CAPS = my projected winner
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Utah vs. *NAVY*
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
*MEMPHIS* vs. Florida Atlantic
Papajohns.com Bowl
Southern Miss vs. *CINCINNATI*
New Mexico Bowl
*NEVADA* vs. New Mexico
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
California-Los Angeles vs. *BRIGHAM YOUNG*
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
*BOISE STATE* vs. East Carolina
Motor City Bowl
*PURDUE* vs. Central Michigan
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
Arizona State vs. *TEXAS*
Champs Sports Bowl
*BOSTON COLLEGE* vs. Michigan State
Texas Bowl
*TEXAS CHRISTIAN* vs. Houston
Emerald Bowl
*MARYLAND* vs. Oregon State
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Connecticut vs. *WAKE FOREST*
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Central Florida vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE
Valero Alamo Bowl
Penn State vs. *TEXAS A&M*
PetroSun Independence Bowl
*ALABAMA* vs. Colorado
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
*CALIFORNIA* vs. Air Force
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
*GEORGIA TECH* vs. Fresno State
Brut Sun Bowl
*SOUTH FLORIDA* vs. Oregon
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
*KENTUCKY* vs. Florida State
Insight Bowl
Indiana vs. *OKLAHOMA STATE*
Chick-fil-A Bowl
*CLEMSON* vs. Auburn
Outback Bowl
Wisconsin vs. *TENNESSEE*
AT&T Cotton Bowl
*MISSOURI* vs. Arkansas
Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
*TEXAS TECH* vs. Virginia
Capital One Bowl
Michigan vs. *FLORIDA*
Rose Bowl presented by Citi
Illinois vs. *SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA*
Allstate Sugar Bowl
Hawaii vs. *GEORGIA*
FedEx Orange Bowl
*VIRGINIA TECH* vs. Kansas
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
West Virginia vs. *OKLAHOMA*
International Bowl
*RUTGERS* vs. Ball State
GMAC Bowl
Bowling Green vs. *TULSA*
Allstate BCS Championship Game
*LOUISIANA STATE* vs. Ohio State
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Championship Week Thoughts
I started the season strong with my picks and I finished the season strong as well, going 5-0 this week. That makes my college football total record 41-21 picking almost exclusively close match-ups, rivalry games and upsets. I'll do an update with all of my bowl picks next week.
1. In the year of the upset, the top two teams fell for a second week in a row
It was simple for both West Virginia and Missouri: win their final game and they'd be playing for a national championship. Neither could accomplish the feat. WVU's loss could be attributed to the loss of Pat White, but championship caliber football teams should be able to win with their other playmakers, expecially against a team that isn't even bowl eligible. Missouri lost simply because Oklahoma is the better football team; all is right in the Big XII.
2. Ironically enough, given the crazy year in college football, the conference champions are who most people predicted
You'd think that in a year like this Kentucky would win the SEC, Illinois the Big Ten, South Florida the Big East, UCLA the Pac-10, and so on. Before the season, if you would have said the winners would be: LSU (SEC), Oklahoma (Big XII), Ohio State (Big Ten), West Virginia (Big East), Virginia Tech (ACC) and USC (Pac-10) the typical college football fan would have said "duh." It's kind of a disappointing ending to an unpredictable season; it would have been fitting to see one of these underdog, upstart, pre-season unranked teams atop one of the major conferences.
3. The BCS is set...and I'm severely disappointed
Let's be realistic. I've said for a few weeks now that USC and Georgia are playing the best football in the country. They're paired up against Illinois and Hawaii, respectively. Both of these games will be blowouts; maybe one of them can re-capture the magic of Boise State, but OU last year was rebuilding and kind of backed in by virtue of a weak Big XII. At the time they were maybe the 5th-10th best team in the country. USC and UGA are, in my mind, 1 and 2...both of them will put a beatdown on "the little teams that couldn't."
OU-WVU is a compelling matchup in the Fiesta Bowl, but this has the potential to be a lopsided Sooner victory as well depending on which WVU team shows up and if Pat White can play. And then there's Virginia Tech vs. a disheartened, rattled Kansas team fresh off getting their butts handed to them by Missouri. VT is up there with USC and UGA in terms of how well they're playing at this point in the season, and save for a last second miracle a few weeks ago by then-Heisman frontrunner Matt Ryan, they'd be playing for the national championship themselves.
Finally, the BCS Championship game, LSU vs. Ohio State. Frankly, LSU deserves to be there and the Buckeyes don't. The Tigers are a two-loss team but both of those losses came in triple overtime, and they are the champions of the perennially best conference...the SEC. Ohio State played nobody and beat nobody. The knock against Hawai'i is a weak schedule, but arguably the Rainbow Warriors played a tougher schedule than Ohio State...and emerged undefeated. I would have much rather seen Hawai'i, Virginia Tech or Oklahoma playing against LSU. USC's loss to Stanford disqualifies them despite them being the best team right now and Georgia can't go because two SEC teams can't play each other. But let's be honest, it's about the money: Ohio State was chosen because they have one of the largest (and most obnoxious) fanbases in America.
Heisman Race
It's Tebow's. You read it hear first. Chase Daniel falls out of the running after a 0 TD, 1 INT performance in a loss versus Oklahoma. That leaves McFadden and Tebow; and though McFadden had a great year, running backs have similar numbers all the time. For instance, this year Ray Rice of Rutgers (1,732 rushing yards, 20 TDs), Matt Forte of Tulane (2127 rushing yards, 23 TDs) and Kevin Smith of UCF (2,448 rushing yards, 29 TDs) all have better numbers than McFadden (1,725 rushing yards, 20 total TDs). Tim Tebow's record shattering year is far from the ordinary, and come next weekend the voters will reaffirm that by giving the Heisman trophy to a sophomore QB from the University of Florida.
1. Tim Tebow, QB Florida (3,970 total yards, 51 total TDs)
2. Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas (1,725 rushing yards, 20 total TDs)
3. Colt Brennan, QB Hawai'i (4,174 passing yards, 46 total TDs)
Golden Top 25
I'm doing this a little differently this week. Instead of one top 25 list, I'm going to do three top 5 lists: a top 5 based on the entire season (a true top 5), a top 5 based on the best teams putting wins and losses aside, and a pre-season top 5 for 2008.
Entire Season Top 5
1. LSU
2. Hawai'i
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Virginia Tech/Oklahoma
Top 5 based on how good a team actually is, not records
1. USC
2. Georgia
3. LSU
4. Virginia Tech/Oklahoma
5. Florida
Preseason 2008 Top 25
1. USC
2. Georgia
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
1. In the year of the upset, the top two teams fell for a second week in a row
It was simple for both West Virginia and Missouri: win their final game and they'd be playing for a national championship. Neither could accomplish the feat. WVU's loss could be attributed to the loss of Pat White, but championship caliber football teams should be able to win with their other playmakers, expecially against a team that isn't even bowl eligible. Missouri lost simply because Oklahoma is the better football team; all is right in the Big XII.
2. Ironically enough, given the crazy year in college football, the conference champions are who most people predicted
You'd think that in a year like this Kentucky would win the SEC, Illinois the Big Ten, South Florida the Big East, UCLA the Pac-10, and so on. Before the season, if you would have said the winners would be: LSU (SEC), Oklahoma (Big XII), Ohio State (Big Ten), West Virginia (Big East), Virginia Tech (ACC) and USC (Pac-10) the typical college football fan would have said "duh." It's kind of a disappointing ending to an unpredictable season; it would have been fitting to see one of these underdog, upstart, pre-season unranked teams atop one of the major conferences.
3. The BCS is set...and I'm severely disappointed
Let's be realistic. I've said for a few weeks now that USC and Georgia are playing the best football in the country. They're paired up against Illinois and Hawaii, respectively. Both of these games will be blowouts; maybe one of them can re-capture the magic of Boise State, but OU last year was rebuilding and kind of backed in by virtue of a weak Big XII. At the time they were maybe the 5th-10th best team in the country. USC and UGA are, in my mind, 1 and 2...both of them will put a beatdown on "the little teams that couldn't."
OU-WVU is a compelling matchup in the Fiesta Bowl, but this has the potential to be a lopsided Sooner victory as well depending on which WVU team shows up and if Pat White can play. And then there's Virginia Tech vs. a disheartened, rattled Kansas team fresh off getting their butts handed to them by Missouri. VT is up there with USC and UGA in terms of how well they're playing at this point in the season, and save for a last second miracle a few weeks ago by then-Heisman frontrunner Matt Ryan, they'd be playing for the national championship themselves.
Finally, the BCS Championship game, LSU vs. Ohio State. Frankly, LSU deserves to be there and the Buckeyes don't. The Tigers are a two-loss team but both of those losses came in triple overtime, and they are the champions of the perennially best conference...the SEC. Ohio State played nobody and beat nobody. The knock against Hawai'i is a weak schedule, but arguably the Rainbow Warriors played a tougher schedule than Ohio State...and emerged undefeated. I would have much rather seen Hawai'i, Virginia Tech or Oklahoma playing against LSU. USC's loss to Stanford disqualifies them despite them being the best team right now and Georgia can't go because two SEC teams can't play each other. But let's be honest, it's about the money: Ohio State was chosen because they have one of the largest (and most obnoxious) fanbases in America.
Heisman Race
It's Tebow's. You read it hear first. Chase Daniel falls out of the running after a 0 TD, 1 INT performance in a loss versus Oklahoma. That leaves McFadden and Tebow; and though McFadden had a great year, running backs have similar numbers all the time. For instance, this year Ray Rice of Rutgers (1,732 rushing yards, 20 TDs), Matt Forte of Tulane (2127 rushing yards, 23 TDs) and Kevin Smith of UCF (2,448 rushing yards, 29 TDs) all have better numbers than McFadden (1,725 rushing yards, 20 total TDs). Tim Tebow's record shattering year is far from the ordinary, and come next weekend the voters will reaffirm that by giving the Heisman trophy to a sophomore QB from the University of Florida.
1. Tim Tebow, QB Florida (3,970 total yards, 51 total TDs)
2. Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas (1,725 rushing yards, 20 total TDs)
3. Colt Brennan, QB Hawai'i (4,174 passing yards, 46 total TDs)
Golden Top 25
I'm doing this a little differently this week. Instead of one top 25 list, I'm going to do three top 5 lists: a top 5 based on the entire season (a true top 5), a top 5 based on the best teams putting wins and losses aside, and a pre-season top 5 for 2008.
Entire Season Top 5
1. LSU
2. Hawai'i
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Virginia Tech/Oklahoma
Top 5 based on how good a team actually is, not records
1. USC
2. Georgia
3. LSU
4. Virginia Tech/Oklahoma
5. Florida
Preseason 2008 Top 25
1. USC
2. Georgia
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Championship Week Picks
#9 Oklahoma vs. #1 Missouri
#6 Virginia Tech vs. #11 Boston College
#14 Tennessee vs. #7 LSU
UCLA vs. #8 USC
Oregon State vs. #17 Oregon
#6 Virginia Tech vs. #11 Boston College
#14 Tennessee vs. #7 LSU
UCLA vs. #8 USC
Oregon State vs. #17 Oregon
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