College Football Saturday!

Some quick thoughts before the Log Lady and I go to our Halloween shindig:

1) Auburn 24, Ole Miss 14, 2nd Quarter. On the one hand, if one Duck can pick apart Auburn's defense like this, how could they possibly hope to stop 11 of them? On the other, Auburn has the same ingredients that Ohio State and Boise State had that led them to victories over Oregon: A dominant offense line that can control the tempo and keep the Ducks off the field, and an exceptional quarterback that can make the 3rd-and-long play when he has to.

2) Oregon State 35, Cal 7. Final. Is there a better 3-loss team than the Beavers? Amazingly, they still control their own destiny in the Pac-10; run the table and beat the Ducks in Corvallis, and a 9-3 OSU will be in the Rose Bowl. Conversely, is there a more schizophrenic than the Golden Bears? Their last 4 games: W vs UCLA 35-7, L @ USC 14-48, W vs Arizona St. 50-17, L @ Oregon St. 7-35. Crazy. They'll have to fix this dementia in order to get to a bowl game, though. They have to find a way to win 2 out of 3 against Oregon, Washington, and Stanford in order to become bowl eligible.

Sports are Weird

1) The World Series no one saw coming starts tonight. And, suddenly, San Francisco is a baseball town. And even though it's clear that the NY Times is only sad that the Bronx Bombers aren't in it - even opening their Series preview with that sentiment - they do have a point. I mean, I'm pulling for the Giants. But I must say, I have way more Facebook friends who are Giants fans this week than I did last week.

2) The Miami Heat lost their season opener to Boston last night, 88-80. More importantly, however, Portland beat the Phoenix Suns, 106-92, and are undefeated for the season. Go Blazers!

3) Tennessee coach and crazy person Derek Dooley is in a bit of trouble over the following quote explaining his exasperation with his team's struggles:

"Right now we're like the Germans in World War II. Here comes the boats, they're coming. You have the binoculars, and it's like, 'Oh, my God, the invasion is coming.' That's what they did, they were in the bunkers. It's coming, they call Rommel -- they can't find Rommel. (Pretending to speak into a radio.) 'What do we do? I'm not doing anything until I get orders.' (Pretends to look through binoculars.) 'Have you gotten Rommel yet?'"

He continued: "I don't want the German people to get upset at me. I'm not attacking them, but that's what happened. You had one group, they weren't worried about what the plan was and orders and all that. When the war hits, things change. You've got to go. "

A few observations: A) I love that he pantomimes speaking into a radio and looking through binoculars. B) I love how in his analogy his own team is the Wermacht. C) I love how he realizes that he may have said something inappropriate, and then makes his apology to the Germans. D) Can anyone honestly criticize him when perhaps the most popular play in all of American Football is called the "blitz"?

Everybody Hates the SEC

Question: Should the SEC Champ automatically qualify for the BCS championship game?

A few weeks ago, I was riding in a car with three University of Illinois graduate students, on our way to the Danville Correctional Facility in Eastern Illinois. We were on our way there to work at our volunteer jobs tutoring inmates at Danville who are working towards earning either their Associate's or Bachelor's degrees. As it were, none of us really knew one another, and so the conversation covered those polite and superficial topics: college majors, grad student politics, the weather... sports. After about twenty minutes of driving through the Illinois plains - plains that were slowly turning into gently wooded hills as we approached the Indiana border - we realized that three of us were quite avid college football fans. Annie* had grown up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and her family and taught her at an early age how to be fan of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The Cowboys had long been a doormat of the Big Eight/Big 12 Conference, having only one winning season between 1989 and 2001, including an 0-12-1 campaign in 1991.

The weekend before, UCLA had shocked the world by waltzing into Austin and beating then #7 Texas 34-12.** And I was surprised by how excited Annie was at the Longhorns' loss. But I guess I shouldn't have been; Texas had long tormented Oklahoma State, and had dominated the Big 12 for most of this decade, even having the power to hold the entire conference hostage by threatening to bolt for the Pac-10 over the summer. I asked her how she felt about the upcoming Oklahoma-Texas showdown: surely she would be rooting against her in-state rival? She thought about it for a second, but then said, no, she thought she would rather see mighty Texas fall again.

Riding shotgun in our carpool was Brent, who had gone to Illinois as an undergrad and was now there as a grad student as well. And Brent hated Ohio State. Hated, hated, hated them. This conversation was before the Illini had played the Buckeyes, but I imagine that Brent was none too pleased that Illinois played them tough - they still lost.

Then there was kinda a lull in the conversation. Sure, I rooted against 'SC in all in-conference games, but I was always glad to see them win the Rose Bowl. I couldn't muster nearly half of the vitriol towards the Trojans as Annie could to Texas or Brent Ohio State. There was a pause. Annie complemented Oregon's offense. Another pause.

Then I said, "But boy, do I hate the SEC."

The car erupted in agreement.

It didn't matter if we came from Oregon, Illinois, or Oklahoma. It didn't matter if we were Pac-10, Big Ten, or Big 12. We all hated the SEC. We hated their pompous coaches, their protective schedules, their policy of promising more athletic scholarships than they can provide and then turning away their student-athletes at the last second. We hated their excessive media exposure and their over-representation in the AP poll.*** We hated the fact that they have two "Bulldogs" and two "Tigers." We all hated the SEC.

And now we have a new reason to hate.

In the second week of this year's BCS standings, the Auburn Tigers have leapfrogged both Oregon and Boise State into #1, following their 24-17 victory over the LSU Tigers. This is despite the fact that Auburn began the season ranked 22nd, and that Oregon and Boise State still continue to outrank them in the AP, Coaches, and Harris Polls.**** Auburn's position in the BCS is based almost entirely on their high ranking in the computer polls, which give them an average score of .9800 (out of 1.0000). Meanwhile, the computers have Oregon ranked 8th, behind not only one-loss LSU, but also behind one-loss Oklahoma.

It seems to me that the computers are dedicated to having the SEC champion in the National Championship game. And why not? After all, the last four national champions have all come from the SEC. And, during those four years, the SEC has gone 21-11 in bowl games against other BCS schools (plus the WAC and MWC), for a winning percentage of .656, second only to the Mountain West's record of 10-4, with a .714 winning percentage. By comparison, in those four years the Pac-10 has gone .565, the Big 12 .516, and the Big Ten a lowly .321.

I'm not saying that Auburn doesn't deserve to be the #1 team in the country. In fact, I highly doubt that Oregon's defense could stop Cam Newton, or be able to keep their offense on the field. (Akin to how Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes beat them in the Rose Bowl last year.) The simple truth is that I have no way of knowing. The same holds true for Alabama and Mark Ingram. But I don't know anyone in their right mind who would rank the LSU Tigers above the Ducks. Besides, the Tigers have lost a game; the Ducks have not. Therefore, there is no justification for the computers to judge that LSU's SEC schedule is so difficult that they deserve to be ranked higher than the Ducks.

Unfortunately, that's the system that we are stuck with. If the rest of the country - from Stillwater, OK to Champaign, IL to Eugene, OR - wants the SEC to fall, then they're going to need to beat them on the field.

* Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
** A feat that looks a lot less impressive now that Texas has lost to Oklahoma and to, ahem, Iowa State.
*** Of the 60 voters in the AP poll, 15 are from SEC states. 11 are from the Big Ten, 8 from the Big 12, and 6 from the Pac-10.
****Also, what's up with Auburn playing 8 of their 12 games at home this year?

Announcing the Pac-12

On the eve of #1/2 Oregon vs. UCLA...

The Pac-12 has announced it's new divisions:

North: Washington, WSU, Oregon, OSU, Cal, Stanford

South: UCLA, USC, Arizona, ASU, Colorado, Utah

Congrats, Utah and Colorado. You are now rivals.

There's A New #1...

It's an historic day to be a Duck.

For the first time in history, Oregon is the No. 1 ranked team in the AP Poll. I think that it says something about the dubiousness of the Poll system when the Ducks are able to become #1 by staying home and doing nothing while Ohio State loses to Wisconsin 31-18. But never look a gift horse in the mouth. Also, it would be the height of hypocrisy if I didn't add that, last night, I was at a bar in Champaign, Illinois, jumping and hooting and shouting at the television screen during the 4th quarter of the Ohio St.-Wisconsin game. So it's not like it doesn't matter to me, as a Ducks fan, that the Ducks are number one, but, as Chip Kelly said, "Whether we're No. 1 in the country or 101 it won't affect how we prepare."

Even though the Ducks are No. 1 in the AP Poll, chances are that they'll be 2 in the BCS rankings that are going to be released later tonight, behind Boise State*. (I would vote for the Broncos #1, too.) And they still have by far the toughest remaining schedule of any of the top contenders, with USC, Cal, Arizona, and Oregon State all looming. But they now can be officially considered as favorites to reach the BCS Championship in January. (But don't look past UCLA!)

* Surprisingly, they're #2 behind Oklahoma. Boise State is #3.

Poll Watching

Here is this week's AP poll:


1) Ohio State
2) Oregon
3) Boise State
4) TCU
5) Nebraska
6) Oklahoma
7) Auburn
8) Alabama
9) LSU
10) South Carolina
11) Utah
12) Arkansas
13) Michigan State
14) Stanford
15) Iowa
16) Florida State
17) Arizona
18) Wisconsin
19) Nevada
20) Oklahoma State
21) Missouri
22) Florida
23) Air Force
24) Oregon State
25) West Virginia

Hey, do you remember that game LAST WEEK when South Carolina beat Alabama 35-21? Or how about that game three weeks ago when Arizona beat Iowa 34-27?

It's carelessness like this that makes fans angry at the AP (let alone the Coaches) Poll. We invest our time and energy into this sport. It shouldn't be too much to ask for the Press to do the same.

Here's my (pretend) ballot:


1) Ohio State
2) Boise State
3) Oregon
4) TCU
5) Oklahoma
6) Nebraska
7) Auburn
8) Utah
9) LSU
10) South Carolina
11) Alabama
12) Arkansas
13) Stanford
14) Michigan State
15) Arizona
16) Florida State
17) Missouri
18) Iowa
19) Oklahoma State
20) Wisconsin
21) Nevada
22) North Carolina State
23) Air Force
24) West Virginia
25) Michigan

Who Has The Clearest Road to the BCS Championship?

1) Ohio State - The Buckeyes will probably have their most difficult test of the rest of the year this Saturday at #18 Wisconsin. After that, they should get two easy wins against Minnesota and Purdue, followed by a home game against Penn State that is suddenly looking a lot less vital after Penn State's home loss to Illinois. In all likelihood, the Big Ten will be decided on Nov. 20, when Ohio State travels to #15 Iowa. However, the Hawkeyes will need to be perfect going into that game in order for it to have major BCS implications. And the bottom line is that, aside from whoever is the eventual SEC champ, Ohio State has the best chance of making it to the National Championship with one loss.

2) Oklahoma - No one's road to the National Championship game is easy. But the Sooners have already passed their toughest challenges of the year, with impressive wins over Florida State and Texas. They're at #21 Missouri on Oct. 23, and finish their year at #20 Oklahoma State. Even though both of those teams are undefeated right now, the Sooners should still be heavy favorites in both of those games. It is very possible that UO will be undefeated going into the Big 12 Championship, and a 13-0 Oklahoma team should be a lock for the National Championship. Emphasis on "should".

3) Nebraska - The only difference between Nebraska and Oklahoma right now is that the Sooners have already beaten Texas, whereas Nebraska will get that chance this weekend. That starts a tough - although not brutal - stretch for the Cornhuskers when they play at Oklahoma State and host Missouri. If they survive undefeated, a Big 12 title match with Oklahoma would be a de facto national semifinal. Lose, however, and odds are they'll be playing for the rights to the Fiesta Bowl, and the Fiesta Bowl alone.

4) Oregon - The good news for the #2 Ducks: Win and you're in. The bad news: "Winning" entails games at USC (Oct. 30), at Cal (Nov. 13), and at Oregon State (Dec. 04). The bad news, part 2: They'll probably have to run the table in order to have a shot at the National Championship. Even though the Pac-10 is probably the deepest conference in the nation this year, voters tend to not give the Pac-10 champ the benefit of the doubt when it comes time for selecting the BCS championships. A one-loss Ohio State or Oklahoma would most likely, get the nod before the Ducks, let alone the SEC champ.

5) Boise State - Of course the Broncos absolutely must win out in order to have a chance at the Championship game. But that's not going to be a problem for them, a November 26 trip to #19 Nevada notwithstanding. They'll be spending a lot of this year rooting for the other top teams in the country to lose. In a way, Boise State may have benefited the most from Alabama's loss to South Carolina. They'll still need at least three of the four teams ahead of them to lose at least once, and probably some more havoc in the SEC. Nevertheless, Boise State remains in a better position now for making it to the National Championship than they ever have before.

SEC Champ .... Nobody? South Carolina's 35-21 win over Alabama on Saturday turned the SEC on it's head. Even though the SEC is still the toughest conference in football, it's perceived weakness this year means that it's champion will not get a free pass to the BCS game. The conference's problem seems to be that no team has a clear path to the SEC title game with one or fewer losses. Auburn has Arkansas, LSU, and Alabama. South Carolina has Arkansas and Florida (and Clemson!). LSU has Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas. And so on, and so forth. It's like football roulette. I'm not saying that we won't see an SEC team on the field in Glendale on January 10. But in a down year for the SEC, and with Boise State and TCU set to hold voters' feet to the fire, whoever wins in Atlanta this year will not automatically be booking their flights to Arizona.