Is It Over Yet?

33 down and 1 to go. My prediction? Controversy. I guess it all comes down to this - yet another match up between two teams that *could* be the best in the land. Of course if there was any justice in the world Texas would be playing USC and Utah would be waiting for the winner of tonight's game. Sorry VaTech, out of principle, you don't get to play.

Fiesta Madness:
Well, it was ugly, but the Horns got the job done. I'll tell you this, love 'em or hate 'em, these guys know how to put on a show in a BCS game. If I'm the commissioner of any of the BCS bowls I want Texas in my game next year, I don't care what their record is. Texas has played in 3 BCS games, won all of them and did so in the last 30 seconds of all three games. If there was a bet on the game being exciting, they'd be the lock of the century.

In all seriousness, certainly not the prettiest performance by these Horns and yet again, I found myself wondering (out loud mind you) what in the world Greg Davis was thinking. I texted this to a few of my buddies during the game, but for just over half of the game it felt like Lubbock, TX all over again. And Colt....oh boy. Put aside his final stats for one second - there were about 5 throws in the first half where I looked around (to no one else in the room) with my hands in the air thinking, 'who the hell is this guy?'. Just horrible throws missing wide open receivers on very short passes all over the place. And that last throw before the half...oh boy. BUT, thankfully, he pulled himself out of it and I'll tell you exactly when that was - it was when he rushed for that touchdown. After that, he was the Colt we know and love.

Speaking of Greg Davis, can he or someone please explain to me the rhyme or reason behind our RB by committee approach? I'm not saying I don't like it, but I do wonder why he will start the Big O in some cases, but then Fozzy in others. I don't get it and frankly, I'm not sure he does either. But I digress...

Big kudos to Ohio State because those guys played the game of their lives and certainly the game of the year and we got to see what they have in store for them in Pryor too as that kid looked like a young VY to me. At the end of the day they just aren't as good as Texas. BUT, with that said, Ohio State represents, by a mile, the best defense that Texas has faced this year....and that doesn't bode well for OU (more on that later). These Buckeyes beat Colt's ass into the ground on multiple occasions throughout the game and I'm not so much of a homer to think that it didn't rattle him at some point. OSU is a very good defensive team and an OK offensive team. That was the difference. And by the way, I thought it was a brilliant move for Tressell to bring in Boeckman on/off throughout the game. I think it threw off the Texas D a few times.

All in all, great year for Texas. I think it's fair to say that they've exceeded most expectations. And as I mentioned, they played a few exciting games this year. I guess that's all there is to say about it really. Good year. Crappy system.

Florida vs. Oklahoma:
Should be a hell of a game, I'll say that. But, if I have to hear "last year's heisman versus this year's heisman..." I'm going to puke. It's like those Dodge commercials on Fox with the guys going through the obstacle course. We get it Dodge, your trucks are tough, how about mixing in a truck that gets gas mileage in the double digits.

Anyway, since none of us have seen these guys play in about 3 months, there's no telling what to expect, but I'll give it a shot. I'm going to go with speed over girth any day of the week. I'll be interested to see if Florida's fast front 7 will be able to get pressure on Bradford and even more interested to see how he handles it - I'm guessing not well since he hasn't been touched all year long. But, if he has all day to throw he'll likely pick them apart. I don't see it happening - OU has played one really good defense this year and they lost that game. Florida's defense is pretty damn good too and a hell of a lot faster than Texas'. I'm taking Florida quite convincingly. I think this will be like 4 or 5 straight losses in BCS games should OU lose. That's crazy.

Florida - 39
Oklahoma - 20

Other College Football Thoughts:

• How money is Houston Nutt? Do you realize that Ole Miss didn't win a conference game last year? Not one.
  
• One more thing on Pryor - what the hell was he doing running out of bounds so early in the first half? What a puss. There was that one drive when he ran out of bounds about a yard and a half before the first down marker with the defender not even close. An illegal substitution pushed them back 5 more yards and thus, were forced to punt. Freshman mistake. He then did the same thing later in the half, only the second time there wasn't a defender within 6 yards of him. If I'm the coach I'm giving him an earful.
  
• Texas had 414 yards passing against OSU. Prior to that, the most passing yards they had given up was 240 (give or take). That's impressive.
• All that said, if you're one who doesn't think OSU earned some respect back on Monday night in the desert than you need to check yourself.
  
• Remember how bad ass that Big 12 south was this year? Well, they need OU to win to reach .500 in bowl games. Meanwhile, the Big 12 north was 3-0.
  
• The Boston College AD has some enormously big balls. You think that coach wanted to get fired or what?
  
• In his mailbag, Stewart Mandel went to great lengths to say why he wouldn't give Utah his #1 vote, but why he would give it to USC (depending on the final game). Remind me again how many top 25 teams USC played and beat this year? Utah played in a conference that absolutely owned the Pac 10 this year. The love affair continues.
• I'm going to say this one more time OU fans - if you don't think Stoops has been politicking this year then you need to wake up (it's amazing how much I keep hearing this). Keeping your starters in and throwing the ball in the last 5 minutes of a game when you are ahead by 30 points is certainly that. Look, coaches *have* to politic with this system. Meyer said it himself - Utah, USC and Texas SHOULD politic for their teams. Spoken like a man who's coached an undefeated team from a non-BCS conference in the past. I've said it before and I'll say it again - style points are and will continue to be the ultimate ruin of this sport. I'm SOOOO not impressed with the "OU has scored more points than any other team ever" for the reasons listed above.
  
• Mandel also contradicted himself saying on one hand that non-championship bowl games are not a good barometer of how good a team really is. Then, he said that because Texas' performance in the Fiesta Bowl wasn't that impressive he couldn't consider putting them at #1. When you have a system as jacked up as CFB I guess you have to have amateurs covering it.
  
• A few years ago I would have ridiculed folks like the Utah Attorney General for bringing an anti-trust suite against the BCS, but now...I say whatever it takes.
  
• The 2008 CFB season will be marked by 2 key things for me: 1) the year that CFB cemented itself as the laughing stock of all major sports, and 2) the year that my allegiance to CFB dwindled to almost nothing. For you loyal readers out there (all 4 of you), one thing you can look forward to next year is a dramatic drop off in CFB commentary and a big increase in NFL commentary. Which brings me to...

NFL Playoffs:
I'm sorry, but if you are a die-hard fan of CFB, but can't get excited about the NFL playoffs then you need to check yourself.

• This weekend's match ups are quite intriguing primarily because of the rematch factor. The Titans beat the Ravens by 3 in Baltimore earlier this year; surprisingly Carolina only barely beat Arizona by less than a touchdown; the Steelers beat the Chargers by 1 point in Pittsburgh just 6 weeks ago or so and we all know what happened the last time the Eagles visited the Meadowlands (one more little tidbit here complements of Peter King - over their two games this year the Eagles hold a 51-50 edge). Bottom line - if you are remotely an NFL fan you may want to check out a few of these games.
  
• Lot of talk about the OT rules in the NFL after the Chargers/Colts game. Great game by the Chargers and they certainly deserved the win, but I think I agree with the group that thinks the OT rules should change - I really like the idea of both teams getting a possession. Don't think it will ever happen, but I like the idea a lot.
  
• I've said this about a couple of players this year (Westbrook and Steve Smith), but I'm going to reiterate it one more time - there may not be a player out there who's more important to his team than Brian Westbrook is to the Eagles. When he's healthy, he's guaranteed to make a big play for his team. Guaranteed.
  
• I'm not sure how many of you out there realize how astonishing this is, but last year Wes Welker caught 112 passes and this year he caught 111....with 2 different QBs and one who hasn't played since the Carter administration. That's amazing.
  
• In case you missed that thriller in San Diego, consider this: with Tomlinson ailing (as he has the past 2 years), Darren Sproles had 328 total yards including a 20+ yarder in OT to win it. WOOOOOW!!! If you Big 12 guys out there remember, Sproles gave Texas and others fits when he was at Kansas State (I vividly remember screaming at the television for Texas to NOT punt to him....and they continued to do so and ultimately lost).
  
• How freaking good is Ed Reed? I think he's had 8 picks in the last 6 games of the season (not counting his 3 pick performance in Miami last weekend).
  
• It's ridiculous how many big-time superstars have come out of "the U" (Miami): Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Andre Johnson, Clinton Portis, Kellen Winslow, Jeremy Shockey (he had his moments), etc., etc.
  
• I'm totally on board with the Peyton Manning pick for MVP, but Michael Turner? He had a great year, no doubt, but really?
  
• Cowboys Talk for the day: what in the world was Jones thinking when he made the Jason Garrett is the coach in waiting claim? I think I've said this before, but he's a TERRIBLE coordinator and the fact that he's getting head coaching consideration is beyond me. Of course I think the Cowboys would be just peachy if he left. After the Cowboys miss the playoffs again next year I'm thinking Shannahan will be coaching in Big D in 2010.
  
• Why do people keep dogging Roy Williams? He was there for like 6 games and he came into a horribly dysfunctional situation. Let's settle down and give him a year. I still say if you get rid of TO and work around Williams, Creighton and Witten you won't lose an ounce of performance.
  
• I've said this off and on over the past couple of years (with some backtracking), but now I can confidently say it: Tony Romo is grossly overrated.
  
• How about that clause in Parcell's contract? He can walk away right now, with like $9 million and no strings attached. I wonder if I can get his agent to help me find my next job.
  
• I can't fathom a scenario where Brett Favre sticks around for another year. Not after his teammate's comments in the off season.
  
• My picks for this weekend: Ravens beat up on Tennessee in Nashville. Giants take down the Eagles at home in a very tight game. Carolina demolishes Arizona. Chargers go down to Pittsburgh who can't seem to lose a game even when they try at home. 3 of the 4 games are hard-fought, tough games that are decided by 8 points or less. The Panthers/Cardinals game will be a route.
  

Non-Sports Thoughts for the Week:

• 3 - over/under on the number of years before Israel launches a nuke on (insert Arab country here). That region of the world is about to absolutely explode.
  
• If you're fighting a war and putting rockets/anti-aircraft guns in the middle of civilian areas, you are the epitome of a ghetto-punk coward. I'm not sure if that's really happening or not, but if it is, sh*t man, grow a pair.
  
• Saw a couple of movies over the holidays. Burn After Reading, the latest Coen Brothers flick. Weird movie and not that I was expecting, but very entertaining as are most of their films. Brad Pitt is really the best part, but good performances all around. I'm not sure there's a better story teller out there than Joel and Ethan Coen. The other was Smart People. Another odd movie that was very much like a combination between Sideways and Juno. Of course I say that because it had both Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page. Funny, good movie - a good date movie. Check it out, both are on video.
• I'm not criticizing here because these are uncharted waters, but it makes me raise an eyebrow when I hear policy makers say we may have to spend our way out of this economic issue.
  
• One other note on the economy. When W took office in 2000 we had a budget surplus. After his first term we had a deficit of $500-$600 billion at which point Bush said he was going to work with congress to cut that deficit in half by the end of his term. Well, we're at the end of his term and we're looking at a deficit in 2009 of $1.3 trillion. Is that even a real number? I don't say this to necessarily lay blame at our lame-duck president (it's impossible for one person to be responsible for this), but sh*t man, how in the world do we let this happen? I can't fathom how we will be able to balance our budget in my lifetime. And I'll quietly say to my daughter "sorry about that, our bad" for the next.....as long as I'm alive.
  
• What's the debate about with regards to the impeachment of Blagojevich? Is there really any question about it? And nice hair by the way.
  

That's what I got - enjoy the games this weekend.

Fiesta Fever

First off, let me just say Happy New Year to everyone out there - hope you had a great holiday season.

Now, I don't know about you guys, but I don't have it (Fiesta Fever that is). I'll be honest and get this out there right off the bat - I've given this game very little thought over the past 2 weeks and frankly put, I'm having a hard time getting pumped up about it. Why you may ask? Because other than being another talking point in an endless debate, it means absolutely nothing. Don't get me wrong, of course I want Texas to win and will be routing for them to win, but at the end of the day, I could really care less what the final polls say after Thursday's game because we all know they will be bunk.

I guess you could say this year has been a bit of an anomaly for this ranter given the fact that I've watched very little (relatively speaking of course) of this year's bowl games. Maybe I'm getting old, but I just don't care as much - especially when every single one of these games is nothing more than a meaningless exhibition game. I'm sure the players love it and it's great that they get to take part in the experience, but how can anyone get excited when a 6-6 or 7-5 team is playing in a bowl game. Case in point: Notre Dame vs. Hawaii. Really? These two teams deserve to be playing in a post-season game? But I digress...
Texas vs. Ohio State:
I know I just got done saying this is a meaningless game and it really is. BUT, in the court of public and media opinion (which is really the only thing that makes up college football), Texas HAS to win this game..and win it convincingly. Think about how much Ohio State has taken a beating over the past couple of years for falling ass backwards into the title game and then getting hammered. They have literally been the BCS punching bag over the past 2 years which is why this is such a huge game for these Buckeyes. A big win over this Texas team (a team that many think should be playing on Thursday) and they will go a long way in restoring their reputation and image.

Meanwhile, you can't help but to wonder how much Texas may still be feeling "screwed over" and as such, sulking. We see this happen year in and year out - "less talented" teams come in and upset the big, bad favorites simply because they want it more and they are genuinely excited to be where they are. That is my primary concern as a Texas fan: where are the players' heads coming into this match up? On the bright side, Texas has played very well in their past few bowl games and have seemingly been more and better prepared than in earlier Brown-coached bowl teams. So we've got that going for us...which is nice.

When it comes down to it, Texas will have to get somewhat creative against the Ohio State defense as this is the big strength for the Buckeyes. I think Texas has the athletes to counter the Buckeye front seven, which is where their true defensive strength lies. Running the ball certainly won't be easy - I think this is going to have to be a game where you use the pass to set up the run. And don't be shocked to see Colt lead the team in rushing again this game as I can see him racking up a ton of yards on broken plays. The good news is he's become quite familiar and comfortable in running for his life.

On the defensive side of the ball for Texas, my thinking is that stopping Beanie Wells is the number one priority. I know Pryor is talented, but he's still a freshman and I'm not as worried about him picking this Texas defense apart. He'll likely make a few big plays, but he's not the one who's going to beat them. If Wells can control the ball and the clock like we know he's capable of doing than the Horns will be in trouble. I imagine Tressell is wanting to keep Colt and company off the field as much as possible and what better way than to ride your all-world running back. I'm anxious to see what Muschamp is able to pull together with so much time to prepare - I'm thinking he'll be able to give Pryor fits with his blitz schemes. We shall see.

In closing I'll say this one more time - Texas, you had better win this game. You don't want to be the powerhouse team that loses to the "over rated" Ohio State Buckeyes. I think they will and I think they'll be ready to play, and with a chip on their shoulder too. Between the new and improved Mack Brown and Will Muschamp, I can't see this team coming in flat and uninspired.

Texas - 45
Ohio State - 20

Other Random Observations from Bowl Week:

• And the winner of the Dennis Green "They Are Who We Thought They Were" award goes to none other than our friends in the panhandle, Texas Tech. I don't want to slight these guys too much because I think Ole Miss is a pretty damn good team, but other than a few big plays in the first quarter, the Red Raiders were uninspired in this one. I get no pleasure from saying this, I really don't, but how good is Tech really? They had one really significant win this year that came at home against an exhausted and burned out Texas team that was just finishing up a brutal gauntlet. We know Harrell is gone, but if I'm Crabtree, I'm bolting too to take the money. Tech's regression next year will be something astonishing.
  
• Not sure how many of you actually watched Notre Dame vs. Hawaii, but did you see Clausen talking trash to the fans towards the end of the game? Really? You were playing in the Aloha Bowl (or whatever the hell it's called) against a .500 team. I would say act like you've been there before, but you haven't even sniffed a bowl game so I'll give you that. Clausen is mediocre at best. At best.
  
• What more does Utah have to do? Seriously. They beat BYU, TCU, Oregon State, and an Alabama team that was ranked #1 longer than anyone else. I gave you my theory on how the mid majors can shake up this BCS thing and if this keeps happening it just may happen. For all of you out there who still insist that Utah isn't that good, go look at USC's schedule and tell me who had the tougher schedule of the two teams. I think Utah can play with any team in the country. They manhandled Bama. Oh and by the way, this is the second year when Utah has gone undefeated since the inception of the BCS.
  
• What do Boise State, Auburn and Utah have in common? All teams that have gone undefeated, but did not get a shot to play for a national title.
  
• Best game I've seen this bowl season: TCU vs. Boise State. Great game. Great defensive battle.
  
• I wonder how many bowl games lost money this year? I bet it's more than you might think.
  And rightfully so as this year has been a pretty bad year for bowl games. The Orange bowl had 2 teams that aren't even close to the top 10. The Rose Bowl was a joke - I know deep down we all wanted a tough game there and we even kidded ourselves into thinking that the Lion defense could contain the USC offense, but that didn't work either. That game was never close. The only "big" game that was halfway entertaining was the Sugar bowl, but honestly, tell me that you were REALLY excited about seeing Alabama and Utah. Right.
  
• And finally, you all know how big of a fan I am of Peter King so I'll leave you with this great comment he had about ESPN's promotion and coverage of the Heisman Trophy ceremony, great stuff: "The excessive reverence for the Heisman Trophy by ESPN had me wretching up my pork chop Saturday night. Did Jesus win the Heisman? Moses? Abraham Lincoln?" I couldn't agree more PK. Every year we have to watch this and it's ridiculous. It also doesn't help that it's the biggest joke of an award in any major sport.
  

Alright, that's what I got folks. I'll be back this week with a recap of the Fiesta Bowl, a preview of the so-called national title bowl and I definitely will hit on the NFL playoffs which are off to a great start. Have a good week back at the grind....