College Football Week 9

Courtesy SportsIllustrated.com

The Oregon Football team earns it high ranking atop the College Football world, but these ladies look determined to earn a high ranking as well...After watching the Oregon - USC game last Saturday, did anyone else think what the post-season bowl ban of Southern California will do to the USC Song Girls?....If TCU wins at Utah this Saturday, are we setting up a third straight year Boises State plays the Horned Frogs in a bowl game? In 2008 the two met in the Poinsetta Bowl, and a year ago they met in the Fiesta. Assuming the BCS will pair two teams from qualifying conferences, we may see a rematch of the top two from the non-BCS conferences....Confident Hawkeye fans are cheering hard against Wisconsin every week....Can anyone tell me why the Big East and ACC automatically receive BCS bids? Winners of those two conferences should be paired against each other in the Poinsetta.

College Football Week 10

Colorado is proud of their mountains and the Colorado State Rams features one of the finer dance team squads. This young lady is not only on the Ram dance team, but she also baby sits for the Video Coordinator of the Ram football team, Jeff Dotson....Michigan continues to have problems. Not only did they lose to Purdue at home for the first time since 1966, but allegations have come out of retiring Athletic Director Bill Martin pushed one student and grabbed the jacket of another following different football games this fall. The Wolverines are on the brink of missing post-season play in back to back years (upcoming games at Wisconsin and home with Ohio State) currently standing with a 5-5 record. My guess is that the players and fans would rather stay home than experience a bowl game in nearby Detroit....Hats off go to Temple Owl coach Al Golden and his football team. Yearly the Owls were the win all BCS teams counted on in their schedule. However they are undefeated in conference play and also have an impressive win over Navy....Oregon, who lost to USC ten days ago, is now ranked behind the men of Troy following their loss Saturday at Stanford. The computers have ranked the Ducks higher, but the human polls do not. There has been much criticism that the coaches aren't in the best position to rank teams--either it is a political vote or they allow a staff member to cast the vote for them--but it seems this is another justification for the computers to figure into the final outcome.

College Football Week 1

Oregon has its share of issues on the field following last Thursday's incident with Running Back LaGarrette Blount punching a Boise State football player, but Amanda (Right) has created a stir off the field with some recent bikini clad pictures found on the internet. Maybe Nike owner Phil Knight will pay for the problems to go away. We'd prefer Knight come up with yet another uniform for the Pac-10 team.

History Made

Those in attendance at Kinnick Stadium Saturday thought they were witnessing history as FCS Northern Iowa set up for a field goal with :07 remaining which would give the Panthers the lead. However the kick was blocked, yet was rewarded another chance since a Hawkeye football player did not fall on the 1st down opporunity. UNI tried again only to have this kick blocked and time run out. It was the first time ever that back to back field goal opportunities were blocked, and the fifth time it happened in the same quarter. Hawkeye fans were glad to see this type of history occur.

Showdown Saturday

After the 2008 season the match-up many waited for was Ohio State hosting Southern California in week two of 2009. But the most intriguing match-up involves the Buckeye's hated rival, the Michigan Wolverines. Despite many off-field issues, the Maize and Blue executed well while defeating Western Michigan. Michigan hosts Notre Dame after they shut down a very talented Nevada team. We may not have had every question answered after week one between these two teams, but we do expect an even game. If it is a blowout, the team on the receiving end is a pretender.

Big Ten

After completing the first weekend at 10-1, the Nation's Premeir Conference has to prove themself this weekend. Conference teams take on representatives of the Big 12, Mountain West, Pac 10 as well as Notre Dame. Add Fresno State's trip to Madison and this becomes a make it or break it Saturday for respectibility. A sweep and the conference can pound its chest, but losses to two or more will add to the nation's perspective.

College Football Week 14

The Big Ten may have 11, but it's not as screwed up as the Big 12--I'm looking for some one's take on the Big 12 South. What did Texas do to lose the right to play for the championship? Their only loss is at Lubbock on a last second play to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are also tied for the league lead, but lost badly at Norman. Oklahoma's one loss is to Texas, by ten points on a neutral field. The argument for the BCS is that the regular season is the playoff. Then Texas beat Oklahoma and the Longhorns should be on their way to play for Missouri and beat them for a second time this year. Sure, I'd rather see Oklahoma play for the conference and national title, but Texas has earned the right more than the Sooners.

Georgia drops the ball--Not only have the Bulldogs underachieved against the top teams of the conference, and now state, but the Georgia Radio Network may have had the biggest disappointment of the day. On a day that found in-state rival Georgia Tech win for the first time in seven years over the Bulldogs, but it was disappointing to hear (or not hear) the in-game ceremony for former Georgia radio announcer of 43 years, Larry Munson. At the end of the first quarter Munson was brought to the field to be honored with a video tribute in front of the sell-out crowd. However for those of us listening to the network that so many had enjoyed his calls, we were treated to the usual three minutes of commercials. What made Munson famous were his calls on the radio, and for the network that he worked for not to listen in and sell-out to advertisers was uncalled for.

Big Ten, not Penn State thanks Oregon--Oregon's win in the Civil War over in-state rival Oregon State will most likely send the Southern California Trojans to play in the Rose Bowl for the fourth consecutive year. Had the Beavers won, they would've received the invite to play Penn State and USC had gone to another BCS bowl game. Penn State would've been heavily favored over Oregon State in a re-match the Nittany Lions won by 31 in week 2. But it will be a home game for the Trojans and look for another USC win over the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl.

Faster, Stronger, Bigger Ducks--Did anyone else think it was a men versus boys match-up between Oregon and Oregon State. The Ducks were faster, stronger and bigger than the conference leading Beavers. Oregon State looked more like the team we've seen over the last five years than the team that beat Southern Cal.

Bowl Predictions--My bowl predictions with one week to go. Look for the Big Ten to lock their teams in this week.

Rose Bowl--Penn State v USC
Fiesta Bowl--Ohio State v Texas
Capital One Bowl--Iowa v Georgia
Outback Bowl--Michigan State v South Carolina
Alamo Bowl--Northwestern v Missouri
Champs Sports Bowl--Minnesota v North Carolina
Insight Bowl--Wisconsin v Kansas

The Capital One is very interested in bringing the Hawkeyes back to Orlando. The match-up with Georgia would showcase two of the best running backs in college football. Shonn Greene of Iowa and Knowshon Moreno of Georgia. The Outback is another possibility for the Hawkeyes and look for LSU to be the opponent if Iowa lands here. South Carolina also has a large fan following, but it wouldn't be necessary if Iowa is invited to Tampa. LSU has a bigger name and will be a good draw for ESPN.

Finally, I'm watching the Bears and the Vikings while writing this up. It sure is nice to see the retro uniforms of Minnesota. Except for them playing indoors, these unis are reminiscent of the Bud Grant, Purple People Eaters era of the 70s and 80s. Or where have you gone Tommy Kramer?

College Football Week 13

For many Hawkeye fans who are wanting an Oregon State defeat this week to in-state rivals, Oregon, we present you the Fighting Duck Cheerleading Squad. A loss by the Beavers helps the chances of the Big Ten Conference having two BCS teams and improving Iowa's bowl rank within the Big Ten. However a win by Oregon State puts them into the Rose Bowl as Pac 10 Champs. New Year's Day in Florida looks very promising.

Dome is Home--For the past twenty-seven years the Minnesota Golden Gophers have called the HHH Metrodome home. At that time, moving their home facility off-campus to an indoor, climate-controlled atmosphere was a recruiting plus. However now the dome is blamed for lack of attendance and atmosphere. Next year the Gophers move into TCF Stadium on the UM campus. Saturday night at kick-off I noticed a packed house for the border rivals Iowa Hawkeyes. A full house isn't typical unless the Hawkeyes or Badgers travel to the Twin Cities, but Minnesota will definitely miss out on these types of crowds when playing outdoors in November, and more importantly, the deafening noise that gets trapped inside. Moving into the open-air stadium will lose its flare, not after a couple of years, but perhaps after a couple of games. If Tim Brewster continues to have the same type of success that his predecessor Glenn Mason has (padding his schedule with lower level FBS teams and succumbing to BCS schools of winning records), it won't matter where the Gophers play, fans will not show up. Now they are guaranteed of full houses at least once a year.

Keep the A.D. to His Word--After a devastating 70-7 defeat to the hands of New Mexico , San Diego State Athletic Director Jeff Schimmel declared Head Football Coach Chuck Long would be back in 2009. Chuck was fired prior to Saturday's 42-21 win over UNLV. Long did not share the news with members of his team or coaching staff until after the victory. It was discovered Schimmel and boosters had been securing the money to buyout Long's last season on his contract over the last two weeks.
Can we end in-season comments by athletic directors unless a final decision is made. Please state that a decision will be made at the end of the year. It is unfair to coaches, staffs and players to be misled.

Blowout Saturday--As exciting this college football season has been, this past Saturday was a disappointment. Every game in the Big Ten was decided in the first half with the exception of Wisconsin and Cal-Poly. In the day's most anticipated game, #5 Oklahoma dismantled #2 Texas Tech. A top 25 North Carolina Tar Heel team was embarrassed at home by in-state rival, North Carolina State while the newest darling of the ACC, Miami lost badly to this week's darling, Georgia Tech. We may see the same this week when Florida and Florida State meet.
Games to watch:
Georgia Tech at Georgia
Western Michigan at Ball State
Oregon at Oregon
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
and look for West Virginia to upset Pittsburgh.