The Big East is now guaranteed to send six teams to bowl games. That is, as long as six teams are eligible.
On Monday, the conference announced its aligning with both the International Bowl and Birmingham Bowl to go along with its four other bowl affiliations, including a BCS automatic qualifier.
For a league that barely sent four teams to the post season last year, this is a fairly surprising move. You’d think they would try to avoid the embarrassment of being unable fill out the bowl games they are affiliated with.
From the looks of each team’s schedule, the conference might luck out this year. Six teams will play at least one Division IAA school. Of the two that don’t, Louisville has an all important game at Temple and Syracuse hosts Wyoming.
I have never met a girl that knows nothing about football but is dieing to learn the game inside and out. Apparently, they’re out there.
For $35 dollars a pop, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy is willing to teach women everything they need to know about the sport. Included in this wonderful package is a presentation and Q&A session with Coach Gundy, a tour of OSU’s stadium, onfield coaching (something the Cowboys lacked while blowing a second half lead against Texas last year) and a free t-shirt.
There will even be an equipment demonstration making for the very real possibility that one lucky woman might actually get the chance to dress up and act like a total dude. Sweet.
For any of those guys in Oklahoma really looking to sweep his lady off her feet, this is for you. If ever there was a perfect “just because” present, Football 101 has to be it. Talk about a guaranteed way to get laid.
Someone always has it worse. But what about the worst of all? What do they do?
The Savannah State University athletic program is the epitome of bad. In fact, bad is an enormous under statement. They are dreadful, abysmal even. Honestly, words fail to capture just how awful the Tigers have been over the last four years.
The school is in the transition stages of moving from Division II to Division I and to put it very mildly, have had some struggles.
For example, last night the Tigers basketball program lost by 51 to second ranked Florida and that was only the team’s third most lopsided loss of the season. Half of there 18 losses have come by at least 30 points. Since the 2002/2003 season, the team is 8-92, including recording just the second winless season by a team in fifty years.
The women’s team isn’t much better. Over the same period of time, the Lady Tigers are 19-82.
But basketball is just a start. Savannah State’s Division IAA football team has gone winless two of the last three years. They did almost win once this season. The Tigers dropped a 28-27 heartbreaker to Central State on Homecoming. By the way, Central is a Division II program and was playing football for the first time since 1996.
Spring sports don’t stray far from the crowd either. The baseball team is actually mediocre although they did give up an NCAA record 11 straight hits to New Mexico last year.
Last and most definitely worst of all, Savannah State’s softball team has won just one game ever. In 2005, the team scored seven runs all season and was on the receiving end of five of the ten most lopsided losses in the country.
Consider that an improvement. In 2004, the team scored one run all season.
There’s a lesson to be learned to here. Don’t go ballistic when your school drops a close game or goes on a little losing streak. Maybe the football team was bad but another sport will pick it up. It could be a lot worse.
You could go to Savannah State and lose year round.
I don’t know if it was everyone and their brother knowing Eli couldn’t lead the favored Giants to victory or maybe how easy it was to see the Pats covering against Jacksonville but sports books across the country took major hits last weekend.
No worries.
I’m willing to bet my reserved copy of “Two for the Money” that more than a few people paid back their winnings and much more this weekend. And if Saturday sucked, I’ll bet my life Sunday was downright tear-provoking.
By no means was either game on Saturday a lock and the two favorites actually did win.But I’m petty sure I would have been in the majority had I wagered on Washington and New England.
The Skins were ten point dogs which is a lot, even for an injury plagued road team. If you did bet that game, it probably seemed like money in the bank when Shaun Alexander left in the first quarter with a concussion. Even though Washington was down, it was pretty much a given that John Hall would kick a 36 yard (gimme) field goal that would cut the lead to four with eight minutes to play.
Needless to say, Hall’s kick went wide left, the Seahawks took over, marched down field and kicked a field goal to clinch the game and cover the spread.
That night, the whole country assumed that the call would be reversed and the Patriots would get the ball back when Champ Bailey appeared to fumble into the end zone.I mean that’s how the whole dynasty thing started, right? By catching a break.
Of course, the call wasn’t changed and the Broncos advanced.
So Saturday’s losses only meant one thing for Sunday: Bet the ranch on Indianapolis.
All week, everyone talked about the high octane offense of the Colts and how sharp they would be, seemingly forgetting the fact they hadn’t played a real game in a month.
Instead, the Steelers were on the board quick and dominated until the fourth quarter when the home team finally showed up. The referees even blew a call just so Peyton Manning might orchestrate a late comeback, but in the end, he choked.
I hate to bad mouth Manning because he makes great commercials but I can’t see how many people like him right now.He can’t win a big game so Colts fans are calling him Marino, anyone who drafted him lost in their fantasy football playoffs week 15, and degenerates everywhere lost their shoes this afternoon.
The final game of the weekend was more infuriating than anything else.
There isn’t one sane person who didn’t wake up last Monday morning and think, Carolina is a safe bet to beat the Bears outright.They had just dismantled the Giants on the road and seemed red hot.
But then again, no sane gambler (if there is such a thing) places his bets that early in the week.
So we watched television and listened to sports talk radio all week and decided the Panthers couldn’t possibly play that well two weeks in a row.We heard the “eighty percent of home teams win in this round” nonsense.We were told Soldier Field was one of the five hardest places to play in the league.
Our opinions swayed back and forth, ultimately flipping completely.Chicago was definitely going win.
Well, you know how that went.
So bookies everywhere are feeling better and the whole process starts over.At first glance, I like Seattle and Pittsburgh to win and meet in the Super Bowl.
Michael or Mike Vick has never been sure of what he wants to be called. He might want to change his last name now.
This thought comes after the Atlanta Falcons star quarterback’s little brother was arrested for the eighty-fourth time on three counts of brandishing a weapon. Marcus allegedly pointed a gun at a 17 year old and two others in a McDonald’s parking lot after getting into an argument.
There is no truth to the rumor that the three were West Virginia fans.
My guess on how the altercation went…
17 year old: Hey Marcus, my girl friend’s too young for you. The judge said stay away. Marcus: What’d you say homey? 17 year old: I said stay away from her you pedophile. How’d you get here anyway? Didn’t they take your license away? Marcus: That’s it b*tch ::pulls gun:: Do we have a problem homey?
I’m assuming Michael is the one who has to post bail every time his brother messes up.
It didn’t take quite as long as the ten years Homer described, but the result was the same. The walls of Troy crumbled and one is left standing.
In this case they hail from Austin, Texas.
For a second consecutive year, Vince Young put on a show in the Rose Bowl rushing for 200 yards and three scores, including the game winner with twenty seconds to play to lead second ranked Texas to an upset 41-38 win over number one USC.
In a match up surrounded by hype, the game lived up to every expectation.
After a low scoring first half, offense took center stage and the contest began to unfold the way most expected. The two teams combined for 53 points in the second half and over 1100 yards of total offense in the game.
In the end however, it was a defensive stop that gave Texas a chance and one of the most talented players you’ll ever see took it from there.
The Longhorns stopped LenDale White on a fourth and two regaining the ball at midfield with just over two minutes to play. After driving down field, Texas faced a fourth and five at the USC eight yard line and Vince Young scrambled in to the end zone to give his team the lead for good.
Of course, no game of this magnitude could go without at least some form on controversy. That came with five minutes to play in the first half when Young’s knee clearly touched the ground before he pitched the ball to teammate Selvin Young for a twelve yard touchdown run.
“I don’t know, I was just trying to make a play,” Young said when asked if his knee was down. “He (Selvin) said pitch the ball so I did.”
After the game, Young who never seize to amaze anyone with his confidence struck a Heisman pose. You’ll remember that after USC’s Reggie Bush won the trophy, Young said he felt he embarrassed his school and would prove him self in the Rose Bowl.
After last season’s final game, he also guaranteed his team would be back in Pasadena.
The loss ended a 34 game winning streak for USC and silenced all doubters, making it as crystal clear as the BCS trophy; Young and his teammates are the kings of college football.
ESPN’s coverage of the Rose Bowl has been pitiful. For two weeks, Texas wasn’t even mentioned while USC was stacked against the greatest teams in the history of game.
Of course, people began to realize that there was another team in the Rose Bowl and so the network came up with a pathetic feature on the Longhorns. Talk about bias. USC gets matched against history while Texas’ offensive line looks silly dressing up like bodyguards for Vince Young to show how well they protect him.
Texas deserves some credit. If USC is the greatest team ever and this is going to be the greatest game ever, the Longhorns must be the second best team ever, right?
Before we can be sure, let’s take a look at the ten second best teams of all time and see where Texas might find itself. Just as ESPN did with Reggie Bush, be sure to watch as the answer to every question is Vince Young.
10. 1975 Arizona St. (12-0) The Sun Devils still played in the WAC at the time so they didn’t get the credit they probably deserved. The team had a future Hall of Famer in cornerback Mike Haynes and blew out a strong Washington team that year. In the Fiesta Bowl, they defeated an unbeaten Nebraska team 17-14.
The one knock on this team would be that they did give up points and I think Texas would definitely take advantage. Haynes would only be able to shutdown one side of the field and Vince Young would probably run right through them. Texas 42-21
9. 1980 Pittsburgh (11-1) The Panthers were lead by Dan Marino and had a nice team but they were manhandled by Florida State during the season, costing them the National title. This team gave up far too many points, and didn’t score enough in big games to be able to stick with Texas. Texas 44-17
8. 1984 Washington (11-1) Washington’s only loss that season was to Rose Bowl winner USC but check out the teams they defeated. The Huskies went to Michigan and beat the third ranked Wolverines and followed that up with an Orange Bowl victory over second ranked Oklahoma.
The Huskies would give Young fits but I don’t see them scoring too often on the Texas defense. In the end, Young find a way to make a play the way he did versus Ohio State early this season. Texas 28-20
7. 1998 Ohio St (11-1)
Ohio State played a very tough schedule but lost a bad game to Michigan State, its only blemish. They won the Sugar Bowl and other than the loss to MSU, ran the table in the best conference in the country.
I keep looking back at that loss to Michigan State and think that Texas would never lose a game like that. Look at the game where they were down big against Oklahoma State at the half, a great team perseveres and pulls of the win. Texas 35-21
6. 1979 Southern Cal (11-0-1) How this team didn’t win the national title, I’ll never know. USC tied Stanford but hammered every team they played after, with most of the big games (ND, Washington, and LSU) on the road. Then they beat top ranked Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
The Trojans still didn’t score enough to match up with Texas however. The Longhorns might not be able to pass but they there is no way their running game would be stopped. Texas 35-24
5. 1983 Nebraska (12-1) This team is a lot like the USC team Texas will play in the Rose Bowl.
Any team that scored 84 points in a single game is scary, and that’s why Nebraska makes the list. The Huskers had a Heisman trophy winning quarterback and also the top two picks of the 84’ NFL draft in Irvin Fryar and Dean Steinkuhler.
Nebraska’s schedule was pretty weak and that’s what makes me skeptical. I like Vince Young rising to the occasion once again. Texas 38-31
4. 1986 Miami (11-1) The Hurricanes outscored their opposition 430-150 but were defeated in the Fiesta Bowl by Penn State. The Nittany Lions played ball control in that game and I think the Longhorn running game could do the same. Miami would come close, but fall. Texas 24-17
3. 1966 Alabama (11-0) The era has to be taken into account here. No college football team could ever dominate the way this Crimson Tide team did today. They only gave up 44 points all season! Somehow the voters picked both Notre Dame and Michigan State (9-0-1) ahead of them.
Considering that they played in the 60s’ Texas would obviously be far bigger, faster, and stronger than the Crimson Tide, thus winning the game. Texas 28-14
2. 2002 Miami Football (12-1) Texas and this Miami team actually have a common opponent. The freshmen on the team Miami lost to (Ohio State) are seniors now and lost to the Longhorns early this season.
Miami did defeat Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, and Virginia Tech that year, all of whom were ranked in the top ten at some point.
The only reason I like Texas in this game is because I think they are much better than the Ohio State team that beat the Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl. Texas 31-24 1. 1971 Oklahoma (11-1) Some believe Oklahoma lost the greatest game ever played to Nebraska in 71’ and played a ridiculous schedule. The Sooners finished second behind Nebraska and just in front of Colorado as the Big Eight boasted a 1-2-3 national finish.
The team had two 1,000 yard rushers and finished with almost 1000 more total yards than any team in the country. The Sooners could score with anyone but based on the era of play, I’ll take Texas. Texas 45-35
Its official, I managed to make Vince Young the only player I mentioned from the 2005 Texas Longhorns, yet still crown them as the “second best team ever.”
With all of that being said, I like USC tonight, 44-21.
As you sit with that blank stare, alone, checking statistics on your computer, you ask yourself, “Why oh why didn’t I draft Shaun Alexander?”
It’s a fact. Like a bad beat story in poker, no one cares about what you have to say, but you’re going to tell them anyway. You drafted that bum Culpepper too early.You had Terrell Owens.The Baltimore defense flopped.
Oblivious to all those trying to get away, you continue.Priest got hurt and some jerk already had Larry Johnson.Yeah you picked Peyton Manning, but he stunk early and choked it up in week 15.
Sure your girl friend thinks you’re a freak and you did lose the $200 entry fee, but you take solace in the fact that your other team (the Oscar Robertson’s) dominated the yahoo free public league.
While it was you who drafted name over game, you can only blame those expletive-ing players. Jamal Lewis did rehab in jail, but he’s supposed to rush for 1500 yards and 20 scores!
Now the dream is over and you have nothing left to do, so crack open an ice cold Bud Light, Mr. I Need to Tell Everyone my Sob Story, and keep thinking to yourself….
Fantasy baseball starts in three months; I need to find a team name!
Shaun Livingston and Sebastian Telfair may have been the first point guards to make the jump straight from high school to the NBA, but the class of 2004 was far deeper than just two.
The group –now college sophomores– is making that clear this season.
Seven top 25 teams, including three in the top five, are lead by second year guards that will all soon join their counterparts in the NBA.
If Livingston and Telfair were at the head of their respective class, Memphis’ point guard Darius Washington Jr. wasn’t far behind.
Washington is best known for the foul shots he missed that cost the Tigers a trip to the NCAA tournament last season, but now he is the star of the nation’s fourth ranked team.
Despite battling an injury, Washington is averaging 14 points and 4 assists per game, while shooting a crisp 41 percent from three point range.
Staying in the top five, Villanova guard Kyle Lowry and Florida’s Taurean Green are also making major impacts for seemingly certain final four contenders.
Like Washington, Lowry has battled an injury early on but is a part of a special team that head coach Jay Wright has developed. The Wildcats throw four guards on the floor almost all of the time and play a tenacious defense, Lowry’s specialty.
Green, who is the son of former UNLV star Sidney Green, has shot the lights out for a surprising Florida team.
The 6’ 177lb guard is shooting 85 percent from the foul line and 45 percent from beyond the arc, including ten in two days against Wake Forest and Syracuse at the Coaches Versus Cancer Classic.
Jordan Farmar is leading the resurgence of UCLA basketball. The 6’2 guard is averaging over 16 points and 6 assists per game and seems to play better as the game gets bigger.
Farmer dropped 28 on Memphis earlier this season and scored 24 and 21 in recent victories over Nevada and Michigan.
Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel might be the best true point guard of the entire group. It’s become a cliché but this kid refuses to lose. Some believe his court awareness rivals that of any player in the country.
Daniel Gibson’s team received all of the pre season hype and despite recent losses, he is leading Texas to an impressive season.
Gibson contemplated entering the NBA draft last season but decided to stick around and play in one of the nation’s best backcourts.
Rajon Rondo received a ton of recognition this summer when he was the only player of the seven to make the under 21 national team.
He is currently averaging just under 17 points per game and like Farmar, plays better under pressure. Rondo torched Louisville for 25 points in Kentucky’s win on Saturday and scored 20 in a loss to defending national champion North Carolina.
All in all, it’s a good bet that at least one of these (excuse the #### Vitale reference) sensational sophomores will help their team on deep run though the NCAA tournament in March.
To think, what if Livingston (Duke) and Telfair (Louisville) followed through on their commitments?
I wrote this on November 29 but tried to update it a bit.
ESPN ran a poll recently on its website asking what college football teams would be selected for a possible eight team NCAA Football tournament. Seventeen teams were included.
The parity only proves the point I love to make. A college football tournament would never work.
My theory goes further: It would hurt the game far more than help it.
First of all, even those silly bowl games that get played on Wednesday nights in the middle of December mean a whole lot to the teams who participate in them. Having a major tournament would relegate them to NIT status.
The games wouldn’t even make television. Seriously, they wouldn’t.
In fact, a large tournament would mean the end of bowl games as we know them.
Why is that such a problem?
Well to most fans, myself included, it isn’t. However, as boring as those games tend to be, think about how much good it does for the schools participating.
Teams trying to build their programs pride themselves on the one or two games they get to play on ESPN. The exposure for those schools means everything to making college football more competitive.
The perfect example here would be the University of Connecticut last season.The Huskies are trying to get their football program on the map and because of the victory in the Motor City Bowl, they were able to recruit on a much more national level.
A case can be made that a four team playoff would work in conjunction with the bowl system, but that leaves at least two major conference champions out of the running every year.
Where would a team that finishes 8-3 in the regular season go?
An eight team playoff would have the same effect that the BCS does. Six major champions and then three or four teams fighting for two spots.
A real tournament would need to involve at least twelve teams and would have to start about two weeks before Christmas and end somewhere around the first Saturday in January.
The six major conferences would have to send an automatic bid.
In my opinion, the PAC 10 Big 10, and Big East would have to expand to twelve teams (something that will never happen) and play a conference championship game just like the Big 12, SEC, and ACC does.
The six at large spots would then be harder to decide than the two that the BCS gives every season. Example: Ohio State is clearly better than UCLA but it gets much cloudier when you start to look at say Miami and LSU.
Let’s try and use this season as an example. (Assuming that the top six seeds go to major conference winners and conference opponents can't meet in the first round)
1. USC 2. Texas 3. Penn State 4. Georgia 5. West Virginia 6. Florida State 7. Ohio State 8. Notre Dame 9. Miami 10. Virginia Tech 11. Oregon 12. LSU
Teams who would have a beef: UCLA, Auburn, TCU, Florida, Michigan, Texas Tech, and Alabama
You can see that there would be more teams (7) complainging about missing the tournament than there is that are at odds with the BCS (Oregon).
My point is that while there is usually only two or three excellent teams, there is a whole lot of teams who just a step below.
So lets play it out:
If the tournament were to happen this season, the opening round would begin Saturday, December 17. Predictions – LSU over West Virginia, Oregon over Florida State, Ohio State over Virginia Tech and Miami over Notre Dame.
Christmas Eve would see the top four seeds all survive with only Georgia even being threatened.
The following week would prove just what those stupid computers and every writer in the country already knows: USC and Texas are the two best teams in the country.
The two would meet the following weekend in the title game.
I have no idea who would win and that really doesn't matter.
A real tournament would cause just as much confusion than the BCS already does and by eliminating the lesser bowls, would hurt a lot more teams in the process.
Was anyone rooting hard for Texas’ quarterback Vince Young to win the Heisman?Neither was I.But it’s always fun to see the PAC 10 get ####.
Which brings me to my next point.If there was no ESPN, Young or Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn probably would have won the award.
The reason: Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that the left coast exists only via tivo/highlights.I would guess that most voters only saw Bush play live three or four times.
One last comment on Bush:A friend of mine pointed out that he seems to be the same type of runner that 1994 Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam was.For every “expert’s” sake, let’s hope not.
What a difference a week makes. The San Diego Chargers have gone from AFC title contender to probably needing to win three in a row just to make the playoffs.
Herm Edwards just can’t catch a break.With his whole team seemingly injured, the coach watched as the New York Jets played themselves out of the Reggie Bush sweepstakes by pounding the Oakland Raiders at home.
You think my article about hating Duke could have come at a worse time?The Blue Devils manhandled Texas this weekend.Don’t get too crazy Duke fans.Texas isn’t nearly as good as their ranking.
I’m thrilled that I picked Memphis to win the national championship.Even if they don’t win it all, they are the most exciting team in the country and watching them score 90 every night should be entertaining.
Manny Ramirez still hasn’t been traded.The one deal that I still like would have Manny going to Anaheim for Orlando Cabrera, Darin Erstad and prospects. The Angels are rich in minor league talent and if the Red Sox could get SS Brandon Wood and 1B Kendry Morales in the deal, they might be able to ship them along with Andy Marte to Florida for Miguel Cabrera.
ESPN’s Steve Rosenbloom wrote a very nice piece on World Series of Poker runner up Steve Dannenmann.Dannenmann was portrayed by ESPN as your everyday average Joe, and according to this column, he intends to stay that way.
Another story on Dannenman:On Christmas Eve, ESPN will televise the tournament of champions and rumor is that he gets into a pretty big argument with Phil Helmuth.The TOC will be from 1-4 EST and from what I’ve heard; it will be the most entertaining of any poker ESPN has ever shown.
Dan McGowan - Age 19 - I love writing, baseball and basketball. Baseball is easily my favorite sport. I'm a Red Sox, Knicks, Giants, and Flames fan. I'm most passionate about UConn basketball however, as they are the only team that I can be really annoying over. Yes, I'm that guy. You know, the guy who picks them to win the national title every single year no matter what. Needless to say, I have won two tourney pools in my lifetime! www.danstake. com
