Hey hey hey, it's your favorite Longhorn alum, Matthew here.  Look for me trolling the sidelines of the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, as I prop up my boys.  Here's my list of the things I love most about Texas-OU weekend in Dallas.

10)  Where else can you get deep-fried Twinkies, Cokes, ice cream, Snickers, pickles, turkey legs, and bacon in one complex? State Fair of Texas, baby!

9)  Where else can you find 200,000 football fans acting for a weekend like I do all year?  And, that's just in the tailgating and fairgrounds.

8)  I always enjoy a weekend in the city of the King of Scoundrels, J.R. Ewing.  The Texas liquor and the Texas women, baby!

7)  Cotton Bowl officials are allowing me to do a uterus burial (courtesy of my baby-mama) at the 50-yard line of this year's game.  Freaky-deaky, baby!

6)  I'm looking forward to our Colt mounting up on those OU Boomer Scooner philly ponies. Yeah!

5)  I love hearing that annoying Boomer Sooner song over and over after every play.  By the end of the game I got a ####ing buzz going in my head that my doctors declare is a medically valid reason for lighting up again.

4)  Where else can I pull out my burnt orange jacket outside of Austin and be appreciated for it?

3)  Dallas in October is one of the few places in America still warm enough to play bongos outside naked as a pregame ritual.

2)  Texas and OU fans are the only ones who can understand my inebriated Texas drawl.

1)  Hey hey hey.  I may be getting older, but those freshmen cheerleaders stay the same age.

Hey, babies, if any of you see my boy, Roger, give me a ring.  He's been in hiding lately for some reason.  Also, my gal, Sandra, doesn't return my calls anymore.  Let me give a last shout out to my boy, Lance "Left-Nut" Armstrong.  I love ole Nutty.

Peace my friends!

There wasn't much of a shake up amongst the undefeateds this week, which came as a shock, since the previous 5 weeks of the season were as upsetting as any the past decade.  So, it figures that we had a calm, normal, favs-win type week.  So, with a few adjustments here and there, here's this week's take on the undefeateds:

Oklahoma
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Excellent
Key Wins: None.    Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies: Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas Tech, @Ok. St., Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  @Kansas St. 
Comments:  This week's game is likely OU's only solid challenge until the Big 12 CC.  With a win in the Red River Rivalry, go ahead and pencil in OU to the NC game.

LSU
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Very Tough
Key Wins: @Auburn  Near Misses:  @Auburn. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Florida, Georgia, Alabama, SEC CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  @South Carolina. 
Comments:  The Tigers had a bye week to rest up and prep for a trip to the Swamp.  Even though Florida is playing way below what we'd normally expect from them, and Tebow is looking nothing like a returning Heisman winner, don't expect them to just roll over for the Tigers.  I think this may be LSU's toughest game all season, having to go on the road.

Missouri
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Even Odds
Key Wins: Illinois  Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies:  Ok.St., @Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  Kansas St. 
Comments:  I really thought NU would bring more o####ame this past week, and I had it marked as one of my upset specials.  Since we saw the real MO and NU, I can't even qualify that win as a "Key Win".  The Big 12 North still has a long way to go to match the talent in the South.  Gotta wonder where this program goes when Chase Daniel leaves.  The Tigers have one of the more interesting games of the week with another undefeated team, Oklahoma St.  Any other week I'd have College Game Day sitting in Missouri on Saturday morning, but alas there is a little game being played in Dallas with a much more interesting flare to it.

Texas
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  No Chance
Key Wins: @Colorado  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  Oklahoma, Missouri, Ok.St., @Texas Tech, @Kansas, Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  Texas A&M. 
Comments:  The Longhorns got their first real test this season by going on the road to Boulder, and Colt McCoy on the boys treated it like their own practice field.  McCoy once again put up Heisman numbers in the air and on the ground, and if it was not for some quirky plays, he'd not have those 2 INTs.  Texas is showing more swagger, meddle, and confidence than we've seen since the VY days.  I might have been feeling insecure about the Horns' chances against OU before this week, but they showed they are ready, loaded, and gunning.  Should be a great show.

Alabama
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Very Possible
Key Wins: @Clemson, @Georgia. Kentucky.  Near Misses: Kentucky.
Remaining Toughies:  @LSU, Auburn, SEC CC.
Potential Trap Games:  Ole Miss, @Tennessee. 
Comments:  The Tide dodged a bullet at home this past weekend against undefeated Kentucky.  This was marked as one of my upset specials, and the 'cats nearly pulled it off.  Alabama looked very underwhelming on their home turf, and don't you know Les Miles is licking his chops now for that Tide to roll into Baton Rouge.  Bama has a week off to get their ship back in order, and I doubt we'll see a flat performance against Ole Miss in two weeks.  Saban is too good of a coach to look ahead, and will have the Tide ready.  Does Bama become #1 if Texas beats OU this week?  If we use the #8 Bama beats #3 Georgia logic, then NO, #5 Texas leapfrogs Bama, LSU, Missouri to become #1. 

Penn State
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Very Tough
Key Wins: Illinois, Oregon St.  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Wisconsin, Michigan, @Ohio St. 
Potential Trap Game:  Michigan St. 
Comments:  The Lions didn't throw up 50pts this week on the road to Purdue, but they still made ready work of the Boilermakers nonetheless.  Penn St. is looking as good as anyone in the country thus far, and they may be the silent assassins waiting in the wings, underappreciated to move up to #1 over the next month.  Big wins against Wisc, Mich, and OSU could go along way to screaming at the voters and BCS that they deserve #1.

Texas Tech
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Very Tough
Key Wins: @Kansas St.  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  Nebraska, @Kansas, Texas, Ok.St., @Oklahoma, Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  @Texas A&M. 
Comments:  I'm gonna give Texas Tech credit for a Key Win this week against Kansas St.  Not because they went on the road and scored 58, but because the defense ONLY gave up 28 to a Wildcats team that sported some offensive talent.  The Red Raider D definitely made the KSU talent look offensive.  Some of the naysayers against TT should now be quieted, seeing the Raiders play a real opponent on the road.  Next up is a home game against Nebraska, which may have seemed bigger last week before Chase Daniel chewed them up on their home field.  Expect a similar blow out for TT this weekend in Lubbock.

BYU
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Excellent
Key Wins:  UCLA.  Near Misses:  @Washington. 
Remaining Toughies:  @TCU, @Utah. 
Potential Trap Games: None
Comments:  The Cougers made easy work of Utah St. on friday night, and their path looks pretty clear with their only remaining true challenges laying with TCU and a season ender at Utah.  I look forward to that battle of undefeateds, and likely your rep from the non-BCS schools to the big shows in January.

Oklahoma State
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  No Chance
Key Wins:  None.  Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Missouri, @Texas, @Texas Tech, @Colorado, Oklahoma, Big 12 CC
Potential Trap Game:  None
Comments:  Though this OSU hasn't played anyone impressive yet, they have looked grossly impressive themselves with the games they do have under their belt.  A 56-28 drubbing of A&M in Stillwater looks closer than it actually was.  28 first quarter points for the Cowboys closed the book on this one early.  OSU gets its first pinultimate test of the season this weekend going to undefeated Missouri.  What's the over/under for both the OSU/MO and OU/UT games.  200 pts?

Boise State
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  100% certainty
Key Wins:  @Oregon.  Near Misses:  @Oregon. 
Remaining Toughies:  Fresno St. 
Potential Trap Games:   Any of 5 road games remaining. 
Comments:  The Broncos haven't played since last wednesday night, so this almost feels like a bye week for them to go on the road to Southern Miss this weekend.  Long travelling road games are never easy, and Boise St. meets a Golden Eagles team with some offensive punch.  BSU should overcome with relative ease, as their defense cracks down early, and give the offense all the time they need to run up a big number against So.Miss' bottom-dweller defense.  The Bronco's path continues to look pretty smooth and easy.  Who from those non-BCS confs will run the gauntlet and get the BCS invite?

Utah
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Excellent
Key Wins: @Michigan, Oregon St.  Near Misses: Plenty. 
Remaining Toughies:  TCU, BYU. 
Potential Trap Games:  @San Diego St. 
Comments:  The Utes go to Wyoming this week in a tough road test.  However, Utah has already won in the Big House this year, so what's a little trip to cold Wyoming?  I hope the first blizzard of the season isn't in line for Wyoming this weekend.  The Utes still are eyeing two toughies against TCU and BYU as possible interruptions to their dreams for an undefeated season.

Vanderbilt
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  No Chance
Key Wins:  Auburn.  Near Misses:  @Mississippi. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Georgia, Florida, @Kentucky, @Wake Forest, SEC CC
Potential Trap Games:  Are they really trap games when you shouldn't be this good or undefeated to begin win? (Tennessee). 
Comments:  What more can be said about Vandy?  Easily the best feel-good story this season.  The Commodores knocked of####ood Auburn squad, and moved themselves into the Top 15 rankings this week.  They have a road test this weekend at Miss St, and better not overlook it with eyes on their visit to Georgia in two weeks.  Keep it rolling, Vandy!  One more week at least!

Northwestern
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  No Chance
Key Wins:  @Iowa.  Near Misses:  @Duke, @Iowa. 
Remaining Toughies: Mich St., Purdue, Ohio St., @Michigan, Illinois. 
Potential Trap Games: They are all traps. 
Comments:  Could we be seeing the phoenix rising in the post-Barnett era?  Pat Fitzgerald has this team going in the right direction with killer D that's already racked up 17 sacks this season.  Undefeated is definitely way too high of a bar to reach, but this will be successful season if the 'cats finish 8-5 with a win over a Big 10 biggie, and a bowl trip.  NW had this past week off in preparation for a toughie against MSU this week.  Playing at home is a god-send, but it may not be enough against the rising Spartans and star RB Javon Ringer.

Tulsa
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Excellent
Key Wins:  Rice.  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Arkansas, @Houston, CUSA CC. 
Potential Trap Games:  UCF, @Marshall.  
Comments:  ####-hum another week, and another 63 points and near 600yard effort from the Golden Hurricanes.  Their game against Rice was actually pretty decent, going back and forth for the first half.  However a 42pt second half totally drubbed the Rice Owls who were game for a half.  I like this as a Key Win for Tulsa, and I realize that key wins are relative.  However, the Owls have one of the best QB-WR combos in the nation.  Though Rice got their points and yards, Tulsa played bend but don't break, and just kept racking up the points.
 
Ball State
Chance of staying undefeated through the season:  Hah! Who cares?
Key Wins:  @Indiana (relatively speaking).  Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies:  LOL, they play a bunch of directional teams from here out. 
Potential Traps:  The info on the teams on their schedule is so thin, that I can't even analyze them. 
Comments:  Ball St. made quick, easy work at Toledo this weekend 31-0.  Next up, the killer Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky.  You get the picture.  Is it possible to create some sub-BCS national championship that's above the DIV-IAA level?  Maybe we could let Ball St and Tulsa play for that title.

In Memorium:

Kentucky Wildcats - The Cats played a great defensive game again in Tuscaloosa, but you need some offense to go with that D if you want to upset a top 5 team in their home town.

UCONN Huskies - Losing at Chapel Hill, NC was not grossly unexpected.  Many figured them to lose to a Butch Davis squad at UNC that is on the upward path.  UCONN having already played over their heads to-date, finally met their match.  Both programs should be solid contenders in the Big East and ACC for the next few years.

UPSET SPECIALS OF THE WEEK 

Vanderbilt at MIssissippi St.
Penn St. @ Wisconsin

WHO WILL STAY UNDEFEATED THIS WEEK

Oklahoma, Missouri, LSU, Alabama, Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, Boise St., Kentucky, Tulsa, Ball St.

WHO GOES DOWN THIS WEEK

Texas, Penn St, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma St.


STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK TO SEE ME GIVE A RANKING OF THE REMAINING UNDEFEATEDS

Last season I did a weekly analysis of the remaining undefeated teams in Div-IA football.  I'm starting a few weeks later this season, as the list was still quite long going into last weekend's games.  Now I have a nice pared down list of teams to work with, and the list WILL shrink significantly over the next 2-3 weeks.  This list isn't necessarily a ranking of best to worst undefeateds, but is more of the just analyses of each remaining team.  So, don't flame me that Bama has more quality wins.  In a few weeks I'll start indicating my opinion of how they should be ranked.  So without much further ado, here's list #1 of 2008 with 17 undefeateds:

Oklahoma
Key Wins: None.    Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies: Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas Tech, @Ok. St., Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  @Kansas St. 
Comments:  The Sooners have decimated all opponents thus far, but the quality of schedule has been less than eye-popping.  Though the schedule seems loaded from here on out, OU has the talent and coaching to sleepwalk through this schedule until a possible Big 12 CC rematch against 2007 opponent, Missouri.  Be careful OU, the upset bug is alive and well this season, and sleeping on any of your schedule could spell instant demise to #3-4 in the Big 12 South standings.

LSU
Key Wins: @Auburn  Near Misses:  @Auburn. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Florida, Georgia, Alabama, SEC CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  @South Carolina. 
Comments:  With 3 Goliaths left to play in the SEC, plus a rematch with one of them in the SEC CC game, LSU's path to undefeated looks difficult at best, and impossible at worst.  There have only been 2 SEC teams finish the season undefeated in the BCS era, and yet there have still been a slew of national championships come from this conference.  1 or 2 losses in this conference may not be enough to sink the ship, as LSU proved last year.  Don't underestimate the defending champ.

Missouri
Key Wins: Illinois  Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Nebraska, Ok.St., @Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  Kansas St. 
Comments:  Mizzou definitely has the offensive talent to stick with anyone in the country, and they are led by Heisman candidate Chase Daniel.  However, their D is still a big question mark, as Illinois put up 42pts against MO in their opening game, and the Tigers haven't faced a formidable opponent since.  They are about to enter the meat of their schedule with a key game at Texas.  If the Tiger escape the gauntlet of October, they better not rest on their laurels with a potential trap game of Kansas St coming to visit.

Texas
Key Wins: None  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri, Ok.St., @Texas Tech, @Kansas, Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  Texas A&M. 
Comments:  As easy as the Longhorns' schedule has been to start the season, it all comes to an end this weekend at Colorado.  Texas faces teams with a combined 24-4 record over the remainder of their schedule.  Talk about SOS.  The Longhorns may very well be looking at 3-4 losses before they exit October.  However, the Longhorns are playing great under the leadership of junior QB Colt McCoy, who is an early Heisman fav so far this season.  The young defense is starting to gel under D-Coordinator Will Muschamp, and the rest of the Big 12 better watch out.  This may be the most underrated UT squad in decades.

Alabama
Key Wins: @Clemson, @Georgia.  Near Misses: None.
Remaining Toughies:  Kentucky, @LSU, Auburn, SEC CC.
Potential Trap Games:  Ole Miss, @Tennessee. 
Comments:  The Crimson Tide undoubtedly have the best early season resume with 2 top 10 wins.  They are playing great in Nick Saban's second year at the helm, and the glory seems to be returning quickly to the Land of Bryant.  'Bama could very easily fall into the same trap that USC, Florida, Georgia, Va.Tech, W.Va., etc have fallen into early this season.  Do not grow fat on the hype, media acclaim, and bandwagon glory that have washed a crimson tide over the nation this week.  A hungry, undefeated Kentucky team is coming to Tuscaloosa this weekend with the best defense in the country.  Don't forget about the Ole Miss team that beat Florida last weekend, who comes to town in a few weeks.  'Bama may have 2 tougies out of the way, but there are plenty of landmines littering the SEC season, of which few teams have ever escaped unscathed.

Penn State
Key Wins: Illinois, Oregon St.  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Purdue, @Wisconsin, Michigan, @Ohio St. 
Potential Trap Game:  Michigan St. 
Comments:  The Nittany Lions are throwing up points in droves, and their defense is playing top-notch.  They have a pair of second-rung big wins, and seem primed to enter the toughest stretch of schedule as any team in the nation will find.  3/4 road games against perennial rivals.  Jo Pa misses the undefeated Northwestern Wildcats on his schedule, but he better not overlook a growing Mich.St. squad that might be primed for an upset at the end of the season.  Now if Jo Pa can only keep his kids on the practice field and out of the prison yards.

Texas Tech
Key Wins: None.  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  Nebraska, @Kansas, Texas, Ok.St., @Oklahoma, Big 12 CC. 
Potential Trap Game:  @Kansas St, @Texas A&M. 
Comments:  Does anyone really know what this team is made of yet?  Their high flying pass attack is clicking on all cylinders right now with QB Graham Harrell passing and handing off to perfection.  This team might be different in that they sport a running game to supplement the usual pass.  The defense still remains a big question mark, as the Red Raiders have yet to face a real test.  First test comes at KSU and QB Michael Freeman this weekend.  Tech sports one of the easier paths to undefeated getting Texas, OSU, and Nebraska at home, while missing Missouri on their schedule.  Only a mega-tough road game at Norman, OK stands out as a roadblock.

BYU
Key Wins:  UCLA.  Near Misses:  @Washington. 
Remaining Toughies:  @TCU, @Utah. 
Potential Trap Games: @Utah St. 
Comments:  BYU sports one of the easiest paths to an undefeated season, but that still might not spell a visit to the national championship game.  BYU currently sits at #9 in the Harris poll, and might climb up a few more slots with impending Top 10 losses ahead of them.  However, they may well fall victim to the BCS computer that keeps them in a BCS game, but out of the NC game.  A friday night visit to Utah St. stands out as a big trap game, as Utah St. comes off a bye week with plenty of game film and practice.  A season-ending match-up with the undefeated Utah Utes looks like BYU's biggest challenge on this weak schedule.

Oklahoma State
Key Wins:  None.  Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Missouri, @Texas, @Texas Tech, @Colorado, Oklahoma, Big 12 CC
Potential Trap Game:  Texas A&M. 
Comments:  The other-other-OSU is looking like the best OSU at this point in the season.  The Cowboys better watch out for a visiting A&M squad that is trying to get its feet under it for the first time this season, and finally starting QB Jerrod Johnson might do it for the Ags.  OSU has 4 monster road games that spells doom for any hopes of an undefeated season, and any chance at a Big 12 South title.  Oh did I forget that they still have to play OU at the end of the season?

Kentucky
Key Wins: None.  Near Misses:  Mid. Tenn. St. 
Remaining Toughies:  @Alabama, @Florida, Georgia, SEC CC. 
Potential Trap Games:  South Carolina, Vandy, @Tenn. 
Comments:  The 'cats have the nations best defense only having surrendered 22 total points in 4 games this season.  It's defense versus offense this week at Alabama, in a game that will clear the picture for both squads.  Will the real Bama and Kentucky step forward?  Even with a loss, Kentucky could still run the gauntlet in the SEC, but the trap games might do them in.

Boise State
Key Wins:  @Oregon.  Near Misses:  @Oregon. 
Remaining Toughies:  Fresno St. 
Potential Trap Games:   Any of 5 road games remaining. 
Comments:  With an easier schedule than BYU, the Broncos are looking ahead to a season-ending battle with Fresno St.  This kind of oversight might potentially spell an upset in one of their underwhelming road games against the weak WAC.  The BCS world will come tumbling down around us if a second Big 12 or SEC slips into the Top 4 of the final rankings, while undefeated Boise St. and BYU/Utah are sitting in the Top 10.  Oh lets throw in a hypothetical 1-loss Notre Dame for fun, if they pulled off an upset at USC.  Too many promises for too few BCS bowl slots.

Utah
Key Wins: @Michigan, Oregon St.  Near Misses: Plenty. 
Remaining Toughies:  TCU, BYU. 
Potential Trap Games:  @San Diego St. 
Comments:  The Utes are having a Cinderella season thus far, having opened with a monumental win at The Big House, and then pulling off a Pac-10 win against Oregon St. on Thursday night.  However, the rest of their games have all been close and losable, which suggests these Utes can play a close game, but what happens when better teams like TCU and BYU come to town?  Many in the pro-BCS world are hoping that the Utes play spoiler to BYU while stumbling somewhere along the line.  Utah needs to look out for a "look-ahead" game when they go on the road to San Diego before meeting BYU.

Vanderbilt
Key Wins:  None.  Near Misses:  @Mississippi. 
Remaining Toughies:  Auburn, @Georgia, Florida, @Kentucky, @Wake Forest, SEC CC
Potential Trap Games:  Are they really trap games when you shouldn't be this good or undefeated to begin win? (Tennessee). 
Comments:  The Commodores are off to their best start in forever, and have a couple of decent wins against South Carolina and Ole Miss.  They get to miss out on Alabama and LSU, but the stretch of Auburn, UGA, Fla, and KY should soon put them out of their misery.  If by some chance they ran the gauntlet, they still have a road trip to Wake Forest to look forward to, but who's afraid of them after running that SEC table?  I'm rooting for the brainiacs :-)

Northwestern
Key Wins:  @Iowa.  Near Misses:  @Duke, @Iowa. 
Remaining Toughies: Mich St., Purdue, Ohio St., @Michigan, Illinois. 
Potential Trap Games: They are all traps. 
Comments:  Could we be seeing the phoenix rising in the post-Barnett era?  Pat Fitzgerald has this team going in the right direction with killer D that's already racked up 17 sacks this season.  Undefeated is definitely way too high of a bar to reach, but this will be successful season if the 'cats finish 8-5 with a win over a Big 10 biggie, and a bowl trip.

Connecticut
Key Wins:  None.  Near Misses:  @Temple, @Louisville. 
Remaining Toughies:  W.Va., @South Fla, Pitt. 
Potential Trap Games:  @NC, Cinn. 
Comments:  UCONN has steadily been improving the last few seasons, and are moving themselves into a position of respectability in the Big East.  That's the Big East, I said.  aka Big Least.  That's like being the blind horse in a three-legged horse race.  As I write, I'm having a dream of UCONN running the tables against the down Big East this season, and being the first BCS undefeated to not play in the NC game since Auburn in 2004.  Except this season there won't be 2 undefeateds playing ahead of them.  Look for the Huskies to finish with 2-3 losses.

Tulsa
Key Wins:  None.  Near Misses: None. 
Remaining Toughies:  Rice, @Arkansas, @Houston, CUSA CC. 
Potential Trap Games:  UCF, @Marshall.  
Comments:  If an undefeated UCONN team was a dream, above, then an undefeated Tulsa team might be a reality.  These guys lead Div-IA in points and yards.  They chunk it all over the place with ease.  Granted that's been against lesser competition.  However QB David Johnson is as solid as any front-running Heisman QB in the nation.  There is potential trouble in their schedule, but it's not grossly tough.  If Johnson and Golden Hurricanes keep throwing up those same monster numbers every week, beat an SEC team (Arkansas) on the road, win their CC, and crack the Top 10, then we might see an outside chance of them qualifying for a BCS at-large.

Ball State
Key Wins:  @Indiana (relatively speaking).  Near Misses:  None. 
Remaining Toughies:  LOL, they play a bunch of directional teams from here out. 
Potential Traps:  The info on the teams on their schedule is so thin, that I can't even analyze them. 
Comments:  I suppose their win on the road against a Big 10 school was something.  I think these guys stand as good of a chance to run the tables as anyone in the country.  Will they hit a pot-hole?  Most likely.  However, they've totally been killing everyone they've played thus far.  I'd like to catch them on an ESPN2 Wed, Thur, Fri. night special.

UPSET SPECIALS OF THE WEEK 

• #4 Missouri @ Nebraska
• Kentucky @ #2 Alabama
• #24 UCONN @ UNC (if that's an upset)

WHO WILL STAY UNDEFEATED THIS WEEK

Oklahoma, LSU, Texas, Penn St., Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, Boise St., Oklahoma St., Kentucky, Tulsa, Ball St.

WHO GOES DOWN THIS WEEK

Alabama, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UCONN


STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK FOR ODDS ON REMAINING UNDEFEATED

OK, I'll admit it.  I haven't drank the Alabama kool-aid yet, nor jumped on the Saban bandwagon.  That being said, I'm still a fan of both, and think both are capable of great things this season.  However, I think this overnight love affair that America (or more appropriately the media (ESPN, FOX) that drives America) has with the two is premature and overblown.  This is a clear case of short-term memory, bad logic, and ADD on a massive scale.  Alabama may have the best win of the early season, this week they may be playing the best ball, but does that make them #1?

Statistical/Logical Case For #1:

1)  Alabama has beaten 3 BCS opponents (Clemson, Arkansas, and Georgia) by an average of 41.3 to 18, in it's first 4 games, all on the road.

2)  Alabama has beaten 2 Top 25 teams at the time of their games:  Pre-season #9 Clemson, and #3 Georgia.  No other team can claim 2 Top 25 teams thus far.

3)  Alabama is in the Top 10 in rushing defense yards/gm allowed, and Top 30 in offensive rushing yards/gm.

Speculative Case For #1:

1)  Nick Saban is a proven coach that has already won a national championship at LSU in 2003.
2)  Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, LSU, Penn St., etc. may be undefeated, but their quality of opponents is weak to questionable at best.
3)  Outisde of Joe Pa's resurgance at Penn St., what other feel-good story is there in college football right now?  Pre-season favorites USC, Ohio St, Florida, and Georgia all had their national championship hopes dashed within the first few weeks of the new season.
4)  The SEC is the best conference.
5)  Polls are based upon the best teams at the time of polling.

Statistical/Logical Case Against #1:

1)  How does the #8 team defeat the #3 team, and then become the #2 team?  Alabama's rise in the polls is definitely called for, but what of the other teams already ahead of them and undefeated, who've blown through their schedules already?  Oklahoma, LSU, Missouri, and Texas have played every bit as good as their pre-season rankings suggested, and with each team losing above them, they should all slide up the appropriate amount of slots.

2)  Statistically, there are 18 Div-IA teams that average more points per game than Alabama.  3 of them being #2 Missouri, #4 Oklahoma, and #6 Texas.

3)  Statistically, there are 29 teams that average more yards/game:  4 of them being #2 Missouri, #7 Oklahoma, #10 Texas, and #27 LSU.

4)  Statistically, there are 14 teams that give up fewer pts/gm:  2 of them being  #6 Texas and #13 Oklahoma.

5)  Statistically, there are 17 teams that give up fewer yards/gm:  1 of them being #15 Oklahoma

Speculative Case Against #1:

1)  Polls are built upon pre-season rankings where undefeateds don't move up or down more than a few rankings as long as they remain undefeated and ahead of defeated teams.

2)  Clemson and Georgia were far overrated, and Arkansas is a joke.  If Texas can't claim a big win over Arkansas, then neither can Alabama.  Clemson lost at home to a weak-sister Maryland team, so Alabama's win on the road isn't looking as impressive.

3)  If Georgia was as good as advertised, then if they'd had an extra quarter or half to work with, they would've overcame that 31pt deficit.  Alabama needs to prove it can play 4 quarters of tough football.

4)  Most of the "traditional" Top 5-10 schools earn their way there by a decade's worth of success and national championships.  What's up in giving instant credit to a program that has only sniffed a BCS game once in the last decade.

5)  Can anyone outside of Alabama and CBS name a player on Alabama?  Where's the Heisman candidate?  I'm all for a great, "complete" team effort, but most champions have a clear leader that oozes #1.

VERDICT:

There is a good case for Alabama being #1, which they currently are not.  Their win over Georgia was clearly the best win yet this early season.  They have a tough D, and their lines are great.  Many are happy to see this storied program back to its historical winning ways and dominance.  Nick Saban is definitely one of the best coaches in the business, and is capable of winning the big games and the NC.

However, one big game and a bunch of intangibles does not an NC and #1 make.  Statistically, Alabama is below other worthy Top 5 teams, but that may be from playing tougher competition.  However, if this same poll were being conducted in November, we'd be splicing and dicing it according to avg margins of victory, statistics, and SOS, which LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri may be able to lay greater claim to.

It's very difficult to say who is an outright #1 team right now.  My guy feeling still lies in the tradition of not letting a team climb so far, so fast in the polls.  The season is still too young with an incomplete set of data to work from.  My drothers would be to see no poll at all until at least the 6-7 week of the season, which the BCS does.

Right now my personal poll would be #1 Oklahoma, #2 LSU, #3 Missouri, #4 Texas, and #5 Alabama, #6 Penn St.

I have no doubt that there will be more giant shake-ups coming, and not just from the Big 12 or SEC schools playing each other.  There are still some likely upsets coming that might put a USC, Ohio St, Penn St, or Georgia back on the map with maybe a NC meeting with a non-BCS school. 

Is it just me, or has this off-season been unusually uneventful and quiet for the Texas Longhorns?

For the first off-season in many years, head coach Mack Brown and the Longhorns are able to heave a huge sigh of relief going into their regular season. 

Where are the multitudes of arrests, suspensions, expulsions, and general trouble we're use to seeing from the Longhorns? 

Has Mack Brown become even greater at getting his kids out of trouble, and sweeping things under the rug?  Not likely for the Teflon Coach.  The Texas Connection of politicians, dignitaries, and boosters might have worked for Mack the first few years in Austin, but since the 'Horns won the National Championship in 2005, they've had a huge scrutinizing target on their backs.  The microscope was never more examining than the past few years, looking for any recruiting or school violations, and the number of arrests and school rule violations was never higher.

Are the types of kids entering Austin these days of higher moral caliber?  Not likely.  Most major programs, and not just UT, are going to try to bring in the highest talent they can, no matter what their criminal background checks and personality exams might say.  Talent trumps character in BCS schools.  How else could you explain UT crying so hard when they lost the recruiting battle for stud QB Ryan Perrilloux to LSU several seasons ago?  However, UT is laughing now, and Mack is looking like a genius for canceling that last recruiting visit to the Louisiana swamps in '05. Maybe his gut couldn't take another air-boat ride at 90mph, or that 'possum and '#### gumbo.

Are the Austin and UT PDs on strike?  Nope.  They are likely even more aware and scrutinizing than ever considering the recent rash of student and athlete crime the past few years.  Having attended UT a few years back, I can attest to the general a-holishness of the local cops.  No one gets a free ride around Austin, except maybe Governor Perry (gag).

So what has Mack put in the Gatorade during Spring and Fall practices to keep his kids out of trouble this year?

I think part of the answer may be the youth of this Longhorn squad.  These kids have seen the examples of the bad apples from the program's upper-classmen the past few years, and they've seen how quickly you can go from potentially making NFL millions to seeing hard time in TDCJ.  See Ramonce Taylor. 

This might not be the most talented bunch of Longhorns to grace Austin in recent years (Colt McCoy is the best and best known player??? really???), but there's still plenty of quality talent that might stand a chance at NFL Europe, Canadian, or NFL taxi squads in the next few years.  All of those potentially being steps into the NFL and a paycheck.  Which leads me to my next idea, that maybe because the talent level has slipped a notch, that UT is no longer the program with a target on its back. 

Perhaps the rest of the college football world doesn't care for an also-ran program that didn't make a BCS bowl the past 2 years.  Maybe the Austin and UT police have noticed the drop off in talent coming to Austin, and think being a little easier in an election year might bring the studs back to the 40 Acres, which Mack's 2009 class of recruits is looking like it's verifying.

Finally, I think some credit needs to go to new UT defensive coordinator, BCS Program Heir Apparent, Will Muschamp.  The intensity, loyalty, and work ethic he brings with him just might be paying off immediately for UT.  Keeping the kid's heads on their shoulders and thinking about football might be a great first step in bringing the defensive unit back to national prominence.  This type of instant results and proof that kids respect Muschamp, is just the type of thing struggling BCS programs drool over in their next head coach.  This is definitely a rental season for Mack Brown with Muschamp.  Let's hope that Mack can keep his players' intensity and attitudes on the ball field when Muschamp sprints to greener BCS pastures as a head coach next season.  Good luck to him.  He's a quality man and coach.

So, here's to hoping this group of Longhorns can stay out of trouble for the season and beyond, and bring a new attitude of champions to add to their usual winning ways.  Winning isn't enough in Austin, and adding a bad reputation for gangsters, thugs, and felons is even less tolerated.  Squeaky clean champions is what UT has always prided itself on.  We look down the road to our Texan brethren in College Station (A&M), Waco (Baylor), and (Dallas/Ft.Worth) SMU to see where NCAA sanctions and bad reps can drag down your program.  Keep it clean boys.  Play the game the right way, and keep your noses clean always.  There's always too big of a target on UT to get into anything stupid.

HOOK'EM!!!

Yes, sports fans, it's me again.  I've been hibernating since the college football season came to a close, but something has awoken me from my writing slumber and it wasn't my UT alum idol, Roger Clemens' rapid decent into hell.  It was something much more disturbing, namely censorship.

The main sports article on the MSN.com news site today comes to us from Jason Whitlock, controversial "writer" for Fox Sports, regarding sports blogs and hack writers, and how they are ruining sports.  See the article here.  Without bashing Whitlock too much more than I normally do on his articles, I have to say that this was another pile of racist and self-serving garbage, which is par for the course from Whitlock.  I have no problem with that.  It's his opinion, Fox thinks he's worth paying for such tripe, and it's my option to read or not to read his stuff.  I read it more for a laugh than for any informative reasons.  Today it seems his tripe raised enough ire from commentors and bloggers that Fox decided to remove the "comments" section from his article after it was taking nearly a hundred negative comments within the first 2 hours it was published.  Can't stand the fire Fox or Whitlock?  You basically turned your article into a description of yourself.  You've become the hack writers and the reason sports writing on the internet is bad.  You've just censored out a hundred writers' opinions.  That's one hundred visitors to your website.  One hundred potential customers in Fox's thousands of product lines.

What's also funny about the censorship of the article is that half of the comments were regarding censorship!  This is Fox Sports, not Fox News, but I guess the message to pull the plug from Bill O'Reilly must've trickled into the sports closet of the Fox corporation.

Fox is about as unpatriotic as media outlets come, and it's humorous to see talking heads like Bill O'Reilly at Fox News talk about patriotism and anti-Republicanism until they're blue in the face.

Whitlock, I totally agree with your constitutional right to write whatever you want, and it's nice that someone thinks it's worthy enough to post online and pay you for it.  All the power to you, bro.  However, as a writer, aren't you concerned that your opinions may someday be censored?  How many articles of yours does Fox censor anyway that never see the website?  To you, I'd suggest starting your own website or take your writing to an outlet that will not censor you or it's readers.

I can deal with many of the liberties that our government and it's various media outlets take away from us under the guise of "national security" and "patriotism" in a post-9/11 world.  However, the day when the average Joes of the world can't speak their mind and be respected for it no matter if it's positive or negative opinions is a sad sad day in America.  Fox is leading the goosestepping along with the rest of mainstream american media coordinated by our lovely Republican party.

God bless America.

Back to my summer slumber until CFB practices start in August again.  Peace!

The late comedian Rodney Dangerfield's catchphrase was "I get no respect at all."  I suspect the same can be said for basketball both professional and college (forget about women's bball).  A day after the arguably best match-up in college basketball this early season, between #8 Texas and #1 UCLA, that ended in a 2 point upset dunk for the Longhorns over UCLA, I only see a single write-up by the AP that is spread all over every major reporting sports site in the country.  FOX, CNNSI, CBS, ESPN, USA Today, & NY Times all have gone with the AP write-up, which is more fact-based and less analytical.  All of the writers at these many media outlets can't #### out a single article on one of the best games of the year so far.  The only two outlets I can find that covered this beyond the AP were The Austin-American Stateman and the LA Times, which is no surprise considering those are the hometown papers for each team.  There is one decent blog write-up on the FOX site here by Jeff Goodman, but its not an official FOX article, but rather a blog entry (what does that say about your standing as a writer at FOX, Jeff?).  So, why so little coverage?  I can look and see a multitude of football write-ups both professional and college.

I understand that yesterday was a big day for football at both levels, and this is the time of year where playoff races and bowl standings are first and foremost on people's minds.  People don't get geared up for bball until March Madness rolls around, to be followed by the NBA playoffs a few months later.  However, it makes me wonder why the NBA and CBB even bother to start their seasons before January.  The only CBB stories I heard on TV this weekend were how all of the early season tourneys around the nation are falling flat in attendance and TV ratings, and how anyone can get an invite to a tourney, reducing their impact of connecting the best teams in the nation early each year.  The points of the stories were true, but unfortunately, it was the only story for CBB this weekend.  And, now here we are a day after several decent games between the Big12 and Pac10, and yet they are relegated to AP stories and minimal analysis.

Go look at how many individual write-ups there are for college football today and for yesterday's NFL matchups.  Bowl games don't even start for weeks, with the biggies more than a month away, while there were no compelling match-ups in the NFL this weekend.  Yet, football still reigns supreme in the media.  And this is how Mr. Goodell and the BCS commissioner would have it.

So, where's the NBA's push for space on a busy sports weekend?  Where's the combined NCAA marketing for these early season tourneys?  They seem non-existent.  How does Mr. Stern NOT have his very own payed NBA writers and editors at each major media outlet, assuring the NBA a frontpage article every day?  The NCAA seems all but content to allow the regular season (pre-season?) carry on without much hoopla until the big show comes around for the month of March.

David Stern is the best commissioner the NBA has ever had.  Yes, the NBA has grown because of great players like MJ, Bird, Magic, Shaq, etc.  However, its always been the great marketing of those players from the commissioner's office that's made it all work.  Now I see Stern is slipping.  His major markets are jokes on the court, and he can't even slap down a little up-start, baby point guard/president in the same city where both of their offices reside.  His players are undisciplined hoodlums who are more interested in their self-promotion, rather than the future of the company they work for.  And finally, Stern is trying to create the next MJ in LeBron because the last next-MJ, Kobe, is not media or fan friendly enough to be the NBA poster boy.  You can't force the fans' opinion on who they should and shouldn't like.   I guess promoting players like Tim Duncan and Steve Nash just aren't hip-hoppish enough.  That's a major problem in your marketing now...assuming that 90% of NBA fans are from the ####, and that NBA fans want to see thugs on the court and their promotion of tattoos, gold, fighting, strip-clubs, and street-cred.

In a country where football is always king, all of the other sports have to be able to market themselves to gain a foothold in the media and promotion of their product.  Even though baseball labels itself as the national passtime, I think a better name should be "past-time".  The golden age of baseball is long past, and scandal and high-paid primadonnas have rubbed out all of the Field of Dreams type nostalgia that made baseball so alluring.

The marketing of the NFL and BCS are as high as they have ever been, and even when the playoff systems and bad reffing create bad publicity, it's still better media coverage and fan interest than anything basketball can throw out.  So basketball has some serious work to do to promote itself, and get back on the frontpages with fresh articles and analysis.

What could teammates and Barry Bonds be thinking or saying in this ridiculous drag-queen episode of Barry mocking Paula Abdul?

As the soap opera in NYC continues to turn out a new story every day for us, here's your chance to put some words in their mouths.  What's going on here between Isiah Thomas and Stephon Marbury?

 

Since Notre Dame signed it's giant TV deal with NBC back in the 90s, and since it basically held the BCS in blackmail during it's formation, has Notre Dame lived up to it's mythical collegiate status as the elite of the elite in college football? Of course it hasn't. A merry-go-round of coaches over the last 20 years, and year after year of mediocrity have achieved few top 25 finishes, much less championships and Heismans. So, my question is, Is the Notre Dame image, reputation, and swagger all that it's cracked up to be now? Apparently a nation of graduating high school seniors still think so. According to Scout.com, Notre Dame has the top recruiting class for the next incoming class to college football. How can this be? It certainly can't be the gregorious charisma of their enigmatic leader, Charlie Weis. It can't be their single win season, and past few years of futility. It can't be the third best football game on TV each saturday afternoon (I'd rather watch the replay of a high school football game on the local independent, than have to suffer through 3 hours of self-promoting torture between NBC and ND). So what is it about the tarnished and dented golden dome that still attracts the top football players in the nation? Maybe it's Touchdown Jesus' divine intervention. Or, maybe it's subliminal replays of Rudy over and over again.

I don't deny that Notre Dame is a fine academic institution...up there with the best of them. However, that's far from the reason kids go there to play football. Let's look at some stats for Notre Dame over the past 2 decades since their last national championship...


AP TOP 25 Finishes:

1988: #1 National Champions

1989: #2

1990: #6

1991: #13

1992: #4

1993: #2

1994: UnRanked

1995: #11

1996: #19

1997: UR

1998: #22

1999: UR

2000: #15

2001: UR

2002: #17

2003: UR

2004: UR

2005: #9

2006: #17

2007: UR
That's right sports fans, a single Top 10 finish in the last 14 years, compared to 7 unranked finishes in the same time span.

The Heisman Hype?

For the record, Notre Dame has a record 7 Heisman Trophies in its historic awards case. However, their last winner came way back in 1987 (coincidentally its last national championship?) with all-world, all-time wide receiver Tim Brown. So, in the last 20 years there have been no winners. Now there are plenty of universities out there that have not won the award in the last 20 years or even EVER! However, for a university that sells itself on such awards, we need to examine what kind of bill of goods we've been getting lately. Is my kid gonna win a Heisman at Notre Dame, or will he at least be in the running for the award? If the last 20 years are any indicator, it's a big NO on both fronts. Only Raghib "Rocket" Ismail in 1990 has finished 2nd in Heisman voting.

Irish in the NFL:

OK, so if my boy isn't good enough for a Heisman, will he at least be drafted into the NFL and make us rich?

Well, it depends upon your point of view. Being drafted doesn't necessarily mean you played in the NFL. Many late round draft choices are often cut from teams during pre-season training, or are relegated to practice squads, never to see the bright lights of a stadium ever again. In the last 20 years, draft results for the Irish have been mixed, not coincidentally spiking during the Holtz and Willingham eras when the Irish were winning. The jury is still out on Charlie Weis' ability to raise talent to an NFL caliber, but if last year's down year in draft choices was any indicator, it doesn't look good for the Irish over the next few years. We'll give Charlie the benefit of the doubt for last year and this year since he's still moving Willingham's kids through their last few seasons. Here's a year by year list from the last 20 years of how many golden dome draftees played on an NFL roster their rookie years. Click HERE for a list of names that played in the NFL in their rookie seasons.

1987 - 1 1997 - 6
1988 - 5 1998 - 1
1989 - 5 1999 - 6
1990 - 8 2000 - 8
1991 - 7 2001 - 9
1992 - 11 2002 - 13
1993 - 11 2003 - 8
1994 - 11 2004 - 6
1995 - 6 2005 - 6
1996 - 4 2006 - 3
1997 - 6

ALL-AMERICANS:

OK, so if my boy isn't good enough for the NFL, maybe he could still be an All-American from Notre Dame, which has a lot of personal/family pride status attached to it, and can get you a free drink in any Irish pub from Boston to Chicago.

Many teams like to advertise themselves as being All-American factories, but this is slightly misleading. It's true that some players might be labeled as "All-Americans", but no one ever qualifies it with whether they were first, second, or third team All-Americans, or in which poll they were voted as an All-American. So, being conservative in my stats, I will only list the Irish over the last 20 years who have been AP first team All-Americans. (Bolded names were unanimous selections)

1987 - 1 - Tim Brown

1988 - 3 - Frank Stams, Andy Heck, Michael Stonebreaker (I love that name)

1989 - 3 - Todd Light, Chris Zorich, Raghib Ismail

1990 - 3 - Michael Stonebreaker, Chris Zorich, Raghib Ismail

1991 - 0

1992 - 1 - Aaron Taylor

1993 - 2 - Aaron Taylor, Jeff Burris

1994-2001 ZERO first teamers

2002 - 1 - Shane Walton

2003-2006 ZERO first teamers

So, we see a grossly disappointing trend with Notre Dame, producing a sole first team All-American over the last....count'em.... 13 YEARS.

BOWL GAMES:

OK, so my kid may not be the greatest Irish to ever play there, but he wants to play in the "big" bowl games. Where have the Irish played in the last 20 years, and how did they do?

(NOTE: Notre Dame chose to not play in bowl games from 1926-1969, re-emerging from their snobbish shell in 1970 to play for national championships) (Also NOTE: The year is associated with the year the bowl was played in, and not the year the regular season took place in. Ie. Many bowl games are played on Jan 1 of the next year.)

1988 - Cotton Bowl - Lost - Notre Dame 10 Texas A&M 35

1989 - Fiesta Bowl - Won National Championship - ND 34 West Virginia 21

1990 - Orange Bowl - Won - ND 21 Colorado 6

1991 - Orange Bowl - Lost - ND 9 Colorado 10

1992 - Sugar Bowl - Won - ND 39 Florida 28

1993 - Cotton Bowl - Won - ND 28 Texas A&M 3

1994 - Cotton Bowl - Won - ND 24 Texas A&M 21

1995 - Fiesta Bowl - Lost - ND 24 Colorado 41

1996 - Orange Bowl - Lost - ND 26 Florida State 31

1997 - Independence Bowl - Lost - ND 9 LSU 27

1998 - No Bowl Appearance

1999 - Gator Bowl - Lost - ND 28 Ga. Tech. 35

2000 - No Bowl Appearance

2001 - Fiesta Bowl - Lost - ND 9 Oregon St. 41(BCS bowl game)

2002 - No Bowl Appearance

2003 - Gator Bowl - Lost - ND 6 NC State 28

2004 - Insight Bowl - Lost - ND 21 Oregon St. 38

2005 - No Bowl Appearance

2006 - Fiesta Bowl - Lost - ND 20 Ohio State 34 (BCS bowl game)

2007 - Sugar Bowl - Lost - ND 14 LSU 41 (BCS bowl game)

So, not only has Notre Dame lost its last 9 bowl games, but it has also had 4 years without a bowl appearance in the last 10 years. However, it has still managed to use its BCS clause to make it into 3 BCS bowls in the last 7 years, no matter how deserving they really were to be there. So, going to ND has a slightly better advantage of getting into BCS bowl game than other schools. However, at their current rate of losing, and the loud controversies and demands of other schools being left out of the BCS mix each year, I bet Notre Dame's clout and contract get renegotiated at the end of their current agreement.

The Future:

So what do the immediate, near and far futures hold for Notre Dame in college football? Undoubtedly there is a lot of concern on whether or not Charlie Weis will be around much longer, despite his 10 year+ contract. Being in only his second season, you have to think ND won't panic and jump ship out of his expensive contract. Coaches should also get at least 3-4 years automatically to allow their own full team of recruits to come through the system. However, the magic question is, how long can you tolerate failures, slumping trends, and a lack of top notch recruits? This year is certainly a very down year on the field for the Irish. They will in all likely rebound to a much better season next year. However, their ability to play with the top 25 will remain to be seen. For a school that bills itself as playing in the big games every year, it's gotta grow old losing all of those big games year after year. I'm not so sure Charlie Weis is the long-term solution for Notre Dame. Nothing he has done in 2 years leads me to believe he is the next Knute Rocne, or even Lou Holtz. He's probably somewhere between Ty Willingham and Bob Davies, which is not where you want to be in ND lore. Perhaps Weis' recruiting skills are where his strengths lie. This year's grab is monstrous, and will likely lead to the over-hyped recruiting national championship. But, if you don't turn recruiting national championships into real championships, then it's all for nothing.

So, back to my original question... why would anyone want to go to Notre Dame to play football now? The football tenets the Irish use to lure recruits are all but dead these last 20 years: history, national championships, Heisman trophies, All-Americans, wins, and bowls are non-existent or lame at best. The ND administration has done a less than stellar job at coaching hires, and their continued insistence upon exposure over quality is diluting their program and legacy with mediocrity.

Parents and kids, stay home. If the college football isn't good in South Bend, then why else would you want to go to the cold of Indiana? Stay home in sunny Florida, Texas, or California. There are far better universities in your states both academically and on the field. You can always watch Regis on a million other TV programs besides the weekly ND pep-talk on NBC.