Friday, October 30, 2009

This weekend's previews: #11 Southern Cal @ #9 Oregon

For as good as everyone says Southern Cal is, they sure play with their backs against the wall a lot of the time. They Trojans are 3-1 in the Pac-10 after suffering a (not entirely unexpected) defeat at the hands of powerhouse (er... 3-5) Washington earlier this year. A loss to the #9 Ducks (4-0 in Pac-10 play, including easily dispatching the same Washinton team) would end the Men of Troy's hopes for winning the Pac-10, playing in the national championship, and probably playing in a BCS bowl.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

This weekend's previews: #3 Texas @ #14 Oklahoma State

Oh, how the Cowboys are wishing that the NCAA hadn't come down so hard on Dez Bryant. And oh, how the Cowboys wish they didn't get Texas coming off their best game of the year so far, a 41-7 spanking of what appeared to be a good Missouri team.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Week 9 rankings

For once, a week in college football where a top 5 team didn't fall, though Alabama did their damnedest. That said, there were some ranked teams that lost and will be falling down (or falling out of) the rankings.
So without further ado, here's the new top 25 for week 9.

1. Alabama (8-0): They may have had a rough time against Tennessee, but even elite teams don't completely dominate every week. That game reminded me of Florida vs South Carolina in 2006. The Tide are certainly good enough to win it all.
2. Florida (7-0): It was better than last week's game against Arkansas... kind of. Tebow needs to stop making bad throws, and Steve Addazio needs to work on his play calling. If the Gator offense can't get it together, Georgia will be tougher than anyone thinks.
3. Texas (7-0): There's the Colt McCoy we're looking for! Texas absolutely lit up a good Mizzou team, which does not bode well for the rest of the Big 12.
4. Cincinnati (7-0): They jump Iowa because of the way they win. Cincinnati does not play teams close. Blowing out Louisville is just the latest example.
5. Iowa (8-0): Iowa has won every game they've played in so far this year, and they've done it in the ugliest way possible. They needed a touchdown on 4th down with two seconds left this week. Still, ugly or not, they are undefeated.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Back to back Bulldogs

The Gators have struggled against Mississippi State. Who knows why. It's just one of those things that can happen in sports. Sometimes a team just has your number. Do I think that Florida will win today? Probably. But I anticipate having at least as many heart attacks as I suffered against Arkansas last week.
The western division Bulldogs are a vastly improved team, and next week the Gators face the eastern division Bulldogs, a vasty, erm... unimproved team. Why does it matter that we're playing Bulldogs in back to back weeks?

Friday, October 23, 2009

This weekend's previews

This weekend is not as crazy as last weekend in terms of matchups of ranked teams, but six will still take the field against each other.
First up is #16 South Florida against #18 Pittsburgh. Offensively, these teams are just about mirror images of each other. They ranked #21 (South Florida) and #23 (Pittsburgh) nationally in scoring offense at 33.7 and 33.3 points a game respectively. USF is only about 12 and 13 yards better through the air and on the ground respectively, compared to Pittsburgh.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Week 8 rankings

Another weekend of college football behind us, and more top 5 upsets in the books. Virginia Tech went down, Florida lucked out, and Colt McCoy showed that he's only a field goal better than Landry Jones (which my girlfriend pointed out before me). More undefeated teams fell by the wayside (South Florida, Kansas), and the first BCS rankings of the year are out. Without further ado, my rankings for week 8.

1. Alabama- They've played better than and worse than Florida against Arkansas and Kentucky respectively, but a win over Virginia Tech (which honestly, doesn't look quite as good now) has them ranked #1 in my poll for the first time this season.
2. Florida- Even elite teams have a bad game. If the Gators didn't want to lose the top spot, they should probably stop scheduling cupcakes and start playing some better teams.
3. Texas- "Colt McCoy is only 3 points better than Landry Jones."- Megen Olivo. True, but they're still undefeated in the Big 12.
4. Iowa- It's not pretty watching this football team, but they're 7-0 and that's impressive. Why they're not getting more love from the flesh and blood, I don't know.
5. Cincinnati- They steamrolled a good South Florida team in Tampa despite losing star quarterback Tony Pike. They still have Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Connecticut, but if they win out, they have a real shot at playing for a national title.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Patriots 59, Titans 0

No, that's not a high school or college football score. That is an honest to god NFL score. The New England Patriots best the Tennessee Titians 59 to 0.
Parity my ass.
Also, the day my fantasy team decided to come alive, I face a 1-3-1 team that's also decided to come alive. I'll be damned if a 30 point performance from Randy Moss and 29 points from DeAngelo Williams go to waste.
Also, sorry I couldn't update before the South Carolina-Alabama game. To give you a taste of what I was going to say, it was that Alabama is all about the defense. They're better on both sides of the ball than SC. My final score prediction was 35-14 Bama. At least I got this outcome right.
New poll tomorrow, so be sure to check back. Also, the BCS is completely ridiculous.

Friday, October 16, 2009

This weekend's previews: #4 Virginia Tech @ #17 Georgia Tech

The ACC costal division showdown between #4 Virginia Tech and #17 Georgia Tech is probably the second best game on this weekend, behind only the Red River Rivalry. Each team enters 5-1, but Virginia Tech hold a 3-1 ACC record, while Georgia Tech suffered a loss at the hands of Miami to put them at 3-1 in the conference.
If you wanted to take the easy way out, you could just point to their one common opponent (Miami) and say that Miami beat Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech beat Miami, but let's be honest- GT played in Miami, and Miami played in Blacksburg. It's not that simple.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

This weekend's previews: #6 Cincinnati @ #7 South Florida

Two of the top ten teams in the nation square off tonight in Raymond James Stadium as the Cincinnati Bearcats take on the South Florida Bulls. The big name going into this matchup is Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike. He's been mentioned in Heisman talk, and is probably the best offensive player in the Big East.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

This weekend's previews: #5 Iowa @ #22 Wisconsin

Iowa is one of those teams that the folks at ESPN don't give much respect to. Despite a 6-0 record, they're ranked outside the top 10 in both the AP and USA Today polls, behind (one-loss) Ohio State and only a few spots above (one-loss) Penn State. Wisconsin is in a similar boat- despite being 5-1 and thuroughly outplaying Ohio State in the Horseshoe (Ohio State's defense sealed the deal), they find themselves unranked going into this week's matchup with the Hawkeyes.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

This weekend's previews: #18 Southern Cal @ #24 Notre Dame

The rivalry between the Fighting Irish and the Trojans will be renewed this weekend, as both teams come into the matchup ranked since the 2005 classic.
This is an interesting matchup, as it's a bit hard to get a read on either of these teams. Each team has a loss, though Notre Dame's loss (on the road at Michigan) is arguably better than USC's (on the road at Washington). I know some of you may be barking that USC played that game with their backup quarterback, but with such superior athletes, and against a team that was winless the previous season, USC really had no excuse for losing that game.

Monday, October 12, 2009

First rankings of the season

With six weeks of college football behind us, and the rest of the blogosphere already ripe with rankings, I've decided it's time to throw my hat into the fray. By this point in the season, teams have already begun their conference slates and played some decent non-conference games. I'm one of the camp that thinks it's a bit silly to rank teams early in the season, so don't be surprised if these rankings don't look like the ones you'd find on ESPN. So without further ado, my week 7 rankings.

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech
5. Iowa
6. Cincinnati
7. South Florida
8. Miami (FL)
9. LSU
10. TCU
11. Kansas
12. Nebraska
13. South Carolina
14. Auburn
15. Boise State
16. Oregon
17. Georgia Tech
18. Southern California
19. Ohio State
20. Houston
21. Penn State
22. Wisconsin
23. Oklahoma State
24. Notre Dame
25. Pittsburgh