SB Nation - Rice Owls

Arizona Fries Rice

jruss — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:36:43 -0000

With four players in double figures, led by Senior PG, Nic Wise's 15, Arizona built a big lead against the Rice Owls and never looked back. Solomon Hill (12 points), Derrick Williams (10 points) and Jamelle Horne (13 points) also scored in double figures and Horne led the way with 7 rebounds. Sean Miller also got 11 players on the floor throughout the game. Momo Jones had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists for a nice overall performance. But, the shot of the night came from Derrick Williams who delivered a sick, one-handed dunk on some poor Rice Owl. It was one of the sweetest things I've seen in a long time.

And, with UCLA's recent loss to UC Riverside or Northridge (one of those scrubby basketball schools) and Cal's butt-whoopin' last night they received from Syracuse, it looks like the PAC-10 could be anybody's for the taking. Next up...Wisconsin for the first true test.

Arizona 66 vs. Rice 48 Recap

joenewby4040 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:22:41 -0000

Arizona had a strong showing against Rice (3-0) on Thursday night at McKale center in Tucson. The Cats finished off the Owls 66-49 and this game was never in jeopardy. The Cats took a 13 point halftime lead and continued to battle the entire second half, never letting Rice take the lead.

The Cats started the game on 9-0 run and never looked back. Nic Wise had 15 points, 7 assists, and 5 steals. Jamelle Horne scored 13 points while freshmen Derrick Williams and Solomon Hill each chipped in 10 and 12 respectively. Williams got the start last night and easily had the play of the game last night with this monstrous dunk:

The game atmosphere was unbelievable and the "Zona Zoo" is really taking on a life of its own. Coach Sean Miller was happy about it:

"First off I have to thank the ZonaZoo. They are so engaged, and give McKale a frenzied atmosphere that not many teams want to see. Both the ZonaZoo and the crowd did a great job at keeping the energy up, and they are what makes McKale such a tough place to play. I know that I am looking forward to getting back here quickly."`

Solid night for the Cats all around. They shot 45% from the field and held rice to a terrible 28.6% shooting percentage. A sour note on the night was Arizona going 5-10 from the FT line. I'm sure coach Miller will be addressing this as the season progresses.

Next up: Wisconsin in Hawaii, Monday November 23.

Full Box Score: Arizona vs. Rice

Arizona vs. Rice Open Thread

joenewby4040 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:21:55 -0000

The Wildcats (1-0) take on the Owls from Rice (3-0) tonight at McKale Center. Let's see what Miller is going to do when a team can actually come into town and play. This should be a good, manageable, early game for the Cats.

Rice Owls Basketball Roster

	#	Pos.
Bryan Beasley	12	G
Suleiman Braimoh	11	F
Egheosa Edomwonyi	23	F
Chris Eversley	21	F
Connor Frizzelle	4	G
Lawrence Ghoram	33	G
Emerson Herndon	5	F
A.J. Holland	22	G
Tamir Jackson	3	G
Arsalan Kazemi	14	F
Lucas Kuipers	20	F
Cory Pfleiger	32	G
Stuart Pirri	13	F
Nate Schwarze	1	G
Trey Stanton	15	C

	#	Pos.
Ross Davidson	45	F
Kyle Fogg	21	G
Solomon Hill	44	F
Jamelle Horne	42	F
Alex Jacobson	50	C
Lamont Jones	12	G
Garland Judkins	4	G
Brendon Lavender	24	G
Kyryl Natyazhko	1	C
Kevin Parrom	3	G
D.J. Shumpert	33	F
Max Wiepking	52	F
Derrick Williams	23	F
Nic Wise	13	G
Dondre Wise	20	G

Updated BTBS Projections

Bill C. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:45:11 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

Damn you, Bobby Johnson, and your team's projection-defying ways. I SAID, DAMN YOU, BOBBY JOHNSON, AND YOUR TEAM'S PROJECTION-DEFYING WAYS.

Browse more photos »

Being that we're roughly one-third of the way through the college football season, I thought it would be a good time to re-visit the BTBS projections and see what's changed over the last five weeks. But first, let's take a look at where the BTBS projections have done particularly well or poorly.

Finger on the pulse

Here's the against-the-spread record for the BTBS projections by team:

4-0. Florida State, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Miami-FL, Northern Illinois, Syracuse, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
3-0. UConn, Illinois, Kansas State, San Jose State, UNLV, Utah State.
2-0. South Florida, Western Kentucky.
4-0-1. Minnesota.

Have pretty much nailed a good percentage of the east coast (that's what she said), going undefeated on 19 teams in all, including three ACC teams and three Big East teams. Seem to have these teams figured out.

4-1. Bowling Green, Buffalo, BYU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, USC.
3-1. Ball State, Boise State, Boston College, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Colorado, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Indiana, Kent State, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Southern Miss, Texas, Troy, UL-Monroe, Wake Forest, Western Michigan.

This does start to explain why evenings aren't usually very good to me: I've got a much more accurate finger on the pulse of the eastern and midwestern teams, while the western teams have been more of a crapshoot.

2-1. Arizona, Arkansas State, Baylor, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Missouri, N.C. State, Oklahoma, SMU, Temple, UL-Lafayette, Virginia, West Virginia.
2-1-1. California.
3-2. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Idaho, Miami-OH, Michigan, Navy, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Toledo, UAB, UTEP, Virginia Tech, Washington State.
2-2. Air Force, Central Florida, Colorado State, Iowa, Iowa State, Marshall, Mississippi State, North Texas, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, UCLA.
1-1-1. Houston.
2-3. LSU, New Mexico, Purdue, Stanford, Washington.
1-2-1. Texas Tech.
1-2. Arizona State, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Rutgers, Tulane.

No real analysis here. A big mass of teams for which I'm a game within .500.

1-3. Eastern Michigan, Maryland, Memphis, Nevada, New Mexico State, Ohio, San Diego State, South Carolina, Tulsa.
1-4. Army, Georgia, Rice.
0-3. Akron, Duke, Ole Miss, TCU.
0-4. Vanderbilt.

Why do you taunt me, Akron, Ole Miss, TCU, and Smart Kid Schools (Duke, Rice, Vandy)?

Anyway, when you're reading the after-the-jump projections, you can use this to keep in mind how many grains of salt you should be using.

Range of Spreads

In terms of performance analysis, I also looked at the range of the spread to see if there's a particular group of picks for which I'm performing much better or worse.

0-5 Pts. 38-21-1 (0.642).
5-15 Pts. 60-34-1 (0.637).
15-25 Pts. 29-28 (0.509).
25+ Pts. 16-8 (0.667).

So really, it's the 15-25 point range that has me befuddled to date. Really, that makes a little bit of sense. Here's where junk-time touchdowns can make a big difference, along with how quickly the favorite gets rolling or how long they leave their starters in. More often than not, the pre-ordained blowouts are pretty easy to pick, and 64% for the spreads below 15 points really is, I think, pretty damn good. But it's those damn three-TD spreads that get me.

Anyway, on to the projections! Fun fact: there are 68 bowl bids available...and these projections spat out exactly 68 bowl-eligible teams. YIKES. What happens if there are less than 68? Go down to the 5-7 teams, I guess? Either way, this is a good time for both UL-Monroe and UL-Lafayette (not to mention Temple!) to squeeze out six wins. Automatic bid for anybody with six!

Big 12

North Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Missouri	6-3	10-3	Holiday
Nebraska	6-2	9-3	Sun
Kansas	3-5	7-5	Insight
Colorado	2-6	3-9
Kansas State	1-7	3-9
Iowa State	1-7	4-8
South Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Texas*	8-0	13-0	BCS Championship
Oklahoma	7-1	9-3	Cotton
Oklahoma State	6-2	9-3	Alamo
Texas A&M	4-4	7-5	Texas
Texas Tech	4-4	6-6	Independence
Baylor	0-8	3-9

No major changes here, only Colorado and K-State switching places in the North and ATM and Tech switching places (despite a head-to-head Tech win) in the South.
Missouri wins the North by virtue of a 0.4-point win over Nebraska Thursday night. MAJOR North title implications Thursday night...as if you didn't know. Meanwhile, Kansas needs to get things together a bit--they're undefeated, and that's nice, but they're not performing better than Mizzou or Nebraska right now, and being that their schedule is a bit harder (even with Tech's iffy play and OU's "struggles"), they'll need to.
And despite the fact that they quit playing ten minutes into last Saturday night's game against Arkansas, Texas A&M is projected to keep winning here and there. Their reward: a game against Navy in Houston.

ACC

Atlantic Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Clemson*	5-4	8-5	Chick-Fil-A
Boston College	5-3	9-3	Gator
Wake Forest	4-4	7-5	Music City
Florida State	4-4	6-6	Meineke Car Care
N.C. State	3-5	6-6	Emerald
Maryland	2-6	3-9
Coastal Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Virginia Tech	9-0	12-1	Orange
Miami	7-1	11-1	Sugar
Virginia (!)	5-3	6-6	EagleBank
Georgia Tech	4-4	7-5	Champs Sports
North Carolina	1-7	5-7
Duke	0-8	2-10

Florida State sinks a couple of spots, and N.C. State and Maryland switch places.
Looks like Bobby Bowden's career ends in Charlotte at the Meineke Car Care Bowl. And yes, I just had to look up where the Meineke Car Care Bowl is played.
I'm not sure what caused the BTBS numbers' sudden fascination with Virginia, but apparently they're due a bit of a turnaround. And after the projections completely nailed the UVa > UNC pick, I'm not asking any questions.
Speaking of UNC...had them missing a bowl before the season, still do. Not sure why they're not as good as everybody thinks they're supposed to be, but...they're not.

Big East

	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Pittsburgh	6-1	10-2	Fiesta
Cincinnati	5-2	10-2	Gator
South Florida	5-2	9-3	Papajohns.com
West Virginia	5-2	9-3	Meineke Car Care
Connecticut	4-3	7-5	International
Louisville	2-5	5-7
Syracuse	1-6	4-8
Rutgers	0-7	5-7

Rutgers has PLUMMETED. From 9-3 and the Orange Bowl to a winless conference slate. I'm sure they're just lying in the weeds before getting hot the last half of the year again (like last year), but...yeah, the Dom Natale Experiment has not exactly been memorable...at least not in a positive way.
Meanwhile, Cincy's mediocre play over the last couple of weeks has allowed Pittsburgh to take over the projected title. A couple of weeks ago, Cincy was projected to go undefeated. Now, not so much.
Really, this would be the best-case scenario for the Big East--four teams with at least nine wins, at least a couple of which will likely thump an inferior bowl opponent thanks to the Big East's mediocre slate of bowls.
Seriously...PLUMMETED.

Big Ten

	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Penn State	7-1	11-1	Rose
Ohio State	7-1	10-2	Outback
Wisconsin	7-1	11-1	Capital One
Iowa	6-2	10-2	Alamo
Minnesota	4-4	7-5	Insight
Michigan	3-5	7-5	Champs Sports
Michigan State	3-5	5-7
Purdue	3-5	4-8
Northwestern	2-6	5-7
Illinois	2-6	3-9
Indiana	0-8	3-9

Like Rutgers, Illinois has also sunk like a stone...but thanks to the low quality of the bottom of this conference, they don't sink all the way to the bottom.
Another best-case scenario, really--four teams with 10-11 wins. The top and bottom of the conference has really defined itself in pretty stark fashion. Penn State gets the nod here, but that could be because the preseason projections are still weighted as 40% of the overall projected total (there still isn't enough data from 2009 to make the 100% switch yet).
I'm slowly buying into Wisconsin...not anywhere near complete buy-in yet, but I'm coming around. Now watch them lose three in a row.
(And yes, I'm thinking a 10-2 USC team gets the BCS nod over an 11-1 Wiscy team. Call me crazy.)

Conference USA

East Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
East Carolina	6-3	7-6	New Orleans
Southern Miss	5-3	7-5	Hawaii
Central Florida	3-5	5-7
Marshall	3-5	5-7
UAB	3-5	4-8
Memphis	2-6	3-9
West Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Tulsa*	9-0	11-2	Liberty
Houston	6-2	10-2	Armed Forces
UTEP	4-4	5-7
Rice	3-5	3-9
SMU	3-5	4-8
Tulane	2-6	4-8

ECU's projection (was 3-5, 4-8 in the preseason) has fallen back in line...due as much to the rest of the division being pretty iffy as much as anything. Marshall and Memphis have both fallen a bit. Meanwhile, Houston falls back in line with their preseason 2nd-place finish...and SMU is no longer projected to be decent. Thanks to their inexplicable whipping of Houston, UTEP moves up...I had them 0-8, 2-10, and now they're almost in line for a bowl bid.

Independents

	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Navy	--	9-4	Texas
Notre Dame	--	8-4	Poinsettia
Army	--	2-10

Congrats, Notre Dame. Your three tight wins over inferior competition have bumped your projection from 6-6 to 8-4. Keep up the good work.

MAC

East Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Bowling Green	6-3	7-6	GMAC
Temple	5-3	6-6	St. Petersburg
Ohio	4-4	6-6	New Mexico
Akron	4-4	5-7
Kent State	3-5	4-8
Buffalo	2-6	4-8
Miami-OH	1-7	1-11
West Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Central Michigan*	8-1	10-3	Little Caesar's
Toledo	7-1	9-3	International
Northern Illinois	6-2	8-4	EagleBank
Eastern Michigan	3-5	4-8
Western Michigan	3-5	4-8
Ball State	1-7	1-11

Really, the only major changes here are that Ball State has dropped off the face of the planet (they were projected 4-4, 6-6), and Buffalo has slightly exceeded their initial projections (they were 0-8, 1-11). It's still CMU > BGSU in the title game, though the mighty Temple Owls are catching up to BGSU in a hurry. Looks like it's going to be a nice turnaround season for Toledo, though they should probably be careful since they did almost try to lose to Ball State last week--took a miracle TD pass to beat the suddenly lowly Cardinals.

Mountain West

	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
BYU	8-0	11-1	Las Vegas
TCU	7-1	11-1	Armed Forces
Utah	6-2	9-3	Poinsettia
Air Force	4-4	6-6	New Mexico
Colorado State	4-4	7-5	Humanitarian
New Mexico	2-6	3-9
San Diego State	2-6	4-8
Wyoming	2-6	4-8
UNLV	1-7	3-9

Despite beating Clemson, TCU is now projected to lose to BYU after pretty iffy defensive performances against Texas State and SMU. Otherwise, no real surprises here. Looks like Dave Christensen's run of luck at Wyoming is about to crap out.

Pac-10

	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Oregon	9-0	11-1	Rose
USC	7-2	10-2	Orange
California	5-4	8-4	Holiday
UCLA	5-4	8-4	Sun
Oregon State	5-4	6-6	Emerald
Washington	5-4	6-6	Las Vegas
Arizona	4-5	5-7
Stanford	4-5	5-7
Washington State	1-8	2-10
Arizona State	0-9	2-10

Arizona and Arizona State have both fallen from their initial projections (of 7-5 and 4-8, respectively). Everything else has stayed basically in the same order, including Stanford, who looks like another team riding a string of good luck and about to crash and burn. I hope the projections are wrong, though--would love to see the Cardinal play a role in the Pac-10 race, just for variety's sake.
And yes, the combination of a) really good projections, and b) improved play of late means Oregon is still projected to win the conference. I'll believe it when I see it, but if they beat USC in Eugene, they're obviously the favorite.

SEC

East Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Florida*	9-0	13-0	BCS Championship
Georgia	5-3	8-4	Outback
Tennessee	5-3	8-4	Chick-Fil-A
South Carolina	3-5	6-6	Independence
Kentucky	2-6	6-6	Music City
Vanderbilt	0-8	3-9
West Division	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Alabama	8-1	12-1	Sugar
LSU	6-2	10-2	Capital One
Arkansas	4-4	8-4	Cotton
Auburn	4-4	8-4	Papajohns.com
Ole Miss	2-6	6-6	Liberty
Mississippi State	1-7	2-10

Only minor changes so far...Vandy and Kentucky trade places in the East, and Auburn and Ole Miss trade in the West. Otherwise, status quo here. Auburn is seen as a surprising success early in the season, but they've done pretty much exactly what they were projected to do.

Sun Belt

	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Troy	8-0	9-3	New Orleans
Middle Tennessee	5-3	8-4	Motor City
UL-Monroe	5-3	6-6	GMAC
Florida Atlantic	5-3	5-7
UL-Lafayette	4-4	6-6	St. Petersburg
Arkansas State	4-4	5-7
Florida International	3-5	3-9
North Texas	2-6	4-8
Western Kentucky	0-8	0-12

That's right, it's Temple vs UL-Lafayette in the St. Petersburg Bowl, otherwise known as The Final St. Petersburg Bowl. I'll say this, though: I'll watch it.

WAC

	Proj. Conf.	Proj. Overall	Proj. Bowl
Boise State	8-0	13-0	Fiesta
Nevada	7-1	8-4	Hawaii
Fresno State	6-2	8-4	Humanitarian
Louisiana Tech	4-4	5-7
Utah State	4-4	5-7
San Jose State	3-5	4-8
Hawaii	2-6	4-9
Idaho	2-6	5-7
New Mexico State	0-8	2-11

Looks like Nevada should rebound fine the rest of the season, helping Mizzou's rankings out a bit. Meanwhile...come on, Idaho and Utah State! Find one more win somewhere, and you're bowling!

Bowl Projections

Date	Bowl	Tie-ins	Matchup
12/19	New Mexico	MWC vs WAC	Air Force (6-6) vs Ohio (6-6)
12/19	St. Petersburg	Big East vs C-USA	Temple (6-6) vs UL-Lafayette (6-6)
12/20	New Orleans	C-USA vs Sun Belt #1	East Carolina (7-6) vs Troy (9-3)
12/22	Las Vegas	MWC #1 vs Pac-10	BYU (11-1) vs Washington (6-6)
12/23	Poinsettia	MWC vs Pac-10 #6	Utah (9-3) vs Notre Dame (8-4)
12/24	Hawaii	C-USA vs WAC	Nevada (8-4) vs Southern Miss (7-5)
12/26	Little Caesar's Pizza! Pizza!	Big Ten #7 vs MAC	Central Michigan (10-3) vs Middle Tennessee (8-4)
12/26	Meineke Car Care	ACC #5-7 vs Big East #3	West Virginia (9-3) vs Florida State (6-6)
12/26	Emerald	ACC #5-7 vs Pac-10	N.C. State (6-6) vs Oregon State (6-6)
12/27	Music City	ACC #5-7 vs SEC	Wake Forest (7-5) vs Kentucky (6-6)
12/28	Independence	Big 12 vs SEC	Texas Tech (6-6) vs South Carolina (6-6)
12/29	Eagle Bank	ACC #8 vs Army	Virginia (6-6) vs Northern Illinois (8-4)
12/29	Champs Sports	ACC #4 vs Big Ten #4-5	Georgia Tech (7-5) vs Michigan (7-5)
12/30	Humanitarian	MWC vs WAC	Fresno State (8-4) vs Colorado State (7-5)
12/30	Holiday	Big 12 #3 vs Pac-10 #2	Missouri (10-3) vs California (8-4)
12/30	Texas	Big 12 #8 vs Navy	Navy (9-4) vs Texas A&M (7-5)
12/31	Armed Forces	C-USA vs MWC	TCU (11-1) vs Houston (10-2)
12/31	Sun	Big 12 vs Pac-10 #3	Nebraska (9-3) vs UCLA (8-4)
12/31	Insight	Big Ten #6 vs Big 12 #6	Minnesota (7-5) vs Kansas (7-5)
12/31	Chick-Fil-A	ACC #2 vs SEC	Tennessee (8-4) vs Clemson (8-5)
1/1	Outback	Big Ten #3 vs SEC	Ohio State (10-2) vs Georgia (8-4)
1/1	Capital One	Big Ten #2 vs SEC	Wisconsin (11-1) vs LSU (10-2)
1/1	Gator	ACC #3 vs Big East/ND	Cincinnati (10-2) vs Boston College (9-3)
1/1	Rose	BCS vs BCS	Penn State (11-1) vs Oregon (11-1)
1/1	Sugar	BCS vs BCS	Alabama (12-1) vs Miami (11-1)
1/2	International	Big East vs MAC	Toledo (9-3) vs UConn (7-5)
1/2	PapaJohns.com	Big East vs SEC	South Florida (9-3) vs Auburn (8-4)
1/2	Cotton	Big 12 #2 vs SEC	Oklahoma (9-3) vs Arkansas (8-4)
1/2	Liberty	C-USA #1 vs SEC	Tulsa (11-2) vs Ole Miss (6-6)
1/2	Alamo	Big Ten #4-5 vs Big 12 #5	Iowa (10-2) vs Oklahoma State (9-3)
1/4	Fiesta	BCS vs BCS	Boise State (13-0) vs Pittsburgh (10-2)
1/5	Orange	BCS vs BCS	Virginia Tech (12-1) vs USC (10-2)
1/6	GMAC	ACC #9 vs MAC	Bowling Green (7-6) vs UL-Monroe (6-6)
1/7	BCS Championship	BCS #1 vs BCS #2	Florida (13-0) vs Texas (13-0)

Some BIG-TIME firepower in the BCS bowls. Some combination of Va Tech, Miami, Alabama, and USC could make for interesting matchups, especially if somehow USC and Alabama ended up facing off for late-1970s supremacy.
Most interesting matchups: Sugar, Rose, Alamo, Holiday, Liberty, Meineke Car Care, Las Vegas (rematch of last year's LockerGate controversy, or whatever we're supposed to call it), and St. Petersburg (because I'm a masochist). But really, the most potentially fun game to watch could be the Champs Sports bowl, with Georgia Tech and Michigan combining to rush 100 times.
Least interesting: GMAC (YUCK), Fiesta, Humanitarian (the bowl rematch nobody asked for).
Still Florida vs Texas in the title game, but I'm REALLY hoping one of them loses, just to see if Boise has enough juice to sneak into the title game undefeated. It took BYU a few years to work itself up the prestige ladder when they won in 1984, and even then it took an unprecedented number of flops from higher-ranked teams. We're seeing plenty of flops this year, but Boise will need at least one or two more to hop into the title game. And while they obviously wouldn't win, I have to say I've been really impressed with the amount Boise's overall athleticism has improved in the last couple of years. They're not big enough to compete with Texas, Florida, or Alabama, but speed really won't be an issue.

Does OU Land Back In The Top 5 Coming Off Bye Week?

ccmachine — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:02:30 -0000

More photos » by Carolyn Kaster - AP

Iowa's upset of Penn State on Saturday was just one in a long line of upsets. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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So how did you spend your Saturday afternoon without Sooner football? For me it was a pretty busy day that started out at the State Fair of Oklahoma then transitioned to the little league football fields to see my son's team thrash an opponent 42-0 and finally ended with a family dinner. I used just about every form of media accessible to me (BlackBerry, Radio, Laptop, Television) to keep up with the college games and as many upsets as there where I found myself being glad several times over that OU was off.

Shake Up In The Top 10

#1 Florida 41, Kentucky 7 - First and foremost our thoughts and prayers are with Tim Tebow. That was a nasty shot he took and regardless of how you feel about the Florida Gators or Tebow himself you don't ever want to see a player go down like that. The good news for the Gators is that they are off next week before traveling to Death Valley on October 3^rd to take on Lester and the Tigers.

#2 Texas 64, UTEP 7 - I wonder how those Longhorn fans that live to criticize Bob Stoops for scoring 50+ points are going to live with themselves after this one. Colt McCoy had an interception (his 5^th of the season) returned 50 yards for a score but everything else was total Texas dominance.

#3 Alabama 35, Arkansas 7 - Alabama got off to a slow start but after they got things going in the second quarter Greg McElroy tossed 3 touchdowns and, for the game, completed 70.8% of his passes for 290 yards.

#4 Mississippi 10, South Carolina 16 (Thursday) - Jevan Snead's stat line reads like this - 7/21, 107 yards, 1 touchdown. His Heisman hopes took a huge hit but after getting sacked four times in the game he's most likely used to huge hits.

#5 Penn State 10, Iowa 21 - The general consensus was that Penn State was a weak #5 and it turns out that they were right. Does the Big 10 have a title contender left?

#6 Cal 3, Oregon 42 - This was the biggest shocker to me. The Ducks held Jahvid Best to just 55 yards on 16 carries. Does the Pac 10 have a title contender left?

#7 LSU 30, Mississippi State 26 - A late goal line stand by the Tigers kept LSU from being the 5^th Top 10 team from being upset.

#8 Boise State 49, Bowling Green 14 - What's going to happen when the Broncos are the only undefeated team in the country?

#9 Miami 7, #11 Virginia Tech 31 - The Hurricanes were the only Top 10 team to face a ranked opponent but they sure dropped a big egg. It will be interesting to see what their mentality is going to be when Oklahoma comes next week.

#10 Oklahoma - Idle

USC lost to unranked Washington last Saturday and three Top 10 teams followed that up by losing to unranked opponents this weekend. We'll get to Washington here in a minute but hopefully the Huskies getting handled by Stanford will keep voters from being too anxious to put these teams that pull the upsets in the Top 25. Put them on notice and pay attention to what they do the next week but don't automatically jump them in based on one game.

So what is the Top 10 going to look like when released on Sunday afternoon? Who really knows but here's my guess.

Florida
Texas
Alabama
Virginia Tech
LSU
Boise State
Oklahoma
USC
Houston
Ohio State

Other Top 25 Upsets

#18 Florida State 7, South Florida 17 - Oklahoma's loss to BYU got worse with this one. The Seminoles thrashed the Mormons in Provo last Saturday and then come home to get beat by a freshman quarterback making his first start.

#22 North Carolina 7, Georgia Tech 24 - Just 8 first downs on the day for the Tar Heels is all you need to know about this one.

#24 Washington 14, Stanford 34 - Can we now say that USC lost to a bad team? The Trojans join the Idaho Vandals as teams beaten by Washington in their last 16 games.

Houston Could Play In The Big 12

Let's give Kevin Sumlin and the Houston Cougars their due. Two fourth quarter comebacks have the Cougars 2-0 against Big 12 south opponents. If Mike Leach kicks a field goal from the one yard-line instead of trying to go for it and getting stuffed then the Red Raiders win. In both of Tech's losses there have been some questionable calls by the Mad Scientist.

Largest Crowd In Oklahoma State History Shows Up To Watch Grambling Band

Oklahoma State opened their season by hosting the then 13^th ranked Georgia Bulldogs. They followed it up the following week with the upstart Houston Cougars and then the Rice Owls. However, it wasn't until the Grambling Tigers came to town that the OSU athletic department decided to discount tickets in an attempt to finally sellout their newly renovated stadium with an increased seating capacity of 60,000. The result was a crowd of 56,901 to watch the Cowboys pound the Tigers 56-6. That's about 3,800 more people than the Pokes had for the opener against Georgia. An absence of 3,800 empty seats sure would have looked better on national television than it did in a game that no one really cared about. At least they enjoyed the Grambling band.

Week 4 Preview: Time to Sort Things Out

cocknfire — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:04:12 -0000

More photos » by Beth Hall - AP

Arkansas has the scoring part of the game figured out. When the other team has the ball, though ...

Browse more photos »

The Weekend Thread opens up at 11 a.m. ET

WILL THEY SCORE TWO HUNDRED?
Arkansas at No. 2 Alabama, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS

Go back a couple of years and this seems like an unlikely candidate to be a shootout, but this is 2009. The Crimson Tide ranks ninth nationally in total offense (512.3 ypg) and is tied for 11th in scoring offense (42.3 ppg). The Hogs are second (538.0) and eighth (44.5) respectively.

Arkansas' defense is certainly not going to keep points from going on the board -- they rank 81st in total defense (367.5) and 99th in scoring offense (31.0). The Tide, though, is a far different story. Alabama is allowing just 185.3 ypg, good for third nationally, and 15.0 ppg (24th).

The offensive transformation was expected in Fayetteville, where players have now been in Bobby Petrino's system for a second straight year now -- which is incredible considering few expected the Gypsy Coach of the South to stay at Arkansas for two years. But Alabama returned just four starters from an offense that was, shall we say, not the strong point of the 2008 team that went undefeated in the regular season.

But Greg McElroy has been a revelation, putting himself in the running for best first-year quarterback maybe in Alabama history, even if it is just three games into the year.

		Passing									Rushing					Sacks
	G	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	INT	RAT	Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD	Sack	YdsL
2009 - Greg McElroy	3	46	69	66.7	0	0	9.4	4	1	161.66	13	30	10	2.3	1	-	-

Ryan Mallett has been even better, ranking first in the country in pass efficiency and throwing for more than 700 yards in two games. But he doesn't have a defense backing him up.

Alabama 54, Arkansas 38

ASK LANE KIFFIN HOW TO PREVENT A BLOWOUT
No. 6 LSU at Mississippi State, 12:21 p.m. ET, SEC Network / ESPN360

If Dan Mullen wants to continue what has so far been a relatively successful debut as head coach in Starkville -- solid improvement even if the record isn't impressive -- this would be a good place to start. The Western Division Bulldogs have defeated LSU once since 1991, and that was ten years ago. Last season's game marked the first time since 2002 that Mississippi State lost by less than 30.

Meanwhile, the Bayou Bengals are still in search of their first awe-inspiring win. Forgive me if I fail to find anything impressive in an eight-point win at Washington, a two-touchdown victory vs. Vanderbilt and a 28-point cakewalk against Louisiana-Lafayette. Good wins, yes, but nothing that indicates the Tigers are part of the elite.

Then again, even when they haven't been, this game has never given them any trouble.

LSU 38, Mississippi State 14

NO MORE SURPRISES
No. 1 Florida at Kentucky, 6 p.m. ET, ESPN2 / ESPN360

Admit it -- if I had told you at the end of last year that Kentucky would score 73 points in its first two games and Mike Hartline would have the 35th-highest passing efficiency rating in the nation, you would have laughed. And here we are, with a Kentucky offense that has been able to put up points on a weak MAC team and a dubious Big East team, but one that's been able to put up points nonetheless.

Florida, though, is coming off what might be the most disappointing 10-point SEC win in the history of the league. The Gators were supposed to score 50 or more on Tennessee and didn't, and now they have to travel to Lexington to take on a Wildcat team that nobody has a solid fix on yet.

The smart money says that Florida will be able to do what no one else has done against Kentucky so far this year -- sack Hartline -- but that UK will struggle to do what no one has done against Florida this year -- score more than a single offensive TD.

Florida 32, Kentucky 7

I HAVE NO EARTHLY IDEA
Arizona State at No. 21 Georgia, 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU

If you had asked any reasonable Georgia fan at the beginning of the season if they would like to get through September with just one loss, they would have asked you where they needed to go to sign up. The Dawgs are on the cusp of pulling off a 3-1 start against one of the most difficult opening slates in the nation. Only Arizona State, a team that was disappointing last year after a successful 2007, stands in Georgia's way.

But to the casual observer, ASU is almost completely unreadable. Their only two games came against Idaho State and Louisiana-Monroe, both blowouts but neither giving us much to go on leading up to this game.

We do know that Georgia has a good or even great offense and a suspect defense. But this is a shot in the dark.

Georgia 31, Arizona State 30

TRY TO REALLY WIN THIS ONE
Ohio at Tennessee, 7 p.m. ET, PPV / ESPN360

You know, the old cliche is that it's not unusual have to have a letdown game after a big win like the -- What? Tennessee didn't win in Gainesville last week? Well then why all the crowing from Knoxville and the fulminating from the Gators faithful?

Whether moral victories have the same effect on teams is a fair question, even for someone who's usually skeptical of things like "letdown games." It probably wouldn't matter in any case; this is a perfect match-up for Tennessee. The Bobcats are good at defending the pass but not the run, and so Lane Kiffin can actually win this game by running instead of just trying to keep it close.

The one reason that might give Tennessee fans reason to worry: Ohio has one of the best turnover margins in the country. If it's luck, then everything should be fine. But if the Bobcats are good at creating turnovers, then things could get interesting.

Tennessee 37, Ohio 12

LAST YEAR WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH DIFFERENT
Ball State at Auburn, 7 p.m. ET, FSN / ESPN360

This game tells you all you need to know about how much college football can change in a season. Last year, Auburn entered its third week coming off the infamous 3-2 and the beginning of the most serious questions about Tony Franklin's offense. This year, the Tigers are 3-0 and haven't scored fewer than 37 points in any of their three games while averaging 515 yards of total offense.

Ball State has gone the other way, losing each of its three games after an undefeated regular season that saw the Cardinals' first loss come in the MAC Championship Game. All of Ball State's games have been close, but the schedule has consisted of North Texas, New Hampshire and Army.

Auburn 48, Ball State 0

TIME TO HAVE FUN AGAIN, AT LEAST FOR A WEEK
Vanderbilt at Rice, 8 p.m. ET, CSS

Remember, say, three weeks ago, when Vanderbilt fans were touting the new Vanderbilt and how last year's bowl season was a breakout year for the program and proof that they were on the way up? Well, losses against LSU and Mississippi State have pretty much wiped out that optimism, though the Commodores should win this game. The old Vanderbilt might be back, but even the old Vanderbilt wouldn't lose this game.

Rice is good at throwing the ball. And special teams. And that's about it. They lost at UAB by 20, at Texas Tech by 45 and at Oklahoma State by 17. At least their home fans finally get to see them play -- whatever small consolation that might be.

Vanderbilt 23, Rice 14

Don't Bet On It!: Around the SEC

T Kyle King — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:30:18 -0000

A 7-1 ledger in last week’s SEC picks improved my record for the season to 22-2 in conference games, which sounds pretty impressive until you consider how many patsies the league crossed paths with in the first three weeks of the autumn. Please bear in mind, therefore, that my weekly disclaimer still stands: Don’t Bet On It!

Here are this week’s Southeastern Conference contests, which will be played on September 26 unless otherwise noted:

Ball State Cardinals at Auburn Tigers: I think it would really be cool if David Letterman decided to become for the school in Muncie what Bobby Lowder is was for the institution in the so-called Loveliest Village. You’d see high-ranking university administrators flying around on CBS corporate jets hiring replacements for coaches who hadn’t been fired yet, followed by late-night comedy bits entitled "Top Ten Reasons My Alma Mater Got Its Accreditation and Its Athletic Program Put on Probation," all topped off by gap-toothed grinning into the camera with the declaration: "The NCAA infractions committee is the finest law enforcement agency in the world!" In a game that could only have been scheduled as part of the Worldwide Leader’s plan to get every Division I-A program to arrange an outing against the team that comes after it alphabetically in the ESPN College Football Encyclopedia, the Hoosieroons will go down fighting against the Plainsmen.

Ohio Bobcats at Tennessee Volunteers: Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, uttered by Lane Kiffin about the threat of a flu outbreak in Knoxville after the Big Orange dropped a ten-point decision in the Swamp: "I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and see, and after we’re not excited about our performance, we’ll tell you that everybody was sick." That is truly, genuinely pathetic. Think about what that says about the state of Tennessee football. Following a double-digit loss in a rivalry game in which the Vols did not perform appreciably better on the field than they did the year before, Coach Kiffin fils projects forward to the day when they’re "not excited about our performance." That means Coach Kiffin the younger was excited about his team’s performance in the game he just lost by less than anticipated. (Try to imagine Phillip Fulmer saying such a thing. Try to imagine Johnny Majors even thinking such a thing. Heck, try to imagine Robert Neyland not pistol-whipping someone who said such a thing.) When you compare the reaction of Coach Kiffin the lesser to the angst that gripped the Gamecock faithful after their loss to the ‘Dawgs, it quickly becomes apparent that Tennessee has replaced South Carolina as the SEC program most inclined to accept moral victories in lieu of actual victories. That’s just sad . . . though not so sad that the Volunteers won’t register a win (on the scoreboard and everything) over Ohio (Ohio).

Vanderbilt Commodores at Rice Owls: If this game is tied after 60 minutes, can the teams forego overtime and settle the contest using a Final Jeopardy! question posed by Alex Trebek? Seriously, if I wanted to watch snooty private school students play a sport, I’d have the courage of my convictions and watch Harvard take on Yale in lacrosse. I’m really going out on a limb by picking Vandy to win a road game, but I’m taking the ’Dores.

Florida Gators at Kentucky Wildcats: The Sunshine State Saurians last lost to the Bluegrass State Felines on November 15, 1986. That was about a week and a half after most Americans learned the name "Oliver North." It was exactly one week before Mike Tyson beat Trevor Berbick to win his first world boxing title. It was around the time I was finishing up the first quarter of my freshman year of college. What about this Florida team or about this Kentucky team leads you to believe this will be the year the Wildcats break the streak? That’s what I thought. I can’t stand the Gators in general, but I like them in this game.

LSU Tigers at Mississippi State Bulldogs: I keep waiting for the Bayou Bengals to put it all together. A trip to Starkville may be just what Louisiana State needs to start looking like the team I keep telling myself the Tigers are going to be.

Arkansas Razorbacks at Alabama Crimson Tide: No matter how badly you feel about the Georgia defense after watching this . . .

FULL SCREEN VERSION

. . . you’re going to get to the end of the Alabama-Arkansas game and feel worse. In terms of sheer fear factor, I’d be significantly more concerned about the prospect of facing a Nick Saban-coached defense than I would be of facing a Bobby Petrino-coached offense . . . and that is without taking into account the vast chasm yawning between the Tide’s offensive prowess and the Hogs’ defensive ineptitude. I like ’Bama to win this one in Tuscaloosa and I don’t look for it to be close.

Ole Miss Rebels at South Carolina Gamecocks (Sept. 24): Is there any chance of Colonel Reb pounding Plucky the Chicken into the Williams-Brice Stadium turf? Because I would pay to see that, particularly if the fight was followed by the winner being interviewed by Erin Andrews sporting her new "hot librarian" look. Wait, where was I? Oh, yeah, right . . . Thursday night SEC football. There shouldn’t be Thursday night SEC football, but, in any event, there’s this game, and they’re going to play it without regard to whether we want this game to occur, so I might as well pick it. You know what? I’ve thought all along that Mississippi was overrated by everyone (including, oddly enough, by me; we all ranked the Rebs highly, but none of us seemed to believe it as we were doing it), and I have such personal familiarity with the bear trap that is Columbia that it is the one sports arena in all the world to which I have sworn a solemn oath never to return (Georgia is 0-2 at South Carolina with me in the stands), so, while I’ll be rooting for Ole Miss, I’m picking the Palmetto State Poultry.

Clearly, I have plunged entirely off the deep end here, so caveats hardly seem necessary, but, just to be on the safe side, I’m going to warn you once again: Don’t Bet On It!

Coming Soon: National Games of Interest.

Go ‘Dawgs!

Two-fer! Buffs Land Seventh Commit of 2010 Cycle in Texas LB Lowell Williams

irish1611 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:01:05 -0000

After recently learning about the Buffs sixth commitment DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe, Colorado has also landed lucky number seven in Missouri City (TX) Fort Bend Marshall High linebacker Lowell Williams. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound linebacker visited Colorado this week and I guess he saw enough to pull the trigger. Williams also had offers from UTEP and Rice and was getting interest from Oklahoma State, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Purdue, Oregon State and Utah.

The Texas linebacker was listed as a three star on rivals.com.

Last year, Lowell was ranked 2nd team all-district in 5A as a defensive end. Williams also has been making s ome headlines this year:

Kempner drove to the Marshall 20 on its next drive, Shalala fumbled his third snap of the game. This time Marshall’s Lowell Williams (two sacks) recovered and returned it 75 yards to the Kempner 5. The Cougars pushed Marshall back two yards on the next two plays then dodged two incomplete passes – the second by wide receiver Jalon Thompson on a fake field goal.

Lowell Williams has also been ranked as the 225th high school player in the state of Texas. ESPN calls the linebacker a hard working defender:

Lowell Williams (Missouri City, Texas/Fort Bend Marshall) is a hard-working defender who spent his junior year at end. As a senior, the 6-2, 205-pounder will spend more time at his natural linebacker position. The Rice Owls were the first program to step forward and the offer the Houston-area sleeper.

Here is a video of Lowell Williams. Most of the highlights are him lining up at defensive end. He is now playing linebacker which is what he projects at for the next level. He has a strong burst and shows the ability to get to the quarterback.

Welcome to the Buffs, Lowell!

For Entertainment Purposes Only- Previewing College Football's 3rd week

FSUncensored — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:32:26 -0000

Note: We use this column to examine the college football landscape and the weekend ahead. The use of gambling numbers helps to show the public perception of a team and of their respective conferences. Even if you don't gamble, or are against gambling, this is worth a read solely because it will keep you informed of the happenings with many of college football's teams. Think of this as your weekend primer!

Welcome to another edition of For Entertainment Purposes Only! Last year, this rather informal column went 251-190 (57%) +41.0 That's 251 wins and 190 losses for a winning percentage of 57%. If you were wagering $100 fake dollars per game, you would have netted $4100 at season's end. But since these are fake wagers, we refer to our wager amount as "units." First though, a disclaimer:

I want to emphasize that we don't endorse gambling at this site, and anything on here is for entertainment purposes only. Always check with your local, state, or federal laws to determine the legality of wagering.

First we discussed some wagers for conference and division winners. Since then, the odds on Clemson have gone from +1000 to +300, and Ole Miss went from +350 to +200. No odds went against our decisions. Then we went over season win totals. Vegas set the number, we called it over or under! In Week 1 we went 20-24 (45%), -6.3 Units. Last week we went 39-22 (63%), +16.32 Units. For the season, we sit at 59-46 (56%), +10.02 Units. If we finish at 56% over 500 selections, we'll be absolutely elated. We like to play a lot of games to grind out the variance. The swings over 500 games aren't nearly as dramatic as they are over 100. It's as simple as grinding out the sample set.

While last week's theme was "hangovers, lookaheads, and letdowns", this week is all about getting the right number. Inside, we'll discuss just about every college football game on the slate.

As the season goes on, it's very important to jump on numbers as they are released by vegas. As you will see, there is a ton of movement from Sunday night (when they come out) to gametime. If I grabbed a line on Sunday, I noted it, and posted it in last week's column to alert the true degenerates among us.

This week starts off with an ACC battle. Tonight, Georgia Tech travels to Miami. The Canes have had 10 days to prepare for this game, while GTech has had only 7. Tech's defense didn't impress against Clemson, and their offense seemed a bit out of synch. The real key to this should be Miami's freakish defensive tackle pair in Marcus Forston and Allen Bailey. This opened at GT @ Mia -3 and that's where we popped it. It currently sits at -5.5

Then Friday we have a wacky WAC battle. I snagged Fresno State at +12 hosting Boise because the number seemed high. The line has since been bet down to -7.5, and 7 in some places. I really don't have much opinion on these teams, other than to say that Boise is probably getting a bit too much credit for dismantling an Oregon team with 4 new offensive line starters. With that said, I am coming back and grabbing the Boise -7 and trying for a middle.

Some asked me to order the games by start time instead of rotation # (vegas reference number). You guys make the call, so here we go:

NOON

A bad Ball State team travels to face Army. Huah! I grabbed the -6.5 points with our nation's defenders, and then later in the week played Ball State +8. Trying for the middle.
Boston College travels to Clemson. I don't believe in BC and as you know, I think Clemson is quite possibly the ACC's best team. This line opened at -7 and that's where I bet it (fake wager, of course ;). It's now available at -6.5 pretty much everywhere. I also like Under 45 as Clemson has an elite level defense.
Joe-Public Alert! I'm on the Cal bandwagon and am not a believer in Minnesota. A friend tipped me that Cal will be arriving Thursday, to adjust for the timezone difference after having a scare last year at Maryland. I grabbed Cal -13.5 Sunday night, and I'll stick with that.
Duke @ Kansas. Everyone loves Kansas here, so be careful if you bet the Jayhawks. Personally, I'll be on Duke if the line hits 24. Otherwise, this is a pass. I'll update it in the comment section.
The East Carolina Pirates travel to face the North Carolina Tarheels. UNC has some injury issues and while I don't really buy this ECU team, I suspect UNC could be looking ahead to GTech next week. The plays are ECU +7.5 and Under 42.
Eastern Michigan travels to play Michigan. The Wolverines are laying 24. I'm waiting for 24.5 and will probably play EMU.
In a rivalry where one team clearly wants it more than their opponent, Louisville is at Kentucky. I feel Kentucky is slightly overrated and will gladly take Louisville +14.5. Also, UK has UF next weekend, so there is the possible lookahead angle as well, though not a big one.
Purdue is fresh off their west coast trip and are hosting a decent Northern Illinois club. NIU is currently getting 13, which isn't enough against a Purdue team that may be surprising some folks, but if this hits +14, I am on NIU. INJURY Note: NIU returns their leading tackler and excellent safety in this game. He missed the first 2.
Ohio State, fresh off their poorly coached choke job loss to USC has to travel to Cleveland and play a very game Toledo team. This came out at +22.5, but I missed it, and grabbed the Rockets at +21.
Snoozefest: Temple @ Penn State. Temple is slightly better than horrible, and I am waiting until they hit +32 to take the Owls. Sorry for the lack of analysis here.

Now on to the 3:30 games. Okay Degenerates, run down to the nearest Winn-Dixie to grab $500 worth of pre-paid western union cards and call Costa Rica We have games to hit.

I like Iowa -5 hosting an Arizona team coming cross country. Some trepidation here because Iowa is off a rivalry game, but ultimately I think Zona misses some of their graduates more than they have shown.
Akron is favored by 4 over Indiana. Most will balk at this and take the Big10 team, but Indiana couldn't win the Mac, conference USA, or even the Sun Belt. Evaluate the players and the coaches, not the names on the jersey, and take Akron -4.
I don't like this Michigan State team and Notre Dame at home seems like a good bet laying the -10.
Nebraska travels to face Virginia Tech in what should be a great battle. I grabbed VTech -2.5 Sunday night, and yesterday played Nebraska +5. I don't know what happens here, other than to say I really like what Nebraska does on offense, and hope VTech wins by 3 or 4.
I'm pasing on Tenn @ Florida, and I'd advise you to do the same. If this hits +31.5 or more, I will probably take Tennessee, but this spread is a bit crazy.
Tulsa travels to face Oklahoma. Interesting test for OU. Last week they waxed a terrible Idaho State team, but everyone could do that. This means a lot to Tulsa. Did you know that Tulsa has the smallest undergrad enrollment of any D1 school? I grabbed Oklahoma at -14 on Sunday expecting a big move, and now will play Tulsa +17.5 hoping for a nice middle opportunity.
This one I am proud of, and I got a bit lucky. Washington is better than people think, and when I saw that USC was -22.5 in Washington, I had to snag the Huskies +22.5 Now we learn that Barkley is out. USC could go down here, but even if they don't, UW should give them a game. USC has all kinds of motivational and attrition factors working against them right now. NOTE: if this gets to USC -17, I will play the Trojans and try for the middle. Remember, secure profits and limit exposure.
While I accurately predicted the movement of some lines, I missed on some others. Typically, you shouldn't take a game just for speculative line movement purposes. I did so here, taking Utah +5 @ Oregon, thinking that the game would get bet down to +3 or +2 and I'd have a middle opportunity. That hasn't happened. So to counteract my initial outlay, I am betting Oregon -5 twice, essentially leaving me with one Oregon -5 wager, and paying a higher premium than I'd prefer for some less than perfect prognostication.
Virginia is terrible, and if Southern Miss runs the table they will be in the BCS. Golden Eagles -15.5 is the play.
I snagged Wyoming @ Colorado -7 Sunday night. Not feeling this one so much now but am gonna ride it out.

7Pm Conte$t$ and beyond!

Everyone loves Cincinnati this weekend at Oregon State. I like the beavers +1 because of the travel aspect, their NFL caliber QB, and HC Mike RIley's ability to get his defense going. This is a can't-miss game for football fans. DVR this game.
San Diego State shouldn't be laying points to anyone on a long road trip. Gimme Idaho +3.5
Sunday Night Gem: Nevada -1 over Colorado State. It's now at -3 or -4, but I'll stick with the -1.
Buffalo has to travel to Florida to face UCF? Call me a square but gimme UCF -4.
South Carolina is hosting FAU. I like FAU a lot, but won't play them unless I can find +21.5 (okay, I might go for +21).
As much as I hate trusting my money with Dave Wandstedt, I'll lay the -7 with the Panthers over Navy.
Oklahoma State will be motivated to blow Rice out, but Rice +32.5 is a bit steep for them, so the Owls it is.
Fresh off their near upset win over Missouri, Bowling Green should have a hangover effect. They get the deliverance treatment at the hands of Marshall +3.
FSU @ BYU. I took FSU +7.5 and feel confident here. Rarely do I bet on FSU, and often go against them because I think they are overrated due to talent and name. Many of our readers don't like that but this column is about objective predictions. People think vegas wants to balance the action on both sides of the ledger, but This isn't actually true. In a perfect world, it would be, but key numbers distort this notion. Vegas routinely takes positions, particularly on big games. Why would they not move USC to -7.5 last week? Because they felt more comfortable with square USC money than sharp OSU $. Vegas is taking a position. They'd rather hold a hugely disproportional amount of BYU money at -7 than to be stuck with FSU money at +10 (from professionals). I happen to think they believe BYU is very good, but FSU is much better than the public thinks (rather than FSU being bad and BYU being overrated). But they are definitely saying one team is better than the public thinks, or one team is worse than the public thinks, or maybe some combination of both. Typically top 7 teams are favored by 2 TD's or more against an unranked foe. Heck, unranked Tennessee was giving 10 points to UCLA last weekend. This line is a judgement on both programs, and it's a positive for FSU.
LSU -27 over Louisiana Lafayette. Last week I called for Lafayette to beat Kansas State outright. This week they get pasted by the Tigers.
Mississippi State +8 @ Vanderbilt. I don't really know why I took this Sunday night. I can't read my notes in the margin. Both are just bad SEC teams. Oh, and Vanderbilt just got racked by injuries and Miss St. gets some kids back from suspension. I'm not sure either team will score 8 points.
I hate to do it, but SMU shouldn't be laying a TD on the road. Washington State +7, even without any cornerbacks or decent players. Praying for the push.
Snagged Texas A&M -17 Sunday night, but hoping to see Utah State get to -21 so I can try for the middle.
Northwestern -3 @ Syracuse. I went against NW last week and won. This time I am backing the Wildcats. The Cuse are beat up after playing Penn State.
Air Force is at New Mexico +17.5 Air Force is without both starting corners (suspension/ injury), and their top receiver. They'll score, but New Mexico should be able to keep up in the desert.
Iowa State is hungover from thier blowout rivalry loss (sound familiar Nole fans??), and will lose to Kent State. Kent +3.
Miami (OH) +17 and WMich -16? Yeah, I hit it Sunday night but have since bet the other side to essentially get off the game. Hope for a 16 or 17 point victory and the win/push result.
Georgia travels to the Ozarks to face Arkansas. I snagged the Razorbacks at +1.5 Sunday evening, and the line has since moved a bit. I am sticking with the pick and don't think much of UGA's defensive coordinator. I also played Over 53.5
West Virginia travels to Auburn for the Tiger's first real test. Gimme the Mountaineers +7 here. Aub is slightly overrated, as they run so many plays that it gives the perception of offensive greatness. I'm not buying it yet.
Texas is -17 hosting TTech. I don't love the play, but TTech should be a bit down, the game is in Austin, and I look for UT to play a bit better than last year. Revenge game.
UTep rolls into NMSU in what should be an awesome offensive battle. I want NMSU +14, but won't take anything less unless some weird injury news pops.
Kansas State. What a bad team. I called the upset last week of Louisiana Lafayatte beating them, and it happened. But this week UCLA has serious injury issues and I like KState getting +12.5 in LA.
ULM is playing at Arizona State. AZST is at UGA next week. if this lines hits 21 or more, jump ULM. Can you say lookahead?
UNLV -6 hosting Hawaii? Yeah, gimme the boys in Vegas. That's back to back road trips for Hawaii.
Stanford -19 is a very good football team and they should take care of San Jose State.

So, what say you? Ready for this weekend of college football? What games do you like? Which don't you like? I have to admit, this is my favorite weekly column to write for you, the fan. I love Vegas because they don't overreact and alter their perception of a team based on one or two games, or a close win or loss. It's a valuable lesson many fans could learn. Remember to check back in the comment section to see any additional fake wagers being added.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.12.09

Seth C — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:22:12 -0000

Odds and Ends

Young vs. Lee: I'm putting this at the top of the page because it's pretty amazing. Last night, Texas Tech commit, QB Scotty Young, and his Denton-Ryan squad played LSU commit, QB Zac Lee, and his McKinney squad. You could imagine that with two high profile quarterbacks this would be a shoot-out, but how about Denton-Ryan 70, McKinney 63. Pedestrian stats to follow:

Young :: 27-41 / 541 yds / 0 Int / 8 TD's
Lee :: 20-37 / 360 yds / 0 Int / 4 TD's

I wonder if Young will fit in well with this Texas Tech offense?

This Week's DTN Rice Coverage: The game day thread will go up at 5:00 p.m. Because I'm on my way to the game this morning I thought I would link to all of DTN's coverage of this week's game against Rice:

Crunching the Numbers
Position Matchups
Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Lose
Five Reasons Texas Tech Will Win
Big 12 Roundtable
Prediction Time

Texas Tech Football

Sharpe is Focused: LAJ's Don Williams features DE Brandon Sharpe, who has fought his way through quite a bit of adversity to graduate early, is working on getting his teaching certificate and taking care of his family. No blockquotes, go read the whole thing.

Mirror Images: LAJ's Don Williams asks Captain Mike Leach if Texas Tech and Rice are mirror images of each other (both teams lose a lot of offense):

"I hadn’t really thought of it,’’ Tech coach Mike Leach said of the team’s 2008 seasons and their less-than-perfect ’09 openers. "I think every team goes through that. Even teams with people back go through that. The speed’s different when you go out there and play. Even when you have people back, you still get (veterans and newcomers) kind of mixed together.

"It’s very hard to judge teams by their first game and, to a lesser degree, their second game. They should be getting pretty on track by their third.’’

Williams also notes that RB Harrison Jeffers is going to see time much earlier.

Red Raiders Still Focused on Rice . . . Seriously: FWST's Dwain Price talks with defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill about UND last week and Rice this week:

"We play them one game a week, that’s why it’s not that hard [to focus on Rice]," McNeill said. "[Coach] Mike [Leach] and all of us believe in that.

"We have our hands full with Rice, and we know that. We’re looking for a great game and we’re looking forward to the challenge and [to playing] a well-prepared and well-coached football team."

McNeill knows there's room for improvement:

"I thought it was a good start," McNeill said. "It was a game where there were some things that we did well in all three groups — the defensive line, linebackers and secondary. There were also some things that we left on the field that we could have done better in all three different groups as well."

Quick Links: LAJ's Tale of the Tape and RRS.com's positional matchups.

Rice Links: RiceFootball.net's Mark Anderson has an excellent preview of the game from a Rice perspective . . . the Chron's Jeffrey Martin writes that the Owls expect more of the same offense from the Red Raiders . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich notes that the quarterback position at Rice is still unsettled . . .

Big 12 Links: In The Bleachers Big 12 week 2 predictions . . . the official Big 12 website previews this week's games . . . DMN's Kevin Sherrington ranks the top Texas teams and your Red Raiders are behind Texas (okay) and TCU (hmmm) . . .

SB Nation - Rice Owls

Arizona Fries Rice

Arizona 66 vs. Rice 48 Recap

Arizona vs. Rice Open Thread

Rice Owls Basketball Roster

Arizona Wildcats Basketball Roster

Updated BTBS Projections

Finger on the pulse

Range of Spreads

Big 12

ACC

Big East

Big Ten

Conference USA

Independents

MAC

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WAC

Bowl Projections

Does OU Land Back In The Top 5 Coming Off Bye Week?

Week 4 Preview: Time to Sort Things Out

Don't Bet On It!: Around the SEC

Two-fer! Buffs Land Seventh Commit of 2010 Cycle in Texas LB Lowell Williams

For Entertainment Purposes Only- Previewing College Football's 3rd week

NOON

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 09.12.09

Odds and Ends

Texas Tech Football