Week 13

Sucks to be Texas! They went from way overrated and going to the national championship only to get crushed by a team from the best conference to showing their true colors and not making a bowl game. Unfortunately Rutgers ended its bowl streak too. Auburn over Alabama was my lock of the year. When Alabama went up 24-0, all I said was "Remember the Georgia-Auburn game? Auburn will come back." Nevada pulled off a great upset. TCU played another awful team. Oregon played a terrible first half against mediocre Arizona. Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan State all played bad teams (really, what else is there in the big ten?) and won. Lucky Les almost did get lucky. At the end of the game he must have been saying "I want my money back" ...someone must have paid someone to mess with the clocks. But the better team won, and Arkansas should expect a Sugar Bowl bid after Auburn beats South Carolina again. Miss State won a close game over Ole Miss. Remember when I said Iowa shouldn't be ranked at all? And that they are the most overrated team of the season? Point proven. My old high school football team could beat Minnesota. Pathetic! South Carolina dominated Clemson from the awful ACC. Unfortunately, the Gators did not show up for their match against an ACC foe. I guess in all true rivalries, each team must win at some point. Better to let FSU win in a year when it means nothing. But if Urban doesn't rethink his decision to start Brantley next year...many Gator fans will stop watching. Brantley and Addazio do not belong in the SEC. They are embarrassing our school, and Meyer is just as guilty for allowing it to happen. At least Nebraska showed up and dominated Colorado - and without any help from Martinez!

Auburn is back at number 1 in the BCS Standings. Probably has something to do with the fact Alabama is a lot better than Arizona. But who cares? The Championship game has almost definitely already been decided. Auburn and Oregon fans, go ahead - buy your tickets. It's safe. And I don't care about geography. No one can convince me that Oregon will win because it's closer to Arizona than Auburn is. It should be a high-scoring game because neither team has any defense, but they both have enough offense to make up for it. I will also add that I think it will be funny if TCU beats Wisconsin, and that I'm SO happy Ohio State didn't jump Wisconsin. They probably won't put Ohio State against Arkansas because they want Ohio State to lose, so I expect to see something awful like Ohio State-UConn or Ohio State-Virginia Tech. History has taught us that Ohio State cannot beat the SEC in football. Also, congratulations to TCU on joining a BCS conference. Unlike Boise State, TCU and Utah have taken steps to solve their problems. Boise State is apparently joining the Mountain West Conference. Really not sure what the point of that is. Should be joining the Pac 10 or Big 12, but I guess it's not my decision!

The Gators beat the Seminoles in basketball - and I cheered "UF Rejects!" because I have no respect for FSU. I've gotta say, UNLV is looking good. UNC is not doing anything this year. Duke looks good. Kansas State still looks good. Michigan State is overrated as usual - once again, Spartans will not win the national championship - calling that now. Pitt and Kansas look good. Still not impressed with Ohio State. Waiting for them to play a team with a defense. Illinois looks ok, but I question the loss to Texas because I don't know if Texas is good yet. Can't be worse than the UT football team though, right? I'm mad Gonzaga beat Marquette. This week Florida State plays Ohio State. This is the game where I cheer for a natural disaster because I hate both teams so much and love to watch both of them lose. 5 games I look forward to - Georgetown-Missouri. UNC-Illinois - A rematch of the 2005 National Championship game. Mich St-Duke. Duke will win. Butler vs Duke - Can Butler avenge last year's game? I doubt it, but we'll see. And I'll add Florida-American. Just because I'm a Gator fan.

Football predictions....Arizona over Arizona State. Scarlet Knights win in Morgantown, I hope - though the season is over for Rutgers. I'll pick Pitt at Cincy. But who cares. Boise State beats Utah State. Nevada beats Louisiana Tech. UConn over USF. Hawaii over UNLV. Virginia Tech over FSU. Auburn over South Carolina. Oregon wins the Civil War. Huskers should beat inconsistent Oklahoma - especially if Martinez plays. Looking forward to seeing all the bowl announcements.

GO GATORS! Go Scarlet Knights! Go Huskers!

Week 12

Lucky Les's luck continues. Close one! I was glad to see Jake Locker get the win on senior night. Boise State had a slow start but a nice finish. Wisconsin was tested for a little, but they did win. Now they just have to stay ahead of Ohio State in the BCS... Michigan State should have lost. Ohio State should have lost. Wisconsin deserves the big ten title this year. Ohio State does not deserve a spot in a BCS bowl game - but I am sure they will get one, even if they lose to Michigan. Nebraska once again proved the huskers are nothing without Martinez. If he is healthy, they can dominate the big ten next year. Otherwise, I'm prepared to see many games that will put me to sleep like the one this weekend did. That late roughing the passer call was completely bogus, though. Should have gone to overtime 6-6. I thought Pelini was going to murder someone. He was LIVID. But I can't blame him. Refs appeared to be paid off... And Zook became bowl eligible in one of the strangest games I've ever seen. Rutgers showed some promise on offense, but the defense didnt show up. Still a slight chance at bowl eligibility...

Anyway, the top of the BCS stayed the same. I guess that's what happens when 1, 2 and 3 have bye weeks. Nebraska dropped after losing...but does it matter? That game meant as much as Arkansas beating South Carolina. As long as Nebraska beats Colorado, they go to the Big 12 championship. Ohio State is creeping up the rankings despite unimpressive wins over overrated teams. And what a freaking joke that Iowa is still ranked. I actually hope Florida gets to play Iowa in a bowl game now. Everyone thinks the Gators are awful this year. Well, with all of Iowa's undeserved hype, suddenly the Gators could gain respect by beating them in a bowl game.

The Gator basketball team is inconsistent so far this season. Apparently they only showed up for one half the Ohio State game. It upsets me because I know the Gators could have, and should have, won that game. More so, it upsets me because now Ohio State will continue its reign of overratedness. The SEC East is going to be very competitive this year. Vanderbilt looked decent against UNC yesterday - though I don't think UNC belonged in the top 10 to start the season. Living off its name entirely. Oh well. Lots of basketball left to be played this season! Rutgers beat the ACC's weak link Miami this weekend. Rah! Rah! The Gators have a big one this weekend against FSU. GO GATORS! Illinois is looking better than I expected. I hope they are as good as they were in 2004. They actually made for some watchable big ten games. That's the last big ten team I respected...the 2004-05 Fighting Illini. Everyone since has been overrated trash (ie: Michigan State the last 2 years, Ohio State in 2006-07). When I watched Nebraska play Vanderbilt...I could have sworn the Huskers were already in the big ten. So slow I almost fell asleep in my chair at work. They will be a perfect fit next year. Oh well. I'm more concerned about the Gators beating FSU in both football and basketball. Five games I look forward to this week: UF vs FSU (naturally), Duke vs Marquette (I always respect the Golden Eagles), Kansas State vs Gonzaga (because I love seeing the Zags lose), Butler vs Siena, UCLA vs Villanova (want to see if UCLA is any good this year!).

As far as week 13 football predictions... I will take Texas A&M over Texas. Sorry Texas - no bowl game for you this year! Rutgers over Louisville. Upstream, red team! Picking Auburn at Alabama. Everyone else thinks Auburn will fall. Well, prepare for loss #3, Bama. Would love to see Arizona and Nevada win. But I dont think either will happen. I think Auburn, Oregon and Boise State will all remain undefeated. Cheering for Michigan and Penn State. Michigan State and Ohio State are both insanely lucky, though. But I'd like to see Michigan upset Ohio State. LSU will play a close game with Arkansas, but Lucky Les will get lucky. LSU by a touchdown or less. Iowa shouldn't be ranked at all, but they'll at least beat Minnesota. Wisconsin may struggle with Northwestern because of the pressure, but I'm cheering for the badgers. South Carolina should have no problem with Clemson. Miss State-Ole Miss should be a close one. I'll take Miss State by a field goal. I'll pick Nebraska over Colorado. Huskers win the Big 12 North. Go big red! And of course, I will pick the Gators to win the 7th straight game against the Seminoles. I don't care about records or stats. The Gators better show up and own the Seminoles. And the basketball team better do the same on Sunday.

Go Gators!!!!! Go Scarlet Knights!! Go Huskers!!

Week 11

Cal, you need a better kicker. Oregon, where was this 70-point performance you had everyone anticipating? Did you switch offenses with Wisconsin?? Sure looked that way. Iowa, I'm not sure how you did it, but you have managed to officially become the most overrated team of this season. Now, some may argue Texas was more overrated - and preseason/early season I'd agree, but for Iowa to be #13 and deserve to lose to an Indiana team that lost by 63 points to usually half-asleep Wisconsin and then lose (yet again) to Northwestern... Iowa has become the most overrated team of the season. They never deserved a ranking higher than 20. Not at ANY point this season. Don't get me wrong though - Ohio State is still incredibly overrated, and I hope Iowa's overratedness will lure Ohio State into a false confidence, and I hope Iowa will beat Ohio State like Penn State should have. Pittsburgh...you have the easiest road to a BCS bowl game. How did you lose to UConn? Louisville should have beaten USF. Missouri was able to regroup, but it will not matter. Nebraska is one game away from clinching the Big 12 North after its win over Kansas. Go big red! Utah clearly doesn't deserve to be ranked. I think my high school football team could beat Notre Shame. Alabama's game didn't surprise me at all. Texas lost yet again. They went from undeservedly being in the national championship game in January to soon-to-be-not-bowl-eligible this year. And to make me smile, Colt McCoy fell apart in overtime against gang green. J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets! I needed to see that win yesterday after the pathetic performances by my home team Rutgers and my alma mater Florida. I stated last week what the Gators needed to do to win that game. I begged Addazio to prove me wrong with what I predicted he would actually do. Unfortunately, I was right. ATTENTION FLORIDA COACHING STAFF: John Brantley does not have what it takes to be a quarterback in the SEC. END OF STORY. As a Gator fan, I am so tired of seeing coaches play favorites with sub-par players simply because of their good behavior. Honestly, if you're gonna play one criminal, you may as well play them all. Just put the best players on the field! Put Moody and Brantley on the bench, and win some games!

As for the BCS this week...I once again ask: What is the point? Boise State is obviously better than TCU. San Diego State should have won that game. Dalton and crew got lucky. And Auburn is clearly the best team in the country with a very tough schedule. Cam Newton should be a shoe-in for the Heisman. He is obviously the best player in the country, and definitely the most valuable to his team. How can you compare Oregon's schedule to any SEC West schedule? Answer: You can't. Playing Washington without the team's best player and actually struggling through the first half...beating 5-4 (now 5-5) Cal by 2 points because Cal missed a field goal...and out of conference: a win over 4-6 Tennessee (where they were tied at the half), 1-9 New Mexico, and 3-8 Portland State. Okay. Auburn's out of conference schedule with wins over 6-4 Chattanooga, 4-6 Arkansas State, 5-5 Clemson, and 4-6 Louisiana-Monroe may not be much better - but I would argue that it is better. When you look at Auburn's conference schedule, though, there is absolutely no comparison. Games against #12 South Carolina, # 6 LSU, #12 Arkansas and a game coming up against defending national champion, #11 Alabama in Tuscaloosa the day after Thanksgiving. One home game vs. #9 Stanford and a game at never-should-have-been-ranked, ineligible-for-post-season, #24 USC prove nothing. No one can clearly explain to me why Arizona is ranked, but I'd almost like to see the #22 Wildcats win this weekend. In Liz's poll, this week's top 4 are 1) Auburn 2) Oregon 3) Boise State 4) TCU. The AP got it right with Boise State jumping TCU. After Utah lost to awful Notre Dame, the hype from TCU's performance last weekend should have calmed down. But this isn't the first time the BCS got it wrong. Not even the first time they underrated Auburn. My real question is...who is the genius watching TCU struggle against SDSU who gave them a first place vote this week in the AP Poll?

On to week 12 predictions...Alabama has an easy one Thursday night. I'm more interested in seeing Washington beat UCLA. Go Huskies! Would LOVE to see Fresno State beat Boise State. But on the smurf turf, I've learned to pick the Broncos. I still believe Hawaii will beat Boise State next year in Hawaii. Wisconsin may be tested this week. Michigan can be tough at home. But I will pick the badgers after they scored more points in football against Indiana than I think their basketball team will score all season. Oklahoma State will get by Kansas no problem. Michigan State will continue to be overrated after they beat Purdue. Florida WILL beat Appalachian State. They will NOT have a Michigan moment. LSU will beat Ole Miss. I'm cheering for the hawkeyes, and I expect the buckeyes to struggle, but I also expect the refs will be paid off. If Oregon loses or Auburn loses, I fully expect Ohio State to suddenly be the highest ranked one-loss team. If a one-loss team gets into the national championship, it will be Ohio State. Due purely to bias. They are most certainly not the best one-loss team even now, and I hope they lose to both Iowa and Michigan.

Speaking of Ohio State...The Gators have their first basketball test tomorrow night (6pm ET, ESPN) against the Buckeyes. The game is in Gainesville. As usual, Ohio State is overrated. I can say this without knowing whether or not they're actually good just because Ohio State is ALWAYS overrated. My only question is: Is Florida good this year? Florida finally shed the worst player in its history, gained a few good prospects, and suddenly went from unranked to #11/#9 in preseason rankings. Mind you, this all happened with the subtraction of Dan Werner, and the addition of people voters have not yet seen play in a college environment. Ohio State is #4/#5. No matter the outcome of this game, Florida will forever own Ohio State. But still, I am begging the Gators not to screw this up. Gator fans are disappointed by the football team, and a win over Ohio State would surely remind Gator fans of better times (ie: a 41-14 national championship victory in football or an 84-75 national championship victory in basketball...) The last time Ohio State played Florida in basketball in Gainesville, the Gators won 86-60. And in anticipation of the national championship football game that had already been set between the 2 schools, the crowd chanted "overrated" and "just like football." It was December 23, 2006. I remember it like it was yesterday. But I digress. I am very excited for the basketball tip-off marathon as a whole, because those who know me well know I will watch college basketball no matter who the participating teams may be. Yesterday I watched Chicago State vs DePaul.

Five basketball games I am most excited for this week: Ohio State at Florida (obviously), Virginia Tech at Kansas State (think the Wildcats will have a great season), Butler at Louisville, Maryland at Pitt and Wisconsin at UNLV. You may ask why "ranked vs. ranked" Illinois vs. Texas didn't make my list....but I'd just tell you that big ten basketball bores me to sleep (watch the aforementioned Wisconsin game and you'll see what I mean) and that I have no interest in Texas based on pre-season hype. Last year they were overrated because they were living off football hype. We'll see if they can make a name for themselves this year, but I believe the Big 12 will be dominated by Kansas and Kansas State this year. Rutgers Lady Knights had a rough start against two great opponents from the west coast, but hopefully they will gain confidence Thursday with a win over Princeton and have a great season. The Rutgers men did not fair so well against the Princeton Tigers. I don't expect as much from Mike Rice as I did from Ray Rice, though. Hopefully they can beat Fairfield tonight. Huskers play Arkansas Pine-Bluff tonight. Lady Huskers had an impressive opening game against Vermont. Looking forward to wins this week over Miami and St. Mary's.

GO GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Scarlet Knights!!! Go Huskers!!!

Week 10

Thanks, LSU! Everyone thought the Gators were done for the season...and that Alabama still had a chance to get the National Championship. Well, not anymore. Alabama won't even make it to Atlanta. But the Gators are one win away from the SEC Championship game. Rutgers broke my heart. It looked like Schiano took advice from Addazio in the 4th quarter. Terrible. Knights should have won by 2. Wisconsin actually did struggle with Purdue in the first half. Oklahoma State played better than I expected against Baylor. Hawaii did not show up. For some reason I thought that was an 8pm ET game. Why on earth would they have a game when its effectively 9:30am for the Warriors? Either way, they didn't have the high-powered offense I'm used to seeing. They played much too conservatively and it was atrocious. The Huskers got very lucky. Without Martinez, they fall apart. Arkansas beat South Carolina by a lot more than I expected, but I guess South Carolina has a tendency to fall apart at the end of the season. Oklahoma once again proved to be inconsistent, and Texas once again proved to be awful. Indiana should have beaten Iowa. Michigan got lucky. Stanford looked good - but their only tough game this year was against Oregon. Does anyone know if the Cardinal is good? Utah was the biggest disappointment of the week. Way to bring new meaning to the word "overrated," Utes.

BCS...The Gators are back in the rankings!! #22...only ranked team in Florida. Ohio State in the top 10? Don't make me vomit. Nebraska will jump back up in the BCS once Martinez is playing again. Not sure why Stanford jumped after beating overrated Arizona. LSU deserved the jump, but they're not going to the national championship anyway - they need Georgia to beat Auburn, and that's just not gonna happen. I believe there are 7 SEC teams ranked in the top 25. 5 from the West, 2 from the East. One East team will drop off next week, but that's fine. Hopefully it will be the Gamecocks.

Week 11 picks... Pittsburgh will beat UConn. But again, the Big East doesn't matter. Pittsburgh will probably get destroyed by Boise State or TCU in a bowl game. Boise State has another *tough* game at Idaho. Seriously, Boise State. Either join a real conference or shut up. Take a lesson from Utah. Wisconsin should beat Indiana. I think Iowa will have a challenge at Northwestern. I think Iowa will win a close one. Louisville should beat USF. Missouri should regroup and beat Kansas State. If Utah can't beat Notre Dame, the Utes should not be in the top 25. I'm hoping for a crazy upset and cheering for the Nittany Lions in Columbus. Beat the crap out of the Buckeyes. Please, Paterno, I'm begging you!! San Diego State...can you pull off a big upset? Please take TCU out of the title talk. I'm sick of it! If the horned frogs don't want to join the Big 12, they need to just be quiet. Play respectable teams, or just go away. Alabama should have too much offense for Mississippi State - but I have to laugh at this game because people in Alabama are just uneducated. Seriously, who is in charge of proofreading the tickets?? If you can't spell Mississippi, the game should automatically count as a loss. But Mississippi isn't much smarter. Oklahoma State should beat Texas. Stanford should beat Arizona State. Rutgers: You better beat Syracuse. Nebraska should not have a problem with Kansas. And Gators...it's now or never. You better show up Saturday and beat South Carolina!!!!! Spurrier doesn't like to see the Gators lose at home. Can we just take out Brantley and Moody? Brantley is too timid - and this game has too much on the line to take a risk with him when he's afraid of his own shadow. Sure, he can throw...but he has not proven himself in high-pressure situations. I think the best idea for this weekend is a 2-quarterback system with Burton and Reed. But I'm sure Addazio will call for Brantley in for 90% of the snaps, overuse of Moody and some other stupid calls. I am begging for him to prove me wrong this week. I would love to book a flight to Atlanta after this weekend.

LET'S GO GATORS!!!! Make it to Atlanta!!! Go Scarlet Knights! Go Huskers!

Also, Gator basketball (men's) tips off Friday night vs. UNC-Wilmington. Start strong, boys!

Week 9

I knew Iowa would beat Michigan State...but I didn't expect the game to be so one-sided. Boise State almost got a challenge for a little while with Louisiana Tech. When the Broncos don't cover the spread, people are not impressed. THANK YOU NC State! I love to see Florida State lose. Was not surprised to see the cowboys beat the wildcats. Miami, are you serious? When I said the game might be close....I meant with Miami winning. It took 19 points in the 4th quarter to avoid getting shut out by Virginia. Zook destroyed the boilermakers. I guess Lane Kiffin didn't have enough money for the refs. Clearly Oregon is the best team in the Pac-10. Mississippi State's offense actually showed up this week, and I guess the west proved to be better than the east in the SEC once again this season. Oklahoma played better than I expected against Colorado, but I still think they're inconsistent, and I still think they'll lose at least one more game this season (whether it be to Oklahoma State, Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship or someone else). Huskers looked great. Still can't figure out how they lost to awful Texas! Best thing of all this weekend: Florida beat Georgia. The SEC dream is still alive after that overtime game that almost gave me a heart attack. I'm really happy for Chas Henry - it still shouldn't be his responsibility to win a game that way, but I'm glad he got to have that moment. He deserved it after people jumped down his throat in the Miss State game, and I repeat: it was not Henry's fault the Gators lost that game. Also, I'm glad Chris Rainey had a good first game back.

So Oregon jumped Auburn in the BCS Standings. One word comes to mind: why? Just because Oregon beat always-overrated, ineligible-for-postseason USC? I'm pretty sure Ole Miss would beat USC, but whatever. Way to go BCS...make your system even more meaningless. And TCU jumped Boise State. What is the point of all this? Utah finally moved up to the top 5 after a game that was much closer than it should have been. Air Force is so inconsistent. I think it's a little pathetic that teams 3, 4 and 5 in the BCS have what could be confused with high school football schedules. They are making a mockery of the BCS. But obviously at least one (I'm hoping 2) of these teams will fall this week with #3 visiting #5 this weekend. Ohio State is still 11 and still a joke. I hope they lose at Iowa. Nebraska rightfully moved up from 14 to 7. Bo is probably still kicking himself for benching Martinez in the Texas game. It just didn't make sense to put Lee in as a running QB when you have one of the best running QBs in college football.

Week 10... Rutgers is going to beat South Florida in Tampa. Their records are about even, and USF has home advantage, but why would I pick against my home team when they're playing someone I don't respect? Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech are both pretty bad. Virginia Tech has home advantage, but they're both coming off bye weeks. We'll see who is more prepared...but I'll pick the hokies in a close game. Wisconsin should have no trouble with Purdue. Michigan State will probably climb back up the rankings after they beat terrible Minnesota because the current system loves the terrible Big Ten. I can't wait to see Nebraska own that conference next year. I think Oklahoma State will beat Baylor. The Huskers will dominate Iowa State. I think TCU will fall at Utah this weekend. My upset special of the week, that I have been telling friends and co-workers about for a month: I am picking Hawaii over Boise State on the smurf turf. It's crazy, and no one sees it coming...but I like the Warriors. Arkansas-South Carolina should be a good game - I'm picking Arkansas. Not so much because I think they'll win, but because the more South Carolina loses, the less pressure there will be on my Gators. Oklahoma should beat Texas A&M...but Oklahoma is incredibly inconsistent and is dealing with a few injuries. Sooners win a close one. Arizona-Stanford should be a good one. Arizona hasn't impressed me much. I think the only win over a ranked opponent for the Wildcats was vs overrated Iowa. I pick the Cardinal. Auburn will beat Chattanooga to advance to 10-0. Alabama-LSU isn't quite as big of a game as it was last year, but it is still a very big game. LSU rarely loses home games on Saturday nights and Les Miles is a very lucky man. But Alabama is a better team. If the tigers can make this a defensive battle and keep it a low-scoring game, LSU will win. If it's a high-scoring game, LSU may get blown out at home. Both teams are coming off bye weeks. I'm going to give a very slight advantage to LSU solely because of its record in Saturday night home games. It may not be a night game - but it will go into the night, and I have a feeling Les has some luck left. More importantly, I'm picking the Gators to beat the Commodores.

GO GATORS!!! Go Scarlet Knights!! Go Huskers!!

Week 8

Like I said: Oklahoma, really? I knew they wouldn't go undefeated. And I still think Nebraska is winning the Big 12 to go out with a bang. UCLA was embarrassed at Oregon. USF caught a break when Cincy had to put in a backup QB for its attempt at a game-tying drive. Northwestern DID come to play like I expected, but Michigan State came away with a win. West Virginia is apparently as bad as everyone though they were during the Marshall game. Rutgers got my hopes up in the first half, but they apparently left Pittsburgh at halftime. Arkansas beat Ole Miss - no surprise there. Wisconsin got lucky. I thought they'd win, but I didn't think it would be because of Iowa's inability to manage timeouts. Lucky Les couldn't handle the other SEC West Tigers. Martinez got his act together for Oklahoma State's homecoming and spoiled the party for the Cowboys. After seeing Texas lose to Iowa State, I really can't figure out how Martinez froze up like that against the Longhorns. Nebraska should be undefeated. It's a shame, really. Spurrier beat Vandy, as expected, and Alabama beat Tennessee. And hopefully Georgia's victory over Kentucky will leave them overconfident and unprepared for this weekend.

BCS...Week 2. After Auburn won on Saturday, I texted my father and said, "Auburn number 1" ...he wrote back "No way, Oregon." Last night I texted him, "told you so. SEC is too good." Let's be honest. The Ducks look great. But who have they played other than Stanford? Auburn is playing in the SEC West. The SEC West is the best division in this country. If you're 8-0 playing in that league, you deserve to be number 1. End of story. I still don't get why the BCS looks at Ohio State so favorably. Number 11? Seriously? I'd put them at 20, maybe. They're definitely not better than Arkansas, Stanford, Nebraska or LSU. But the BCS loves to put Ohio State in title games it can't win...so if there are no undefeated teams left at the end of the season, I won't be at all surprised if Ohio State magically jumps to number 1 in the BCS.

Week 9. Well, Boise State has another oh-so-challenging game in Boise. Somehow I don't see 3-4 Louisiana Tech matching up well with the Broncos on the smurf turf. Also, who plays games on Tuesdays? Thursday I'm obviously pulling for the Wolfpack over those dirty Seminoles. I expect the Oklahoma State-Kansas State game to be close because neither team has any defense, but I think the Cowboys have more offense. Miami will beat Virginia, but because it's in Virginia, I think it will be close. Gotta pick Zook over Purdue. I'm picking Iowa over Michigan State. Michigan State has not proven anything to me yet. The only game that surprised me was when they beat slow Wisconsin. Iowa isn't that good, but they're mad after they lost to the badgers. They'll be back with a vengeance this weekend. Plus they have home advantage. I think Washington will give Stanford a fight, but the Cardinal will probably win. Luck vs. Locker should be interesting, though. Arkansas will beat Vandy. Miss State may be surprised by Kentucky - depending which Kentucky team shows up. Kentucky has a better offense than Miss State, so I'm tempted to pick the Wildcats in this one. Ohio State will beat Minnesota. I hate Lane Kiffin, but I think USC is ready for this one. Part of me wants to see Oregon lose. But another part of me wants to smack Lane Kiffin's face off of his face. Oregon is clearly the better team, but Kiffin just might cheat enough for the Trojans to win. Michigan-Penn State - I will not be watching because I'm pretty sure that game would put me to sleep. Oklahoma beats Colorado. Nevada beats Utah State. TCU beats UNLV. Hawaii beats Idaho. Sidenote: I want Hawaii to be the team to upset Boise State this year. As for my teams... Rutgers is off this weekend. I'm picking T-Magic and Nebraska to beat Missouri. And at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party...of course I'm picking the Gators.

GO GATORS!! Go Huskers!! And Rutgers - be prepared to beat the Bulls next week!

Week 7...BCS Rankings Join the Party...

All I can say about Pryor is, "I told you so." Wisconsin forced him to throw, and that is why Ohio State lost. That's exactly why I picked Wisconsin to win that game. Pryor's running game is about 97% of Ohio State's offense. Take that away...and BAM - they're not good. LIKE I SAID. Terribly overrated, as usual. On, Wisconsin! Spartans stayed undefeated - but really? I still don't think Michigan State is good. Pitt won. West Virginia won. Does anyone care about the Big East anymore, though? Rutgers beat Army. My thoughts are with the LeGrand family. That awful play reminded us all that football can be very, very dangerous. FSU was pathetic, but got lucky. Jake Locker and the Huskies beat the Beavers in double overtime. Not sure why the Beavers went for 2 in double overtime to win instead of going for the tie, but the weird part is: during the first overtime, I predicted that's how the game would end. Michigan isn't good. There were some big disappointments this week. Clearly, the Gators were the biggest disappointment for me. So much talent going to waste. And there are FIVE players on the roster listed as Kickers. So Sturgis is hurt. Where are the other 4? If any of these guys are on scholarship, they need to leave. If your position only requires you to kick field goals and extra points and you are so terrible that your coach would rather let a PUNTER kick field goals instead of you, you should not be a part of Gator football. I feel awful for Chas Henry. Field goals are not his responsibility, and the loss is not his fault. It's a matter of coaching. Don't get me wrong - Urban Meyer has done great things in Gainesville and I certainly appreciate his contributions to Gator Nation. But right now it's getting hard to support him. Brantley is obviously injured. Stop making him play with a broken thumb. Moody is AWFUL. Bench him. Addazio is out of his mind. Let him go back to coaching just the offensive line - he didn't do much damage then. It's just getting pathetic. In reality, the Gators are 2 plays away from being 6-1. But they're 4-3. And it's getting really sad to watch. They better use this bye week to regroup and get ready to win out... Taylor Martinez also had a disappointing Saturday. Sure, he's a freshman. He has lots of time to develop his game. But it was still disappointing to see him freeze up and lose to a bad Texas team. And then to put Lee in as a running QB in the second half? If you're gonna run the ball, put Martinez back in the game! Not really sure what happened with South Carolina, but I do know Trey Burton ran all over the same Kentucky team. What is up with the SEC East?! Is Missouri any good? What about Oklahoma State? It's hard to tell. Oklahoma State still hasn't played anyone, and really, neither has Missouri. But they're creeping up the polls with perfect records... Lucky Les actually needed some luck to get past McNeese State. It was a close game for a little while. His undefeated streak will end very, very soon. Favorite game of the weekend? Ohio State losing to Wisconsin, of course. Best game of the weekend? Auburn-Arkansas. Auburn gave up 43 points and STILL won by 3 touchdowns. That game should shut up anyone who says the SEC is all defense, no offense. Gator fans are more upset than ever about Newton leaving....but I guess that's the price we pay for having Tebow for 4 years.


So the first BCS rankings came out, and Boise State is not number one. I'm glad Ohio State fans aren't whining about not being number one in the rankings. But Oklahoma, really? Number 1? Just a hunch, but if Oregon had played this weekend, I think they'd be number 1. Sure, Oklahoma had a good game. But it was against Iowa State. Did we already forget about their tight wins over Air Force, Cincinnati, Texas and Utah State? And somehow undefeated Missouri is at 11 and undefeated Oklahoma State is at 14. Correct me if I'm wrong...but aren't all 3 teams in the Big 12? So it can't be all about schedule strength since they play a lot of the same teams. I'm gonna go ahead and assume this is based on previous season hype. In other words, they're still living off Sam Bradford-hype. And remember what happened when the oh-so-great Bradford went up against a real team? Oh yeah. Oklahoma lost to the Gators. Oklahoma is not staying undefeated. So I guess it won't matter. Boise State is not better than Auburn. Schedule strength alone should put Auburn at #1 right now. They play in the SEC West. There is no part of any conference better than the SEC West right now. Five of the six teams in the SEC West are ranked in the BCS top 25. I believe these BCS rankings will shake up a lot over the next few weeks, so I won't get too worked up. There are plenty of upsets to come in the coming weeks.

On to week 8... UCLA doesn't have a prayer at Oregon. Cincy should beat USF - but really, does it matter? Northwestern isn't good, but I think they'll come to play for the Mich St game. But Michigan State will continue to get lucky and win despite not being that good. It's okay, Spartan fans. Don't be mad. You still have a great shot at winning the Big Ten and being blown out by Oregon in the Rose Bowl. West Virginia beats the Orange. Rutgers has a challenge this weekend. But I never pick against my teams. I see Scarlet. Arkansas beats Ole Miss. Les's luck runs out this weekend. Auburn moves to 8-0. Wisconsin-Iowa will be a close game. I'll pick the badgers simply because I'm happy they didn't disappoint me against the buckeyes. Nebraska will regroup. Martinez will get his act together. Should be a close game, but I'm hoping Nebraska pulls off the victory at Oklahoma State's homecoming. Missouri will give Oklahoma a fight. I'd love to see the tigers win, but I have no idea if Missouri is good, and Oklahoma is way too inconsistent. But I'll pick the Sooners. South Carolina will beat Vanderbilt. Alabama will beat Tennessee. Georgia-Kentucky? Who knows. The SEC East is a disaster. I just hope Georgia is overconfident in Jacksonville and it leads to a Gator victory. Well, if there's on thing I can be happy about it's this: The Gators can't lose this weekend.

Get your act together Gators! Go Scarlet Knights! Go Huskers!