Send Message
Add Friend
Block User
Invite to Group
Report User 
All Star
With the way that the Big 10 (+1) has been playing as of late, a strong out-of-conference (OOC) schedule would benefit the teams. When one of the top 2 teams in your conference is on the verge of a 6 win season *chough...Michigan*cough *cough, your conference may be lacking in the quality opponent category. The ACC and Big East are getting more love from top to bottom than the Big 10 (+1). I got an idea. If you want to beat a team like LSU or Florida, then try to play some of the same team they do. Let us see who had the Rocky Mountain Oysters to schedule some competition OOC. In case you missed my other grades here are the links: Big XII, ACC, SEC, Pac-10, and Big East.
Ohio State - Youngstown State, Ohio, USC, Troy. I like this OOC schedule because they want to play USC. Sure Youngstown St is a patsy, but to go out and willfully schedule arguably the most successful team over the last 5-6 years shows moxy. That is gutsy considering that you will probably will be competing for a national cahmpionship yourself. That subscribes to my philosophy of beating the best to be the best. I can't say that Ohio is a patsy, but I can say that they stand no chance against OSU. Troy is a very decent team, but they stand little chance here against the Buckeyes. Here's my best Ali G impersonation "Respect! Boo-Ya-Ya!" Grade: A
Michigan State - California, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame. The Spartans did go out and get a game with a quality team in Cal. I understand the need to play the Eastern, Western, and Central Michigans every year. What I really like about this schedule is that there are no FCS(Div-1AA) teams. If you want to be considered one of college footballs elite, then you have to stop shceduling non-Div-1 teams. Notre Dame is the Spartans' prison girlfriend year in and year out. Watch out for Florida Atlantic this year. They have shed that "patsy" title and will upset some one in the OOC. Could it be the Spartans? Quite Possibly. That Cal game will be really tough for the Spartans. Grade: A-
Purdue - Northern Colorado, Oregon, Central 
Michigan, Notre Dame. I give a little credit for having Notre Dame on the schedule because they have a potential of giving a good game. Not this year, but in years past. The Ducks are a consistently good team. They are certainly a Top-25 team year-in and year-out. Central Michigan is like Ohio in that they will fight hard, but it is hard for them to compete with the talent level difference. Although, Central Michigan has a great quarterback in LeFevour. N. CO stinks and there is too much stabbing going on in the special teams. Grade: B+
Illinois - Missouri, Eastern Illinois, Louisiana-Lafayette, Western Michigan. Illinois is certainly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Big 10 (+1). It would seem that Coach Zook may have the foundation for something special. Mizzou is a serious test for Illinois right off the bat. Then they get a few weeks to recover. The rest of their OOC schedule is cream-puff city. I wonder if they had the thought that Mizzou was going to be a top-10 team when they contracted the games. I guess they just got lucky. I don't think they need to have both Eastern Illinois and Louisiana-Lafayette on the schedule. One of those two and substitute a Div-1A cream-puff like Buffalo for the other. Grade: C- (that is all dumb luck having Top-10 Missouri on the schedule)
Northwestern - Syracuse, Duke, Southern Illinois, Ohio. I guess if you are Northwestern this schedule is somewhat competitive, but I call it giving up. Syracuse and Ohio are the only teams of any kind of note in this one. Ohio is the best team on the OOC schedule? My, my how far we have fallen since the glory days with Barnett. Syracuse has not been the same since McNabb left and that was a long time ago. I love the Salukis, but they are no good at football. Duke is at least from the ACC and they are a BCS conference. I guess that is something. Right? Grade: C
Iowa - Maine, Florida International, Iowa State, Pittsburg. At least there are two teams from BCS conferences in IA St and Pitt. Iowa always gets Iowa State's best shot of the year. I love that game because whoever wins seems to do worse throughout the rest of the season. Pitt did beat WVU, much to the chagrin of the refs and the Mountaineer faithful. That is something that Oklahoma couldn't even come close to doing. Maine and FIU are bad patsies. With the way Iowa has been playing lately, maybe they deserve a break here. Grade: C- 
Wisconsin - Akron, Marshall, Fresno State, Cal Poly. Wisconsin is trying to be the cream of the Big 10 (+1). They're just not trying very hard. I love Pat Hill and Fresno State. These guys will play anyone/anywhere. I give credit to Wiscy for the Bulldogs on the schedule, but Akron? Cal Poly? UGH. That is U-G-L-Y. Akron should have been the weakest team on the schedule. They could step it up a bit and get a team from a BCS conference. Marshall is ok, but it is not really a test, is it? Why not switch-out the Cal-Poly game for a game with Baylor or Vanderbilt? For the Badgers it is still a probable win, but it looks much, much better than beating up on Div-1AA or Div-2 teams. Grade: C-
Indiana - Western Kentucky, Murray State, Ball State, Central Michigan. Again, like Northwestern and Minnesota before them, Indiana really can't be blamed too much for the smelly poop-fest that is their OOC schedule. Central Michigan will probably beat Indiana this year. Western Kentucky has recently made the move from Div-1AA to Div-1A. The Hilltoppers shouldn't put up much of a fight here. The same could be said about Murray State. Ball State had one heck of an offense last year as teams in the MAC found out the hard way. Indiana needs to be careful with this one. Grade: D
Minnesota - Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Montana State, Florida Atlantic. For the Golden Gophers it has been tough. I can't really say anything about this OOC schedule. They may not be favorites in a couple of them. GO GOPHERS!! I'm being hard on the Gophers here, but they should lose to Florida Atlantic and Bowling Green. Grade: D
Penn State - Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Syracuse, Temple. This OOC schedule is pretty bad. Oregon St is ok, but the rest is stinking up the joint here. For a team of Penn St's status, this is disappointing to say the least. They need another middle-of-the-road BCS conference team to spice it up a bit like Oklahoma State or South Carolina. If Oregon St was Oregon, then it would be respectable to have the three flaky, cream-centered pastries. This is very unlike a typical Penn State OOC schedule. Grade: F+
- Utah, Miami (OH), Notre Dame, Toledo. This is not really good , but it is not quite as bad as it looks. Notre Dame may be the worst team on this OOC schedule. Utah has not been able to put it back together since losing Meyer, but they are ok. Miami (OH) is like Ohio and Central Michigan...not going to win but they will fight hard. Toledo may or may not put up a fight. I suppose I should cut Michigan some slack after last year's 0-2 start. Naw. This is pitiful for a team that wants to be considered elite. Grade: F
Michigan
Why are BCS teams still afraid to schedule decent OOC (out-of-conference games)? What is the deal here? I am of the oldskewl belief that, win or lose, playing good teams makes your team better. There is no reason for a good team in a BCS conference not to schedule two good opponents OOC. Period! 
Colorado - Colorado State, Eastern Washington, West Virginia, Florida State. Colorado has managed to make their OOC schedule rather competitive. The rivalry game with Colorado State is always a tough game for Colorado. Eastern Michigan is a tune up game, and Eastern Washington is a patsy. West Virginia made minced-meat of the vaunted Oklahoma defense last year, but we must remember that Colorado also handed OU a loss last year. This year's WVU may not be quite as good as last year's with out R-Rod there. Florida State is loaded with talent and controversy. Grade: A
Baylor - Wake Forest, Northwestern State, Washington State, Connecticut. Baylor has a monster OOC schedule, but I think it may have been an accident. WF and UCONN are quality teams as of late, but PAC-10 Spoiler Washington State is not a patsy. Northwestern State is though. I am willing to overlook the Northwestern State game because it is Baylor we are talking about. Baylor will need to play better than they have in the past in order to get to conference play 1-3. Grade: A
Oklahoma - Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Washington, TCU. Chattanooga is a patsy and should not be on the schedule. Cincinnati has improved and they are coming off a stellar season, but for Oklahoma they should be no problem. Washington is a BCS conference team that may have a good game a few times a year, but they have not been consistently good since the early to mid 90's. TCU is one of the most consistently good non-BCS conference teams out there. When I see TCU on an OOC schedule, I consider that a decent test for any team. The problem I have with this schedule is the Cattanooga game. You are OU. Schedule Div-1 teams. Grade: B-
Nebraska - Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Virginia Tech. Nebraska must subscribe to the philosophy that supports only scheduling one quality team OOC. Very disappointing, but with the way the Huskers played defense last year some of these game should be closer than expected. You have to give Nebraska credit for the VA Tech game. VA Tech has been in the Top-10 consistently over the past decade. That game is certainly a great OOC game. The pass-happy Aggies from NMSU have a legitimate shot at an upset here if the Blackshirts don't turn it around. Any other year, for Nebraska, Western Michigan and (Do you know your way to) San Jose State would be considered patsies, but Nebraska can't take any team for granted anymore. Grade: B- (that is all VA Tech)
Oklahoma State - Washington State, Houston, Missouri State, Troy. I must say that this is a reasonable attempt at a challenging OOC schedule. It is not very top heavy with the Cougars of Wash U at the top of the heap, but Houston and Troy are solid teams that will put up a fight. They will run out of gas by the 4th quarter, but they will put up a good fight. Troy may even threaten in the 4th. Not outstanding, but not too bad. Grade: C+
Texas - Florida Atlantic, UTEP, Arkansas, Rice. Texas likes to keep their OOC games close to home with UTEP and Rice. Both of which are bad teams, very bad. When this game was scheduled, I am sure that Florida Atlantic was considered just as bad as UTEP or Rice, but what a difference a few years makes. FAU is not a bad team. Not real good, but not bad. Arkansas is an old SWC rivalry we all miss. This year without McFadden, Texas should be able to handle the Razorbacks easily. I am sure Arkansas will be up for this one. Grade: C (only because FAU has turned it around)
Texas A&M - Arkansas State, New Mexico, Miami, Army. Like Nebraska, there is only one team on this schedule that is of any worth competing with a BCS conference school. New Mexico did shut out Nevada in a bowl that was created just for them last year. Arkansas State is a patsy. Army is a mismatch, but there is Miami. They are talent-laden and needing to make a comeback in a big way. Grade: C- (that is all Miami's potential)
Missouri - Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Nevada, Buffalo. Mizzou has scheduled a monster by accident with Illinois. How great was that game last year!?! Nevada is improving, but they still can't hang with the big boys. SM St and Buffalo are patsies (sorry Turner). Missouri is set up really nice to repeat as the Big 12 North Champs, but it has nothing to do with their OOC scheduling. Grade: D (that is all Illinois)
Iowa State - South Dakota State, Kent State, Iowa, UNLV. Iowa State has not had much of a team for quite a while now. I don't really blame them for going so soft, but it is disappointing when they can't even beat the patsies on their schedule. South Dakota State should lose, but nothing is for sure. Iowa should win, but the Hawkeyes are having problems with the law in Iowa City. UNLV and Kent State have legitamate shots at getting a win over a BCS conference opponent here with ISU. ISU did come on strong at the end of last season, but there is no indication that they will carry that momentum into this year. Grade: D
Kansas - Florida International, Louisiana Tech, South Florida, Sam Houston State. Kansas tried really hard not to schedule any real tests OOC, but they got unlucky with South Florida. I guess 3-4 isn't too bad. I will all but guarantee you that when South Florida was added to the schedule, they had never been ranked #2 in the country. Neither was Kansas. They both had spectacular years last year and I will be looking forward to this game. La Tech can score a bit, but they are still a patsy along with Sam Houston State and FIU. FIU is the only Florida team to get a bad rap from me. Grade: D- (dumb luck getting South Florida on the OOC schedule.)
Kansas State - North Texas, Montana State, Louisville, Louisiana-Lafayette. Louisville without Brian Brohm is no good at all. They proved that last year's pre-season hype was just that. All these teams are patsies this year. K-State should change their mascot from the Wildcats to the Scaredycats. North Texas is ok sometimes. With the way Louisville played defense last year, KSU has a legit shot to get an OOC win over a BCS opponent. Grade: F
Texas Tech - Eastern Washington, Nevada, Southern Methodist, Massachusetts. Congratulations! We have a winner! The Red Raiders have managed to win the patsy lottery in their OOC scheduling. They were the only team to manage to avoid another BCS conference team and not get unlucky enough to get a team that has any potential at having a good season. The best team, by far, is Nevada. PEA-YOU!! This is very disappointing because they will have a great season and contend for the Big 12 this year. They will have to defend a constant onslaught of criticism over their OOC schedule. It serves them right. I am acutally getting physically ill looking at their OOC schedule. I'm going to go barf now. Grade: F-
Congratulations to the winner of the "Kiss of Death Invitational." Before I announce the winner, I would like to thank all the participants of this epic competition. It has been a dream of mine to be a part of something that will go down in the history books as an event that will have grandchildren hanging onto every word that 'ol pappy is mumbling through his loose set of false teeth. 
It was truly an honor to be in the same field of competition as I was. It was humbling and exciting at the same time. (Kind of like being paired up with the hottest girl in class as a lab partner that you have had a crush on since the 7th grade, but she keeps calling you by the wrong name. It's like you don't really care if she gets your name right. You just can't believe that she is actually speaking to you.) 
Just in case you are not familiar with the "Kiss of Death Invitational," I will give you the back story to this monumental event of epic proportions. It all started, years ago, with my bookie, Guido, and me. After I had taken a beating that would make the Tyson fights of the early 90's look like a fight between two over-caffeinated 12 year-old girls at a Hannah Montana concert fighting over who is the bigger fan of "High School Musical." (Actually, that could get pretty bad. Maybe I could have found a better comparison. Anyway you get the idea.) Guido said that some of the teams that I picked shouldn't have lost. I said "Tell me about! It seems that if it weren't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any at all." Guido then reminded me that if I didn't have his money by Wednesday at 12:00 PM, then the beating I took over the games will look like a walk on the beach compared to the beating I was going to get from him. I thanked him for being so supportive. 
Anyway, while I was on the couch with Guido we both came to a realization that my luck was so bad that I was actually affecting the outcome on some of these games. Could that be? Was it even possible? My picks were contributing to the end result of these games. It seemed logical. The odds of going 0-12 in football betting have to rival that of getting 5 out of 6 numbers on a Lotto ticket, right? 
bobn12
dmw1216
MoonDogLeft with a record of 15-9. All three of these contestants were never really in contention for first place. They kept a winning record throughout the tournament. 
HSKRSPAZ with a record of 14-10. HSKRSPAZ was in last place up until after the BCS games. He went 0-2 on the two games between the KU/VT game and LSU/OSU game. Congrats HSKRSPAZ on not coming in last. 
FlatulentOne with a record of 13-11. Flat dropped below me at the end of the National Championship game. We were neck and neck the entire way. Neither of us were more than a game apart. 
OldSkewler and 
Redburr with a record of 12-12. Redburr started out like he was going to be in contention for the title, but unfortunately he went on a late winning streak and ended up in the middle of the pack. 
Third Place: 
Avsfreak24 with a record of 11-13. Avsfreak24 was the early favorite. I believe he was 1-9 at one point. Once I told him that I thought he was going to win this thing, he went on a winning streak of epic proportions (10-4.) 
Second Place: 
DWINDY1 and 
mattp908, with a record of 9-15. DWINDY and mattp908 were flirting with taking this thing outright, but a couple ill-timed winning streaks put the kibosh on that quickly. 
Honorable Mention: 
nostradomus with a record of 9-13. *nostradomus probably did not know he was playing. I extracted his picks from an earlier posting on his blog. He ended up strong, but he never really threatened first place like mattp908, DWINDY1, and Avsfreak24 did. Nost, gets the honorable mention because I couldn't find his picks on 2 games. 
The out right winner of the "Kiss of Death Invitational 2007" is...bc525 with a phenomenal record of 8-16. It was a long and windy road, but after staving off late runs and close calls, bc525 has persevered through the competition and secured his place in "Kiss of Death" history. As the winner of the KODI, bc525 will be known by the moniker "Kiss of Death." Congratulations bc525, you have earned it. 
I was a little surprised to see the Mountain West conference up there at the top, but you have to consider who they played. They have wins over Navy, Nevada, UCLA, and Houston. I would consider Nevada and Houston to be in the lower end of the pack of bowl teams. UCLA lost their coach, and Navy is quality but not great. I don't want to take anything away from the MWC. I love to watch all the offense and they have some of the best stadium settings I have ever seen. My hat is off to the MWC for a great bowl season. With teams like BYU, Air Force, and TCU this conference has modestly good level of competition. Not as much as the PAC 10, but certainly more than the MAC, CUSA, or the Sun Belt. Hopefully, these teams can ride this momentum into recruiting and next season. 
The SEC is 2-0 over the ACC, 1-0 over CUSA, 1-0 over the WAC 1-1 against the Big 10, and 1-1 against the Big 12. Alabama and Colorado proved that just because you are bowl eligible doesn't mean that you should be in a bowl. Kentucky's win over a decimated Florida State was under-appreciated. I think that if Florida State was at full capacity, then the score wouldn't have been as close when Bowden's boys took the loss. Unfortunately, the mismatch of Arkansas and Missouri was a finger poke in the eye for McFadden. The SEC was very impressive overall when you consider that the best any conference has done against the SEC is .500, but, that is what we have come to expect from the SEC. So there is no real surprise there. Only the Big 10 has a chance to get one over on the SEC this year. 
The Big 10 has to be disappointed with how they have performed outside of Michigan. Penn State did what they should have and Purdue just barely beat an "ok" Central Michigan team. The mismatch of USC and Illinois was pretty hard to watch, unless you are a USC or PAC 10 fan. Wisconsin held tough against the #2 team in the SEC, but Indiana got trounced by a mediocre Oklahoma State team. Ohio State has a chance to redeem the conference. 
The PAC 10 did very well outside of Arizona State. UCLA lost to BYU, but give them some credit. They went without a head coach and BYU has had a special year this year. USC proved once again not to ever count them out. Oregon showed that even with out Dixon, they are able to score a ton of points. I was very surprised the vaunted South Florida defense didn't put up a better fight against Oregon. Cal's performance was a bit disappointing against and undersized Air Force team. Cal did show that they could come from behind, but they should never had been that far behind to begin with. 
The Big East has emerged as a good conference. When the ACC and Big East realigned, the ACC was supposed to be made into a power conference and the Big East was supposed to fade away into oblivion with the MAC, Sun Belt, and CUSA. Well I got some news for you so called experts; you were way wrong. There is some talent and quality coaching going on in the Big East. West Virginia is a great team. Rutgers, South Florida, Cincinnati, and UConn are all good teams and should only be getting better. Be afraid of the Big East. 
How disappointing was the ACC this year? With programs like Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech how could you not be winning (or going to) bowl games (Miami)? Virginia overcame a loss to Wyoming at the beginning of the season only to lose to Mike "the big goober" Leach's Red Raiders after Tech spotted them two safeties. Lame. Over the last 4-5 years, it looked like Maryland was ready to make the jump to the "big time." What happened? Georgia Tech losing to Fresno State the way they did was embarrassing. Clemson played Auburn tough, but still lost. Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, Virginia, and North Carolina State should be better teams. Boston College, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech can't be the only ones doing well in this talent-rich conference.
The WAC had no surprises up their sleeves other than Boise State getting manhandled by the likes of ECU. They seem to do the best with what they have. Fresno State did well, but Nevada didn't even show up and got blanked by New Mexico. What the? Nevada put together, what seemed to be, a pretty good season. Guess not. How many shut-outs have there been in bowl games recently? To be sure, not many. That is just disappointing and wrong.
My rather sizeable hat's off to Coach Leach. Any coach willing to take 2 safeties and go down by 14 by the end of the first half is ok in my book of self-defeating imploders. That makes Miles' decision at the end of the LSU/Auburn game seem reasonable and safe. Mike Leach will be my favorite coach to watch next year. Bo Pelini being the only exception.