SB Nation - Navy Midshipmen

Don't Bet On It!: College Football Bowl Edition (Part III)

T Kyle King — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:50:18 -0000

Obviously, intervening considerations have sidetracked me after I offered the first two installments of my postseason predictions, for which I humbly apologize and which I now will endeavor to rectify by providing the next four bowl forecasts.

Two points bear making before I proceed, however. First of all, I am omitting the Independence Bowl from the mix because I will be giving special attention to the matchup in Shreveport between now and December 28. Secondly, my record as a prognosticator is not an impressive one, so, whatever you do . . . Don’t Bet On It!

Emerald Bowl: Boston College Eagles v. USC Trojans (Dec. 26): Southern California fell off a cliff in 2009, relatively speaking, earning the Men of Troy the highly unflattering distinction of "Team Schadenfreude." Boston College, meanwhile . . . um . . . wait a second . . . yeah, the Eagles quietly went a perfectly respectable yet nondescript 8-4 with five conference wins for a league mark above .500, which far outdistanced USC’s disastrous record of 8-4 with five conference wins for a league mark above .500. Hang on, that can’t be right, can it? Oh, yeah, it is. All right, then, I’m going with the Trojans.

Music City Bowl: Clemson Tigers v. Kentucky Wildcats (Dec. 27): While I hope this proves to be a preview of an SEC East divisional matchup in a couple or three years, I’m still a bit miffed that those Outback Bowl clowns slammed the door on the possibility of a renewal of the rivalry in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. These two clubs ought to be fairly evenly matched, since capturing an ACC division championship is approximately equivalent to finishing in the muddled middle of the SEC, but the Country Gentlemen have C.J. Spiller and the Wildcats have the 11th-ranked rushing defense in the Southeastern Conference. Yeah, I’m thinking Clemson wins a close one.

EagleBank Bowl: Temple Owls v. UCLA Bruins (Dec. 29): Absolutely nothing about this bowl makes sense to me. I don’t get the idea of playing a college football bowl game in Washington, D.C., home of the efforts to foul up the sport permanently. I don’t know what EagleBank is, although I’d be willing to bet that EagleBank uses magicJack for its telephone/internet/facsimile/séance/other communication services. I can’t wrap my brain around the concept of Temple playing in a bowl game. The only part of this whole thing that computes is the idea of the Bruins being there, and that only happened because the Army Black Knights couldn’t hold a halftime lead against the Navy Midshipmen. Since everything else about this bowl seems like something out of a Salvador Dali painting, a David Lynch film, or that "Star Trek" episode where Mr. Spock had a goatee, I’m going with the only sensible aspect of the entire affair and picking UCLA to emerge triumphant.

Champs Sports Bowl: Miami Hurricanes v. Wisconsin Badgers (Dec. 29): Are there two teams in the country tougher to figure than these two? We’re twelve games into the year for each of these squads and I have no idea how good either of them really is. While the Big Ten is a better conference than the ACC, that isn’t saying much, and whatever advantage Wiscy enjoys by virtue of its superior league affiliation is offset by the stellar ratings "The U" received. (Would a documentary about Wisconsin football called "The W" garner as many viewers? I think not, even on the Big Ten Network.) I’m going with the ’Canes to make the bold declaration, "Badgers? We don’t need no stinking badgers!"

I’ll pick up next time with the games being played on the eve of New Year’s Eve. In the interim, though, you should heed my regular advice and refrain from placing trust in my forecasts, so I will remind you once again: Don’t Bet On It!

Go ‘Dawgs!

Ranking The 2009-2010 Bowls: Part 2

Mark Kieffer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:31:13 -0000

In Part 1 of the series, I listed the bowls that I would not be mad at missing. With this Part 2, I'm continuing the countdown. This set of games are those that I would like to see, but I'm not going to make any kind of sacrifices to watch these games.

During the holidays, especially when traveling to a bowl game myself, you're sometimes going to miss some. Click on the jump, to see the 12 bowls that I have in my middle tier of games!

#20: Outback Bowl (Northwestern vs. Auburn), 1/1/2010, 10am CST, ESPN

After a night of partying in Tempe on New Years, there's no way in hell I'm going to get myself up early to watch this. I'm not really one of those ISU fans obsessed with Chizik anyways. This game could have easily gone in my Part 1 post. Honestly, I think Auburn rolls in this one anyways, but you never know.

#19: Texas Bowl (Navy vs. Missouri), 12/31/2009, 2:30pm CST, ESPN

There's no way I'm seeing this game, (although I would've liked to) so it ranks this low. I'll be at Sundevil Stadium when this is getting underway, but I'll be scoreboard checking during the game. Not a bad matchup at all, and could be an entertaining game. Navy has that triple option, while Missouri has a good passing game behind Danario Alexander.

#18: Emerald Bowl (Boston College vs. USC), 12/26/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

This should be an evenly matched game for the most part. USC has had a down year by their standards, but I think this year was pretty good for Boston College. I'm not really a fan of either team, which is why it ranks relatively low on my list.

#17: Liberty Bowl (Arkansas vs. East Carolina), 1/2/2010, 4:30pm CST, ESPN

You have a pretty good offense in Arkansas against an East Carolina team that won the CUSA, and has been on a roll down the stretch.

#16: Independence Bowl (Texas A&M vs. Georgia), 12/28/2009, 4pm CST, ESPN

Georgia has the better defense, and better overall team, while A&M has the better offense. You can't ignore Georgia's win over Georgia Tech; that was impressive. I think this has the makings of a good game, and it might suprise some people.

#15: Champs Sports Bowl (Miami vs. Wisconsin), 12/29/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

I like watching Miami. Been a fan of them since I've been following College Football. Growing up in Minnesota, I've seen a lot of Wisconsin as well. A game between two programs I'm familiar with. Miami likes to pass it, and is a very athletic team. Wisconsin, plays your typical Big 10 style of game: running the ball and trying to play defense.

#14: Chick-Fil-A Bowl (VA Tech vs. Tennessee), 12/31/2009, 6:30pm CST, ESPN

Lane Kiffin is just a drama-machine. Seems like controversy follows him around, and that alone may be worth watching. It will also be interesting to see how VA Tech plays, when they've been eying a BCS Bowl game all year, and feel a little snubbed. Tennesee has played close to teams all year, with a pretty solid defense. This could end up being similar to the Nebraska vs. VA Tech game earlier in the year.

#13: Capital One Bowl (Penn State vs. LSU), 1/1/2010, Noon CST, ABC

If you like watching a good defensive game, this one is for you. Both teams have issues scoring at times, but have no issues stopping the opposing offense.

#12: Cotton Bowl (Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss), 1/2/2010, 1pm CST, Fox

This is the battle between two disappointing teams. Both were ranked high at the beginning of the year, and neither really did much of anything notable on the national scale. I'm still confused as to how Oklahoma State just laid an egg against Oklahoma, along with how Ole Miss was supposed to have this Heisman contender in Snead. I don't really think either fanbase is that excited about the game either. With how inconsistent these teams have been all year, I don't think anyone knows what to expect in this one, and maybe for that, it's worth tuning into for a little bit.

#11: Holiday Bowl (Arizona vs. Nebraska), 12/30/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

These teams are pretty even on paper. I can't see scores outside of the teens in this one. Heck, this game could be 10-9 or something like that. It's really too bad for Husker fans that their offense was so bad this year, as it's really brought this team down. I have also come around to being a big fan of Suh, and it's extremley fun to watch him dominate the line of scrimmage all game long. Even if he doesn't get the tackle or sack, Suh has an impact on the play.

#10: Poinsettia Bowl (Utah vs. Cal), 12/23/2009, 7pm CST, ESPN

Jahvid Best is back for the Golden Bears, and he's a lot of fun to watch. Really good to see that he's going to be able to continue playing, after that scary concussion he suffered not too long ago. Honestly, when I saw that play, I thought his playing days in the future could be in jeopardy. This game is likely going to come down to the wire, as they are dead even on paper.

In Part 3, I'm going to countdown the bowls that are must-see for me. By process of elimination, you can figure out which bowls they are, but you will have to see on Thursday as to what the order is.

----

Part 1

Coming Together In DC Over Holidays: Getting Excited To See UCLA Football Out East

Nestor — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:57:14 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

ATV and Rahim are heading back out East

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Let's get to business right away this Sunday. If you haven't made your travel plans to Washington for the 29th, let's get it done. I have already changed up my flights and bought couple of tickets from the UCLA website. If you haven't done it yet, please go to this link and buy your tickets right now. Considering where we have been in recent years, I think this bowl game presents the perfect opportunity for the UCLA football program to take the next step, and set itself up for another step forward in Rick Neuheisel's third season in Westwood.

Yes, I know I am being a little selfish here because I get to see the Bruins in the town I live in. However, there are number of reasons this is a big opportunity for the UCLA program. We get to go up against a Temple Owl team, which is surging the way Rutgers and UConn programs have been in recent years. This is going to be matchup between two cities from two huge sports cities in LA and Philly, so a huge chunk of the country will tune in (no wonder EagleBank Bowl execs and WWL brass were so excited). Plus, it will give CRN and his staff an opportunity to directly showcase the prgogram to recruits out in the Easter seaboard. Lastly, speaking of the Eastern seaboard, not sure for the alums living in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, and up and down the entire East Coast, we will have an opportunity to take in our football team, in a city with so much to offer.

I have always dreamed about UCLA scheduling home and home with schools like UVa and Boston College over the years so that we could have huge gatherings in cities like DC and Boston. Now we have it thanks to this bowl game. So, let's take advantage of this. Let's gobble up the tickets and flood DC with Bruin Blue around the Holidays.

CRN is obviously excited:

"After the trepidation of the first half of the Army-Navy game, I was thrilled to see the Midshipmen have that second half and get us this opportunity," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "You obviously would like to have your destiny in your own hands. We knew we needed some help. I just made sure with our coaches that we're not in this situation again next year."

Similarly Al Golden and his Temple football team are fired up to play UCLA:

About 90 minutes into Temple's banquet, it was announced that Navy had defeated Army, 17-3, dropping the Black Knights to 5-7 and making them ineligible to play Temple, or anybody else, in a postseason game.

A big roar and then applause filled the hotel dining hall, because the Army-Navy outcome meant that the Owls (9-3) would be taking on high-profile UCLA as a bowl opponent at RFK Stadium in Washington.

"It's East-West, and it's the second-largest media market [L.A] against the fourth-largest media market [Philadelphia]," Temple coach Al Golden said. "But after that, they have some dudes over there. I haven't watched them much, but I know they have some great players. It's going to be a great day."

That was from the Phildelphia Inquirer, which has more on the excitement around Temple program with their upcoming matchup against our Bruins. More on those guys and other notes around this game after the jump.

Chris Foster from the LA Times has an early scouting report on the Owls:

Temple ranks 23rd nationally in rushing offense. The Owls' Bernard Pierce is 11th in rushing with 1,308 yards. Temple ranks 19th against the run.

"The ability to run the ball and stop the run usually equals victory," Neuheisel said. "Their defensive linemen remind me of the type of guys I would see play on Sunday."

UCLA struggled against the run at times this season. The Bruins gave up 150 or more yards rushing in seven games this season.

Still, Temple's schedule included only one team from a BCS conference. The Owls were routed by Penn State, 31-6, in the second game of the season. Their other losses were against Villanova and Ohio.

All but one of UCLA's games were against BCS conference teams.

"I looked at their schedule and could see why they felt they deserved a bowl game with six wins," Golden said. "Many of their losses were to teams ranked in the top 25."

Neuehisel immediately took note of Temple's rushing offense and defense:

"Those are usually huge indicators of how you do at the end of the day," Neuheisel said. "To be able to be an effective football team you have to be able to do both of those things. That's why they're 9-3. We know it's going to be a big challenge, but we're just excited to have that challenge."

Foster has some more random notes on the Temple program with a silly, concern trolling headline. We will be talking a lot about this game in the coming days. I think it is going to be interesting to see both our offensive and defensive coaching staff scheme for this game. Thankfully CRN is not going to cancel any practices just because of rain:

After canceling practices on Friday and Saturday with the Bruins' bowl prospects were still in limbo, Neuheisel said the team would resume preparation today, rain or shine.

"We weren't sure we were going to be in it," Neuheisel said. "Now that we're sure, if the weather is still poor, we'll go. We're playing now."

FWIW it is freezing and raining out here in DC. I hope the team and all of you are ready for some real football weather. I am hoping for snow!

Speaking of gathering in DC, if you are coming out here please make sure to comment in this thread. I think it would be cool to get idea who from BN are heading out here for the Holidays. May be if its feasible and there is a big interest we can organizing a big happy hour on Monday before the game. We will have to check in with the DC Bruins alumni group and also the Morgan Center folks to make sure we are not double booking. Either way, this is a game that everyone should get fired up for in next two weeks.

Let's hope our guys take advantage of these two extra week of practices, prepare their heart out, and then finish with a flourish here in DC. Coming together in DC and getting a victory would be the perfect way to end the decade after all the heartbreaks and disappointments from recent years.

GO BRUINS.

Don't Bet On It!: College Football Bowl Edition (Part I)

T Kyle King — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:53:51 -0000

The outcome of this afternoon’s Army-Navy game finalized the Division I-A postseason lineup, so now we are able to begin (albeit not end; there are a lot of these games, you know) taking a look at this year’s bowl pairings. My 4-3 record in last weekend’s predictions brought me to 69-16 (.812) in SEC forecasts, 35-33 (.515) in non-conference prognostications, and 104-49 (.680) in overall picks for 2009. Perhaps now would be a good time to remind you . . . Don’t Bet On It!

Here are the first four games of the 2009 bowl season, the earliest of which will occur only one week from today (which hopefully will keep tankertoad’s Saturday from sucking):

New Mexico Bowl: Fresno St. Bulldogs v. Wyoming Cowboys (Dec. 19): All right, seriously, this isn’t a rematch of a conference game? I genuinely find that hard to believe. The Cowboys will arrive in Albuquerque fresh from a 6-6 season that included losses to the Texas Longhorns, Colorado Buffaloes, Brigham Young Cougars, and TCU Horned Frogs by margins of 31, 24, 52, and 35 points, respectively. Wyoming simply hasn’t so much as shown up against anyone even passably good. The West Coast Bulldogs are passably good.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl: Central Florida Golden Knights v. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Dec. 19): On a day we all spent watching the Army Black Knights put forth a pretty good first-half effort in an attempt to earn a bowl bid, we now find ourselves confronting the prospect of two more groups of color-coded paladins squaring off in the postseason. It’s almost as though the Nike guys in charge of the Oregon Ducks’ uniforms were digitally enhancing the costumes in "Excalibur." I don’t know whether this one will begin with a coin toss or a jousting tournament, but I’m confident it will end with a Rutgers victory.

New Orleans Bowl: Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders v. Southern Miss. Golden Eagles (Dec. 20): Really, now, you can’t be telling me this isn’t a rematch of a conference game, can you? I mean, I’ve been in Sanford Stadium to see the Georgia Bulldogs up the integer in the left-hand side of their ledger against both of these teams. Then again, I’ve also been in the Classic City to see the Red and Black come up short against one of these teams, so that’s the one I’m picking to win. Southern Miss annually opens the season as the No. 25 team on my BlogPoll ballot in a nod to Matt Hinton and the Golden Eagles will end this season with a win.

Las Vegas Bowl: BYU Cougars v. Oregon St. Beavers (Dec. 22): Two things about this game continue to baffle me. First of all, if the bowl in Nashville is the Music City Bowl and the bowl in Detroit used to be the Motor City Bowl, shouldn’t the bowl in Las Vegas be the Sin City Bowl? Secondly, how strange is it that this bowl keeps playing host to Brigham Young, a school whose student-athletes consider caffeine morally objectionable? I’m not sure whether Oregon State’s presence in this game attests more to the depth of the Pac-10 as a conference or the crummy quality of the league’s postseason tie-ins, but, either way, if what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, then what’s staying in Vegas is a Beaver beatdown of the overrated Cougars.

You know, I know, and the American people know that I’m flying blind on these early predictions, so, even if you find that my forecasts make sense to you in the later games, that should not cause you to place faith in my initial set of prognostications. Simply stated, whatever you do . . . Don’t Bet On It!

Go ‘Dawgs!

Special Saturday Open Thread: Go Navy

Nestor — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:30:31 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

GO NAVY.

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Don't need to say much to get this thread started. We support and admire all of our incredibly brave men and women serving our country through our arm forces. However, just for three hours this afternoon the entire Bruin Nation is going to get behind Navy. The kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 am PST at Lincoln Financial Field, in Philadelphia. It will be broadcast live on CBS. You can keep track of the score via WWL here.

If you want to get a full flavor of the game you can also check out the official site built for this game over here. BTW don't forget our basketball game is scheduled for tip off around 1:40 pm PST. We will of course have a game thread all cued up for that which will go up around 1:30 pm PST. We will just continue this game thread into our hoops one once that is up.

So let's get this going. Anchors aweigh.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: Eye On Philadelphia & Other Team Notes

Nestor — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:42:13 -0000

Our coaches and players are going to be glued to their TV sets this morning. The Army-Navy game is going to tip off around 11:30 am PST on CBS. We all know what CRN and his players will be doing during that time. Interestingly though CRN had practices scheduled for yesterday and today but canceled it due to weather. From the Daily News:

After originally scheduling practices for Friday afternoon and this morning, UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel took a look outside and changed his mind.

Both practices were cancelled, and while the team will meet for lunch today and to watch the Navy-Army battle that will determine their bowl scenario - a Midshipmen win puts the Bruins in the EagleBank Bowl against Temple on Dec. 29 in Washington; a Black Knights win means no UCLA bowl. If the Bruins are indeed bowl-bound, they'll practice on Sunday afternoon for the first time in more than two weeks.

"The weather was the primary reason (for cancelling practice)," Neuheisel said. "What we were going to get done today didn't match the risk of somebody getting hurt. I thought it wise to go ahead and see how the game plays out tomorrow."

I kind of understand that. However, if Navy gets by Army today, I hope CRN doesn't cancel any more practices because of a little weather condition in Westwood. After all it was in the teens here in DC last night. We are expecting cold rain tomorrow morning (possibly turning into sleet/snow). So uhm yeah, if we do get into this bowl game, we can't afford cancel practices because our players might not be tough enough for the legendary winter weather storms we are so used to in Westwood. ;-) Couple of quick extra notes after the jump.

Looks like Kevin Prince might be ready to go by the bowl game after all:

"He's getting better, and these days will help him," Neuheisel said. "I'm told that he should be at full strength somewhere at midweek. There's reason for optimism with regard to that."

Oh and remember all the nonsense about Chow possibily being interested in San Jose State or about his relationship with CRN. Here is a little snipet on what Chow has been up to in recent days (emphasis added):

Neuheisel and most of the coaching staff was on recruiting trips last week, before returning Friday, and now they might have to adjust to refocusing on 2009 once again. Offensive coordinator Norm Chow had a particularly important in-home visit with coveted defensive tackle Ricky Heimuli out of Salt Lake City, rated the No. 6 defensive tackle by Scout.com "This is the pinnacle of wearing multiple hats," Neuheisel said. "This is multi-tasking in an advanced way. The only thing that takes a backseat is Christmas shopping. That's the one thing I haven't got mastered."

Boy, Chow must really hate working with CRN. That is why he is busting his rear end on the recruiting trail. rofl.

Anyway, the Army-Navy game will kickoff around 11:30 am PST. We will have an open thread taking in that action leading up to the game thread for our basketball game. A busy day on BN. Enjou your Sat.

GO BRUINS.

3rd Annual Rock M Nation Bowl Pick 'Em Contest

The Beef — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:00:18 -0000

UPDATE: BUMPED BACK TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE. PICKS ARE DUE AT NOON TOMORROW.

That's right loyal readers...the Bowl Pick 'Em Contest is back for its third season.

It is simple to participate. Simply reply to this thread with your picks. You will need to pick both against the spread, as well as the over/under, so you will have two picks per game. The spreads are LOCKED, so a movement in the line will not be taken into account. The spreads are courtesy of bookmaker.com because...well...that's the one I could find (and unless otherwise noted) They also represent where the lines were when they opened, which was a week ago (had to wait for Army/Navy to be played to determine Eagle Bowl and Texas Bowl line)

Our winner from last year is FSUncensored, who went 39-27 to win by three games over The Cool Alonzo and myself. All time, MU 1839 (our first winner) holds the best two-year record at 18 games over .500 (74-56). Of the "couples" category, The Beef and Tailgate Queen came out 3 game ahead of Bill C and Bill C's wife last year, tying their annual battle at 1-1. Overall, the contest generated a won-loss record of 1066-1244 for a not so good percentage of .461. Over the two years, we currently sit at 1711-1879 for a winning percentage of .477. Yes...I've kept track.

Picks are due by noon on Saturday, December 19th (since the first games are later that evening). Picks are lined up after the jump.

As for prizes...1st prize will get you the Rock M Nation T-shirt of your choice, unless RPT (who somehow is the keeper of the purse strings around here) decides we want to pony up some additional swag.

Anyway, we had a good time with this last year with 35 participants (up from 20 the first year) and somehow I am thinking we are going to have a FEW more than that :-) Come one, come all (and that certainly includes non-Rock M regulars...anyone from SB Nation is welcome to participate)...make me work hard at this. If you were here last season and have changed names, just let me know and I will do my best to give you your two or three-season score when all is said and done as well. I will also be adding a couple set of special picks. We will have the "coin-flip" picks, where each pick will be decided by heads or tails. I will also compile the "Consensus" picks, which will be the most popular pick on each game, to see how RMN did as a community (in the majority at least).

New Mexico

Fresno State -10 1/2 vs. Wyoming

Over/Under - 55 1/2

St. Petersburg

Rutgers -2 vs. UCF

Over/Under - 44 1/2

New Orleans

Sothern Miss -3 1/2 vs. Mid Tenn St.

Over/Under - 59

Las Vegas

Oregon State - 1 1/2 vs. BYU

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Poinsetta

Cal -3 vs. Utah

Over/Under - 53 1/2

Hawaii

Nevada -14 vs. SMU

Over/Under - 73 1/2

Little Caesers

Ohio -2 vs. Marshall

Over/Under - 50

Meineke

Pitt -3 vs. UNC

Over/Under - 44 1/2

Emerald

USC -9 vs. BC

Over/Under - 45 1/2

Music City

Clemson -7 vs. Kentucky

Over/Under - 52 1/2

Independence

Georgia -7 vs. Texas A&M

Over/Under - 64

Eagle Bank (LSVC odds)

UCLA -4 vs. Temple

Over/Under - 46 1/2

Champs Sports

Miami (FL) -3 vs. Wisconsin

Over/Under - 56

Humanitarian

Bowling Green PK vs. Idaho

Over/Under - 68 1/2

Holiday

Arizona -1 vs. Nebraska

Over/Under - 41

Armed Forces

Houston -5 vs. Air Force

Over/Under - 61

Sun

Oklahoma -9 1/2 vs. Stanford

Over/Under - 56 1/2

Texas (LVSC odds)

Mizzou -6 vs. Navy

Over/Under - 54

Insight

Minnesota -3 vs. Iowa State

Over/Under - 48

Chick-Fil-A

Va Tech -4 1/2 vs. Tenn

Over/Under - 50 1/2

Outback

Auburn -8 vs. Northwestern

Over/Under - 54 1/2

Gator

West Virginia -2 1/2 vs. Florida St.

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Capital One

Penn State -3 vs. LSU

Over/Under - 44

Rose

Oregon -3 1/2 vs. Ohio State

Over/Under - 51 1/2

Sugar

Florida -10 vs. Cincy

Over/Under - 55 1/2

International

South Fla. -6 1/2 vs. No. Illinois

Over/Under - 50

PapaJohns

South Carolina -4 1/2 vs. UCONN

Over/Under - 53

Cotton

Ole Miss -3 vs. Okie State

Over/Under -  50 1/2

Liberty

Arkansas -7 1/2 vs. East Carolina

Over/Under - 63 1/2

Alamo

Texas Tech -7 vs. Michigan St.

Over/Under - 60 1/2

Fiesta

TCU -7 vs. Boise St

Over/Under - 54

Orange

Ga Tech -4 vs. Iowa

Over/Under - 51

GMAC

Central Mich -4 vs. Troy

Over/Under - 64

BCS Champ

Alabama -5 1/2 vs. Texas

Over/Under - 45

Week Fourteen BlogPoll Ballot Draft

T Kyle King — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:52:12 -0000

The time has come to cast my final regular-season BlogPoll ballot---or, at least, I think it has; I’m assuming we’re not submitting new top 25s after next weekend’s Army-Navy game---and here is what I came up with after starting with a blank piece of paper:

Rank	Team	Delta

1	Alabama
2	Cincinnati	2
3	Texas
4	Boise State	1
5	TCU	1
6	Florida	4
7	Oregon
8	Ohio State
9	Georgia Tech	1
10	Iowa	1
11	West Virginia	9
12	LSU	1
13	Arizona
14	Oregon State	2
15	Southern Cal
16	Virginia Tech	5
17	Stanford
18	Miami (Florida)	4
19	Pittsburgh	7
20	California	1
21	Oklahoma State	2
22	Brigham Young	1
23	Nebraska	1
24	Penn State	7
25	Wisconsin	1
Last week's ballot

Dropped Out: Houston (#18), Central Michigan (#25).

The Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0) are No. 1. Duh! Of the dozen Division I-A opponents beaten by Nick Saban’s squad, nine finished with winning records, including the sixth-ranked Florida Gators, the twelfth-ranked LSU Tigers, and the 16th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies. The Tide’s only close calls came in rivalry games against teams who will be playing on New Year’s Eve or later.

In spite of their close call against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a game played in the snow featuring two botched extra point attempts, the Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0) captured the No. 2 spot on my ballot by virtue of seven regular-season wins over teams that finished above .500, among them the 11th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, the 14th-ranked Oregon St. Beavers, and 19th-ranked Pitt. Also, Cincy gets credit for having a logo reminiscent of Chick-fil-A's.

While I understand and respect C&F’s argument, I awarded the No. 3 ranking to the Texas Longhorns (13-0) because Mack Brown’s outfit went undefeated against a slate that included no Division I-AA schedule fodder and only four teams that posted losing ledgers. Wins over the No. 21 Oklahoma St. Cowboys and the No. 23 Nebraska Cornhuskers provided heft to the Big 12 standard-bearer’s resume.

I ranked the Boise St. Broncos (13-0) ahead of the TCU Horned Frogs (12-0) for a variety of reasons. Both took advantage of a Division I-AA victim and each faced five Division I-A teams with winning records, but Boise State has an additional win and Texas Christian has two close shaves (at Air Force and at Clemson) as opposed to the Broncos’ one (at Tulsa). Boise State’s second- and third-best wins (over Nevada and Fresno State) are comparable to the Frogs’ (over Utah and Clemson), but the Broncos’ marquee victory over the seven-ranked Oregon Ducks far outshines TCU’s best pelt, that of the 22nd-ranked BYU Cougars.

The Sunshine State Saurians (12-1) slipped to sixth after their less than competitive neutral site outing against ‘Bama, as befits the nation’s lone once-beaten team, and Oregon (10-2) led the parade of two-loss teams because the Ducks fell to two quality teams on the road and made up for those setbacks with wins over three teams ranked in my top 20 (Arizona, Oregon State, and Cal).

The Ohio St. Buckeyes (10-2) earned a No. 8 ranking on the strength of wins over the tenth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, the 24th-ranked Penn St. Nittany Lions, and the 25th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2) rode their ~~fourth-place finish in the SEC East~~ ACC championship to the No. 9 ranking, although the Ramblin’ Wreck’s loss to the Georgia Bulldogs at home serves as a drag on a resume that includes five close calls in the Golden Tornado’s ten Division I-A wins. Only two of the Engineers’ victims finished with fewer than five losses, but one of those triumphs came over No. 16 VPI.

Iowa (10-2) carded quality victories over a trio of top 25 teams (Arizona, Penn State, and Wisconsin, all by double-digit margins) to overcome respectable losses to Ohio State and Northwestern, both of whom will be playing on New Year’s Day. (For whatever it might be worth, I would point out that the five BCS bowls pit No. 9 v. No. 10, No. 7 v. No. 8, No. 4 v. No. 5, No. 2 v. No. 6, and No. 1 v. No. 3 on my ballot. This ought to be a pretty good bowl season.)

West Virginia narrowly edged out Louisiana State in my estimation. Both teams boasted similar resumes: both finished 9-3; both won three games by a touchdown or less; both lost one game by a touchdown or less. However, as ashamed as I am to admit it, the Mountain Men’s win over Pitt counts for more this season than the Bayou Bengals’ win over Georgia. I know, it hurts me to admit that, too; visions of Tony Dorsett and Dan Marino will haunt my dreams tonight.

A glut of 8-4 clubs out of the Pac-10 proved difficult to untangle, but I declared the Arizona Wildcats first among equals by awarding Mike Stoops’s troops the No. 13 ranking. Three of Arizona’s four losses came on the road, two of them were nailbiters, and only one of them was the handiwork of a team with fewer than eight wins. The Wildcats carded victories over No. 14 Oregon State, the 15th-ranked USC Trojans, and the 17th-ranked Stanford Cardinal, with Central Michigan thrown in for good measure.

The Beavers landed right behind Arizona, partly because of wins over Cal and Stanford but mostly because of a quartet of quality losses. Oregon State’s four setbacks all came against opponents sporting eight or more wins, and, of the four, only the one against the No. 2 team in the country wasn’t a close call.

I will grant that it appears somewhat strange that I placed Stanford at No. 17, two spots behind Southern California (a club the Cardinal beat handily in Los Angeles) and three spots ahead of the California Golden Bears (a squad that defeated Jim Harbaugh’s outfit at the Farm), but Stanford had no legitimate third-best victory after the Cardinal’s wins over Oregon and USC to overcome the trio of triumphs notched by the Men of Troy over Ohio State, Oregon State, and Cal. Likewise, the Bears of Berkeley had trouble overcoming the fact that all four of their losses came by margins of 17 points or more. Oddly enough, Southern California, Stanford, and California each lost to a 5-7 team on the road, but the Trojans’ loss to the Washington Huskies and the Cardinal’s loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at least had the virtue of being close.

Sandwiched amid those West Coast outfits were No. 16 Virginia Tech (9-3), which beat top 25 teams Miami and Nebraska while sustaining three respectable defeats (including two to top ten squads); the 18th-ranked Miami Hurricanes (9-3), who are able to boast of a marquee win over Georgia Tech; and 19th-ranked Pittsburgh (9-3), which sneaked ahead of California by virtue of a more forgivable set of losses. The Panthers’ three setbacks all came by close margins, with two of those coming in down-to-the-wire clashes with top eleven opponents Cincinnati and West Virginia. Pitt’s loss to N.C. State was comparable to Cal’s loss to Washington---both came on the road against 5-7 squads---but the Wolfpack won by seven and the Huskies won by 32.

The inclusion of Oklahoma State (9-3) attested to the fact that next year’s BlogPoll should rank only 20 teams instead of 25---which the Associated Press poll did prior to 1989, by the way---but somebody had to be No. 21, so the Pokes were as qualified as anyone. Why was Les Miles’s old team ranked nine spots behind Les Miles’s current team when both have identical records and both count a win over the ‘Dawgs among their most impressive conquests? Simple: LSU lost to three teams with a combined 33-5 record by a combined 62-41 margin, while OSU lost to three teams with a combined 30-8 record by a combined 113-49 margin.

BYU (10-2) had absolutely no business being ranked after getting positively smoked by TCU and the hapless Florida St. Seminoles, but Brigham Young beat the Oklahoma Sooners and the Utah Utes, which counts for something. Nebraska (9-4) did little to impress me in the win column---the ‘Huskers beat only two teams with winning records---but, since all of the Big Red Machine’s losses were to teams that finished .500 or better and three of those were by razor-thin margins, I gave Bo Pelini’s team the benefit of the doubt.

The fact that Penn State (10-2) and Wisconsin (9-3) made the grade proves that I was scraping the bottom of the barrel; both the Nittany Lions and the Badgers lost convincingly to the Big Ten’s two top ten teams and neither beat more than two Division I-A teams that finished above .500, but the dearth of quality squads at the bottom of my ballot allowed a PSU team whose best win was against Temple and a Wiscy unit whose best win was against Fresno State to sneak undeservedly into the top 25.

Consideration was also given to the Boston College Eagles and the Mississippi Rebels. I’d like to tell you that I took a look at the Central Michigan Chippewas, East Carolina Pirates, Houston Cougars, Missouri Tigers, Navy Midshipmen, North Carolina Tar Heels, Northwestern Wildcats, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and Texas Tech Red Raiders, but, if I said so, I’d be lying.

I watched the Oregon-Oregon State game on Thursday, the Central Michigan-Ohio (Ohio) game on Friday, and a Saturday slate consisting primarily of the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh, Alabama-Florida, and Clemson-Georgia Tech games, with bits of the Nebraska-Texas and Hawaii-Wisconsin tilts sprinkled in for variety.

As always, I actively solicit your input with respect to what is, after all, a draft ballot. Feel free to register your disagreement or lobby for or against particular teams in the comments below.

Go ‘Dawgs!

UCLA's Price Is Right For The Pac-10: Brian Headlines 11 Bruins Honored As All Pac-10

Nestor — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:13:22 -0000

hicalliber is already on it but this deserves lot more attention. This is not a surprise but still worthy of a huge celebration on Bruin Nation. Here is our Pac-10 Defensive Player:

The official announcement came out earlier this afternoon which included lot of good news for the football team. Not only Brian Price was named Pac-10's Defense POY, he was part of a group of 11 Bruins named in the All Pac-10 team. Five of them were first-team selection:

UCLA junior defensive tackle Brian Price has been named Pac-10 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year by vote of the league's coaches, it was announced today.

A total of 11 Bruins were named to the All-Pac-10 teams. Joining Price on the first team were senior linebacker Reggie Carter, sophomore safety Rahim Moore, senior cornerback Alterraun Verner and junior place kicker Kai Forbath. Forbath and Price were two of the three unanimous selections to the first team.

Redshirt freshman punter Jeff Locke and senior wide receiver Terrence Austin were selected to the second team, the latter as a kickoff returner. Four Bruins were named honorable mention - sophomore linebacker Akeem Ayers, senior linebacker Kyle Bosworth, sophomore wide receiver Nelson Rosario and freshman offensive tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo.

UCLA had more first-team defensive selections (four) than any other school in the conference.

You can read more from the official press release here.

Congrats to Brian, Reggie, ATV, Austin, and Bosworth. That's a wonderful way for them to leave Westwood after what they have given us last 3-4 years. We will have to wait to see what happens with Kai, as he might be testing the waters during the off season. Meanwhile, can't wait to see how Rahim, Akeem, Nelson, XSF, and Locke build on the success from this season.

For now though let's hope the Midshipmen comes though on Saturday so that we get to see these guys for one more time to close out the year. Go Navy. Oh and don't forget to congratulate our boys in this celebratory thread.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: DC Thoughts, Verner's Views, Finals Week & Other Notes

Nestor — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:42:46 -0000

Can Bruins handle this (if it snows in DC)? Photo Credit: photoal (flickr)

View full size photo »

Well yeah. It's not snowing in DC today but it did over the weekend a bit giving us our first snow of the year. The picture above is from another year though, which I think gives a little hint of what folks could expect in late December if we get a legit snow storm in Washington DC. Will the Bruins get to play in their first legit snow bowl (don't really count the one from Washington State during the regular season because it wasn't really snowing during the game) this December? Well as everyone know by now, we are not going to know until the end of Army-Navy game this upcoming weekend.

CRN is excited about rooting for the Midshipmen:

"Although we always support the men and women fighting for our country, on this particular three-hour stint, we're going to be anchor's aweigh ~~away~~," Neuheisel said on Sunday. "We're excited about the opportunity and looking forward to getting into the ball game. We know we need a little bit of help, but we're looking forward to a chance."

Interestingly, from the LAT report today, it sounds like the Bruins did have a chance to accept an invitation to the Humanitarian Bowl. However, the payout for that game ($700,000) wasn't enough for our program:

UCLA officials received interest from other bowls, as Neuheisel said, "I know there were lots of conversations and I was also told that UCLA was a desired team."

Humanitarian Bowl officials showed particular interest, and the Bruins might have gone there if Army lost, but the bowl payoff "wasn't right," said a UCLA official not authorized to speak about the situation.

UCLA officials turned down a Humanitarian Bowl invitation in 2001 after bowl officials asked for a $300,000 sponsorship from the university, a former UCLA administrator said.

Wonder who was that former UCLA administrator talking to the LAT. Anyway, if Navy does come through for the Bruins on Saturday (you never can take an outcome for granted in an intense, emotional rivalry game), Bruins will have interesting decisions to make re. the quaterback situation. CRN seemed to indicate that Prince might be ready for the bowl game:

"He told me it was getting better when I saw him last week," Neuheisel said. Given some rest, I think he would be ready."

Prince of course is still recovering from his mild AC sprain (considered a "slight separation") of his throwing shoulder. I personally think the Bruins should start Craft and prepare Brehaut as the backup option, and let Prince fully heal for spring ball. However, I feel comfortable in having Neuheisel and Chow making the call. More bowl related and end of season notes after the jump.

Players in general sound pretty excited about the bowl game. Taylor Embree "wants it really bad":

"I saw (offensive coordinator Norm Chow) today, too, and he said it looked like we had a really good chance," sophomore wide receiver Taylor Embree said. "We had a meeting with coach Neuheisel last Tuesday, and he just said, 'Focus as if we were going to a bowl.' We're prepared. If we go to one, it won't be a shock. We're ready for a bowl. We want it really bad."

While ATV thinks Bruins could be an "exciting" team to watch during the bowl season:

"We're fortunate to be put in the position to try to get one, though, and that's all we can ask for. I think we did enough to deserve it, showed enough promise through the course of the year with our youth, and we'll be an exciting team to watch come bowl season."

Oh and speaking of ATV, if you haven't done it yet, I think you will want to read the last edition of Verner's views:

[F]our years have gone by way too fast for me as a UCLA Bruin. I remember the times when I used to watch the Bruins play and wearing the #1 UCLA jersey to high school and stuff to now, when I am leaving UCLA with an interception touchdown record and lasting memories to all the Bruin Nation. My experiences here have been top of the line and something I will cherish forever. From academics - competing against the top brains in the world in my math major was always fun - just walking around campus and seeing the variety of people and cultures on campus, it was beautiful to see. Through all this intermingling, you realize that everyone is basically the same and they have the same struggles as you. You can be an athlete, a pre-med student, or grad student - it didn't matter. Everyone is fighting for their education and that is what created so many bonds with people in all areas of UCLA life.

Having the pleasure of being the student representative for the library catalogue a while back to now being spotlighted on UCLA Big Moment spots are two others things that stand out. My time with this sector of UCLA has been difficult, however all the more amazing!

Football, man it's been the craziest roller coaster, but one of those that was worth the wait, but so short that you almost missed the thrills of it. Being in the Rose Bowl with our wonderful fans that were there from the beginning, to putting on the Blue and Gold was just simply amazing. I had the honor to be coached by DeWayne Walker for most of my career and finished up this year being coached by the great Carnell Lake! Many guys have helped me in numerous ways of playing the position. I appreciate their expertise on the field. I had a great time playing with my former killa bees and current ones -- Chris Horton, Rodney Van, Trey Brown, Dennis Keyes, and Bret Lockett to Tony Dye, Rahim Moore, Glenn Love, Courtney Viney, Aaron Hester, Sheldon Price, Andrew Abbott and everyone else. Each player is so good and made my job so much easier and helped contribute to my success. I will definitely miss all my teammates, I really love them all. The hard work and the grind I had to do with all of them makes them all special to me. They are all very talented and that's why I believe UCLA will be back at the top very soon and I can't wait to see that unfold.

You need to read rest of ATV's post by going here. ATV and his team-mates will be taking finals this week. Once they are done at the end of the week (per Jon Gold) they will have practices on Friday and Saturday. They are going to practice Saturday morning, have lunch and take in the Army-Navy game. Needless to say we will have an open thread here for that game cheering on Navy.

Lastly, before I end this good luck to all of your students this week. Yeah, I know we are hard on you guys sometimes. However, look at the ideas our discussions generated in last 24 hours. While we get down sometimes during the tough times, it is clear how much passion and dedication we have among a huge core of students and alums here in Bruins Nation. Often times when we call each other out, I personally think it only makes that dedication deeper forcing us to think hard about how we can make our community bigger offline. Hopefully we can keep the discussion that started yesterday going in the coming weeks/months resulting in what I truly believe will be the most rabid fanbase in the Western US. We have had two of the worst weekends in UCLA athletcs in recent history. Yet just look around this community this am. We are still here. Aren't we? Anyway, kick ass in finals and then head down to Anaheim.

GO BRUINS.