The BCS rankings are out! If somebody wanted to, they could write a Master’s thesis on the absurdity of the BCS. There is no use in fighting it, kind of like why candy corns and Peeps aren’t sold year-round (Peeps in their original form of bunnies and chicks that is), that’s just the way it is. When you think about it, candy corns and Peeps mirror the BCS, good for a short while and get old pretty quick to the point you don’t want them for a year…

Don't count the Louisville Cardinals out yet, they still have some fight left in them.

Cardinals Wings Aren’t Clipped Yet

South Florida ripped the Big East banner away from Louisville two years ago, and have carried the paultry banner ever since. The Cardinals have looked like they got their wings clipped since former head coach Bobby Petrino left to coach bigger birds in the NFL. They haven’t quite come together under current head coach Steve Kragthorpe, and haven’t had a quarterback to match the output of Brian Brohm. Although the Cardinals will win this game, they aren’t exactly going to seize the banner back, tripping up the banner carrier would be a better description. The Bulls are still the team to beat in the Big ‘L’East until junior quarterback Matt Grothe graduates next year.

Red Raiders Stood Up By Jayhawks

Texas Tech has not played one team in the top 25, which leads you to really question the BCS because the Red Raiders are in the top 8 (just behind USC and Florida, who were defeated by non-ranked teams earlier this year). Okay, we’re not going to go down that road, we all know the BCS is just as valid as half the opinionated articles on Wikipedia. The Red Raiders will face thier first top 25 opponent this year when they play the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday in Lawrence. The Red Raiders are better than the Jayhawks in every statistical category (even scoring defense), but it’s the intangibles that make the difference. The intangibles in this game are: the Red Raiders are off to their hottest start in almost 30 years (which might get to their heads), they are facing their first real challenge (which will get in their heads), and the game is not in Lubbock (which they can convince themselves that it really is in Lubbock, but they’d be crazy in their heads).

Florida State ‘Nole and Void - Gophers Not So Golden at Purdue 

Every week we have a couple teams that scoot into the top 25 and are swept right back out, kind of like a stray cat. This week’s “stray cats” are Florida State and Minnesota. The Seminoles welcome a Virginia Tech team that just got edged by Boston College last week. If there is one thing that is signature about Beamer’s Hokie teams, it’s that they rebound after losses. If you base the Seminoles offense and defense on their stats, you may be a little deceived. The Seminoles were on the cupcake diet the first two weeks and outscored them 115-7. Meanwhile, over at Purdue, the Golden Gophers are going to get a real challenge and ultimately fall. The Boilermakers have not been impressive this year, but they have played teams tough, especially at home. They’ve got to pull one out sometime, and this is their time. Come on guys, do it for Drew Brees! 

Boise State flexed their muscles when they played in a BCS Bowl in 2006, can they do it again this year?

 Broncos Trample Last Viable Challenge

Boise State is in position again to bust the BCS, but if they are going to do it this year they will do it with a freshman quarterback. Broncos QB Kellen Moore hasn’t seemed to be rattled at all this year, most notably he lead his team into Eugene and spanked the Ducks. San Jose State will be the toughest defense the Broncos will face all year, but this is definitely not a hurdle for the Broncos, more like a speed bump. With how weak the WAC has been the past few years, it seems that every year they will have one team crash the BCS. If the Broncos go this year it will be the WAC’s third straight appearance, I guess it’s getting to the point that we can’t call it “crashing” or “busting” the BCS. Word is they are already practicing the “Hook n’ Ladder” and “Statue of Liberty” on the Boise State campus. Boise State will be kings of those two plays forever more, just like how Doug Flutie is the king of the “Hail Mary.” It seems wierd to say ”Boise State did it better,” just as wierd as it will be to say, “President Obama.”

Tulsa has been pouring on points "Hawaii style" and are undefeated, but they aren't getting much love from the polls.

JIB Picks

Week 8: 13-4 / Overall: 125-23

Week 9: #1 Texas – #8 Oklahoma State  / #2 Alabama – Tennessee / #3 Penn State – #10 Ohio State / #4 USC – Arizona / #5 Oklahoma – Kansas State / #6 Texas Tech – #18 Kansas / #7 Florida – Kentucky /  #9 Georgia - #11 LSU / #12 Utah (Bye) / #13 Boise State – San Jose State / #14 South Florida – Louisville / #15 TCU – Wyoming / #16 Missouri – Colorado / #17 BYU - UNLV /  #19 Tulsa – UCF / #20 Pittsburgh – Rutgers / #21 Georgia Tech – Virginia / #22 Ball State – Eastern Michigan / #23 Florida State – Virginia Tech / #24 Northwestern – Indiana / #25 Minnesota – Purdue

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**NOTICE**

JIB Sports has posted two weekly columns during the first month  and change of the NFL and college football seasons. The first is a review of the NFL on Wednesdays and the second is a preview of college football on Fridays. Due to the mass amounts of college teams playing on Wednesdays and Thursdays we will be swapping the college football and NFL columns.

Are you ready for daily articles on the unfairness of the BCS and how there should be a playoff? With week 8 being the last week before the first BCS rankings are announced; ready or not, here they come! The highlight game of the week could be Missouri at Texas, which isn’t as exciting since Missouri lost last week, but will still be an excellent game. Here are a few headlines that will be topics of discussion throughout the weekend:

BYU Gets First “Quality” Win

BYU running back Harvery Unga will try to break through the Horned Frogs' stellar defense.

Let’s all agree that the polls are most ludicrous thing in sports. Reputation, and a school’s record the previous year play the biggest part in them (which is silly considering college rosters change every year based on graduating students so the team can be drastically different from year to year). Not only that, but teams jump up and equally fall based on the ranking they are given, regardless of whether the team upset was really that good. So here sits BYU in the top 10, largely because they are coming off of back to back 11-2 seasons and they currently own the longest winning streak in the nation of 16 games. Many people knock BYU because they have no “quality” wins on their schedule. While a valid argument, the Cougars can only play the teams on their schedule, they can’t control when teams like UCLA and Washington are having bad years. Putting all controversy aside, the Cougars will crash Fort Worth and put up big numbers against a stubborn TCU defense. TCU has lost one game all year, to Oklahoma. At the end of the year, their second loss won’t look so bad either, which will be to BYU this week. 

Arizona Nips the Golden Bears in the Desert

All year we’ve heard about how it’s “USC and the PAC-9,” but every time we turn around there’s another PAC-10 team in the top 25. At the beginning of the year it was Oregon, who then lost it’s top two quarterbacks and fell to Boise State. Then there was Arizona State who, has now dropped three straight games to UNLV, Georgia and USC. UCLA was even in the top 25 for a week after it’s dramatic opening season victory. Perhaps a little too much credit is given to the PAC-10 because it is the only BCS Conference in the west, although certainly not the best conference in the west. Just as a side note, how on earth is USC back in the top 5 after it lost to a non-ranked .500 team only two weeks ago? Don’t worry about it much, it will drive you to drink and if you already drink you won’t take notice to such intricate issues. Arizona has had a few setbacks this season against Stanford and New Mexico, which were both on the road, but they will be ready to trip up Cal in the desert. 

Mizzou Turns Mess Around

Missouri QB Chase Daniel is hoping to bounce back in a big away against Texas after last week's debacle.

With Texas taking down Oklahoma last week, Missouri had a golden opportunity in a nightcap game to move into the #1 spot with a win over Oklahoma State. Texas opened the front door for Missouri, but they didn’t slide the screen door open and Missouri ran right into it. Embarrassing, yes, can’t say that I haven’t ran through a creen door before, sometimes they are nearly invisible. Now Missouri is out of the top 10 facing #1 Texas. What is even more perplexing is how Oklahoma State bolstered up 8 spots in some polls after defeating the Tigers. If the Tigers were so good that the Cowboys jumped up so high, then obviously the Tigers shouldn’t have dropped so low. Looking at the Longhorns, all of the Tigers will have the dejected Prom Queen attitude of, “that should have been me!” Missouri still totes Heisman candidate quarterback Chase Daniel and a very talented offense that is going to have a shootout of their own this week. With a win over Texas they can sneak in the back door and be right back in the thick of things again. They just better hope their isn’t a screen door on the back door too. 

Vandy Going, Going, Gone! 

After Alabama beat down Georgia a couple weeks ago and jumped to #2 in the polls their coach Nick Saban had something interesting to say. Saban said something to the effect of the polls don’t matter this early in the season and asked if anyone could tell him who was #2 last year at this point in the season. The room went silent, somebody even let a few crickets in. When the season is all done with, people will not even see a blip of Vanderbilt on the top 25 radar. It’s a sad truth that it doesn’t matter how you start a season, but how you end it. Perfect example, March madness in college basketball. You would never know that an overachieving Vanderbilt squad was once at #13 in the nation only to lose consecutive games to Mississippi State and Georgia on their way out of the top 25. Every season needs a Cinderella, here’s to you Vandy! 

Oklahoma State snagged a top 10 spot away from Missouri last weekend.

JIB Picks

Week 7: 12-4 / Overall: 112-19

Week 8: #1 Texas – #12 Missouri / #2 Alabama - ‘Ole Miss / #3 Penn State - Michigan / #4 USC - Washington State / #5 Texas Tech – Texas A&M / #6 Oklahoma - #15 Kansas / #7 Florida (Bye) / #8 BYU - #24 TCU / #9 Georgia - #23 Vanderbilt / #10 Oklahoma State – Baylor / #11 Ohio State – #17 Michigan State / #13 Utah – Colorado State / #14 LSU – South Carolina / #16 Boise State - Hawaii / #18 Virginia Tech - Boston College / #19 Wake Forest - Maryland / #20 South Florida – Syracuse / #21 North Carolina – Virginia / #22 Cal - Arizona / #25 Ball State (Bye)

We’ve just about seen it all in college football and we’re only in the seventh week. The good thing about college football is that it doesn’t matter how many times we see an underdog go on the road and pull off a win or #1 fall, we are still excited when it happens. Check out your Sunday sports section, you might see headlines similar to these, just not as original:

Florida’s Swamp a Friendly Habitat Once Again

Ole' Miss was able to get to Florida QB Tim Tebow, will LSU be able to do the same?

A lot has been made of LSU’s fierce defensive line this week. Tigers defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois said that him and the rest of his bosom buddies up front would “knock out” Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. Tebow has been using that as “locker material” to motivate himself and his offensive line to protect him. There is one surprising stat around all this hoopla this week, and that is the LSU has only registered 6 sacks this year. 6!!! That’s barely a sack per game, so if LSU’s defense is going to knock out Tebow, it will have to be when he’s not in the backfield. So much for a fierce defensive line, I’d be just about as worried that Auburn’s offense will pin 49 points on you than I would that LSU will hit Tebow enough to even make the trainers pull out the smelling salts. Tebow is definitely in a slump compared to last year when he won the Heisman, but this is just the game he needs to prove he didn’t win the Heisman because there was nobody else better behind him. As embarrassing as the Gators looked in the Swamp against Ole’ Miss, they will redeem themselves with this win over LSU and jump back into the top 10. If the game is close then LSU will also stay in the top 10 and I’m sure the voters will justify a smaller school like Texas Tech or BYU getting jumped in the polls. Same thing with #1 Oklahoma and #5 Texas, if the game is close the loser will stay in the top 10. 

Third #1 Falls in Red River Shootout

Missouri is in the best position to play for a National Championship. They have just been flying under the radar at #3-5 all year, not ever having to be in one of the top positions, which will almost inevitably change every other week. The year started with Georgia at #1, then USC, and now Oklahoma. The Sooners have been on cruise control all year, scooting by every team this year with their stellar offense and stingy defense, but so has Texas. Longhorns Junior quarterback Colt McCoy is completing near 80% of his passes, and has thrown for almost 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns. His teammates have given him the nickname “Colt McBoy,” I don’t know how that empowers  a player to have a nickname that a first grader on the monkey bars during recess could have coined. Then again, when you consider the other letters of the alphabet that could be inserted into McCoy’s last name, “McBoy” isn’t that bad. My next best choice would be “McToy,” I think I’ll take that one to McDonalds corporate as a suggestion to name their Happy Meal toys. I am going to copyright that right now, don’t think about stealing my idea. McToy© 

Nittany Lions Kick Badgers While They’re Down

Penn State head coach Joe Paterno stretches in case his team needs him every game.

 Wisconsin is free falling, after winning at Fresno State they have dropped consecutive games to Michigan and Ohio State. After surrendering a 19-0 lead against Michigan, the Badgers have been a shaky team at best and will soon find themselves removed from the top 25. On the flip side, Penn State has been gaining confidence week after week and are forming into a classic Joe Pa team. The Nittany Lions have a consistent offense and stellar defense filled with talented players, none of which stand out more than another. It is amazing that after all these years that Coach Paterno can get so much out of his players, which is more that can be said of Bobby Bowden down at Florida State. Coach Paterno might be watching this game from the box again because of a sore right hip he sustained while trying to attempt an onside kick in practice. You have to love the commitment, but at some point Coach Paterno needs to realize that he’s almost a century old and his body just isn’t what it used to be. Not everybody can defy age like Gandalf, or Regis Philbin.

Texas Tech Pummels Lost Cornhuskers

The Red Raiders have a high-powered, high scoring offense year in and year out. Aside from Missouri, Texas Tech is the only other school touting a quarterback (Graham Harrell) and wide receiver (Michael Crabtree) for the Heisman. Last time Nebraska visited Texas Tech they allowed 70 points, and they aren’t coming in a confident bunch after suffering their worst lost in over 50 years at home last year. This will also be the Cornhuskers first road game of the year, they are going to be lost little kids. Playing your first five games of the year at home has it’s advantages, if you actually win. Nebraska will step away with 2 losses and nobody to blame but their head coach, Bo Pelini. No really, he took full responsibility for last weeks loss. I don’t recall him every putting on pads and getting out there on the field, but that’s his prerogative if he wants to coddle his players an not let them accept responsibility. It works for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys in the professional ranks…  

#7 Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree has seen the end zone quite a few times while in Lubbock.

JIB Picks

Week 6: 16-3 / Overall: 100-15

Week 7: #1 Oklahoma – #5 Texas / #2 Missouri – #17 Oklahoma State / #3 LSU – #12 Florida / #4 Alabama (Bye) / #6 Penn State – #24 Wisconsin / #7 Texas Tech – Nebraska / #8 BYU – New Mexico / #9 USC – Arizona State / #10 Georgia – Tennessee / #11 Ohio State – Purdue / #13 Utah – Wyoming / #14 Vanderbilt – Mississippi State / #15 Kansas – Colorado / #16 Boise State – Southern Miss / #18 Virigina Tech (Bye) / #19 Michigan State – #22 Northwestern / #20 South Florida (Bye) / #21 Wake Forest – Clemson / #23 Auburn – Arkansas / #25 Cal (Bye)

This past week, the Pedowitz Report was released, which was an intensive look at refereeing in the NBA. Commissioner David Stern was desperate to renew the faith of his fans in the NBA after the Tim Donaghy betting scandal, so he hired a bunch of overpaid lawyers and paid them millions to do a report on the refereeing in the NBA. There are just a couple problems with Stern’s thinking on this one: the majority of basketball fans are already convinced that there are biases with refereeing in the NBA, and the minority are not going to waste time reading a 133 page report from some people paid by Stern to say what he wanted them to. What the Tim Donaghy scandal did was only validate what thousands of fans had already been thinking. The simple matter of fact is that whenever there is a questionable call that impacts a game, Tim Donaghy will pop into our heads kind of like E.T. does when we see Reese’s Pieces. (What? That doesn’t happen to you? Me neither…) 

Referees, often compared with zebras, are people too.

The problems in officiating are universal and run through all sports. We see shoddy officiating in the NFL, college sports, and even the Olympics. What always gets us is when after a game where a questionable call has been made we’re told that “the rules are open for interpretation.” I hate that! I want to throw my shoe at the T.V. when I here that! Rules are rules, aren’t they? So the rules are open for interpretation, which I’ve grown to be fine with, as long as their interpretation is consistent throughout the game. Right now, game 3 of the ALDS between the Los Angeles-Anaheim Angels and Boston Red Sox is on in the background and I heard the announcers say, “the strike zone seems bigger in this game then in the first two.” Okay, I’m fine with that, as long as that strike zone stays consistent. When watching basketball games and football games you can pretty much decide in the first few minutes whether the referees will let the players be more physical and let more things go. I’m fine with that too, a little street ball never hurt anyone. But, the problem we run into is that every referee is human, and humans have emotion. You think that when you yell profanities at referees that they aren’t affected emotionally by that. Referees have feelings too. We almost see referees as a by-standard to the game, just a zebra standing there, but they are every much a part of the game as the players and coaches.

Next time you watch a a college basketball game take notice to the team fouls. In college basketball there are two halves, after 7 team fouls in a half the other team gets to shoot “one-and-one,” meaning if they make the first free throw they get to attempt a second. After 10 team fouls in a half the other team gets two free throws. Since the fairness in college basketball is largely based on foul count and foul shots, you’ll see an interesting paradox once one team inches closer to 7 team fouls. The interesting paradox is that the other team all of a sudden will start fouling more to even it up so both teams get one-and-one at about the same time. Wait a second, or do the referees jut start calling more fouls on the other team? Think about it, it’s deep. I was attending a college basketball game when the team fouls were 7 on one team and 2 on the other. In the matter of minutes they were even at 7 and 7. In football you can see much of the same with holding calls. Honestly, holding can be called on about every play, so if the penalty yard disparity becomes too much, expect a few of those to be thrown in. After the NBA’s 133 page report on refereeing I can give you a two-word report on refereeing that will solve our problems, ‘USE ROBOTS!’ Think about it, robots have no emotion and if they can make video game so true to form than surely robots can do the job. There would be no biases or prejudices, unless the robots revolted and combined against us. Let’s just stick with what we have now, take the bad with the good, and accept the fact that referees are people like me and you…almost.

I would say that nobody could have seen what happened last week coming, but then again it’s college football. The upset bug started on Thursday when the mighty Trojans fell to Oregon State and continued throughout the weekend. By Saturday night six top 25 teams had lost to non-ranked teams, shaking up the top 25 and leaving a lot of fans wondering what happened. The good news for teams like Georgia, Florida, and USC is that it’s still early in the season and can still fight their way into the National Championship Game. That is one of the lovely paradoxes in college football: if you are going to lose, lose early and at the end of the season nobody will care and teams that lose later in the season (although equally as good) are hosed. Here are a few headlines you might see in your Sunday sports section (or Friday or Saturday seeing that we now have college football games on 3-4 days a week):

Madison, Wisconsin will never feel as close to Southern California as it will for Ohio State on Saturday.

Wisconsin Avoids Second Straight Let Down

The Badgers came right out of the gates fighting last week against Michigan and took a 19-0 lead into the half. Head coach Bret Bielema must have given a demotivational speech in the locker room because the Badgers looked horrible in the second half. “Gentleman! For every winner there are a dozen losers; odds are we’ll be one of them! ” The Badgers allowed Michigan to get back in the game and knock them off. Ohio State comes into Madison with a chip on their shoulder. They’ve played four cupcake teams and the only real one they’ve played, USC, trounced them 35-3. How does Ohio State get away with 7 home games and 5 road games anyway? I guess because head coach Jim Tressel said so, and they can’t win outside of The Horseshoe (even though they expanded their stadium so it’s a horseshoe with a lid now). Tressel benched Todd Boeckman, their QB to start the season, in favor of freshman Terrelle Pryor. Pryor will struggle on the road and look very iffy in the pass game. Ohio State will find it a little harder to back their way into the National Championship Game this year. For entertainment purposes I hope they do back their way in so they can lose again and we can label them the Buffalo Bills of college football. 

Buffs Unable to Pull Off Second Straight Upset at Home

Every year the week before the “Red River Shootout” (Texas vs. Oklahoma) you’ll hear the question, “Will Oklahoma/Texas be caught looking forward to next week and lose a winnable game?” In Texas’ case, NO! (No to Oklahoma as well who is playing lowly Baylor this week.) A couple weeks ago Colorado hosted West Virginia in a “Blackout” game and had a little better fortune than Georgia. I think it was due in large part to the Buffs starting QB Cody Hawkins going all the way and dyeing his hair black. Texas will find this game a good warm up before next week’s game, not quite a scrimmage, but a good test. Longhorns QB Colt McCoy has thrown for 14 touchdowns and 1 interception this year, and leads an offense that averages almost 500 yards per game. If the game gets too out of hand, head coach Mack Brown might call off the dogs and rest his team for next week. 

Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson has had a lot to yell about lately, but not on Saturday.

Vandy One Game Away From Bowl Elidgibility

For years Vanderbilt was one of those teams that got it’s way into a BCS Conference solely based on proximity, not credentials (just like Baylor), this year they are looking like a real team. The Commodores haven’t started 5-0 since World War II. For those of you not good with dates, lets just say that was a long time ago. Another streak equally as horrendous is that the Commodores haven’t been to a Bowl since 1982. Seeing that you only have to win half of your games to be Bowl eligible anymore, that streak is atrocious. Auburn and their gimp offense comes to town this year and as amazing as it will be when the Commodores pull off the upset, they need to focus on winning just one more game the rest of the year and they will be Bowl eligible. When you have a football program with such a rich history of losing like Vanderbilt, you need to take baby steps, really small baby steps. Don’t even mention “Conference Title,” just think “We’re going to a Bowl, we’re going to a Bowl!” 

Huskies Enjoy Short Stay in Top 25

With the polls, #23 -25 changes almost weekly, with teams sometimes jumping in only to lose and fall back out. UCONN will be one of those teams that will enjoy a brief stay in the polls after going into Chapel Hill and dropping a game to the up and coming North Carolina Tar Heels football team. For years North Carolina and Duke campuses usually remained silent until November when basketball begins, but this year both schools are off to 3-1 starts. Sometimes you have to corner a Tar Heel or Blue Devil fan to get them admit they even have a football program. North Carolina head coach Butch Davis went into his previous employer Miami last week and pulled off an emotional win, don’t expect a let down this week, expect them to be more motivated to knock off a ranked team at home. You watch, UCONN will drop from the polls next week and North Carolina will sneak in at #24 or 25. 

Alabama thrusted itself into Title talk after knocking out Georgia last week.

JIB Picks

Week 5: 10-5 (OUCH!) / Overall: 84-12

Week 6: #1 Oklahoma – Baylor / #2 LSU (Bye) / #3 Missouri – Nebraska / #4 Alabama – Kentucky / #5 Texas – Colorado / #6 Penn State – Purdue / #7 BYU – Utah State / #8 Texas Tech – Kansas State / #9 USC – Oregon / #10 Georgia (Bye) / #10 South Florida – PITT / #12 Ohio State – #17 Wisconsin / #13 Florida – Arkansas / #14 Auburn – #19 Vanderbilt / #15 Utah – Oregon State / #16 Kansas – Iowa State / #18 Boise State – Louisiana Tech / #21 Fresno State – Hawaii / #22 Oklahoma State – Texas A&M / #23 Connecticut – North Carolina / #24 Virginia Tech – Western Kentucky / #25 Wake Forest (Bye)

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Last week we were talking about quarterbacks in trouble of riding the pine, this week there are now two coaches riding no pine. On Monday the St. Louis Rams fired head coach Scott Linehan and on Tuesday the Oakland Raiders fired head coach Lane Kiffin. The Linehan firing made a bit more sense than the Kiffin firing, the Rams actually had some talent on the offensive side of the ball. The Raiders defense was sometimes mentioned as being good, but that was in major part because there was really nothing good to say about their offense. You all remember what your mothers said to your growing up right? “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” The first quarter of the season is done for many teams, add these few key points to your football psyche heading into week 5:

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger needs to get his offense rolling sooner.

Defense Wins Championships, but Definitely Not TV Ratings

Last year when the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted a Monday Night Football game  against the Miami Dolphins, it was fun to watch. There was hardly any scoring, the final score was 3-0, but fun because they were playing in the rain and the field was a soaked sponge full of mud. While watching the game I thought the old NFL Films voice would chime in, “It was a rainy Monday night, and their was one thing that was for certain, this contest between the Steelers and Dolphins would be a muddy affair.” There was one time when the Dolphins punted and the ball stuck right in the ground when it landed! Now look me straight faced in the eye and tell me that’s not entertainment. This year was a little different story for the Steelers hosting the Baltimore Ravens, no mud and no rain, just a lot of ‘ugh’ from the Steelers offense. Midway through the third quarter the Steelers had amassed 69 total yards on offense, they had more punts than first downs. While most fans were about to poke their own eyes out, fans in SEC country were yelling “Now that’s real SEC football!” to their television sets. It was ugly, the fans were booing, and some were waving their ‘terrible towels‘ with the Steelers offense on the field in hopes that they would help their team. I think it did, the Steelers pushed on the gas and sent the game into overtime where place kicker Jeff Reed made the game winning field goal. After the game Reed said he gets too much credit and that his foot is the one that did it. Hmm, why do we give any quarterback credit? It’s just their arm. By that same principle, Michael Jordan deserves absolutely  ZERO credit, it was all his tongue.

Bengals WR Chad Ocho Cinco might look into changing his name to "Ohno Cinco"

Cleveland is Bad, but Cincinnati is Worse

This year’s battle of Ohio wasn’t for supremacy, but rather respectability. Both teams were 0-3, struggling, and needing to reroute themselves. The fact that Carson Palmer was out did not help the Bengals, who’s now horrible season is about imminent with an 0-4 start. Chad Whoever has been a silent guy so far this season, he really has nothing to pop his mouth off about. I doubt you’ll hear  ”Yeah, we may have lost, but nobody loses like we do, we lose in style!” coming from the Bengals locker room anytime soon. You know he wants to say something, but nobody would take him serious. Instead of clipping his comments up to their lockers for motivation, I’m sure opponents would read what he has to say and laugh it off like one of those silly Beetle Bailey comics. Maybe to add a little more spice we can throw Ohio State into the mix, no, that wouldn’t be fair. The Bengals and Browns would walk all over those little nuts. Here is another headline we could have used, “Kansas City is Bad, but Oakland is Worse.” The Chiefs broke an 11-game losing streak against the Denver Broncos and are eyeing November 20, their next game against the Raiders. That game may be the Chiefs only other in in 2008, these two teams will once compete for the battle of the #1 pick in next year’s draft. After the Dolphins coming out party last week, they are looking more at a pick #3-5.   

Titans/Jets QB Favre showed on Sunday he is still old but not broken.

Titan Favre Not Dead Yet

Why exactly do teams wear old uniforms from when their team had a different name? Beats me, can’t wait for the Oklahoma City Thunder (who might now have the most boring uniforms and logo in NBA history) to have retro-night and don those old Seattle Supersonics jerseys. Brett Favre had a career day against the Arizona Cardinals as a Titan. Not a Packer, not a Jet, a New York Titan (slightly different from a Tennessee Titan). Favre capitalized on 6 turnovers by Cardinals QB Kurt Warner and threw for 6 touchdown passes. On the same day the Green Bay Packers has a horrendous day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Next Brett Favre to be Aaron Rodgers had his worst game yet, some were now calling out Green Bay management for not retaining Favre. Rodgers went down with a strained shoulder, with only rookies Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn to back him up, that’s not good for Packers fans. Favre would have been a lot nicer, but if they would have kept Favre then the Packers would have delayed their rebuilding process towards making a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl by one more year. There are two things that need be pointed out from this predicament. First, Rodgers played in “The Bay of Pigs” against a tough Tampa Bay defense, which Favre always struggled against. Second, Favre threw his 6 touchdown passes against the Cardinals…the Cardinals! Even largely criticized and banished Chicago Bears QB Rex Grossman could have had a hayday on them.

Two more non-BCS teams snuck their way into the top 25 after week 5. Boise State, the Sooner killers, moved up to #20 after beating Oregon in Eugene. TCU dismantled hopeless SMU to earn their #23 spot. Is it donned upon anyone else that the playing field is leveling now the 24% of the teams in the top 25 are from non-BCS school? 

Oregon State looks to make it two straight victories over USC in Corvallis.

Beavers In the Trojan Horse???

For the last two weeks we’ve heard the PAC-10 get trashed from every angle. Some have called it “USC and the PAC-9,” others have referred to the conference as the “Least-10.” Trojans QB Mark Sanchez has been elevated to be a front-runner for the Heisman after a couple wins of a lousy Virginia team and a unspirited (and perhaps overrated) Ohio State squad. With USC’s track record in the PAC-10 the last couple years I don’t know how everyone can so quickly discount every other school. If you know college football, you know that emotion sometimes will trump talent. USC has a target on it’s back and in the last two years they have been sniped in PAC-10 conference play FOUR times. In 2006 they lost to Oregon State and UCLA on the road and in 2007 they lost to Oregon on the road and Stanford at home. This week will be déjà vu of ‘06 for Trojan fans as the Beavers of Oregon State take down USC. How quickly the prideful fall, the Trojans can start saying “goodbye” to a National Championship and it’s still September. 

Michigan Gets Badgered at Home

Question-How long has it been since Wisconsin has won at Michigan? 14 YEARS!! This road trip for the Badgers couldn’t have been planned more perfectly, this will be almost as easy as taking candy from a baby with an identity crisis. While Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has tried so desperately to implement his new offense, it’s just not catching on. To give an example, it’s catching on as fast as those bunless burgers did during the low-carb craze a few years ago. I’m sure the Michigan offensive players have that same “So the burger is wrapped in a piece of lettuce??” look on their faces while going through the offensive game plan every week. Wisconsin has been rolling so far this year, they notably knocked of Fresno State on the road before having a bye week. Just like LSU broke a 10-year drought against Auburn last week, Wisconsin will break a much longer and more astounding streak. After this game the Wisconsin-Ohio State might have a little more hype to it than USC-Ohio State did. 

This photo speaks a 1,000 words about UCLA's season thus far.

Bulldogs Pick Good Time to Visit Rose Bowl

UCLA had all the makings for a team on the rise and did little to dissuade anyone after opening the season in fashion with an overtime thriller over then #18 Tennessee (who now doesn’t look too grand themselves). Then after a nice bye week to bask in the media limelight, UCLA was victim of a 59-0 drubbing at the hands of #11 BYU. They followed their worst loss in 79 years with another loss to PAC-10 gutter ball Arizona at home. All of a sudden the Bruins are looking like a project, a 5-year project. You want to think that this game against Fresno State is just what the Bruins need to lift them up. Another win at home against a ranked opponent, that would be nice. Fresno State, however, has different plans to kick the Bruins while they are down. With 9 turnovers in their first 3 games, the Bruins are kicking themselves when they are down. Fresno State will avenge their 2000 loss to UCLA, but don’t expect a lot of celebration from Bulldog players. Expect the Bulldogs to have the expression of a person being thrown a surprise party that already knows. 

NC State Doesn’t Strike Twice

East Carolina, the darlings of ‘08, were shocked by NC State last week in overtime. While East Carolina tried to shrug it off like it was another game, you know it devastated them. At the other end was NC State, just as excited as East Carolina was devastated (even though East Carolina is a non-BCS school,  meaning NC State should have won, right?). NC State will face a much tougher ranked team this week as they try to knock off two ranked teams in as many weeks. The Wolfpack with find this week a little tougher with the absence of their starting quarterback, now having to start third-string Nebraska transfer Harrison Beck. South Florida looked bad last week after beating then #13 Kansas at home two weeks ago, but the Bulls will find their swagger and tenacity again this week. It helps that the Wolfpack will be in their red jerseys. Get it? Bull + red = ticked off bull..I’m sorry, that was lame… 

Wisconsin will battle Ohio State for the Big 10 Conference Title.

JIB Picks

Week 4: 16-2 / Overall: 74-7

Week 5: #1 USC – Oregon State / #2 Oklahoma – #23 TCU / #3 Georgia – #10 Alabama / #4 Florida – Ole Miss / #5 Missouri (Bye) / #6 LSU – Mississippi State / #7 Texas – Arkansas / #8 Wisconsin – Michigan / #9 Texas Tech (Bye) / #11 BYU (Bye) / #12 Penn State – #21 Illinois / #13 Ohio State – Minnesota / #14 South Florida – NC State / #15 Wake Forest – Navy / #16 Auburn – Tennessee / #17 Utah – Weber State / #18 Kansas (Bye) / #19 Clemson – Maryland / #20 Boise State (Bye) / #22 Oregon (Bye) / #24 Fresno State – UCLA / #25 Vanderbilt (Bye)

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Heading into week 4 of college football we know for sure that Ohio State is not #1, in fact, they aren’t even in the top 10. After being exposed and embarrassed by USC at The Coliseum, the Buckeyes head back to resume their usual non-conference cupcake schedule. In the meantime, USC will take the week off before heading up to Corvallis to face giant-killer Oregon State, the Beavers took the Trojans down on their last trip up north  Here’s a few headlines you shouldn’t be surprised to see in your Sunday sports section: 

The countenance on Sun Devil players won't be so gloom this week.

Sun Devils Take Frustrations Out on Bulldogs

Last week Arizona State was shocked by UNLV. The Sun Devils loss downplayed what could have been a more highly anticipated game. This game will be the first time that Georgia has played in the west in a non-conference game in nearly 50 years! Expect the Sun Devils to come into this game with a chip on their shoulders (a very big chip as a matter of fact) and the Bulldogs to look like lost pups. The PAC-10 took a beating last week, they were 0-4 against the Mountain West Conference, but they will have a nice stat after this game, 1-0 against the SEC. Georgia has slipped every week, from #1 to #2 to #3, and this week will dip down into the teens. Don’t count the Bulldogs out of a chance to play in the National Championship Game though, they do play in the “tough” SEC, a conference that has 5 teams currently in the top 10.

 Pirates Abandon BCS Ship

East Carolina spring-boarded from being unranked to #14 in the polls after knocking off then #8 West Virginia. The Pirates followed that performance up by going into Tulane and almost being engulfed by the Green Wave. Perhaps we expected too much too soon from the Pirates, donning them the surprise success story of 2008 and heir to a BCS Bowl. The Pirates have knocked off two straight ranked BCS opponents, but lowly unranked 1-2 NC State is going to put an end to their party. True, the Wolfpack have had their heads handed to them by Clemson and South Carolina. True, the Wolfpack barely beat William & Mary (not civilians, but the college). True, the Wolfpack look just as mediocre as the other sad pathetic programs on Tobacco Road (except Wake Forest), but, the Wolfpack is due for a credible win…and the Pirates are due for a exposing loss. 

Bobby Bowden and Seminoles Still on Life Support

It's not often a school erects a statue for a coach not retired or dead, but Bobby Bowden already has one.

It’s been a solemn feeling in Tallahassee since the turn of the century. The Florida State Seminoles and their coach Bobby Bowden have been on life support as they have struggled to stay competitive in a weak ACC  that they once  dominated. Wake Forest has been a team on the rise, the last time the Deacons visited Tallahassee they shut out the Seminoles 33-0, which hadn’t happened to the Seminoles in about 70 years at home. The Seminoles have won their first two games against inferior school 115-7, and Seminole fans are excited about what licking they are going to lay on the Deacons. The one thing they are forgetting is that Wake Forest is a real football program with players on scholarship, one of which Florida State has not played this year.   

LSU Breaks 10 Year Drought

Auburn and LSU have always played each other tough. All of their games lately have been decided by less than a touchdown, which isn’t surprising because usually no one team scores more than one touchdown. If you are looking for touchdowns in the handfuls, look further than this game and you will find it. Last week Auburn defeated Mississippi State in a yawner, the final score was 3-2 (yes, I’m talking about the football score, not the women’s softball game). It wasn’t that either team had tremendous defenses, I was more in the opinion that their offenses were atrocious. Late in the game all Auburn had to do was run the clock out, but they fumbled. The Bulldogs then turned the ball over on downs only for the Tigers to fumble again. The Bulldogs then turned the ball over again, the Tigers then took the safe approach and kneed the ball. The LSU Tigers will not be so offensively inept, they will break their 10 year losing streak at Auburn.

QB Colt McCoy and the #7 Texas Longhorns are flying under the radar so far this year.

JIB Picks

Week 3: 15-3 / Overall: 58-5 

Week 4: #1 USC (Bye) / #2 Oklahoma (Bye) / #3 Georgia – #24 Arizona State / #4 Florida – Tennessee / #5 Missouri – Buffalo  / #6 LSU – #9 Auburn / #7 Texas – Rice / #8 Wisconsin (Bye) / #10 Texas Tech – UMass / #11 BYU – Wyoming / #12 Oregon – Boise State / #13 Alabama – Arkansas / #14 Ohio State – Troy / #15 Penn State – Temple / #16 South Florida – Florida-International / #17 East Carolina – NC State / #18 Wake Forest – #25 Florida State / #19 Kansas – Sam Houston State / #20 Utah – Air Force / #21 Clemson – SC State / #22 West Virginia – Colorado / #23 Illinois (Bye)

ESPN Game Previews

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This year, more so than any year previous, there has been a lot of jockeying in the polls. The times when all you had to do was win to stay or move up in the polls is long gone. In 2005 Michigan was leap-frogged by Florida in the final polls to play in the BCS Championship, but Michigan was idle that week. Just this past week we saw Auburn beat an atrocious Mississippi State team 3-2, East Carolina defeat Tulane, and Oregon squeak past Purdue but they all fell a spot in the polls. Meanwhile, BYU went from #15 in week 1 to #18 in week 2 and then back up to #14 after their 59-0 beat down at the hands of the UCLA Bruins. Although highly entertaining, aren’t these polls just one more thing that proves the inconsistency with the media deciding who the best teams in the nation are?

Not even Hurricane Ike could stop TCU in their quest to crash the BCS party. BYU, East Carolina, and Utah also are making a run to do the same.

We hear it every year, “get rid of the BCS,” “Take out the ‘C’ and that’s what it is,” and “WE NEED A PLAYOFF!!” It is becoming very apparent with the amount of “Mid-major”(the most disrespectful term in college football) teams in the top 25 that the playing field is being leveled. It wasn’t until 2004-05 that a non-BCS school made it to a BCS Bowl game when Utah played in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, but since then Boise State and Hawaii have also crashed the party. There are few things as exciting as these schools from conferences that don’t belong on the big stage to bust through and crash the party. Just this past week, the mid-major Mountain West Conference was 4-0 against PAC-10 schools. UCLA, Stanford, Arizona and Arizona State fell to the hands of BYU, TCU, New Mexico, and UNLV. If it was one game in which the MWC prevailed it would have been normal, two to three and it would have been irregular, but it was four and it was a statement. You know it gets bad when teams like BYU beat two BCS caliber schools two weeks in a row and still get guff from the media for scheduling “bottom of the barrel BCS schools.” If bottom of the barrel schools from BCS conferences get a shot year in and year out for the National Championship then why don’t the cream of the crop from non-BCS schools get the same right? This is one of the most glaring and immoral problems with college football that I am surprised nobody has intervened with. People have tried, but the BCS is just too powerful. They have become a money machine and I’m sure just payoff anyone who tries to upheave them. 

Let’s all reflect on March Madness for a moment, they thrive on small schools upsetting the Goliaths. Think about George Mason( a school, not a player) in 2006, they went all the way to the Final Four! No doubt more people tuned in to see if an inferior George Mason could run the tables than see a regular North Carolina or Duke. The simple matter of the fact when it comes to college football is that it is not going to change for a long time. The BCS signed a 4 year $320 million TV deal with Fox until 2013, and they are here to stay for a while. As much as they preach that it’s about the student athletes, it’s not. We all know it’s not, it’s about the money, and the BCS is making a lot of conferences and schools rich. College football has turned into a communistic society, keeping the poor poor and the rich rich. And we thought the 2008 Beijing Olympics were bad…

Coach Jim Leavitt and QB Matt Grothe are getting serious.

Don’t get too excited for week 3 of college football you might get a celebration penalty. In week 2 we witnessed East Carolina take down yet another ranked opponent and bust their way all the way up to 14th in the nation. Here are a few headlines you might see in your Sunday sports section:

Bulls Gore Jayhawks

Now here’s a game that we all would have looked at two years ago and yawned over. South Florida who? The Kansas Jayhawks have a football team? Both teams made a splash last year but if it’s one team that has an edge in the contender cattegory it’s South Florida. Kansas won the FedEx Orange Bowl last year but did not play Oklahoma or Texas (both of which are on the schedule this year).  Bulls QB Matt Grothe will put a damper note on the Jayhawks season early so that their losses later in the year to OU, Texas, and Missouri (all currently in the top 10) won’t sting as bad. This trip to sunny Florida just won’t be the same for the Jayhawks. Expect the people in Lawrence to be talking Jayhawk basketball after this one, not Jayhawk football (so in other words, things are back to normal in Lawrence).

USC Solidifies It’s #1 Position

Trojans linebacker Rey Maualuga and the rest of the defense is going to make Chris “Beanie Baby” Wells and the Ohio State offense look silly. It took three quarters for the Buckeyes to wake up and start playing last week against an extremely inferior Ohio Wildcats team, they can’t afford to do that this week. The one thing that Ohio State does intelligently is that they schedule their difficult games early so that if they lose they have enough time to make their way back into contention for the BCS Championship Game. The one thing they don’t do intelligently is that when they get to the title game they roll over and play dead. A whole generation will grow up knowing Ohio State as the #1 loser every year.

BYU HB Harvey Unga will be a load for UCLA to take down.

No Celebration Penalty Needed as BYU Rolls

For the first time in years BYU finally got mentioned on College Gameday and it wasn’t even for something they did. Let’s set a few things straight, for starters Jake Locker clearly threw the ball high in the air, it was within the rules for the PAC-10 officiating crew to throw the flag. Also worth noting, up to that point in the game the refs had flagged Washington only twice for five yards, sounds like they were trying desparately to even things out so it did not look skewed. I’m sure they thought that a PAC-10 caliber kicker could have made a 35-yard extra point. That leads into my last point, BYU blocked the kick! Throw out all the controversey and “what ifs,” BYU blocked the kick, now lets move on to BYU-UCLA.

Norm Chow, offensive coordinator for UCLA, knows BYU well. Before winning national championships at USC and calling plays for the Tennessee Titans, Norm Chow coached at BYU…for 27 years!!! You better believe that Chow is going to bring out the big guns and exploit BYUs weak secondary and linebackers that were exposed against Washington. The problem facing Chow and his playbook is a young quarterback and an offense he only wishes was as talented as BYUs. Last time BYU and UCLA met was in the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl, BYU won by a blocked chip shot field goal(shorter than the one blocked at Washington last week), don’t expect this one to be that close.  

Purdue Boils Ducks

There is so much intrigue around Oregon’s football team every single year. It’s not that they are all that entertaining to watch, it’s that every year we wonder what horrid uniforms Nike will dress them up in. The Ducks’ offense this year is ranked in the top 5, it helps when you get the chance to lay 60+ points on a Utah State team that is going through “growing pains.” This game against the Boilermakers will be Oregon’s first road game of the year and don’t expect them to put points up on the scoreboard in bunches like they have at home. QB Joey Elliot and the Purdue offense are going to be the ones scoring points “Oregon style” while Oregon will falter on the road “West Virginia style.”

Expect #1 USC and QB Mark Sanchez to stay atop the polls for a little while.

JIB Picks

Week 2: 21-0 / Overall: 43-2

Week 3: #1 USC – #5 Ohio State / #2 Georgia – South Carolina / #3 Oklahoma – Washington / #4 Florida (Bye) / #6 Missouri – Nevada / #7 LSU – North Texas / #8 Texas – Arkansas / #9 Auburn – Mississippi State / #10 Wisconsin – #21 Fresno State / #11 Alabama – Western Kentucky / #12 Texas Tech – Southern Methodist / #13 Kansas – #19 South Florida / #14 East Carolina – Tulane / #15 Arizona State – UNLV / #16 Oregon – Purdue / #17 Penn State – Syracuse / #18 BYU - UCLA / #20 Wake Forest (Bye) / #22 Utah – Utah State / #23 Cal – Maryland / #24 Illinois – Louisiana-Lafayette / #25 West Virginia (Bye)

ESPN Game Previews

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