I’m not making light of the circumstance or the why behind the why. Nor am I ignoring it, I’m just saying nobody is talking college football games, so allow me an attempt at normal.
SEC Snoozer
SEC Snoozer
Sorry, call me crazy, stupid, uninformed, tell me I just don’t understand … but LSU vs. Alabama was boring. Yep I said it, boring. And if you disagree with me, you probably like soccer, because you’re argument is similar. Defense is beautiful, you don’t get the intricacies of SEC football. Don’t you know defense wins championships? Let me re-iterate one of my old arguments. Defense doesn’t win championships, it prevents them. To win you have to score, period. A game with zero touchdowns, five field goals and damn near as many missed field goals is not entertaining. Its uncomfortable, the way getting a haircut in the morning and working all day with that scratchy hair on your neck and back is uncomfortable. Congrats to those of you who paid thousands on EBay for tickets. Tell me how you feel about that decision now.
Give me the back-and-forth that was Oklahoma State and Kansas State over that yawner any day. Unfortunately the BCS title will likely resemble the former, not the latter.
Pac 12 Track Meet
Give me the back-and-forth that was Oklahoma State and Kansas State over that yawner any day. Unfortunately the BCS title will likely resemble the former, not the latter.
Pac 12 Track Meet
For the reasons stated above, I am much more excited about watching this week's Stanford vs. Oregon game than last week's No. 1 v. No. 2. This is the Pac-12 title game. Both teams play USC, as Stanford has already beaten them and Oregon will next week, this is it. Teams combined for 83 points last year and after Stanford jumped out to a 21-3 lead, Oregon outscored them 49-10 after the first quarter. Oregon is probably a bit more battle tested, but with any team designed like Oregon, teams are starting to catch up with them. Their points per game has been declining and only put up 34 at Washington. Its going to take more than that to beat a Stanford. Andrew Luck's stock rises or falls dramatically with this game. He wins or loses the Heisman Saturday. I like Stanford at home, and given the Live Wire curse, that means you should probably pick Oregon.
Top Ten
1. LSU - We know they are good, but they might not really have been the best team Saturday. Their special teams didn't suck. That's it. Give their D credit for the game and especially in the OT.
2. Oklahoma State - Finally faced some adversity and overcame it. Would love to see the dichotomy if they play LSU for the title.
3. Stanford - I'm rooting for as many teams to stay unbeaten as possible because I love chaos and I think chaos is the only way we get playoff.
4. Boise State - Do I think they are better than Alabama, no. Have they lose a "playoff" game. No.
5. Alabama - You lost. Cry about it. I hope you don't get another shot. Though that would disprove all the BCS apologists.
6. Oregon - They can ruin Stanford's title shot and a Pac-12 representation in the BCS title game. The biggest question, though is what will the uni's look like?
7. Oklahoma - Another one-loss team that can only play spoiler.
8. Arkansas - TCB against South Carolina. They have one last shot to become mayhem. Call All-State if that happens because LSU, Alabama and the Razorbacks are all in the SEC West and could all finish with one loss. We can only hope.
9. Clemson - Off week.
10. Houston - Our last unbeaten team. They will be a part of the "we're undefeated too, what about us?" argument with Boise when all is said and done.
Top Ten
1. LSU - We know they are good, but they might not really have been the best team Saturday. Their special teams didn't suck. That's it. Give their D credit for the game and especially in the OT.
2. Oklahoma State - Finally faced some adversity and overcame it. Would love to see the dichotomy if they play LSU for the title.
3. Stanford - I'm rooting for as many teams to stay unbeaten as possible because I love chaos and I think chaos is the only way we get playoff.
4. Boise State - Do I think they are better than Alabama, no. Have they lose a "playoff" game. No.
5. Alabama - You lost. Cry about it. I hope you don't get another shot. Though that would disprove all the BCS apologists.
6. Oregon - They can ruin Stanford's title shot and a Pac-12 representation in the BCS title game. The biggest question, though is what will the uni's look like?
7. Oklahoma - Another one-loss team that can only play spoiler.
8. Arkansas - TCB against South Carolina. They have one last shot to become mayhem. Call All-State if that happens because LSU, Alabama and the Razorbacks are all in the SEC West and could all finish with one loss. We can only hope.
9. Clemson - Off week.
10. Houston - Our last unbeaten team. They will be a part of the "we're undefeated too, what about us?" argument with Boise when all is said and done.
For the Homers
I received a text from one of my best friends right after the Northwestern game that said “This is all your fault!” I felt a bit honored that he would give credit to the Live Wire feature curse as the reason Nebraska lost. But being a Nebraska fan myself, I vowed to not write any feature about Nebraska unless it was about their upcoming opponent for the rest of the season.
One point of reflection about last week real quick though … Here’s the difference between Northwestern football and Nebraska football: Northwestern had tee-shirts designed in celebration of beating Nebraska.  |
| When's the last time you owned a Nebraska shirt commemorating a regular season win? Bush league! |
Like it was a huge deal to them. Like they had just won a bowl game. Like that would really hurt our ego. Newsflash Wildcats … unless you win two more, this WAS your bowl game. And if the Huskers win that game, we don’t make tee-shirts, we simply add your name to the list of routine wins. You win, David slayed Goliath, we win, drop in the bucket. It meant more to you. Good job. Revel in it for a year. You’ve got us every year from here on so enjoy it while it lasts.
On to this week’s game. I completely disagree with Dr. Tom Osborne. I have all respect for him, but as far as the caution to Husker fans about wearing red, I’m not in that camp.Why the hell should we hide and act like we're ashamed to be who we are. Why should we apologize for who we are as fans or supporters of our University. There may be a pack of Lions waiting for us, but I promise you there is no pride. They are the ones who should be turning their backs in shame. Their supporters should be boycotting the game, not marching on lawns. They should be turning in their tickets, not putting their booster dollars into a system that seems to have covered up such corruption.
And I won't expound on the situation in particular other than to say this is the most blatantly egregious abuse of power you can wrap your head around. To start a foundation for troubled youth to turn around and take advantage of the very situation you created violates everything about humanity and charity down to its very core.
That being said, the Lion is wounded. If they had their way, this game likely wouldn't even be played. How can you ask a team with no coach, whose players are unjustly associated with something bigger than themselves, to wake up on Saturday, act like nothing happened and actually play football. Nebraska has a chance to rub salt in the wounds. To put the nail in the coffin of a program on its proverbial death bed.
Predictions
Locks
1. Boise State over TCU - Boise has been cover gold 90% of the time. At home against a down TCU program is about as good as it gets.
2. Oklahoma State over Texas Tech - I have no idea what has happened to Tech after their win over Oklahoma. Since that game they lost to Iowa State by 34 and Texas by 32. The magic is gone.
3. Florida State over Miami - The Seminoles have been rolling. Their have won their last four games by nearly 29 points per and they are finally playing like their preseason ranking suggested.
*** Bonus Over - You would think I was going with Stanford vs. Oregon considering the total is only 68. But the better guess is LSU vs. Western Kentucky. Total is 48.5 and LSU may score that themselves. If WKU gets a late 10 points might clip 60.
Upsets
1. West Virginia is a dog at Cincinnati. The Mountaineers made a lot of mistakes at Louisville and while Cincy is 7-1, they haven't been lighting the world on fire. Ripe for upset.
2. Wyoming at Air Force. I wanted to take Wyoming last week against TCU and they played the Frogs close, but no cigar. This week they play Air Force who struggled against Army. The Cowboys have their shot.
3. Kansas State at Texas A&M - The Aggies are a five point fave here, but this is another chance to prove the Wildcats belong in the upper tier of the Big XII. The old coach gets this one done.
