Last Week: 2-4 ATS 3-3 SU
For the Year: 28-31-1 (.475) ($610) ATS 41-19 (.683) SU
What we learned last week:
We learned that Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden are in a race to see which can ruin their programs first. Penn State might be 8-2, but they’ve failed miserably against the best two teams on their schedule this year and will once again get blown out by whatever SEC team they might play in the Capital One Bowl. Put down the headset and grab a fishing pole…
We learned that Oregon once again proved to be a fraud that can only get up for one game a year. It doesn’t pay off to beat USC if you can’t beat the Stanfords on the schedule….
We learned that SEC officiating crews have a nice future ahead of them as Joe Biden’s driver….
We learned that Bill Snyder might be a whippersnapper to Paterno and Bowden, but the man can resurrect a program…
We learned that yes, it is possible to beat mighty Oklahoma with 39 yards passing, converting 1/14 third down conversions and earning 7 first downs. With the loss of three starters this week, Oklahoma might be looking at a bowl played in a baseball stadium…
And finally, we learned that Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley are roommates, okay we didn’t learn that, but we learned they are pretty good, okay we didn’t learn that either…
Anyhow…
.01862
That was the number that kept Texas on the outside looking in last season, the number of points that Texas was behind Oklahoma in the final regular season BCS poll that sent Oklahoma to Kansas City to play Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game, and left Texas at home wondering how one play could alter their entire season.
Oklahoma went on to beat Missouri, 62-21, a game that was never close, and a game that Texas fans watched with maddening faces as Oklahoma players threw oranges to each other in the post-game, where Sam Bradford spewed some nonsense about being the best team at the end of the season, and where Bob Stoops had that smug grin on his face as he knew he got away with one.
But, there was still hope that the pollsters would right the wrong, that they would realize that Oklahoma and Texas had finished with one loss, and that Texas had given Oklahoma that loss on a bright October morning in Dallas.
But alas, they did not, and Oklahoma did go on to Miami, where they were embarrassed with their fifth straight BCS Bowl loss, again leaving Texas fans wondering what if?
On that Sunday, when the coaches poll came out, some oddities stood out. Was it on Mack Brown’s ballot? Nope, he put Florida #1, Texas #2 and Oklahoma #3. A perfectly reasonable ballot.
Nope, the oddities came within the Big 12 South, from Mike Leach, the coach at Texas Tech, who voted Texas #5 (behind Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Florida and Alabama).
The other? From Baylor coach Art Briles. Who voted Texas fifth as well, behind Oklahoma, Florida, USC and Alabama.
I think you know where I am going with this.
Two other coaches voted Texas fifth (Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio and Rutgers’ Greg Schiano), who I can only assume were too busy getting over their own failures as head coaches to really recognize who the best teams in the country were.
Leach is a nut who thinks he’s a pirate and blames losses on his players’ girlfriends over his own shortcomings as a head coach, and somehow thought his own team was the #2 team in the country last year when nobody else that didn’t work with Leach voted them higher than 6th (Kentucky’s Hal Mumme, who mentored Leach voted Tech third and Texas fourth).
But Briles? Briles sent a son to play for Mack Brown when he was the head coach at Stephenville High School. Kendall later transferred to Houston to play for his dad when Art got the job at Houston.
Oklahoma beat Baylor 49-17 in 2008, while Texas beat them 45-21. Similar results, but yet somehow Briles figured that Texas was four teams below Oklahoma in the rankings.
Now I’m not going to pretend that if Briles voted Texas #1 or #2 that they would be in any better shape, I’m far too much of a math retard to figure it all out, and I’m 98% sure I don’t even own a scientific calculator, but Briles clearly wasn’t impressed by the 2008 version of the Longhorns beating his team by 24 points.
It is time to impress Mr. Briles by running up 60 on his ass since he is clearly impressed by teams that score 60 points. You know Mack won’t do it, but damn I would be on cloud nine if he did.
You have to atone for Sonny, er, voting us fifth, Mr. Briles…
Switching gears a bit, the Big 12 conference has been great for Texas (I think), the power conferences were the way the NCAA was going in the late 90’s, yada yada yada, but how great would the old Southwest Conference be this year?
Ignore the fact that you clearly can’t assume TCU would be undefeated with some tougher teams on the schedule, and likewise that Arkansas would still be .500 if they had an easier schedule, and of course you have to fudge a little bit that Arkansas is still in the conference at all, but check out these standings and their ranking in the AP Poll:
#2 Texas 9-0
#4 TCU 9-0
#13 Houston 8-1
Texas Tech 6-3 (Others Receiving Votes)
Texas A&M 5-4
SMU 5-4
Arkansas 5-4
Baylor 4-5
Rice 0-9
The Southwest Conference would have just as many teams in the Top 13 as the SEC (3), and more than any other BCS conference. The SWC would have Colt McCoy and Houston’s Case Keenum as legitimate Heisman candidates, and it might come down to a late season match-up between Texas and TCU to see who goes to a national championship game. Dave Barnett would probably still be announcing their games on the Raycom Network.
Somewhere up above Bobby Layne, Davey O’Brien and Lou Holtz are smiling…
And finally, there isn’t much drama in the BCS this year in comparison to previous years, but let’s take a look at it anyways:
Florida: It is simple. Win out and they are there. The Gators have a couple of “interesting” games left, this week at South Carolina and at home against Florida State Thanksgiving weekend, but the FSU game is less interesting with Christian Ponder out with an injury. Everyone is looking forward to their SEC Championship Game match-up with Alabama.
Alabama: Read above. Win out and they are there. The Tide have a couple of “interesting” games left, this week at Mississippi State and at Auburn Thanksgiving weekend, but it would take a pretty big upset for either of those teams to knock off Alabama AND the SEC officials. Everyone is looking forward to their SEC Championship Game match-up with Florida.
SEC Officials: Undefeated in the SEC and will fine your ass if you speak up. I’d say that is quite a record.
Texas: They are about in the same boat. Win out and they are there. A few bored members of the media this week tried raising the question of whether or not TCU could pass Texas in the BCS rankings, but these things are decided by money and we’re not talking about TCU co-eds driving Tahoes and wearing Christian Louboutins to class. Texas puts butts in the seats and TV sets on, so even if it were possible for TCU to make an argument on the field it isn’t happening.
TCU: An early season win over Clemson, who very well might win the ACC Championship the way they are playing, is looking more and more impressive, but the problem with TCU is that is about all they can argue about. A blowout win in Provo over BYU is nice, but they would be better off if BYU hadn’t lost to Florida State. After BYU it is a mix-match of 6-4 teams that might play on the NFL Network during the bowl season. It would take a catastrophic collapse by two of the three teams above them for TCU to sneak into the championship game, but they should focus on getting into a BCS bowl, winning that and starting higher ranked next season when they have Baylor, SMU and Texas Tech on the out of conference schedule…wait a minute, did someone take the SWC paragraph above a little too seriously? Did I miss a press release?
Cincinnati: The Bearcats…blanking….oh wait, they don’t have a significant win this season, unless you count South Florida, Oregon State or Rutgers a pothole on anyone’s schedule. Cincinnati finishes up with West Virginia, Illinois and a trip to Pittsburgh, which should be fun in December. We’ll see what they are made of then. They, much like TCU, should probably just be happy with going to a BCS bowl, getting a check and ranking higher next season.
Boise State: Oh geez, we’re talking about them again? Hey Boise State, here is a clue, paint your field green and perhaps America will take you seriously. Until then, we won’t watch your games, we’ll think it is cute when we see your running back propose to the cheerleader on YouTube, we’ll laugh when LSUFreek makes another GIF of your back-up DE getting knocked out, but we won’t take you seriously. Go to Home Depot, get some green paint and we’ll talk in 2010.
FACEBOOK NEWS FEED
Charlie Weis might as well join Al-Queda because the Navy kicks my ass every year.
Lady Luck now shifts her attention from Iowa to Florida and Alabama.
SMU might win their conference. What the hell is the world coming to?
Mike Stoops is wondering if he really wants to go to the Rose Bowl with this last name.
Elizabeth Lambert and Mike Locksley have joined the group New Mexico Turns Us Into Crazy Ass Bitches.
The Michigan AD I did more hitting than our defense did against Illinois. F this (#*%.
The City of Shreveport is very much looking forward to hosting the Oklahoma Sooners!
On to the games...
Florida -15.5 @ South Carolina:
For all their faults in their last few games, Florida has won 19 games in a row and is the likely favorite in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama. South Carolina is reeling, having lost 3 out of their last 4 ballgames, and speculation is that this might be Steve Spurrier’s last hurrah (if you can call it that) in Columbia.
This game has not been kind to Spurrier, who beat Florida in his first game as Gamecocks coach, and then lost three in a row. In 2006 they lost as two field goals were blocked (the same night that Texas lost in Manhattan), and then lost two blowouts, in 2007 by a score of 51-31 and last year by the score of 56-6.
I don’t see South Carolina being able to keep Florida in check. South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia wilts under pressure, and Florida’s offense is slightly better than Alabama’s, who was able to beat the Gamecocks by 14.
Florida 34 South Carolina 16
ATS – Florida
SU – Florida
Alabama -12 @ Mississippi State:
Mississippi State might have faced the toughest schedule in the country thus far. Check out some of their home schedule, with BCS rankings: #8 LSU (L 30-26); # 7 Georgia Tech (L 42-31); # 15 Houston (L 31-24); # 1Florida (L 29-19)
And they still have #2 Alabama and Mississippi to go. What a great season ticket package…
They’ve been able to stay in these games with a running game that averages 219 yards per game and keeping the ball away from their opponent. They held the ball for 32 minutes against Houston, nearly 34 against LSU and 27 against a high powered Florida offense. The Bulldogs actually outgained both LSU and Georgia Tech.
MSU coach Dan Mullen isn’t scared of Alabama, having beaten them last year as Florida’s offensive coordinator. The Bulldogs have also won 2 out of 3 in this series, both upsets, including a 2006 24-16 win where they were 14 point underdogs in Tuscaloosa.
And that was bad MSU. With an improved team, a coach that knows he can beat them, and a team that has beaten these guys before, Mississippi State won’t be intimidated….and might even pull off the upset here.
Alabama 24 Mississippi State 14
ATS – Mississippi State
SU – Alabama
Utah @ TCU -20:
The Horned Frogs are looking for their first undefeated regular season since 1938. Can the pressure be building up on them? You know Utah has been here, defeating Alabama in last year’s Sugar Bowl, but you have to wonder if TCU is beginning to read their own headlines. The Utes have won three straight in this series.
The Frogs have racked up consecutive 500 yard games, but Utah’s defense is playing well. They have only allowed more than 17 points once this season, a 31-24 loss at Oregon in week 3, but even then they held the Ducks to a little over 300 total yards.
Utah QB Jordan Wynn (a true freshman) is getting only his second start of the year, but let’s not act like Amon Carter Stadium is a hostile environment. TCU’s experience gets the edge here, but it is a lot closer than that line indicates it should be, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if TCU doesn’t go down here.
TCU 27 Utah 24
ATS – Utah
SU – TCU
Nebraska -3.5 @ Kansas:
Kansas has lost four in a row after starting the season 5-0 and are out of the Big 12 North race. Their offense has ground to a halt as Todd Reesing has turned into a turnover machine.
Nebraska is a mess on offense, but their defense has earned their Blackshirts, only allowing 22 points in their last three games, and only giving up 10.33 ppg on the season. Kansas has a shot here if they can keep from turning over the ball, but Nebraska’s defense is playing too well to count on that.
This has been a high scoring series of late (266 points scored in the last three games), but I see Nebraska’s defense continuing to dominate and Nebraska’s offense continuing to sputter.
Nebraska 24 Kansas 13
ATS – Nebraska
SU – Nebraska
Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State -4:
This is always a good one…and always one dominated by the home team. In fact, the only road win in this series in the last ten was a 2001 49-30 Tech win in Stillwater.
Tech is a little unsettled at quarterback with Sheffield still out and Doege ineffective and Potts throwing interceptions. OSU QB Zac Robinson plays well against everyone besides Texas and Oklahoma, so OSU gets the nod here.
Oklahoma State 37 Texas Tech 24
ATS – Oklahoma State
SU – Oklahoma State
Texas -23.5 @ Baylor:
Jordan Shipley needs just 139 yards to break Kwame Cavil’s single season school record of 1,188 set in 1999. He might get that in the first half.
Vegas was fooled a bit by Baylor’s surprising win at Missouri last week, but the Bears gave up 468 yards passing to Blaine Gabbert and 389 to Sam Bradford the week before the Texas game. Colt McCoy is pretty good, too.
On defense, the Longhorns are playing like the #1 defense that the statistics say they are, and a Baylor offensive line that is 78th in the country in protecting the quarterback and 100th in the country in running the ball is not going to have a lot of success.
Texas rolls.
Texas 52 Baylor 7
ATS – Texas
SU – Texas
Random Hot Dallas Chick
For entertainment purposes only. Save your money for HD TVs for SEC replay officials.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment