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September 10, 2010 by admin · Comments Off
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September 10, 2010 by admin · Comments Off
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College Football – 9 AP Top 25 Teams Lose, 6 to Unranked Teams, USC, Georgia & Florida All Lose
December 25, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
College football’s 5th week revealed the nation’s 6 luckiest teams-Missouri, Texas Tech, Brigham Young (BYU), Kansas, Boise State and Vanderbilt. They were the 6 teams among the AP Top 25 Poll who had a bye week, saving them from a possible upset loss.
The other 19 Top 25 teams did not fare so well in Week 5 as only 10 of the 19 won (a scant 53%) while 9 more-including 3 of the top 4 teams-lost.
Among the 9 ranked teams that lost, 6 committed the unforgivable sin of losing to unranked teams, an absolute no-no if you want to be in the hunt for the national title. You can pretty well say goodbye to the national title hopes of Southern California, Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Clemson, Illinois and Texas Christian (TCU).
The biggest loser was No. 1-ranked University of Southern California (USC, the University of Shoulda Coulda), which traveled to the Corvallis (OR) den of the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers, an unranked team at 1-2 who had already lost away games at Stanford and Penn State, decided to take out their nastiness on the Trojans, dominating USC 21-0 in the first half and hanging on for a 27-21 victory.
USC should have known better, since the Trojans were upset by the Beavers 33-31 during their last trip to Corvallis two years ago. That loss ended Southern Cal’s 38-game regular-season winning streak.
No. 4-ranked Florida hosted unranked Mississippi and promptly lost 31-30 with lousy defense and its star quarterback Tim Tebow, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, having a horrific day. Tebow was sacked 3 times by holding the ball too long, overthrew 4 receivers deep, lost a fumble that turned into an Ole Miss touchdown, and failed to convert on a run attempt with a critical 4th down and 2 feet to go at the Ole Miss 32-yard-line with 40 seconds left.
Florida won the first half 17-7 but lost the second half 24-13. It is a loss that coach Urban Meyer and his players will not soon forget, nor should they.
No. 9 Wisconsin led by 19 and was all over unranked Michigan but let the Wolverines back into the game by giving up 20 points in the 4th quarter, allowing Michigan to enjoy its biggest home comeback in history and give new coach Rich “I’m Not Hitched to West Virginia” Rodriguez his first win at Michigan, 27-25.
No. 16 Wake Forest spotted unranked Navy 17 points on its home field and never came back while losing 24-17.
No. 20 Clemson led unranked Maryland 17-6 at the half but could not score in the second half while losing at home, 20-17. Here is a news flash: Apparently Maryland is a whole lot better than Clemson this year.
No. 23 East Carolina hosted unranked Houston and bit the dust, 41-24. East Carolina’s early season wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia are looking less impressive every week.
The other 3 ranked teams that lost at least lost to ranked opponents. No. 3 Georgia hosted No. 8 Alabama and was dominated by the Crimson Tide 41-30 in a game that was not nearly as close as its score. No. 22 Illinois traveled to No. 12 Penn State and made the Nittany Lions look good in Happy Valley as the Illini went down, 38-24. No. 24 Texas Christian (TCU) traveled to No. 2 Oklahoma and found out why you do not want to play the Sooners at home, losing 35-10.
The Georgia Bulldogs simply got beat up, and at home no less. Georgia was ranked No. 1 in the pre-season AP Top 25 Poll and will now take a nosedive in the rankings. Illinois, Clemson and East Carolina should all be kicked out of the Top 25 this week.
Seven other ranked teams won, some impressively, some not. They included:
No. 5 LSU at home 34-24 over 1-4 Mississippi State (not impressive), No. 7 Texas at home 52-10 over Arkansas (impressive), No. 13 South Florida on the road 41-10 over North Carolina State (impressive), No. 14 Ohio State at home 34-21 over Minnesota (the Gophers came in unbeaten), No. 15 Auburn at home 14-12 over Tennessee (seriously, not impressive), No. 17 Utah at home 37-21 over 1-AA Weber State (beating a 1-AA team is not impressive), and No. 25 Fresno State on the road 36-31 over UCLA (hardly impressive, given the current state of UCLA football).
Other game results that struck a chord with me were:
Seeing the recent great Hawaii Warrior tradition of winning games now hitting hard times. Hawaii dusted off 1-AA Weber but has lost to Florida, Oregon State and San Jose State to open the season. June Jones, who built a 75-41 record in 9 seasons at Hawaii, bolted the program to take over the head coaching job at Southern Methodist University this year.
Michigan State is now 4-1 after beating Indiana 42-29 on the road, but can the Spartans continue to win against Iowa and Northwestern and host Ohio State with a 6-1 start? Has coach Mark Dantonio been able to build a different mindset at Michigan State, or will the Spartans fold once again when playing better competition?
Question: When is the last time the Tennessee Volunteers started a season at 1-3? Answer: 14 years ago.
How bad could North Texas be? Rice is seldom if ever good, and the Owls whipped in-state rival North Texas 77-20. That was also the score at the end of the 3rd quarter. North Texas must be really bad. North Texas has played the 5th toughest schedule in the country so far, but Jeff Sagarin also has them rated at 152 among 119 1-A teams.
Washington’s top two institutions-Washington and Washington State-are both terrible this year. Washington has lost its first 4 games, and the Huskies ‘ star quarterback Jake Locker broke the thumb on his throwing hand while losing Saturday to Stanford, 35-28. Things are not good in Husky land. Fourth-year coach Ty Willingham may be moving soon.
Things are even worse at Washington State. The Cougars are 0-5, having lost 39-13, 66-3, 45-17, 48-9 and 63-14. First year coach Paul Wulff will get a temporary pass but it is possible that when Washington State hosts in-state rival Washington on Nov. 22, the Cougars could be 0-11 and the Huskies 0-10.
Texas-El Paso (UTEP) coach Mike Price finally got his first win this season by hosting and beating the University of Central Florida, 58-13. Both teams are now 1-3.
The beauty of college football is the unexpected, the excitement of thousands of fans pouring onto the field after their Oregon State Beavers upset No. 1-ranked Southern Cal, the inexorable attrition of unbeaten teams clashing during conference play, and the unknown players who announce themselves as tomorrow’s stars in today’s games.
Welcome to college football’s 6th week, when Wisconsin hosts Ohio State, South Florida hosts Pittsburgh, Auburn travels to Vanderbilt, Utah hosts Oregon State, Michigan State hosts Iowa, Southern Cal hosts Oregon, and Missouri travels to Nebraska.
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College Football – Week 8 – Top 6 Teams Remain on Top, Led by Unbeaten Texas, Alabama & Penn State
December 13, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
College football’s 8th week saw the lesser lights among the AP Top 25 take turns getting beat up while the nation’s top 6 teams remain exactly the same with unbeaten Texas, Alabama and Penn State 1-2-3 followed by once-beaten Oklahoma, Florida and Southern Cal.
Taking care of business as usual was No. 1 Texas at home over No. 11 Missouri 56-31, No. 2 Alabama at home over unranked Mississippi 24-20, No. 3 Penn State at home over unranked Michigan 46-17, No. 4 Oklahoma at home over No. 16 Kansas 45-31, No. 5 Florida was idle, and No. 6 Southern Cal on the road over unranked Washington State 69-0.
Texas got off to a 35-0 lead by scoring touchdowns on its first 5 possessions of the first half as quarterback Colt McCoy had a career night, passing for 337 yards and 2 touchdowns, running for 2 more TDs, and setting a school record with 17 consecutive completions. Texas sure looks like a team that could play in the BCS national championship game as the Longhorns dominated on both sides of the ball.
Alabama led Mississippi 20-3 at the half and it was a good thing because the Old Miss Rebels won the second half 17-0. The Crimson Tide needed a late defensive stand and got it to hold off a Mississippi upset.
Michigan was feeling a lot buff after jumping out to a 10-0 lead and a 17-7 lead, but Penn State came back with 39 unanswered points to rout the Wolverines and break a 9-game losing streak against Michigan. Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions figure it is their year, so you better get out of the way.
Kansas scored in every quarter but Oklahoma just kept coming and prevailed as quarterback Sam Bradford passed for a Sooner school-record 468 yards while adding 3 TD passes.
Southern Cal took no mercy in visiting Washington State by obliterating the Cougars 69-zip, rolling up 625 yards of total offense, including 28 first downs and 402 yards in the first half. The Washington State shutout loss was its first since 1984, 24 years and 280 games ago.
On paper, the Cougars are not the worst team in the country simply because they played and won a game against 1-AA Portland State. Their rivals, the Washington Huskies, continue to be winless in 6 outings so they have earned the distinction. Even winless North Texas at 0-7 doesn’t get beat as bad as the Cougars and Huskies.
Other Top 25 winners this week included No. 7 Texas Tech on the road over unranked Texas A&M 43-25, No. 8 Oklahoma State at home over unranked Baylor 34-6, No. 10 Georgia at home over No. 22 Vanderbilt 24-14, No. 12 Ohio State on the road over No. 20 Michigan State 45-7, No. 13 LSU on the road over unranked South Carolina 24-17, No. 14 Utah at home over unranked Colorado State 49-16, No. 15 Boise State at home over unranked Hawaii 27-7, No. 19 South Florida at home over Syracuse 45-13, and No. 23 Pittsburgh on the road over Navy 42-21.
So 14 of the 23 AP Top 25 teams won (61%) while 9 of the 23 lost (39%) as 4 of the 9 losers ran head on into ranked teams. No. 24 Ball State, along with Florida, was idle.
No. 9 Brigham Young bit the dust as an unbeaten team by traveling to unranked Texas Christian and getting a mud hole stomped in them 32-7, so much for unbeaten teams playing cupcake schedules. Entering the game, BYU’s Sagarin schedule strength ranked 121st among 119 Division 1-A teams.
No. 17 Virginia Tech traveled to unranked Boston College and managed to lose 28-23. No. 18 North Carolina traveled to unranked Virginia and lost to the Cavaliers in overtime 16-13. No. 21 Wake Forest traveled to unranked Maryland and got skunked 26-0. No. 25 California traveled to unranked Arizona and was upset 42-27. There seems to be a pattern here-Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest and California all had away games against unranked teams and lost, proving it is dangerous to travel.
The losses by Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Wake Forest and California all bounced them right out of the Top 25 rankings. Losses by Vanderbilt and Michigan State bounced them out as well.
New to the rankings this week are Georgia Tech (6-1) at No. 21, Tulsa (7-0 with a schedule strength of 141st going into the week) at No. 22, Boston College (5-1) at No. 23, and Minnesota (6-1) at No. 25. Returning to the Top 25 for the second time this season was Texas Christian (7-1) at No. 15 and Florida State (5-1) at No. 24.
The 9 remaining unbeaten teams include Texas, Alabama, Penn State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Utah, Boise State, Ball State and Tulsa.
At least 1 of the 9 unbeatens will lose this Saturday (10-25-08) as No. 7 Oklahoma State (7-0) travels to No. 1 Texas (7-0). Two other hardcore games find No. 8 Texas Tech (7-0) at No. 19 Kansas (5-2), and No. 3 Penn State (8-0) at Ohio State (7-1).
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College Football 2007 – Illinois Upsets Ohio State 28-21, Creating a Scramble for the BCS Title Game
December 10, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Ron Zook, who was drummed out as Florida’s head coach after failing to duplicate Steve Spurrier’s record with the Gators, regained a measure of respect by motivating his Fighting Illini to a 28-21 upset of No. 1-ranked and unbeaten Ohio State Saturday (11-10-07).
The victory marked the first time Illinois (8-3) had beaten a No. 1-ranked team since 1956, and the first time it had done it away from home. The loss ended Ohio State’s conference and school streak of 20 consecutive Big 10 wins by the Buckeyes, who are now 10-1.
The defeat not only dampened Ohio State’s dream of a national championship, it left the Buckeyes tied with Michigan for the top spot in the Big 10 as Wisconsin upset Michigan 37-21 the same day.
Not since Nov. 14, 1959 had Michigan and Ohio State both lost the week before their annual year-end grudge match to decide the Big 10 title. This is how it is in the Big 10, tiresome and boring as in recent years it is always Ohio State or Michigan capturing the title. Other Big 10 teams compete but never seem to challenge for the title.
Illinois picked up 260 yards rushing against Ohio State that came into the game giving up only 65 yards on the ground per game. This was not a huge surprise as the Illini now rank 6th in rushing offense nationally, gaining 261 yards per game. In other words, Illinois was on its game and Ohio State was not.
Zook had a slow start as the Illinois head coach, going 2-9 and 2-10 his first two years before picking up his 8th win Saturday against 3 losses. Zook was 1-15 in his first two years of Big 10 Conference play, going 0-8 his first year. You can bet the other Big 10 coaches know who Ron Zook is now.
Was Ohio State looking past Illinois to Michigan? I think so. The Buckeyes dropped to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
No. 13-ranked Michigan (now 8-3) was knocked off by Wisconsin (also 8-3), 37-21. The Badgers meant business at home by taking a 23-7 lead into the 4th quarter and matching the Wolverines 2 touchdowns to keep their point margin and preserve their victory. Michigan slid to No. 23 in the AP Poll.
No. 8-ranked Boston College (8-2) got stung for the second straight week, this time by Maryland (5-5), 42-35. All of the talk about the Eagles vaunted defense is fading away faster than fog on a hot summer day.
Other teams that were embarrassed this week included No. 16-ranked Connecticut (8-2), which lost to Cincinnati (obviously a better 8-2 team), 27-3, and No. 21-ranked Alabama (now 6-4) which was upended by Mississippi State, (also 6-4), 17-12.
Imagine, Mississippi State, which has been the doormat of the SEC for years, rises up and whips Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. Even if the Bulldogs lose to Arkansas and in-state rival Mississippi, Mississippi State is already bowl eligible.
Alabama should handle Louisiana-Monroe next week and become bowl eligible with its 7th victory.
The loss by Ohio State allowed some other contenders to show off a little against much weaker competition. Here are some examples:
1) No. 2-ranked LSU (9-1) blistered No. 107-rated Louisiana Tech (4-6), 58-10.
2) No. 4-ranked Oklahoma (9-1) ripped No. 119-rated Baylor (3-8), 52-21.
3) No. 19-ranked Boise State (9-1) rolled past hapless No. 166-rated Utah State (0-10), 52-0. Despite its rating, Utah State is a Division 1A school.
Only two 1A teams remain unbeaten-No. 5-ranked Kansas (10-0) and No. 14-ranked Hawaii (9-0). The Jayhawks spotted No. 49-rated Oklahoma State (5-5) 4 touchdowns but still won 43-28.
The Hawaii Warriors, ranked No. 14 but rated No. 29 by Sagarin, were outscored 14-3 in the 4th quarter by No. 74-rated Fresno State (6-4) but outlasted the Bulldogs, 37-30, to stay undefeated. Hawaii moved up to 13th in Sunday’s new AP Poll.
In two weeks, Hawaii will host Boise State, now ranked 17th in the Poll, and a serious threat, even in an away game, to beat the Warriors. Boise State is not to be confused with the cupcakes Hawaii has been playing all season. After the Boise State game, we will find out who is bad and who is sad.
The fact that Kansas and Hawaii are the only two unbeaten teams left should come as no surprise for two reasons. One, Hawaii is 1st (50 points per game) and Kansas 2nd (45 ppg) nationally in scoring offense, and two, Kansas’ strength of schedule is 97th and Hawaii’s is 157th among 119 Division 1A schools, not exactly impressive in either case.
Two other games deserve notice: the Navy-North Texas fiasco and the looming Harvard -Yale showdown in the Ivy League.
No. 77-rated Navy (6-4) hung on for dear life to beat No. 180-rated North Texas (1-8), 74-62, in a game without a shred of defense that set a new major college record for a combined game score. The 94 first-half points (North Texas led 49-45) and the 63 combined points in the 2nd quarter both set major college scoring records.
Just two weeks earlier, Weber State outlasted Portland State, 73-68, to set the all-divisions record.
These basketball-score football games tend to confuse everyone. Clearly, there is more interest in a 73-68 game than a 6-3 pushing match that highlights defensive play. That said, these high-scoring games are getting ridiculous. They remind me of Little League baseball scores before they put on limits so everyone could go home and get to bed on time.
Harvard (7-2) beat Penn (3-6) 23-7 and Yale (9-0) remained undefeated, winning at Princeton (another 3-6 team), 27-6, to set up a huge showdown at Yale in the 1-AA Ivy League. Both Harvard (rated 152nd) and Yale (rated 100th) are a perfect 6-0 in league play and will meet undefeated for the first time since 1968 with the title on the line.
Last year Yale beat Harvard at Harvard 34-13 to claim a share of the Ivy League title with Princeton. The win over Harvard last year was its first since 2000. Stay tuned to this match-up as it is serious business in the New England area.
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College Football Week 11 – Southern Cal’s 7 Years of Excellence Ends, Stanford Wins, 55 – 21
December 6, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
It’s over for Southern California. Coach Pete Carroll will be dining with some lesser light Hollywood celebrities in the near future.
Gone are the USC streaks of 7 straight BCS bowls, 7 straight 11-win seasons, and 7 straight top-4 AP poll finishes. Gone also is USC’s 7-year stranglehold on the Pac-10 Conference title.
After 60 excruciating minutes of watching Stanford’s Toby Gerhart-The Cardinal Battering Ram-run all over USC’s home field for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns, Pete Carroll and his Trojans were handed their second major trouncing in two weeks. There was no stopping Gerhart as 25th-ranked Stanford (7-3) did a number on the 11th-ranked and soon dropping USC (7-3) Trojans, 55-21. Adding insult to injury, it was USC’s 2009 homecoming game.
Just two weeks ago, USC was upset at Oregon 47-20. Saturday’s loss to Stanford was the Trojans’ worst since a 51-0 drubbing at home against Notre Dame in 1966, 43 years ago.
Pete Carroll had to be bummed out. He lost in November for the first time after 28 straight victories in the toughest month for every college football coach during the season. And for the second time in three weekends, Carroll endured the worst loss of his 9 seasons at USC. The perennial flower that bloomed at USC for 7 consecutive years has now faded.
After leading 28-21 after 3 quarters, Stanford piled it on with 4 touchdowns in the last quarter, just rubbing it in a little bit for past indiscretions by the Trojans. Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh’s 2007 team also upset then 2nd-ranked USC 24-23 on the Trojans’ same home field.
Harbaugh has made it quite clear that he is sick and tired of USC’s past dominance in the Pac-10. Virtually everyone thought that the California Bears would be the team to bring the Trojans down a peg or two, but it was Harbaugh’s Cardinal team that has gotten the job done.
Stanford’s victory over USC was only 1 of 5 upsets among ranked teams this week. The other 4 were recorded by unranked teams:
North Carolina (7-3), unranked and smarting, won 33-24 at home over No. 12 Miami of Florida (also 7-3) as Coach Butch Davis notched his 3rd consecutive victory over his former program, and made North Carolina bowl eligible for the 2nd straight season.
Central Florida (6-4) handed No. 13 Houston (8-2) its second loss 37-32, closing the door on Cougar quarterback Case Keenum, who had a couple of last-minute rallies in Houston’s last 5 wins. The Central Florida Knights rallied at home from a two-touchdown deficit to build a 17-point lead before Keenum threw two late TD passes to make the final score appear closer.
California (7-3) stuck a fork in No. 18 Arizona’s (6-3) hopes for a better season as the Bears finally roared again at home, beating the Wildcats 24-16. Rutgers (7-2) was hardly impressed with No. 23 South Florida (6-3) as the Scarlet Knights took the South Florida Bulls to school by shutting them out 31-0. Rutgers forced 4 turnovers, blocked a punt and recorded 7 sacks, and freshman quarterback Tom Savage threw for two touchdowns.
Stanford’s upset of Southern Cal was 1 of the 3 great games of the day. The other two involved No. 4 TCU and No. 10 Ohio State.
No. 4 TCU (10-0) remained unbeaten by really making 16th-ranked Utah (8-2) look bad in a 55-28 win. TCU leads the mid-level Mountain West Conference with a 6-0 record. Utah had been running around all season acting like the Utes were something special, and then they arrived at TCU and found out why they are not so special. As if to erase any doubt, TCU led 38-14 at the half.
No. 10 Ohio State (9-2) brought No. 15 Iowa (9-2) into its view as the Buckeyes welcomed the Hawkeyes into their 101,568-seat Horseshoe Stadium before taking the game into overtime and earning a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 13 years. Ohio State last visited the Rose Bowl in 1996 when the Buckeyes were ranked 2nd in the nation after beating Arizona State 20-17.
But back to Saturday’s game, which will provide fodder for sports talk radio shows for months to come as neither Ohio State or Iowa would go for a last minute victory when they had the opportunity to do so. The game ended at 24-all after Marvin McNutt threw a 10-yard scoring pass to James Vandenberg.
The Buckeyes had blown a two-touchdown lead in the 4th quarter. The Hawkeyes had the ball at their 33 with 52 seconds and two timeouts left, but chose to run out the clock and send the game into overtime. Ohio State had the ball on its 18 with 2:37 left and multiple timeouts, and didn’t try to win it.
Both coaches-Kirk Ferentz of Iowa and Jim Tressel of Ohio State-wanted overtime to get it settled because they did not trust their kickers; Iowa had missed a 22-yard field goal attempt earlier in the game, and Ohio State’s kicker had missed from 47 yards out.
When push came to shove, Tressel basically took three runs up the middle for all of 2 yards before letting replacement kicker Devin Barclay come up with the winning 39-yard FG to put the Buckeyes on top, 27-24. The Hawkeyes were unbeaten this year until losing 17-10 at home to Northwestern last week.
Barclay, a 26-year-old former pro soccer player and first-year, walk-on kicker, was forced into duty as a replacement three weeks ago when starter Aaron Pettrey injured his knee.
And now for the expected happenings of week 11. Here are another 8 ranked teams that won home games:
No. 5 Cincinnati (10-0) remained unbeaten by using a field goal advantage to beat a 7-3 West Virginia team 24-21. No. 6 Boise State (10-0) remained unbeaten by easily handling a 7-4 Idaho team 63-25. No. 8 Pittsburgh (9-1) led Notre Dame (6-4) 20-3 after 3 quarters and almost let things get out-of-hand before putting away the Fighting Irish 27-22.
No. 9 LSU (8-2) notched an unspectacular win over Louisiana Tech 24-16. No. 14 Oregon (8-2) ripped Arizona State 44-21. No. 17 Oklahoma State (8-2) was behind 10-7 at the half but beat Texas Tech 24-17. No. 19 Penn State beat Indiana 31-20 despite having 4 first-half turnovers. No. 21 Wisconsin (8-2) took apart a struggling Michigan team 45-24.
Here are another 7 ranked teams that won away games, always tougher than home victories:
No. 1 Florida (10-0) remained unbeaten at the expense of South Carolina, 24-14, as the Gators completed their first perfect (8-0) SEC East title in 13 years. No. 2 Texas (10-0) remained unbeaten by easily kicking around Baylor, 47-14, as Colt McCoy tied the NCAA record for career victories by a starting quarterback with 42 (take just a moment and think about how special the accomplishment was by Colt McCoy).
No. 3 Alabama (10-0) remained unbeaten by dominating Mississippi State, 31-3, and continues to lead the SEC West with a 7-0 mark. No. 7 Georgia Tech (10-1) stomped Duke, 49-10, to clinch a spot in the ACC Conference championship game. No. 20 Virginia Tech (7-3) beat Maryland 36-9. No. 22 BYU (8-2) could only muster a 24-19 victory over a hapless, inept, winless 0-10 New Mexico team. No. 24 Clemson (7-3) whipped North Carolina State 43-23.
Three other games among unranked teams were noteworthy. Temple (8-2) won its 8th consecutive game 56-17 over Akron; Central Michigan (8-2) picked up its 8th win 56-28 over Toledo; Navy (8-3) earned its 8th win by downing Delaware 35-18; and Mississippi (7-3) found a way to penetrate Tennessee’s (5-5) defense by scoring 42 points to win 42-17.
Four unranked teams finally became bowl eligible this week, the most surprising of which was the Southern Methodist (6-4) Mustangs, who outlasted UTEP 35-31.
June Jones was 1-11 in this first year coaching last year and now has a bowl-eligible team. People no longer laugh when you use SMU and football in the same sentence. Jones built a juggernaut at mid-level Hawaii using Mouse Davis’ run-and-shoot offense, going 75-41 over 9 years, and winning 4 of 6 bowl games. The bottom line on the likeable June Jones-more dangerous than his name would indicate.
The three other teams joining SMU as bowl eligible were Oklahoma, Arkansas and Michigan State. Some people wondered if Oklahoma (6-4) was going to make it this year, but the Sooners finally got the job done by easily beating Texas A&M, 65-10. Arkansas (6-4) took care of a 7-3 Troy team, 56-20; and Michigan State (6-5) was 11 points down to Purdue but won 40-37 on Brett Swenson’s 4th field goal with 1:51 left.
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College Football Betting Tips – How to Consistently Pick the Winning Team
December 6, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
College football is considered to be one of the games least touched by dishonesty, because every player is there to play for the pride of the school and nothing else. As there is no money involved for the players they are playing only for their future careers perhaps in the NFL.
The Teams
As there are no salaries involved schools can sign the top players in the country, in fact, a recent report showing the top high school possible recruits revealed that a strong majority had U.S.C. and Texas on their list of college choices – good players want to play at a good school. The problem is that the better teams just keep getting better with the pick of the top players whilst the less fortunate teams struggle to attract the players they need this limits the number of real challengers in this sports arena.
Betting On College Football
As we stated earlier school football is less restricted than the professional game, As a result coaches will try different plays and combinations – this often results in high scoring games. That is why the person betting on college football should not make the mistake of thinking of the odds in terms of the NFL, no matter how weak an NFL player seems they will still be one of the top players in the football world. This is not the case in the amateurs where only a handful of players can hope to be good enough for the NFL. That is why the scores can vary so widely, much more than in the professional game.
The Underdog Effect
Rivalry is hot between schools, meaning that when 2 teams with history meet all bets should be off as no matter what talent is available or how it looks on paper the contest could be close just from the rivalry, we can see throughout the history of college football that the favorite to win can fall to a less talented team who just wanted it that bit more.
Coaches
When betting on football it is important to analyze the coaches as well, will the coach adapt his game plan depending on how the game plays out? Does the coach like to fire away even when the game is won? Knowing these things will give you the edge when it comes to selecting your betting
In Summary
To be a consistent winner when playing the betting game you must understand the differences between the NFL and college football, it sounds simple but many people forget this simple lesson to their detriment. Apply these rules and observations when betting on the school games and you can join the ranks of the successful sports gamblers enjoying the fruits of the college game – Enjoy your gambling and always gamble responsibly.
By: Willie Taylor
About the Author:
Resource box: If you enjoy Sports Betting then you have probably bet on a football game, what about a college game? College Football Betting is extremely lucrative and easy if you know how to play the game
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College Football – Week 13 – Fantasy Season at Texas Tech is Over, Oklahoma Kills the Dream, 65-21
December 2, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
It was a grand, glorious 10 weeks for the No. 2-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders, complete with an undefeated 10-0 record and huge victories over Nebraska, Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma State. They looked unbeatable, unstoppable and headed for the BCS National Championship Game.
Then a funny thing happened when they took a trip to No. 5-ranked Oklahoma, which had lost to Texas 5 weeks ago. Either someone had forgotten to tell the Red Raiders, or they had forgotten to listen, that Oklahoma led the nation with 23 consecutive home victories.
No one had to remind the Sooners, they remembered just fine, clubbing the Red Raiders along side the head with a 2×4 in a stunning 65-21 drubbing. Sooner Quarterback Sam Bradford threw for 300+ yards and 4 touchdowns, and DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown ran for 5 more scores.
Both teams came in with explosive offenses. Both were 2 of the 3 top teams in the country in passing offense and scoring offense, averaging a combined 788 yards and 98 points a game. Statistically, both teams were equal in rushing defense and scoring defense. Both were equal in passing defense and both of their passing defense stats were poor.
What should have been an exciting, great scoring game became a great game for Oklahoma. Texas Tech ended up sucking pond water in Louisiana.
Three other ranked teams lost to other ranked opponents. No. 16 Brigham Young lost on the road to No. 8 Utah, 48-24. No. 17 Michigan State lost on the road to No. 7 Penn State, 49-18. No. 20 Pittsburgh lost on the road to No. 19 Cincinnati, 28-21.
Four other ranked teams lost to unranked opponents, never a good idea if you want to gain favor with the people involved in the national weekly rankings. These kind of losses can cost teams thousands of dollars in lost bowl revenue by being passed by the powers to be at bowls with wealthier payouts.
The losers included the No. 18 LSU Tigers who lost on their home turf to Mississippi, 31-13. The No. 22 Maryland Terrapins who got slapped around at home by Florida State, 37-3 (I know, small, edible turtles. No telling how much time some Maryland homer spent thinking up this nickname for a football team, but I suspect it had to be hours after exhausting every reasonable name). The No. 23 Miami (FL) Hurricanes who lost at home to Georgia Tech, 41-23. The No. 25 North Carolina Tar Heels who got slapped around at home by the arch-rival North Carolina State Wolfpack, 41-10.
So 8 of 18 AP Top 25 Poll teams lost this week (44%), and 4 of the 8 lost to unranked teams. On the brighter side, 10 of the 18 top-ranked teams (56%) won and continued to march forward, 6 of them with a vengeance. The 5 fanny kickers besides Oklahoma included:
No. 3 Florida (10-1) which thumped 1-AA The Citadel 70-19, scoring on its first 7 possessions, racking up 512 yards of offense in the first half alone, and becoming the first Southeast Conference (SEC) team to score at least 42 points in 6 consecutive games. I like Florida but it is so unseemly to be playing 1-AA teams, even early in the season much less late.
No. 7 Penn State at home over No. 17 Michigan State 49-18. The Nittany Lions showed that the Spartans (though 9-3) are really not ready to play and beat great teams yet. Penn State’s Daryll Clark threw for a career-high 341 yards and 4 touchdowns and the Nittany Lion defense held Spartan Javon Ringer to a season-low 42 yards (that’s not Ringer, that’s an inept Michigan State offensive line being controlled by Penn State).
No. 8 Utah at home over No. 16 Brigham Young 48-24. This win was huge for the Utes, who have an unbeaten 12-0 season, a Mountain West Conference championship, a date in the BCS Bowl Series, and a victory over BYU for the first time in 3 years.
No. 10 Ohio State at home over arch-rival Michigan 42-7. The Buckeyes totally humiliated a now dysfunctional Wolverine team led by first-year coach Rich Rodriquez, giving Michigan its worst loss to Ohio State in 40 years. Michigan is 3-9 on the year and a shambles of what was once a proud, successful program. Rodriguez, who built tremendous success at West Virginia, has a lot of work to do.
No. 15 Texas Christian (TCU) at home over Air Force 44-10. Andy Dalton threw 2 TD passes and ran for 2 more scores as the Horned Frogs (what a name for a team) racked up 10-win season. The 4 other winners were:
No. 9 Boise State on the road at Nevada 41-34. The Broncos were lucky to get out of this game unbeaten as Nevada won the second half, 31-17. When you give up 34 points to a 6-5 team, you are not nearly as good as your record says.
No. 14 Ball State on the road at Central Michigan 31-24. Central Michigan came into this game at 8-2 and the Cardinals needed a 4th quarter touchdown to win this one.
No. 19 Cincinnati at home over Pittsburgh 28-21, marking its first win over the Panthers in 8 games. Despite a broken arm, Tony Pike threw for 3 touchdown passes, and you thought Pittsburgh was tough.
No. 21 Oregon State on the road over Arizona, 19-17, on a last play 24-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Justin Kahut. It was sweet redemption for Kahut, who missed an extra point attempt that would have tied the game late in the 4th quarter.
Should the Oregon State Beavers beat their arch-rival-the Oregon Ducks-in their last game, they would qualify for the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1965. That is because the Beavers managed to upset visiting Southern California earlier in the season.
Seven Top 25 teams were idle this week-No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Texas, No. 6 Southern California (USC), No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Missouri, No. 13 Georgia and No. 24 Oregon.
Entering the last two weeks of regular season play, only 4 unbeaten teams now remain-No. 1 Alabama (11-0), No. 8 Uath (12-0), No. 9 Boise State (11-0), and No. 15 Ball State (11-0). Utah will remain unbeaten as its season is over. On Saturday, Alabama hosts in-state, arch-rival Auburn, Boise State hosts Fresno State Friday, and Ball State hosts Western Michigan Tuesday (11-25-08).
In other news this weekend, the 0-10 Washington Huskies traveled to Pullman to face their arch-rival 1-10 Washington State Cougars in a game I have dubbed the “2008 Losers Bowl”. Losers Bowl seemed like a correct title since Washington State’s only victory came against 1-AA Portland State, so they really had a combined 1-A record of 0-20.
The Huskies, winless and hopeless, lead the nation in one category-they have the longest losing streak in the 1-A Division, 13 consecutive losses. This confrontation actually got exciting near the end as Washington held a 10-point lead at halftime and a 3-point lead with 56 seconds left to play.
The Huskies, however, allowed the Cougars to move from their own 20 to the Husky 11, where sophomore Nico Grasu kicked a 28-yard field goal on the final play of regulation time to tie the game at 13. Ironically, Husky kicker Ryan Perkins missed a 28-yarder about 3.5 minutes earlier.
The teams swapped field goals on their first overtime possessions, but Perkins missed again at 37 yards during Washington’s second possession. Four downs later Grasu nailed one from the same 37 yards out to give the Cougars their first 1-A win of the season and their third victory over Washington in the last 4 years.
The rest of what happened over the weekend was just window dressing for a bunch of teams going nowhere at about 1,000 miles an hour.
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Top Football Stadiums in College
November 25, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
Sports are a big part of college life. From the drunkards that attend to the students there to show support for their team and school, football can bring out the best or worst in people. For those who love to watch more than just the NFL, here are a few of the top stadiums colleges have to offer.
The top stadium belongs to Texas A&M. Kyle field, is more than just a stadium, it’s an experience. The fans here support their team so much that they stand during the entire game, except when the opposing band plays at halftime. For the lovers out there, fans continuously make out every time the team scores. And last but not least, Kyle field is home of the 12th man. Who wouldn’t want to be part of the game without having to actually endure the bone crushing tackles?
When it comes to home field advantage no stadium can compare to Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium. Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va., doesn’t blow people away by the brute strength of a massive stadium, but with knowledgeable that can drown out the noise of an aircraft. Every good stadium has at least one end designed for deafening noise levels and the enclosed South End Zone at Lane Stadium fits the bill perfectly. Holding more than 11,000 screaming Virginia Tech fans, the section amplifies noise and renders audibles useless. That’s not to mention the isolation factor. With the nearest major airport nearly 45 minutes away, opponents’ fans are never out in force at Lane Stadium.
Neyland Stadium home of the Tennessee Vols has a style of its own. For starters there’s the checkerboard end zone. Not many teams have gotten creative enough to think of something like this. Next there the fight song of the Vols. With the crowd constantly chanting it, any new fan will know the words by the end of the game. Some nice attractions of the stadium include the Tennessee River, where fans arrive by boat and tailgate hours before kickoff and hours after the game. On the other side is The Hill, the historic center of UT’s old campus. Rising above it all are the Smoky Mountains, a perfect scenic backdrop for a fall Saturday afternoon. For the fans who love a nice view of things other than the game this is the place for you.
Fourth is Notre Dame Stadium the home of the fighting Irish. At this stadium you’ll find a little bit of heaven. Within waking distance of the field are great structures such as the Golden Dome, the Grotto, the Basilica of Sacred Heart, and Hesburgh library which features ‘Touchdown Jesus’ on its side. Notre Dame Stadium was expanded to accommodate fans who couldn’t get tickets. The school has sold out every game but one since 1964. The only non-sellout over that time was a Thanksgiving Day game vs. Air Force in 1973 when students weren’t on campus. The fans also show their dedication by holding rousing pep rallies on Friday nights. Isn’t this the type of crowd you’d like to be around while watching an intense game?
And finally Florida Field, home of the Gators comes in fifth. Various renovations over the years have contributed to an 83,000-seat configuration unlike your typical bowl. The first level is underground and both end zones are enclosed. There’s no buffer from the field to the stands which is less than ten feet in some areas, which creates a sense of fans on top of the field and players. The North end zone Touchdown Terrace is deafening for opponents, adding an advantage for the Gators. The players go nuts, but the fans are worse. Between the screaming and the hollering fans can barley hear the person next to them and that’s before kickoff. So if you’re a fan who loves to be nasty and noisy this is the stadium for you.
By: Bob Johnson
About the Author:
Bob is with EZ Ticket Search – providing premium seating in the secondary market to sports, concerts, broadway events and College Football Tickets. Visit my blog EventOutlet.com to read more College Football articles.
College Football – Washington’s Huskies Don’t Need a Bye Week, They Really Need a Bye Season
November 20, 2009 by admin · Comments Off
There are a lot of loyal Husky fans who are sleepless in Seattle because their team is winless in Seattle. They are simply antsy about taking another hit for the cause because Washington has become arguably the worst team in the nation.
The Huskies might be barking like an angry dog, but their opponents are no longer paying attention. They are not even listening; they are snickering. The once proud, winning tradition built by the immortal Don James has become so unraveled by other hands that it may never be put back together again.
Proof positive came last Saturday (10-4-08) in Tucson (AZ) when Arizona led 48-7 after three quarters and Coach Mike Stoops mercifully let his troops cruise home to a 48-14 victory. The defeat was Washington’s 5th straight this season and 7th straight dating back to last season. Even a winless Army team managed to notch its first victory Saturday by beating Tulane 44-13, leaving only North Texas (also 0-5) and Washington as the only winless Division I-A teams.
Even North Texas has only lost 6 straight dating to its last game a year ago, meaning the Huskies have the longest losing streak in the nation. The Huskies have lost to bitter rival Oregon (44-10), Brigham Young (28-27), Oklahoma (55-14), Stanford (35-28) and now Arizona (48-14). Their two season-ending losses were to bitter in-state rival Washington State (42-35) and Hawaii (35-28).
It is true that, through the 6th week of the season, Washington has played the 2nd toughest schedule among all 119 Division 1-A teams. The problem is that we are not talking about the Tuba City, Montana Buffaloes; we are talking about the once-proud, once-feared Washington Husky football program.
And, yes, the Tuba City, Montana Buffaloes are fictitious; it is just difficult to compare the Huskies to another team because there is no team worse than Washington is right now.
So just how bad are the Huskies? I thought you would never ask. The Huskies are this bad: Jeff Sagarin has them rated108th among 242 possible 1-A and 1-AA teams. There are 10 1-AA teams rated ahead of Washington. They are all the way from Montana (at 106th) to James Madison (at 70th), and include Massachusetts, Jacksonville State, Appalachian State, Weber State, Richmond, New Hampshire, Villanova and McNeese State. This is not exactly a powerhouse lineup.
There are 22 1-A schools rated worse than Washington, the poorest is Idaho (at 183rd) and then North Texas (at 180th). All 10 AA teams and 22 A teams-except North Texas-have done something that Washington has not-win at least one game this season.
Washington Coach Ty Willingham has definitely joined a not-so-famous club that includes Tommy Bowden from Clemson, Kirk Ferentz from Iowa, Phillip Fulmer from Tennessee, Al Groh from Virginia and Greg Robinson from Syracuse. All of them are about to be fired as head coaches.
Willingham will not survive this season. The only real question left is: will he even win a single game?
Washington has a bye this weekend. What the Huskies really need is not a bye week but a bye season.
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