By popular request, the fans are requesting the benefit of my wisdom in looking at who is going to win tomorrow night. So, tonight, I will post the result of the semi-finals and the finals tomorrow before kickoff.
Game 1 - USC vs Oklahoma - Oklahoma jumped out to an early lead in the first semi-final behind the passing of Bradford and a couple of defensive lapses by USC. OU lead 14-0 at the end of the first. However, Pete Carroll made the defensive adjustments and OU managed just a field goal in the second quarter. USC behind a strong rushing attack played keep away while scoring 10 points before half. The second half was more of the same. USC continually put pressure on Bradford with a multitude of blitz packages. Further, they were never able to get a meaningful ground game started. The Trojan offense continued their strong rushing attack in the second half and kept the ball for a total of 21 of teh 30 minutes after half. While OU managed a late touchdown, USC punched 20 points through a tiring OU defense for a 30 to 24 victory. After the game, Coach Stoops admitted that their inability to get the defense off of the field was the difference in the game.
Game 2 - Florida vs Texas - In the second of the two semi-finals, the Gators took the starch out of the Longhorns from the opening kickoff. Brandon James broke out of a personal slump by returning the first kickoff 90 yards to the Texas 4. It took the Gators one Tebow jump pass to a surprise starter Cornelius Ingram to convert the touchdown. Florida proceeded to generate 3 Texas turnovers in the first half, leading to 17 more points to take a 24 to 7 lead into the half. The second half was more of the same with Tebow out to show that he is the best player in college football. Unlike several games during the regular season, Tebow played until the final kneel down for a 41-10 win over the Big 12 Southern Division runnerups. Tebow ended the game with 14 of 20 passing for 258 yards and 2 TD's, rushing for 112 yards with another TD while UF put up a total of 452 yards on the overmatched Longhorn defense. UF kept the ball for 38 of the 60 minutes in a game that was eerily similar to the first semi-final.
It is this author's opinion that both of these games, along with the previously concluded secondary bowl games, but a big dent in the perceived strength of the Big 12. These two games, along with Texas Tech losing to Ole Miss and Oklahoma State losing to Oregon means that the Big 12 South, which had all four teams in the top 10 late in the season, ended up 0-4 in the big games.
Sorry, but I just don't see Oklahoma deserving to play in the finals. Stay tuned for the RFP MNC game tomorrow, same channel.
Nope, have never played the lottery, don't intend to. If I were going to spend money that way, I would rather go to Vegas and play blackjack, much better odds!
The Pac 10 is crowing about being 5-0 in their bowls and the SEC can't catch them! Well, let's look at the details (numbers in (#) are rankings in the conference):
Pac 10 (5-0)
USC (1) 38, Penn State (1) 24 - USC exposed the Big 10's best team (again). Big 10 ends up 1-5(?) in bowls.
Oregon (2) 42, Oklahoma State (5) 31 – Oklahoma played typical Big 12 defense, especially in giving up 35 points in the second half.
Oregon State (3) 3, Pittsburgh (2) 0 – Let's see, the Big East is more hapless that the Pac 10 and Big 10. Not an impressive win.
Cal 24 (4), Miami (FL) (T8) 17 – Miami didn't beat anybody all year!
Arizona (5) 31, BYU (3) 21 – BYU lost to TCU and Utah, best win was Air Force
SEC (5-2)
Vandy (T5) 16, BC (2) 14 – Loser of ACC championship game gets Vandy!
LSU (7) 38, Georgia Tech (T3) 3 – Negates GT's impressive win over UGA in November, bigger upset than Ole Miss over Texas Tech?
Georgia (3) 24, Michigan State(3) 12 – In theory, the most even match between teams. SEC over the Big 10 again.
Iowa (5) 31, South Carolina (6) 10 – Can you say, “Turnover?” Spurrier sure doesn't like it. Only win for Big 10.
Alabama (2) – Utah (1) - Maybe Utah is for real! Remember BYU in 1984! Embarrassing for Alabama and the SEC. Alabama simply did not want to be there. Even Saban said they weren't prepared.
Kentucky (T9) 25, East Carolina (1) 19 - Maybe the second biggest upset!
Mississippi (4) 47, Texas Tech (3) 34 - Maybe the biggest upset in the bowls. What does this say about the Big 12 South? 0-2!
Florida (1) – Oklahoma (1)
Other than USC, I don't really see a top team in the Pac 10. However, the jury is still out on the SEC. Alabama and Florida should win. If Kentucky or Ole Miss win, those would be impressive wins. If the SEC ends up 6-2, that would be very impressive. If they end up 4-4, it will be disappointing.
ABC has been bashing the SEC all year. Kinda expect it, especially with CBS just signing a huge deal. But, you would think ABC (since they own ESPN) would take a more neutral stance.
Let me preface what I'm about to say with the note that I'm a lifelong SEC fan (born and raised and continue to be). However, as a recent Big East convert (USF), I believe that I've become a little more open-minded about the conference wars.
You say that the Pac-10 has no one but USC and that's why (or, at least, part of why), they're such an inferior conference. It seems to me that the same argument could be made about the SEC, except that there are two good teams instead of one. With the exception of one poor game versus Ole Miss, those two coasted through the conference much as USC did with their one hiccup.
This year's SEC vs. ACC match-ups offer another good case study: against every SEC team but UF and Bama, the ACC was 6-1 (regular season; 0-3 vs. those two). This would seem to prove conclusively that, from top to bottom, the ACC was the better conference. (Or, at least it would prove a similar point if the tables were turned and the SEC was 6-1 vs. the ACC.)
My point: take away the top two teams this year and the SEC is very average. Pac-10 average.
Of course, a down year outside the top two won't matter if UF wins the National Title, because having a national title winner conclusively proves that you're the best conference. That is, unless you're Texas or USC. Then, it proves that you're the best team in an average conference, and the SEC is better top to bottom.
Mmmm. That's some good cake that we're both having and eating.
Regarding all the plus one talk today: I find it very interesting that it all completely ignores Texas and Utah. The "We want USC to play the winner" mantra only works if UF, Ohio State and Alabama all win.
If Utah or Texas wins, they have an argument to make (especially Utah). If Oklahoma and Texas win, it re-opens the debate that's been raging in the Big 12 since that final BCS poll.
It's just a good thing that Cincinnati hadn't managed to lose one fewer game (presuming, of course, they win tonight). Otherwise, a plus-one would solve even less. ...Then again, if bowl wins can [cancel past game results—|Georgia Tech]*cough*—then maybe by beating VT, they'll only have one loss and be able to make their own argument to be in the plus one.
Actually, most conferences have only one or two great/good teams. The exception this year in the Big 12. When I compare conferences, I try to go from top to bottom and see which conference would win the most games in a SEC/Big 12 Challenge. Comparing bowl records doesn't really do anything because you are rarely comparing equivalent level teams.
There isn't a good way to represent this in the comments, at least I haven't figured out how to put in blank lines yet. Maybe I will have a new post with a challenge format!
I agree that comparing bowl records is a poor option for comparing conferences. In addition to the opposing teams often not being equal, there are a host of other factors. Sometimes the bowls only compare which coach does a better job of preparation with extra time. Sometimes it compares which team has fewer players flunk out after the first semester. And sometimes it only validates which team is thrilled to be in the Music City Bowl and which one is still in shock/depressed to be there instead of the Orange Bowl.
Well, anyone watching the Rose Bowl knows the results of the first two games!
Oklahoma - Penn State: Oklahoma continues to put up 60 plus points a game, this time beating a hapless Penn State team 68-17. Oklahoma team speed just dominated another Big Ten patsy. Bradford threw for 7 touchdowns and ran for one in accounting for 48 points all by himself. After the game, Paterno defends the way his team played by simply responding, "This isn't about me, it is about the team."
USC - Alabama: Southern Cal was relentless in pounding the Alabama defense leading up to putting 45 points on the board against the Crimson Tide. Alabama attempted to stay up with the Trojans, but just did not have the explosiveness needed. They did succeed in scoring the most points this year against USC as they put 28 up. Two of those scores, however, were a result of a blocked punt and a fumble return, both for TD's.
Texas - Utah: Texas, behind jilted Heisman candidate Colt McCoy score quickly and often in drilling an undersized Utah squad. This game was reminiscent of the Nebraska-Florida game in 1995; Texas was bigger, faster and stronger at every position on the field. Mack Brown called Bevo off in the second half or the Longhorns could have scored 100. As it was, the 55-6 beating was a reminder of the recent ventures of the Mid-majors into the BSC world.
Florida - Texas Tech: Tech was attempting to make the final four a Big 12 party, but someone forgot to tell Tim Tebow. Tebow played like he did in 2007 in rushing for 120 yards, throwing for 280, and even got in a bone shaking tackle causing a fumble after a Demps fumble was picked up by Tech. Tech was harassed by the Gator defense that was out to show that the true strength of the SEC. At the final horn, Florida was the victor in a dominating 41-17 game. Florida had over 500 yards of total offense and only three fumbles inside the Tech 20 kept the score from being more lopsided.
Back by popular demand, here are the results of the first round of the RFP MNC. An overall summary is provided at the end as a recap to the games.
Oklahoma 65, BYU 14
Penn State 31, Boise State 10
USC 38, Cincinnati 6
Alabama 24, Oklahoma State 14
Texas 41, Georgia 31
Utah 24, TCU 21
Texas Tech 45, Ohio State 21
Florida 28, Georgia Tech 24
Oklahoma continues its record breaking string of consecutive games with 60 plus points with an easy rout of BYU. Penn State proves that Boise just can't play with the big boys year end and year out. USC continues their dominating defense by holding the Cincinnati Bearcats to just two long field goals and 157 total yards. Alabama continues to play tough defense in shutting down the fifth leading offense in the Big 12. Texas used a strong first half in jumping to a big lead over the injury depleted Bulldogs. Utah has a very blasé win over TCU. Texas Tech again exposes the Big 10 and the lack of overall team speed of Ohio State. And Florida and Georgia Tech combine for 87 rushes and only 18 passes in a game that took only 2 hours and 20 minutes to play.
Yes, there were no first round upsets as the selection committee person does an excellent job of seeding the top 8 teams. In reality, these results confirm the position that there are 5 or 6 teams that have the credentials to win the MNC. Stay tuned.
Next round:
Oklahoma – Penn St
USC – Alabama
Texas – Utah
Texas Tech - Florida
Well, I finally got tired of hearing her saying that I would know that she didn't love me anymore if she came home with a cat. So, I figured that I would give Leslie a cat for Christmas. I bought the cat box, odor free litter (if there is any such thing), watering system, cat food, and a small toy; had her wrap everything to go under the tree; and wrote out a card saying that her presents would be just part of her last gift that would be completed on Friday.
This leads to the most interesting part of the experience. My original plan was to pick up the kitten from a shelter on Wednesday, leave it over at Steve and Jenny's house Wednesday night, and let her go get it Thursday morning. That is when I learned that it is harder to adopt a cat than a child (just kidding, I know that it is not really true, but is shouldn't be so hard to get a cat!).
I mentioned to the first placed I called that I was going to give my wife a kitten for Christmas. The young lady responded that they did not allow adoptions to be given as gifts. Incredulously, I told her that it was for my wife who lived in the same house, she responded that that did not make any difference, they could not allow me to pick the kitten up knowing that it was a gift. I told her that they had a stupid policy and hung up.
I then called Petsmart only to find that they are an outlet for the SPCA. I could not just go pick up a kitten at Petsmart, it had to be arranged in advance to get all of the paperwork done. So, I asked them to give me the number to the SPCA; 10 minutes and four different people later (and without the phone number), I hung up on source number 2.
Finally, I attempted to call Kitty Haven, only to find that they either had not paid their phone bill or they weren't staffing the office on Monday.
So, being the resourceful person that I am, I asked around the office about where they got their cats. One of our admin assistants told me that a friend of hers always has kittens around, she could check it out for me. She did, her friend had a male and female kitten, so I set everything up for Leslie to pick up the kitten on Friday (today).
To close the story, Leslie has decided that she will wait until we get back from Atlanta next Tuesday to get the kitten, and she would rather get one that is already fixed. So, unless she has more success than I did, we may have a cat by next Christmas. And only if she doesn't tell them that the kitten is a present from her husband; then she may not ever get a cat!
This is one of the situations where sneakiness would have done the job. I understand the reason for the policy, but it only deters honest people. All Ray had to say was that he wanted to pick up a kitten for himself (That would have been SOME GOOD Acting!!!)
I remember adopting our cats at the humane society with Kent. It was a big interview process, a lot of hassle and paperwork, but all worth it. I highly recommend the humane society or pound. Our kittens were already "fixed" by they way.
Somebody is always trying to get rid of kittens. That's how we ended up with all of ours except for 1 I think. We are down to only one now, and when he's gone; we are out of the cat business. Same for the dogs. We will both be working fulltime jobs in at least another year and a half, and Rebecca will be off at school, so nobody will be home to care for animals all day long. I don't want to HAVE to come home right after work just to let the dogs out, so when they die, that will be it for the animals at our house. NO MORE!
