College Football -- Week 14

I'm still in despair over the loss of Ed Orgeron from the active coaching ranks. Mississippi, possibly the nation's most insane college for the gap between self-perception and reality, canned him after just three years and well-rated recruiting classes. Now, did Coach O ever show that he was a good head coach? I think that's debatable at best, but I know that Mississippi was better than its record this year. He'll probably catch on as an assistant somewhere soon and go back to doing what he does best. Thank goodness that we got three years of tearing off his shirt, "Yabeeboy!", Hummer ads, and the greatest fan song I've heard to date. In his memory, all together, "Yo yo yo, yoooooooooooo yoooooooooo, yo yo, football!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nACZJ5x_wBY

Coach O was one of many casualties this week. Texas A&M fired Franchione, and Nebraska axed Callahan. Neither was unexpected. Icons in Lubick and Bower were forced out of Colorado State and Southern Mississippi. Boss Hog Houston Nutt left the insanity of Fayetteville for the "quiet" insanity of Oxford, Mississippi. A&M immediately hired Mike Sherman, a deposed Packer head coach. Duke let Coach Roof go. We won't do better, but maybe some new blood can help. Openings at Baylor, Michigan, and SMU were long expected.

Turning to actual games from rivalry week, we all saw LSU fall off the cliff after teetering on the precipice since October began. They may have lost twice in triple overtime, but it's remarkable how they left schools like South Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, Tulane, and Mississippi hang with them in wins. My Thanksgiving went better as USC looked like the team the Trojans were supposed to be. But, it was too late for national purposes. Let's just blast the Bruins and beat up on Ohio State/Illinois in the Rose Bowl. Colorado ended Bill Callahan's head coaching career by putting up 65 on the Huskers. (Turner Gill may be a great fit there, but I thought Bo Pelini should have gotten the job the last go around.) Ole Stinkin' Miss blew the Egg Bowl and cost Coach O his job. Toledo did not have anything left and coughed up the Peace Pipe to the BuGS of Bowling Green. A&M ruined Texas's BCS hopes and sent Fran off a winner. Hawaii finally beat someone good in Boise.

Saturday gave us a merciful ending to Miami's lousy season. I hope better days are coming there, but that quarterback situation needs fixing and soon. VT won the Commonwealth Cup and will face BC for the ACC championship. Tennessee overcame its general lousiness and beat Kentucky in quadruple overtime. LSU should destroy them in the SEC championship and should be thankful that they don't have to play Georgia. Wake Forest should Vandy what the Commodores could be (and what my Devils could be too). BYU won an extremely exciting Holy War. My magic underwear got worn out from it. UCF and Tulsa clinched C-USA divisional titles and will do it over again in Orlando this week. Notre Dame's pain finally ends—at least until next September. They can't be this bad again next year. They really can't be.

Oregon and UCLA played what some have dubbed the ugliest game of college football in the last decade. UO was down to its fourth-string quarterback and was shut out. Bauer was there in person and had to deal with the pain. Georgia won the hate. Duke choked away the Liberty Bell and made me weep. Oklahoma showed again how good it can be when it's not losing to unranked teams in the Bedlam Game. WVU showed that it's the best in the Big East in the de facto championship again UConn. That was never close. I'm shocked that Kansas State played two road non-conference games this year (Auburn and Fresno). If Bill Snyder were dead, he'd be haunting Ron Prince. Tim Tebow may have finished a Heisman season by dominating the 'Noles. WSU, Clemson, and Auburn won their rivalry games that no one outside of their states cared about. And, Missouri was in control against the potent Kansas offense.

As this is it, we will have participants in the BCS National Championship Game by the next time I compose an email. Missouri and West Virginia clearly control their destinies. Each plays at night against Oklahoma (who is the favorite!) and Pittsburgh respectively. I wonder when was the last time that a #1 team was an underdog, especially on a neutral field. Should either lose, Ohio State will take the place. Should both lose, I have no idea who would face the Buckeyes. Georgia's computers are not very good despite being called "the best team right now" by some media pundits. (Note to pundits: it's the two best teams over 14 weeks, not over the last 4.) LSU could still sneak in based on great computers and a bump from winning the SEC championship. Oklahoma could get a huge bump from blasting #1 Missouri. USC could get in, but I don't think anyone forgives the Trojans for losing to Stanford (nor should they). Virginia Tech has plenty going for it including a loss to LSU and a chance to avenge the loss to BC. I have little faith that Kansas can sneak in. Regardless, there are EIGHT teams that can get to the NCG if things fall their way. The most determinative thing will be whom the Harris voters and coaches put at #1 and #2. There would have to be a very narrow margin between #2 and #3 (or even #2 to #4) to get another team in. Of course, the voters are idiots.

It sickens me to list 2-loss teams, but I feel obligated to at this point.

• 1 loss: #1 Missouri (#9 Oklahoma), #2 West Virginia (#21 South Florida), #3 Ohio State (#15 Illinois), #5 Kansas (#1Missouri) (4)
• 2 losses: #4 Georgia (#50 South Carolina, #14 Tennessee), #6 Virginia Tech (#7 Louisiana State, #11 Boston College), #7 Louisiana State (#36 Kentucky, #27 Arkansas), #8 Southern California (#77 Stanford, #17 Oregon), #9 Oklahoma (#53 Colorado, #28 Texas Tech), #11 Boston College (#45 Florida State, #51 Maryland), #13 Arizona State (#17 Oregon, #8 Southern California) (7)
  
• And "#12" Hawaii still doesn't count when its wins are #25, #44, #84, #91, #93, #107, #112, #115, and #120 and two FCS schools. I honestly still rank them with the three-loss teams despite beating Boise. They certainly will be in a BCS game if they beat Washington.

So, pressed for a guess to the pecking order: (1) West Virginia, (2) Missouri, (3) Ohio State, (4) LSU, (5) Georgia, (6) Virginia Tech, (7) Oklahoma, (8) USC. No chances given to BC, KU, or ASU.

And, I'll guess as to the actual BCS games
BCS NCG: West Virginia vs. Ohio State
Rose: USC vs. Illinois (replaces Ohio State)
Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. Arizona State
Sugar: LSU vs. Hawaii (final pick)
Orange: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia

This week is conference championships. All five games are on Saturday. Only the MAC game hasn't been mentioned. (I'll take the Chips there and UCF in C-USA). Out west, it's rivalry weekend, plus Washington head to the islands to face Hawaii. There are a few Big East games. WVU has the Backyard Brawl against Pitt. The Sun Belt championship will be determined between Troy and FAU. BYU, already MWC champs, makes up a game against SDSU. And we all wave goodbye to the Orange Bowl as FIU hosts North Texas. (We ready! We ready!) Oh, and I can't forget Army vs. Navy! Always a fun game.

Now, every conference championship has been decided or has a clear-cut game this weekend to finish it off. (The five championship games and FAU–Troy happen this week. WVU, tOSU, BYU, and Hawaii have already claimed championships, although Connecticut can claim a co-championship if Pitt upsets WVU.) That leaves the Pac-10, and what a mess it is!

There are eight scenarios in the Pac-10 based on three games this week, UCLA–USC, Oregon State–Oregon, and Arizona–Arizona State. (The California–Stanford game only counts in the heads and hearts of their alums and fans of nihilist German porn stars this year. It's appropriate that the game is on Versus.) This will be a bit complicated, but I think that I've done this right. First, I'm going to list the scenarios based on victors.
1. USC / OSU / ASU
2. USC / OSU / UA
3. USC / UO / ASU
4. USC / UO / UA
5. UCLA / OSU / ASU
6. UCLA / OSU / UA
7. UCLA / UO / ASU
8. UCLA / UO / UA

In both scenarios 1 and 3, USC and Arizona State are tied at 7-2. USC beat Arizona State. USC goes to the Rose Bowl.
In both scenarios 2 and 4, USC is outright champion at 7-2. USC goes to the Rose Bowl.
In both scenarios 5 and 7, Arizona State is outright champion at 7-2. ASU goes to the Rose Bowl.
In scenario 6, UCLA, USC, Arizona State, and Oregon State are all tied at 6-3. We break the tie by looking at the records as a group. Here, UCLA beat USC and Oregon State, USC beat Arizona State and Oregon State, and Arizona State beat UCLA and Oregon State. Oregon State at 0-3 is eliminated, and the others are all 2-1. We then look at the group of UCLA, USC, and Arizona State, where, as seen above, all three are 1-1. We move down the tiebreaker to the 5th place team. That is occupied now by both Oregon and Arizona. UCLA was 1-1, USC was 1-1, and Arizona State was 0-2 against Oregon and Arizona. ASU is eliminated. Finally, UCLA defeated USC. UCLA goes to the Rose Bowl.
In scenario 8, UCLA, USC, Arizona State, and Oregon are all tied at 6-3. We break the tie by looking at the records of the group. Here, UCLA beat USC and Oregon, USC beat Arizona State, Arizona State beat UCLA, and Oregon beat USC and Arizona State. USC and Arizona State, both at 1-2, are eliminated. UCLA beat Oregon. UCLA goes to the Rose Bowl.

So, as stated below, USC controls its destiny. Should, the Trojans stumble, Arizona State controls its destiny. Should the Sun Devils stumble too, then the roses end up with UCLA. (Which then means that Hawaii automatically qualifies for the BCS because UCLA is so pathetic. I'm really not making that up. There is a rule that automatically grants non-BCS champions access should they finish ahead of a BCS champion.)

I and the crew will be out at the Coliseum, apparently in the UCLA section. Stop by at the law school tailgate if you're out there. Don't believe USC's threat to move to the Rose Bowl for a second, but it's nice to remind the Coliseum Commission that someone wants to play there and will make improvements as opposed to a pie-in-the-sky NFL team that won't be coming for decades. If both MU and WVU lose on Saturday, I'll probably try to send something out early Sunday to share the insights at hand.

• ACC (Orange Bowl)
  
• Boston College (6-2): Win the ACC Championship Game (vs. Virginia Tech at Jacksonville)
  
• Virginia Tech (7-1): Win the ACC Championship Game (vs. Boston College at Jacksonville)
• Big 12 (Fiesta Bowl)
• Missouri (7-1): Win the Big 12 Championship Game (vs. Oklahoma at San Antonio)
• Oklahoma (6-2): Win the Big 12 Championship Game (vs. Missouri at San Antonio)
  
• Big East (At-large)
• West Virginia (5-1): Going to New Orleans, Miami Gardens, Glendale, or Pasadena (Pittsburgh, BCS Game)
  
• Big Ten (Rose Bowl)
• Ohio State (7-1): Going to Pasadena or New Orleans (Bye, Rose Bowl or BCS National Championship Game)
• Pacific-10 (Rose Bowl)
• Southern California (6-2): Win out (UCLA)
  
• Two-loss teams needing help: Arizona State (6-2, one Southern California loss)
  
• Three-loss teams needing help: UCLA (5-3, one Arizona State loss)
  
• Southeastern (Sugar Bowl)
• Tennessee (6-2): Win the SEC Championship Game (vs. Louisiana State at Atlanta)
• Louisiana State (6-2): Win the SEC Championship Game (vs. Tennessee at Atlanta)
  

Available Games

Thursday, November 29
4:45 -- Rutgers at Louisville (-2.5) (ESPN HD)

Friday, November 30
5:00 -- Fresno State at New Mexico State (+13) (ESPN2 HD)

Saturday, December 1
8:00 -- Miami (Ohio) vs. Central Michigan (-3.5) at Detroit (ESPN2 HD)
9:00 -- Tulsa at Central Florida (-6.5) (ESPN HD)
9:00 -- Navy at Army (NL) at Baltimore (CBS HD)
10:00 -- #6 Virginia Tech vs. #12 Boston College (+4.5) at Jacksonville (ABC HD)
1:00 -- #14 Tennessee vs. #5 Louisiana State (-7.5) at Atlanta (CBS HD)
1:30 -- UCLA at #8 Southern California (-20) (ABC HD)
1:30 -- Oregon State at #18 Oregon (NL) (ESPN HD)
4:00 -- California at Stanford (+13) (Versus)
4:45 -- Pittsburgh at #2 West Virginia (-28.5) (ESPN HD)
5:00 -- #9 Oklahoma vs. #1 Missouri (+3) at San Antonio (ABC HD)
5:00 -- Arizona at #13 Arizona State (-6.5) (ESPN2 HD)
8:30 -- Washington at #11 Hawaii (-14) (ESPN HD)

Unavailable Games

Saturday, December 1
11:00 -- Florida Atlantic at Troy (-15) (CSS)
3:30 -- #21 Brigham Young at San Diego State (+14.5) (the mtn.)

Games Not on TV

Saturday, December 1
1:00 -- Louisiana Tech at Nevada (-8)
3:00 -- North Texas at Florida International (+2.5)

Open Dates: #16 Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami (Florida), North Carolina, #22 Virginia, Colorado, Iowa State, #7 Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Baylor, Oklahoma State, #17 Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, #20 Cincinnati, Connecticut, #25 South Florida, Syracuse, #15 Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, #3 Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, #19 Wisconsin, Alabama-Birmingham, East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, Houston, Rice, Southern Methodist, Texas-El Paso, Tulane, Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Ohio, Temple, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo, Western Michigan, Air Force, Colorado State, Nevada-Las Vegas, New Mexico, Texas Christian, Utah, Wyoming, Washington State, #10 Florida, #4 Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Arkansas, #23 Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, #24 Boise State, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, Utah State, Notre Dame, and Western Kentucky.

College Football -- Week 13

I intend to keep this short. Like I said, intend. Oregon lost control of its chances. I should put up a posting on the blog about teams that were in control in November and lost. 2001 has nearly a half-dozen. Sadly, my Blue Devils were dominated by Notre Dame. I'm speechless as to how lousy the Devils were with the ball. Carolina is the week, which can fix the season. If not, basketball season has already begun. In the big game of the week, Ohio State controlled nearly the entire game in Ann Arbor.

Hawaii continued to infuriate me by barely surviving against a lousy Nevada team. I hope Boise annihilates Hawaii this week. We may be "stuck" with a WAC team in the BCS, but I'll take the Broncos over the Warriors any day. Alex's Rockets did not do well against Ball State. But all can be forgiven by winning the Peace Pipe against the BuGS this week. The media fawned over Tim Tebow's performance against Florida Atlantic. While there are lots of great things to talk about that kid, beating up FAU isn't one of them. Connecticut and West Virginia have set up a de facto Big East Championship Game (much like the Big Ten did). Thus, it looks like every major conference but the Pac-10 has one this year. Bauer's 'Cats stunk against Illinois and probably will not be bowling at 6-6. If only they had beaten a team from Durham. Georgia finished its SEC season. They need Tennessee to lose to UK to get to Atlanta. LSU would much rather fight UT than UGa. So, go 'Cats.

Missouri finished tuning up for the Big 12 North Championship game this week in KC. Kansas did as well. Miami University clinched a spot in the MAC title game against CMU. Tennessee needed a miracle comeback versus Vandy. It was a shame. LSU was less than dominant against Mississippi. Wisconsin struggled with Minnesota and illustrated how bad the top of the Big Ten is. Miami couldn't do anything right against Virginia Tech. Cal's slide continued with a loss in Seattle. Wake, a very unappealing bowl choice, got its 7th win to ensure a bowl bid. Oregon State looked excellent at Wazzu. With Dixon done for the season (one tough hombre playing on a torn ACL), I'm hoping that the Beavs can give USC Rose Bowl control with a win in the Civil War. The Bruins can do that this week though.


0 losses: #2 Kansas (1)

1 loss: #1 Louisiana State (#28 Kentucky), #3 West Virginia (#23 South Florida), #4 Missouri (#10 Oklahoma), #5 Ohio State (#17 Illinois), #6 Arizona State (#9 Oregon) (5)
And "#15" Hawaii doesn't count when its wins are #42, #85, #87, #100, #106, #112, #116, #118, and two FCS schools.
I have a horrible suspicion that everyone is going to lose, and Ohio State will get in just by virtue of taking the last two weeks off. Peacking order is (1) LSU, (2) KU/MU, (3) WVU, (4) ASU, and (5) tOSU as I see it today. The championship races are pretty simple now, with the exception of the Big 12 South. (I won't complain much though.)

ACC (Orange Bowl)

Boston College (5-2): Win the ACC Championship Game (Miami, vs. Virginia or Virginia Tech at Jacksonville)

Virginia (6-1): Win out (Virginia Tech, vs. Boston College at Jacksonville)
Virginia Tech (6-1): Win out (at Virginia, vs. Boston College at Jacksonville)
Big 12 (Fiesta Bowl)
Kansas (7-0): Beat Missouri and win in the Big 12 Championship Game (Missouri at Kansas City, vs. Oklahoma or Texas at San Antonio)
Missouri (6-1): Win out (at Kansas at Kansas City, vs. Oklahoma or Texas at San Antonio)
Oklahoma (5-2): Win out OR a Texas loss and then win in the Big 12 Championship Game (Oklahoma State, vs. Kansas or Missouri at San Antonio)

One-loss North teams needing help: None
Two-loss South teams needing help: Texas (5-2, one Oklahoma loss)
Big East (At-large)
Connecticut (5-1): Beat West Virginia (at West Virginia, Bye)

West Virginia (4-1): Beat Connecticut (Connecticut, Pittsburgh)

Two-loss teams needing help: None

Big Ten (Rose Bowl)
Ohio State (7-1): Going to Pasadena or New Orleans (Bye, Bye, Rose Bowl or BCS National Championship Game)
Pacific-10 (Rose Bowl)
Arizona State (6-1): Win out (Southern California, Arizona)

Two-loss teams needing help: Oregon (5-2, one Arizona State loss), Southern California (5-2, one Oregon loss)

Southeastern (Sugar Bowl)
Tennessee (5-2): Win out (at Kentucky, vs. Louisiana State at Atlanta)
Louisiana State (6-1): Win the SEC Championship Game (Arkansas, vs. Tennessee or Georgia at Atlanta)

Two-loss East teams needing help: Georgia (6-2, one loss by Tennessee)

This week, I will celebrate Thanksgiving with my family by watching ASU-USC. If you need a place to watch, my door is open. Friday gives us a full day. Nebraska and Colorado will be shoved down our throats. LSU goes for that silly boot versus the Hogs. Texas A&M can make the Big 12 race very interesting by upsetting a mediocre Texas team (whom Scott Wolfe votes #4 in the country). Boise and Hawaii go at night, and the Egg Bowl is on GamePlan. Not to mention, there is the Peace Pipe on ESPNU.

Saturday gives us a Miami-BC game. The Eagles are only playing for a better bowl and respect. Miami just wants to salvage the season. (Jerry, it's in HD, so you probably want to watch elsewhere.) The Virginias play for a trip to lovely Jacksonville. Tennessee can clinch a trip to Atlanta. I pray they don't. The Holy War is supposedly on all three MWC outlets at once. I am unsure what that means, but I will pop open a beer, have a shot of liquor, drink some caffeine, swear, try to have sex with a woman other than my wife (like that would happen), light up a cigarette, and use everyday underwear instead of the magic variety to celebrate.

The afternoon gives LA UO-UCLA. A Bruin upset is very good for USC, so don't root against UCLA too hard. UConn and WVU will clinch a BCS berth. I expect WVU to go to the Orange Bowl and UConn to the Sugar Bowl if either wins as of right now. (If Hawaii is in the mix, it becomes harder to guess on UConn.) Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate will also be available from Georgia. The Irish end the dream season in Palo Alto. Bedlam will happen in Oklahoma too. Duke and Carolina will be on ESPNU giving me hope before making me angry. I am unsure what game we will get on ESPN. It could be K State-Fresno or UConn-WVU. I'm hoping for the latter.

At night, the Floridas go in a game that means little nationally. Clemson and South Carolina battle for control of the most fucked up state that I've actually been to. The Shula Bowl is on GamePlan. The Apple Bowl is a week ahead of the rest of Pac-10 rivalry week. And nationally, the Border War/Showdown between KU and MU will captivate the nation. Will Kansas be unable to step up after playing nobody? Will Mizzou get some respect? Will the winner find a way to lose next week to Oklahoma/Texas? Will Kansas regret moving this game to Kansas City and out of Lawrence forever? How could I talk more about this than Alabama, post-9/11 and post-Pearl Harbor after losing to ULM, versus Auburn? Oh yes, because this is important and nobody outside of Alabama cares.

Apologizes for neglecting lines last week. No one complained. I doubt most people besides Kevin and Alex get to this point in the email.

Happy Thanksgiving. Only one week let.

Available Games

Tuesday, November 20
4:00 -- Middle Tennessee at Troy (-13) (ESPN2 HD)

Thursday, November 22
*5:00 -- #11 Southern California at #7 Arizona State (+3) (ESPN HD)

Friday, November 23
8:00 -- Central Michigan at Akron (+2.5) (ESPNU)
9:00 -- Nebraska at Colorado (-4.5) (ABC HD)
10:00 -- Mississippi at Mississippi State (-6.5) (LFS/ESPN GamePlan)
11:30 -- Arkansas at #1 Louisiana State (-12.5 ) (CBS HD)
*11:30 -- Toledo at Bowling Green (-6.5) (ESPNU)
*12:30 -- #13 Texas at Texas A&M (+5.5) (ABC HD)
*6:00 -- #17 Boise State at #14 Hawaii (-3.5) (ESPN2 HD)

Saturday, November 24
*9:00 -- #8 Virginia Tech at #16 Virginia (+3.5) (ESPN HD)
9:00 -- Miami (Florida) at #15 Boston College (- 14.5) (ESPN2 HD)
9:00 -- South Florida at Pittsburgh (+10.5) (ESPN GamePlan/ESPN Plus)
9:00 -- Maryland at North Carolina State (-2) (ESPN GamePlan/LFS)
*10:30 -- #19 Tennessee at Kentucky (-3) (CBS HD)
*11:00 -- Utah at Brigham Young (- 4.5) (Versus/CSTV/the mtn.)
11:00 -- Miami (Ohio) at Ohio (-2.5) (ESPN GamePlan/GTN)
*12:30 -- #9 Oregon at UCLA (+2) (ABC/ESPN GamePlan)
12:30 -- #6 Georgia at Georgia Tech (+3.5) (ESPN GamePlan/ABC HD/ESPN HD)
*12:30 -- #20 Connecticut at #3 West Virginia (-17) (ESPN GamePlan/ABC HD/ESPN HD)
12:30 -- Kansas State at Fresno State (-1) (ESPN/ESPN GamePlan)
12:30 -- Notre Dame at Stanford (-3.5) (ESPN2 HD)
12:30 -- Oklahoma State at #10 Oklahoma (-11.5) (FSN HD)
*****12:30 -- Duke at North Carolina (-14) (ESPNU)
1:00 -- Nevada at San Jose State (+3) (ESPN GamePlan/KAMA/Comcast SportsNet West)
*2:00 -- Florida State at #12 Florida (-14) (CBS HD)
*4:00 -- #21 Clemson at South Carolina (+2.5) (ESPN2 HD)
*4:00 -- Washington State at Washington (-5.5) (FSN HD)
*4:00 -- Florida Atlantic at Florida International (+11.5) (ESPN GamePlan/ESPN Plus)
4:15 -- #23 Cincinnati at Syracuse (+20) (ESPNU)
*5:00 -- Missouri at Kansas (-2.5) at Kansas City (ABC HD)
*5:00 -- Alabama at #25 Auburn (-6) (ESPN HD)

Unavailable Games

Friday, November 23
11:00 -- Wyoming at Colorado State (-3.5) (the mtn.)

Saturday, November 24
10:00 -- Tulane at East Carolina (-12) (MASN)
11:00 -- Southern Methodist at Memphis (-7.5) (KTXA/WLMT)
12:30 -- Utah State at Idaho (-2.5) (Altitude)
1:00 -- Ball State at Northern Illinois (+9) (Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Comcast Local)
1:30 -- Alabama-Birmingham at Marshall (-14.5) (WOWK)
2:30 -- Nevada-Las Vegas at New Mexico (- 10.5) (the mtn.)

Games Not on TV

Saturday, November 24
10:00 -- Buffalo at Kent State (0)
11:00 -- Temple at Western Michigan (-11)
11:00 -- Wake Forest at Vanderbilt (+1.5)
11:00 -- Texas-El Paso at Central Florida (-19)
12:00 -- Tulsa at Rice (+11)
12:00 -- Arkansas State at Southern Mississippi (-14)
12:30 -- Texas Southern at Houston (Shame on the Cougars)
1:00 -- Western Kentucky at North Texas (NL)
4:00 -- Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette (+2.5)
5:00 -- Texas Christian at San Diego State (+11)

Open Dates: Iowa State, Baylor, Texas Tech, Louisville, Rutgers, #18 Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, #5 Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, #22 Wisconsin, Eastern Michigan, Air Force, Arizona, California, Oregon State, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Army, and Navy.

Duke-ND Thoughts

12:42: Hammond and Hayden just called the Irish and Blue Devils evenly matched. I'm giggling like a schoolgirl. I also learned that one of Duke's WRs, Eron Bailey, has six siblings whose names begin with the letter E. "Egads!"

12:45: Maher McCheese: "Charlie Weis in HD. You can see all of his 23 necks." He's now insisting that his beard slims his chins.

12:49: And Bunny La Jolla takes a hit. I'll have to explain why Jimmy Clausen is Bunny La Jolla. Bunny La Jolla is the wife of The Big Lebowski in The Big Lebowski and played by Tara Reid. Like Jimmy, they are both blonde. They both look great at 18. They both are fun to date. But, it's a bad idea to marry either one. Both peaked as teenagers. And both will suck your dick for a thousand bucks.

12:53: Notre Dame snaps it over the punter's head, and he still manages to make a good punt with a great roll. *Sigh*

12:54: And the punter has a giant, shit-eating grin on.

12:56: Duke has five wide recievers out. And Lewis is almost sacked on an incomplete pass. Memories of my freshman year and Carl Franks's "Airborne" (a.k.a. Stillborn) offense come rushing to mind.

12:59: LPGA Championship on NBC! Yah!

1:00: And Golden Tate is abused in man-t0-man coverage against a Devil. But, he's going to win four Heismans.

1:06: Chuckles has the Irish go for it on 4th & 17. Jimbo finds a huge hole in the Duke secondary about 22 yards up. And #82 drops it. Bunny disgustingly snaps off his chinstrap. Charlie Weis has some spittle around his lips.

1:07: "Frustration on both sides of the field." Imagine how fans of these programs feel.

1:09: Not only are these teams bad, but they can't stop getting penalized. They have USC's worst characteristic and lack all of the good ones.

1:10: And Lewis slips under pressure and loses 9 yards. I'll blame Weis's groundskeeping. I'm blame it more since they're supposedly replacing the entire field for next year.

1:11: "He's got a man wide open!" And the pass misses by three yards. *Sigh*

1:12: QB slip; misses a wide open receiver; drops the snap, lineman doesn't see it, and ND recovers.

1:13: Maher McCheese: "How the fuck did we [Northwestern] lose to you guys?"

1:15: Seriously! What the fuck is that shit on the corner of Weis's mouth?

1:16: This is a running theme after we saw snot all over Weis's face in both the Navy and Air Force games.

1:16: Maher McCheese: "*snicker* John Hancock"

1:18: And the Irish get a touchdown to prevent a scoreless half, La Jolla to Grimes. Surprised it took so long for either team to score as neither defense has been able to stop teams all year.

1:22: And another fucking fumble. Goddamn that's greasy.

1:24: That's exactly what you want to do. Have the defender directly behind the receiver in the endzone.

1:26: Halftime. Not watching whatever NBC puts on.

1:52: Pulling myself back to this.

1:56: I don't see any crap on Weis's face now.

2:04: Too late. The snot is back, but Chuckles wiped.

2:08: This stupid Allstate commercial where the guy wants to call his insurance company while driving has a disclaimer "Professional stunt. Do not attempt." Does that make me and 99% of drivers with cell phones a professional stunt man?

2:16: "Jimmy Clausen has avoided four or five sacks." Great, that just shows how slow Duke's D-line is. Bunny shouldn't be proud.

2:20: Another Irish touchdown. This has been a disappointment.

2:37: Just keeping getting worse. Although apparently Trevor Laws gives the same effort on a 1-9 ND team as on a 9-1 team.

2:42: They're talking about a foundation for a national championship at Duke. Pardon me if I laugh. Of course, I would have said the same thing about Kansas two years ago. Yes, we graduate our players. Yes, they typically seem to be good people. But, if winning an NC is on par with these goals, then we're really failing. And the Devils fail to convert a 4th.

2:48: Touchdown for Carlsen. I can't believe that the Devils got blown out. I'm used to losing. Just not quite like this.

2:52: No, Charlie didn't "allude"to Carlsen's 4.0. He explicitly said it.

2:58: I could make a crack about ND's quarterback shuffle with Zbikowski in there, but it just hurts too much.

3:06: They're reviewing a catch that could lead to some points. And we get a weeping band member. I can't help but recall how mad the Notre Dame fans were when Carroll challenged a play in the game this year. He lost the challenge because NBC didn't give the refs the right angle, and it was clear that he was right. And it gets reversed here. I didn't see it. I just want points though.

3:11: Touchdown Other Guys! Dammit, even if it is 28-6, I've been waiting to say that all day.

3:14: As this game's over, I'm glad there was no onside-kick attempt.

3:15: If this guy on the show team is the best long snapper they have at Notre Dame, why isn't he the everyday long snapper?

3:16: Blue Devils 7, Irish 28. Go to hell, Carolina, go to hell!

Chris Dufresne — Nov. 15

(Doing this FJM style)

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dufresne15nov15,0,6789457,full.column?coll=la-tot-sports

We interrupt regular pigskin programming to offer this public-service announcement to all citizens of Eugene:

Run for your title-game lives!

The Oregon Ducks moved up to No. 2 in this week's Bowl Championship Series standings and that's as good as you can get without being No. 1.

Um, no. There's absolutely no difference between #1 and #2. All that changes is who is designated as the home team (gets to choose their jerseys and be listed second in a line score). What he means is that #3 is the best you can get without being in the championship game.

Let's go straight to the source for that answer.

Source? What source? The source of the official BCS standings (FOX)? The electorate of the Harris and Coaches polls? The six computer formulas' creators?

"My history with the BCS is not very good," Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti said this week. ". . . I don't have a lot of trust in that regard."

What? Bellotti? What's he the source of? The Oregon football program. Why would he be able to explain why being #2 is as good as it can get?

Why you can't blame him:

In 2001, Oregon finished No. 2 in the writers' and coaches' polls and No. 4 in the BCS. Edging the Ducks out for the title game matchup in the Rose Bowl against Miami was Nebraska, fresh off a 36-point loss to Colorado.

And yet again, a national sportswriter ignores the circumstances of 2001. After being throttled by Colorado, the electorate only put NU down to 6th in both polls and 4th in the BCS. Ahead of them were #1 Miami (#1 in the BCS), #2 Florida (#2), #3 Texas (#3), #4/#5 Oregon (#5), and #5/#4 Tennessee (#6). Colorado was now seen as #9/#10 and #9 in the BCS. Oklahoma had controlled its destiny until that same weekend when it lost to Oklahoma State and gave Texas the Big 12 title.

What happened the next weekend? Florida loses to Tennessee and falls to #6 and #6 in the BCS. Texas is upset by Colorado in the Big 12 Championship Game and falls to #10 and #7 in the BCS. The voters start to realize that maybe Colorado should be ranked ahead of Nebraska and move them up to #4/5 and #4 with Nebraska at #5/4 and #3 . Meanwhile, Oregon is less than impressive and squeaks by OSU 17-14. The Ducks are #3 and #5.

And then what happens the final weekend? Tennessee loses to LSU and drops to #8 and #6 in the BCS. Everyone else moves up. The coaches realize that it's embarrassing to have Nebraska ranked ahead of CU and move the Buffs up by virtue of their great looking practices that week.

The media begins whining about how COLORADO was robbed and no one outside of the west cares much about Oregon as they never saw the Ducks play. Never mind that Nebraska was labeled like '03 Oklahoma, '05 USC, and '07 USC as the greatest team of all time for most of the season by the media. Never mind that Nebraska was nearly universal #2 in all of the computers who don't care about when a loss happens nearly like pollsters do. Never mind that the media and coaches kept moving up teams like NU and UO for simply being idle. Never mind that the media didn't want margin of victory to be considered (although I don't remember what year they had all the computer remove it) because it wasn't in the interest of sportsmanship to run up scores. Never mind that Nebraska played the 14th toughest schedule in the country to Oregon's 31st (but Colorado was 2nd) according to the BCS metric. Never mind that Oregon lost an out of control game to final BCS #10 Stanford 49-42 and had its best win against #12 Washington State 24-17. Never mind that Nebraska beat Oklahoma in "the game of the century of the week" 20-10. Never mind that neither NU nor UO played a road non-conference game (although I'm not sure what game of Oregon's was canceled by 9/11). Never mind that Colorado avenged one of its losses to #5 Texas in the Big 12 Championship. Never mind that Colorado's other loss was to the #24 team in Fresno. And the Buffs never went on the road as well.

Finishing No. 3 was Colorado, soon to be trounced in the Fiesta Bowl by . . . Oregon.

And, then the revisionist history forgets the cries for 2-loss Colorado to play for the championship over Oregon.

Flash forward to 2005. Oregon finished 10-1 and thought it maybe deserved an at-large bid to the Fiesta Bowl.

It sure sounded good. The Fiesta Bowl even flew Bellotti and his athletic director -- Bill Moos at the time -- to Tempe for lunch.

There was a slight problem: Notre Dame also wanted to go to the Fiesta Bowl and you know how that works in years when the Irish don't start 1-9.

Notre Dame had two losses to Oregon's one and the Irish had stayed in the BCS contention only with a come-from-behind win at Stanford.

Instead of having to make the Oregon-or-Notre Dame call, however, the Fiesta Bowl got bailed out by the BCS rules book. A flurry of last-day losses spit out final BCS standings that moved Ohio State up to No. 4 and Notre Dame to No. 6.

Oregon at No. 5 was dead meat in this BCS sandwich.

Ohio State received an automatic bid because it finished in the top four and Notre Dame was a "must-take" because, as an independent, it needed only a top-six finish.

Notre Dame played Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl and Oregon went to the Holiday Bowl.

He actually gets the rules right here. Now, if he wanted to make a valid point that Notre Dame should never be allowed to be automatically put in the BCS, he is free to. It wouldn't be much of a good point as the Irish do have some national relevance despite what I do enjoy saying. Now, should the rule have been any independent or champion of a non-BCS conference in the top 6? I think that's a better rule than singling out the Irish. But Oregon had zero access to the game which is partly why we have a 5th game now. Did Oregon deserve an at large spot over #4 Ohio State? No one would make that argument even if you believe that at-large spots go to "the most deserving." Who would serve the Fiesta Bowl better—Notre Dame, the most loved and most hated program in America, who almost beat USC, complete with Laura Quinn, or Oregon, basically a national unknown and Fredo to USC's Michael? If the Fiesta had a choice, they absolutely would have chosen ND over UO. And they should.

So, Ducks fans, be afraid. Be very afraid.

This year could be headed for a BCS three-scream-peat.

You mean playing in the Rose Bowl is now akin to playing in the Holiday Bowl? Fuck that!

Even if the Ducks win their final three games, starting tonight at Arizona with a rare ESPN Thursday appearance, they probably will not hold the No. 2 spot if No. 1 Louisiana State and No. 3 Kansas also win out.

Kansas, at 10-0, is the only undefeated team left in the mix.

"And undefeated matters," independent BCS expert Jerry Palm said this week.

If Kansas closes with wins against Iowa State, No. 5 Missouri and No. 4 Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, the Jayhawks probably will jump Oregon.

As they should.

That would pit Kansas vs. LSU in the title game and send Oregon to . . . the Rose Bowl.

Assuming that LSU wins out against Mississippi, Arkansas, and Georgia/Tennessee/Florida. LSU is taking a major hit in the computers for Louisiana Tech and really needs Georgia to get a conference championship boost.

Hey, remember when that used to be Plan A?

Last time I checked, that was the only thing a Pac-10 school could control. You know what would have kept the Ducks in the picture? Not losing to Cal.

The good news for Oregon -- that the combined record of its remaining opponents is 15-15 -- is also the bad news, because no one is going to be impressed with those three wins.

Yes, and LSU's known remaining opponents are 9-11.

Oregon might also get jumped by a one-loss Big 12 champion, either Missouri or Oklahoma. Missouri could boast of beating two top-five teams; Oklahoma could claim it just defeated the team that just defeated Kansas.

Palm isn't convinced one-loss Missouri or Oklahoma would jump Oregon, but he also isn't ready to bet his Palm Pilot it won't happen.

"You can't trust the voters," Palm said.

Dufrese does not have a vote in the AP or one that counts.

So what should Oregon do?

Root for LSU to lose sometime between now and Dec. 2.

No kidding! You root for anyone with a higher or equal claim to lose! It's a two team, one-game playoff! There are three teams seen with a valid claim. You have to root for one of them to lose and to hope that anyone with a close-to-valid claim loses too. There are three Big 12 teams with one loss, but only two of them (Kansas and Oklahoma/Missouri) can end up with one loss. You also hope that the voters don't keep moving Ohio State up for taking the last two weeks of the season off. And you hope that West Virginia gets upset by Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, or Connecticut.

The Ducks also have to win, and win big.

A 13-10 result over Arizona tonight is not going to impress anyone but the Ducks' defensive coordinator.

Since LSU was anointed as a werewolf with a chainsaw for a dick in September and Oregon was preseason unranked, they have to overcome LSU's perception of being great. They also have to take advantage of a rare national TV appearance thanks to the Pac-10's lousy TV package.

The BCS ordered the computer operators to remove margin of victory from their formulas -- ironically, that was done as a result of Oregon's not getting credit for close wins in 2001 -- but the BCS has allowed voters to keep their eyeballs.

Ah, question answered from above. Of course, winning close isn't what great teams do. That's not what '01 Nebraska did as they won by 26 points per game while Oregon won by 14.1 points per game. Now, the pollsters see winning big and reward for it, but short of taking away votes from LSU and not giving Oregon's votes to Kansas, even winning big can't help.

Palm says the Ducks have to keep their BCS customers satisfied.

"Don't give voters a reason to vote you down," he said.

OK, but is blowing Arizona out even possible?

Of course it's possible! And being blown out by Arizona is possible. And having a 35-game home winning streak snapped by a 41-point underdog is possible.

Tonight's game in Tucson is the sort of event that can send the whole Oregon argument to an early grave.

As are next week's at UCLA and the finale against Oregon State. So are LSU-Ole Miss and LSU-Arkansas. So are KU-Iowa State and KU-MU.

Arizona has won two straight after a 2-6 start. And not only has Coach Mike Stoops saved his job, defeating Oregon would help his brother, Oklahoma Bob, move another step closer to the national title game.

What a nice storyline there for someone who doesn't even want to think.

Arizona isn't a top-drawer outfit, but it has a recent history of picking off ranked opponents: No. 18 Arizona State in 2004, No. 7 UCLA in 2005 and No. 8 California in 2006.

And it's also lost games to ranked opponents: (1) Coaches' #16 '04 Utah 23-6, (2) #21 '04 Wisconsin 9-7, (3) #8 '04 California 38-0, (4) #1 '04 USC 49-9, (5) #12 '05 Purdue 31-24, (6) #12 '05 California 28-0, (7) #1 '05 USC 42-21, (8) #15 '05 Oregon 28-21, (9) #8 '06 LSU 45-3, and (10) #3 '06 #20-6. Dufresne failed to mention U of A upsetting #25 Washington State last year. Talk about your cherry-picking. I don't even want to calculate what Oregon's record is against unranked teams since 2004.

So, nothing really matters for Oregon if it can't get out of Lute Olson's backyard with its ninth win.

Well, yes. It cedes control of the Rose Bowl to Arizona State. A two-loss team has no right being in national title contention. Of course, if LSU loses to Mississippi, nothing but the Sugar Bowl matters. If Kansas loses to Iowa State, we know the electorate isn't going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Bellotti knows this to be a fact.

"If we win out, then we put ourselves in a position that people have to consider us," he said.

Right, they'd be in consideration along with possibly one-loss teams in Kansas, Missouri/Oklahoma, Ohio State, Arizona State, and LSU. As all one-loss teams should be.

He also knows:

"In 2001 we should have been in the championship game and in 2005 we should have been in the BCS, in a BCS game, and weren't in either."

Please join '98 Kansas State, '98 Tulane, '99 Nebraska, '99 Marshall, '00 Miami, '00 Washington, '00 Virginia Tech, '01 Colorado, '02 Notre Dame, '03 USC, '03 Miami (Ohio), '04 Auburn, '05 California, '06 Michigan, and '06 Boise State among other teams that I don't have at my finger tips who think that they "should" have played for the national championship or been in a BCS game but were passed over either by the rules or by more attractive programs.

I should point out that if I had a vote, I'd be voting (1) Oregon, (2) Kansas, and (3) LSU right now. However, I think all three teams will have a strong claim to the game should they win out. But if either Oregon or LSU wins out and is left out of the game, my response will be the same as it has been to every other complainer but Auburn—you should have beaten California/Kentucky.

College Football -- Week 12

It's here! It's here! I'm beyond excited! This website is all you need to know: http://www.dukesuperbowl.com/ It's going to be quite a morning in the Metro as we will have this, Northwestern–Illinois, and a little something called Ohio State–Michigan. A friend and Notre Dame alumnus promised to do something very embarrassing should Duke win this game. While I don't think it's physically possible for him to shave the Blue Devil into his back hair, the thought at least is there.

Quickly, looking back at last week, Ohio State failed to get through this season unscathed and has been dealt a costly blow to any national championship chances. It's a three-team race among Oregon, LSU, and Kansas right now. I honestly do not have a good guess as to how this will turn out. If Kansas does win out (Missouri and presumptively Oklahoma), I will have a hard-time denying them a shot at the championship despite the non-conference schedule even though I do think UO and LSU are the best teams.


0 losses: #3 Kansas (1)

1 loss: #1 Louisiana State (#23 Kentucky), #2 Oregon (#31 California), #4 Oklahoma (#55 Colorado), #5 Missouri (#4 Oklahoma), #6 West Virginia (#27 South Florida), #7 Ohio State (#19 Illinois), #8 Arizona State (#2 Oregon) (7)
And "#16" Hawaii doesn't count when their wins are #38, #88, #93, #104, #108, #118, #119, and two FCS schools.
LSU wrapped up the SEC West title while thanks to embarrassing losses by Alabama (Mississippi State) and Auburn (Georgia). The ACC and Big Ten are very simple scenarios. The SEC East is still ugly. Oklahoma can clinch the division title with one more win.

ACC (Orange Bowl)

Boston College (4-2): Beat Clemson and win in the ACC Championship Game (at Clemson, Miami, ACC Championship)

Clemson (5-2): Beat Boston College and win in the ACC Championship Game (Boston College, [at South Carolina], ACC Championship)

Virginia (6-1): Beat Virginia Tech and win in the ACC Championship Game (Bye, Virginia Tech, ACC Championship)
Virginia Tech (5-1): Beat Virginia and win in the ACC Championship Game (Miami, at Virginia, ACC Championship)
Big 12 (Fiesta Bowl)
Kansas (6-0): Beat Missouri and win in the Big 12 Championship Game (Iowa State, Missouri at Kansas City, Big 12 Championship)
Missouri (5-1): Win out (Texas A&M, at Kansas State, at Kansas at Kansas City, Big 12 Championship)
Oklahoma (5-1): Win out OR 1 loss, not in the Big 12 Championship Game (at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Big 12 Championship)

One-loss North/South teams needing help: None
Two-loss South teams needing help: Texas (5-2, two Oklahoma losses)

Big East (At-large)
Connecticut (4-1): Win out (Syracuse, at West Virginia, Bye)

West Virginia (3-1): Win out (at Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pittsburgh)

Two-loss teams needing help: Pittsburgh (2-2, two Connecticut losses), Cincinnati (3-2, one Connecticut loss)

Big Ten (Rose Bowl)
Ohio State (6-1): Beat Michigan (at Michigan, Bye, Bye)
Michigan (6-1): Beat Ohio State (Ohio State, Bye, Bye)
Pacific-10 (Rose Bowl)
Oregon (5-1): Win out (at Arizona, at UCLA, Oregon State)
One-loss teams needing help: Arizona State (6-1, one Oregon loss)
Two-loss teams needing help: Southern California (5-2, two Oregon losses)

Southeastern (Sugar Bowl)
Tennessee (4-2): Win out (Vanderbilt, at Kentucky, vs. Louisiana State at Atlanta)
Louisiana State (5-1): Win the SEC Championship Game (at Mississippi, Arkansas, vs. SEC East Champion at Atlanta)

Two-loss East teams needing help: Georgia (5-2, one loss by Tennessee)

Three-loss East teams needing help: Florida (5-3, Kentucky must beat Georgia, and Tennessee must lose exactly once, OR Kentucky wins out)

To recap last week a little more, West Virginia squeaked by a miserable Louisville team on Thursday. Kansas beat up on a bad South team again in Oklahoma State. Oklahoma and Missouri both looked great. BC is in a nose dive after another loss, this time at Maryland. ASU gave people reason to doubt its ranking while struggling at UCLA. I am with Alex that UCLA doesn't win again this year. Virginia Tech pasted Florida State. Michigan forgot that it had a game in Madison and lost to the Badgers. The Wolverines still control their Rose Bowl destiny but can't make the BCS as an at-large now. Oddly enough, this may have opened the door for Illinois as current projections could have the Fiesta Bowl stuck between an all-Big 12 affair or having to invite Hawaii. It is circulating through the blogosphere that Lloyd Carr is going to announce his retirement soon. Hawaii struggled but beat its first decent opponent all year. Colt Brennan may be hurt though for this week's game. USC held off Cal in a rainy, messy game up north. Miami must have retired the Orange Bowl early as I think Virginia didn't even have an opponent there on Saturday. Clemson beat up Wake, Tennessee didn't screw up, and Kentucky held on. My Devils stunk up against Georgia Tech. Bauer celebrated the 'Cats becoming one of ten bowl eligible Big Ten teams, but they need to beat Illinois to have any chance to go to a bowl game. Nebraska rediscovered offense and put up 73 on K-State. The Irish lost to a second service academy, and it wasn't close. "Touchdown, other guys!" Alex's Rockets play tonight and could be bowl eligible. Lincoln's Cougs held off TCU and still appear the class of the MWC. I'd love to see BYU beat Hawaii up. Nnanna's Cardinal had a lot of troubles in Pullman. The Pac-10 referees are incompetent as seen by their work in the Washington–Oregon State game.

For the week, we get a lot of MAC action. I know that Alex is excited about the Toledo–Ball State game. Oregon travels to Arizona on Thursday, and the whole country can see how good they are. Hawaii, who has stunk on every trip to the mainland, goes to Nevada on Friday.

I hit the highlights for the morning already. Missouri will paste Kansas State in that time as well. Kentucky could make the SEC East a lot more complicated by upsetting Georgia.

The afternoon has Duke and Notre Dame in the pillowfight of the week. Regional ABC coverage means that we're getting Cal-UW in SD. (Jerry, Miami will only be on GamePlan and no HD.) Kansas gets one last tune up with ISU. The CBS selection of LSU and Mississippi is weak, unless they have interviews with Coach O.

The evening (which I may not be around for) gives us West Virginia and Cincinnati (a game that Dan Shanoff has already guaranteed the Bearcats will win), BC and Clemson for the ACC Atlantic title, and Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

It's not the best week, but I'm still excited for my game. Just three more weeks of joy until it's over.

Available Games

Tuesday, November 13
*4:30 -- Toledo at Ball State (ESPN2 HD)

Wednesday, November 14
4:30 -- Akron at Miami (Ohio) (ESPN2 HD)

Thursday, November 15
4:00 -- North Texas at Arkansas State (ESPN GamePlan/ESPN Plus)
*6:00 -- #2 Oregon at Arizona (ESPN HD)

Friday, November 16
8:00 -- #13 Hawaii at Nevada (ESPN2 HD)

Saturday, November 17
*9:00 -- #7 Ohio State at #23 Michigan (ABC HD)
*9:00 -- Northwestern at #20 Illinois (ESPN HD)
9:00 -- Syracuse at #25 Connecticut (ESPN2 HD)
9:00 -- Pittsburgh at Rutgers (ESPN GamePlan/ESPN Plus)
9:00 -- Maryland at Florida State (ESPN GamePlan/LFS)
9:00 -- North Carolina at Georgia Tech (ESPN GamePlan/LFS)
9:00 -- Tulsa at Army (ESPN Classic)
*9:30 -- #6 Missouri at Kansas State (FSN HD)
*9:30 -- #22 Kentucky at #8 Georgia (ESPN GamePlan/LFS)
11:00 -- Utah State at New Mexico State (ESPN GamePlan/AggieVision)
*11:30 -- Duke at Notre Dame (NBC HD)
12:00 -- Idaho at #17 Boise State (ESPN GamePlan/KTVB)
*12:30 -- Miami (Florida) at #10 Virginia Tech (ESPN GamePlan/ABC HD/ESPN HD)
12:30 -- Penn State at Michigan State (ESPN HD/ABC HD)
12:30 -- Iowa State at #4 Kansas (ESPN GamePlan/ABC)
12:30 -- California at Washington (ABC/ESPN GamePlan)
12:30 -- #1 Louisiana State at Mississippi (CBS HD)
1:00 -- North Carolina State at Wake Forest (ESPNU)
4:00 -- Oklahoma State at Baylor (FSN HD)
*4:45 -- #5 West Virginia at #21 Cincinnati (ESPN HD)
*4:45 -- #18 Boston College at #15 Clemson (ESPN2 HD)
*5:00 -- #3 Oklahoma at Texas Tech (ABC HD)
5:00 -- Louisville at South Florida (ESPNU)

Unavailable Games

Friday, November 16
4:00 -- Eastern Michigan at Central Michigan (Comcast Local)

Saturday, November 17
9:00 -- Florida Atlantic at #14 Florida (Sun Sports)
11:00 -- Vanderbilt at #19 Tennessee (PPV)
11:00 -- Brigham Young at Wyoming (the mtn.)
12:30 -- Purdue at Indiana (BTN HD)
12:30 -- #24 Wisconsin at Minnesota (BTN HD)
12:30 -- Western Michigan at Iowa (BTN HD)
12:30 -- Northern Illinois at Navy (CSTV)
12:30 -- Alabama-Birmingham at Memphis (CSS Southeast)
12:30 -- Marshall at Houston (WOWK)
2:30 -- New Mexico at Utah (the mtn.)
3:30 -- Oregon State at Washington State (FSN Northwest)
4:30 -- Southern Mississippi at Texas-El Paso (CSTV)

Games Not on TV
9:00 -- Kent State at Temple
10:00 -- Bowling Green at Buffalo
11:00 -- Central Florida at Southern Methodist
12:00 -- Tulane at Rice
4:00 -- Louisiana-Lafayette at Florida International
TBA -- San Diego State at Air Force
TBA -- Georgia Southern at Colorado State (Shame on the Rams)
TBA -- Nevada-Las Vegas at Texas Christian
TBA -- Louisiana-Monroe at Alabama
TBA -- Mississippi State at Arkansas at Little Rock
TBA -- San Jose State at Louisiana Tech

Open Dates: #16 Virginia, Colorado, Nebraska, #12 Texas, Texas A&M, East Carolina, Ohio, #9 Arizona State, #11 Southern California, Stanford, UCLA, South Carolina, Auburn, Middle Tennessee, Troy, and Fresno State.

College Football -- Week 11

And, another #2 goes down. Let the official crying begin. We lost two more undefeated teams in BC and ASU this weekend. Frankie and Jen have my sympathies. The question of who should be number two has a lot to do with one's own regional biases. Easterners and Southerners are more likely to say LSU while Westerners like myself would say Oregon. If Oklahoma or Missouri runs the table, each would have a good claim too from those plains people. Despite still getting little recognition publicly, Kansas would have a decent case by being undefeated and winning neutral site games against Missouri and Oklahoma. And, many people believe that Michigan will defeat Ohio State in two weeks to further cloud the picture.

The one thing that I do like about the teams that are being debated over right now is that the arguments mostly are coming down to quality of the teams and who they won. People are not making the "but they lost to a bad team x" argument. Certainly, LSU, UO, OU, BC, and WVU all have similar caliber losses. Only Missouri and ASU can claim an "excellent loss." BC and ASU are most hurt by losing last of those seven and have to be considered extreme longshots. Despite having a similar loss like the aforementioned squads, UConn is by definition an extreme longshot.

If I actually had money to bet, I'd put it on LSU and UO playing for the BCS title. My pecking order though in terms of if they all win out is (1) tOSU, (2) LSU, (3) UO, (4) OU (5) KU, (6) WVU, (7) MU, (8) BC, (9) ASU, (10) UConn (but I think a 2-loss team could jump them).


0 losses: #1 Ohio State, #4 Kansas (2)

1 loss: #2 Louisiana State (#25 Kentucky), #3 Oregon (#27 California), #5 Oklahoma (#43 Colorado), #6 Missouri (#5 Oklahoma), #7 West Virginia (#28 South Florida), #8 Boston College (#26 Florida State), #9 Arizona State (#3 Oregon), #13 Connecticut (#19 Virginia) (8)
And "#16" Hawaii doesn't count when their wins are #93, #100, #101, #107, #119, #120, and two FCS schools.

Here are the updated conference races. Miami by virtue of getting one completion in the entire game falls out of the ACC race. BC loses but still controls its destiny. However, this opened the door for Clemson. Oklahoma is now in the driver's seat alone in the Big 12 thanks to OSU collapsing to Texas. I have not researched a three-way tie for the Big 12 South title and wish to avoid that for at least a week. Stunningly, despite losing to Arizona, UCLA still controls its Pac-10 destiny. I'm sure that the Dump Dorrell crowd has ignored that fact. ASU now does not have control. LSU has almost clinched the SEC title and needs only one more win.


ACC (Orange Bowl)

Boston College (4-1): Win out OR 1 loss, not in the ACC Championship Game, to someone other than Clemson (at Maryland, at Clemson, Miami, ACC Championship)

Clemson (4-2): Win out (Wake Forest, Boston College, [at South Carolina], ACC Championship)

Virginia (5-1): Win out OR 1 loss, not in the ACC Championship Game, to someone other than Virginia Tech (at Miami, Bye, Virginia Tech, ACC Championship)
Virginia Tech (4-1): Win out OR 1 loss, not in the ACC Championship game, to someone other than Virginia (Florida State, Miami, at Virginia, ACC Championship)
One-loss Atlantic/Coastal teams needing help: None
Two-loss Atlantic/Coastal teams needing help: Wake Forest (4-2, two Boston College losses)

Big 12 (Fiesta Bowl)
Kansas (5-0): Win out OR 1 loss, not in the Big 12 Championship Game, to someone other than Missouri (at Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Missouri at Kansas City, Big 12 Championship)
Missouri (4-1): Win out (Texas A&M, at Kansas State, at Kansas at Kansas City, Big 12 Championship)
Oklahoma (4-1): Win out OR 1 loss, not in the Big 12 Championship Game, to someone other than Oklahoma State (Baylor, at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Big 12 Championship) [I don't want to think about a three-way tie at 6-2 for OU, OSU, and UT.]

One-loss North/South teams needing help: None
Two-loss South teams needing help: Texas (4-2, two Oklahoma losses), Oklahoma State (4-2, one Texas loss)

Big East (At-large)
Connecticut (4-0): Win out OR 1 loss to someone other than West Virginia (at Cincinnati, Syracuse, at West Virginia, Bye)

West Virginia (3-1): Win out (Louisville, at Cincinnati, Connecticut, Pittsburgh)

One-loss teams needing help: None

Big Ten (Rose Bowl)
Ohio State (6-0): Beat Michigan (Illinois, at Michigan, Bye, Bye)
Michigan (6-0): Beat Ohio State (at Wisconsin, Ohio State, Bye, Bye)
One-loss teams needing help: None

Pacific-10 (Rose Bowl)
Oregon (5-1): Win out (Bye, at Arizona, at UCLA, Oregon State)
UCLA (4-2): Win out (Arizona State, Bye, Oregon, at Southern California)

One-loss teams needing help: Arizona State (5-1, one Oregon loss)
Two-loss teams needing help: Southern California (4-2, two Oregon losses)

Southeastern (Sugar Bowl)
Tennessee (3-2): Win out (Arkansas, Vanderbilt, at Kentucky, SEC Championship)
Louisiana State (5-1): Win out OR 1 loss, not in the SEC Championship Game ([Louisiana Tech], at Mississippi, Arkansas, SEC Championship)
Two-loss West/East teams needing help: Georgia (4-2, one loss by Tennessee), Auburn (4-2, two losses by Louisiana State), Alabama (3-2, two losses by Louisiana State)

Three-loss East teams needing help: Kentucky (2-3, one loss by Florida), Florida (4-3, two losses by Georgia)

Action on Saturday has been covered mostly. As for other games, we saw USC's defense play up to its expectations against the Beavers. (Let's not talk about the offense.) Bauer had a nasty taste in his mouth as Northwestern only played three quarters in an ugly loss to Iowa. A 6-6 NU team is likely not to go bowling, so Bauer has gotten interesting. Indiana did get eligible as was the goal of Terry Hoeppner before he died. I am still rooting for the Hoosiers. My Blue Devils actually led 7-3 at the end of the first, before Clemson 40 unanswered points to win 47-10. Almost no one could see Ohio state rally against Wisconsin. Virginia squeaked by again with a defeat of Wake Forest. I don't know if there's a luckier team in America. Florida pounded Vandy. K-State embarrassed themselves in Ames. Kansas put up 76 points against "Hey Didn't You Used to Be Nebaska?". Navy ended the 43-year losing streak to Notre Dame. Just think about how old your parents were in 1963. Cincinnati almost blew a 31-point first quarter outburst, but they did beat South Florida. LSU held off Alabama in Saban Bowl I. (I'm assuming that Toledo and Michigan State never played when Saban led the Spartans, nor Michigan State and LSU.) Missouri was great against Colorado. Oregon just dominated Arizona State. Alex got another nice outburst from his Rockets as they beat EMU. Oklahoma demolished A&M. And Cal just squeaked by Wazzu.

This week will feature Cal and USC at 5 in our living room for anyone who is interested. I don't think Nancy will let Alex come over for all of the mid-week MAC games. Lincoln would get to watch his Cougs if they somehow got Versus in Canada.

The morning gives us Michigan and Wisconsin. While Michigan doesn't need this win to win the Big Ten, they do if they want to go to the Rose Bowl as an at-large. Wake Forest and Clemson hook up in a battle to determine the second best team in the ACC Atlantic. Bauer gets my Indiana sympathies against his Cats. Missouri gets to show how much better it is than the mediocre South teams when the Tigers host A&M. And Tennessee, in control of its Sugar Bowl dreams, can fuck up against Arkansas. It should be a good morning.

The afternoon has the next stage of the nightmare as Air Force goes to South Bend. Remember, the Irish have not hit rock bottom. That comes in another week when Duke beats them. ABC regional coverage gives us Ohio State's last tuneup before the de facto Big Ten championship. This is against a good Illinois team that certainly will give the Buckeyes a decent game (at least for a while). We on the west coast will watch ASU try to rebound against UCLA. TTU and Texas hook up, but as Tech has played so poorly recently and UT has been mediocre all year, this isn't going to be exciting outside of Texas. Auburn and Georgia form the SEC game of the week. I do love that hatred.

The evening gives us USC as noted above. Miami will have to play spoiler after losing control of its destiny to prevent an all-Commonwealth ACC Coastal championship game. Spurrier Bowl III will occur in Columbia. Kansas will again prove that its far better than the South teams not named Oklahoma with a visit to Stillwater.

May all your teams do well.

Available Games

Tuesday, November 6
4:30 -- Central Michigan at Western Michigan (+3) (ESPN2 HD)

Wednesday, November 7
4:30 -- Ohio at Akron (+3) (ESPN2 HD)

Thursday, November 8
4:45 -- Louisville at #6 West Virginia (-15) (ESPN HD)
6:00 -- Texas Christian at Brigham Young (-7.5) (Versus)

Friday, November 9
4:30 -- Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan (+4) (ESPNU)
5:00 -- Rutgers at Army (+18) (ESPN2 HD)

Saturday, November 10
*9:00 -- #13 Michigan at Wisconsin (+2.5) (ESPN HD)
*9:00 -- Wake Forest at #20 Clemson (-8) (ESPN2 HD)
9:00 -- Penn State at Temple (+24) (ESPNU)
*9:00 -- Indiana at Northwestern (+1.5) (ESPN Classic)
9:00 -- South Florida at Syracuse (+16) (ESPN GamePlan/ESPN Plus)
9:00 -- North Carolina at North Carolina State (- 3.5) (ESPN GamePlan/LFS)
*9:30 -- Texas A&M at #7 Missouri (-18.5) (FSN HD)
9:30 -- Kansas State at Nebraska (+7.5) (Versus)
9:30 -- #21 Alabama at Mississippi State (+4) (ESPN GamePlan/LFS)
*9:30 -- Arkansas at #22 Tennessee (0) (ESPN GamePlan/LFS)
11:00 -- #25 Kentucky at Vanderbilt (+3) (ESPN GamePlan/Big Blue Sports)
*11:30 -- Air Force at Notre Dame (+2.5) (NBC HD)
12:00 -- #19 Boise State at Utah State (+24) (ESPN GamePlan/KTVB/KJZZ)
12:30 -- Florida State at #11 Virginia Tech (-6.5) (ESPN GamePlan/ABC HD/ESPN HD)
*12:30 -- Illinois at #1 Ohio State (-15) (ESPN HD/ABC HD)
*12:30 -- Texas Tech at #15 Texas (-6.5) (ESPN GamePlan/ABC)
*12:30 -- #9 Arizona State at UCLA (+6.5) (ABC/ESPN GamePlan)
*12:30 -- #18 Auburn at #10 Georgia (-1) (CBS HD)
12:30 -- #16 Connecticut at Cincinnati (-5.5) (ESPNU)
1:00 -- New Mexico State at San Jose State (-4) (ESPN GamePlan/AggieVision)
4:00 -- Baylor at #4 Oklahoma (- 37.5) (FSN HD)
*4:15 -- #23 Virginia at Miami (Florida) (-3.5) (ESPN2 HD)
*4:45 -- #17 Florida at South Carolina (+6.5) (ESPN HD)
5:00 -- #8 Boston College at Maryland (+5.5) (ESPN GamePlan/ABC)
*5:00 -- #5 Kansas at Oklahoma State (+5.5) (ESPN GamePlan/ABC HD)
*5:00 -- #12 Southern California at #24 California (+4) (ABC HD/ESPN GamePlan)
5:00 -- Louisiana Tech at #2 Louisiana State (-36) (ESPN GamePlan/PPV)
7:15 -- Washington at Oregon State (NL) (FSN HD)
8:00 -- Fresno State at #14 Hawaii (-17) (ESPN2 HD/KFRE/Oceanic Cable PPV)


Unavailable Games

Saturday, November 10
9:00 -- Michigan State at Purdue (-4.5) (BTN HD)
9:00 -- Minnesota at Iowa (-14.5) (BTN HD)
9:30 -- Colorado at Iowa State (+5) (FCS Central)
12:00 -- Colorado State at New Mexico (- 9.5) (the mtn.)
12:30 -- Wyoming at Utah (-14) (CSTV)
1:00 -- Kent State at Northern Illinois (+3.5) (Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
1:30 -- Memphis at Southern Mississippi (- 15.5) (CSS Southeast)
1:30 -- East Carolina at Marshall (+7) (WITN/MASN)
3:30 -- Stanford at Washington State (-10.5) (FSN Northwest/FSN Bay Area)
4:30 -- Central Florida at Alabama-Birmingham (+20.5) (CSTV)
8:00 -- San Diego State at Nevada-Las Vegas (- 2.5) (CSTV)


Games Not on TV

Saturday, November 10
10:00 -- Georgia Tech at Duke (+13.5)
12:00 -- Houston at Tulsa (-2)
12:00 -- Rice at Southern Methodist (NL)
12:30 -- Louisiana-Lafayette at Middle Tennessee (-14)
1:00 -- Arkansas State at Florida Atlantic (-7.5)
1:00 -- Navy at North Texas (+15.5)
2:00 -- Grambling at Louisiana-Monroe (Shame on the Warhawks)
2:00 -- Troy at Western Kentucky (NL)
4:00 -- Texas-El Paso at Tulane (+5)

Open Dates: Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Miami (Ohio), Ball State, Toledo, Arizona, #3 Oregon, Mississippi, Florida International, Idaho, and Nevada.