Yearly Archives: 2009

I Was Making Fun of the BCS Propaganda Machine Before It Was Cool

So apparently someone at the BCS office decided it’d be a great idea to get their propaganda message out there via Facebook and Twitter. Well, as various other sites have reported, it’s going about as well as you think.

So I just wanted to say I was making fun of the BCS’s original propanda machine (bcsfootball.org) as early as last year: https://sports.asimweb.org/2008/10/bcsfootballorg-means-truth.html

As for the bowl predictions and the TV guide, well, I’m really busy at work right now. Rolling a giant stone up a hill is bad enough as-is, but then I have to do something else and the damn thing rolls back down. I’ll try to get to each, though.

This Week in College Football: Week 12

Introducing “This Week in College Football”. With the proliferation of conferences desperate for ESPN’s money and exposure, we now have college ball on practically every day of the week. So each week, I’ll write up a short post about this week’s weekday games in the same vein as my weekend column.
As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Wednesday

6:00: Buffalo @ Miami University (ESPNU): This game is going on right now and I can’t see it because I’m at work. Buffalo should win, I guess?

8:00: Central Michigan @ Ball State (ESPN2): I originally made bad jokes involving the MAC and Dan LeFevour. Now you’ll just have to take my word for it. CMU should walk through this.

Thursday

7:30: Colorado @ Oklahoma State (ESPN): Oklahoma State will likely be starting their backup QB. Colorado will likely start a QB. Will it matter? No.

Friday

5:30: Akron @ Bowling Green (ESPNU): Bowling Green needs a win to get to the magical land of bowl eligibility. Akron, well, their mascot is a kangaroo.

9:30: Boise State @ Utah State (ESPN2): Four wins would match Utah State’s highest win total since 2002. Note I didn’t say “five wins”.

Also, I know bowl predictions haven’t been posted yet. They’re up but I haven’t time to do the writeup yet. Patience.

Hindsight is 20/20: An Apology to Vegas

While I was correct about the ridiculousness of the Florida-South Carolina line, Boise actually covered the 31.5 points against Idaho and TCU darn near doubled the 20 points on TCU in their 55-28 drubbing of the Utes.

Let’s see what else I was horrendously wrong about (I say “all predictions wrong” every week for a reason), along with some other observations.

  • Dexter McCluster has Ole Miss going the right way after their 42-17 drubbing of Tennessee.
  • Purdue made it interesting for awhile, but ultimately Sparty prevailed in West Lafayette.
  • FSU’s offense was pretty much not toast as Ponder’s replacement, E.J. Manuel, went 15 for 20 and 220 yards passing and the FSU ground game racked up 217 on a very deflated looking Wake squad.
  • It looked like Miami was headed right to BCS-ville for awhile today, but ultimately suffered the letdown in Chapel Hill that will likely mean the ACC’s chances of getting that elusive 2nd BCS bid are shot.
  • Oh, Stanford made it interesting all right.
  • Why do all of Arizona State’s backup quarterbacks look like they’re 15 or 16 years old? They just look so wirey and thin out there, I’m surprised they haven’t gotten snapped in half yet.

As for GT-Duke, man, I woke up and turned the game on just in time for kick off. And then I saw my worst nightmare come true – Duke came out throwing, and the defense came out flat and they scored right off the bat. Then we went 3 and out and screwed up the snap on the punt, putting the Blue Devils in great position to go up 14-0. Instead, we forced them to kick a field goal and then returned the kickoff to the Duke 1 yard line, and after that scored 49 unanswered.

The result? Well, I seem to have booked a flight to Tampa for some reason….

Bowl predictions go up later today.

This Weekend in College Football: Week 11

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Saturday
Noon:

  • Tennessee @ Mississippi (CBS): It’s a noon CBS game, so I guess this is their two-game package of the year. These are two teams going in opposite directions right now, so as weird as it feels I have to pick the Vols.
  • Michigan State @ Purdue (ESPN): Since their upset of Ohio State and subsequent drubbing by Wisconsin Purdue is 2-0, and I have to say, if you’d told me they’d be tied with Michigan State in Big Ten play, well, I’d be pretty surprised. In fact, in terms of their actual Big Ten resumes, I’d say they’re pretty even. Still going with Sparty, though.
  • Georgia Tech @ Duke (ESPN2): I think this is the most stressed out I’ve ever been for a Duke game. With a win, Tech clinches the ACC Coastal title. With a loss, well, I have no idea what happens because there would be a 4-way tie for first (but I think Miami wins the tiebreaker).
    Now, the reason for the stress is this. Duke can throw the ball. Tech cannot defend passing offenses worth a damn. Tech has to do whatever Carolina did last week in limiting Duke to 11 first downs on 125 yards passing. Carolina was able to move the ball, though had trouble getting touchdowns, so if Tech cannot defend the pass we could very easily get into a shootout. Last week the pass defense was bad, and even downright horrible throughout the first half – being done in by a bad combination of playing very far off the WRs and then defending their routes incorrectly. UNC sacked Thad Lewis 4 times and picked him off twice – Tech will need to generate pressure while rushing four. One thing in most defense’s advantage when facing Duke is their extreme difficulty in running the ball, which we need to take advantage of by perhaps switching to a 2 LB set to help defend the pass.
    As for Tech on offense, it looked, well, bad at times in the first half but recovered in the second. That said, we must press our athletic advantage over Duke and not put the ball on the ground.
    I honestly don’t know what to expect. Most observers, of course, expect an easy Tech win. However, there is nothing easy about GT football. I still recall our last divisional title, 3 years ago, when we came out flat against a bad Carolina team. We won 7-0, but as I saw later, that was the downfall of that 2006 team. We avoided a huge let down last week, and I hope we realize that avoid some of the mistakes that almost cost us.
  • Texas @ Baylor (FSN): Baylor scored the surprise win at Missouri last week, but Texas should be able to take care of business.
  • Florida State @ Wake Forest (ESPNU): So much for FSU getting to a bowl – I agree with the conventional wisdom that FSU without Christian Ponder (a.k.a., the FSU offense) is pretty much toast.
  • Houston @ Central Florida (CBSCS): Houston should win, but expect lots o’ points. Might be worth your while – Houst @ Tulsa last weekend was certainly worth mine!
  • Northwestern @ Illinois (ESPN Classic): I don’t care what happened the last two weeks, Illinois still sucks.
  • Michigan @ Wisconsin (BTN): With the loss to Purdue, Michigan is in very bad shape at 5-5. I’m not projecting them to win either of their two remaining games.
  • Kentucky @ Vanderbilt (SEC/Gameplan): Neither of these football teams is what you might call “good” but Kentucky does display a certain competence Vandy lacks. Should probably be close and low-scoring, though.
  • Clemson @ North Carolina State (Raycom/Gameplan): As long as Clemson shows up for this one, they should have a field day.

12:30: Missouri @ Kansas State (Versus): Yeah… so…. Mizzou. You lost to Baylor last weekend. Yeah. You just violated my trust! Though I don’t think that Kansas State is really that much, if at all, better, I can’t really pick you at this point. I’m sorry.

3:30:

  • Florida @ South Carolina (CBS): And now, let’s begin a segment I call “ridiculous lines of the day”. I think Vegas phoned it in for this weekend. I mean, 17.5 point favorites? I mean, yeah, UF will win, but probably by more like 7-10. Sheesh.
  • Iowa @ Ohio State (ABC/ESPN): Without QB Ricky Stanzi, Iowa could well lose this game and against Minnesota. And I won’t mind at all. Freaking Iowa. Ugh.
  • Nebraska @ Kansas (Gameplan/ESPN/ABC): Nebraska, please win this game. I would like the Big 12 title game to be at least competitive. Hopefully Kansas’s offense remains hidden for one more game.
  • University of Miami @ North Carolina (ESPN/Gameplan/ABC): While Miami probably won’t put 52 on UNC, the home team most certainly will not. Da U should win easily.
  • Stanford @ Southern California (FSN): Speaking of lost offenses, anyone seen USC’s lately? Or their defense, for that matter? While they did hold ASU to 9 points ASU had offensive issues of their own. I think USC will win, but I fully expect Stanford to make it interesting.
  • Idaho @ Boise State (ESPNU): THIRTY ONE AND A HALF POINTS? REALLY VEGAS? Boise only put up 45 against a very moribund bunch at Louisiana Tech and you’re saying that they’ll win by 5 scores against an in-state rival in the midst of their best year ever? This is crazy. Oh, and yeah, Boise still wins, but I mean, really?
  • Delaware @ Navy (CBSCS): First off, you owe it to yourself to read this. Secondly, Delaware is a pretty competent DI-AA team and has given Navy fits in the past, but the Middies should pull it out. (You should also read the other posts on that blog, because it’s by far the best breakdown our (and Navy’s) offense that I’ve ever seen.)

7:00:

  • Alabama @ Mississippi State (ESPN): I wouldn’t call Miss State “bad”, but I wouldn’t say they’re good either. Alabama’s defense should be able to stuff their only offensive weapon (RB Anthony Dixon) while Mark Ingram improves his Heisman stats.
  • Auburn @ Georgia (ESPN2): Okay, it probably won’t happen (since they still play Kentucky) but I am giddy that there is even the possibility that Georgia could be 5-6 heading into our game. Awww yeah, savor the flavor – of schadenfreude! In addition to the heaping amount of bias I already have against Georgia, I also grew up an Auburn fan and generally prefer them to not suck, especially against UGA. And all that said, I’m also picking Auburn straight up. Hopefully the 38 points against Tennessee Tech wasn’t a fluke.
  • Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Oklahoma (FSN): TAMU, you rolled off two straight wins and then you lost to… Colorado? How? Why? I mean, you should still beat Baylor to get bowl eligible but still. At any rate, they should also still lose to Oklahoma.
  • Arizona @ California (Versus): I was having my customary celebratory burger last weekend after our game against Wake Forest. I looked up at the monitors and it happened right then and there in real time. Jahvid Best, one of the best and most exciting players in college football, was floating in the air, got hit, and lay on the ground motionless. Scary. I drove home, had a half-dozen messages from my friends and turned on the TV. He was still on the ground. He was released from the hospital earlier this week, but to give you an idea of the magnitude it’s never good when some has “just” a concussion. (The alternative being the initially feared spinal cord injury.)
    As for the game, Arizona’s a pretty decent team this year. (Apparently nowawadays all Mike Stoops does is win football games.) I expect them to win.
  • Louisiana Tech @ Louisiana State (ESPNU): LSU. Next!

7:30:

  • Utah @ Texas Christian (CBSCS): While Utah has only played one good team (Oregon) and lost, I don’t really understand how TCU is 20 point favorite. I’ll take TCU to win, yeah, but I mean, 20? Really?
  • Troy @ Arkansas (SEC/Gameplan): Ar-kansas. Next!

8:00:

  • Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh (ABC/Gameplan): Taking Pitt and the Wannstache to win anything is painful for me, but I must do so here. I just don’t like ND is that good.
  • Texas Tech @ Oklahoma State (Gameplan/ABC): A win here allows TTU to salvage a measure of respect from a season marked by losses to Houston and Texas A&M. Will they? Probably not, but forecasts call for a storm of points with a chain of hail (marys).

10:15: Arizona State @ Oregon (ESPN): If that guy ASU trotted out there in the 4th quarter of the USC game as their QB is playing in this game, Oregon wins easily. Oregon’s drop below USC in the polls last week defies all logic, especially since, last I checked, the Ducks are still on track to win the conference. Madness.

Sunday
8:15: East Carolina @ Tulsa (ESPN): It’s late, I’m tired, and our game is in less than 6 hours. ECU.

This Week in College Football: Week 11

Introducing “This Week in College Football”. With the proliferation of conferences desperate for ESPN’s money and exposure, we now have college ball on practically every day of the week. So each week, I’ll write up a short post about this week’s weekday games in the same vein as my weekend column.
As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Tuesday
7:00: Ohio @ Buffalo (ESPN2): Lots of games this week, so let’s kick it off with some MAC-tion. Buffalo no doubt wishes it were last year again, but at 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the MAC, well, it’s not looking good against MAC East front-runner Ohio, who look like they have the best chance to knock off Temple’s lead.

Wednesday
8:00: Toledo @ Central Michigan (ESPN2): Toledo has the 96th ranked pass defense in the country, so I would expect a big day from everyone’s favorite MAC QB, Dan LeFevour.

Thursday
6:00: Ball State @ Northern Illinois (ESPNU): Ball State is terrible, NIU less so.

7:30: South Florida @ Rutgers (ESPN): USF is coming off that huge win against WVU, while Rutgers has been plodding along with winning the games they’re supposed to. New USF B.J. Daniels has played well for a freshman so far, and overall it looks as though these two teams are about even. I think USF’s offense is a little more dynamic, though, and should be able to outscore Rutgers in the end.

Friday
8:00: West Virginia @ Cincinnati (ESPN2): Even with the upset last week, WVU has a big chance to influence the Big East race as well as the national title picture. That said, I’ll take the team that isn’t coached by Bill Stewart.

8:30: Temple @ Akron (ESPNU): Akron was zipping along (pun intended) to a 1-11 season until they sprung (also intended) a huge upset over Kent State last weekend. The Owls, meanwhile, needed a last minute field goal to keep their own streak alive and beat one of the worst teams in the country in Miami (OH). So, Temple should win, but I expect it to be close again.