(Deep Breaths) Ok, let’s move on to why we’re all here and that’s college football. Am I alone in thinking that LSU should have been ranked #1 maybe a little earlier in the season than coming into week 5? And, I really have to wonder how many media voters are getting paid off. Hear me out. FSU was ranked as high as 5 coming into that Oklahoma game. Where are they now? It’s been proven on the field that they are not a top 15 team (despite the defense) and maybe not even a top 20 team. So, when you look back at OU’s win over #5 FSU it looks a lot better right? (I’m talking casual fan here not my intelligent readers). Then see this week and #3 Alabama’s win over #12 Florida. (Both OU and ALA winning those games on the road mind you). I think we can all agree that Florida is ranked #12 based off of past success not present day performance on the field. So, are the media voters trying to boost their ratings for TV coverage or are they really trying to pick the National Championship matchups before the season starts, crossing their fingers and hopping it all works out? By over inflating the opponent’s rankings and getting more “quality wins” there could be more in the works here than we think. With the BCS “formula” not coming out till after week 8 it gives the media almost half the season to set up their picks and let it play out before it’s taken out of their hands. And, while I have a lot of issues with the BCS, I think it’s better than leaving it up to the media and coaches’ polls.
Ok, I’ll take off my conspiracy theory hat here and get on with this week’s games…
GAMES OF THE WEEK:
#18 Arkansas over #14 Texas A&M 42-38
To me this was THE matchup of the week and one that I was looking forward to on the schedule. Welcome to the SEC Texas A&M! Here we don’t just play one half of football and then start wondering what Texas or Oklahoma is doing that week. Here we play 4 quarters of football and every week have to wonder if you’re going to get beat by any opponent in conference play. See Arkansas. Always a tough game especially when you’re playing them at home (This game was in Arlington, TX though so what’s A&M’s excuse?). A&M was coming off a tough loss to Oklahoma State last week and fell from #8 to #14 in the rankings. This week they got a preview of what it’s like to play in the SEC. A&M built up a 35-17 lead at halftime but managed only a field goal in the second half. If they’re going to compete and be a representative of the SEC they are going to have to shore up that defense that allowed Arkansas to pass for 510yds on the day and they are going to have to learn how to protect 2nd half leads. Two weeks in a row now the Aggies have been caught and passed in the second half. Goodbye Top 25?
#7 Wisconsin over #8 Nebraska 48-17
Welcome to the Big-10 Cornholers! Oh, sorry Cornhuskers. You’re mascot is
corn, what do you want? Again, this was another matchup I was looking forward to because unlike A&M this really was a conference game for Nebraska this year. What happened to that vaunted Nebraska defense? I did not think this would be that big of a spread but the Badgers ripped off 3 TDs in the final 10 minutes of the first half and then 2 more in the 3rd quarter without Nebraska so much as taking a field goal attempt. Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez will want to forget about this week as soon as possible after throwing 3 INTs and 0 TDs (even though he did run for one). Wisconsin is set up to make a run at this thing this year, but tough road games with Michigan State and Ohio State are ahead on back to back weeks so we’ll have to wait and see how they hold up.#13 Clemson over #11 Virginia Tech 23-3
Don’t call it an upset. If you’ve been reading the blog this year you know that (even though it pains me to no extent) I’ve been high on Clemson this year. VT is generally overrated to start every year, but Clemson is starting to answer the question of Pretender or Contender with a positive this year. This was a dominant road win for the Tigers even with Tajh Boyd coming back to Earth a little bit with his pedestrian 13/30 204yds 1 TD 1 INT day. And, by pedestrian I mean a pedestrian that just got hit by a car. Now it is the ACC, but Clemson is already 5-0 and looking to cruise through with only Georgia Tech left as a “quality” conference opponent.
UPSETS OF THE WEEK:
Auburn over #10 South Carolina 16-13
Ouch. USC was going to lose a conference game this year. We all knew that. But if you’re going to beat Auburn, this is the year to do it. South Carolina still has to prove that it can contend and win in the SEC year in and year out and this week was not a good one for that campaign. Especially since USC came in ranked 10th and really needed not only to get a win but crush Auburn to make a point. (And get some measure of revenge from that SEC Championship game last year) Now, I’ll give you that 10 was waaaaaay too high of a ranking for South Carolina, but still. And really this one came down to that final Auburn drive of 12 plays and 57 yards against a Gamecock defense that was just worn out. Great game but a really tough loss for Carolina. What’s even worse is now the fans have to hear it from those obnoxious Clemson fans too. “Oh we beat Auburn, why can’t you?” Rednecks. Gotta Hate Em’.
Kansas State over #15 Baylor 36-35
Apparently Baylor people don’t read this blog. If they did they would have read last week’s post when I told them to watch out for Kansas State. Oh that’s right Big-12 (well 12 – 3 or 4 teams) fans, watch out for Kansas State. The Wildcats are now 4-0 and still have three games to figure out who they really are before getting to that brutal stretch of OU, OSU, A&M, and Texas before finishing the year against Iowa State. Will we see Kansas State in this week’s Top 25? Could be a possibility.
Honorable Mentions to SMU over #20 TCU 40-33 in Overtime and Pitt over #16 South
Florida 44-17. Really South Florida was ranked #16??? Talk about an overhype. I am so tired of South Florida and Central Florida and Coastal Florida and wherever in Florida that’s not FSU or UF or even Miami for that matter. You’re not real football schools. And South Florida your mascot is a Bull. When was the last time anybody saw a bunch of bulls in south Florida other than on a Cuban Grill? Get lost!PILLOW FIGHT OF THE WEEK:
Lamar over SE Louisiana 48-38
Oh the Southland Conference. How do you put up such quality matchups week in and week out? Lamar is now 3-1 and this win drops conference rival SELA to 1-4 on the year. Ok, so how many of you actually knew that Lamar was a University? Really? Mascot? The Cardinal. And if South Florida Bulls aren’t strange enough when was the last time you saw a Lion on the loose in SE Louisiana? I would comment on this game, but I went to Lamar to find out more about the Cardinals. The 270-acre campus is in Beaumont, TX about 90 miles east of Houston and about 25 miles west of Louisiana. But… wait, this gets better. I wanted to make fun of Lamar, since it sounds like a body shop rather than a university until I looked at their football schedule and realized that last week they beat a team called Incarnate Word 45-35. That’s right, the University of Incarnate Word. You can’t even click on them from ESPN! I had to Google the thing. Here’s the link to IW’s athletics page: http://www.cardinalathletics.com/sports/2009/7/2/GEN_0702095708.aspx?tab=facilities You’re welcome.
BEAT DOWN OF THE WEEK:
#2 Oklahoma over Ball State 62-6
Gotta give OU some credit for taking their foot off the gas here and only scoring 3 in the 4th quarter. They did throw for 447 yards which may have been a touch too much but whatever. If you’re going to lay a beat down and trot out your offense for the home fans you might as well right? Ball State represented the MAC conference as well as they could with their 4 turnovers and paltry 2.6 yards per pass but really what did you expect when this matchup was announced?
BIGGEST LOSER:
New Mexico! Congrats you’re the only team in major college football to be 0-5. I say ‘Major College Football’ but they do play in the Mountain West Conference. Hey I guess they can look forward to beating Boise State at the end of the year right? Right? Let’s just say that I don’t have high hopes for Los Lobos who give up an average of 43.3 points a game while only scoring 17.8. Ouch. They fired their head coach after last week’s loss to FCS Sam Houston State and oh yeah, he had let some 19 year old recruit drive around in his SUV who then got stopped for drunk driving. Oops! This after last year’s incident where he was suspended for a game after punching an assistant coach in the face. New Mexico went 1-11 last year and this year may be a letdown; if that is at all possible.
Seeya next week!
3 comments:
Last night I checked the Ball St. - OU score and saw Ball St. down 10-6, with the ball, and driving. I thought, "Wow, they might hang in this thing." Whoops.
I'm still not on the K-State hayrack ride. This was also a good win, but every single game left on their schedule worries me. I would not be suprised if they lose every game left on the schedule. Except Texas.... The Wildcats always beat Texas.
Rant on. Please, rant on.
I didn't want to mention the Braves collapse. Wierd, all the media outside of Atlanta didn't want to mention it either.
Nobody wants to talk about the Braves. After the 90s I think the whole world was over Braves Fever except those of us who are fans of the team. Now I wish the Yankees would just go in the tank for 5-10 years. Enough of that... Football Football Football!
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