Crunch Time of the Season

Room for error is down to zero for the top teams. This is the time of the year when you'll see most of the shaking out occur. If you haven't watched too closely all year now's the time to perk up. Some great games over the next few weeks that should affect a whole slew of teams.

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THUSDAY’S GAME
Finally, the much-anticipated Big East showdown came in a flurry. Regardless of what you think about Louisville and/or West Virginia, they are both offensive powerhouses – no doubting that. I will tell you this – my overall impression of the teams was drastically different after the game versus at halftime.

Going into halftime I thought that West Virginia looked about what I expected – very fast and explosive offense and suspect defense. However, I did feel that Louisville seemed a bit overrated. 3 chances in the red zone (2 with first and goal) and they come away with 3 field goals. For some reason, Louisville forgets how to pass the ball when they get in close.

Man, what a different half. Louisville came out and showed that they know how to make adjustments. West Virginia on the other hand stayed with the game plan of over athletic them. West Virginia didn’t do themselves any favors either with the turnovers (2 by Slaton) and penalties.

In the end I will say this – neither one of those teams has any real defense to speak of. I can see either one of these teams having a sub-par offensive night and getting upset because they can’t stop the other team’s offense. It was certainly a fun game to watch though – I would say that it lived up to the hype. But, we’ll see if Louisville can avoid the big-win hangover when they travel to Rutgers (undefeated and all) next Thursday night.

What’s with the Big East and Thursday night games anyway?

BIG MATCHUPS IN THE BIG 12
I know, the Big 12 is not necessarily at the top of the heap of power conferences this year, but nonetheless there are a few high-impact games on this weekend that should prove to be some good football watching.

Oklahoma (6-2) at Texas A&M (8-1):
It’s really too bad that this game and the Horns game are on at the same time – would be a nice back-to-back combo.

I think this will be, hands down, the best game of the weekend. This is a big game for both programs – OU looking to continue its defiance over bad luck and close out the year strong while the Aggies are looking for some much-needed R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Well if they can win this game they will definitely raise some eyebrows.

These are pretty evenly matched teams here. OU will have to really focus on stopping the run first and foremost. If they can hold the Aggie running game to under 150 total yards I think they will be in very good position. McGee, however, is quietly finding himself amongst the most efficient QBs in the country. He may not have a 350 yard/4 TD game, but he sure as hell won’t turn the ball over either.

The Aggie defense may prove to be the demise here. This will probably be the biggest test of the season – followed by Nebraska’s spread attack and finally, Texas. If A&M can come up with a big defensive game and force Paul Thompson into mistakes, it may just be the performance that pushes this team to the next level.

It’s a tough one, but I think what it comes down to is that the biggest weakness, and potential for an absolute terrible game, lies with the Aggie defense. They can prove me (and a lot of others) wrong this Saturday though. In the end I think OU is gelling a bit too well for the Aggies to overcome. I’m picking OU in a tight one.
Oklahoma – 26
Texas A&M – 24

Missouri (7-2) at Nebraska (6-3):
It’s really unfortunate that both of these teams are coming off some pretty disappointing losses. It still doesn’t diminish the fact that this game, in all likelihood, will determine the Big 12 North champs.

You really have to root for Chase Daniel here – he’s been great and exceeded so many expectations, but that offense has single-handedly given games away this year. They’re young and not used to being in the positions they’ve been in (and are in) and it’s clear they can’t finish games nor can they overcome themselves.

This game is at Nebraska and I think Nebraska is probably the better team here regardless. Nebraska clearly had a Texas hangover when they went into Oklahoma State last weekend. I think they’ve regrouped and they’ll look for payback on their home turf. I think Nebraska ends up winning quite big, but I hope Mizzou can keep it close.
Nebraska – 34
Missouri – 21

Oklahoma State (5-3) at Texas (8-1):
I’ve gone from nervous to confident back to nervous again on this game. This damn team (Texas) is so hard to figure out sometimes. This could be a high-flying circus act of zero defense and quick-scoring offense – Pac 10 style. But, it shouldn’t be.

Okie State has done a great job this year and they have a great QB and an all-world type receiver in Adarius Bowman (he had 300 yards and 4 TDs against Kansas). Uhhh, that doesn’t sound good after the “How not to play pass defense” clinic we just saw in Lubbock last weekend. If he put 300 yards on Kansas, he may put up 500 against UT. Oh yea, and they’re averaging over 440 total yards a game.

I really don’t have any doubts that Colt will play great – I’ve seen nothing that would suggest otherwise. And the running backs should have a field day against the OSU defense, but I won’t be watching the offense.

I’ll be very interested to see what sort of pride factor may be at play with the Texas defense – especially the secondary. This is a great test for them going against a very athletic offensive team. No, the OSU front lines on both sides of the ball aren’t very good, but they have play makers – the type that have torched this Texas secondary all year. Let’s just say that I hope that they are looking to make a statement – they really need it. And if they are able to really shut this offense down (I’m talking 200 total yards or less for the game), the Tech game (which they won) will be a distant memory.

This could really end 1 of 2 ways – 1) Texas wins it in a land slide 44-16 or, 2) Okie State is able to edge out a close one 38-37.

I’m going to say that the pride factor does come into play here - believe it or not this is a new team. Old Mack teams would not have won either of those last 2 games.
Texas – 44
Okie State – 20 (I’ll give them a little bit more credit)

OH YEA, THE OTHER BIG GAMES
Let’s not forget our good friends to our immediate east – the SEC. We’ve got a nice little brawl between Tennessee (7-1) and LSU (6-2) this Saturday. Unfortunately for the Tigers it’s in Knoxville.

Here’s the deal on this one – Les Miles and this LSU team need a big win in a very big kind of way. They’re record may impress you until you see who they’ve beaten and whose beaten them. The amazing thing is they are chalk full of athletes from top to bottom. They should be playing better. You just hope Les Miles can stay relaxed and focus – this is a big game for him. In fact, you could argue this is almost a must-win for them. I don’t think he’s going anywhere, but another loss to a ranked team may get some folks down on the bayou a little hot.

The good news is he’s playing against a banged-up Eric Ainge. Bad news is the Tennessee front line is one of the best in the country (only given up 6 sacks all year). LSU is a very physical team and I’ll be interested to see how things go in the trenches. Ultimately, I don’t have any reason to believe that Jamarcus Russell will make any big plays – he’s capable of it, he just hasn’t shown it in games like this. And the Vols defense is very tough to move the ball on.
Tennessee – 28
LSU – 18

ALSO KEEP AN EYE ON…
Arkansas at S. Carolina - potentially a trap game for the Hogs here. S. Carolina isn’t a bad team, they just don’t have a whole ton of talent and are still learning how to win games. You just know that Spurrier is going to pull something off this year and this just may be it. Not predicting a score here, just saying keep an eye on the highlights; could be the surprise that Auburn is looking for.

And don’t forget Boston College at Wake Forest. Again, when was the last time anyone talked about Wake Forest and a big game in the same sentence? If BC can win this one they should lock up the Atlantic division and guarantee themselves a spot in the ACC championship game. But don’t count out Wake just yet – they’re having a nice little year this year and if they win they should lock up the division. Both teams are coming at 7-1 and 3-1 in conference. These guys have historically (last 3 years) played very close games – expect nothing different here. I’m going with Wake in the upset here – BC is so very physical, but the Eagles are on the road in this one.

CONSIDER THIS…
So remember back in September when the OSU/Texas game was going to be the game of the decade? Well, turns out we’ve got another one of those. If you’ve even watched 2 seconds of sportscenter in the last week you’ll know that the Michigan/OSU game is being dubbed as the “Game of the Decade” as well. Hmm, so even though we just had a “best game in a decade” is it possible that it’s already been bumped? I mean, if the Michigan/OSU game is the game of the decade then that UT game sure did sink like a stone in terms of “best games in 10 years”.

Look, obviously I’m being a smartass here (shocker I know), but seriously, can we chill out just a bit with the over-dramatic labeling of some of these games. I know both Michigan and OSU will (probably) be undefeated when they meet AND as such, will be #1 versus #2 (again). But, if you’re going to throw out some over-the-top descriptor how about “game of the year”? Calling a game that hasn’t yet been played the “game of the decade” would tell me that you’ve had a little too much caffeine and it also says you probably haven’t watched a lot of football in the last 10 years.

I know you sportswriters and talking heads can do better than that, can’t you??

QUICK HITS
• Celebration in Big D! Mover over Mavs, the SMU Mustangs are 1 win away from bowl eligibility. With 2 of their 3 games remaining against the top teams in Conference USA (Tulsa and Houston) look for the Mustangs to lock up a bowl birth with a win over Rice in their final game of the year. I can’t even begin to fathom when the last time these guys went to a bowl game.
• Gene Chizik has been given permission to talk to Michigan State about their soon-to-be coaching vacancy. Would be an interesting fit – not a bad one at all. If he does happen to get it, we’ll see how good he can recruit.
• For those Longhorn fans out there who are tired of despairing over the weak schedule each year consider this: Next year (2007) the Horns start the season off with TCU and then they travel to Central Florida. Not the toughest in the world, but still beats N. Texas and Sam Houston State. There is still Rice and TBD so let’s not get too excited. BUT, in 2008, they will get Arkansas and UTEP, which will start a home and home with both teams. Either way, scheduling is looking a little better for the coming years (UCLA in 2010 as well). Now we just pray for TCU and Central Florida to start picking it up a bit.
• W. Virginia’s Steve Slaton might be the fastest running back I’ve ever seen.
• Yet again there is an NFL game that is teasing my appetite this weekend – Colts at Pats. I think the winner of this game solidifies the position at the top of the AFC. Should be a good one – I’m going with Pats in this one because it’s November in Massachusetts.

NBA PREVIEW
The biggest question going into the season is will I once again become interested in the NBA? I must say I’ve been pretty down on the league these last few years – I feel the product has gotten stagnant and boring. Hopefully I can find something of interest.

In the Western Conference, it really comes down to 3 teams – the Suns, Spurs and Mavs. Rather than go into each one and start with “if they can stay healthy”, I’ll just hit that off the bat. Assuming everyone stays healthy I’ll give the Suns a light edge of the Spurs. First off, the Spurs were very banged up in the playoffs last year and it showed – and they were 1 play away from playing in the finals (probably would have had the same result anyway). They’ve got solid veterans, but they are starting to wear down a bit – it’s getting harder for Duncan to remain healthy throughout the year – and we’ll see how Ginobli comes in after a much-needed rest.

I know the Mavs are the defending champs of the West here, but as I said, if both of those teams are healthy, I think the Mavs will have a tough road. If Stoudamire can come back and stay back – even if he’s gimping in the first half of the season – for a half a season, they will be tough to beat. I’ll take an 85% Amare Stoudamire over most 100% players. And the role players on that team are among the best – Barbosa, Diaw, Raja Bell and Kurt Thomas are invaluable assets to that team and proved they can make a difference when need be.

I will say this – the Mavs did well by locking up some key outstanding contract issues. That will go a long way in maintaining focus and continuity this year, but in the end, if those other guys are healthy, I just don’t think they’ve got the firepower. With that said, I think Dwight Howard is still a year or so away from his best form – and when he hits that I think he’ll be one of the league’s best. Dirk ain’t half bad either.

And because I’m a life-long Laker fan I have to touch on them just a bit. I do think this is a playoff team this year – they’ve got everyone back with another year of experience with each other under their belts. They could break out and surprise some folks. But, let’s not get hasty – the best they’re looking at is a 6 seed in the playoffs. Keep an ear to the ground about Andrew Bynum – as he goes, I think this team will go. He’s VERY young (youngest in the league I believe), but very promising. I know that doesn’t buy much, but a solid big man who is athletic and can rebound may be the missing link to getting this team back up into the top 3 or 4 in the conference. Although, again, this is very optimistic thinking and we are at least a year this real possibility.

Now on to the Eastern Conference where it’s a little bit murkier. First off Bulls fans, settle down. Game 1 in an 82 game season means very little. Hell, game 1 of an NFL season rarely means much and they only play 16 games. With that said, the Bulls obviously upgraded their team a bit brining in some immediate impact players as well as drafting well for the future. Getting Heinrich signed was a nice step; he should be a good offensive weapon for them. I’m not crowning these guys cream of the crop just yet, but give them a year together and they may make a lot of noise next year. I’m going with New Jersey, Detroit and Cleveland as the top 3 this year. I know it’s sacrilegious to not go with the defending champs, but I don’t think it’s going to be a good year for the Heat. Shaq’s aging seems to have a compounding affect these days and let’s be honest, they aren’t the youngest team in the league right now. You have to wonder how motivated some of those role players will be now that they have the coveted ring – I’m talking Gary Payton, Jason Williams, Antoine Walker and Gonzo. The difference will be how long can Dwayne Wade carry this team on his back throughout a year – that and how long will Shaq miss due to injuries and wear and tear.

I like one more good year from Kidd, more involvement from Jefferson and it’s a contract year for Mr. Vince Carter so we should expect some big things from him this year – he’ll look to lock up big bucks as early as he can. This is Jersey’s final window – after this year I think it’s closed for good and Kidd is surely pondering his retirement.

Cleveland may be a bit over-zealous, but I do think it’s only a matter of time. I was firmly sold last year and eager for more of King James. No doubt he’ll have multiple rings and MVPs before he’s all through.

Also keep an eye on Washington and Boston. Long shots, but they can make a run.

Pencil Brandon Roy of the Portland Trailblazers in as the rookie of the year.

MVP should be a toss up between Lebron, Kobe and Dirk. NOTE: Last year’s MVP was a joke – Steve Nash may have been the most undeserving winner in recent memory. I like Nash, but there was absolutely no question that last year’s award should have gone to either Dirk or Kobe – I would have been fine with either.

Question of the year (2nd one) – will the Portland Jailblazers be able to break out of their mold as the most dysfunctional team in the league. They’ve dumped most of their bad luggage (they still have Zach Randolph and Darius Miles though) and have a nice young nucleus to work with. I give them a couple of years until they start to turn things around.

Finally, something else to watch this year that could be HUGELY impactful for some teams. I’m talking about 3 big names that could very easily be put on the trading block before the deadline – Stephon Marbury, Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett. Marbury seems to be the least likely, but only because Isiah is a bona fide idiot and that would admit he’s wrong – which he is. But, you’ve got 2 big names who still have some good years left and who are quite unhappy with their current situation. Let’s be honest, AI and KG are true competitors and they will not be happy unless they are competing for something real and tangible. And lets be honest, neither the Sixers nor the T’wolves will be in the hunt. And both teams can still get a nice packaged deal with these guys for rebuilding. Just keep watching…

COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW
As much as I love college basketball, is there anything really that’s going to drag our attention away from football right now? Probably not. Come late December, I begin to dive into it pretty good.

First off, for all of you Longhorn Hoops fans, go check out the roster this year and tell me everyone you recognized not named AJ Abrams. Yep, should be an interesting year. Boatloads of young, raw talent can translate into some nice highlight film footage, but can also translate into about 18-20 losses.

If you haven’t been paying attention, but you are a fan, pay close attention to Kevin Durant this year. He’s a freshman and was rated as one of the top high schoolers coming out last year. He’s projected (I don’t know how they do this) to be a top 3 pick in next year’s draft – that means he probably won’t be here long so enjoy it now. He’s a guard/forward hybrid, which essentially means he can move like a guard with a forward body. He just may push Greg Oden of Ohio State as the Freshman of the Year next year. Oh yea, watch the Oden kid of OSU too – he is something else.

I think the Big 12 may not be as strong top to bottom this year, but two teams in particular are poised to make noise on a national level – Kansas and Texas A&M. Both schools have a great returning core and coming off pretty hot and over-achieving years. When was the last time anyone ever talked about Aggie basketball like this? I think it may be never. Anyway, we obviously expect this from Kansas, but we’ll see what old Gillespie is made of down in Aggie land and if he can keep this train moving – I think he will. Look for these guys to battle for the title while the other usual contenders take a half a year or so to find their identities – Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Missouri. But don’t forget – Bob Huggins starts his first year this year in Manhattan, Kansas – should be good for the conference.

On the national stage I think it all starts with Florida – they’ve got the core of that team coming back as well and as hard as it may be two win this thing 2 straight years, you have to keep them in the conversation. Will the Gators get complacent and bored? We shall see. Other teams, which should remain hovering near the top of the polls, include:
• LSU – one of the stronger front courts in the country led by Big Baby Glen Davis (who’s lost quite a bit of weight from what I’ve read)
• UNC – Tyler Hansbrough should be a POY contender this year – he’s only a sophomore but averaged almost 8 rebounds and almost 20 points per game last year (freshman year).
• UCLA – Also has some strong returning talent – they lost Jordan Farmar (to the Lakers no doubt), but have most others coming back. They had a great run in the tourney last year and shouldn’t lose too much of a beat.

Have a great weekend, we’ll do it again next week.

Flirting with Disaster

There's only so many times you can do it before you're going to get burned - just ask the USC Trojans.

After playing with fire for the past few weeks the mighty Trojans finally took one on the chin, this time to the hands of the Oregon State Beavers. If you guys are like me (and if you watched the game), the moment Oregon State went up by 20 with a punt returned for a TD you were thinking, "I would bet anything that USC comes back and wins this game." - they almost did, thanks in large part to those Beavers.

This loss dropped those Trojans all the way down to number 8 in the BCS. I don’t want to get into this too much now (only because I will below), but man the BCS polls are sure on track for a major screw up – more on this below.

But first, let’s talk about those Longhorns – the range of emotions throughout this game was absurd. It reminded me of the Oklahoma State games from the past 2 years (and look out Horns fans, they’re up next). If I were to tell you that Texas would give up 519 yards of passing and have twice as many turnovers as Tech, but STILL win you probably wouldn’t believe me. Hell, I wouldn’t believe me. But here we are…

First and foremost, let’s get this out of the way. The defensive performance (secondary) of the first half was absolutely inexcusable. It’s as if the defense did not watch one piece of film or spend more than 1 hour practicing pass defense. You know, it’s great to be able to build big comebacks like that, but there is no excuse for being in that position in the first place. Granted, the INT for a touchdown was a gift, compliments of a miscommunication between QB and receiver. But other than that, the secondary was terrible.

Here’s the most baffling thing – the defensive coaches made no adjustments at halftime. I’ll repeat that – THERE WERE NO MAJOR ADJUSTMENTS MADE AT HALFTIME!! The players and coaches decided that they would continue with the same game plan as they had in the first half. If that is the case, then I have one simple question – how do you, Gene Chizik, explain the turnaround. Here are the stats:

1st Half – 364 passing yards and 31 points
2nd Half – 155 passing yards and 0 points

I’ll tell you what it means – it means that yet again, a Texas Longhorn team came out of the gates unprepared and lacking intensity. Now let’s be just a little bit fair here – the entire world knew that Tech would come out hot and going for the big shot. Additionally, I don’t think many of us knew that Harrell would look like Peyton Manning for a half. Granted, there were quite a few passes where the receivers were WIDE open, but there were many times when Harrell threaded a needle and made a perfect pass to his receivers. I don’t think any of us expected that to happen with such ease and consistency for an entire half. I mean, go back and look at his numbers for the first half and tell me if you’ve ever seen a more perfect performance by a QB in a half of football.

And one more thing – if one person tells me “hey, at least we stopped their run”, I’m going to explode. Tech doesn’t run the ball – never has and never will. I expected nothing less than a 0 yard (or negative yard) day on that front. By the way, biggest coaching mistake that Leach made all day was trying a QB sneak on 4th and inches in the closing minutes of the game. You’ve been shredding our defense with short passes all day long and you run a QB sneak? That was dumb. We all knew it was dumb before the ball was snapped and we REALLY know it was dumb now.

I’ll close on this topic by saying this – it’s no secret or mystery anymore. Texas’ secondary is terrible. Yes I said it; they’re terrible. And worst of all, we have ZERO depth in the secondary positions which tells me that this will get worse before it gets better. And on top of that, there’s a better than good chance that we’ll have a new defensive coordinator next year, but we’ll worry about that later. In the meantime, we had better pray that we don’t pull a big-time passing team in our bowl game. I would imagine that after this game (519 passing yards), our passing defense will rank about 105 or so in the country.

Now that I’ve got that out of my system, let’s talk about some good news. First and foremost, Colt McCoy is unbelievable. I feel like I’ve said this for the 2nd or 3rd straight week now, but this kid never ceases to amaze me. With exception to the 1 INT, he was in complete charge of this game. He is mentally tough and I think it’s rubbing off on the rest of the team. That scramble he made to secure the victory was so NOT expected – what a hell of a play by this young kid. I still can’t believe he’s only a freshman.

And how about Jordan Shipley – we haven’t talked much about this guy this year, but he is so money. He’s not getting big numbers and catches like Cosby and Sweed, but he’s extremely reliable with great hands and he can run a great route. It’s good to see him healthy and making plays – I’m looking forward to seeing him around here the next few years.

Unfortunately though, we have one more little bit of bad news to talk about. Fumbles. Here’s a little gem of a stat for you – Texas has fumbled the ball 10 times in the last two games and lost 4 of those fumbles. HOW DOES A TOP 5 TEAM GIVE UP 519 YARDS PASSING ONE GAME AND PUT THE BALL ON THE CARPET 10 TIMES IN TWO GAMES!! I hate to say it, but it comes down to discipline with this team. I think Mack Brown, at times, spends more energy and time into making these kids feel good about themselves and less time ensuring they are a disciplined bunch. It has showed in the last few games. I will say this right now – if we continue with this trend of zero pass defense and turning the ball over we will lose one of our remaining 3 games.

And one more thing Horns fans – we are REAL lucky to not be 6-3 right now. This team is in dire need of a blowout victory or two over the next couple of weeks. Any more games like this given our remaining schedule and we’re officially out of the national title hunt (which we may be anyway).

The good news is this – Texas just completed the toughest stretch of their schedule this year without a loss. The bad news is everyone in the free world knows to throw the ball 60 times against us to have a chance to win – including Oklahoma State who can put up some wicked numbers on offense. If you’re not worried about next week’s game you should be.

BIG KUDOS TO...
Graham Harrell and Texas Tech. These guys were absolutely on fire! Harrell was in a zone and I swear he threw every single pass right on the money - who was expecting that?? You never know what you're going to get with this kid and obviously Texas saw the true potential of this young QB. With that said, I do think Tech will slip into a lull and drop 2 of their last 3 (they play Baylor, @ OU and Okie State). It's hard to come off of a loss like that and refocus - just ask Nebraska!

AND ANOTHER BIG KUDOS TO...
Oklahoma. After a year of just unbelievably bad luck the Sooners are starting to kick it up a notch. The win over Missouri on Saturday (in Columbia) was very impressive. Allen Patrick has filled in nicely for Adrian Peterson and the running game hasn’t really missed a beat. He rushed for 162 yards on Saturday to help secure the victory. Anyone want to bet that OU rolls past the remainder of their games with ease? If you’re a Texas fan you sure hope so. It will need to start with a big victory in College Station next weekend. After that they get Tech at home, then they go to Baylor and to Sillwater to play Okie State. Write it down, OU wins all 4 remaining games.


EXPOSED...
How about the entire Big 12 North??? Let's start with Missouri - we should all officially be off of the bandwagon here, this is not a very solid football team right now. Similar to the Longhorns, these guys have become infamous for shooting themselves in the foot, except they don’t find ways to come back and win - we saw it in the aggie game and against the Sooners this past Saturday. Simply put, this Missouri team does not know how to win - at least not against stronger competition. Another thing to consider if you're Coach Pinkel - next year's pressure is going to be sky high. Although expectations were low coming into this season, you've blown them away and fans/boosters now see what this team is capable of. They are going to expect you to win those games next year that you couldn't quite overcome because of mental errors. And yes, I realize that they actually could still win the Big 12 conference, but they won't. The good news is that Chase Daniels will be back - they've got a young team so they should be pretty good next year.

And how about Nebraska? Man, that was a heartbreaker - that really hurt the Texas strength of schedule there (and USC's). But, did I call it or what? After a huge upsetting loss at home, it's hard to bounce back and get refocused. The crazy thing about Nebraska's loss is that they were up 16-0 early on. It's unfortunate that the 2 top dogs in the North division were on a collision course to a great game next week. Now, they're still set to play, it's just not as interesting as we were all hoping. And by the way, I'm betting the house on Nebraska and I have no clue what the line will be.

And yes, you can put USC under this heading as well, but we touched on that. They've been exposed for a while, it's just that their luck just happen to run out.

BIG 12
It just continues to get more and more interesting. It’s too bad you can’t make the argument here that you can for the ACC and Big East – “they just beat each other up because they’re all pretty tough.” No, not really. They’re all pretty mediocre in fact.

The Aggies continue to be the most quiet 8-1 team in the land – and hell, they’ve even climbed into the BCS standings. I guess Fran’s job is safe after all. But let’s hold on, Texas A&M is heading into the toughest stretch of their schedule – last 3 games against OU, Nebraska and Texas. Lucky for them they get 2 of those at home. These next 3 opponents are (should be) far better than the best team they’ve seen all year. Should be interesting.

I touched on OU above, but these guys are clicking at the right time. Look for them to win out (including at College Station next Saturday) and finish very strong heading into next year.

I said it before and I’m saying it again – if Texas continues to flirt with disaster here they will drop one of these last games – probably against OSU this weekend or A&M in 4 weeks.

BCS MADNESS
OK, we all know how ridiculous the BCS polls are, but let’s just take a quick looksie at things as we head into the final month of the season. Can you believe we’re so close to the end again???
• OK, so W. Virginia moves up to #3 after the USC loss – no big deal and probably justified.
• Texas stays put at #7 – most times I would say this is a crock given USC’s loss. BUT, I did say this out loud after the Tech game – if I were a pollster, I would not move Texas up after this game, I wouldn’t move them down, but they’re not moving up
o Notice that Texas did move up in the 2 human polls (AP and Coach’s polls) – humans are smart enough to calculate a tough rivalry and a tougher road game.
• Someone please explain to me how USC is STILL ahead of Cal?
• Someone please explain to me how Cal is ahead of Tennessee – head-to-head matchups is the easiest way to settle these things… or so we thought.
• I’m officially off of the Auburn band wagon – I had them going to the national title game and winning over Ohio State, but they are looking less and less impressive each game. They should win out, but they’ve got Georgia and the Iron Bowl remaining.

OFFICIATING NIGHTMARES
2 things I want to touch on around officiating from this weekend. First off, in the college game, what was with the officials in Lubbock reviewing every single play? I know it’s what they’re supposed to do, but come on man! Given all of the times the booth officials got involved, I will say that the guys on the field got it right every time – except for once. They reviewed one play (can’t even believe they reviewed it) when a tech receiver clearly caught the ball and when he hit the ground, the ball came out. OK, we’ll put up with another booth review. But, they overturned it and called it an incomplete pass. Probably one of the worst calls NOT in Eugene, Oregon I’ve ever seen. Until Sunday in the Tennessee/Houston game that is.

Tennessee is driving down trying to run out the clock and secure the victory. 3rd and long and VY throws a beautiful strike to somebody (forgot who it was) for about 20 yards. Ball was clearly caught with 1 and then 2 feet down in bounds. Refs review it and… overturn it???!!!

Sans for the Oregon/OU game, never have I seen 2 more blatant missed calls in my life. The bad thing is that they were overturned to the incorrect call. There will be a little bit of hell to pay for these I’m sure. Good thing it didn’t cost anyone a game.

NFL HIGHLIGHTS
• And so the Tony Romo era begins in Big D. And not a bad beginning at all.
• Can you remember an NFL game that has lived actually lived up to its hype like the Colts/Broncos game? What a great football game that was – especially if you’re a Colts fan.
• And speaking of the Colts – go check out the box scores, that’s why Peyton Manning makes the big bucks (NOTE: his and Harrell’s stats are quite similar are they not?)
• You have to wonder if the Saints will slowly slip back down in the NFC after taking one on the chin at home against Baltimore – I guess getting rid of Jim Fassell at O-Coordinator was a good thing.
• And where was this Reggie Bush guy I keep hearing so much about?
• Did anyone see Vince Young scramble 40+ yards for the TD? Reminded me of the Rose Bowl.
• So I was pumped up yesterday because I had won all of my early games in my NFL pool yesterday – I thought I had 100 smackers in the bank – then I lost every late game. DOH!
• Put a fork in the Steelers - they are done.
• Right it down, Vikings with the upset tonight.