost nine.

- A win on Saturday gives Ohio State their first-ever five game winning streak over the state up north.

So it’s time to gear up for another Beat M*ch*g*n week, full of jumps in freezing lakes, daily singings of “We Don’t Give a Damn” and hopefully yet another Buckeye victory. Go Bucks!

Thoughts on Last Weekend

- What, you want me to elaborate in some profound way that makes last weekend seem important or entertaining? Not only were the games bad on paper, but they were bad on the field.

Only three Top 20 teams trailed at half (UC and BYU trailed, USC was tied) and only Georgia, LSU, UNC and Florida State were trailing in the fourth (obviously UGA and LSU won).

Mainly, it was a large dose of yawners; players’ mothers were bored watching; luckily we have this weekend to save us.

- Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, you coach at a smart school, so let me throw a big word for a small article out there for you: comeuppance.

Thanks to Coach Harbaugh’s end-of-game tactics (tactics in this article actually means stupidity), you’ll be able to use that word along with “2009” and “Stanford at USC game” in a sentence next season. Leave no doubt, the Trojans won’t forget how that game ended.

- We all are now aware that Steve Spurrier had never taken a beating like he did in the Swamp on Saturday. More interesting to me is that Spurrier now has four games in four seasons with the Gamecocks in which his team didn’t score a touchdown. That only happened once while at Florida, a 30-6 loss to Mississippi State in Spurrier’s second season in Gainesville.

- Vanderbilt is bowl eligible, congrats.

- Rutgers is still alive! After drubbing South Florida in Tampa, Rutgers is back to an even record for the first time since being 0-0. I know I’m grasping at straws here, but the opportunity for a 7-5 Big East team to make a BCS game doesn’t come along every day.

- Speaking of the Big East and BCS, bowl projections right now have either Maryland (7-3) or Miami (7-3) playing Cincinnati(8-2) in the Orange Bowl. I wanted to see UC in a top tier bowl this season, but man, what a terrible top-tier game this would be

And to recap, the Orange bowl has given us Kansas vs. Virginia Tech, Louisville vs. Wake Forest and Penn State vs. 8-4 Florida State. That was after the 55-19 National Championship embarrassment USC put on Oklahoma in 2005.

In other words, I haven’t really enjoyed an Orange Bowl in some time; I’m pretty sure most of the country hasn’t either.

- Seriously ACC, just flip a coin and stop playing the games. Adding to the madness this past weekend, former Coastal Division leader, and assumed front-runner North Carolina lost to Maryland to lose control of first place for the third time this season.

This was the same Maryland team who was shut out by 5-5 Virginia 31-0. Virginia then lost at Wake two weekends ago, but Wake followed that victory with a loss on the road to N.C. State.

However, N.C. State lost to Duke the same weekend Virginia was dumped by Wake, and Duke was just knocked off by Clemson this past weekend.

Clemson, amongst other losses, was beaten by Georgia Tech in their first game without Tommy Bowden back in mid-October, while GT lost to VaTech all the way back in September.

VaTech lost this past Thursday Night to Miami, but Miami had already been beaten by rival Florida State, who just lost to B.C. on Saturday.

And that, my friends, is how you link all 12 ACC teams together in one big circle. It didn’t take nearly as long as you’d think.

- Division III Mount Union finished their regular season last weekend a perfect 10-0 record, the 15th time in 17 seasons they’ve accomplished that feat. Mount scored 40+ points in all but one game (a 33-3 nailbiter over No. 10 St. John Fisher), and didn’t win by fewer than four TDs all season. They enter the D-III playoffs as the unanimous No. 1 team.

In case you hadn’t heard about D-III Mount Union, that’s just a taste of how good they are, every season.

- I have absolutely no power to decree such a thing, but I’m asking that this happen regardless. If you are attending a football game (or any sporting event actually) between Team A and Team B, and some d-bag fan shows up wearing clothing supporting Team C, fans of both teams A and B must unite to unmercifully berate and chastise said fan C until he either changes or leaves.

I saw a man wearing an Iowa sweatshirt on the coverage of the Ohio State/Illinois game. I saw a man wearing a Steelers coat on the Monday Night Football game between Cleveland and Buffalo. Through the years I’ve seen various forms of retarded fans doing this when I go to Ohio State games; it must stop now!

- We may witness a second-coming of the depressing grunge rock era if Washington’s football teams don’t turn around. A 3-28 record between Washington, Wazzu and the Seahawks makes me wonder what the Pacific Northwest did exactly to make the football gods mad.

All of that bad, and yet the Wazzu faithful continue to keep alive one of the coolest under-the-radar traditions in all of college football each Saturday morning at ESPN’s Gameday.

Football theme grunge band names for the new era: Hasselbeck in Chains, Tyrone-ic Youth, Stone Temple Dobas, and my favorite, Temple of the Husky.

- And in my weekly watch of the stupidity that is the college football polling landscape, two AP Poll voters now have Florida as their No. 1 team. One Coaches’ Poll voter and one Harris Poll voter has them there as well.

I get it; Florida looks really good right now. They’re playing great. But they have this one little thing called a loss at home to 6-4 Ole Miss. Until ‘Bama or Texas Tech lose, the Gators do not belong at No. 1. That’s final; end of discussion.

So, little happened last weekend except serve as an appetizer for our palate this Saturday. Well…I can deal with that.

Last Week’s Picks

Hits

VaTech(+4.5) over Miami – VT only lost by 2

Northwestern (+3.5) over M*ch*g*n

Oregon (-4) over Arizona

The Over on O/U 79.5 in the Tulsa/Houston game

Florida (-21) over South Carolina

Cincy (-6) over Louisville

Texas (-21) over Kansas

Misses

Florida State(-7) over B.C. – so I made that pick before the five WRs were suspended.

Georgia (-8) over Auburn – that’s two pathetic UGA games in a row. And they’re makin’ me look bad!

The Under on O/U 71.5 for Nebraska/K-State – the game hit 84 pts.

Oklahoma State (-17) over Colorado – Ok State won by 16

7-4, same record as last week.

Thoughts on this Weekend’s Events

- So ESPN has the rights to all the BCS games starting in 2011. You tell me that, but all I hear is the possibility of Dave Pasch and Andre Ware doing a major bowl game and I instinctively move to the fetal position.

- I’m not a huge conspiracy theorist, but this is something I’ll be watching for ESPN over the next few seasons. I don’t know if a college football playoff system will be implemented before 2011, or what sort of financial impact that could have on ESPN’s deal. But if it does affect it, I bet you see less and less coverage and talk about a playoff on the Worldwide Leader.

If that annual “ESPN Playoff” they do every December before the start of the bowls disappears, it would be my first indication.

- If he was standing on the other sideline, what would the records be? That’s the question I’ve decided is the most intriguing for the Ohio State/M*ch*g*n game. If Pryor would have signed with the state to the north, how much impact would there have been?

What would’ve happened in a Boeckman season? Could Pryor have worked the same magic as a freshman for M*ch*g*n as he’s done for OSU? It’s interesting to ponder in my opinion.

- You call it a Holy War huh? I’m listening…not watching because I have other games, and better games to watch that don’t involve the state of Utah duking it out, but I’ll read about it on Sunday.

- Will the ride continue for the Beavers in Tucson? Arizona and Willie Tuitama put up 45 on Oregon State’s Civil War partner Oregon last weekend…but their defense subsequently allowed 55 points.

- Tennessee is a three-point underdog at Vandy this weekend.

- Ball State had its closest MAC contest of the season last week at Miami (OH), only winning by 15. They’ll be playing top two other MAC teams over the next two weekends in 8-2 Central Michigan and 9-2 Western Michigan. And they’ll continue to drop down the BCS.

- If Crabtree doesn’t score that touchdown against Texas and thus Texas Tech enters this weekend’s game with one loss, what’s their line at Oklahoma? Right now, the Sooners sit seven-point favorites. I think that line would be near 20 if Tech had lost. And here’s to hoping the Red Raiders keep on proving “them” wrong.

- The Miami Hurricanes spent 107 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP poll from 1999 until the Sept 17, 2006, poll. This week marks the first time they’ve been ranked since, as they come in at No. 23. They still aren’t ranked in the Coaches’ or Harris Polls.

This Week’s Big Ones

The Game

M*ch*g*n at No. 10 Ohio State

My column, my bias. Sorry.

Outside of these two states, this game means as much as the Harvard/Yale game this season. But to me, it’s still that a**-hole Desmond Howard striking a pose, it’s David Boston and Charles Woodson coming to blows, it’s Will Allen making the leaping interception that sent Ohio State to the 2002 National Championship.

It’s cursing the name of Tshimanga Biakabutuka, it’s refusing to wear any clothing that combines yellow and blue, it’s reliving Woody and Bo, it’s forgetting John Cooper and Shawn Springs’ “slip.”

For all who were a part of a college experience that included a major rivalry like this, you all know what this weekend is like in Columbus. At 9-2, we aren’t going to the big dance this year (I know, about half of you just said “thank God”), so this is our BCS Championship Game. F-M*ch*g*n and bring on the 2008 Big Ten Champion Ohio State Buckeyes!

No. 2 Texas Tech at No. 5 Oklahoma

This is “the game” which happens to fall on the same weekend as “The Game”. My apologies to Big XII fans everywhere.

I’m not going to say too much different than what you’ll hear all week from talking-head nation. Oklahoma can’t outshoot the Red Raiders; they have to find a defense somewhere. Tech held Texas to its second-lowest score of the season then turned around to hold Okie State to its lowest.

I want to believe the Red Raiders win this game, but in Norman, under the bright lights for the third time in four weeks…I have to go against Crabtree and Evelyn (Evelyn doesn’t really play for TT). Sooners by 10.

No. 15 Michigan State at No. 8 Penn State

It’s been a long, long time since Penn State lost itself a game at home to Michigan State. So long in fact that the last time it did happen, 1965, JoePa wasn’t presiding over the sidelines at the foot of Mt. Nittany. Paterno’s first season was 1966.

Ohio State fans, what I’m sayin’ is, don’t hold your breath. I take the Spread HD and their -14.5 line all the way to Pasadena.

Other Conference Games I’m Watching

ACC – Florida State at No. 25 Maryland

How much of a revolving door have the poll rankings from No. 20 to No. 25 been this season? Nine of the 12 ACC teams have been ranked at some point this season, with Miami and Maryland now joining the crowd.

Maryland has beaten four ranked teams this season, which would mean something except only one of those teams is currently ranked.

Seriously, I could go all day with the random oddities about the ACC. There’s millions.

Big XII – Iowa State at Kansas State

This is the only Big 12 game this weekend besides the TT/Oklahoma tilt.

Yeah.

Big East – No. 20 Pittsburgh at No. 18 Cincinnati

It’s the biggest game of the year for both teams. If UC wins, it would all but clinch the Big East title (UC only has one conference game left, vs. Syracuse), while a Pitt win gives them control of their own destiny with two conference games left.

And yet Cincy fans will be torn between going to this night game at Nippert Stadium or driving up I-75 forty-five minutes north to see Cincinnati Elder battle Pickerington Central in the Division I State Semis.

You think I’m joking? UC football isn’t exactly the traditional powerhouse and we all know the Bengals are terrible. High school football is the only hope for a winning team in town.

I’d take Pitt +5 to cover, but not to win.

Big Ten – Illinois at Northwestern

If the Purple Kitties win, they could be playing in a New Year’s Day bowl, and subsequently keep Illinois from playing in a bowl, period. After the non-ferocious fight they put up against the Buckeyes two weekends ago, and subsequent punting contest vs. M*ch*g*n last weekend, I’m gonna think that probably won’t happen.

Take Illinois -3.

Pac-10 – Washington at Washington State

The Apple Cup has never seen a match-up like this before. Although 1969’s battle of 1-9 teams comes close, this game is just going to be horrendous on the eyes.

SEC – Ole Miss at No. 18 LSU

You want the definition of the Cialis Special again? It’s not getting up for a game after a major letdown from the week before or before a big game the following week. LSU just suffered the biggest Cialis Special of the season, nearly losing to Troy.

Ole Miss has lost their four games by a combined 19 points, and just handled a Sun Belt school the way an SEC school should - by beating them 59-love.

I’m taking Ole Miss and Jevan Snead +4.5 over “Pick-6-R-Us” Jarrett Lee.

My Top Ten

1.) Alabama (11-0)

2.) Texas Tech (10-0)

3.) Texas (10-1)

4.) Florida (9-1)

5.) Oklahoma (10-1)

6.) USC (9-1)

7.) Penn State (10-1)

8.) Utah (11-0)

9.) Ohio State (9-2)

10.) Boise State (10-0)

Quick Picks (HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

Ball State (-7) over CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Washington (-7.5) over WASHINGTON STATE

Air Force (+18.5) over TCU

Boise State (-6) over NEVADA

RUTGERS (-17.5) over Army

Lines I’m Staying Away From

All ACC, Notre Dame or Georgia games.

Tulane (+28.5) at Tulsa– you want a team that just lost by 40 to turn around and win by 4+ TDs?

Stanford (+9) at Cal – Rivalry game theory.

Iowa (-5) at Minnesota – Seems almost too easy to take Iowa with how Minnesota is playing these days…I don’t like that feeling.

Thus concludes my M*ch*g*n Week A.D.D. Happy Mirror Lake jumping and Go Bucks!

As always, please tip your wait staff, they don't make that much, seriously. I am spent.

College Football ADD: Week 12

Ryan Stubbs — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:38:59 -0500

For those not interested in reading full articles

Hear that, football fans? That’s the sound of silence. Talking head nation has stopped bellowing about BCS atrocities and for this week at least found actual games to talk about. We can regretfully thank Penn State for that.

But chaos is sitting just a touch away. Everything is calm and tranquil for now. We have two undefeated teams from the two best conferences set to meet in Miami. The “weaker conferences” have been eliminated from stealing a shot in the big show.

Enjoy it. Enjoy it while it lasts. I give the tranquility two weeks.

Thoughts on Last Week's Events

- Where’d that spectacular HD offense go, Penn State? 36 points in two games?

- It’s been beaten into the ground in the post-Bama win, but Julio Jones is freakishly good. It’s not so much the physicality that everyone else is talking about as it is how smooth he looks doing it all. He just looks like a natural receiver doing what a receiver should do.

With his size, for some reason he reminds me of Keyshawn Johnson out there. Well...Keyshawn without the Lifetime reality show.

- Remember Rutgers? Sitting 1-5 and with no hope of anything resembling a bowl bid, the Scarlet Knights looked dead. Well, give them life.

They sit one game out of first in the Big East despite their 4-5 record, and with remaining games at South Florida and then home vs. Army and Louisville, they actually have a chance to win out. It’s a long shot, but anything’s possible in the up and down Big East.

- In an article earlier this season, I brought up how remarkable I found Nebraska’s 32 straight 9+ win seasons, which as far as I know is a modern college football record.

Further validating my point: Texas just extended the nation’s longest current streak of 9+ wins with their victory over Baylor last week. They’ve now done it 11 straight times. Only 21 more to go!

- Larry Fitzgerald was a man among boys in his days dominating the Big East. His video-game like stats (92 receptions for 1,672 yards and 22 TDs) led to a runner-up selection in the 2003 Heisman race and some serious cash as the Arizona Cardinals' No. 3 overall draft choice.

Michael Crabtree topped all of those numbers last season as a freshman. This season he’s projected to finish with 90+ catches, 1,300+ yards, and 22+ TDs. He’s had at least one TD in every game this season and has multiple TDs in six of 10 games.

I get that the Heisman goes to the best QB on the best team almost undoubtedly these days...but I’m tired of it. Crabtree would get my No. 1 vote if anyone ever asked.

- I said a few weeks ago that if Florida State can manage even a 9-3 finish before the ACC Championship game, they’d be doing themselves well. After spotting Clemson 10-0 and 17-13 leads in the first half last weekend, I thought they were done.

Yes, it’s Clemson, but I saw Chris Ponder actually look like a quarterback for a bit there. Imagine that—Florida State may actually have a decent QB. It’s only been eight seasons since 46-year old Chris Weinke won the Heisman.

- USC wins a 17-3 defensive battle vs. No. 21 Cal—sloppy, unimpressive performance.

Georgia outslugs unranked Kentucky 42-38—gutsy, come-from-behind win! Ohhhh, now I understand. Thanks ESPN.

- Hey, that voter fixed their vote in the Harris Poll and is no longer placing Texas at No. 1. Good for them.

Now which one of you jackasses voted for Florida at No. 1?

Buckeye Diatribe

New segment in which I focus on the one thing I know I know a lot about. If you are either a.) An anti-Buckeye fan or b.) the Big Ten in general disgusts you, you may want to sit this section out and just move on.

- My thoughts on what T.P. is doing right now—he’s a freshman. I have to remind myself of that week to week, because while he has his struggles with accuracy and taking sacks...he’s a freshman, and is performing remarkably well as such.

Two of his plays he made last weekend looked so similar to what Troy Smith did his senior season that I can’t help but be excited for what’s to come from this kid.

- The Buckeye defense was out to prove a point last weekend, and that point was one they should’ve been making 10 weeks ago. What took so long, Silver Bullets?

- Way to have a game Nadar Abdallah! Where in the world has that been all season? Abdallah had a season-high eight tackles, when he entered the game with only 17 on the year.

- Beanie Wells...there are a lot of bad things people can say about Ohio State, most of them true. We fans are loud, obnoxious, and self-serving. But you can’t say a bad word about this kid. His stiff arm, to me, is the most underrated individual skill in all of college football. Watch a highlight of Beanie just stiff-arming people—it’s ridiculous.

- Supporters of the Big Ten, my advice for all of us on the conference bashing we are receiving right now—take it like a man. It’s justified until bowl season.

Now if Minnesota or Northwestern (or both) go out and knock off somebody in the bowls, we may be able to talk. But for now, this conference is made up of two potentially top 15 teams, a team that lost to the Pac-10’s fourth-place team, and then a bunch of scrubs. The truth hurts.

It is now safe to read for any non-Big Ten fans.

Last Week’s Picks

Hits

Cal +25.5 over USC

Oklahoma -25.5 over A&M

Oregon State -7.5 over UCLA

Michigan St. -10 over Purdue

Utah +2.5 over TCU

Cincy +8 over West Virginia

Baylor +26 over Texas

Misses

Georgia -10.5 over UK (what a game that was though, huh?)

Vandy +24 over Florida (missed by four)

Kansas -1.5 over Nebraska (where’d Nebraska come from?)

The Under in O/U 8.5 for passes attempted by GT vs. North Carolina. They passed 23 times, a season high.

Weekly total: 7-4

Thoughts on this Week (and next)

- This week can be summed up in one word: YAWN.

After a week in which there were big matchups morning, noon, and night, we get a week full of top teams taking a bye or playing the lower rung of the conference ladder.

One note I would like to point out, however, in looking for upsets. Of the top 18 in the BCS standings this week, four are idle and 11 play on the road. Funky things happen on the road.

- There’s not just an upper echelon in college football this season, but an upper-upper echelon. All you have to do is look at the losses teams have to see this. Georgia, Ohio State, Missouri, and Oklahoma State (top-ranked two-loss teams in the BCS) have lost all eight of their combined games to teams ranked ahead of them right now, minus the Missouri-Oklahoma State game.

LSU’s three losses were to No. 4 Florida, No. 10 Georgia, and No. 1 Bama.

TCU’s two losses are to No. 7 Utah and No. 5 Oklahoma.

As a matter of fact, take the ACC out of the equation, and of the non-ACC teams in the top 20 of the BCS standings, their collective records are 156-21 with only four losses to non-ranked teams (USC to Oregon State, Florida to Ole Miss, Penn State to Iowa, and Michigan State to Cal).

- Riddle me this, Batman: Boise State loses their final bout with Fresno State. Utah does the same in their Holy War vs. BYU. Taking into account the current rankings and where they could move up to if such scenarios happened, would Ball State be moved into the top 12 and thus an auto-BCS berth if they win out?

Prognosticators everywhere already have Boise State or Utah in the Fiesta or Orange bowls. What about the Cardinals?

After the Hawaiian debacle last season, my guess is voters and BCS representatives alike would probably just take a pass.

- College GameDay heads to Tallahassee this weekend not to cover the ABC Saturday Night game between No. 19 Florida State and Boston College—and what a crappy Saturday Night game, by the way. Nope, they’re going there to cover 5-4 Hampton at 7-3 Florida A&M.

That’s right, a prime time ACC game with conference title implications is now less entertaining than a matchup of two middling FCS schools. How the mighty have fallen.

- And so, if you were to take a weekend off of college football, maybe re-acquaint yourself with your significant other and/or kids, knock out some leaf raking, or even do some sort of athletic activity, I’d make it this week.

Because next weekend...well, we get back to the big games again.

This Week’s Big One(s)

No. 25 South Carolina at No. 4 Florida

Spurrier’s still trying to replicate that W he got in his first season in Columbia vs. Florida. Not gonna happen this season either. S.C.’s finally ranked again and comes in with the top ranked defense in the SEC in total D. But Florida is sailing right now, and I see a big day from Percy Harvin and Co.

Take the Gators -21.

And that concludes the only matchup this weekend featuring two ranked teams. I told you this week was slim pickins.

Conference Games I’m Watching

ACC: Boston College at No. 19 Florida State

Florida State still trails Wake Forest in conference by a half-game thanks to the Deacons’ win back on Sept. 20. But my, have those two teams changed since. Boston College has changed too, with QB Chris Crane struggling mightily late in the season. His 52 percent completion percentage and six picks in the past four games have been atrocious. That won’t get a W vs. the ‘Noles.

Take Florida State -7.

Big 12: No. 3 Texas at Kansas

I still believed in Kansas after Todd Reesing robbed his team of a win at South Florida.

I still believed in Kansas after a close loss to Oklahoma, followed by a blowout at the hands of Texas Tech.

I still believed in Kansas—until they gave up 31 second half points to Nebraska in their loss in Lincoln. Mangino has officially eaten too many P’zones this season, and the fat content is clogging his play calling brain.

I now believe this will be just another notch on Colt McCoy’s belt. And Jayhawks...don’t expect him to call after he’s done with you, no matter how pretty you are.

Big East: No. 22 Cincinnati at Louisville

The 47th meeting in the Battle for the Keg of Nails holds conference title importance for Cincinnati, as they can move into a tie for first in the Big East with a win. Louisville gains bowl eligibility with a win, but after last week’s game vs. Pitt, I don’t know that I’d ever pick Louisville ever again. I mean, what sort of legitimate team loses to Dave Wannstedt 41-7? He has a mustache.

Big Ten: No. 11 Ohio State at Illinois

Wow, the Big Ten sucks. There, I said it. Want proof? Illinois’ loss to Western Michigan last week was the fourth by a Big Ten school to a MAC school this season, a new record. I can’t/won’t defend it until after the bowl season, if and when they accomplish some legit wins. Not likely.

I covered the Buckeyes enough early. All I'll say about this game is I hope they make Illinois pay for last year's dance on the 50-yard line.

Pac-10: Cal at Oregon State

Here it begins for Oregon State. They’ve beaten up the creampuffs of the Pac-10 (plus USC) but now face the best the conference has to offer—and yes, this is the best the conference has to offer.

Cal beat Big Ten co-leader Michigan St., who lost to Ohio State, who then lost to Penn St.

Oregon State lost big to Big Ten co-leader Penn State, who lost to Iowa, who lost to Michigan St.

What does this all mean? I don’t know. I just felt like writing.

SEC: No. 10 Georgia at Auburn

Besides the South Carolina/Florida game, this is the only SEC game that affects the national picture, and that should only be for a half. Auburn was tied with Div. I-AA Tennessee-Martin last week 20-20 midway through the third, and I don’t care what the explanation was. That’s terrible.

Take Georgia (-8) and laugh all the way to the bank. That line is laughable, horrendously so.

My Top 10

1) Alabama (10-0)

2) Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree's team (name another Red Raider for me if you can) (10-0)

3) Texas (9-1)

4) Oklahoma (9-1)

5) Florida (9-1)

6) USC (8-1)

7) Utah (10-0)

8) Penn St. (9-1)

9) Smurf Turfs (10-0)

10) Ohio State (8-2)

Quick Picks (HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

VaTech (+4.5) over MIAMI

Northwestern (+3.5) over M*CH*G*N

Georgia (-8) over AUBURN: I was serious about this—worst, line, ever.

The Under on O/U 71.5 in the Nebraska/K-State game

OREGON (-4) over Arizona

The Over on O/U 79.5 in the Tulsa/Houston game

Oklahoma State (-17) over COLORADO

Lines I’m Staying Away From

All ACC and Notre Dame games.

UCLA (-7) at Washington: When two terrible teams collide, anything can happen.

Rutgers at South Florida (-8): Rutgers is rising, and South Florida is falling. But I still can’t see Rutgers actually winning this game.

Duke at Clemson (-10.5): Funniest line of the week. The Tigers are barely getting double-digits vs. Duke. (I know it’s ACC, but I had to point that out.)

That’s my ADD for the week—hope you all enjoyed it. Rest up for next weekend because it’s gonna be a fun one. Beat M*ch*g*n Week starts after the final gun on Saturday in Champaign.

Tip your wait staff! I'm outta here.

College Football ADD: Week 11

Ryan Stubbs — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:40:44 -0500

For those not interested in reading full articles

Trying to make sense of what happened last weekend?

I’m not going to waste hot air this weekend and argue the atrocities of a system that could leave an undefeated team out of the national championship game. I will, however, bang my head on my desk until I have brain damage at the mere possibility of potential playoff matchups: Texas Tech vs. Florida, Penn State vs. USC, Oklahoma vs. Alabama.

My oh my.

When the NCAA and individual schools corporatize and profit off anything they possibly can, from timeout sponsors to seat licenses, I really cannot understand how they miss out year after year on multimillion-dollar postseason games. They have a bowl named after a credit union and one after very bad cologne...COME ON ALREADY!

Oh, and Pete Carroll, great rant yesterday. Coming from the coach of a team that year after year gets bashed by critics for playing in a weak conference, his teams have gone 5-1 in BCS play in the past six seasons. Yup, I’d want a playoff too.

Enough of that. Next subject please!

- To quote a great man, Harrell to Crabtree, touchdown. That great man was me in my abbreviated preview of the Texas Tech-Texas thriller. What a game...it’s been four days, and I still have no idea how that ball made it into Crabtree’s hands.

- I’m looking for some info on this because it really intrigued me. How do Red Raiders fans tailgate and/or celebrate post-game with Lubbock being in the middle of a dry county? How far do you have to go to get booze, how do the college folk acquire it for parties or game day, etc.?

I know of counties like this in Kentucky, so it really didn’t surprise me too much...minus the fact that there’s a 28,000-student campus in Lubbock.

- Texas Tech didn’t get the only program-defining win this weekend. Georgia Tech’s first-ever ACC win over Florida State was just as clutch for them as the Red Raiders’ was. I made light of the ACC’s Coastal Division championship last weekend, but seriously for Tech, what a win, and they only threw six passes all game. That’s how Paul Johnson does his thing. Kind of the anti-Mike Leach thing.

- I get that the computer polls factor thinks a lot differently than humans do. That’s why I’ll overlook something like Texas still being ranked No. 1 in one of those polls. But whoever the Harris Poll voter was that still gave Texas a No. 1 vote, he needs to have his membership revoked. I want his/her name.

- More poll complaining: To all the members of all the national polls that placed Oklahoma ahead of Texas...that’s my opening statement for a playoff system. Idiots.

- Explain to me why Bret Bielema called that timeout for Wisconsin against Michigan State.

You have two options, coach: 1) Force Michigan State’s kicker Brett Swinson (who was 3-for-3 in FGs on the day) to rush on the field as time was running down to boot the game-winning 44-yard field goal on the fly, or 2) Call timeout, giving Swinson time to relax himself, so you can set up a kick block, which works what...once every 25 times you try it?

This is why Wisconsin will be going to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl—if they’re lucky.

- Other than the obvious Indiana, the remaining teams from the Big Ten that haven’t earned their bowl eligibility yet are Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Purdue. Those are the usual suspects at the top of the Big Ten. Weird to think Minnesota, Northwestern, and Michigan State have already clinched.

- Oregon State...they keep on winning. Only four games left for them to lose—otherwise the Pac-10 Championship is theirs. Let me know when you hear someone else pick up on this.

Michigan State is in the same situation. With three games remaining and only one conference loss, if MSU wins out, they make the BCS game. Of course they have to beat Penn State, but if they do, they’ll be in a complicated Big Ten, three-way tiebreaker that penalizes teams with non-Div. I-A wins. Yup...Ohio State could get screwed by Youngstown St.

- Here’s the answer everyone will be looking for in a few weeks: If Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma all win out and Oklahoma beats Texas Tech, all three teams will be 11-1 with 7-1 conference records and 4-1 divisional records. The tiebreaker in this scenario for who will play in the Big 12 Championship for the South will be the team ranked highest in the BCS Standings.

Please don’t let it come to that...

- I want to see Cincinnati in an upper-tier bowl game this season just to see how they match up. I think they could give a top ACC team a fit in the Gator Bowl. What I don’t want to see is them whup another non-BCS team in the Papajohns.com Bowl (I know, that was a really random thought).

- So much for a Cialis Special for Oklahoma State against Iowa State. Think they’re ready for Saturday night? The two best receivers in the country will be on the field in Dez Bryant and Michael Crabtree. It’s gonna be chaos again in Lubbock.

- Pat Forde: great comparison between Phil Fulmer’s reign in Tennessee and Tubby Smith’s at UK. As a lifelong Wildcats basketball devotee, I couldn’t agree more with the exact parallel. Eerily similar I’d say.

Last Week’s Picks

Texas at Texas Tech: I took the over, 75. I missed by three.

South Florida at Cincinnati: I took UC on the moneyline That’s a yes for me.

Washington at USC: I took USC -45. They almost covered by halftime.

Wisconsin at Michigan State: MSU -4.5, I lost—stupid Wisconsin still thinkin’ they could play football.

Kansas at Kansas State: Thanks for the win on this one KU (-10).

Missouri at Baylor: Took the over 69.5—they only hit 59.

BYU at Colorado State: Took BYU (-14.5), lost.

Arizona State at Oregon State: Took ASU (+15), got it, and they almost won outright.

Total Record: 4-4

Random Thoughts on This Week’s Events

It was rather nice to have a weekend off from Ohio State football and get to enjoy all the games without worrying about when your coach was going to call the QB draw on 2nd-and-7 when everyone knows it's coming, or if your punt returner is going to not fair catch yet another punt and get blasted. Yup, pretty relaxing.

This weekend’s Big Ones

No. 9 Oklahoma State at No. 2 Texas Tech

You tell me what order the Big 12 South’s teams should go in the polls if Ok State knocks off the Red Raiders. Out of protest, I think it should read No. 3—Ok State/Oklahoma/Texas/Texas Tech until they all play their games.

I want to say a lot of points will be scored here tonight, but then again, last week was actually a defensive game until the fourth quarter...odd. I’m pulling for Tech.

No. 1 Alabama at No. 16 LSU

The first time you hear someone from talking-head nation mention the actual players and not the Nick Saban returning to LSU angle, let me know. I haven’t heard it yet.

For as much crap as I’ve given LSU lately about not playing well, they actually rank second, third, or fourth in total yards, rushing yards, passing yards, and points/game in the SEC. This game comes down to John Parker Wilson—you know, the guy whose brother was the QB on MTV’s Two-a-Days . We all remember that show, right?

Wilson's thrown an INT in three of his last four games, and while all the experts will dismiss LSU, I’m thinkin’ this one may be real close thanks to him...home field advantage decides it?

Other Conference Games of Note

ACC: No. 20 Georgia Tech at No. 19 North Carolina

Who had this pegged as the biggest conference game in the ACC this year? These are the two best ACC teams, and we all know my feeling on how good UNC is. Butch Davis is the greatest coach ever—just ask a Browns fan.

Winner gets a one-game lead in the Coastal Division with a tiebreaker. I’m taking the under on O/U 8.5 of how many passes GT attempts. Takers?

Big 12: Baylor at No. 4 Texas

While everyone salivated over the matchup in West Texas last weekend, Baylor almost pulled off a bigger upset in Waco over Missouri. I can see this game being way closer than the 26-point spread the ‘Horns are getting. True freshman QB of the year trophy goes to Robert Griffin of Baylor, hands down. Yes, even over Boise State freshman Kellen Moore.

Big Ten: No. 11 Ohio State at No. 24 Northwestern

I couldn’t go a full article without getting into this matchup. Not gonna happen. The Bucks spent the past two weeks licking their wounds from that Penn State war, thinking about what could’ve, should’ve been (umm...a win would have them sitting around No. 7 right now, with the lowest they could finish being No. 4 if they won out.). OK, I’m still dreaming about what might have been.

Northwestern may have their starting QB back in C.J. Bacher, but without RB Terrell Sutton, I can’t see these ‘Cats beating the Bucks. I’m looking for a big, leave no doubt win this weekend. I’d like to see the defense stand up to the spread, especially if Kafka’s running the show again this weekend, and for Beanie and Pryor to open up more option and option read plays.

All I’m asking for is one option-read pass...one time...I swear it would work.

Big East: Cincinnati at No. 25 West Virginia

The Mountaineers are on a roll...five straight wins since the collapse/most idiotic play calling not done by a man named Weis at Colorado. Cincinnati, on the other hand, just got a visit from Erin Andrews on Thursday Night Football and won convincingly over South Florida. It’s a good time to be a UC fan.

The line says WVa -8—I say take the ‘Cats and the points.

Pac-10: No. 21 Cal at No. 7 USC

Cal has been ranked in the AP Poll three times this season (Sept. 7, Oct. 12, and this week). The previous two times Cal has invalidated that ranking by losing, once to the enigma that is Maryland, the other to the Fighting David Hasselhoffs (Arizona).

That’s the best analysis I can give you as USC has dominated any and all competition this season not named Oregon State or Arizona...and those were completely unexplainable. USC, where unexplainable letdowns happen.

My advice: If you are looking for a teaser bet, add six points and take Cal at +25.5.

SEC: No. 5 Florida at Vanderbilt

The Commodores, remember them? Possibly the worst GameDay selection in history in retrospect as Auburn and Vandy have combined to go 0-6 since. Florida thinks nothing but a rivalry matchup vs. Florida State and a meeting with No. 1 Alabama stand in their path to a BCS Championship berth. Looking past this game would be very easy.

Take the ‘Dores +24, I’m almost certain of it...and no, I didn’t learn my lesson from taking UK +23 against Florida. Thank you.

Non-BCS Game of the Season, thus far: No. 12 TCU at No. 8 Utah

Things I don’t understand about Vegas:

1) How it’s the only place in the U.S. where prostitution is legal.

2) How changing a blackjack dealer makes so much difference (it does, trust me).

3) How more people don’t know about the great brew-pub inside Main Street Station downtown (probably because it’s downtown)

4) How TCU is a 2.5 favorite on the road vs. Utah.

Then I looked at the stats...TCU hasn’t given up more than two TDs in a game all season, minus the Oklahoma game. Further, TCU leads the Mountain West in nearly every major statistical category except total offense (they’re second behind BYU). If you don’t have anything to do Thursday night, and you aren’t a fan of The Office or CSI , you can join me watching this game.

My Top 10

1) Alabama (9-0)

2) Nittany JoePa’s (9-0)

3) Texas Tech (9-0)

4) Texas (8-1)

5) Oklahoma (8-1)

6) Florida (7-1)

7) USC (7-1)

8) Utah (9-0)

9) Oklahoma State Cowboys, sponsored by T. Boone Pickens (8-1)

10) Boise State (8-0)

Quick Picks (pssst, I’m taking the first team)

No. 8 Utah (+2.5) vs. No. 12 TCU

No. 18 Michigan St. (-10) vs. Purdue

No. 13 Georgia (-10.5) at Kentucky

Kansas (-1.5) at Nebraska

No. 6 Oklahoma (-25.5) at Texas A&M

Oregon State (-7.5) at UCLA

Vandy (+24) vs. No. 5 Florida

Lines I’m staying away from

All ACC games

All Notre Dame games from here out as well...what kind of dumb play calling was that, Charlie Tuna?

Illinois (-7) at Western Michigan: Have you seen the Illini lately? I’m not confident in them, and this line seems too easy.

Louisville (+6.5) at Pitt: Which Pitt and/or Louisville teams show up?

Penn State (-7.5) at Iowa: Iowa has lost by 1, 5, 3, and 3 this season...do you really want to mess with that trend?

And that’s my ADD for the week. Hope you all voted yes for all school levies and no on anything that gives a win to Michigan. Tip your wait staff—I’m out.

College Football ADD: Week 10

Ryan Stubbs — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:08:02 -0400

For those of us who don't like full articles about relevant subjects

- Getting it out of the way from the start

1) Pryor has a touchdown if the ball doesn’t get poked out. That’s how I saw it and will never blame him for the effort. It was a great attempt...until...you know.

2) It was good to be back in Ohio Stadium at night.

- Tired of writing two columns, this is now College Football ADD with some betting tips at the end. We’ll also say that maybe the only 20 reads my bettor’s guide got last week had something to do with it.

- Let them commence. Pat Forde and Stewart Mandel already jumped on the train; many of our Bleacher Report writers have done the same and will continue to do so.

Get ready for the most overused phrase of the rest of the season: “BCS Doomsday Scenarios.”

To that I say, let us damn the BCS when all the games have played out. Until then we’re all just wasting hot air.

That’s from a huge advocate of a six or eight-team playoff system.

Me Wasting Hot Air

- I can’t resist—it’s funny to think about certain games playing out in the championship. Like what if undefeated Texas Tech played undefeated Penn State.

Better still is the thought of the unquestioned top two conferences being left out entirely by a Penn State/USC matchup. Talk about an uproar.

- Arizona State (2-5), UCLA (3-5), Cal (5-2), Arizona (5-3), and Oregon (6-2): That’s the schedule that stands in USC’s way of winning the Pac-10 Championship yet again. No, that’s not USC's schedule—it's Oregon State’s, who with every win take one more step toward the auto-BCS berth by having the tiebreaker over USC.

You want to talk real doomsday scenarios—try to figure out what happens if USC ends up as the only one-loss team, yet Oregon State wins the BCS berth.

- Utah and Boise State: At what point or how many losses by teams in front of them do they come into the equation? And just how mad would you be if you were a Utes fan and you picked the one season to knock off Michigan in which it meant nothing? I mean, they might as well have beaten Wyoming twice or played Arkansas State; Alabama’s playing them.

- Is it a letdown for this season if the Big 12 Champ doesn’t play the SEC Champ? With these two conferences getting so much publicity as THE top conferences this season, they don’t have many opportunities to go head to head in the bowls unless they play in the championship game or are aligned as at-larges.

Only bowl matchups in the Cotton or Independence Bowls exist, and those will get teams well after Georgia, Florida, ‘Bama, Oklahoma, Texas, etc. could already be gone to BCS games.

Enough wasting hot air—here are some random thoughts

- Whoever at ABC/ESPN decided they’d play AC/DC all year long, it’s annoying already. I have a feeling we’re gonna be putting up with it for another three months.

- Call me partial, but the GameDay sign reading “Helen Keller is Lou Holtz's Translator” took the lead in my favorite sign of the year, possibly the decade.

- Minnesota’s turnaround is a good story. North Carolina having their injuries derail a potential perfect season is a great story. I’ve been following UNC all season for some reason—OK, the reason is I bet on them a lot—and they are two key injuries from being 8-0 after last year’s 4-8 mark. Major turnarounds for both clubs.

- I have ceased any and all betting on games involving ACC teams for the remainder of the year, including bowl games. Over/Unders, ATSs, moneylines, and most importantly, no teasers at all.

- Florida State is 6-1. Call me after they go through the last five on their schedule of at Georgia Tech, home against Clemson and B.C., and a final road test at Maryland before finishing the season against archrival and potentially BCS-bound Florida.

6-1 is a good start, but if they can even finish 9-3, I’d really be impressed.

- Anyone else get the feeling we just bought a few more years talking about when Bobby Bowden and JoePa will retire? Combined records, 15-1.

- Did you know that at 3-5 Rutgers (who are also 2-2 in conference) sits in fourth of the Big East? If West Virginia beats UConn this weekend, they'll be third. The Big East's only ranked team, No. 23 South Florida, is seventh in the league.

- Arizona, finish the job‚you had it won.

- Only two teams from BCS conferences are officially bowl in-eligible. Both of them reside in the state of Washington.

- Michigan's bowl streak stays alive one more week, then ends with a thud at Minnesota.

- Can someone please introduce Mark Mangino to a salad? He dwarfs Charlie Weis's ego. That's hard to do.

This Week's Elite Games

No. 1 Texas at No. 5 Texas Tech

This concludes Texas’s stretch of games against four straight top 12 opponents. I’ll personally punch Mack Brown in the throat if they win this game and then lose to A&M to end the season. I might not be the only one.

I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more confident in a bet of an Over/Under in my life. Take the over 75.5 in every bet this weekend. I will.

No. 8 Florida at No. 6 Georgia

We have two schools playing as well offensively as they have all season about to meet, and all we can talk about is dancing in the end zone last season. Can we please stop focusing on the stupid repercussions of last season's stupidity and focus on the possibility Mark Richt might be dumb enough to do it again?

Knowshon Moreno became Knowshon Moreno in last season’s game; Florida's defense has improved since that debacle. Who wants a cocktail!

Conference Games of the Week

ACC: No. 15 Florida State at Georgia Tech

Florida State and Georgia Tech both surprised me last week with their performances. If GT loses, it could be the end of their Coastal Division title hopes. Yes, the storied history of the ACC Coastal Division is on the line.

Big 12: No. 1 Texas at No. 5 Texas Tech

I discussed already, so all I will say is, Harrell to Crabtree...touchdown. Go Red Raiders! Shoot ‘em up!

Big Ten: Northwestern at No. 17 Minnesota

What a terrible weekend of football games in the Big Ten. Northwestern just lost to Indiana and will be without leading rusher Tyrell Sutton. Minnesota needs this one to stay alive in the New Year’s Day bowl game debate and/or relevance in general.

Big East: No. 23 South Florida at Cincinnati

The Thursday Night game on ESPN should be renamed "The Place Where We Hype Up the Big East for a Night." I like the underdog Bearcats so much, I'm taking them on the moneyline this week.

Pac-10: Washington at No. 5 USC

Why would I watch this game? To see if the Trojans hit 100. The line is 45. 45! Yeah...padding the stats time.

SEC: Tennessee at South Carolina

Other than the Cocktail Fight, this game has the most importance in the SEC this weekend. A Tennessee loss forces them to win out to remain bowl eligible. A Gamecocks win means Spurrier gets to tell funny jokes about beating Tennessee.

Quick Bets

Take

Michigan State (-4.5) vs. Wisconsin

Kansas (-10) vs. K-State

Missouri at Baylor’s Over at 69.5

BYU (-14.5) at Colorado State

Arizona St. (+15) at Oregon State

Stay away from these games

Northwestern at Minnesota (-7.5)—too much uncertainty with both teams.

Michigan at Purdue (-1.5)—which 2-6 team do you like?

All ACC games—I’m serious. I’m like 2-17 over the last 19 games I’ve tried picking. The ACC is a coin flip.

Oregon at Cal (-3)—I can’t figure these teams out either.

That’s all I have for the week—we went short. Tip your wait-staff. I’m out.

College Football ADD: Week Nine

Ryan Stubbs — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:33:22 -0400

I’ll show you where you can put your status quo.

- The past two seasons have followed the status quo for order and normalcy in college football like the Saturday night drunkard follows the white line. In other words...not so much.

- You can call it parity, you can call it roller-coasterish, you can even call it unsettling, but do not call it boring. I’ve seen more good football games, and well played football games at that, than I’ve seen in any one season in a while. This just in: Colt McCoy just completed another pass against Missouri.

- Let me get my homerisms out of the way early so you don’t get shocked by them later. I cannot wait to be in the Horseshoe Saturday night. Forecast: 45 degrees and rain. That’s football weather a fan should be proud of.

The last time there was a night game in the ‘Shoe was No. 2 Texas vs. No. 5 Ohio State in 2005. That game was phenomenal, and although Ohio State lost, the one thing I will never forget was the noise. I’ve never heard a place louder.

The energy, the excitement, and the passion from players on both sides of the field will be a mile high. This is only the fourth night game in Ohio Stadium history, so unlike schools that have this as a weekly occurrence, this is a special and rare night for players and students.

- And for everyone who thinks this is a “statement game” for Ohio State, you forget: They haven’t had a problem with statement games in the Big Ten—it’s all the rest. I’ll tell you right now, if Ohio State wins, the quotes you’ll hear all across talking-head nation will be, “Well yeah, of course they won, it was a Big Ten game, but they can’t win anything else.” Mark my words.

- Terrelle Pryor, please just shut your mouth and let your extraordinary talent do the talking. You playing the “nobody believed in me” card is like the Yankees saying they ran out of money. My final request—please just play football.

- How ‘bout them Cowboys? That’s the headline you’ll see on at least one major sports website, if not 17, if Oklahoma State can pull the upset on Texas. I don’t see it happening, just because Texas is absolutely crushing teams right now, but what an uprising it would be if both Texas and Penn State lost this weekend. And wait...there was another completion by McCoy.

- The referee who lowered his shoulder and nearly decleated South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia participated in one of the most unintentionally hilarious plays I’ve seen in college football in a while.

- Overheard Scott Van Pelt on ESPN Radio talking about how he knows all the fight songs in college football because of the NCAA video game. He may not know what team they are for, but as soon as they start up, he can hum along to every note. The game’s songs subliminally slip into your mind.

I wholeheartedly second that remark. I realized it was true about four years ago at an OSU/Marshall game when Marshall’s band started playing the fight song and I was humming along unwittingly.

- Awful Announcing just informed me that Tom Brady was mentioned 22 times during Monday Night Football this past week by Tony Kornheiser. Matt Cassel, the guy actually playing in the football game, was mentioned nine times. I know that has nothing to do with college football except that, at one time, both of those players were in college.

- Every team in the AP Top 25 that lost last weekend lost to either a ranked team or on the road. Home cookin’ did most everyone good.

- That being said, this week has quite a few tricky road games for ranked teams.

No. 2 Alabama at Tennessee: Rivalry games are always a tough call.

No. 8 Texas Tech at No. 19 Kansas: The Jayhawks went toe-to-toe with the Sooners, while Texas Tech went toe-to-toe with A&M. I’m just saying, Tech hasn’t impressed me with a complete game yet, and I’ve been totally on the Graham Harrell/Michael Crabtree bandwagon from the start.

No. 14 South Florida at Louisville: I just can’t tell how good South Florida is, and I’ve yet to be able to explain how they lost to Pitt.

No. 25 Minnesota at Purdue: An overachieving team on the road is always an upset alert.

- That just seemed odd to type, No. 25 Minnesota. I'm interested to see where they end up.

- Notice I didn’t include USC in those games. That was on purpose. Sorry Wildcat fans, I wouldn’t hold my breath for another Trojan oops...

- I’m still at a loss about BYU's stunning thud against TCU. Not that TCU is a bad team by any means, but BYU was gaining momentum in the “should we really think about putting them in the National Championship” debate. I mean, we were ready to take that next step in the relationship, and then they went out and did this? I'm over you, BYU...over.

Random stat of the week that made me go huh?

- Now you know: The top three leaders in receiving yards hail from Conference USA (Aldrick Robinson and Emmanuel Sanders of SMU, Jarrett Dillard of Rice), and five of the top eight are from there. The Pac-10 leader for receiving (Mike Thomas, Arizona) comes in at No. 35 nationally. Not what I’d expect from what always is perceived as the wide-open passing conference.

- Notre Dame at Washington...if Washington stays within two TDs, it’s as good as a win. Bad times for college football in Washington as their two Pac-10 teams have combined for a 1-13 record—0-13 vs. DI-A opponents. Actually, bad times for any football in Washington—the Seahawks are 1-5.

- The state of Oklahoma’s combined record is 20-1 between Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Tulsa. Quite a contrast, huh?

- Underachievers of the Week Bowl: Illinois at Wisconsin. And I still had faith in Wisconsin until last week.

- Running a close second: Auburn at West Virginia. There aren’t rankings beside these teams’ names because neither of them is ranked. Actually, neither of them even received votes last week. So you can raise your hand if you had this on your "Top 10 Games of the Year" ballot in the preseason. Don't be shy, my hand is up too.

Conference Talk of the Week: The Big Ten

For those who don’t like Big 10 football (I’d say...83 percent of football fans), feel free to skip down past this section, but this week I’m highlighting the Big Ten. Why? Because it’s my article.

- The Cialis Special: Well, last week Penn State did suffer from the Cialis Special for about a half. Then they had some foreplay, slowly got into it, and recovered to dominate with 39 unanswered points.

This week I call for Michigan State, once again vs. Michigan, to suffer from the Cialis Special. Last week’s game was a huge letdown for the Big Ten Championship-aspiring Spartans. Now they have an injured QB to go along with an injured ego, and big brother—no matter how horrendous they may look—is next up.

- Penn State had touchdowns of 44, 42, 32, and 80 yard last week. Hey James, Ross, Marcus...that mean you three, as linebackers, need to stay at home. Lots of cutbacks from these speedy guys.

- Northwestern’s game next week vs. Minnesota will be the biggest surprise matchup of the season and could potentially feature two 7-1 teams.

- Can someone please explain to me what happened to Wisconsin? Besides the fact that P.J. Hill has touched the ball only 23 times in the past two games? They threw the ball 41 times at Iowa.

- Penn State and Northwestern are a combined 14-1. Penn State and Northwestern are the only teams in the Big Ten to not play a Top 25 opponent. Yet there Northwestern sits at No. 19 in the BCS computer rankings.

- The Big Ten will have a hard time getting eight teams bowl eligible again. And we all know Michigan isn’t a factor.

- OK, I’ll talk about it. Lou Holtz...well, we should’ve seen this day coming. The day Lou lost his mind and just said something utterly un-defendable. I mean, the Colt McCoy was a dead giveaway that this was right around the corner, right? I’m just glad that when it happened, he referred to the leader of my sworn enemy as the Fuhrer.

Now if we can just axe Mark May too.

Conference Games of the Week

ACC: Virginia Tech at No. 23 Florida State

The last time Florida State played a lockdown defense, they managed only three points vs. Wake Forest. VaTech is only two spots behind Wake in total defense and ranks first in turnover margin. Take from that what I’m implying. Also take the under.

Big 12: No. 6 Oklahoma State at No. 1 Texas

That’s a game vs. the No. 1, No. 11 and No. 6 teams in the nation back-to-back-to-back for Texas, and as long as they win and Texas Tech wins, it will be another game next week vs. a top 12 opponent. That is the definition of “strength of schedule.” Oh, Colt McCoy just completed another pass.

Big East: No. 16 South Florida at Louisville

I already mentioned it earlier, and this game is the tops for a Big East slate that’s actually full of good games this week. Louisville is only playing their second league game.

Big Ten: No. 3 Penn State at No. 9 Ohio State

Loved the sign last weekend in Beaver Stadium that read “Blue Royster Cult.” Made me chuckle a bit.

Daryll Clark, Evan Royster, welcome to the ‘Shoe. Daryll Clark actually got playing time as a freshman vs. Ohio State, but it was in the mop-up capacity. Insert all the adjectives and normal euphemisms here and we’ll just move on, OK?

Pac-10: No. 5 USC at Arizona

I’d watch this game only to see if USC’s “Why the hell did we lose to Oregon State?” Tour continues. They are taking the wood to every team they can—Arizona is this week’s victim.

SEC: No. 7 Georgia at No. 13 LSU

Elimination game for the loser, and for Georgia it's game number two in a stretch of three straight ranked opponents.

My Top 10

1) Texas

2) Alabama

3) Penn State

4) Oklahoma State

5) Oklahoma

6) Texas Tech

7) USC

8) Georgia

9) Florida

10) Ohio State

Take a good long look at my Top 10—it won't look anything like that next week. So if you have a problem with this week's edition, wait 'til next week to complain and see if I did it better for ya.

Only six more weeks of regular season football to go. Enjoy it, and the debates that follow, while they last.

College Football ADD: The Review/Preview for the Short Attention Span

Ryan Stubbs — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:33:16 -0400

Road Trip!

- Time to pack up the old wagon and load up on the grillable items: It’s time for some road trips. Twelve of the top 25 teams in the Coaches’ Poll are on the road this Saturday, and 13 of 25 for the AP poll. Gonna be a lot of home teams hoping for the upsets this week.

- The ACC’s leaders in both the Coastal and Atlantic Divisions will be on the road this weekend. Florida State, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest all travel for conference games.

- North Carolina, coming off both a clutch and controversial win (but it was against Notre Dame, so 95 percent of the country doesn’t care about Notre Dame’s complaints), will play in Charlottesville against the enigma that is the Virginia Cavaliers football team. The Tar Heels haven’t won there since 1981. Virginia doesn't know if they want to be good or dreadfully horrible this week.

- Texas has the toughest stretch of games in the country. I said it two weeks ago, and now this is all that ESPN will talk about. Why couldn’t they have listened to my rants earlier? I feel like I’m getting scooped.

- Nothing could’ve stunned me more on Saturday than Missouri’s loss to Oklahoma State. That has nothing to do with my faith, or lack thereof, in the Cowboys, but more about what I thought of the Tigers. If I was stranded on a desert island and could only pick one of this weekend’s games to bring with me, it’d be Missouri at Texas in Austin. This one will be fun.

- Anyone remember when Skip Holtz was going to be the next major college football hire?

- I’m both rubbing it in and stating a fact at the same time when I say I knew Michigan would have epic issues this year. I believe my direct words were “a Notre Dame-like collapse from greatness.”

- In order for Michigan to finish better than the Domers' 3-9 mark from last season, they’ll have to win a game where they won’t be favored—which is funny to say when you see that they’ll be underdogs at Minnesota and home vs. Northwestern.

- ADD(ers), I need help. We need to replace the term “trap/letdown game” or “look-ahead game”. It’s annoying, overused and most of all, not catchy enough.

My suggestions for a new phrase:

1) The “Cialis Special.” Ex: Ohio State suffered a Cialis Special last week. They couldn’t get up for Purdue with Michigan State and Penn State to look forward to. (also known as an “E.D. Game”)

2) Saying a team “Tommy Bowden-ed” it. Ex: With their 6-0 start all but assured heading into their matchup vs. Georgia this week, Vanderbilt “Tommy Bowden-ed it” against a lesser Mississippi State team.

- Penn State fans...I believe you are about to learn why Ohio State fans have an undying hatred for Mark May. His quote: “...the bottom line is that I still have to see more out of this team before I put it with the top echelon.”

It’s the same BS we’ve listened to (and unfortunately at times, lived up to) for years. He’s more annoying than JoePa when he has to take a crap in the middle of the second quarter.

- Anyone want to ask Tommy Bowden what he's doing this weekend? I've got an extra ticket to the Clemson game.

- Vandy fans...yes, all 32 of you—explain something to me. Mackenzi Adams goes 13-of-23 for 153 yards and your two TDs in the win over Auburn while replacing completely ineffective Chris Nickson. So Bobby Johnson is dumb enough to start Nickson again last week vs. Mississippi State.

You deserved to lose because of that move alone. Nickson is TERRIBLE! And I guess Johnson now agree: Adams was named the starter for this week. At least he didn’t make that decision a week late or anything.

- Maryland is the most unexplainable team in the country, more so than Virginia, ECU, or Minnesota. But the Terrapins are also the team that kept Cal from an undefeated record on the season.

Cal is quietly undefeated in Pac-10 play, have a win over what week after week looks like a legit Michigan State team, and head into this week’s game in Tucson with hopefully a recovered and rested Jahvid Best.

Insert the “we’ve heard it before” remarks here as pertaining to Cal after their fall from grace last season (from 5-0 and No. 2 in the nation to 7-6 after their Armed Forces Bowl victory), but it very well could happen again.

Before you go jumping on the Bears bandwagon, let it be known they finish the season with games at Arizona, home vs. UCLA and then a three-game stretch of Oregon, at USC, and at Oregon State. Tough trails.

- If I hear the phrase “it’s just the beginning of a happy go fun day” one more time...I may snap. State Farm has this year’s “There’s only one October!” most annoying commercial of the year title. And I still dislike Dane Cook.

- I hate when I read an article and have absolutely no way to write it better or add to it. Stewart Mandel, well said about people complaining about the stupid polls. You took the unwritten words right off my keyboard.

Every team in the Top 25 has at least five weeks of games left. Five weeks ago, USC was No. 1 and Auburn, Wisconsin, East Carolina, Arizona State, Illinois, Oregon, Fresno State, and West Virginia were all ranked in the AP Poll. UCLA was No. 26.

The Cialis Special

Since I coined the phrase (OK, I can’t lie, my buddy did), I have to use it. This week’s E.D. game is Michigan at Penn State.

I’ve taken my hacks at the Wolverines, but they still have won nine straight over the Nittany Lions. That’s right, nine times... (Principal Mooney voice).

Penn State has a No. 3 ranking and all sorts of expectations leading into their game at Ohio State next week. Can they avoid the Cialis Special?

SEC Focus

I’m focusing on the SEC this week as I bask in the glory of calling out, and yelling at certain people on Bleacher Report, that LSU was a fraud.

But then again, I don’t know if I want this obligation. I mean, you look at how the SEC could shake out and tell me what to write.

Things that confuse me:

- What does Florida’s drubbing of LSU tell us? That they forgot what a draw play was vs. Ole Miss, or that Ole Miss should be the favorite to win out in the SEC West?

- Does Georgia know what the term “convincingly” means?

- How bad is Auburn? And for the love of God, tell me West Virginia beats them on Oct. 23. Otherwise, we revert back to the whole “out-of-conference superiority” thing where people (by people, I mean SEC fans) believe Auburn is good but are merely a victim of the tough SEC conference. I’ve watched Auburn four times this season (MSU through Vandy games): defense gets a B+, offense gets a negative four.

- My SEC thought of the week that’s made just to confuse you: Texas goes undefeated and earns their spot in the BCS championship game. No. 2 Alabama is undefeated heading into the SEC championship where they face Georgia, who won out and sit at 11-1 and No. 3 in the polls.

Georgia beats Alabama. Both are now 12-1 with a split in the season series, and both games played in Georgia.

My question, does Stewart Mandel’s head explode? Or would Pat Forde’s do it first? I'm going with Lou Holtz's because Colt McCoy is involved.

- Which game will be more important to end the season: Georgia Tech at Georgia, Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, or Auburn at Alabama? Look over those games for a second, really think about it, and you’ll come to the conclusion that you just don’t know right now.

- I said LSU would lose at least three of its next five prior to the Florida game. They only need two of four now, and I could see another one of those this weekend against South Carolina.

If you haven’t paid attention, South Carolina’s won four straight. Often erratic, always unreliable Chris Smelley (aka, greatest QB name other than Casey Dick) has been finally replaced as the Gamecocks' starting QB, and we all know Spurrier is good for pulling off one SEC upset a season (Georgia ’07, almost Florida in ’06, Florida in ’05).

- Kentucky’s defense has given up only three touchdown drives of 30-plus yards. Two of them were the result of the big play: a 62-yard pass by Middle Tennessee State and a 78-yard run by Alabama.

Enough SEC(bs)

Every week, I seem to come across a stat line or historical reference that dumbfounds me. This marks the second time this year it involved Nebraska. This is from ESPN.com Big 12 blogsman Brett Edgerton:

During the past seven seasons, 63 of the 65 BCS conference teams have beaten a team ranked higher than 20th in the AP poll. ... Just two teams have not.

One of them is the Duke Blue Devils, and that should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed college football at any point in the past 70 years.

But the other? Oh, the other is a whole different story altogether. That second team is the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers, a program that is steeped in tradition and ruled most of the 1990s with an iron fist.

Sorry for the triple stomach punch Huskers fans (that being on top of the overtime loss to Texas Tech and the first 0-2 conference start since 1968), but things always seem the worst when Duke is involved.

Conference Viewing Schedule

Just to inform you, this is my opinion based on which game I’d like to watch/think is most important, not what the media believes. So last week, when everyone told me Penn State/Wisconsin was a better game than Michigan State/Northwestern, well, how’d that work out?

ACC: Virginia Tech at Boston College

Last year’s ACC Game of the Year is about the 16th-most important this weekend. Yeah, yeah, the ACC’s improving its status every week. Uh huh, call me when someone plays a complete game two weeks in a row.

Big East: Connecticut at Rutgers?

Yeah, that’s a question.

Big 12: No. 16 Kansas at No. 4 Oklahoma

Why? Because Kansas is the last undefeated team in the Big 12 North and have a whole lot more to lose than Missouri this weekend.

Same goes for Oklahoma as opposed to Texas. If Texas loses it will be because they faced two tough tests in a row. If the Sooners lose, it will be a two-game losing streak, regardless of the competition.

And never sleep on the team coached by the defending wing eating champion of Lawrence, Kan.

Big Ten: No. 12 Ohio State at No. 20 Michigan State

Ohio State fans (myself included) are on edge for this one. First, even if we win the game, we’re more concerned about how we look winning the game.

After last week’s performance, most of the Buckeyes faithful are ready to hang ‘em up against Penn State already.

Michigan St. superstud Javon Ringer will be out to prove one last time that the Buckeyes slighted him in recruiting four years ago. He hasn’t had much success vs. the Bucks in his career though, with 34 carries for 125 yards (3.6 ypc) and zero TDs.

Pac-10: No. 25 Cal at Arizona

I swear, Cal may be legit as long as they don’t have to go back to the East Coast.

SEC: Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama

I pick this because I’m really interested to see if ‘Bama can put together a complete game again like they did vs. Georgia, or if they mail it in like they did vs. Kentucky. Plus, Ole Miss did win in the Swamp—they won’t be intimidated by the Tide.

The College Football Bettor's Guide

Ryan Stubbs — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:00:07 -0400

Polls, rankings, lists, and comparisons. That’s what Bleacher Report is filled with, whether it be in the NCAA Football section, MLB, NBA, or anything else. Everyone’s giving his or her different opinion in the same way.

How does someone that wants to get read break into this madness?

You write about something no one else is writing about, at least not for college football.

Who here likes to gamble? That’s right, folks—I’m doing it whether you like it or not. We’re doing a weekly review/preview gambling article.

For all of us with extra money just lying around because we’re all making a killing in the stock market, this will be for you.

My qualifications: None, but what are your qualifications? I’ve gone 59-39-3 ATS so far this season in my personal picks, including a record-breaking (my own personal record breaker) 14-5 last week (missed Utah, Vanderbilt, USC, Kansas, and Cal).

My landmark claims this season: covered Ole Miss over Florida, Ball St. over Indiana, ECU over Virginia Tech, and Utah over Michigan. Nothing spectacular, but I don't wager on ridiculous games either.

Other than that, you can trust me or you can trust yourself—and I don’t know a damn thing about you, so why would I trust you?

Let’s get to the part of the column where I say what I think, and then on Saturday get proven wrong hopefully under half the time.

Next week I'll do this column with a review of the week before, including last second spread-busters, games that destroyed the over/under, and moneyline miracles (defined as underdogs that, had you bet on them, would’ve made you a lot of money).

(Notice all referenced lines come directly from Bodog.com on Thursday.)

If You Can’t Wait 'til Saturday

Louisville at Memphis

My Pick: Louisville -7

This is definitely the friendliest line of all the pre-Saturday games. Louisville may not be the elite team they were just three seasons ago, but they aren’t chopped liver either, and they don’t lose to non-BCS teams. Unless DeAngelo Williams makes a surprise return to the Memphis sidelines, Louisville rolls.

Top 25 Movers

There’s been some heavy movement among some lines since they opened Monday. Here are the biggest movers in the Top 25 games.

Nebraska at No. 7 Texas Tech

Opened at: Texas Tech -18.5

Now at: TT -21.5

My Pick: I’ll be taking Tech up to the point the spread reaches -25.

Heavy betting on Texas Tech’s side after the smashing Nebraska received at home last weekend. We also don’t know what to expect from the road Huskers as this is their first trip away from Lincoln this season.

But if last season is any indication, Nebraska tanked after their blowout loss to Missouri, covering the spread just one time in the next four games and only twice the rest of the season.

Notre Dame at No. 22 North Carolina

Opened at: UNC -5.5

Now at: UNC -8.0

My Pick: I’m taking Notre Dame +8.

The lack of faith in the Domers is understandable after last season. But having seen Notre Dame play vs. San Diego State, and then again the past two weeks, the difference is remarkable. UNC has covered three of the past four games while Notre Dame, has covered everything but their Michigan St. loss.

Top 25’s Marquee Games

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Texas

My Pick: Take the Over (56.5), leave the spread alone (Oklahoma -7).

As you’ll see later on, my picks of the week are listed below. Very rarely do they include games such as these marquee bouts. They’re too unpredictable. Even more unpredictable are rivalry games where records mean nothing—enter the Red River Rivalry.

Oklahoma has covered every single week thus far (including costing me a six-team parlay in their week two beating of Cincinnati), and Texas has done the same. If I were to bet this game, I’d take the over (currently at 56.5) and just sit back and watch these offenses go to work.

No. 4 LSU at No. 11 Florida

My Pick: Florida at -6

O/U: 47, take the under.

Not to upset any more Tigers fans, but I just haven’t been too thrilled with their play thus far. Not that Florida’s loss to Ole Miss was great by any means, but LSU just doesn’t say “BET ON ME!” I like the under in this one, but most importantly take Florida ATS.

No. 17 Oklahoma State at No. 3 Missouri

My Pick: Missouri at -14

O/U: 80, take the under, watch the game, and if they hit 80 you at least saw a lot of fun touchdowns.

I saw Tulsa’s O/U last week at 76 and chuckled a little bit. They covered. I see this O/U this week and I don’t know so much about this one. However, the line...Missouri’s demolition of Nebraska last week drove up the Texas Tech/Nebraska line this week. I just can’t bet against Missouri right now, not with how they’re playing.

Games, Nay, Lines I Love!

Arkansas at Auburn

My Pick: Arkansas +18.5. But not the moneyline—don’t get crazy.

I am all over this game after the turmoil in Tuber-ville (get it?). Ron Franklin out as OC, a double-digit line, and an opponent that has shown no signs of life all season. Sounds like a recipe for an out-of-the-blue ATS upset!

No. 23 Michigan State at Northwestern

My Pick: Michigan State at -2. A lot on MSU at -2.

I want nothing to do with this O/U (you’ll find I like lines much more than the O/Us), but I absolutely love the line. MSU’s seven-point, cross-country loss to Cal is looking better by the week, and since that opening loss they’ve been a great bet...until last week.

Northwestern, however, is an enigma in a bettor’s life: covering vs. Syracuse and Iowa, not covering vs. Duke and Ohio U.

South Carolina at Kentucky

My Pick: UK at -1.5, and even though Chris Smelley is involved, take the Over on +/-39.

This opened at even and was just .5 yesterday. I like the ‘Cats in this one as Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina record in road SEC games is 7-7 with exactly one win as underdog.

Minnesota at Illinois

My Pick: Illinois -13. Illinois may win by 40.

Opened at -11 and now sits at -13. After what Juice Williams just did on the road to Michigan, it will be hard for me to pick against them the rest of the season. They aren’t getting the respect they deserve because they’re a two-loss team, but those losses were vs. No. 3 Mizzou and No. 7 Penn St. They won by 25 on the road last week against a better team...

Other Quick Picks (Home in bold)

Miami (FL) -17 over Central Florida.

Colorado +14 at Kansas

Cincinnati -7.5 vs. Rutgers

West Virginia -24...hell, take it if it gets to 80 over Syracuse.

Arizona -6 at Stanford

TCU -15 at Colorado St.

Utah -23 at Wyoming

Take the over in the Arizona State at USC game. It sits at only 46.5 right now, and I don’t care who the QBs are—they’ll top that.

Underdog Moneyline Picks

I’ve got nothing for you this week. I’m not making a stab prediction on something I wouldn’t bet. Closest thing I could say would be Notre Dame over North Carolina, but I don’t know that they win.

Gambling rule I’m breaking this week

Too many road favorites. You should only bet a few road favorites each week, because definitively home teams perform better than expected. But as lines will do, they’ve enticed me. We’ll see how this plays out this week, but don’t bet on me making five road favorites a regular selection.

Games I want no part of

UCLA (+11) at Oregon. Both teams have been all over the place.

Kansas State (-3) at Texas A&M. Don’t try to correctly pick the week A&M gets their lone conference win.

Vanderbilt (+3) at Mississippi State. Let down game, trap bet line, team with unheard-of high expectations. Just too many negative vibes here.

Purdue (+19) at No. 12 Ohio State. I make it a personal rule of mine to never bet on the Buckeyes. It’s heartbreaking enough to watch the Alma Mater lose, but to lose and lose a bet, well, that’s a double stomach punch. But honestly, I don’t like this line. OSU has only beaten Purdue by 20+ one time in the past seven matchups. But that leads me to...

My steadfast gambling rules (there are only five)

No. 1: Never, ever, ever, ever bet a game that you have a personal interest in. It skews your thinking no matter how much you believe it doesn’t.

No. 2: When bad weather is imminent, bet the under with a passion. Witness UConn at Temple and the other windstorm games from Week Two. Or any game with a hurricane. No, the Hurricane’s name was not Ditka.

No. 3: Never bet a late WAC or Pac-10 game just because you did poorly on the earlier games. Take your beating for the week and recover next week. Or, if you’re a compulsive gambler on multiple sports, you should have your picks ready for Sunday...double the wagers.

No. 4: Never bet on a game involving Iowa. That’s a rule that really only applies to me. They screwed me a few years back on three consecutive weeks of big parlays, and so I added it to the list.

No. 5: If you ever find the urge to take Idaho, UL-Lafayette/Monroe, or Utah State with the points, do two things. 1) Reconsider. 2) If you’ve reconsidered and you still want to go through with it, place the bet and contact me first thing Sunday morning to let me know I was right and you were wrong.

All right, there’s my first edition. Let’s see how this goes. Honestly, I don’t even know if Bleacher Report will allow a story about College Football gambling, so that’s an experiment in itself.

Hope all your bets hit, and enjoy some entertaining football this weekend! Cheers.

College Football ADD: The Weekly Review for Short Attention Spans

Ryan Stubbs — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:52:12 -0400

For those of us who can’t pay attention for full articles, only the finer points.

Best week of college football yet this season: lunch with the Cotton Bowl, an afternoon snack of upstarts (UNC-Notre Dame, Michigan State-N’Western), and a fine dinner of pick your own cuisine.

If you’d like a slobber knocker, go with the SEC’s premier matchup of Florida-LSU. If you’d like a “First to 60 points wins” type of game, watch Missouri-Oklahoma State. And if you’d like to watch a senior citizen try to figure out why the ground is shaking, watch Penn State at Wisconsin. I can’t wait for Saturday.

The most unexplainable loss of last week was Maryland losing to Virginia 31-0. Even the Fridge was left speechless after the game. Asked of his thoughts, his response was, “I don’t know, I just don’t know.” Losing to Virginia—it’ll leave you speechless.

The Red River Rivalry is just as much about how the defense plays as how the offense plays. Talking heads are blathering on and on about Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy but these two teams rank one and two in the Big 12 in total defense and scoring defense.

Oklahoma’s defense, more specifically corners Dominique Franks and Brian Jackson, will be in charge of keeping the ‘Horns wideouts in check, forcing Colt McCoy into check downs and scrambling. McCoy has done well with running the ball thus far, but he also hasn’t faced a defense that flies around like the Sooners.

Two stats I found interesting in looking into this game: Texas WR Jordan Shipley has seven touchdowns so far this season on only 24 receptions. That’s a TD once every 3.4 catches.

The other stat: Last year was the first time since 1997 the win margin was within a touchdown. Not a lot of tight nail-biters at the Texas State Fair. But plenty of fried food!

Can’t blame the defense: Kirk Ferentz and the term hot seat are becoming pretty synonymous with one another these days. Being the second-highest paid coach in the Big Ten (and the highest paid state employee in Iowa) and yet owner of a 3-3 record does that to a guy.

But you can’t blame the Hawkeyes defense. They own the nations’ second-best scoring defense at 11.2 points/game and just held Javon Ringer (the nation’s second-leading rusher...I’m feeling a lot of seconds in this segment) to his second (again!) lowest output of the season and first game without a touchdown.

I said it last week: South Florida would lose if George Selvie didn’t regain his dominance on the outside. He had two tackles and zero sacks. USF lost to a Pitt team that apparently voters forgot lost to 2-3 Bowling Green.

What I like about Vanderbilt’s win over Auburn: They finally moved the ball through the air. Their defense has been stifling all season, but until they at least had some semblance of a passing game, this team wasn’t going anywhere.

What I didn’t like about Vanderbilt’s win over Auburn: They’re still only averaging 230 yards of total offense in SEC play. Grind it out all you want, but games at Georgia and vs. Florida won’t be won without some offense.

I want to know the last time a true freshman led a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter in his first road start against a top 25 team. Lots of variables there, I know, but that’s exactly what Terrelle Pryor just did. Tough to think of the last person that did that. Anyone that wants to help is more than welcome to.

Chris Wells is averaging 130 yards/game in the three games he’s played. If he were eligible for the NCAA leaderboards, he would rank ninth in the country in that department. His 7.97 yards per carry would be fourth. And no, I’m not bitter about his three-week hiatus that cost him the Heisman.

Welcome to a new BCS hell: not just one non-BCS conference eligible team, but multiple. Better yet, what if both BYU and Utah are top 10 teams before their bout in Salt Lake, and then go out and stage an epic battle? Feelings could get hurt in this one.

Conference Viewing Schedule

ACC: Clemson at No. 22 Wake Forest (Thursday night)

Wake had a week off to recover from their stunning letdown against Navy. Clemson had a week off to recover from their quite normal collapse against a middling ACC team. Watch Sam Swank in this one.

Big 12: Iowa State at Baylor, Saturday at 7:00

I’m kidding—of course I’m going with the Red River Rivalry/Shootout on this one. All I’m asking for is a close game that holds my attention until the 3:30 games start. If this is a blowout and I’m forced to watch Iowa at Indiana on the Big Ten Network for entertainment value, I’ll be very salty.

Big Ten: No. 23 Michigan State at (undefeated) Northwestern, Saturday at 3:30

You don’t hold Javon Ringer down for two straight games—you just don’t. I’m sorry, Coach Fitzgerald, but Michigan State will run all over you no matter how highly ranked your defense got against the likes of Syracuse, Southern Illinois, Ohio, etc.

Big East: Rutgers at Cincinnati, Saturday at Noon

Yup, this is the best the Big East has to offer this week. However, Cincy’s only loss was against Oklahoma. Rutgers' only win was vs. Morgan State.

Pac-10: Arizona State at No. 8 USC, Saturday at 3:30

Talk about brutal scheduling: The Sun Devils are in the midst of a three-game losing streak to UNLV, Georgia, and Cal, and now get rewarded with USC and Oregon back-to-back. Mitch Mustain, have fun.

SEC: No. 4 LSU at No. 11 Florida, Saturday at 8:00

I’m calling it right now: This is the game where we finally see how overrated LSU is. Percy Harvin and Tim Tebow are going to have a field day against a rush defense that bulked up its stats versus some of the worst rushing teams in the country. I believe this is the beginning of LSU losing three of their next five.

Do you get the sense I don’t believe in LSU?

Players having big weeks (anyone playing Arkansas not included)

Sam Bradford (Oklahoma)

I think he gets the better of Colt McCoy in the Cotton Bowl. Call it a gut feeling because you can’t tell anything about these two by comparing stats. They’re identical. Actually, they may be the same person.

Nate Davis (Ball St.)

Lose your best receiver to a career-ending injury? No problem for Nate Davis and the Cardinals, who upon getting ranked for the first time in school history get to hear all sorts of talk about...David Letterman. Davis will have fun with Western Kentucky this week.

Brandon Tate (North Carolina)

OK, Butch Davis, you got your stage for a statement game with lots of people watching. Of course they’re watching because they’re Notre Dame fans and gluttons for punishment (insert glutton joke about Charlie Weis here).

Brandon Tate is averaging 23.5 yards per reception, ranks third in the country in punt return average, and has the speed to break a play at any time.

If there’s one glaring thing Notre Dame has struggled with all season, it’s the big gain.

Enjoy this week’s slate...don’t let your eyes glaze over too much.

College Football ADD: Week Six Edition

Ryan Stubbs — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:16:53 -0400

For those of us who don’t enjoy full articles, but only the finer points.

- If Wake Forest doesn’t have Sam Swank, they’re 1-3 heading into next week’s game vs. Clemson. If Wake Forest doesn’t have Sam Swank, Ole Miss is 4-1 (2-0 in the SEC West) and their win over Florida isn’t nearly as shocking. By the way, Sam Swank is Wake’s All-American kicker.

- LSU as the nation’s No. 3 team confuses me. They have a negative turnover differential. They have pounded on a Div. I-AA opponent and the worst team in Div. I-A. They reluctantly beat Mississippi State. I’ll get behind LSU right about the time that they impress against Florida. I held out on ‘Bama until last week...now I’m a believer.

- If the round robin tournament that is the Big 12 conference schedule doesn’t make you excited to watch college football, you need to find a new sport to follow. The NHL is in training camp and the English Premier League is only two months in. Those are my suggestions to you.

- George Selvie has disappeared in the Bulls defense this season with only 2.0 sacks and 4.0 tackles for loss. He had 14.5 sacks last season with 31.5 TFL and was the key spark in big early season wins over Auburn (1.5 sacks, 3.5 TFL), North Carolina (three sacks and five TFL), and West Virginia (one sack, two TFL).

Since the West Virginia game, Selvie has only had 7.0 sacks and 19.5 TFL in 14 games. The Bulls need a big game from him tonight vs. Pitt.

- If I could attend one game this weekend, it would be No. 4 Missouri at Nebraska. Missouri’s last win at Nebraska was in 1978. While I’d bet the farm the Tigers haven’t had a team nearly this talented in that time since, that’s a pretty big monkey on a program’s back.

- No, I do not want to go to Madison this weekend. The rankings of worst fans in college football start and end with the Badgers. It goes No. 1—Wisconsin, No. 2—everyone else.

Obscene, obnoxious and just downright a**holish from a program that has the proud history of winning exactly one bowl game—that’s right, one bowl game—before Barry Alvarez showed up in 1990. That was a 1982 triumph over Kansas State in the illustrious Independence Bowl. College pride yields to basic stupidity in the land of cheese.

- If Oregon pulls off the upset of USC this weekend, how disappointed will they be looking back at that Boise State loss? Not that Boise’s a bad team, but the Ducks' QB injury woes for that game (three QBs used) will have cost them significant poll status.

Of course, USC hasn’t lost two games in a row since Pete Carroll’s first season in Troy (2001). They haven’t lost to a ranked opponent in the Coliseum in their last 14 games. Big hopes for the Ducks—mega-big hopes.

Conference Games of the Week

ACC

Duke at Georgia Tech. That’s right...Duke at Georgia Tech. If Pat Forde wouldn’t have already stolen my “braintrust of the BCS conferences” idea, I’d elaborate.

Big 12

The aforementioned No. 4 Missouri at Nebraska, though No. 7 Texas Tech at K-State intrigues me as well

Big Ten

No. 14 Ohio State at No. 18 Wisconsin. A-side to appease the Badger fans. USC loses to an unranked, underachieving, conference opponent on the road and stays in the top 10. Wisconsin does the same and barely stays in the top 20. Tough luck.

Big East

No. 24 UConn at North Carolina. The better UConn looks, the better their and South Florida’s chances of getting into the big dance look. It’s still about as likely as me becoming a Scientologist. And that's not to offend scientologists—it'll just be a cold day in hell when I become one.

Pac-10

No. 23 Oregon at No. 9 USC, for all the reasons I said above.

SEC

No. 13 Auburn at No. 19 Vanderbilt. GameDay, two Top 25 teams, under the lights. Yet one team enters with their last two wins by three total points (Auburn) and the other has a QB that’s thrown for 91, 90, 71, and 40 yards in his first four games (Vandy). Yawn...

Players that will have big weeks (anyone playing Washington not included)

Javon Ringer

At the rate he’s going, he’ll be like Eddie George—so many carries in college and his first few years in the pros, he’ll be lucky to still have a job by the time he’s 28.

Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree

How do you throw for 1,573 yards and catch 457 yards respectively and still be perceived to have an “off start”? They’ll continue their “off start” vs. K-State to the tune of 400-plus passing yards and 150-plus receiving yards.

If you want to talk about offense in the Big 12, don’t look at the completion percentages and all the gaudy stats. Texas Tech is No. 9 in the nation in scoring offense at 45.8 points per game. The ninth team in the nation is ranked only No. 6 in their conference, and they only beat out Baylor—yes, Baylor—by 0.1 point/game.

Pat White

Remember him? Better yet, remember when Rutgers vs. West Virginia was a marquee game for about two seconds? Rutgers couldn’t stop Navy’s option attack—I’m guessing they’ll have difficulty with Pat White and Co.

Enjoy the slate of games this week, and get ready...if you haven’t already snuck a peek at next week, well, I’d clear off your schedule and get the leaves raked early. It’s gonna be a good day to spend time with your couch.

9 Knee Jerk Reactions to the Start of College Football

Ryan Stubbs — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:20:52 -0400

Knee-Jerks

1.) The Pac-10 wasn’t trying to gain recognition this weekend as much as it was trying to rip away the “best conference” title from the SEC. While the SEC itself had a good weekend (Mississippi State and Tennessee losses aside), no conference was more impressive in week 1 than the Pac-10. Wins at Virginia by USC and at home by Cal and UCLA over BCS-conference teams were not only well played, but well scheduled.

Now had they waited until next weekend when the NFL had our attention on Monday night, well no one this morning would have been talking about a former JUCO QB.

2.) The BCS championship game participants will once again come from one of four conferences. The ACC and Big East gracefully bowed out in week one.

I’m well aware West Virginia didn’t hurt themselves, but give it time.

3.) The BCS championship game participants will only come from the Big Ten if Ohio State wins out. Wisconsin is two-loss fodder with no passing game, and Penn State looks good for a weekend only. They’ll drop to Oregon State this weekend and resume their role as #3, #4, or #5 in the conference.

4.) I think as an Ohio State fan, only Keith Byers preseason injury in 1985 compares to what happened to Beanie. Yes there are other players on offense, but they just lost their cleanup hitter. Better start playing small ball, bunts and steals and whatnot.

And I consider Maurice Clarett in ’02 nothing like this situation.

5.) Teams I like more now than I did before week one: Alabama, Fresno State, Oregon, and Bowling Green

Teams I like less now than I did before week one: Oregon State, Michigan State, Missouri’s D, Appalachian State (I really thought they had that one…I’m kidding).

6.) For those of you who watched the entire Utah/Michigan game please enlighten those who didn’t and spread the word that Michiganshould have lost by no fewer than 3 touchdowns. There were at least 5 dropped interceptions (and that’s being generous) by Michigan QBs, Utah out-gained Michigan by 84 penalty yards (with 2 Utah penalties nixing change of possessions), and had 3 straight drives stall inside the Michigan 30 that led to field goals instead of TDs.

That game could have been a beating and Michigan should be thankful the score stayed respectable.

7.) Worst showing of the weekend by a non-carnivorous nicknamed team: How about ACC partner Maryland, who needed a late interception to close out Delaware. A 14-7 final score shows it was just a miserable attempt at football, much like the first three quarters of the Rutgers/Fresno State game.

8.) Speaking of Rutgers, Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt are two of the best wide receivers in the nation when they have the ball. Rutgers won’t compete in the Big East this season though unless Mike Teel learns how to get it to them. He threw into traffic, overthrew them, under threw them, and did anything but give them a chance to win the game for Rutgers.

Ray Rice was a stud because he always got the ball out of Teel’s hands; Greg Schiano needs to find a way to do the same with his returning playmakers.

9.) Everyone is already looking towards next weekends big battles, but I think this weekend is loaded with “prove-it” games. Players, coaches and media think certain teams are going to do something this season, well this is their weekend to prove they can back it up; kind of in the opposite way Clemson did.

Games I’m watching this weekend:

Southern Miss at Auburn – The Tigers won their tune up, but Southern Miss is a returning bowl team with talent. They were only down 17-16 at halftime last season at Tennessee and aren’t getting near as much hype this weekend as C-USA brethren East Carolina.

West Virginia at East Carolina– Everyone saw ECU Beamerball the Hokies this past weekend, but what I saw was a suffocating defense against an embarrassing VaTech offense. The Mountaineers say they’re developing Pat White into a passing threat as well, prove it.

Cincinnati at Oklahoma – This is our only chance before the Red River Rivalry to see how good Oklahoma is against a decent team. As we saw Saturday, the Purple Willingham’s won’t stand in their way.

Oregon State at Penn State – I thought, and still think, Oregon Statecan do some damage in the Pac-10 this season. Winning in Happy Valleywould be a huge boost of confidence after getting beaten by the Tri-Lams.

Stanford at Arizona State– Is Arizona State as overhyped as people want to believe. And was Stanford opening win just a mirage. Time for someone to prove it.

Games that might provide a good time for an afternoon nap:

Texas Southern at Arkansas State

Montana State at Kansas State

New Hampshire at Army

Idaho State at Idaho

William & Mary at N.C. State

Northern Colorado at Purdue

As for the rest of this week, enjoy the rich, white oligarchs’ convention this week that leads up to Sen. John McCain’s speech that will be watched by no one. Not that all Americans hate Senator McCain, it’s just that the NFL kicks off Thursday night. Good planning GOP. We have priorities!

College Football: Getting Back to the Basics of Hating

Ryan Stubbs — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:25:41 -0400

I’m calling it Conference Superiority Complex, CSC for simplicity of typing.

We’ve all been affected by it, and at some point, infected with it. Over the past few years of college football, we’ve translated what could have been arguments about some of the best seasons in college football’s history into glorified conference beauty pageants.

Fans engulf message boards, blogs, radio call-in shows, TV, and any other sports medium arguing the merits of their conference as the newest and most obnoxious way to support their team.

This most recent slant on chest-pounding braggadocio began after the Auburn snub of ’04. It was amplified by the Big Ten’s embarrassing debacle in the ’06 BCS game.

It cemented in every home after last season’s coin flip selection of LSU as Ohio State’s BCS opponent that left teams in every BCS conference debating the merits of their top contender.

Before we knew it, you, a die-hard Longhorns fan, woke up in the bed of an Oklahoma Sooner with a Missouri T-shirt on and Jayhawks face tattoos. All in the name of advocating your conference to the BCS selection committees.

It’s sickening what CSC has made us do, but we have all been there over the past 48 months.

How on earth did we go from a college football landscape that emphasized and survived on things like The Third Week in October, The Game, The Red River Shootout, The Border War, The Backyard Brawl, etc., to one that still emphasizes these games—but only if they don’t hurt their conference's chances of winning a championship?

It's all about perspectives. We fans need to get our perspectives back; that’s what I’m here to help.

We’ll start with you, Mr. Husky. Lost out there in the Pacific Northwest, many of you and your Pac-10 brethren have decided the only way to get noticed was to band together and fight those east of the Rockies together.

Huskies, Cougars, and Ducks joined side-by-side in an attempt to gain legitimacy. Only their reasoning came out sounding something like, "USC has the most top-five finishes of any team over the past six seasons."

What? Why the heck are Washington and Oregon fans trying to defend themselves against other conferences by quoting USC stats? How does this make sense?

It doesn’t. But that’s what CSC is, a defense of the best team in your conference no matter who it is.

If your team isn’t that team, you turn to the team that is, and by default it makes your team better. That’s the theory at least.

How do you cure it, oh wearer of the purple and gold? You have to get back to your roots.

When someone says the Pac-10 sucks, you say, "No it doesn’t, but I heard people from Wazzou finally discovered how to make fire." You can defend your conference and defend your fanhood credibility at the same time.

CSC cannot be allowed to take what’s most important to us, and for Washington fans, it’s the Apple Cup. What would you do if the Apple Cup wasn’t important to you anymore? What if defeating your lifelong rival became less important than proving yourself to other conferences?

Think about it.

Next up, Sparty. Now you’ve been left behind in recent years, the butt of a joke who is part of an even larger joke. Your epic collapses in October and November only threw fuel on the fire of the Big Ten sucks bonanza.

But this isn’t you. You shouldn’t become involved in a Big Ten supremacy debate that forces you to stick up for that other state team.

Sparty hates one team more than all others, that hideously colored, cross-state rival, M*ch*g*n. So how can you justify yourself cheering for Big Blue last New Year’s to defeat the Florida Gators?

That wasn’t you talking; the CSC had taken over. It will make you do uncontrollable things, things you thought you weren’t capable of, and most definitely aren't proud of.

Like when Adrian Arrington caught the go-ahead score in the CapitalOne Bowl, you cheered.

Or how the Appalachian State game made you feel bittersweet. Now what would the Big Ten haters say, you thought?

Or when Wisconsin didn’t get upset last September by UNLV, you breathed a sigh of relief because you didn't have to defend yet another Big Ten collapse even though five years ago that same loss Wisconsin suffered to UNLV was hilarious.

And you felt some amount of shame, and partly responsible for Ohio State losing the past two BCS championships. Why? You hate Ohio State.

CSC made you do that. If your conference is perceived as weak, you are weak. But how much are you willing to give up to defend a conference made up of teams you hate?

All that is right and, to a point, pure about sports in general are the rivalries. Could you ever imagine a Yankees fan cheering for a Red Sox team when the only effect it had would be AL bragging rights?

Do you think the Yankees’ fans cheered for Boston or Colorado last fall?

Would a Duke fan cheer for the Tar Heels in the Final Four because it makes the ACC top dog? No!

Does a Cowboys fan gloat about the fact that they beat the Super Bowl champion Giants twice, even though they didn't win the Super Bowl? Well some dumb ones might; they are from Texas after all, but they shouldn't.

Sparty, you must go back to your bitter ways of old. It’s the only thing that can save you from further years of quoting M*ch*g*n and Ohio State statistics to make yourself look good. It’s not natural, it’s not healthy.

Cornhuskers, you have the same problem. Your once proud and distinguished program has fallen on hard times the past few seasons, but people forget only seven years ago you were in the BCS Championship game.

That’s more than Alabama can say.

So you’ve latched on to how well Texas and Oklahoma have done as a proclamation for your program, you’re living vicariously through them while your program is down. You even wished Missouri a BCS bid last season, even though they pasted you 41-6.

Why do this? You had 33 consecutive seasons of nine-plus wins from 1969-2001. That’s utterly amazing.

(Sidenote: think about that for a second, 33 consecutive seasons of nine-plus wins, how astonishing is that? For as great as Miami was in the '80s and '90s, they only put together 10 straight seasons of nine-plus. USC's recent dominance has only spanned six seasons of nine-plus. College football’s presumed end-all-be-all, Notre Dame, never more than six straight.)

And now you’re willing to throw away all your past glory for a few cheap declarations about how good the Big 12 is? You bought into the hype of CSC as a way to make yourself feel better and deal with the fact that your team isn’t that good right now.

Does it really make you feel that much better about your conference being good when your team isn’t? Are you really that happy that you have to listen to opposing Big 12 fans brag about their recent successes while you sit and sulk at another Alamo Bowl berth?

Those teams are ones you face every season, you have to deal with their badgering and boasting year after year.

Why do you care less about them than an SEC or ACC debate? It’s against everything you believe in, don’t do it!

I think it’s time now to discuss the conference responsible for this outbreak, the SEC, and its most guilty member, the Gators.

CSC’s most telling signs are coercion with an enemy against another, useless stat quotation, scheduling debate, and conference bowl records. Florida fans are guilty of all of this.

There was a time, and I remember it well, when you only cared about two things, beating Tennessee and beating Florida State. Your scathing diatribes focused only on them, and with good reason. You had jokes like you can’t spell Citrus without U-T.

It was a good, healthy, hate-filled rivalry.

But now you are the ring leader of CSC debates on message boards and call-in shows about how great your entire conference is. You’re happy to admit defeat as long as someone else from the SEC wins.

What you should do is remove all the team logos and colors from each school and adopt the SEC logo as your own. You could go by names like SEC Florida, SEC Louisiana, SEC Starkville, etc.

You even stooped so low as to cheer for Tennessee against Wisconsin this past bowl season. That is pure CSC craziness.

We all know what started this cycle for you, and once you got on it you couldn’t stop. A couple of big conference bowl wins here, a couple there, and all of a sudden you felt like you were invincible.

Two conference national championships in a row, three in five seasons. That really is something to be proud of and you should brag a bit.

But somewhere along the line you got soft. You forgot that when LSU won a national championship, it meant you didn’t. When the last week of October arrives this season, a little less hatred is felt in Jacksonville because this was the same team you cheered for to spank Hawaii last year.

You also forgot the Big 12, who won or shared four championships between 1994 and 2000. They eventually fell off.

You also forgot the ACC, your most recent predecessor to the best conference throne.

The same ACC that was proclaimed to have formed the greatest conference ever five years ago when they added Miami (who had won three of their last four BCS games), Virginia Tech, and B.C. (which hasn’t won a BCS game since the merger).

Your reign of supremacy only lasts so long.

What’s going to happen when you play an undefeated team in November that is BCS Championship bound if they win, but your team, Gators’ fans, is already 7-3 and out of that race?

Do you hope your team loses so your conference gets a representative in the BCS title game? Are you sure about that answer? The longer CSC takes hold, could you see that as a possibility?

I can.

I can see a dumbing down effect. Interstate and interconference hatred that has been a long-standing tradition now turns to merely interconference dislike, and then interconference angst, and then just mild irritation with burning.

It will happen. Let CSC take hold for another few years and I promise you, you will learn and love the lyrics to Rocky Top, if only for one game in January.

You've done this.

Excessive celebration over a few championships has brought us here. What do we have left if on a fall Saturday in October you can’t watch Tennessee and laugh as they get pummeled by Notre Dame like they did in 2005?

What happens if I, an Ohio State diehard, can’t enjoy a good drubbing of M*ch*g*n at the hand of another, even if it’s a D-IAA school?

Or if Texas fans can’t enjoy last season’s embarrassment in Lincoln? I ask you men, what has happened to us?

The Conference Superiority Complex must go. From this day forward everyone must commit to getting back to our ideals of team and self, not league. I was just as guilty as anyone of this.

However, I will no longer quote the Big Ten’s bowl record against the SEC as 14-12 over the past 10 seasons because some of those games gave M*ch*g*n a win. That disgusts me.

I will no longer argue about how weak of a schedule (insert Pac-10 team A) has when I could just as easily make fun of Wisconsin for scheduling Cal-Poly this season.

I will no longer try to cheer for the Big Ten against other teams because it’s much, much funnier to laugh at them for losing to teams like Western Michigan (Iowa), San Jose State (Illinois), Louisiana Tech (Michigan State), or Appalachian State (we all know this one).

I will no longer argue the merits of Ron Zook’s coaching abilities prior to a game against USC.

I will no longer care if the Big Ten posts a losing bowl record. I won’t care, as long as Ohio State wins. This is all that should matter to us, our team winning.

Two-plus years of argument and blogosphere banter about whose conference beat whose and who did what to which team and when made people slowly forget that they hate teams within their conference.

We can’t change overnight, as this has become our most prolific discussion topic over the past two seasons. It’s like learning how to talk all over again; we have to find new topics to discuss.

As a group we must step up and start discussing the actual games and players and teams, our teams. Go cold turkey, give it up.

Stop researching endless records of teams three years ago you didn’t give two *&%@! about and start researching what’s good about your team.

If you know more about what’s expected from Georgia’s special teams this season than what’s expected of your own, that’s a problem.

So get out of the house. Go see your team’s open practice. Read a book on your school’s history. Get back to the basics of why you first started enjoying college football and stop worrying about all this CSC nonsense.

In the end we don’t have any control over it anyway.

A Biased Discussion of the Infamous Bill Hall

Ryan Stubbs — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:31:00 -0400

Cincinnati travels to the land of Pabst, Miller, and Milwaukee's Best to face the Brewers this weekend.

And every time they head to the new home of CC Sabathia, I can't help but think of my least favorite player in baseball.

Some may say I'm crazy for loathing a little known middle infielder, but those people don't know the real story.

Welcome to a biased discussion of the infamous Bill Hall.

Hall is in the middle of his sixth season in the bigs, all with Milwaukee. He's a career .260 hitter as of last night's game, with 93 home runs and 325 RBI, to accompany a mediocre .959 career fielding percentage.

But beyond all of that, Bill Hall is a vindictive pain in the in Cincinnati Reds' bum (or insert any anatomically correct body part here that is not allowed to be put in print.)

Bill Hall deserves profanity directed at him.

On Sept. 1, 2002, the Cincinnati Reds put forward a chain of events that led to what can only be described as insurmountable retaliation by an, at best, average, baseball player.

On that day, Hall made his first major-league at-bat in front 20,194 Cincinnati faithful, with the Brewers leading 4-2 in the top of the ninth. He uneventfully struck out swinging.

From that day forward, Bill Hall has had a vendetta against the organization that made his first big league appearance a failure. Please, let me take you on this ride.

Now, first I would like to emphasize that the Cincinnati Reds have not been a beacon of pitching prowess for the past seven seasons. We all know this.

But this display of annoyance that Hall has become goes way beyond the excuse of bad pitching.

He makes timely fielding plays, he's always at the root of a rally or game breaking run, and he has more home runs and RBI against the Reds than any other NL opponent since 2003.

Bill Hall has taken his first major-league at bat as his own rallying cry against everything that is the Cincinnati Reds.

Here's the stats:

Career: .260 BA

vs. the Reds: .308

In five seasons, he has only hit below .300 once against Cincy.

Career: 93 HRs

vs. the Reds: 18

20 percent of his career homers have come against Cincy. He's hit three of his 12 total homers this season against the Reds in only six games.

Career: 325 RBI

vs. the Reds: 52

That's 16 percent of his career RBI.

Career: 627 Ks

vs. the Reds: 65

That's a disproportionate 10.3 percent, compared to all his other stats.

Every fan has players they hate, for one reason or another, generally because they beat their team in excruciating fashion. I hate Christian Laettner as a UK fan. I hate Tom Brady as an OSU fan.

As a fan of an NL Central team, I watch plenty of Albert Pujols, Aramis Ramirez, and Lance Berkman, all of who have used the Great American Launching Pad for exactly what it was built for. They torture me every season with their own game-winning exploits.

But Bill Hall isn't Pujols, Ramirez, or Berkman. He's Bill friggin' Hall. He's merely a serviceable, multi-positional player that has averaged only 19 homers and 65 RBI in five full seasons.

That's it. No Hall of Fame numbers. No All-Star appearances. Why, oh why, does he torch the Reds? I'm not making this up...

Moments in the History of Bill Hall vs. the Reds (Highlights courtesy MLB.com)

First Career triple off Cincinnati

First Career Grand Slam—Apr. 16, 2007 off Todd Coffey in Cincinnati

Hit the first of five Brewers homers off Cincinnati in the same inning on Apr. 22, 2006

Drove in a career-high four runs en route to the biggest comeback in franchise history on Apr. 28, 2004 versus Cincinnati, helping the Brewers overcome a nine-run deficit. Contributed a two-run double in the eighth and walkoff bunt hit in 10th.

A walk-off two-run home run the night before as well, Apr. 27, 2004

After finishing '02 with Milwaukee as a call-up, was brought back to the club in July '03. He had his first multi-hit game, first four hit game, and homered in consecutive games in August, all vs. Cincinnati. He's hit .538 with two HRs and eight RBI vs. Cincy in six games in '03.

And this season, he had a game-winning, two-out, two-RBI double in the top of the 10th vs. the Reds on Apr. 19.

Now those are just facts I can officially report. You know those games you watch where you just think, "Dammit, that guy did it to us again."

Well that's the way it is with watching Bill Hall. He makes amazing defensive plays and does the little things that move the runner.

I want an archive of the Web Gems he's made against the Reds. I want to know how many times he's had hits that gave the Brewers the lead.

I guarantee at least three times a year he wins a game by himself. And that's a conservative estimate. So as Cincinnati embarks on another trip to Bud Selig Park, Hall is eating a hearty breakfast this morning. He knows he'll need his extra strength for all the bases he's about to run this weekend.

Rich Rodriguez: Kicking the Dog While He's Down

Ryan Stubbs — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:46:59 -0400

July 10th, 50 days before the kickoff of college football's first Saturday. This is a time that brings hope and optimism to fans that no longer want to travel to Boise or Detroit for bowl games, but yearn for something bigger.

It's a time in which we believe reports about how our new starting sophomore running back who played all of three games in mop-up roles last season has been amazing in practice all offseason and is supposed to lead this team.

Or how our QB, who couldn't stay in the pocket longer than three seconds at the end of last season (Boeckman), has worked on that problem and it's now fixed.

But in Michigan, this offseason has been a series of Debbie Downer events. With even die-hard Wolverines fans in need of a depth chart guide for the first game against Utah, Michigan has had a personnel overhaul that is unheard of in recent memory for a marquee program.

Besides a coaching change, they lost eight offensive starters (QB, RB, two WRs and four of five offensive linemen) also four defensive starters, including their captain Shawn Crable.

No worries, they'll sign a marquee coach who will come in, land some recruits before signing day, and turn us around.

Define marquee.

Rich Rod's debut as Michigan coach has thus far been a series of unfortunate events, from losing players to transfers (Ryan Mallett and Justin Boren the biggest, five total transfers), to losing out on the Terrelle Pryor sweepstakes.

Hey, I'm not sold on Pryor yet, but I'm just glad he didn't go to Michigan. I did not want to face him for the next four seasons.

And then there were the accusations of eroding family values under Rodriquez, his profanity laced tirades during practice. The drinking, the coming home late without a courtesy call or explanation. The messy divorce with the ex a few states over, a settlement that cost both the new lover and Rodriguez a lot of time, money and headache.

All of this has happened in the span of six months.

As a fan, I'd be ready to throw in the towel already on this season. There is no hope for me this year; and with how Rodriguez has handled his business thus far, I'd be worried about the future too.

But I heard nothing from Wolverines fans, no talk of being upset, and no talk of failure. They were still optimistic on this season. And then I came across this, this afternoon an article from the Detroit Free Press ripping Rodriguez worse than Jon Stewart rips President Bush.

This article is a firsthand account of what has happened to the team, and what will continue to happen under Rodriguez's tenure. You know it scUM fans, you're just in denial right now.

It's unsettling to see someone that was once proud, mighty, and rich to be begging for quarters. In the same way Bill Gates would never run out of money, you would think Michigan would never run out of wins, or car factories (oh wait...).

But you got what you paid for scUM. And no matter if your new George Carlin of the sidelines (no death pun intended, but rather the profanity angle) turns you into a perennial winner, won't you always worry?

Is it quite possible that the same coach who recruited Pacman Jones and Chris Henry to what was a nothing West Virginia program (seriously, seven seasons with more than eight wins in the 30 seasons prior to his arrival), will recruit the same "quality" to Michigan?

Won't you always worry about him leaving you for a new, trendier, better paying school? Won't you worry about how he's getting his recruits? Or worry about how he treats his players in practice? Would you be surprised to hear a report of Rich-Rod physically confronting one of his players? I wouldn't.

Don't you worry that a guy who had difficulties speaking to the media at West Virginia could say anything at anytime now? I mean look at the guy, he just looks like he killed his wife and got away with it. His wry smile and stare make me nervous for you.

I go to bed at night not having to worry about these things, with or without winning. There is no overhanging cloud of conspiracy at OSU, no matter what ESPN tried to force feed you four to five years ago.

So as a fan looking forward to yet another college football season in which my team is supposed to be near the pinnacle of college football's best, I pity you scUM fan. I feel sorry for you. I can't imagine what it feels like to go through all of the summer knowing there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Fall does not bring better days ahead. Hope does not exist for you. And that makes you weak. I pity you.

And then I stop my pity and laugh my a** off. Way to screw up again Morons!

My Favorite Things About the College Football Season

Ryan Stubbs — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:59:51 -0400

With the release of NCAA Football 2009 a week away, I thought I'd talk about some things I love about college football—besides a video game that wastes hours upon hours of my life trying to recruit that five-star kid I created that's 6-foot-6, 275 pounds and runs a 4.21 40 with 99 hands, trucking, and agility, but now he wants to go to Duke for some reason.

The game frustrates me.

Anyway, there’s a locally-famous audio monologue that is played all across the campus of Ohio State on fall Saturdays called simply "I Want." It’s an homage to why we love college football, in this case, specifically the Buckeyes.

But the overall echo is universal in its appeal with its talk of tailgating, boozing, hating opposing fans, enjoying the co-eds, and most importantly the chill that goes through everyone’s body from head to toe when their team takes the field.

Just thinking about that made some people get goosebumps.

So in the words of my favorite monologue on college football, I’m writing about the things I love about college football, and I want to see soon. Yes it will be somewhat biased, based in some parts on my favorite college football team.

But it will also translate to any other team. When I say I enjoy seeing F-M*ch*g*n T-shirts around campus, you think of your own F-(insert team here) T-shirts.

We aren’t so different you and me. We both enjoy college football, we love our favorite team, and we have an unabashed hatred for our rival that some would consider borderline psychotic. But only borderline.

Things I love, and a few things that annoy me, about college football:

Stadium mustard.

Waiting until the 3:30 Saturday afternoon games end to begin your evening even though you could care less about the teams involved.

At 11:30 PM on the East coast, you’re happy that Fox Sports has Pac-10 coverage of the latest attempt of a Pac-10 school to knock off the Trojans.

The signs behind College Gameday.

Upsets…when the Colts lose to the Patriots in November, their season continues. When Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech last season in November, their season ended. College football…surviving one week at a time.

I personally love everything about gameday:

The waking up at 9:00 AM for a noon game when I was just up until 4:00 the night before.

The walk to the stadium filled with a sea of scarlet and gray.

Walking into the stadium, and undoubtedly then walking up the 17 flights of stairs to get to C deck.

Seeing the field for the first time, watching the warm-ups and just soaking it all in.

I loved hearing Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” that was played anytime Mike Nugent was getting ready to kick off.

Odd traditions, which locally seem normal. Explanation: SEC college guys wearing suits to the games, the Miami “C-A-N-E-S” fans greeting, West Virginia fans and their arson/couch-burning fetish, Wisconsin’s section O, or tailgating indoors at Oregon.

Fight songs, and the mocking lyrics you give to opposing teams’ fight songs (the words we have for “Hail to the Victors” at OSU, may or may not be suitable to print on this site).

Classic helmets and uniforms. Out of the NFL’s 32 teams, only 10 of them can say they have kept the same traditional look for the past 40 years. In college football, all the powerhouses have stayed the same. From Penn St. and Alabama, to USC and Texas. College football is about tradition and knowing that on Saturdays I don’t have to buy a new jersey every season.

The ladies. College football: 20-something young women who like to expose their still perfect bodies. NFL: 40-something old women who still like to expose their bodies, only now it’s because they’re too drunk to know better, and we wish they wouldn’t.

Stadiums. I’m a young nostalgic. I do not care for the $500 million+ cathedrals to pro football that are being built, even though most of them are very nice. Give me cramped aisles, bleachers, and some history any day. The ‘Shoe, Neyland, the Coliseum, that’s what I love to see.

Keith Jackson

Night games. They allow for a full day of pre-gaming (and sleeping in).

The Option.

The Spread.

The Spread Option.

The Wing-T.

Boise State giving me a pleasant surprise on the evening of January 1, 2007.

Famous names of plays like Holy Buckeye!, The Hail Mary, The Play, Belue’s Miracle, The Bush Push, The Immaculate Reception (college version), and the BYU comeback.

NCAA Football for Playstation or XBox. It resulted in multiple missed classes in college.

What used to be a non-coaching carousel. College teams are linked to their coaches sometimes more so than their historic players. Bowden, Paterno, Woodie, Bo, Bryant, and on and on the list goes. We’re getting to a point where coaches jump around more than they used to, but there are still a few old standbys around.

One thing that annoys me: that guy who stands on the sideline and controls the TV timeouts. If you’ve been to a game recently, you know who I’m talking about. I hate that guy.

Another thing that annoys me, college stadiums that don’t sell beer. And think about it this way, if college stadiums are that rowdy and there isn’t alcohol on the premises, imagine what could happen if there was. I guess that’s the answer to my question though.

Weddings that get planned in the fall around college football Saturdays.

Sitting at a sportsbook in Vegas with no fewer than 15 games to…umm…"enjoy."

There are two domed stadiums in the BCS conferences (Minnesota and Syracuse), and will only be one in 2009 when Minnesota opens its new outdoor stadium. Just the way football was supposed to be played, outdoors.

The college football bowl season. Personally, I’m not really a huge fan of all the crappy bowls that are on. But did I watch Purdue battle Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl last year? Yes. Did I watch all or part of six different bowl games on New Year’s Day while recovering from a massive hangover? Yes. We’re junkies, we have a problem.

Another thing that annoys me—the division formerly known as…I hate that stupid change and refuse to use it. I’m sorry; I will not budge on this.

Jokes. How do you get a Michigan grad off your porch? Pay him for the pizza. Why do Michigan grads keep their diplomas on their dashboards? So they can park in handicap spaces. What’s the only sign of intelligent life in Ann Arbor? Columbus: 187 miles. Feel free to replace your least favorite team in for Michigan and use liberally.

Rivalry weekend.

Senior Day.

The bottom line on ESPN that says something like Abilene Christian 56, Mesa State 12.

Song Girls, which my buddy says is single-handedly the best thing about college football. I disagree, but I still like them.

Cheerleaders you see in class on Monday.

Secondary nicknames like: The Ramblin' Wreck, the Men of Troy, Bayou Bengals, and the Fighting Zookers...ok maybe not the last one.

A**hole fans that get punched for being such.

The person in your section that shows up to the game wasted, because we all know they'll be getting screwed with when they pass out at halftime.

Quoting old stats and records over opponents to prove you are better than another team.

Michigan State's yearly collapse.

Guys that return for their senior year.

Guys that are smart enough to know they shouldn’t return for their senior year. When you’re a projected first-round draft pick, go get paid son, go get paid.

And finally, the thing I love the most about college football is the time from when the band strikes that first note, until we all sing the alma mater in the south stands together.

From start to finish, college football allows the alumni to reminisce, the current students to rock the stadium, and the players to provide entertainment for 60 minutes.

It’s college football, and no matter who you are saying F*#$ (insert team name here) to, we’re all saying it together. It's almost football time...

A Week by Week View of September College Football

Ryan Stubbs — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:29:37 -0400

Hockey, done. NBA, done. Euro '08, done. College Baseball, done. MLB, at about the half way point, or as I like to call it, the time when people in Cincinnati, Kansas City, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Baltimore start thinking about football. Football? Don't mind if I do!

(By the way, for the following mentioning in the Bret Bielema category, that is brought up for Wisconsin’s scheduling of Akron, Marshall, Fresno State, and Cal-Poly this season, UNLV, Wazzu, Northern Illinois, and The Citadel last season and Bowling Green, Western Illinois, San Diego State, and Buffalo in 2006. Or in other words, a BCS team vs. non-BCS cupcake. Good work Badgers.)

My Top Games for September:

August 28-September 1 weekend—

The only reason I’d watch this game is if my other option is Oprah: Utah State at UNLV, 2007 Combined Records—4-20

Scheduled game that makes Bret Bielema wish he’d of thought of that: Georgia Southern at Georgia. This game becomes more fun in my eyes with former Buckeye Antonio Henton now at the helm for Georgia Southern.

The Appetizers:

Appalachian State at LSU. I know everyone has already circled this date as an obvious upset, so therefore by reverse effect, it won't happen. You can imagine if it did though. LSU doesn't have the same QB, RB, DT, LB, FS, WR, and a host of other role players that are still smiling about the lickin' they put on the 'Bucks. I'm just sayin'...I hate the SEC.

Alabama at Clemson. The stupidity of college football scheduling is not that Ohio State faces Youngstown State opening weekend or Oklahoma takes on Chattanooga in game one of 2008.

It's that teams like 'Bama and Clemson decide to start their untested season off with a tough game yet play Western Kentucky and The Citadel/South Carolina State respectively later on in the season.

Same for...

Hawaii at Florida. Florida opens with Hawaii yet play The Citadel the second to last week of the season. Hawaii gets to experience the post-Brennian Period, poundings in the Swamp included.

USC at Virginia. USC doesn't take it easy either, but they have been playing a particularly strong non-conference schedule for about four years straight now. Good for them. I hope Maualuga gets hurt before September 13 anyway.

Tennessee at UCLA. ABC's traditional Labor Day Monday night game will not involve a turnover induced slap fest between Florida State and Miami for the second consecutive year. I'm elated.

GAME OF THE WEEK:

Illinois at Missouri (in St. Louis). So a couple of the games above could be here, but this game will tell the entire Big 12 and Big 10 what to expect from these surprises from last season.

Will Juice complete more passes to Arrelious Benn than to guys with Tigers on their helmets? Will Chase Daniel be able to lead Mizzou to an undefeated season now that they don't have to play Oklahoma twice?

This game helps Longhorns' and Nittany Lions' fans alike feel more comfortable about these perennial bottom-dwellers returning to their rightful position. Of course, that's only about the loser.

September 4-7 Weekend—

I'm halfway tempted to skip this weekend altogether. If you are planning a wedding, barbeque, random trip to Nova Scotia, or anything else during football season, I'd do it this weekend.

Oh wait...you're telling me that the NFL starts this weekend, thank God! Because there's some really terrible football on Saturday. And no the Bengals don't play on Saturday thank you.

The only reason I’d watch this game is if my other option is Oprah: You’ll have to be more specific. Navy at Ball State, Murray State at Indiana, New Hampshire at Army, Western Kentucky at Eastern Kentucky, SE Louisiana at Mississippi State. And on and on they go.

Scheduled game that makes Bret Bielema wish he’d of thought of that: Florida International (or the 120 ranked team in D-I last season) at Iowa (a week after they opened with Maine).

The Appetizers:

Oregon State at Penn State: I've got the Beavers pegged as a sleeper this season in the PAC-10 coming off a quiet 9-4 2007 season. Penn State will do well to survive this game even with it being in Happy Valley. The Anthony Morelli Era is over Nittanies. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the talented Daryll Clark. Who? Exactly.

Miami at Florida: This isn't even a big game any more. That's sad. I miss the days when Florida football teams got more coverage than a Red Sox-Yankees series on ESPN (I’m lying). Even though Florida football fans are about as rabid as women’s high school rugby fans, this game is still important. Tebow becomes Heisman front runner before the game when he leads the Swamp in prayer and then plays a game of football.

The Main Course:

Cincinnati at Oklahoma: UC got an unfortunate blow when Ben Mauk (who I'm told has high school, jock quarterback, "I'm the coolest guy ever and a jack off" syndrome from people in his hometown of Kenton) didn't get a sixth year of eligibility. Hey buddy, it's ok. You graduated the same year as I did from high school, it's time to be a big boy and get a real job.

Remember about seven months ago when Oklahoma last played a Big East team? West Virginia's annihilating offense only mustered a five point victory against the Bearcats last season. This is a highly underrated, nonconference game.

September 11-13 Weekend—

The only reason I’d watch this game is if my other option is Oprah: Alcorn State (2-8 in D-IAA last year) at Troy (who are tuning up for the Bucks the next week).

Scheduled game that makes Bret Bielema wish he’d of thought of that: Chattanooga at Florida State. Chattanooga will get softened up two weeks earlier against Oklahoma. Oh, and the Mocs were 2-9 last year.

The Appetizers:

Kansas at South Florida: If the winner of this game would play the winner of the Illinois/Mizzou game, it would be for the championship of overachievers from last year. Both teams came out of nowhere last season to contend for their league titles and hold spots in the top five.

While USF lost a lot on defense they still benefit from having George Selvie on D, ex-mohawk wearing Matt Grothe at QB, and a schedule consisting of Tennessee Martin, Florida International, and Syracuse.

Kansas meanwhile gets one more season of Todd Reesing, another blubber filled season of Mark Mangiano, and in the unfortunate department, have to play at Oklahoma, and home against Texas and Texas Tech this season. Once again, another who's in and who's out game.

Oklahoma at Washington: Oklahoma gets back to back sneaky games. I just want to point out real quick that 1) Washington would be my true sleeper pick in the PAC 10 if they didn't play BYU, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame nonconference as well as at Oregon, at USC, and at Cal in conference.

And 2) Washington was 4-9 last season, but hung around with Ohio State (11-2), almost knocked off USC (11-2), led at halftime against Arizona State (10-3), were tied at the end of the third against Oregon (6-1 with Dennis Dixon at the time), led by two touchdowns in the fourth before collapsing against Arizona, battled in a brawl against Oregon State (9-4) without Jake Locker, and came within 44 seconds of taking Hawaii (12-1) to OT.

I'm just saying they were better than 4-9 last year.

North Carolina at Rutgers: Year two of the Butch Davis experience begins, and this could be a turning point for the Heels. If T.J Yates is healthy, they'll upset a few teams. Now if they just had a defense to speak of.

Rutgers, now without both Ray Rice and Brian Leonard, will become more pass oriented this season with Mike Teel and his two 1,000 yard WRs. The Scarlets (rough way to screw up a nickname) are supposed to start their slow decline back to mediocrity, but I see this as a huge game for their season.

I think they can get back to contending for the Big East championship (see exhibit A, B and C rankings of pass defenses in the Big East last season A—Cincy No. 89, B—Louisville No. 87, C—West Virginia No. 17 but lost all but one starter in secondary).

GAME OF THE WEEK:

Ohio State at USC: More like game of the season. OSU did it again and went out and got themselves into a de facto play-in game for the BCS Championship. Their battles with Texas proved to be as much both years and now we get two seasons of Buckeyes vs. Trojans.

OSU enters the game with two tune-ups against Youngstown State and Ohio, while USC took on more of a challenge with a game against UVA and then a bye week before OSU comes to town.

I've been looking forward to this game since I stood in Darrell Royal Stadium post-game singing the Ohio State fight song and celebrating victory. I couldn't wait to do that in the Coliseum.

In order to get that chance the following things will determine the game:

1) In mop up roles in the previous two games, how much will Terrelle Pryor be used to gain experience for this game? Will he be used at all?

2) Moala, Maualuga, Cushing, Mays. I'm just starting to study what USC's defense has done the past two seasons and it already scares me. This team will uncharacteristically live and die by its defense this season. Does Boeckman get shaky feet like he did the final few games of last season against a very high caliber D?

3) Ohio State hasn't lost a non-conference, regular season road game since 2001 against UCLA, in LA. While that omen I don't like, I do like the fact that this group of 10 starting seniors and 18 returning starters has more experience and more wins (33-5 the last three seasons) than any other group in the country other than their opponents (USC is 34-5 the past three seasons).

Unfortunately that experience has often been losing in a big way in the Championship game, but it is experience.

I'm giddy for this game.

Week of September 18-20—

The only reason I’d watch this game is if my other option is Oprah: Northeastern at Syracuse. Remember when Syracuse was good and Philly fans didn’t hate Donovan McNabb yet?

Scheduled game that makes Bret Bielema wish he’d of thought of that: UMass at Texas Tech. Although I must say, Bielema would never knowingly agree to play a D-IAA playoff team, which UMass was last year.

The Appetizers:

West Virginia at Colorado: This Thursday night special at Folsom Field will show us if nepotism has paid off for the Buffs. It may even show if blind stupidity came with re-signing Bill Stewart for West Virginia. But either way it shows us that the time has come to watch football Thursday-Monday nights. In other words, it’s fall...on September 22.

LSU at Auburn: If the Tigers don’t get tripped up by Appalachian State or Troy or North Texas before this game, it will be their first test of the season and the first in three out of four on the road to open the SEC.

Auburn on the other hand traveled near and far in their first three games to play UL-Monroe and Southern Miss at home while facing Mississippi State in Starkville. Battle tested the both of ‘em.

Winner of this game becomes front runner for SEC West crown. ‘Bama may also be involved this season.

Georgia at Arizona State: I’ve made a big deal out of this game, and in case you didn’t hear the stat, it’s the first time since 1967 that Georgia has played a regular season game outside of the SEC states. Ridiculous.

Now, while most people have this game pegged as a non-conference game of the year outside the OSU/USC battle, I see it as USC at Nebraska ’07, part two. Way over-hyped game, dominating performance by the team that was supposed to win.

So much so that after the game Georgia will go ahead and accept the bid to the BCS Championship game because they obviously are the best team in college football…again.

The Main Course:

Florida at Tennessee: Once upon a time, this was the best game in September year in and year out. Maybe not the best played game as they usually ended in blow outs, but definitely the most hyped and important.

Why is this my game of the week this week then if it’s no longer that important? Because it’s a blatantly obvious game that Florida will obviously win. In the grand scheme of things, upsets are only true upsets if no one thought they could happen.

This game qualifies as such. The Vols downfall this season has been widely reported and it’s quite likely they’ll enter the game at 1-1 with a loss to UCLA. Florida is supposed to contend for a BCS Title and a repeat Heisman for Tebow.

Fun fact you just learned from me: Tennessee has never beaten Florida in a season that Florida wound up with a better record. Ever. Now is the time.

Week of September 25-27—

The only reason I’d watch this game is if my other option is Oprah: Central Arkansas at Tulsa. I wish Central Arkansas’s name was the Fighting Scottie Pippens.

Scheduled game that makes Bret Bielema wish he’d of thought of that: Rhode Island at Boston College. I know Matt Ryan is gone, Eagles fans, but seriously, Rhode Island? After a little research on their ESPN.com page I found out the Rams have two verbal commitments for 2008, and both are graded as 40s.

The Appetizers:

USC at Oregon State: I told you I thought the Beavers have a shot this season and I mean it. USC has to travel to Corvalis this season to face last year’s second ranked PAC-10 defense (behind the Trojans) and a team that has given them both a recent loss (2006’s 33-31 thriller in the fog) and another scare (2004’s 28-20 win over Derek Anderson). Should be a fun Thursday night game.

Alabama at Georgia: If ‘Bama wants to get back on top they have to knock off a top Dawg. Bad joke I know, but seriously, if UGA doesn’t fall to the Sun Devils the week before, I’ll be cheering for the Tide in this one. Don’t forget Alabama almost won last season over the Dawgs, but they haven’t won between the hedges since 1995.

Illinois at Penn State: This night game in Happy Valley should be a dandy (sorry Keith) and will overshadow what’s generally a bigger conference game in Wisconsin at Michigan. If Illinois has survived undefeated thus far, I’m wondering how Juice will do under the lights with 108,000 whited out fans screaming at him. Penn State will hopefully have found their QB by now, if not, it’s gonna be a long season in Nittanyland.

THE MAIN COURSE:

Virginia Tech at Nebraska: The Hokies replace 21 players this season, and Nebraska was downright awful last season. With games against Georgia Tech and North Carolina prior, VaTech could be coming in with some losses under their belt.

It’s not the same with Nebraska though as they should come in unscathed having played a schedule that our good friend Mr. Bielema would be proud of. The sea of red was undaunting to USC last season; let’s see what it does to the Hokies with Sean Glennon back at QB minus his tailback Branden Ore.

I stop at September because after that, who knows what's going to be a good game. We didn't see South Florida, Oregon, Arizona State, or Missouri coming last year. I'd wager to say 3-4 of the marquee games in October and November will involved teams no one is talking about right now. But you might as well cross off Baylor from that list because I'm pretty sure they'll be last.