26.11.03
College picks: Well, the College Pick 'em contest is over. I wish I had thought about this when I signed up for the pro picks. In any case, there is no picking games on ESPN this week. So, I'll just have to do that here.
Just as an aside, I really don't want to analyse the Tech-BC game. I wasn't there, and chose instead to watch LSU-Mississippi. I'm convinced that when I am not at games, but merely watch them over TV, I bring bad luck to the Hokies. So, since I didn't get a ticket, I chose to ignore the game. Perhaps I should have listened to Roth and Burnop's call of the game, rather than ignoring it. Eh.
I was rooting for Ole Miss in their game; I just don't care for LSU, particularly since their fans incited a mini-riot here in Blacksburg last August. This, I suppose, is why I got so much pleasure of posting that letter to Dennis Dodd that said that LSU fans smell like corndogs. Perhaps it is because of this, and of my affinity toward the underdog, but I sincerely believe that had Eli Manning converted that 4th down (and not tripped over his own lineman), Ole Miss would have won that game. And if pigs had wings, they could fly.
In any case, there are 29 games between yesterday (North Texas beat New Mexico St. 13-10) and Saturday night (when Miami travels to Pittsburgh). I'll pick all of 'em, even the wildly uncompetitive ones. It is rivalry week, after all. Last week wasn't, simply because Tech battled...Boston College (which, although not rivals in any traditional sense will be, according to the ACC, "interdivisional rivals", if only by default; everyone else was taken...another argument for WVU and against BC...but I digress).
In any case, I saw the Sagarin ratings in USA Today yesterday, and, taking home field into account, Sagarin apparently favours UVa to beat Tech by 1. I'm hard-pressed to remember the last time Tech was an underdog to a football team not called "Miami". In any case, it's a rivalry game, and one hopes (oh, Jesus, how I hope) that Tech can get itself motivated for that; it has won the last 4 Commonwealth Cups (I forget who the current sponsor is...Dominion Power, or Dominion Electric, or whatever Virginia Power renamed itself, or, frankly, who gives a crap?). Virginia comes in ready to play, and on an emotional high, having soundly beaten Georgia Tech last week, and earning their bowl-eligibility. One of these teams is likely headed to Charlotte for the Continental Tire Bowl (more on bowl names in a second). The folks in Charlotte don't particularly like the idea (unlike the Gator bowl, which may well feature Maryland and West Va., part deux) of a rematch. Personally, I don't have any problems with it.
Had Tech beaten BC, they would probably be in line for that Gator Bowl bid to face Maryland, leaving Pitt, Miami, West Virginia, Syracuse and (possibly) BC to fight over the remaining bowl slots. And if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.
In any case, before I digressed, I really don't want to take Virginia here, but, whatever else I am, I am profoundly unsure of how Tech will respond to playing on the road; they've done piss-poor on the road all season, with victories in Blacksburg, at Rutgers and at Temple. Hardly an inspiring list for a team who has to travel to its' rival's place. Ugh. Unsure, or not, I can't bring myself to take UVa, because, quite simply, they're UVa, with their coats and ties at the outdoor wine and cheese tasting events ERRRRRR football games. So I'll take (however reluctantly) Virginia Tech to retain the Commonwealth Cup for the fifth season.
I'm not sure what it is, but Ron Zook has done better on the road this season than at home. Maybe it's the (relative) lack of pressure that comes with being on the road. You can adopt the motivational ploy of "Us against the world". If fans are booing (an ugly sound; much uglier than cheering), then it means that you're doing something right on the road. If you're at home and fans are booing, one of two things is possible: Either you need to stay away from the refs (for your own safety), or you're playing poorly enough to merit boos. The short version, applied to the Florida/Florida State game is this: I would feel a lot more comfortable picking Florida were this game in Tallahassee.
If you're unaware, I'm not the biggest fan of Chris Rix. His judgment (just as all of ours, from time to time) is highly questionable, and Florida can force Rix into mistakes, especially if they can stop the run. Certainly, Florida could win (and, with Tennessee and Georgia losses, get into the SEC championship). And, even if the game is in Gainesville, I think that Florida will win.
Although not strictly a rivalry (and now will never become one, as this is Miami's last conference game), Miami and Pittsburgh will settle much on the field. Presuming West Virginia beats Temple, the winner of this game will share the conference championship with WVU. If Miami wins, they will represent the Big East in the BCS. If Pitt wins, then the conference's representative will depend on how close WVU is in the BCS rankings. If WVU finishes within 5 spots of a victorious Pitt, then WVU will go to the BCS; otherwise, it will be Pitt. WVU is most certainly not helped by the fact that they play a lousy Temple team. So, more than likely, the winner of this game will go to one of the three non-championship BCS bowls (my money is on Orange; the Orange must pick either FSU or the Big East champion as a "host").
In any case, there have been 5 games played between teams in the top 4 of the conference (the only game remaining is the UM-UP game). In all 5, the home team won (WVU beat Tech and Pitt at home, Tech beat Miami, Miami beat WVU and Pitt beat Tech). Even if Brandon Miree doesn't play, I think that Pitt can win this game. If Miree does play, Pitt will win, simply because Miami's run defence has been...mediocre, especially against stars like Anthony Wilson (I think) of WVU, and Kevin Jones of Tech.
Other games (in this case, I'll give no explanation):
- Ole Miss beast Mississippi St.
- Louisville wins at Cincinnati
- Colorado beats Nebraska, leading to Solich's firing
- Marshall beats Ohio
- Miami University (the one in Ohio, not to be confused with the University of Miami, in Florida) beats Central Florida
- LSU beats Arkansas
- Arizona State beats Arizona...although no one in the other 49 states cares
- Texas beats Texas A&M; A&M will fight, but they're not nearly as good as one would have thought when they were ranked after 3 weeks
- Bowling Green beats Toledo at home, and earns the right to host Miami in the MAC championship
- Syracuse beats Rutgers
- Tennessee beats Kentucky to win the Bourbon Barrel
- Mizzou beats a woefully bad Iowa State
- Georgia beats Georgia Tech; Tech, in all likelihood, won't recover from their loss to UVa, and Georgia's playing for a spot in the SEC championship as well as for rivalry.
- West Virginia beats Temple, in Temple's last Big East game
- Southern Miss wraps the Conference USA crown up by beating East Carolina.
- Wyoming beats UNLV. Neither of them are that good, but the game is in Wyoming.
- Memphis beats South Florida. If the game were in Tampa, I'd probably pick the other way.
- TCU beats SMU
- Louisiana Tech beats Rice. I don't think that either of these teams are anything spectacular, but the game is in northern Louisiana.
- Boise State beats Nevada, in a game which may or may not (I'm too lazy to look) wrap the WAC crown up for them.
- Wake Forest beats Maryland. The ACC has been weird this season.
- Alabama-Birmingham beats Houston
- Fresno State beats UTEP
- Hawaii beats Alabama in Alabama's "Bowl Game".
- Stanford beats Notre Dame. This game isn't being played under the shadow of "Touchdown Jesus".
Zuletzt: This is amusing, and I'm probably going straight to hell for laughing at it. If you're a prude, puritan, repressed sexually, or humour-impaired, I advise against clicking the link. Otherwise, enjoy. (Thanks to CognoCentric for the link. And thanks to Setting the World to Rights for the link to CognoCentric).
Later, R.
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