The Sports Rumors

The BCS National Championship Game

Jan 7, 8:30pm FOX, The BCS National Championship Game, #1 Ohio State (11-1) vs #2 Louisiana State (11-2)

Well, its here folks. The mythical national championship game is upon us. OSU vs LSU for all the marbles. In a season that did nothing but prove that a playoff is needed to crown a championship, we are given this game for all the marbles. Who’s gonna take home the trophy? Let’s take a look…

OFFENSE: The edge here goes to LSU. They have athletes coming out the wazoo on offense, and we already know Les Miles won’t hesitate to make the gutsy call. They have a rotating qb system led by SR Matt Flynn and Ryan Perrilloux and a whole slew of running backs that can get it done, with Jacob Hester being the main horse. In a defensive struggle, I give them the nod. Ohio State is too vanilla on offense for my taste. Beanie Wells is an okay back, but nothing overtly special, just another typical Big 10/11 back. Todd Boeckman, despite being hyped by Jessie Palmer and ESPN, is nothing special at all; his saving grace is that he isn’t known to make dumb decisions.

DEFENSE: This is where the NFL calibur talent exists in this game. Glenn Dorsey, despite being injured by a cut block by Auburn, is a beast; look for him to take at least a double-team all game, he is an impact player. James Laurinitis is the main man on the Ohio State defense, he is very good but not great; I suspect if he played for anyone other than Ohio State that he would not be an all-american, but I digress. At any rate, this will be a defensive struggle with LSU having the ever-so-slight edge.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The edge clearly goes to LSU. Les Miles will pull out all the stops in this area (see: USC game). OSU isn’t bad on special teams but LSU is coached up much more and executes better.

Look for LSU to celebrate in their home away from home tonight.

Pick: LSU 28 - OSU 24

BCS Bowl Predictions 3/5

Jan 2, 8:30pm FOX, The Fiesta Bowl, #9 WVU (10-2) vs #4 Oklahoma (11-2)

Here’s all you need to know about this game.  It’s not going to be pretty.  Oklahoma had all year to think about how Boise State embarrassed them last year with the 43-42 thriller.  In case they began to forget, Boise State’s quarterback grazed the cover of NCAA 2008.  That can’t be a good feeling for Oklahoma players or fans.  The Sooners offense will be too much for WVU’s 3-3-5 defense to handle.  Furthermore, the WVU offense won’t rack up the yards on the ground the way they did against other teams this year.  We’re talking about Oklahoma… not Louisville or Rutgers.  These players are big, fast, ferocious, and will sniff out the run early.  That means Pat White will have to win this game with his arm.  The chances of that happening aren’t slim… the chances of that happening are NONE.  With Rich Rodriguez being gone, the special teams will probably not have the intensity it had all season. 

In short, Oklahoma will blow out WVU and you might want to find something else to watch by 9:30pm.

WVU 17  Oklahoma 38

BCS Bowl Predictions (2/5)

Jan 1, 8:30pm FOX, The Sugar Bowl, #4 Georgia (10-2) vs #10 Hawaii (12-0)

I know I said that I would provide a more in-depth preview for the BCS games but, honestly, this game doesn’t deserve it. To quote a friend’s father: “Hawaii is a paper tiger only, they fattened themselves up by playing St. Mary’s school for the blind.”

Hawaii is good on O but, once again, we have no idea just how good they are because they have played literally nobody. Even at that, their D is suspect. Look for Knowshon Moreno to continue to remind folks in Athens of a man named Herschel.

Pick: Georgia 31 - Hawaii 21

BCS Bowl Predictions (1/5)

Now that the lower-tiered bowls are out of the way, I can focus on the BCS previews. For these, I will go a little more in-depth than the previous picks.First up, “The Granddaddy of them All.”

Jan 1, 4:30pm ABC, The Rose Bowl, #6 Southern California (10-2) vs #13 Illinois (9-3)

When this matchup came up, I was very puzzled to say the least. Although Illinois had a very good year, especially considering their previous years, the Big10/11 was A-W-F-U-L this year. I understand the “tradition” of the Rose Bowl dictates a Pac10 vs Big10/11 showdown, but seriously the Rose Bowl needs to get over itself and start playing nicely with others. They need to give people games they want to see, and not be so locked into mindless tradition.

At any rate, when Southern California (notice how I do not say USC because that team resides in Columbia, SC) has the ball, look for them to lull Illinois to sleep with their stable of dominating running backs, then strike quick with the play action. Look for TE Fred Davis to have a good day against the Illini.

On the Illinois side of the ball, they have some definite playmakers. Rashard Mendenhall is an absolute monster, gaining 1526 yards on 245 carries this season, with QB Juice Williams sitting at 774 yards rushing and 1498 yards passing. Although the Illini are the definition of 1-dimensional, that one demension is utilized very well in the spread option scheme. Most importantly, they do not turn the ball over very much. Southern California is 4th in the nation in rushing defense, but they will still have their hands full with Illinois. The Zooker will be studying copious tapes of SoCal’s game against Oregon for inspiration.

Special teams seem to be a wash, with maybe a slight edge given to Illinois.

Pick: Southern California 34 - Illinois 17

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself

Wow. It has been over a week since I have gotten the chance to post. Been extremely busy with work and some social events but fear not; I’m back. A lot has happened since the last time we spoke. Dallas and Green Bay showed that they are the class of the NFC and will square off in the coming week. LSU learned how to pronounce ARKANSAS; mainly because Darren McFadden gave them a lesson that they won’t soon forget. Missouri is number one in the nation?! Virginia Tech kicked Virginia in the teeth and taught them not to talk badly about their superiors. The Washington Redskins found a way to outgain an opponent by almost 300 yards, in one half, and still lose. Devin Hester is the greatest return man in NFL history. Frank Caliendo is great at doing impressions, but his show is a flop.

Let’s talk college football. The BCS Rankings were announced and they were as follows:

1. Missouri
2. West Virginia
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Kansas
6. Virginia Tech
7. LSU
8. USC
9. Oklahoma
10. Florida

I can’t argue with that. The only change I’d make is have Kansas behind VT and LSU. But I can also understand them being where they’re at. This has been a crazy season but when it’s all said and done, West Virginia is going to play Ohio State, and beat Ohio State. The final rankings will look something like:

1. West Virginia
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Virginia Tech
5. LSU

I will say this though. College football is in dire need of a playoff system because it is ridiculous to think of West Virginia as potential national champions. I can’t accept a team that got punished by South Florida, who’s ranked in the upper teens somewhere, as college football’s best team. I just can’t. It’s looking like the title game is going to be WVU vs. Ohio State and to be honest, brutally honest, I won’t view either one of them as the best team regardless of who wins. In an eight team playoff system, with the current seedings, WVU wouldn’t get out of the first freaking round. Now I know that the BCS isn’t going away because it makes more money. I realize that, and I’m not going to write a 10 page paper on the benefits of a playoff. However, I can’t sit here and say that WVU or Ohio State is the best team in the nation when in fact I know that if you throw the top 8 teams in the mix for a two round playoff concluding with a championship game, LSU or Georgia would have the best shot at winning. A playoff would look something like this:

Round 1                           Round 2                      Championship

USC @ Missouri              LSU @ Missouri            LSU @ Georgia

LSU @ WVU                   Georgia @ Ohio State

VT @ Ohio State

Kansas @ Georgia

Also, it is ludicrous that some conferences have championship games while others don’t. How the hell that was decided is beyond me. College football is light years behind college basketball and all professional sports when it comes to scheduling and common sense.

I’m not going into too much depth today about the NFL weekend, mainly because yesterday lacked star power and interest. However, I want to show you something Don Banks from SI posted.

Down 19-10 with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter, Gibbs bypassed a chip shot field goal to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Bucs’ 4. Clinton Portis got stuffed for no gain on the play, and Washington could have used those three points when Jason Campbell was intercepted in the end zone by Brian Kelly with 17 seconds to go in the 19-13 Redskins loss.

If the Skins had taken the field goal earlier, they would have been in position to tie the game at 19-19 and force overtime later. The play that Campbell was picked off on was a second-and-10 from the Bucs’ 16 — putting Washington easily within Shaun Suisham’s range.

If you are going to submit analysis for games, do your audience a favor and watch the entire game; not snippets from Sportscenter or the FOX halftime show. And don’t do the hypothesis style “If the Skins had taken the field goal earlier…then they would have been in position” crap. What are you, a twelve year old science student? Yeah, obviously IF the Redskins played perfectly all season, THEN they would be undefeated. That doesn’t mean jack and neither does your god awful analysis. Had Banks followed the basic rule of objective journalism (watch the game you’re going to comment on), he would have known that Washington was dominating that entire drive; moving the ball at will. The Redskins had the Bucs guessing between pass and run, and were successful at doing both. They came out of halftime with a lot of steam after a dismal first half. To stop that drive and kick a field goal when all the momentum is in your favor, and while Bucs defensive players are visibly exhausted, would not be good coaching. Yes, looking back, you would have had three points and things might have been different. But at that juncture in the game, it made the most sense to continue to move the ball and try for a conversion on fourth down. A touchdown on that drive would have sent the Bucs much more into a panic than a measily field goal would have. So to Don Banks, and all the other jackasses who think they are great analysts because they write up a paragraph after watching one or two highlights narrated by Terry Bradshaw, learn to see the big picture and how things work in the scheme of things before you open your mouths. I don’t call out coaches and their decisions for games that I don’t watch. Neither should you.

And since today is Monday, a rainy one at that, and I am in a rainy Monday mood, I am going to take this time to launch a new page on this site. It will be dubbed, The Jackass Den. Each time I feel someone does or says something that warrants me calling them a jackass, I will add them to the list. Don Banks will be the first on the list and believe me, there will be many more. Look for that page a little later. Enjoy the power rankings, and look for much more from me this week.

College Football Weekend Recap

The much anticipated BCS rankings were released yesterday evening. Ohio State was ranked first, followed by South Florida, Boston College, LSU and Oklahoma. People still seemed to be surprised that South Florida was ranked second, but I don’t see why. Cal was ahead of them and they lost, USF had some quality wins and an undefeated record; it makes sense. Boston College is right on their tail and with a big game coming up next Thursday night in Blacksburg, VA versus the 11^th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, they could take over the number two spot. Or, they could lose it and drop out of the top five completely, which leads me to my point about these rankings.

Most teams have played seven games by now and the USF’s and the BC’s are happy to be ranked where they are. But it means nothing. Why does it mean nothing? Because the majority of the teams ranked in the top ten aren’t going to win out. USF is going to lose, Boston College will drop a game (most likely at Virginia Tech), South Carolina will lose to Florida, Kentucky will lose at least one, if not two more games, Arizona State will get waxed by Oregon and USC, Oregon will lose to USC, West Virginia lacks any sort of consistency in big games, and Virginia Tech will drop an easy game in mid November and choke after 8 weeks like they do annually. That leaves me with Ohio State, LSU, USC and Florida who will be making a BCS push. Notice a similarity in all these teams? They are the big boys of college football the big boys separate themselves when it matters. The USF’s, the BC’s, yeah they are cute, October stories. The Boise States of the past, those are few and far in between. When all is said and done, the top notch schools play in the top notch games and win the title that matters. Don’t agree? I’ll list the national champions from the past 15 years:

1992 – Alabama

1993 – Florida State

1994 – Nebraska

1995 – Nebraska

1996 – Florida

1997 – Michigan/Nebraska (split)

1998 – Tennessee

1999 – Florida State

2000 – Oklahoma

2001 – Miami

2002 – Ohio State

2003 – USC

2004 – USC

2005 – Texas

2006 – Florida

Now go ahead and show me where the Cinderella team is? There is none. So don’t read into these BCS rankings and get bent out of shape if your team isn’t given the respect you think they deserve, or if you think your rival school is getting too much love. We’re only half way through the season. Instead of whining or getting excited about the rankings, look up your teams schedule and find the game where they play the top tier teams. Circle that game. Mark it with all the highlighters you have. If you are playing an LSU, a Florida, a USC, an Ohio State, or any other school that has relevant national meaning, you need to make sure your school wins that game. If you take care of that game and handle the rest of your lousy schedule, you’ll be fine when the season comes to an end. If you don’t win your big game, don’t bother whining about the BCS or AP rankings. It doesn’t matter if you’re 17^th and you feel you should be 15^th. Who cares?

Look I want Virginia Tech to be in the national championship, just as any alum would. But we squandered our big game against LSU. That was OUR chance to make the statement and handle our business. We let it slip. Therefore, I’m not whining about being ranked 11^th. I’m not going to whine if a team with two losses ends up ranked higher than Tech at some point. I’m lucky though. My school has one more chance to beat a top 5 team in one season, which is rare. So circle your big games, win your easy ones, enjoy the second half of the season, and as Terrell Owens would say,

“Getcha Popcorn Ready.”

—