College Football

[CMJ]

Originally posted by Dan the Man
Which brings me to another point entirely...why the hell is Vandy still in our conference? Does every family need at least one waterhead that lives in the attic and eats fish heads? Why do we keep teams that suck and lose to Navy?

Well...yeah every major conference has a perenial whipping boy except for the PAC-10(the other leagues do too usually). Granted, occasionally some of these schools have a winning record, but it's not often.

Big XII - Baylor
SEC - Vanderbilt
Big 10 - Norhwestern
ACC - Duke
Big East - Rutgers

So I guess..yeah you're right.

[Figrin D'an]

Originally posted by CMJ
Big 10 - Northwestern

Lately, I'd say it's been Indiana more so than Northwestern. The Wildcats have at least won or shared a couple of conference titles in the last 10 years. Indiana has been pretty much sucktacular for the last 15+ years, at least.

[Figrin D'an]

Final from South Bend:

Purdue - 41
Notre Dame - 16


TAKE THAT YOU OVERHYPED, CAN-DO-NO-WRONG, MEDIA-LOVED IRISH PUNKS!!!

[CMJ]

I expected the Boilers to win...but not like that. Good victory Figrin, congrats.

I guess the biggest news so far today would be West Virginia going down. North Texas starts in about an hour against our hated conference foe Middle Tennessee. For a school that isn't really a next door neighbor it's amazing the amount of bile that exists between our two institutions.

[Figrin D'an]

The Mountaineers going down was a bit disappointing, but if they were to lose, the Hokies were the likely team to pull it off. It's never easy to go into Blacksburg and come out with a win (even more so after a Hokie loss the previous week).

Not many upsets so far, outside of W. Virginia.

Auburn/Tennessee should be good game tonight. I'm looking forward to that one. Not rooting for either, but just think it'll be fun to watch.

Florida St. looked so much better with Wyatt Sexton at QB than they have in quite a while. Unless the kid has a total meltdown next week or gets hurt, I can't see any way that Chris Rix will get his job back. Between an talented athletic knucklehead and a not-as-athletic heady, smart player that takes care of the football, I'll choose the latter every time. One would think that Bobby Bowden will finally see this as well.

[CMJ]

North Texas wins!!



Auburn really handed Tennessee their hats....in their house. So much for the game of the day. The Tigers may be for real this season. Maybe all those publications just missed the National title talk by a year.

[Cyrel Annat]

Speaking of Northwestern, they still hold a 20-17 lead late into the 3rd. I have a feeling that OSU will manage to pull another furry varmint out of their rears by the end of the game, but so far, so good. Be the first Northwestern win over OSU in 25 years (or games). Back to the Nixon era is what I heard on the radio earlier.

Edit: Tied at 27 with less than 2 minutes. Northwestern has the ball but this is shaping up for another squeak win for OSU.

[Cyrel Annat]

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Northwestern with the upset. Not that I care so much about Northwestern as I detest and loathe OSU. It's about time they come up short. Noah Herron finished with just over 100 yards and 2 TDs, including the winner in OT after Nugent missed a 40-yard FG.

[Figrin D'an]

The Buckeyes finally lose a close game.

And Nugent missed a 40 yard field goal attempt in OT (even though it ultimately didn't matter since Northwestern got a TD).


The Big Ten is going to be quite interesting this season... Ohio State and Michigan are vulnerable, Minnesota is a rushing machine, Wisconsin isn't explosive but plays tough defense and runs the ball well, and Purdue's offense has looked unstoppable thus far. This'll be intriguing to watch.

[Jedieb]

USF and Army both lost. There is no joy in Mudville.
But VaTech upset WVirginia and dealt a blow to any title hopes they had. These schools HATE each other. Nothing like a local rivalry to bring out the best/worst in two teams. Luckily the Hokies had the game in Blacksburg and didn't have to avoid flying whiskey bottles.

[Charley]

Hooray, Bama melts down against the Gamecocks. I want to hang myself. I don't say this lightly, but Shula'd better be looking for a dishwashing job.

[CMJ]

We're probably over halfway thru the big games today. The battle for Lil Brown Jug was a classic, with the Wolverines snatching vicory away from Minnesota AGAIN. Tennessee goes into Athens and upsets Georgia in a pretty good game(with a terrific ending). How good is Auburn having whipped Tennessee in their house last week?

USC vs California was a great game as well. I never really felt like the Golden Bears were gonna win, but they hung tough throughout forcing the Trojans to come up with a late stand at the end. A big defensive effort by SC.

North Texas plays Utah State in about half an hour. Scrap'em Eagles..Go Mean Green.

(I almost went down to the Colesium this morning with my UNT stuff to try and get on Gameday, but I would've had to have left about 5:30 to assure myself a good spot, so when I woke up at 6Am...I decided not to. Smart decision, there were several thousand people there this morning)

Whoops...forgot to mention Oklahoma gave Texas their yearly beat down. I'm not usually critical of Coaches, but Mack Brown gets some of the best, if not the best talent in the country every single year. UT has more resources at their disposal than any other University in the country. He hasn't won squat yet except the A&M game consistently(okay that's big in my old home state) and 1 South division title. I hope they keep him forever.

[Figrin D'an]

Three Top 10 teams go down. Granted, two of them were playing other higher ranked Top 10 teams, but still... makes for an interesting day of college football.

Georgia losing has to be the shocker of the day. I kind of felt they might have an emotional letdown after their big win last week over LSU, but that they would still be able to win. Have to give Tennessee credit, though... they took the game right at the Bulldogs and were just more physical. With Georgia and Texas going down, Auburn will probably end up, at worst, as the #4 when the new polls come out... they may even jump over Miami for the #3 spot on the strength of how they have performed last weekend and today.

Purdue had a scare today, but gutted out a 20-13 victory against Penn State in Beaver Stadium. Orton had a sub-par game by the insane standards that have been set for him thus far this season (he ended up throwing his first AND second INTs of the year), but he did make some big plays when he had to, and was efficient moving the ball again (over 60% completions and 250+ yards passing). The defense came up big in the clutch, stopping Penn State on a fake field goal attempt, and halting two late drives by the Nittany Lions. Penn State has been very tough at home this year, and they were jacked up for this game (Joe Pa was running around on the sidelines pumping up the crowd all game long). So, it may not look great stats wise, but to go into a hostile place like State College with 100,000+ pumped up fans and come out with a victory is pretty impressive. Mark my words, Penn State will yet ruin someone's season.

Next week... Wisconsin. Undefeated showdown in W. Lafayette. With Minnesota losing today, the winner next week will have the inside track on the Big Ten title.

[Charley]

This is Purdue's year in the sun, I think. They look great out there.

Didn't watch Bama today, as I was hung over and also at a wedding. We trounced KY, but then again, we were supposed to. I don't feel any more confident in Shula and his coaching ability. Southern Miss will be a much tougher test of our skills next week.

[CMJ]

North Texas wins a nailbiter 31-23. This marks our 20th straight conference win.

[Figrin D'an]

Alright, let's review the Top 25 teams to go down:

#3 Georgia lost to #17 Tennessee
#5 Texas lost to #2 Oklahoma
#7 Cal lost to #1 USC
#12 Florida lost to #24 LSU
#13 Minnesota lost to #14 Michigan
#15 Ohio State lost to #16 Wisconsin
#23 Maryland lost to Georgia Tech
#25 N.C. State lost to North Carolina

A fair amount of movement in the polls should be coming. I don't think Cal will drop at all, if they do, it will only be one or two places at most. Texas may or may not drop out of the Top Ten.


My Top Ten after today:

1. USC (though it's close now between them and OU)
2. Oklahoma (win against Texas pulls them closer to #1)
3. Auburn (might be the best team in the nation right now)
4. Miami (defense will only carry them so far... they'll lose twice yet this season)
5. Virginia (up this high by default, thought they have played fairly well)
6. Purdue (pretty much same as Virginia... I'm not convinced they are really a Top Ten team, but at this point, there's nobody else to put ahead of them... if they beat Wisconsin next week, then they're legit.)
7. Cal (No shame in losing a close game on the road to the #1 team... heck, they probably played better than USC, but just couldn't get it done in the end)
8. Georgia (good lord, talk about a letdown. Tennessee is young, but today the Vols looked like the Top 5 team, not the Bulldogs)
9. Texas (Another year, another loss to Oklahoma)
10. Wisconsin (If the Badgers have found a passing game, like they did today against Ohio State, to go with RB Anthony Davis and that defense.... uh-oh.)

[CMJ]

Nice top 10 Figrin. If I were a voter, mine would look something like this...

1. USC (Champs until proven otherwise)
2. Auburn (After the Tenn/GA game, this is probably the best team at the moment)
3. Oklahoma(Great team. Really the top 3 are a tossup for me)
4. Miami (FSU win still is large. Not convinced as to their long term success)
5. Purdue (Can't wait for Wisconson)
6. Virginia (It'll be awhile before we know how good they are)
7. California (Great team, might win all the rest of their games)
8. Wisconson (See Purdue showdown)
9. Georgia (Big loss. Let's see if they fold. The SEC is such a gauntlet to run thru.)
10. Utah (You know I had to throw a Mid-Major in the top 10)

[Figrin D'an]

Awesome news. I read that the ESPN Gameday crew is headed to W. Lafayette next Saturday when Purdue hosts Wisconsin. Combine that with the fact that it's Purdue's homecoming... it's going to be nuts on campus that day.

Go Boilers! Time for the Badgers to get turned into roadkill.

[CMJ]

Hey, that's terrific man! You gonna make it to the title tilt?

[Figrin D'an]

Originally posted by CMJ
Hey, that's terrific man! You gonna make it to the title tilt?

Unfortunately, no. The game has been sold out for a while now, and with the hype surrounding it, I'm sure ticket brokers are getting a fortune for whatever might be left.


On another note, what a game tonight in the Orange Bowl. There's no way Louisville should be ranked as low as #17. With the loss, they'll probably drop, which kind of stinks, because they are a lot better than some of the team ahead of them in the polls. Once again, though, Miami pulls out a win at home. I'm still thinking they'll lose twice this season... NC State and Virigina are going to give them problems.

Anyway... heck of a game to watch. Might be the game of the year thus far (with all due respect to Cal/USC last week).