One Last Tune Up

One last tune up for the Horns this weekend before they really get into the meat of the schedule. After Saturday, their road becomes a bit tougher. Say what you will (and I have) about OU's two losses, Okie State's home loss, etc., etc. - there will be few, if any, opponents that are "lighter" than what they have faced thus far. I for one am quite ready to see what they can do against the above mentioned teams. Let's jump into the games - but before I do, I have to hit on Thursday night's big game in Columbia, MO.

What a crazy, weird game. First off, the entire game was played in some sort of monsoon, which always sucks because I don't think you truly get a good look of either team. At the end of the day, these two teams are pretty closely matched, and both are pretty darn good too. Gabbert certainly struggled at times and should have been picked off probably 2 or 3 more times than he was, but what do you expect trying to throw the ball in those conditions? It's not like Nebraska was able to do anything...until they got to the fourth quarter.

You have to give it to Nebraska's defense - they were really put in a tough spot by their offense and special teams most of the night, but they kept clawing and fighting, ultimately coming away with some hugely crucial turnovers. Offensively for the Huskers...save for a handful of plays, they were pitiful. Luckily for them those plays came in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. Hell, they didn't eclipse the century mark in total yards until the last play of the third quarter. And after that, they reeled off 27 straight points.

I was very disappointed in some of the Mizzou play calling late in the fourth quarter. Obviously Gabbert was hurt - he was limping all over the field - yet he continued to stay in there. I don't get that. I guess a gimpy Gabbert is better than a healthy backup. I just kept feeling like Mizzou was running the same run play on every 4 out of 5 plays. That's playing not to lose.

Tough loss for Mizzou. In the first half they took advantage of the opportunities they were given, but they just couldn't hold on. Give Nebraska credit, they just seemed to flip a switch to start the fourth quarter and never looked back. Great, tough, strong win for Nebraska - these guys will be a force in the Big 12. And Missouri ain't going anywhere either. They'll get better from this.

Very intriguing Big 12 game happening in College Station as the Okie State Cowboys visit Aggie land. I have to say, I really have no idea what to think about this one, however I do think when the dust settles, we'll really know what we've got on our hands with both teams. This is definitely a must win for the Cowboys if they want to continue to cling to the national picture - a loss here and they are an afterthought. And pay attention Texas fans - you MUST root hard for the Cowboys. We want them with only that one loss coming into the Texas match up.

Meanwhile, the Aggies are coming off of a pretty ugly loss and heading back home for arguably an even tougher opponent. If they Aggies can't play defense any better, they'll get shredded by the Cowboy offense - that's no secret. What I'm most anxious to see is how Okie State handles the Aggie offense. I imagine Gundy and company are going to spend quite a lot of time with the Arkansas tape to see what the Razorbacks did to shut down that offense. The short version seems to be get pressure on Johnson and let the rest take care of itself.

Will be interesting to see how the Aggies come back after the loss - I'm taking Okie State though, I think they'll be more focused and I think they have more talent. It will be a very tough game for the Cowboys, but they'll pull it out.

Oklahoma State - 36
Texas A&M - 31

BREAKING NEWS: OK, so I admit, I had written this before hearing the news that Dez Bryant went "stupid athlete" on us and got himself suspended for the game (and likely more) - and I was too lazy to go back and re-write this soooo, here's the caveat. This certainly makes a difference. He's the reason they won against Georgia and he's the only reason they made the comeback against Houston when they got down big - trust me, it matters. On paper, Oklahoma State should still be able to win this game as I think they STILL have a better team, but this team has faced a lot of adversity with injuries and now this. I can't say I have a ton of confidence in Mike Gundy to pull this team together, but he may....but I'm changing my pick in the sheer hopes that the Aggies don't find a way to screw it up (which is a big possibility).

Texas A&M - 31
Oklahoma State - 27

Not-so intriguing game in the Big 12 has to be Colorado at Texas. It's a conference game and you can't pick your opponents, but I've seen Colorado play a few times and they are really bad. This could be Texas' worst opponent of the year. Dan Hawkins has his hands full and I'm not sure how long he's going to be able to hang on because they have no chance to win this game on Saturday and very little chance of keeping within 25 or 30 points. This could (and frankly should) be similar to the 2005 70-7 game - that's the difference in talent level right now.

I don't know what to say - just that I hope to see a different level of focus for this game because as we know, after this, things will get kicked up a notch. ALL of the opponents will be gunning for YOU and those opponents are good and getting better. I know they've played a conference game already, but this is really the beginning of the next level. This won't be close.

Quick note on this Texas fans - don't be surprised to wake up on Sunday and see Texas at #3. If Bama wins at Ole Miss and Florida wins at LSU, Bama will most certainly jump them in the polls due to more quality wins. Don't sweat it - if they continue to win their games and not stumble, they're in. Period.

Texas - 56
Colorado - 6

Big games in the SEC this weekend with the Crimson Tide and Gators going on the road. Certainly big tests for both teams, but if we take off our "we want a great game" glasses we're reminded that both LSU and Ole Miss have underachieved this year based on expectations. I know, I know, LSU is undefeated and just beat Georgia in Athens, but they have some real issues on the offensive side of the ball. I do think they'll give Florida some fits defensively, especially if Tebow is sidelined.

The issue with Florida is this - they're still a great team, but when Tebow *needs* to rush 20-25 times for them to win, they're not as good as when he doesn't have to do that. This alleged "sluggishness" has more to do with Percy Harvin being gone than anything else. That guy was a huge part of this offense and required a lot of attention from defenses. I hope Tebow plays (if he's ok to play of course) because if he doesn't and they lose, I can see pollsters giving them special treatment. Like I said, I think LSU can have some success against that Florida offense, but that Tiger offense is in some real trouble. I don't know what they're going to do to score. I can't take LSU because I have no faith in their ability to score.

One quick note on Tebow. Obviously I'm no doctor and have no idea how to judge these things, but he had to have sustained a pretty bad concussion to get knocked out like that. As I write this, the last I've heard is that it will be a game time decision. I gotta be honest, I don't like hearing that. If your making a determination of if it's safe or not for him to play and take hits hours or even minutes before game time, I personally think it's too soon. I know he's a competitor and he's going to tell docs what they want to hear, but Meyer or someone has to be smart about this. I know we're all tired of the media treating him like Obama in the more absurd moments of the campaign, but he's really a good kid and will likely do far more good off the field than on it in his future. It's also easier to sustain a second concussion if you come back too soon from the first one. For a guy who's been running the ball at least 10-15 times a game, that's not promising - especially in LSU at night with that defense. Memo to Florida - guess what, you can beat LSU with your backup QB, especially when he's been the one preparing for this game all week. Here's hoping this is just Meyer throwing up smoke screens so as to force LSU to prepare for both possibilities.

Florida - 27
LSU - 23

Meanwhile, Ole Miss has been equally as disappointing, the main difference being is they actually suffered a loss while LSU has narrowly avoided them. There's no question that Ole Miss is capable of delivering an upset here, they have the talent, but they haven't really put a complete game together. They've looked sloppy even in victory. At the same time, Alabama seems to quiet doubters more and more each week. This is one of those holding out hopes games, but if I'm going to be honest with myself, I think the Crimson Tide run away with it. Hope I'm wrong.

Alabama - 37
Ole Miss - 20

Under the radar big games in the Big 10 this weekend. Michigan visits Iowa and Wisconsin visits Ohio State. There's 4 of your top teams in the conference right there sans Penn State. Will be interesting to see how Michigan rebounds from that tough road loss. Iowa has been playing the LSU game by barely beating bad teams with a signature road win against a pretty strong team....and yet you still don't know if they're any good. I'm taking Michigan here in a tough road win - they know how to win the close games and I believe in their offense. And, I just don't trust Iowa.

Michigan - 27
Iowa - 21

Unfortunately I can't say the same for the visiting Badgers as they enter Columbus. Wisconsin is playing some tough ball right now and they'll certainly give Ohio State another much-needed test, but I have a hard time seeing the Badgers getting it done in "the Shoe". The Buckeyes have looked impressive over some patsies the past couple of weeks, and they've tasted the big challenge in USC which should make them well prepared. I'm taking Ohio State, but not in a blowout.

Ohio State - 27
Wisconsin - 22

UPSET SPECIAL: So I guess the Michigan over Iowa in Iowa would constitute an upset, but in a more official one I'm taking UCLA at home over Oregon. Mainly because I have zero faith in the Pac 10 as a conference of consistency. Sounds like Prince may be back this week and when he's in there, it allows the Bruins to open up the field. Look for the Bruins to be the next team to enter the top 25 next week with a surprising victory.

UCLA - 30
Oregon - 26

Homecoming in Lubbock. Read all about it here....
http://fannation.com/blogs/post/460299

NFL Predictions, Observations and Other Absurdities....

• I'm not sure I've seen Brett Favre play a better game than he did on Monday night against his old team. Look, no one hated the Favre wooing bullsh*t more than I did, but at the end of the day, in the right situation, he can clearly still play....even at 40. The protection he got from his offensive line on Monday night was beyond impressive. If he's standing upright like that in most of his games, it will go a long way to keeping in in the game in the long haul. Green Bay forced Favre to beat them by stopping Peterson (no easy task, but they did it) and boy did he. Seriously, that was about as perfect a game as any QB can play in this league. With those offensive weapons and with that defense, Minnesota is for real. Jared Allen was ridiculous. He's on pace for like 90 sacks this year.
  
• Don't get too down on the Packers. They just ran into a highly motivated Vikings team who collectively played almost a perfect game. Minnesota had 2 penalties for like 10 yard while the Packers had almost 80 yards in penalties. That's huge. Rogers turnovers were tough, but he's a good QB and you can't be upset with him if you're Green Bay - he'll play at a high level for a number of years in this league.
  
• Manning is like 33 years old and he is hands down the best QB in the league today. Not even close. And he's got new receivers....and he's got a new head coach and offensive coordinator....yeah, he's that good.
  
• Soooo, Braylon Edwards to the Jets, huh. Anyone find it a tad suspicious that this deal goes down shortly after Edwards is called out by Lebron for punching his friend in the face? Here's the short version: Cleveland is Lebron's town. Period. If you're an underachieving, overpaid receiver like Edwards, you better mind your sh*t in that town. I think Lebron had his posse send a message to Edwards and the Browns....like a horse head in the bed kind of message. I can see it now, Edwards in Lebron's office begging for one last chance - "I swear Don James, you won't never see me in a Cleveland nightclub again - just give me one more chance.". Meanwhile, Mangini is like Luca Brasi sitting outside, practicing what he's going to say, "I am honored that you invited me on the day of your daughter's wedding, to......your daughter's wedding."
• By the way Edwards, good luck with the fans in New York if you keep dropping passes. He's got a second lease on life with a playoff team - he is one lucky SOB. He's got a solid QB, and some other weapons to help take attention off of him (not like he's going to get a ton until he proves something).
  
• Well, well, well - looks like Crabtree may all of a sudden be cool with the generous offer the Niners made. Funny how a 4-1 "doing just fine thank you" record will do that. Good luck earning the respect of your teammates in the Bay Area. Not to mention, your coach. Look, Singeltary will be tough (which Crabtree needs BADLY), but he'll be fair too. And seeing as how the team has bought into what he's bringing to the table, I think the team will watch Coach Singeltary to see when they can/should welcome this punk into the fold. If Crabtree knows what's good for him, he'll keep his mouth shut and work his ass off - it will no doubt be a tremendous culture shock going from cushy Leach and Tech to Michael F'ng Singeltary and a team on a mission for the playoffs. Can't wait to see how it unfolds - I have seen absolutely nothing that would suggest that Crabtree is going to do the right thing and make the right decisions. Nothing at all. We'll see.
  
• I love how the media headlines are "Niners and Crabtree reach deal" - oh, so by "reach deal" you mean one of them caved? Am was I severely wasted, or did I hear correctly that MC Hammer was involved in the negotiations? How in the world do you get to a situation where MC Hammer takes a break from being Whitney Houston's ex-husband to help close the Crabtree deal? Oh yeah, I like where this is going. I will certainly stay tuned.
  
• Might be a long, painful year for Eli Manning. Again, not a doctor, but I hear that foot injury he's got is not serious, but can be very painful and it's just a matter of playing through it. They get the Raiders at home this weekend - I'm positive David Carr can't screw that up, not with that team around him. Rest Manning - you'll be glad you did over the next few weeks.
  
• FANTASY UPDATE: Another week, more roster tampering. I'm still holding 3 QBs (which I really hate), but 2 of them are dealing with/coming off of injuries. I hear McNabb is going to play this weekend against Tampa so I may need to get him back into the rotation. I'm hoping he watched Kolb and has another awakening moments like he did last year after being benched and light things up. I've picked up both RBs from Baltimore and will play both of them this weekend - I had Rice, but realized that these guys together put up a lot of yards/numbers, but if you just have one of them it's a big crap shoot. I feel good about this. I think they play Cleveland. Oh, and I did propose my first trade this week - so we'll see how that goes.
  
• Intriguing game of the weekend: gotta be Patriots at Broncos. Denver has a brutal 4 game stretch coming up with Pats at home and then on the road in consecutive weeks at Chargers, and at Ravens, followed by Pittsburgh at home. And that Pittsburgh game is sure to include Troy Polamalu back in the lineup. I don't know, but I love rooting for this team given all of the crap they took because one cry baby prima dona got his wittle feewings hurt. I say they go 2-2 beating the Chargers on the road and New England at home. 6-2 after eight weeks is mile beyond what anyone expected from this team at the halfway point.
  
• Be careful Dallas, don't lose this game in Kansas City....Romo has to stop the "bleeding" so to speak in this game.
  
• Look at the remaining 4-0 teams left and tell me which one you think is best - I can't do it. I can't wait for the NFC playoffs, I think that's going to be a battle on all accounts. It's early and Super Bowl teams aren't developed in October, but I have a hard time seeing anyone seriously competing with Baltimore and Indy in the AFC. I'm expecting a post-championship letdown by the Steelers; we've always known what we've had with the Chargers (a Norv Turner coached team); and I just don't think the Patriots have all the pieces to put a run together this year. I had picked Green Bay as my Super Bowl champs, but a quarter of the way through the season I'm revising my pick: Indy over New Orleans. Barring a fractured femur or something, I don't know how anyone is going to stop Manning (the older one).
• Sigh - I'm going to admit it, Roy Williams is not now, nor will he ever be a number one receiver. He's got so much promise - just look at him!! Interesting note - look at Roy Williams and Limas Sweed (both Texas exes) and tell me they aren't the same person. Both hugely athletic/talented in college. Both have been big disappointments in the league thus far. Limas still has time to turn it around and Roy did make a pro bowl, but to say they've lived up to expectations respectively would be a false statement.
  
• At some point, do doctors in Seattle start to wonder if there *really* is an "injury bug"? I mean, look at what has and what continues to happen to the Seahawks every year. I'm just saying...
• Mark my words, Miami will upset the Jets on Monday night, silencing the the talk for just a little bit.
  

Non-Football Thoughts for the Week...

• I don't know about playoff day games in baseball. Seems like it takes the edge out of home field advantage a bit. People seem to like it, but I don't get it. Doesn't that hurt TV revenue?
  
• I'm actually somewhat eager to see Dodgers/Cardinals series. I have no idea when it's on so I'll just look for it each night and hope I get lucky.
  
• Because baseball is a sport and I like sports, I guess I'll give it a shot: Yankees over Phillies in world series.
  
• What ever happened to those 3.5 million jobs?
  
• Tragedy - my DVR "ate" the final King of the Hill episode. Someone, please help, how can I see this? I know I have the world wide web at my fingertips, but rather than searching high and low, I know someone out there knows where to look first.
  
• Am I the only one who looks at David Letterman in a more "creepy" light? I somehow doubt it.
  
• Who amongst us really needs a play-by-play of the H1N1 flu vaccine being rolled out? A few days ago it was, "Swine Flu Vaccines set to ship". Now it's commentary on how the shot actually feels. Really? Come on now. It's a f'ng shot, right? Sooo, it feels like getting a shot I would imagine. Put me down on the list of folks who'll hold off on this new vaccine for now - it's like buying the first year model of a new car, you don't want the FIRST model, you want to let them work out the kinks.
• I'm not a paranoid freak or anything, but home invasion scares the sh*t out of me.
• So these commercials with the testimonials of the "tax relief services" are kind of disturbing to me. I'll admit I don't know the whole story, but when I see people say, "we owed over $86,000 in back taxes and Associated Tax Relief was able to negotiate it down to just over $4,000." Wait, what? You mean you owed the government over eighty-six grand and got it down to 4 grand? So first off, how did you get into that situation to begin with? And secondly, how does this affect this tax revenue? I don't think I'm so much happy for these folks as I am a little pissed. I don't know, but I kind of think you're somehow kind of screwing the rest of us who don't owe back taxes.
  
• I've got some big, BIG news - I had some sort of awakening at the driving range this week. As you may recall, I've struggled quite a bit with my golf game of late - losing well over 20 balls in my last 3 outings. It's been ugly. I realized that I had tweaked my swing to compensate for short comings so many times that eventually, my entire swing was a compensation - taking half swings to keep the ball straight, not using my wrists at all, moving the ball around in my stance, etc., etc.. So I got a giant bucket of balls and just went back to taking a full swing and "just hitting the ball" and it was like....I don't know what. I hit balls for an hour and a half and my slice was gone. Period. Gone. I was crushing balls with my driver and 3 wood like I can't remember hitting in a long, LONG time. I don't want to get too excited, I'll be hitting the range at least a few more times before I play again, but I definitely plan to get on the links next week. I'll keep you posted and let's not get too excited, but I think I'm on to something here...
• The greatest threat to American Democracy is not so much Democrats, Republicans, or big corporations as it is a bunch of idiots with access to the internet. You can't pick up a paper without seeing at least something on Muslim extremists. Check out the "American" extremists while you're at it. There are some crazy, CRAZY people out there who are allowed to put up web sites, convene as a group, and spread whatever message they want. Be smarter than the internet people. The bad thing is it's seeping into the "real" politicians. I know, I know, much of this has been going on for a long, long time, but the tone of it is getting a tad out of hand.
  
• So I heard that San Francisco has banned smoking of any kind on public golf courses? This means cigars, cigarettes, anything. Look, San Fran, we all know that you think you're going to save the world and all that, but have you lost your minds? Public golf courses? Isn't that like 150 acres of wide open outside air? I'm sure we all appreciate you spear-heading that legalized weed thing, but I think we've just about had enough.
• Watched some of the UFL on Thursday night - on it's inagural night as a football....something. When I tuned it on the sideline reporter (real quick, just think how much we hate sideline reporters in the college or pro game....ok back to it) was talking to the QB on the Las Vegas team (yeah, during the game) and she was asking him about living in Las Vegas and if he's seen any scorpions - then we had to listen to him tell a story about seeing an effing scorpion. Jesus, really? We'll see how this 4 team, 6 game league goes, but I'm not overly optimistic.
  
• And finally, I'm going to drop some knowledge on you that I guarantee less than 10% of you were aware of - the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever are headed into a heated game 5 of the WNBA finals this Friday. In case you're wondering, the women's game is always a best-of-five series. So tune in....not sure where, but you can probably find it.
  

That's what I got gang - enjoy the great weather this weekend.

Revolving Back Door

That's been the theme with the bottom 15 in the polls. Five new teams enter the poll this week (all deserving in my humble opinion). Pretty exciting weekend if you got to watch some of these games. I am surprised to see the exclusion of Notre Dame. Not because I necessarily think they're deserving (more on this below), but more because they've won some "exciting" games and they're putting up some impressive offensive numbers. Of course it is true, at least I believe, that they were beat by the best team they played (Michigan). But hey, they're Notre Dame and that's what surprised me. In reality, they're just as close to being a 2 win team as they are to being a 4-win team.

Deserving teams certainly include Missouri and Auburn. I've said it before, but I'm impressed with Missouri and they'll get a good test this Thursday. By the way, sidebar, I did think that game was this Saturday which is why I put it in my preview edition, but alas, it's Thursday night. Anyway, regardless, I think Missouri is as deserving as any other team with similar credentials and as I've said, they have a decent road win. Auburn is for real. Period. To go into Knoxville, against a VERY good Tennessee defense is damn impressive. The Vols played a tough game too - they did what you should do against teams like that: make them kick field goals and keep it close. It was just too much of a deficit with too little time. Big statement win and huge conference road win. Something tells me the Iron Bowl will be very interesting this year.

With some significant games coming up next weekend I'm sure we'll see a continued to merry go at around 15 and above. Oh and speaking of revolving out - BRA-VO Houston Cougars. You go through that freaking non-conference schedule unscathed and get blown out by UTEP? Wow. Texas fans really know how bad this is. It's really crazy, I mean call Houston a fraud if you want to, but they still won at Oklahoma State and at home against Tech. That says something. Anyway, weird.

Tough weekend for the Big 12. First and foremost, there is no measure to how freaking bad Colorado is. They have zero talent and let me tell you something, Texas should beat them at home next weekend by 55 points without breaking a sweat. This *should* be like Big 12 championship game in '05 when Texas won 70-7....yeah, 70-7. They have no quarterback, no defense, no offensive line...they literally have nothing. And another stellar example of Texas dodging a "missed recruit" bullet yet again - Darryl Scott. 5-star running back chose Colorado at last minute over Texas. Remember Ryan Perilloux? Same thing. Anyway, the Buffs are simply terrible and they may not win a conference game this year.

So about those Aggies. They are a hard team to figure out for me. I mean, they put up some impressive offensive numbers and every time I looked up, they were running for 8 yards. And Jerrod Johnson is certainly a talented athlete, but there were a lot of times when I found myself questioning his decision making. He reminds me a lot of a young Vince Young. His throws look awful, but he's certainly *capable* of making any throw you need him to. His accuracy was pretty bad, but he's an athlete and he can make plays. However, one area that seems to be lacking is receiver. I know they had their number one guy go out, but man I was unimpressed with that.

I guess I could sum it up by saying the Aggies certainly have some talented players, but they aren't a great team. I think they're starting an unusually high number of freshman which certainly makes a huge difference, and it really does show. Once Johnson fumbled that ball on the Arkansas 10 and they ran it back for the score - that was it. It was halfway through the second quarter and they were moving the ball pretty well and could have easily made it 21-17 going into half, but that was it, they were done. They never recovered. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the bright lights of Jerry's Death Star and the fact it was a nationally televised game may have gotten to Mr. Johnson. It seemed he was putting the entire weight of his team on his shoulders...and maybe he needs to for them to win right now, but it clearly got to him. Like all Sickly athletic players like him, you have to learn to just move the chains and take the big plays when they give them to you. He tried way too hard way too many times. But he's definitely capable of making a 30+ yard play on any given snap.

I don't think Arkansas is very good...at all. But they were in the Aggie backfield the entire first half. Whatever A&M was doing in the first quarter, Arkansas figured it out because they made every single yard so tough to get after that. I'm not so sure though that part of it was A&M simply not being able to pull it together after that turning point. Tell me Aggie fan, where's your head on Coach Sherman? I have no idea what Aggie fan is thinking about their coach right now.

Tough break for the Sooners. Real tough break, but they are essentially out of the title picture. I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but I wonder if Bradford will be a little more cautious now. I can see him really working to come back had they won that game and climbed back into the title picture, but that's not really in the cards so to speak. Of course let's not forget - neither of their 2 losses are conference losses so they can STILL win the Big 12. I've said this before and I'll say it again - Jermaine Gresham was a more crucial piece to this team than Sam Bradford. I know that sounds crazy, but I do think it's true. When you have the best tight end in the game go down, it's a very big blow, especially when you have a brand new offensive line. The Sooner defense is still pretty damn good, but they're susceptible to the big play - had Harris not under thrown his receiver on that second INT early in the game, it would have been a TD. Safety made a great play, but he was beat by a step or 2.

You gotta give it to Miami though - tough start to the game with everything going against them in the first half, but they came out, made a big play and turned it on. Big, big win for the Hurricanes. Very tough loss for the 2-2 Sooners (that just looks weird).

More College Football Thoughts...

• Alright LSU, you got your big match up next weekend. Was that a classic SEC game or what? Defense, defense, defense. One thing I will say about LSU is they shut out Georgia for 3 quarters on the road. That's impressive. However, when you hold your opponent to under 50 yards for the half, and only 1 first down, while you pile up 225+ ...and you're only up 6-0? That's not going to work. They won the game so no big deal, but your offense has to be able to give the defense more of a cushion than that. Charles Scott came back to life again which could be some very good news for LSU heading into next week's showdown against the Gators. I'll be honest, I'm still taking Florida here pretty big, not even wavering, but it's LSU and anything can happen. I do know this though - Les Miles ain't no Urban Meyer. LSU's offense is anemic and Florida's defense is the exact same crew they had last year....so there's that.
  
• Tough loss for Michigan. It's a rivalry game so you tend to throw everything out the window....nevertheless, Michigan State is not very good. I still think Forcier is a star in the making in the Big 10. Yet again he brings his team back in the final ticks of the 4th quarter. If you have a young QB who's making plays like that as a freshman, you're looking pretty good. Things are starting to turn around for Rich Rod and I think they're capable of beating most teams on any given Saturday.
  
• I mentioned Notre Dame's offensive numbers, and they are quite impressive, but I'm really anxious to see what Clausen does against USC. I noticed that they kicked 4 field goals from inside the 20 yard line. That's not going to cut it against better teams. And although they're exciting as hell to watch these days, these opponents that they are sneaking by are not that great. I don't know. I think they have a pretty mediocre defense and the loss of star receiver Floyd will hurt down the stretch. Luckily for them they get a bye week before facing the Trojans at home. Could be the statement game they need, but I doubt they're able to win that one.
  
• One more thing on Auburn and what they did against Tennessee's defense - they had over 450 yards of total offense. I would bet money that no other team comes close to doing that the rest of the way.
  
• Remember last week when I mentioned how I had no idea what kind of team Florida State is? I have a better idea now - they are a 2-3 team who played over the heads for a couple of games. They are not good.
  
• The Cincinnati offense is pretty wicked. Go read the box score and look how fast they score EVERY SINGLE TIME. It's nuts.
• This will get over looked because of Florida/LSU, but Bama travels to Ole Miss next Saturday afternoon. Jeavan Snead is really struggling this year, but there's no better way to reverse a stinky streak than with a big-time win in front of your home crowd. I'm doubting this....really doubting it, but it could happen.
  
• Nice Cal - I guess the Bears are the same team we've always known them to be. When they crash - they go down in flames. Talk about a complete 180 in just two short weeks. They put up a combined 6 points in their two biggest games....and this with one of the nation's top running backs. Keep an eye on this - if we get a slew of 1-loss teams, the strength of the Pac 10 could prove to be the difference for USC. For better or for worse.
• Will be interesting to see how the Sooners play over the next few weeks - if they continue to play with that same urgency that most title contenders play with. As I mentioned above, it's going to be next to impossible for them to make it to Pasadena this year, but it could happen - the only difference is they won't own their own destiny the rest of the way. That fact alone can destroy a team's drive. OU has been a mainstay in the top 5-8 over the past several years and they can climb back up there with a win over Texas...we'll see.
• Really Houston? 58 points to UTEP?
  

NFL Notes and Observations...

• FANTASY UPDATE: Let me just say this. I think I've got one player left tonight, but my wife is beating me by like 40 points. I'll just leave it at that for this week.
  
• And heeeeeeere comes Vince Young again. I don't know how long Fisher can keep Collins in there when it's clear he isn't going to repeat the success of last year. At 0-4, the Titans are all but out of the playoff hunt. I know that sounds crazy with 8 games left, but the Titans have dropped games against all of their division opponents except Indy....and do any of us have any illusions about how that's going to work out? I say you throw VY to the wolves and find out once and for all if there's any hope at all to make an NFL QB out of him. That was a really bad loss to a really bad Jags team. Let's go ahead and pencil the Titans into one of the playoff team last year to no playoffs this year slot. I mean, what in the world happened to their defense? And this goes way beyond the loss of Haynesworth and Jim Schwartz.
  
• Is it at all possible that Fisher may find himself on the hot seat? Seems inconceivable, but there could be some momentum here.
  
• Let's not sleep on New England just yet - 2 consecutive wins over Falcons and Ravens. Those are playoff teams right there.
  
• OUCH Dallas fan. That's one of those losses where afterwards, folks shake their heads and say, "yeah, I didn't think they were that good". I think we all agreed that although Denver was undefeated, they were still a little suspect. And when Dallas got up 10-0 you couldn't help but think, here we go - let the implosion begin. But nooo. Tough win by Dallas. And why-oh-why in the world would Dallas (and Romo at that) throw at Champ Bailey in the final 2 plays? Are you kidding me? With all of the alleged holes in this Denver defense, you go at Bailey? This game for Dallas was not unlike the Carolina game last Monday night - you just sometimes wonder what the hell they're doing. This is an 8-8 team...at best. And Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett are stealing money from Jones right now. They are both HORRIBLE.
  
• Is it me or does Romo just seem to lack "It"? I mean, I've never once seem any sense of fire or desire in him. I just don't know how much he really cares about winning. Look at players like Brady, Manning, Rivers, hell, even Jeff Garcia - you can literally see their desire to win games no matter what. Romo does not have that which is why he's a pretender and always will be. The playoff drought will continue for yet another year.
• Meanwhile, it warrants saying this again, but anyone else think maybe McDaniels knows exactly what he's doing?

Non-Sports Thoughts for the Week...

• OUCH Chicago. So much for the great Oprah/Obama tandem - that really didn't work out too well now did it. In all reality, not really a big deal. Just funny that with all the hoopla that they didn't even make the initial cut. It was a good laugh for about 7 seconds.
  
• Quick note to GOPers out there who are bashing Obama: are you actually relishing in the fact that the Chicago DIDN'T get selected? You do realize that Chicago resides in the US and that the city was actually representing the US in this bid, right? I still don't understand how anyone, regardless of who you are, would actually WANT the President to fail. At any time. Regardless of who is in office, don't you *want* that person to succeed?
  
• So we braved through about 7.5 hours of ACL on Saturday - through rain and mud. Had a pretty good time. If it hadn't been raining, it would have been a whole other story. We were prepared with panchos, etc., but after standing in the rain for 3 straight hours, it kind of gets to you. Nevertheless, we made it work. Saturday's lineup was certainly not of the caliber of Friday or Sunday, but we saw a couple of really good shows. I've heard of them, but didn't really know their stuff, but I thoroughly enjoyed Flogging Molly. Even in the rain, went down as one of my top ACL shows I've seen. I'd definitely see them again - Irish rock with a hint of punk. The Scabs also put on a great show, but they always put on a great show.
  
• Speaking of my top ACL shows: Pixies, Gomez, Thievery Corporation, G. Love and Special Sauce, and the new edition, Flogging Molly.

That's what I got gang. Enjoy the week - I'll be out of pocket yet again next weekend, but as always, will do my part to bring you the best damn rant you've ever seen.