Big 12 South and the BCS

There has been a lot of disputing over the Big 12 South and BCS games over the last couple of weeks, and if OU and Texas Tech win there games on Saturday there will likely be even more.

First of all, with the three teams involved there are arguments for each team on why they should be where they are ranked and who should go to Kansas City to play the Big 12 Championship and also possibly the National Championship. We all know Texas beat OU on a neutral field, Tech beat Texas at Lubbock, and OU crushed Tech in Norman. All three will be tied at 7-1 in the conference. The majority of Texas fans will argue that they should get the nod because of beating OU head to head on a neutral field. Why is it they do not figure Tech into the equation? OU fans say they slaughtered the team that beat Texas and they are playing the best football right now. I have yet to hear any comments on why Tech should get in the game. I know, I know, they got crushed by OU so they are out of the argument. Some will say being they are out of the argument then you have to talk head to head. You cannot rationalize this theory because of three teams being tied with identical records and they all beat each other. If a fan says Tech is out of the equation because of there huge loss to OU, Texas may have won the head to head with OU, but the team that Texas lost to was beaten soundly by OU. Sounds like to me the huge win OU had over Tech actually hurt OU because fans and pollsters eliminate Tech from the equation?

Now a few points to remember about the three games. The Texas-OU game was a very good and closer game than most will admit being the score was 45-35. The Texas- Tech game was pretty much one sided up until the last quarter, although most only remember Tech winning the game with one second left. Remember that Texas only had the lead for a little more than a minute in that game. The OU-Tech game was a total domination by the Sooners from beginning until the end.

Couple of other points to consider. If Texas would have lost to A&M yesterday, do you rank OU ahead of Tech being OU beat Tech? Yes because of the head to head. If Tech was to lose to Baylor on Saturday, do you rank Texas ahead of OU? Yes because of the head to head. If OU was to lose to Oklahoma State on Saturday, do you rank Tech ahead of Texas. Yes because of the head to head, yet that will more than likely not be the case because of where they are ranked right now. Tech might get close if they were to beat Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game. The opponents they have faced will be the same. But will voters remember they beat Texas?

So as you can see what you can argue for one you can argue for another. I have yet to hear an argument for any of the teams that solidifies who should be ranked where. Head to head cannot be a part of the equation when there are three teams involved. My last question is if Tech is out of the equation because of there lopsided loss to OU, would this not make OU a frontrunner instead of trying to spin it to head to head with Texas? Lets see what shakes out with the OU-OSU and Tech- Baylor games and then we can make an argument. Also if Florida and/or Alabama were to lose this weekend and/or the loser beat the winner in the SEC Championship, who knows you may see a rematch from that game in Dallas to be in Miami.

Weekly Predictions

I have had this weekend marked on the calendar for quite some time. Anybody that is a fan of any sport, looks forward to the annual game against a rival. There is OSU-UM, USC-UCLA, UF-UGA, Duke-UNC, the list goes on and on. But the biggest of all is Oklahoma and Texas. This annual game is always the 2nd Saturday in October and always really close to my birthday. This game always has at least BCS implications if not National Title implications. But even if neither a BCS game or title game happens, a season by either of these two teams can be won or lost in this game. I read another blog about the game the other day about how the writer stated before he dies he is going to a OU-UT game. I am right there with him as it would be great to be part of the atmosphere and everything that goes into this rivalry. There is nothing like seeing the divided stands at the 50 yard line, on one side they are wearing crimsom and the other side burnt orange. Okay I have rambled enough about the OU-UT game, because this may be the main event but there is some other gotta see games this weekend. PSU-Wisconsin, UF-LSU, but if you like offense the game to watch maybe the Missouri-Oklahoma State game. I would not be surprised to see a total of 100 points in that game. Anyway get your drinks, chips and food ready for the best day in college football so far this year. Here are my picks this week, I did pretty good this week even getting pretty close on some of the scores. I was off on my upset alert, so I will try to show love to those Nittany Lions this week!!

Picks
Tennessee@ #10 Georgia
Georgia looks to rebound after the disappointing loss to Alabama a couple of weeks ago. Georgia gives Tennessee a constant diet of Moreno and wins 28-17.

New Mexico @ #9 BYU
BYU dominates this game from the opening minutes. BYU will win by at least 4 TDs. I am thinking 48-10.

Arizona St @ #8 USC
The media has talked all week if Sanchez will play. Carpenter is out for ASU. I think Sanchez plays but he will only be needed for the first half as USC wins 42-6.

Nebraska @ #7 Texas Tech
Gotta feel bad for those Husker fans, first they lose to Virginia Tech, then get pummeled by Missouri and now have to face Harrell And Texas Tech. Don't worry Husker fans Bo will get that program back on track, it just won't be today or this year. Texas Tech wins 48-24.

#6 Penn State @ Wisconsin
You know when you pick upsets you look at games like this. Wisconsin has dominated PSU when they play at Camp Randall and they are due for a win after the two close calls the past weeks. I can't do it this week PSU wins 28-20.

#4LSU @ #11 Florida
You want to see some smash mouth football, this is the game for ya. LSU made a mistake and started to talk some trash. I think this wakes up the Florida offense and Florida wins 28-17.

#17 Oklahoma State @ #3 Missouri
This is my upset of the week. Difficult to pick this being they are playing at Missouri, but I think OSU outscores Missouri 55-48 in a shootout. It is going to come down to who can get a stop or who has the ball last.

#5 Texas @ #1 Oklahoma
Oklahoma has won the last 3 matchups when the two teams are both ranked in the top 5. Oklahoma continues the trend and wins 42-28. Muschamp will have the longhorns ready but OU just has too many options and better defense. It will be interesting to see how each team reacts if the game stays close being they have dominated there earlier games this year.

Enjoy the great day of games. By the way you may want to check the batteries in your remote, because if you are like me you will be giving that remote a workout by the end of the day. Enjoy!!

College football picks and superstitions

Weekly Predictions 10-03-08

The last time and only time I have done a weekly prediction for college football was this same weekend last year. I posted the predictions on SN for the top 10 ranked teams. Needless to say I did not do very well, I missed 7 of the 10. To go back in time on this very memorable weekend, there was 6 teams in the top ten that lost that weekend. Oklahoma lost at Colorado, Florida lost at home to Auburn, S. Florida beat West Virginia, Kansas St upset Texas, and Rutgers was upset by Maryland.

I bring this up as most athletes young and old are very superstitious. I think about these little things when it comes to Oklahoma football. My hope was being if I quit posting weekly projections, OU would win the rest of there games. Well that did not happen so that brings me to today. Sounds dumb I know, but deep down all of you have your habits when you watch your favorite teams. Some have favorite shirts, maybe a hat. Maybe you have to sit in a particular chair or side of the couch. Maybe only certain foods or drinks. Maybe it is a favorite bar or a particular persons house. We all have these tendencies, but the question is how many of you try something different just to see if your luck changes. When I watch OU play especially a big game(I do this as well when the St Louis Cardinals play), I do all kind of crazy little things to try to help change the momentum or luck. Sometimes if I am sitting watch the game, I will change course and lay down or vice versa. I have changed shirts or hats in the middle of a ball game. I have went to a different room in the house to try to help. I have quit watching a game in hopes of my team playing better, but it never lasts very long because you have to check and see if it did anything by you changing the channel. I have got a different type of drink. I have even changed which feet were crossed over the other in hopes of helping my team. I do realize my superstitious beliefs and trying to motivate my team by changing positions is really not going to work, but I do it anyway for my team. How many of you do the same? Any other further obsessed tendencies?

Here’s the pick for this week

1 OU at Baylor- OU wins 48-26. Baylor hangs but cannot slow down the OU offense.

Kentucky at 2 Alabama- Alabama wins going away 33-21, but Kentucky keeps it close for awhile.

4 Missouri- Nebraska- Nebraska cannot keep up and Missouri gets first win in Lincoln in 30 years. 42-20

5 Texas- Colorado- Texas avoids trap game and heads to Dallas to play top 5 game against OU. 35-24

6 Penn State- Purdue- I think PSU wins 28-24 but this could be upset alert.

7 Texas Tech- Kansas St- Texas Tech wins this in blowout fashion 55-18

23 Oregon- 9 USC- I feel bad for Oregon. Back up QB and USC looking to make a statement. USC 48-17



Hopefully these picks do not jinx me. If they don’t I will be back next week to make these weekly projections. Either way next week I will have a preview of the Red River Shootout, hopefully with at least OU undefeated but for some odd reason I want UT to be undefeated as well.

Enjoy your games and your teams this weekend and if you need to turn your hat around maybe it will bring some good luck.