Let It Rip

This can't be good for SEC hoops

So ... about all those hopes that the SEC will get more teams into the NCAA basketball tournament this season after getting just three in this past year. With all the talent returning (Jodie Meeks, Jarvis Varnado, etc.) nothing can possibly hold them back, right? As long as they have no mortal enemies on the committee that they've embarrassed in recent years.

"Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has been appointed chairman of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee for 2010-11."

Uh oh.
Ah, revenge is a dish best served in March.

What's looking good in the Bowls?

Once the bowls roll around, all the talk centers around the unfairness of it all. So what is everyone saying is unfair in the bowls this year?

• Texas should have made the BCS title game

• Boise State should be in the BCS, not Ohio State

• Texas should play Alabama or Southern Cal

• Clemson should be in Boise or California, not the Gator Bowl

• Notre Dame shouldn't even be in a bowl, much less Hawaii?!?!?

• BYU and Utah, two Mormon-heavy schools, get bowl trips to Las Vegas and New Orleans, respectively. What the? Why do they get the party towns while some other teams have to go to Shreveport or Mobile?

Seriously, is there anything more unfair than that last item? Might as well give a Monastic Seminary a free trip to the Playboy Mansion. Well, here are my favorite bowls to see this season (outside of the BCS games of course -- psst, The Rose Bowl will be the best, just FYI), and a few that should be disbanded in favor of a WNBA dunk contest.

FIVE COOLEST BOWLS
1. Poinsettia Bowl (Boise State vs. TCU)

With Ball State's demise, this is easily a matchup of the two best non-BCS teams in the country. The unbeaten Broncos coulda (shoulda?) received a BCS bid while TCU was lights out, slaughtering BYU and giving eventual BCS crasher Utah a run for its money. There's always been talk that Boise State (of the WAC) could join the Mountain West if that meant getting the league an automatic berth in the BCS bowls. I'm in favor, let's roll it out.
2. Chick-fil-A Bowl (LSU vs. Georgia Tech)
The best team in the ACC (though, not that league's champ; all hail Va. Tech) vs. the SEC's biggest underachiever this season (oh yeah, and defending national champ). Paper tells me the Jackets should roll, but I think LSU and crazy ol' Les Miles, with a month to prepare, will pull the upset here. It should be fun to watch how.
3. Papajohns.com Bowl (N.C. State vs. Rutgers)
Two hottest teams in the nation not in the BCS. The Wolfpack came out of nowhere (four straight wins) and boast the ACC's top signal-caller in Russell Wilson. Rutgers looks to keep rolling (six straight wins), and Mike Teel hopes to end his career on a high note. Should be fireworks in Birmingham.
4. Holiday Bowl (Oregon vs. Oklahoma State)
Nine times out of 10, this bowl is the best of the year (remember Major Applewhite's last game when Texas beat Washington 47-43; awwww-esome game). San Diego is always full of high-octane offenses and little-to-no defense. Same thing this year. Okie State put up 41 on No. 1 Oklahoma while Oregon has scores 65 and 55 points in its past two games.
5. Cotton Bowl (Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech)

The SEC's fourth best team and the Big 12 South's third best team. Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree vs. Jevan Snead and Greg Hardy. Should be fun, if you can wake up by 2 p.m. on New Year's Day.

Some that missed the cut: Sun Bowl (Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh); Car Care Bowl (North Carolina vs. West Virginia)

FIVE LAMEST BOWLS
1. EagleBank Bowl (Wake Forest vs. Navy)
Rematches in bowl games (now that ties have been done away with) should be outlawed. Seriously. Punishable by death.

2. Motor City (Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan)
It might be nice to see the fighting Schnellenbergers take on a lower-tier SEC team or Central Michigan to face a Pac-10 team; but against each other, this game just bores us.
3. Music City (Vanderbilt vs. Boston College)
Worst bowl wait ever. And BC, with its contingent of no fans, can't be happy either.
4. Armed Forces Bowl (Air Force vs. Houston)
Yep, officially too many bowls. Lower-tier teams should almost always have to face big BCS-level schools. Just more exciting that way.
5. St. Petersburg Bowl (South Florida vs. Memphis)
Although, some times, having big schools face smaller schools sucks just as bad.

FIVE UNDER THE RADAR BOWLS
1. Liberty Bowl (East Carolina vs. Kentucky):
Skip Holtz's swan song?
2. GMAC Bowl (Ball State vs. Tulsa)
Guaranteed, four touchdowns over 80 yards.
3. Las Vegas (BYU vs. Arizona)
Mountain West vs. Pac-10. No defense allowed.
4. Humanitarian Bowl (Maryland vs. Nevada)
Come for the Terps, stay for the Colin Kaepernick (psst, he's Nevada's QB).
5. Texas Bowl (Rice vs. Western Michigan)
Rice's Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard are the best TD combo not playing for Texas Tech.

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

Weekend in review: The bowl fallout

The BCS has once against sputtered and coughed us out yet another "national championship" game, and there's nothing (and no amount of logic) that can change it now. BCS/bowl selection Sunday came and went pretty quietly as nothing unexpected happened. Texas was screwed out of the title game for the second week in a row, Oklahoma unabashedly ran up the score on a Missouri team that a hungry pack of boy scouts could have scored on and Florida again proved they are the best team in the nation thus far, led by perhaps its best player. (Although, to be fair to the Sooners, in this era of "style points", can you really blame them for running up the score?)

Well, all that is over and we are left with a national championship game pitting (at the very least) the two hottest teams in the country as well as a solid slate of postseason bowls to quench our thirst from here until New year's Day. Here's a breakdown of what Sunday had to tell us.


FIVE BOWL WINNERS
1. Oklahoma
We've covered this. Texas should have been the Big 12 South champ, and no Texas Tech, I don't want to hear it. Losing to anyone by 44 points automatically disqualifies you from winning anything ever. Sorry, them's the rules. But you can't blame the BCS, it's the Big 12 tiebreaker's fault.
2. The Rose Bowl
With Southern Cal's win against UCLA, the Rose Bowl's cold sweat officially dried and "The Granddaddy of the All" escaped a fate worse than death ... and a second straight awful bowl matchup that no one wanted to see. A slipup by the Trojans would have meant a remaych of the Oregon State-Penn State game from earlier this season, won easily by the Nittany Lions. After the Southern Cal-Illinois fiasco from last year (which robbed us fans of a Georgia-Southern Cal and an Illinois-Florida bowl game), the Rose could ill afford to lose any more face on the national stage.
3. Notre Dame
While some may poke fun at the Irish accepting a bid to play Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl, I look at the cup half full. Who else but the Irish could absorb the unenviable blow of having to go to Hawaii for a bowl game in these tough economic times? With their well-known and well-traveled fan base (not to mention that even Hawaii is home to more than a few Irish fans), the Irish are really taking one for the team here by going to the bowl no one can really afford to go to. With the Irish's national popularity, the game may even sell well and draw a solid TV number to make everyone a winner. Cheers to the Irish. PS -- not to mention that a trip to paradise is a welcome sight after a trying 6-6 season.
4. The Sun Belt Conference
For the third time in five years, the lowest-rated conference in I-A will send multiple teams to bowls. This season, Sun Belt champ Troy will play Southern Miss in the New Orleans Bowl while last year's league champ, Florida Atlantic, will go to the Motor City Bowl and face Central Michigan. Sometimes a lack of bowl eligible teams from the BCS conferences is not such a bad thing. It's always nice to see some newcomers in the overcrowded bowl game landscape.
5. Buffalo
Is there any coach out there more worthy or more deserving than Buffalo's Turner Gill. The former Nebraska star led the Bulls to their first MAC title with an upset of previously unbeaten Ball State, and the Bulls are headed to their first bowl game, the International Bowl in Toronto against Connecticut. This from a program that had won 10 games at the I-A level before Gill took over. If you couldn't feel the raw emotion from Gill after Buffalo's win in the MAC title game, then you need help.

FIVE BOWL LOSERS
1. Texas
Nuff said.
2. Miami and Maryland
The ACC's two outpost schools (well, except for Boston College) will head to the league's two outpost bowls, the Canes to San Francisco's Emerald Bowl (3,111 miles for a one-way trip) and the Terps to the blue turf of Boise's Humaitarian Bowl (2,374 miles). Who can't wait for the ACC to end its ties to these bowl games?
3.The Orange Bowl
With the Big East and the ACC both failing to produce nationally elite teams the past couple years, what are the chances one bowl would be stuck with both league's champs? Pity the once-glorious Orange Bowl.
4. Vanderbilt
26 years without a bowl and Vandy has to go to the bowl in its own city limits. Oh, the irony! By the way, the trip is about 3.2 miles according to google maps, just FYI.
5. Wake Forest
The ACC's second most disappointing team (thanks Clemson) gets to inaugurate the first Washington, D.C. bowl (the EagleBank Bowl) and the first bowl of the year (Dec. 20 at 11 a.m.) against Navy. But because exams at Maryland forced the Terps into another bowl, the D.C. bowl is left with a rematch of game played earlier this season (Navy beat Wake 24-17 in September).




Coming soon, a look at the five best and worst bowl games.

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

Weekend in review: ACC rules all and BCS messes with Texas

Short week for eveyone this past week, and with action cut in half, there was less to go around this weekend. Because of that, we'll only have four items on this week's agenda, but that's OK because a lot of good stuff went down on a wet and wild weekend.


4. ACC rules the SEC (sort of)
At least for one weekend, the ACC had its way with its more powerful neighbor, the SEC. In mostly rivalry games Saturday, Clemson pummeled South Carolina 31-14, Wake Forest topped Vanderbilt 23-10 and Georgia Tech shocked No. 11 Georgia on the road 45-42. Only Florida State was the party-pooper, losing to Florida 45-15. Overall this season, the scrappy ACC took six of 10 meetings with an SEC foe (Alabama beat Clemson, South Carolina beat N.C. State and Florida beat FSU and Miami). Not a bad season for one of the weaker-regarded BCS leagues, and Tech's win is easily the league's most impressive win this season. The SEC still has the ACC’s number  in elite teams, as the league has no one that compete with Florida and Alabama. But still, the ACC is stronger than the Big East and probably at least as strong as the Pac-10 these days. After this weekend, the Sagarin Rankings have the ACC at No. 1, followed by the Big 12 and SEC; though those rankings weigh heavily on a  league being balanced, which is what the ACC typifies. The most eye-opening stat: the ACC now has 10 teams eligible for a bowl and the league only has nine guaranteed spots. If Virginia had won on Saturday, the ACC would have had 11 teams eligible for the postseason.

3. … but get ready to lose money, ACC
Ah, but the fly in the ointment is yet another snoozer matchup in the ACC title game (at least from a national perspective). Virginia Tech will face Boston College in the league title game for the second year in a row after the Hokies beat Virginia and the Eagles whipped Maryland. But this year’s game was moved from Jacksonville to Tampa because the league title game was not selling well … mostly because of matchups like this (att: 53,212 last season). The Hokies aren’t a bad draw because of their rabid fan base, but Boston College likely has the weakest football following in the ACC outside of maybe Duke or Wake Forest, and it has the farthest campus from Florida. The league was probably secretly hoping for home-standing FSU or even Georgia Tech to sneak in so the league could sell a few more seats.

2. Rose Bowl must thank their lucky ducks
Whatever juju the Rose Bowl had left went toward helping Oregon knock off Oregon State on Saturday, saving fans and the “Granddaddy of the All” from an embarrassing rematch between Penn State and Oregon State (PSU won 45-14 earlier in the season). The Ducks torched their rivals 65-38 and No. 5 Southern Cal, with a win against UCLA this week, can punch its ticket to Pasadena. This saves a little face for the Rose Bowl after last year’s Southern Cal-Illinois debacle, when the bowl shunned a Georgia-Southern Cal matchup for “tradition.” I was secretly hoping Oregon State might win, just to stick it to the archaic Rose Bowl, but I am a college football fan and I would much rather see two great teams face off … not a rematch. But, as long as the Rose Bowl continues to spurn change, another embarrassing moment (and no BCS playoff) is likely on the horizon.

1. The system doesn’t work
When critics shout down the idea of a college football playoff, the reasoning is always that the regular season would be cheapened and mean less. Wonder what those critics have to say after Texas got the worst deal ever Sunday, courtesy of Oklahoma, idiotic voters, and -- of course -- the BCS. The Longhorns, who of course beat Oklahoma not two months ago, were passed over in favor of the Sooners for the Big 12 title game and a shot at the BCS national championship game. The highest team in the BCS rankings breaks a three-way division tie in the Big 12, and Texas was a spot back of Oklahoma on Monday. Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 on a neutral field on Oct. 11, but the Sooners’ ability to rout teams was apparently more impressive to voters and computers. Texas lost to Texas Tech, who was later manhandled 65-21 by the Sooners. The flashy, shiny objects of the Sooners’ late season run apparently trumped an on-the-field game in the minds of a loony few. Making this even more foolhardy was the fact the ACC and SEC tiebreakers would have settled this situation correctly. Both leagues also use BCS rankings in their tie-breakers to determine a division champ in the event of a 3-way tie, but both leagues would have thrown out the lowest-ranking BCS team (in this case, No. 7 Texas Tech) and head-to-head would be used to break the final tie. Imagine that, football being used to break ties. What a novel concept. See you in the Fiesta Bowl, Longhorns.

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

The Bottom 10: Crown-them edition

Oh, sure there's still a week or two left in the regular season for some teams, but I think we've seen all that needs to be seen here in Bottom 10 land as we unveil the final rankings of this season. It was a long, cupcake-filled road that saw weeks of mediocre play, baffling coaching decisions and players that saw tantalizing victory sitting in the jaws of defeat ... but instead chose to chase a bouncing orange ball across a busy interstate. After all this, the University of Washington exemplified the best (or is that worst?) of what a true Bottom 10 contender really is. We who are about to die of embarrassment, salute you!


Bottom 10 National Champion
THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Could the epic Bottom 10 title game between Washington State and Washington have ended any other way? Possibly the worst major-college matchup in the history of NCAA football was too much for a mere 60 minutes of eyes-taped-open-Clockwork-Orange-style horror. Two overtimes were needed, and when the dust and rotten apple stench cleared, Washington emerged as the last team squatting.
It takes real dedication to lose to what most college football experts labeled as "the worst big-time team in college football history," which is what Washington State was pinning to its lapel after surrendering 58 or more points six times this season.
U-Dub (0-11), which finishes the season against Cal on Saturday, cost Ty Willingham his job with the worst season in school history. But lame-duck Ty went down swinging by refusing to accept full blame after the loss to Wazzu.
"Obviously, if you're the head coach at this time, you take responsibility for what's going on," Willingham told reporters after the 16-13 loss. "But it should also be noted, the day that I arrived, what the state of the program was. I take responsibility for where we're at, but there's also a process."
So, the excuse is we were bad before and I kept them there? Stay Classy, Ty. That is why your team is Bottom 10 champion.

2. WASHINGTON STATE
Why they're here: Did you read the above part? The only reason Wazzu which finishes the season Saturday at Hawaii) is this low is because of the immutable rules of math ("2" comes after "1", except after "C") and NCAA rules prohibit two teams losing the same game (although, after the Apple Cup, the NCAA may need to revisit this ... along with a playoff, pay for players and why Big Ten football has to be on TV). Need some numbers to back up my claim? Wazzu was 103rd or worse in 13 (of 17) major statistical categories tracked by the NCAA.

3. IOWA STATE
Why they're here: Some side effects of watching Cyclones football may include nausea, cramping, looking away, wandering away, skipping away, hair loss, food spoilage, BPH (also known as enlarged prostate), fainting, boredom and the cutting off of body parts with the nearest rusty, sharp thingy. Results are typical.

4. INDIANA
Why they're here: Hoosiers football, which I believe was instituted because Indiana students needed a way to punish the incarcerated (and their rogue hoops coaches), capped their 3-9, return to the basement campaign with a 62-10 loss to previously harmless Purdue.

5. MICHIGAN
Why they're here: It's hard to get any more matter of fact than this: the worst team in the school's 129-year history. Throw in such party favors as setting the school record for most losses (9), posting a losing record for the first time since 1967 and snapping the school's record 34-year bowl streak, and Rich Rodriguez is the winner of the Bottom 10's Coach of the Year award.

6. TEXAS A&M
Why they're here: With Texas Tech and Texas gobbling up wins and setting their sights on a BCS bowl berth, the bad players in Texas high school football had to end up somewhere.

7. SYRACUSE
Why they're here: A win against the Irish, college football's most overrated and storied program, is not nearly enough to remove the stink of the Greg Robinson era.

8. ARKANSAS
Why they're here: You can buy coaches, facilities, new uniforms or even the university's first zeppelin to trumpet your school's football program. But dignity (and wins) have no price tag.

9. NOTRE DAME
Why they're here: There wasn't a snowball's chance I would leave the Flailing Irish off the list after last week's effort against Syracuse. But they'll need Warren Buffett to buy out last-place Charlie Weis.

10. CHAMPS OF THE ACC/BIG EAST
Why they're here: As if not having a decent team among you isn't bad enough, now we will be forced to watch two unworthy teams flail about in the biggest bowls of the year. All this while more worthy teams (hello, Boise State) are sent to the far reaches and play in bowls that end with ".com" or "weedeater". There's nothing like rewarding mediocrity in the name of money.

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

Weekend in review: Texas is getting jobbed, like Boise State

 

Yee-ha, it is getting all crazy and it's not even subsiding yet and here we are still with Thanksgiving weekend on the horizon. The ACC is nuts, so is Notre Dame, the Rose Bowl is old school crazy and we may have to lock up Texas fans in straight jackets if (when!) Oklahoma leaps past them in the rankings. Oy, get out your crazy glue.

5. Notre Dame is in disarray (hooray!?!)
So much for the Charlie Weis era? It’s looking pretty grim these days in South Bend as rumors of buyouts and Urban Meyer dance in the heads of Irish fans everywhere. While I don’t think it has quite come to the firing point yet (and Meyer will leave Florida right around the time I take over as studio head at Paramount), Weis probably will have to reach a BCS bowl bid next year or else he’ll be pining for a Sun Belt job. What can’t be understated is the fact that the Irish’s loss to Syracuse is probably the low point for Notre Dame under Weis. Even though the record was worse last season (3-9), this Syracuse team was badly outmatched in the talent department by Notre Dame -- and still the Irish lost. The three-win Irish team lost to mostly teams that were better, but the Orange are one of the worst BCS teams in the country – yet, the this season’s Irish lost. Sorry Charlie.


^^4. Utah is BCS busting like nobody’s business^^
Barring something ludicrous, Utah is headed to either the Sugar or Orange  bowls (the Fiesta Bowl gets first pick and likely will bypass the Utes for Southern Cal) after beating rival BYU to win the Mountain West, finish the season 12-0, and more importantly, wrap up the season (basically) as the highest-ranking non-BCS team. And since they’re comfortably in the top 12 (No. 6) of the BCS, that locks them up for a BCS bid. As champs of easily the toughest non-BCS league (tougher than the ACC and Big East maybe??) With BCS league wins against Michigan, Oregon State as well as top-15 wins against BYU and TCU, the Utes deserve a bid. Left in the shafter is Boise State, which also qualifies for BCS bid at No. 9 in the rankings, but will be left out for a major-conference team. The Broncos beat a solid Oregon squad on the road, but that is by far the best win for BSU. Also left in the cold are No. 14 TCU and No. 15 Ball State, both of whom currently qualify for a BCS bowl because they are in the top 16 and ranked above two likely BCS league champs (Cincy at No. 16 and the ACC champ – FSU is the highest ranked league team at No. 20.) But since the BCS is meant to pad the pockets of the big conferences, these teams are likely headed for pre-Christmas Day bowl games.

3. ACC race is down to the Final Four
Nine freaking teams entered Saturday with a chance to win the ACC, a ludicrous amount for a conference that defines the term parity. Are there even 9 teams per conference still alive for the NFL playoffs? I don’t know, maybe, but there’s only two weeks left in the college season, so there. In the Atlantic Division, Boston College controls its own destiny and can win the division by beating Maryland on Saturday. If the Terps win (which could happen since BC will be without QB Chris Crane), then Florida State will go to Tampa as the division champ. In the Coastal Division, Virginia Tech holds all the cards as it need only beat rival Virginia at home tin win a trip to Florida. If the Hokies lose, Georgia Tech wins the division. Safe bet to say the ACC brass are hoping for FSU to win a division to help the lagging ticket sales at the ACC title game, which moved from Jacksonville because of lack of interest. Gentlemen, to self-interest!

2. Why the Rose Bowl hates college football fans
Well, well Rose Bowl, we meet again. It’s your old friend mediocrity. We met last year when you screwed the pooch and picked an Illinois-Southern Cal matchup that no one but yourselves wanted to see. Now, a year later, you’re staring at a Penn State-Oregon State rematch that no one on this continent wants to see. Well, that’s what happens when you don’t embrace change. Been nice knowing you, see ya next year. ... In case you didn’t notice, I’m still a little miffed at “The Grandmommy of them all” for screwing us fans out of two great bowls last season: Georgia-Southern Cal and Florida-Illinois. Instead, we were treated to a Southern Cal 49, Illinois 17 butt-kicking in Pasadena that just proved that the Rose Bowl has wilted into an archaic, lumbering dinosaur in the 21st century of college football. The Rose Bowl keeps telling us that it is sticking with tradition by matching the Big Ten and Pac-10. I’m sorry, but wasn’t the RB’s tradition also to match two GOOD teams in the bowl? Well, last year, they failed utterly. Why don’t you just hit up Washington State and Indiana while you’re at it, they’ll be free on New Year’s Day, I assure you of that. Of course, the Rose Bowl (and by association the Big Ten and Pac-10) are keeping us from having a plus-one system and at least a taste of a college football playoff. That right there is enough for a New Year’s Day execution. But, if you have a few more Illini-Trojan matchups, no one will have to help pull the trigger on your bowl – you’ll have done that yourself. Have fun in pointlessness.

1. Texas is will be getting screwed
So, if a three-way tie hits the Big 12 South, the debate comes down to Texas and Oklahoma? Am I the only one that thinks this is a slam dunk for Texas? Texas beat Oklahoma. In any discussion of who’s better or more worthy, we have an easy reference: Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 on a neutral field. But, unfortunately, too many human voters are tricked by shiny objects, such as Oklahoma’s 65-21 slaughtering of Texas Tech to realize the simplicity of the situation. Texas was beaten by Texas Tech, true enough, but that game was on the road at the end of a brutal stretch of ranked teams for the Longhorns. Oklahoma routed Tech in the comfort of its own home. The BCS wisely has Texas at No. 2 this week, but unfortunately, the Sooners, if they can beat Oklahoma State next week, will jump Texas next week. And since the Big 12's lame tiebreaker in a 3-way tie for the division is the BCS ranking, Oklahoma will wrongly go to the Big 12 title game. Here’s hoping Baylor upset Texas Tech and forces Oklahoma to lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Texas. Let’s go Baylor!

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

The Bottom 10: Title game edition

With a couple weeks still left before the SEC and Big 12 shake us out a national title game, the big day is already here for the Bottom 10 title to be decided as lollipop Washington faces sucker Washington State in the "Everyone has Licked 'Em Bowl." So grab some ipecac and a blindfold and settle in for the worst game of the year, nay decade.

10. KANSAS STATE
Last week: lost to Nebraska 56-28
This week: vs. Iowa State
Could things get much worse for K-State fans? First Ron Prince is fired as coach despite being on campus for about 90 minutes. Then stud QB Josh Freeman says he may go to the NFL, robbing the purple Cats of their best NFL-caliber player. In related news, the school will switch colors from purple to pink and rename Manhattan, Kan., as  Little New Jersey, Kan.
Prediction: a rotten “Little Apple”

9. TENNESSEE
Last week: Bye week
This week: at Vanderbilt
Week 2 of “Who Wants to Get Paid Millions to Lose to Florida and Georgia,” and no one has stepped up to walk the plank for the Volunteer Navy. Sure there are expectations, but who can refuse a huge office, company car and a coach’s personal workout room with tons of unused equipment!
Prediction: is that rowing machine still in the original box?

8. DUKE
Last week: lost to Clemson 31-7
This week: at Virginia Tech
The new-look Blue Devils don’t deserve to be here, but that is the nature of the ACC. Take a look at the top of any division, and you’ll see a bunch of teams that don’t deserve to be competing for a BCS berth. Only three teams have been eliminated from the ACC title race (sweet mother of all that is good and decent, that is pathetic), and the Blue Devils were the only one to lose last week. Thanks Clemson!
Prediction: Hoops season is here ... at last, we will have our revenge

7. TEXAS A&M
Last week: lost to Baylor 41-21
This week: bye week
A bad season became historically worse with TAMU’s most lopsided loss to Baylor since 1980 as the Aggies jumped out to a 41-7 deficit before rallying ... sort of. The loss assures the Wrecked Crew of finishing last in the Big 12 South and that the greater College Station area will be sold out of antacid until 2012.
Prediction: pass the Pepto

6. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Last week: lost to No. 1 Alabama 32-7
This week: vs. Arkansas
The sad part is Mississippi State, for all its offensive ineptness (worst scoring offense outside the two western W-states), could be staring at a bowl berth if it had beaten overmatched La. Tech in the opener. The defensive-minded ’Dogs have two winnable games remaining, but the offense may have cost Sly Croom his job.
Prediction: my kingdom for a touchdown

5. INDIANA
Last week: lost to No. 8 Penn State 34-7
This week: at Purdue
Thank the heavens basketball season is here, because Hoosier fans were running out of excuses as to why they were skipping football games. But hey, if the football team is only going to come for one half (36 yards, one first down in second half against Penn State), at least the fans won’t feel too bad.
Prediction: who cares, no one’s watching anyway

4. SYRACUSE
Last week: lost to Connecticut 39-14
This week: at Notre Dame
Things to do in Syracuse now that the Greg Robinson regime has been overthrown in a glorious victory for the people! 1) Burn inexplicably purchased G-Rob boxers. 2) Construct G-Rob effigy from abundant snow drifts; pummel it with a boat oar. 3) Hide in basement until spring and hope coaching search works out perfectly.
Prediction: new coach – Sarah Palin ... aw, crap

3. IOWA STATE
Last week: lost to No. 12 Missouri 52-20
This week: at Kansas State
Nine straight losses have the Cyclones reaching for the Washington stratosphere of suck. The only winless Big 12 team in league play has played within a touchdown of one of its past six opponents and has lost 16 in a row on the road. The final nail in the Clones’ season is a league game on the road. Yay.
Prediction: a bad combination

1(t). THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
Last week: Who cares? No one, that’s who! (It was more losing)
This week: Game of the half-minute: No. 118 Washington (0-10) at No. 119 Washington State (1-10)
Forget Texas Tech at Oklahoma, get ready for the Slap Fight of Year as Wazzu and U-Dub poke each other’s corpses with a stick in the de facto Bottom 10 title game (aka, the annual Apple Cup) Saturday. At stake are the usual yearly bragging rights and the eternal knowledge that your team hit rock bottom but still, under that rock, lay your worst rival. If the football gods have a sense of humor (and judging by Notre Dame, they still do), this game will end in a 4-4 tie when the field is swallowed up by the earth, Old Testament style.
Prediction: the worst of the worst

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

Weekend in review: Orange juice and ACC craziness

No big shake up on the landscape this week, unless you live in Syracuse, as the BCS title game did not get any clearer and the ACC devolved further into the mud from which it apparently spawned. But here's what it all means with three weeks left in the regular season.

5. BCS buster elimination game on tap
The mid-majors’ best shot at crashing the BCS is on the clock this week as BCS No. 7 Utah takes on BCS No. 14 and rival BYU this weekend. After two three-point wins the previous two weeks, Utah slammed San Diego State 63-14. A win would give the Utes (the original BCS buster) their second BCS bowl bid, unique among mid-major teams. If the Utes fall, then Boise State would be the frontrunner for a likely spot in the Fiesta Bowl, but the Broncos still have two games remaining against Nevada and Fresno State. There appears to be a shot, with BYU so high in the BCS, that the Cougars could claim a BCS spot by beating Utah and having Boise State lose, they need only move up two spots into the top 12 or be in the top 16 and ranked above any BCS conference champ. Ball State is likely on the outside looking in a No. 17 in the BCS with two games and the MAC title game remaining.

4. No one wants to win the ACC title
Whether through lack of effort, lack of talent or just the embarrassment of being known as the best team in the ACC, frontrunners in the ACC continue to fall at an impressive rate. In a span of three hours, the ACC Atlantic lead changed hands twice as first Wake Forest lost to pathetic N.C. State to put FSU in the driver’s seat. Then the Noles fell apart against Boston College giving Maryland the division lead. The Terps have the best shot at getting to Tampa, either by winning out against FSU and BC -- or losing to FSU, beating BC and hoping Wake Forest beats BC. But as of now, BC, Wake, FSU and Maryland all have a shot at the title. In the Coastal, Miami needs to win out, but UNC could claim the division if Miami slips up. So, Maryland and Miami are on the clock ... to lose.

3. Greg Robinson is toast in Syracuse (but we knew that)
Sunday could have been any day this fall as the firing of Greg Robinson had been expected since fall practice wrapped up. Robinson has been dead man walking since posting 10-loss seasons in 2005 and ’07, the first double-digit loss seasons in Cuse history. The once-proud Orange have lost recruiting containment in the northeast to new powers Rutgers and UConn, who have plundered the few stars up there – the ones that used to keep Syracuse in the bowls most every season. They also stopped recruiting Florida, and the on-field product has produced just a 9-36 record for Robinson in his four years in New York. AD Daryl Gross deserves his fair share of blame for the debacle as his Southern Cal-style (Robinson was also a former Trojan) has not meshed well in Syracuse. At the very least, Orange fans got to see a preview of the school’s likely top candidate in last week’s loss: UConn coach Randy Edsall.

2. Florida is the most dominating team, but are they the best?
The Gators are making it look like 1996, much to former UF coach Steve Spurrier’s chagrin last week. Florida thumped South Carolina and Spurrier 56-6 and has averaged 49.8 points during the six-game winning streak since its only hiccup: a 31-30 loss at home to Ole Miss. Florida has been probably even scarier than some of its other teams in its own recent history, which has led to many pundits around the nation proclaiming Florida to be the nation’s best team. With two unbeaten teams still out there, it’s a moot point. But after two SEC title game warmups against The Citadel and FSU, Florida can prove the hype with two wins against Alabama in Atlanta and a win in Miami against the Big 12 champ.

1. No. 1 Alabama is getting overlooked
Lost in all the Florida love is, ironically, the nation’s top-ranked team. Because Alabama pounds teams to death with defense, it will never get the same love like an offensive-juggernaut like Florida. Defense wins titles, however, and that is reason enough that any logical Florida fan is looking past the hype and is still wary of the SEC title game. A quick scan of the stats confirms why the Tide are so good: they rank No. 3 nationally in rush and total defense and No. 6 in pass and scoring defense.

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

The Bottom 10: Cowboy up edition

It gets rugged out West, where the horses are wild, the landscape is untamed and the bottom of their conference is better than the cellar-dwellers back East. Once-mighty Tennessee’s late push for the Bottom 10 title — helped by Saturday’s baffling loss to Wyoming — likely will come too late. But at least the Vols never have any quit in them.

10. PURDUE
Last week: lost to No. 18 Michigan State 21-7
This week: at Iowa
After exploding for 48 points in a beatdown of pathetic Michigan, the Choo-choo trains returned to their usual ways, failing to score in double digits for the fourth time this season. Truly sad for a school that boasts Drew Brees in the alumni phonebook.
Prediction: change area code to 911

9. N.C. STATE
Last week: beat Duke 27-17
This week: vs. No. 24 Wake Forest
The Wolfpack’s fortunes are starting to finally look up, and all it took was an upset of ... Duke? Well, if you are 4-point underdogs to the might Blue Devils (of football), then anything can look up because you’ve sunk to the bottom of the ACC pool. Next stop: mediocrity.
Prediction: More mediocrity

8. TENNESSEE
Last week: lost to Wyoming 13-7
This week: Bye week
Really, Big Orange? Really? Wyoming? After all the anger that Vols players spewed after Tennessee fired Phil Fulmer, most thought the team would rally around Phil ... not grab their throats and fall down in front of him. There’s a lot of good to look back on during the Fulmer years, but this season is worth forgetting.
Prediction: Rocky bottom

7. BAYLOR
Last week: lost to No. 4 Texas 45-21
This week: vs. Texas A&M
Not much to sell the alumni on this season. Sure Baylor has three wins, but two have come against teams ranked in the top three in this here Bottom 10. This week Art Briles and the Bears face Mike Sherman and TAMU to determine who made the biggest mistake in their job choice.
Prediction: little showdown in the Big 12

6. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Last week: Bye week
This week: at No. 1 Alabama
The chances of the Bulldogs knocking off Alabama for the third year in a row is about as good as MSU coach Sly Croom picking up a contract extension this offseason. How ironic that the SEC could be without black head coach as the nation’s first black president begins his first term.
Prediction: changing tide

5. INDIANA
Last week: lost to Wisconsin 55-20
This week: at No. 8 Penn State
The Hoosiers are less football team than MASH unit these days, without the hijinks. The Hoosiers lost three QBs against Wisconsin, whose defense has been fluffier than the cottage cheese the state produces. With 13 starters having spent time in the infirmary, it’s no wonder fans are already heading over to Assembly Hall.
Prediction: paging Father Mulcahy ...

4. SYRACUSE
Last week: lost to Rutgers 35-17
This week: vs. Connecticut
Whew, that was a scary week. No Syracuse in the bottom half (or is it top half) of the Bottom 10 made the world all off kilter. But have no fear, all is right with the world after the Fruit’s latest blight on the college football world. With three high-profile coaches already on the unemployment line, how long before the roulette wheel finally stops on poor old Greg Robinson?
Prediction: over-under is at two weeks

3. IOWA STATE
Last week: lost to Colorado 28-24
This week: vs. No. 12 Missouri
You have to hand it to the Cyclones, they make their losses as painful as possible. After the wind was taken out of this season’s sails early with losses to UNLV and Kansas by a total of five points, the Clones blew a 24-13 fourth-quarter lead against Colorado then were stopped at the 3-yard line as time expires. Way to twist the knife, Cyclones.
Prediction: twisting in the wind

2. WASHINGTON
Last week: lost 39-19 to Arizona State
This week: vs. UCLA
It’s not all about you, ya know? Take U-Dub. For the second week in a row, it can help another team avoid a horrible fate and a ranking on the Bottom 10. Last week, the Huskies did a little charity work and helped Arizona State escape the list. With UCLA on the brink this week, U-Dub is ready to step up and help out. Sometimes helping others is its own reward ... that reward’s not a win – oh god no – but it’s a reward.
Prediction: another rewarding beatdown

1. WASHINGTON STATE
Last week: lost to Arizona 59-28
This week: at Arizona State
Let’s hear it for Wazzu’s best offensive showing of the year in I-A play: 28 points against Arizona (previous high:17). Sure, the Cougs gave up double that (actually more), but since you would have to add the past six games together to top that score, let’s focus on the positive: three more weeks, and Wazzu can clinch its title as worst team in Pac-10 history.
Prediction: positively awful

Waiting list: Michigan, Clemson, Arizona State, UCLA, Notre Dame, Duke

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press

Weekend in review: Down to two

The national title has been whittled down the Big 12 and SEC champs thanks to a little magic in the state of Iowa. But nothing is set in stone, so here's what is going down with three weeks left in the regular season as the BCS busters shake out and so does the ACC race. And also, here's why you should be cheering for the Big 12 South.

5. BCS busters down to four (or two)
TCU’s loss to Utah knock the Horned Frogs out of the BCS race and sets up a dash to the finish between the Utes and Boise State for the BCS buster crown. Utah, now ranked over Penn State in the BCS standing at No. 7, can clinch a BCS spot by winning out against San Diego State and No. 17 BYU. Boise State is at No. 9 and must hope for a Utah loss while cruising through their final three games (at Idaho, at Nevada and vs. Fresno State), a two-win team and two five-win squads. There is an outside shot once-beaten BYU could sneak into the BCS top 12 and earn a spot if it wins at Air Force and then upset Utah, but the Cougars would have to hope and pray the pollsters would vote them high enough ... and that one-loss will not help their BCS ranking. So, it’s a snowball’s chance for BYU. The real tragedy is that an undefeated Boise State team, likely ranked in the top 8 in the BCS rankings, will be forced to play in the Humanitarian Bowl against and ACC also ran two days before New Year’s. Yippee. (I almost forgot about Ball State, which sits at No. 14 in the BCS. The Cardinals have Miami and two directional Michigan schools left before the MAC title game. With two busters ranked ahead of them and still needing to make up two spots, Ball State's shot at the BCS is so-so).

4. Big Ten hopes are dead (thank you, Iowa)
Thanks to the Hawkeye State for ending the Big Ten’s dream of a three-peat of disastrous losses in the national title game against an SEC (or Big 12) foe. The Nittany Lions seemed to have clear sailing to the national title game since there’s decent chance that either (or both) the SEC and Big 12 champs will have a loss. An unbeaten Penn State likely would have jumped one of those teams in the polls and sat in the top 2 come BCS bowl time and season’s end. Now, it’s all but assured (barring some silliness) that either Texas Tech, Texas or Oklahoma will face Alabama or Florida in the national title game as they now represent the BCS’ top 5. Tough luck Southern Cal (or is it? see No. 2).

3. ACC continues to be muddled mess
Here we are with basically three weeks left in the season, and the ACC has barely eliminated a quarter of the teams in the chase for the division titles. Duke, Clemson and N.C. State are dead in the water while Georgia Tech and Virginia are on life support. In the Atlantic, Florida State, Wake Forest and Maryland are on the top of the heap with two losses. The Terps control their own destiny as they have beaten Wake and will play FSU in two weeks. FSU needs to win out and hope Wake loses to either N.C. State or Boston College. Wake needs to win out and hope FSU beats Maryland. Oddly, three-loss Boston College controls their own destiny as their final three games are, coincidentally, against FSU, Wake Forest and Maryland; so if the Eagles win out, they win the division. In the Coastal, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Miami have the best shot for the crown. Thursday’s Va. Tech-Miami game is basically an elimination game because the Hokies can clinch the division by winning out. UNC, which beat Miami but lost to Va. Tech, has Maryland, N.C. State and Duke left so the Heels must win out and hope the Hokies lose. Got all that?

2. Texas Tech, elite and ready to go
Still doubting Texas Tech? Ok, the last litmus test (before the Big 12 title game against, most likely, BCS No. 12 Missouri) is here for the Red Raiders who proved they are among the nation’s elite by following up an upset of Texas with a 56-20 beatdown of a solid Oklahoma State team. Both teams have this week off to prep for the de facto Big 12 South elimination game. The Sooners, meanwhile, still must follow that matchup with a game against Oklahoma State (Texas Tech finishes against hapless Baylor). Meanwhile, Texas sits back and plays two should-be wins against Kansas and Texas A&M and hopes for an Oklahoma upset. Of course, what happens if the Big 12 South winner loses to the Big 12 North champ (likely Missouri) in the Big 12 title game? The SEC champ is locked into the title game unless Florida or Alabama fall apart and lose out in the regular season, but would Missouri’s hypothetical win might put a one loss, non-conference champion Big 12 team (Texas, maybe) into the title game? Remember Nebraska losing the division title to Colorado then getting steamrolled by Miami in the 2001 national title game? Or would the voters realize the unfairness of that and immediately leapfrog Southern Cal (or Penn State) into the BCS title game? With all the craziness that happened last year, it could happen. Let’s hope the Big 12 South wins the league title.

1. Alabama, Florida are SEC’s best
Yeah, it’s been a foregone conclusion for a while now since both teams stomped preseason No. 1 Georgia, but we had to sweat out LSU’s last gasp before the Crimson Tide snatched the division crown out from under Baton Rouge. The Tide and Gators will be heavily favored going into their final regular season games – Bama has Mississippi State and Auburn; the Gators have South Carolina, The Citadel and Florida State – so the SEC title game will serve as a true national championship semifinal this season.

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Photos Courtesy: The Associated Press