As you know, this weekend was filled with so much. I figured each sport deserves it’s own section of the recap. So I’ll start with College Football in part 1, give you some MLB in part 2, and close it off with NFL in part 3.
College Football
We had another big weekend in college football and it only looks to get better. There is no team this season that is clearly the most dominant and a unanimous pick to win the title like we’ve had in years past with the USC’s of Reggie Bush etc. However, the good thing about that is there is plenty of room for discussion, heated debates, and punches thrown to the face of your friend from another school who said your team is overrated.
This is college football.
Now to the rankings. So let me get this straight; Michigan loses to Appalachian St. by two points when they were favored by 35+ in pretty much every spread that matters, and radio hosts bash the Wolverines, fans talk about how they should be dropped COMPLETELY from the rankings. No if’s and’s or but’s. It didn’t matter that had Michigan made that last field goal, they would still be in the top ten. “Doesn’t matter. They lost. If’s don’t matter. They should be out of the top 25, period.” Fair enough.
Fast forward to week six and #2 USC loses to an unranked Stanford, to whom they were favored to beat by 41 or 43 (depending on the spread you used), and yet, the same radio hosts, Colin Cowherd in particular, talk about how they should remain in the top ten. “Well if they win that game, even by a few, they’re still a top three team.” Really? Really??? Why? Why is it that Michigan should have been kicked out of Division 1 football but USC should be given the benefit of the doubt. “Oh Stanford is an up and coming team. That Jim Harbaugh, he’s.. he’s really something. USC played a good opponent.” Get out of my face with that nonsense. They weren’t ranked! They were 41 point dogs! I said this last week after people like Skip Bayless were praising USC for “showing a lot” by coming up with a tough, close win at Washington. I said it then, and I’ll say it now… top tier teams should blow out unranked or even ranked opponents above 15. I don’t care if you’re at home, if you’re on the road, if it’s raining, snowing, windy, hailing, I don’t give a damn. If you’re ranked as a top team in the nation, you should handle your business. I’m glad USC lost but I’m disappointed to see how the AP still sweats them more than radio sweats Britney Spears god awful single.
One last point before I move on. I also heard people say “Well yeah USC lost but if you put them at 15, that’s not really accurate because you know if they played #2 Cal today, they’d still be favored.” That’s probably true but just because you’re more talented doesn’t mean you should get a free pass when you lose to a team you were favored to annihilate. You have to face some form of repercussions and since the stupid, neanderthal ranking system is all that college football has to offer, this is how you penalize a team for blowing it.
As far as the rest of the country goes…
Well Virginia Tech finally showed that they have some heart. I was glad to see them beat the living hell out of Clemson. The defense looked the way they were SUPPOSED to look all season and the special teams was as good as anyone could imagine. I think the defense and special teams knocked out over 5 Clemson players if I remember correctly. They played angry and angry is good. However, the offense is still sputtering. There is no push on the offensive line and there is absolutely no running game. The best running threat is quarterback Tyrod Taylor and I cannot be sold on a team that cannot control the clock by means of rushing the rock down your throat. They got Duke this week and then a matchup that I’m salivating over;
Thursday Night. Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA.
#4 Boston College @ #12 VT.
Should be a great game. I’m not going to make a prediction yet because I want to see if the offense can improve over the next week or so. I will say this though… the Hokies offense better be able to put up a couple of touchdowns and 150+ yards rushing because Matt Ryan is going to bring it.
The Florida-LSU game showed me two things. First, LSU is not clearly the best team in the country. They have the best record and they have the most impressive resume but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they lost a game, or even two (including the SEC Championship) before it’s all said and done. Second, Florida is a very good, young team… emphasis on “young”. This team has all the talent in the world, they’re getting the top recruits in coming years, and they have a hell of a coach. Look for a USC type of dynasty in the making over the next several years. They outplayed LSU in Tiger Stadium for 95% of the game. They let down for that critical 5%, but again, they are young. When they have the experience under their belts, watch out. One more thing… I don’t want to hear any of this garbage about how USF is the best team in Florida. The best team in Florida wears Orange and blue, period.
Lastly, I was glad to see Wisconsin finally lose. I had been picking them to be upset for the past three or four weeks and was going to continue to pick against them the rest of the season because I’m a stubborn ass. I never believed in them and didn’t care that they had won 14 straight regular season games or whatever the stat was. That means nothing to me, and apparently it means nothing to Vegas either as they were two point underdogs to unranked Illinois. Which reminds me, another coach who’s building a solid program is Ron Zook (ironically, the ex Florida coach). He’s getting solid recruiting and that program is going to be an annual 15’ish ranked team in years coming. Good for Zook.
Now, enjoy the meaningless rankings. Mine are on the left, AP’s are on the right.
