The Big Ten Sucks

I know, I've been saying that for years.  But now the media is FINALLY catching on! On Saturday night, all ESPN could talk about was how bad the conference is this year.  I mean, that's nothing new.  The conference hasn't been good in years.  I've explained this a million ways, a million times already, so I have no need to go on a rant now.  I'm just happy that the media caught on early this season.  Now I won't have to hear these "experts" on tv talk about a potential Ohio State-Michigan State game in the final four.  Because guess what? There's no way 2 Big Ten teams are making this playoff.

Shout out to the Hokies, by the way.  SO HAPPY I got to see Ohio State lose in Columbus.  Only wish I could have been there in a Gator shirt to rush the field...

I knew Michigan State would lose and I knew Michigan would lose (I thought it would at least be a game, though, since Notre Dame isn't good).  Stanford disappointed me, and UCLA did not look too good.  At least Houston won a game.  Nebraska and Rutgers both won, but in less-than-impressive fashion.  Come on - Howard and McNeese State? But Nebraska and Rutgers may still be 2 of the best teams in the Big Ten.  The final score didn't show it, but Wisconsin had trouble moving the ball against Western Illinois.  Purdue lost.  Northwestern lost again.  Just give up.  The Big Ten is not very big at all.  But don't worry, Buckeye fans.  I think your team can beat 0-2 Kent State.

FSU did not look good.  I repeat: they will not win the national championship this year.  I'd actually be surprised if FSU makes the playoff this year.  The ACC looks really bad (almost as bad as the Big Ten!), and the Seminoles may not even win the conference.  If Florida had played the Citadel and won 37-12, everyone would be talking about how bad our offense is to only score 37 and how lazy our defense must be to give up 12 points to an opponent like the Citadel.  Any FSU fan would have expected to win that game by at least 50 points.  Face facts: FSU is way overrated.  They're just lucky the ACC sucks.  As for FSU's next game - let's go Clemson!!!!

Tonight we have the battle of the cougars - BYU vs Houston.  I'd love to see Houston get its act together and win this.  I do think it will be close, but I think BYU comes away with this one.  Once again, not many high profile games this weekend.  As much as I'd love to support the SEC, I don't see Tennessee winning on the road at Oklahoma.  Missouri will beat UCF in a game that will be closer than it should be.  Louisville wins at Virginia.  I'll pick NC State on the road at USF.  Overrated USC will beat Tyler Murphy and company.  My upset of the weekend? UCLA loses to Texas.  Best game of the weekend is probably Georgia-South Carolina.  You know I've gotta go with Spurrier to beat the Bulldogs.  Nebraska will get its act together and win at Fresno State.  I see Rutgers winning its Big Ten opener at home vs the Nittany Lions - sorry Penn State fans!

So last week the Gators played Eastern Michigan and came away with a big win.  65-0.  I was happy to see we were at least able to move the ball, but I won't get too excited about beating EMU because, well, it's EMU, not Alabama.  I was happy to at least see a full game rather than a ten-second tease, though.  But this week we play an SEC opponent....an SEC opponent who hasn't beaten Florida since 1986 (and UK hasn't won in Gainesville since 1979).  The streak will stay alive this year - sorry Jojo Kemp.  If you couldn't beat us last year in Lexington when we were arguably the worst we've ever been, you can't beat us now in Gainesville.  

GO GATORS! Beat Kentucky!!

Still waiting...

There were a few close calls and disappointments this weekend.  Alabama didn't look as good as people expected on offense (I'll be very surprised if Sims starts all season) or defense.  Ohio State sucked and Navy lost its momentum, which was hugely disappointing.  Then of course Oklahoma State fumbled away a golden opportunity to beat a terribly overrated FSU team - but after seeing that game, I'm confident FSU will not go undefeated this year.

But one disappointment stood out above all the others.  The biggest disappointment of the weekend was the Florida game being terminated after 10 seconds.  Sure, Valdez Showers looked great for 10 seconds.  And I mean, Jeff Driskel didn't turn the ball over.  We didn't miss any field goals.  Our defense didn't allow a first down - or even a yard - from Idaho's offense.  We averaged 64 yards per return, and we're still undefeated.  This all sounds great if you didn't see or hear about the game.  But I really, really wanted to watch the Gators play.  I sat in a Gator bar in Nashville with one of my best friends from college, and we were pretty disappointed.  It didn't help that the rain in Nashville was almost as bad as the rain in Gainesville on Saturday!  So I'm still waiting for Florida to really start its season.  Ten seconds of football just didn't do it for me.

 

Florida vs Idaho (Complete Game)

So sometimes I'll write about some crazy things some of my friends say.  One friend of mine has been telling me for months that the Miami Hurricanes will go undefeated in football this year.  I actually thought they'd surprise people in the first game because Louisville lost an awesome coach, but I was wrong.  So that friend of mine is very quiet now.  Obviously we have a bet on the Miami-Nebraska game the end of the month.  Hint: the Huskers aren't losing to Miami in Lincoln.  I made a few accurate predictions based on my SEC bias.   One such prediction I made about this past weekend was that LSU would win in the 4th quarter.  Sure, I thought it would be decided later in the quarter, but I know many people thought Wisconsin had secured a victory in the 3rd.  I knew better.  I know Les gets Lucky, and I know LSU doesn't lose openers like that.  Of course Georgia beat Clemson and of course Auburn beat Arkansas.  No surprises there.  And I guess for now it's safe for me to eat potatoes since Florida didn't lose to Idaho.  I hope they reschedule the game. 

On to week 2! Nebraska will blow out McNeese State.  Rutgers will beat Howard and remain undefeated as a Big Ten team.  I'll take Stanford at home over USC and I'll take Oregon at home over Michigan State.  I'm already picking Nebraska and Rutgers - how many Big Ten teams can I really pick to win in one weekend? I think Michigan vs Notre Dame will be close, but I'll say Notre Dame wins by single digits.  I'll pick Ole Miss on the road at Vandy.  Just for my dad, I hope Houston can beat Grambling State.  Houston looked terrible against UTSA.

Not many marquis games this weekend.  There supposedly are more thunderstorms expected in Gainesville on Saturday.  With any luck, I'll get to see Florida beat Eastern Michigan this weekend.

GO GATORS!!

The wait is (just about) over!

College football season is upon us! I have no more excuses.  No more grad school, no more negligence.  Yes, I'm finally updating my blog.  So now that I'm a Big Ten alum - do I see things any differently?

My M.A. Graduation - University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Well, no.  Of course I'm still biased toward the SEC.  I'm a Gator first and foremost, and no additional degrees will change that.  My belief that the SEC will be dominant may also be due to recent brainwashing from the recently launched SEC Network, though.  It's my new favorite channel.  I'm loving the classic SEC games.  The last 3 things in my DVR are games from January 1997, January 2007 and January 2009.  I'll give you 3 guesses what games they are.

I really do want to be excited for Gator football season this year, and I'm honestly trying to get hyped up, but I'd be lying if I said it's not difficult after that 4-8 meltdown last year.  I refuse to set any type of comeback expectations.  For now, I'm just concerned with the Idaho Vandals. Will Muschamp - if you lose to Idaho, I'm not eating potatoes for a year.  Seriously.  And French fries are one of my favorite things on this planet, so please don't do that to me.  As far as I remember, Idaho went 1-11 last year.  So just take this season one game at a time.  Beat Idaho and start 1-0.

Beyond the Florida-Idaho game, I'm obviously also excited to see how Rutgers represents itself in a new conference (for the 2nd year in a row).  This time, they're in the overrated Big Ten.  Let's see how they fare in a non-conference road game against Washington State.  The Cougars haven't impressed me (my mom went to Washington, so does it surprise you I'm not impressed by Washington State?) in recent years, so I think Rutgers has a shot to win this one on the road.  Rutgers joining the Big Ten does complicate things for me a bit, though.  I am a Husker alum, but Rutgers is my hometown team and has always been my #2.  Make no mistake - I still want Nebraska to play well and win games, and I certainly won't be upset if Nebraska beats Rutgers, but this creates some conflict for me.  For now let's just see how Rutgers looks against Washington State.  And well, the Huskers are a lock over the FAU Owls.

My hopeful pick of the week is clearly Oklahoma State over those disgusting FSU Seminoles.  I haven't heard much about the Cowboys for this season, but they typically have a decent offense, and with the game being in Texas, I feel like the crowd should favor Oklahoma State.  Come on Cowboys.  Please show up, and please beat FSU.  Then there's that other game in Texas - LSU vs Wisconsin.  I'm guessing this game will go down to the last minute or so based on how both teams usually like to play.  I'll call for an LSU victory sealed in the last 90 seconds of the game (or OT).  I'll be surprised if the game isn't close, but I think Lucky Les prevails in this one.

My upset special to start the season should be really obvious.  LET'S GO NAVY.  With Ohio State being forced to play a QB with no experience, and with the game being in Maryland, I really think Navy will show up with the confidence to win this game.  I want to clarify that I do feel bad for Braxton Miller, though.  That really sucks to be getting ready to play in your senior season only to be hurt in practice a few weeks before the season and have to wait another year to finish your college campaign.  However, I don't feel sorry for Urban Liar at all, and I hope he is completely frazzled and loses every game this season.  Let's go Midshipmen!!!

Other picks for the first week - I'll take South Carolina over Texas A&M.  Spurrier knows how to win games, and as much as I like Sumlin, I think his team will need some time to adjust to playing without Johnny Football.  I'll pick Georgia over Clemson, as much as it pains me.  Another painful one for me to pick is Miami, but I'll take them over Louisville only because the Cardinals lost a great coach in Charlie Strong.  If Strong were still there, make no mistake, I'd take Louisville in a heartbeat.  And Auburn is going to embarrass awful Arkansas.  West Virginia has absolutely no chance of beating Alabama.  Nick Saban is gonna be out to prove something this year - even more so than usual. 

We'll see if any teams really impress me this weekend.  I'm not going to make some insane final four or Heisman pick before the season, because I honestly don't know what to expect this year.  But at the end of the day, I really just have 2 words to say:

GO GATORS!

Worst Brackets Ever

Okay, I'm almost done with graduate school...I promise. I won't be so negligent for much longer. But it's March - I had to write SOMETHING.

Just a quick rant about these brackets, though. Usually Selection Sunday is like a holiday for me. I love seeing the brackets come out, and I love doing my expert analysis. This year? I was hurt. I was betrayed by the tournament selection committee. Evidently the rights fees are so high now that this tournament is officially 100% about ratings, and 0% about basketball. It really makes me sad. And for those of you casual fans or people who just fill out a bracket and don't watch any basketball, let me explain what I mean. I saw months ago that the rules on rematches were changing for the tournament, but I didn't fully understand what they were trying to turn the tournament into.  Now I know.

These are by far the most “made-for-tv” brackets ever. Every region is all about old rivalries and rematches. I mean, Nebraska plays Baylor in an old Big 12 matchup, and then if the Huskers win they could have a rematch with in-state rival Creighton. Not to mention 2 more Big 12 schools are in the same region - Oklahoma and Oklahoma State - who happen to be rivals with one another.  But it gets worse. Cincinnati, UConn, Providence and Villanova are all in the same bracket for at least one potential old Big East matchup - not to mention THREE AAC schools (UConn, Cincy, Memphis) are all in that region for potential rematches, along with a potential Villanova-St. Joe's Philadelphia Big 5 game.

Louisville and Kentucky could play each other again. A Duke/Michigan rematch is possible. Florida is in the same region as UCLA and Ohio State, conveniently the same 2 teams the Gators beat for the back-to-back titles, and the Gators have a potential rematch with Kansas, and a chance for VCU to play Florida.  If you're unaware, VCU's coach Shaka Smart used to coach under Florida's Billy Donovan.

Dayton has tried to schedule a yearly game with Ohio State and the Buckeyes refused because they won't play in-state games for fear of being embarrassed or something, so the committee put them together in the first game. Arizona could meet up with Oregon again after Oregon beat Arizona to end the regular season. And let's not ignore the fact that Oregon opens with BYU, who they already beat in overtime this season. It also doesn't seem like a coincidence that Wichita State's 2 best wins came over St. Louis and Tennessee, and the Shockers just happen to be in the same region with those 2 teams.

I know I'm not alone in noticing all the bracket flaws, and this is not an exhaustive list.  Rick Pitino isn't happy about having to play Manhattan, and it's understandable. It's all about story lines this year instead of basketball. These brackets are just terrible, but they did it all on purpose. It’s 100% made for television. Anyway, I'm sure you already know who I want to win it all this year, so I'm not gonna go over my bracket here. Regardless of the NCAA selection committee's terrible job this year, I hope to see Florida cutting down the nets in Arlington. GO GATORS!!!

2014 - A New Beginning

Okay, so I'm still in graduate school, and I'm still neglecting my blog.  But that will end this year.  I'd also like to point out that it's 2014 now, and in this year, Florida football is undefeated, and Urban Meyer is winless.

In 2013, I was lucky enough to attend two Gator basketball games.  One at UConn and one at MSG against Memphis.  The UConn buzzer beater broke my heart, but I was much more upset about the disgraceful attitude of the drunk UConn fans.  I've learned that Storrs is just a trashy suburb of Boston, and the fans there are a bunch of uneducated, drunk, rude Boston fans.  For any Gator fans reading this, just think of them as the "LSU of basketball" and it should be clear how unpleasant they are.

The Jimmy V Classic was a much better experience.  The Pitt/Cincy fans there for the first game were civil to each other and to me, and I don't think a Memphis fan did so much as even shoot my group of friends in Gator gear a dirty look.  Much classier group of fans.  Much more enjoyable.  And the better outcome didn't hurt.

Gator Nation at MSG for the Jimmy V Classic - December 17, 2013

So unfortunately, the Gators have had a whole bunch of problems with suspensions and injuries and general ineligibility this season.  The two losses we had were single-digit road losses without our full roster, so I can't read too much into them.  However, the Gators made a huge statement yesterday with a big road win in overtime at Arkansas.  Arkansas may not seem like much to look at if you watch them on the road.  But man...at home? The Razorbacks are tough.  They can score.  A lot.  They had won 23 games in a row at home.  So I already knew they'd be a tough team.  Then I heard our leading scorer Casey Prather would be sitting on the bench with a bruised bone in his knee.  Then I heard Patric Young and Scottie Wilbekin were questionable for the game and definitely wouldn't be starting.  I worried that we'd be down to 5 scholarship players and Jacob Kurtz.  Scottie and Patric stepped up and played through the pain.  Dorian Finney-Smith was on fire with 22 points and 15 rebounds.  And Scottie really stepped up and showed his senior leadership at the end of regulation.  That was a GREAT win yesterday, and I fully expect the Gators to jump to #9 in both polls with Louisville and Iowa State losing.  GO GATORS!!!!

But the Gators weren't the only ones to make a statement yesterday.  ESPN made a statement about customer service.  Most of the first half wasn't aired due to "technical difficulties." Does anyone else remember that the SAME THING happened during the 2013 Florida-Arkansas football game? Because it did.  Those who know me well know that I live in New York City, but I grew up in a suburb in New Jersey that is within the New York City DMA.  Apparently ESPN is unaware of that, though.  My father still lives in my hometown, and we saw very different things at the end of the Florida-Arkansas game.  My ESPN2 stayed with the Florida game until the conclusion of overtime.  

Somehow, ESPN decided my father lives close enough to Philadelphia that he should be what's known as a "mandatory pullout" for the Memphis-Temple game.  Let me assure you, my father does not care about seeing the first few minutes of the Memphis-Temple game.  Sure, Memphis is ranked.  But Temple was 5-8 going into that game.  Florida was playing on the road without its leading scorer, with 2 more starters playing hurt, at an arena where Arkansas had won 23 straight...and the game went to overtime.  As soon as Scottie Wilbekin hit that 3 in overtime, my father got a message that he could continue watching the Florida game on ESPN3, and he was switched to the Temple game.  This makes no sense to me.  I grew up in that house.  Sure, we got some channels from Philadelphia, but our local television was primarily out of New York City, and I happen to know that county falls in the New York City DMA, not Philadelphia's DMA.  

So I wrote to ESPN about my concerns - both about the switch and about the feed trouble that persisted.  Anyone reading this who tried to watch the game yesterday knows exactly what I'm talking about.  You were watching the game, it kept flickering in and out, they apologized for technical difficulties, and switched us to the Iowa State at Oklahoma game.  So imagine my surprise when the "customer care" representative wrote back to me and said they didn't know about any feed trouble.  That's interesting.  If you don't know about any feed trouble, why is your on-air team apologizing for it?

ESPN's response, which made absolutely no sense

Thanks ESPN for showing you not only don't care about your viewers, but instead of actually having someone available to read actual concerns from viewers, you'd rather send an irrelevant automated response with a shameless social media plug.  I'm embarrassed for you.  I wrote back to this response, even though I'm quite sure no one will ever see it.  I also work in TV, so I didn't appreciate the complete lack of effort in providing me a proper response.

Anyway, Ohio State lost 2 straight in basketball, so I'll go to sleep happy tonight.

GO GATORS!!

Basketball, at last.

I know, I've been negligent.  I've been too heartbroken to focus on football.  Each day I'm reminded of the possibility of an Ohio State-FSU national championship game, which would send me on a drinking binge so intense that I might never fully recover.  So for now, I say roll tide and go bears.  Baylor should be ranked #3.  I'm putting that out there.  I know they haven't played Texas Tech or Oklahoma State yet, but guess what? Ohio State hasn't played anyone.  I'm much more impressed with Baylor, and the Bears should 100% be ranked ahead of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad buckeyes.

For this weekend, I'm a Wake Forest fan.  The 2 "good" games outside of the SEC were last night, and Oregon was atrocious.  Made me wonder how anyone thought they could contend for a national title.  Just awful.  Stanford got lucky, but they played smart and took advantage of Oregon's football team completely forgetting how to play football.  The final score made it look much closer than it was.  Oregon should be embarrassed by that display.

As for this weekend, let's go Huskers! Michigan is not good.  If you can't beat them, you're not good.  I'd also like to see Houston beat UCF.  Alabama will beat LSU again.  And Gators.  This one would really help with bowl eligibility.  South Carolina and FSU still loom....wins over Vandy and Georgia Southern may be necessary to make a bowl game.  Regardless, I've never been on board with Will Muschamp.  I've made that clear since the start.  I wanted Kevin Sumlin as coach, and everyone said I was crazy.  I don't know who I want now, but I do know I want Muschamp and Pease OUT.  They've had their chances.  They've done nothing.  Muschamp is afraid to beat his alma mater, and I can't continue living in a world where Florida continues to lose to Georgia.  Georgia sucks.  I also need someone on the coaching staff who can recruit a decent quarterback! Brantley? Brissett? Driskel? Murphy? Chris Leak, can you maybe take on that responsibility? Clearly no one else can...I'm hereby assigning that job to you.  Find UF a QB ASAP.  Thanks.

Chris Doering will be serving as the "celebrity" Mr. Two Bits for homecoming. We could really use the Wuerffel/Doering pair on offense right now.

 

Ah, to have a quarterback...

Thankfully, today officially marks the start of the Florida basketball season.  Our boys tip off at 3pm, playing the Ospreys of North Florida.  Unfortunately, we'll be short-staffed "indefinitely."  We'll beat UNF, though.  I'm worried about who will be available Tuesday.  I can't have us losing to an overrated Big Ten team - especially one my brother attended.  Billy Donovan, please take a page out of the Ole Miss playbook and leave the remainder of the Harris/Finney-Smith suspensions for the start of SEC play.  And if they can't play, let's just hope enough of our team is healthy enough to beat Wisconsin.  I'll say it before anyone else says it, and I'll say it proudly as usual: THE BIG TEN WILL NOT WIN A MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP THIS SEASON.  My brother has this pattern of making stupid bets with me.  Usually he'll bet me something like "$20, 1,000:1 odds, Purdue goes undefeated."  And I say, "Okay, easiest $20 I'll ever make."  And I win.  This year he bet me $1, 5000:1 odds, Wisconsin goes undefeated in basketball.  Of course I took the bet.  Can't make an easier dollar.

Also, I'm planning to go to two Gator basketball games next month, and I could not be more excited.  Hopefully the team will be healthy by then!

GO GATORS!

Back on the Road

All 3 of my teams are on the road this week.  Nebraska's backup QB will start on the road at Purdue, and that's the one I'm least worried about (because it's Purdue...I mean, they're one of the worst teams in one of the worst conferences).  Nebraska should beat Purdue.  But the other 2 games are cause for concern. 

Rutgers plays tonight in the biggest test of the season for the Scarlet Knights: on the road at overrated Louisville.  Sure, Rutgers is only a successful 2-point conversion away from an undefeated season, but that near meltdown at SMU was a bit troubling.  Props to SMU on that 2-point conversion in regulation - though I'm still 100% sure the touchdown that brought you to that point was a foot short.  It doesn't matter now since the better team won, but the officiating was quite poor. Start the video below at about 9:00.  He didn't get in. But for tonight, let's go RU! Chop Louisville!

The Gators looked fine against Arkansas.  But I mean, it was Arkansas.  It was Bielema.  I can't take them seriously right now.  And I was satisfied with Nebraska's relatively easy win over Illinois, who is not good.

The most disappointingly overrated team of last weekend: Northwestern.  Are you kidding me, Wildcats? Ohio State is not good!!!! How much did Urban pay you guys to lose that game? If Ohio State plays any team with so much as a hint of a defense, they're going to get slaughtered.  Braxton Miller is not good, and Hyde only looks good because of his level of competition.  And Kenny Guiton, who is clearly the best player on Ohio State, is back to riding the bench.  Great coaching by Meyer...

While Northwestern clearly shouldn't be ranked, there was one team last weekend who shouldn't be anywhere near the top 25.  In fact, I don't know if they belong in the top 100.  You know who I'm talking about.  The Maryland Terrapins.  They just climbed inside their little shells for 4 quarters and let FSU have its way.  That was just embarrassing - and not just for Maryland.  It's embarrassing that the voters actually snuck Maryland into the top 25 to make it look like FSU destroyed a ranked team.

Washington played a close game with Stanford and I came away disappointed.  That game pretty much came down to whoever had home advantage would win.  I'm excited for Washington-Oregon this weekend, and I really hope the Huskies feed off the home crowd and can stop Oregon's explosive offense, which I think is far superior to Stanford's.  Let's go Huskies!

As much as I despise Georgia, I see Missouri's undefeated run ending this Saturday in Athens.  I don't think Oklahoma is that good this year, but I don't think Texas has a prayer in this year's Red River Rivalry.  The Sooners will be eating Bevo for brunch.  I actually think South Carolina is going to struggle at Arkansas after that pathetic display against Kentucky, which they only won by one score.  I understand how important Clowney is to the team's success, but it still shouldn't have been so close at home against a team like Kentucky.  I think South Carolina comes away with a victory at Arkansas, but not by much.  And Northwestern loses at Wisconsin.  

And then there's the big one.  Florida goes on the road to LSU.  Well, the good news is LSU's defense has looked sad in every game, and Florida's defense is arguably the best in the country once again.  The bad news? Florida's offense has been far from impressive, and LSU is averaging more than 45 points per game.  The Gators are only giving up about 12 point per game.  So who wins out? Florida's defense or LSU's offense? I'm just happy it's not a night game in Death Valley.  Don't let me down, Gators!!! BEAT LSU!!!