Liberty and Chick-Fil-A Bowl

Liberty Bowl: Georgia (6-6) vs. Central Florida (10-3)

Georgia has had a disappointing year, really disappointing. When the season began I said they were the biggest swing team in the SEC and they could go anywhere from no bowl to winning the East. Well, they almost didn't make a bowl. Of course, if they would have had A.J. for all 12 games they might have managed to win a couple more but still this is a bad year for a team loaded with talent. As soon as this game ends, Mark Richt will be on the hotseat. If the Dawgs lose this game the seat will be on fire...although there is no chance he gets fired after the game, he's got at least one more year in Athens.

Central Florida won 10 games and Conference USA. Right now CUSA is 1-3 in the bowl season. This is the SEC's 2nd game. UCF lost to two BCS teams, Kansas State and N.C. State - both of whom went to bowl games, but they did not lose by much. They have a freshman quarterback, but he threw for more than 2,000 yards and had a completion percentage close to 70%. Their defense is ranked 17th in the country, and they've held 9 out of 13 opponents to 17 points or less.

Georgia is favored by 6 1/2 points in this one, and I don't think it will be much of a problem for Georgia to cover. This may not be where UGA expected to be, but they did work back from a 1-4 record to make it to this point. Georgia has better athletes than anyone UCF has seen all year, and this is A.J. Green's final game to improve his draft stock. Georgia's defense has been improving as the year has gone on and I think they will be able to handle the Knights without too much trouble. Georgia 38 Central Florida 17.


Chick-Fil-A Bowl: South Carolina (9-4) vs. Florida State (9-4)

This game is a matchup between the losers of the SEC and ACC Championship Games. South Carolina has has perhaps their greatest season ever - beating the #1 team in the country and winning the SEC East. Florida State is having a bounce back season in Jimbo Fisher's first year as head coach.

Florida State has a good defense and a good offense. So does South Carolina. Both of these teams squashed Florida. There are plenty of similarities between the teams and this should be another great Chick-Fil-A Bowl - the best non-BCS game every year. To add a little backstory to the game, it's the first time Steve Spurrier has faced "Free Shoes University" since he was at Florida.

When a bowl game looks pretty even you've got to look at motivation. Both of these programs are on the up-tick and are happy to be here. They are both ranked and have had a satisfying season to this point. I want to pick South Carolina because they are in the SEC, so I'll come up with some motivation for them. They got shalacked in the SEC Championship Game, and they would like to rectify that by getting a bowl win. Florida State didn't have Christain Ponder in the ACC Championship Game so losing to VA Tech probably didn't sting too bad. South Carolina 24 Florida State 23.

JB

Music City Bowl

Tennessee (6-6) vs. North Carolina (7-5)

North Carolina was my preseason #10 team. I thought with their great defensive talent and 10 returning starters on offense they would be able to vault to #1 or #2 in the country within the first 4-5 weeks of the season. It all started with beating LSU - who I underrated - but that didn't happen. It almost did even though the Tar Heels were missing half their team due to suspension. But those suspensions killed them all year and they had a disappointing 7-5 season after a summer full of hype.

I think four months ago any Tennessee fan would have taken 6-6 and a Music City Bowl appearance. They had their knees bent, eyes squinted, and a hand over their head bearing for the worst this year. And that's what they got for the first two months of the season. Tyler Brey stepped in during the South Carolina game and played great at the quarterback position from there on out. Even though the Vols lost that game to go to 2-6, he led them on a tear through November beating four mediocre teams and making it to a bowl - a great accomplishment for Derek Dooley.

Tennessee ended the year hot, and now Dooley has had almost five weeks to work with a young football team who will be excited to play in this game. The game is also in the state of Tennessee, so they should have plenty of fans there. North Carolina was a little more shaky in November, but they did play much better competition. How motivated will they be coming into this game knowing their preseason expectations were so lofty?

North Carolina relies a lot on the arm of T.J. Yates. Their leading rusher, Johnny White, only had 720 yards all season. The Vols don't have the best secondary but I think it will be enough to contain the Heels enough to let Tyler Brey take control of the game. I think Dooley has dug UT out of the hole they were in and they are a decent team right now, I look for Tennessee to win this game. I think they will be up by a couple touchdowns in the 4th quarter and UNC will score late to make it a one score game, 24-17 Tennessee.

JB

Sara Evans

Sara Evans was born in 1971 in Boonville, Missouri. She married in 1993 and had three children by 2004. She released her first album, Three Chords and the Truth in 1997, none of the songs from that album made it into the Top 40 Country songs.

Her second album, No Place That Far, included the song by the same name which went to #1 in late 1998. Her next album, Born to Fly, was released in 2000 and had three top 10 hits including "Born to Fly", "I Could Not Ask For More", and "I Keep Looking". Born to Fly is her most popular album to date. In 2001, she was nominated for seven CMAs, the most of any other artist that year.

In 2003, she released Restless which included her third #1 hit "Suds in the Bucket" and "Perfect" peaked at #2. The next album, Real Fine Place was her first album to reach #1 and it included her fourth #1 song, "A Real Fine Place to Start". In 2006 she won her first ACM for Top Female Vocalist.

She appeared on Dancing With The Stars in the fall of 2006 but chose to withdraw from the competition in October because of the pending divorce from her husband of 13 years. In 2007, Evans released a greatest hits album featuring the song "As If" and hosted the CMAs with LeAnn Rimes.

In the summer of 2008 she married Jay Barker, former star quarterback for the University of Alabama, who led the Tide to a National Championship in 1992. Barker had four children from a previous marriage.

In 2009, she released a 4-song EP, I'll Be Home For Christmas. Evans co-authored a fictional book called Sweet By and By released in early 2010. It is part of a 4-book deal with one book to be released each year until 2013.

Her sixth album, Stronger, is set to be released in March of 2011 - a five and a half year gap between albums. The first single from it, "A Little Bit Stronger", is currently #32 on the Country charts...the song was written by Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum.

JB

Chicken & Avocado Sandwich

Here's a great sandwich:

Grilled chicken
Sliced avocados
Chick-Fil-A sauce (if you don't have Chick-Fil-A sauce then use O'Charley's honey mustard and a BBQ sauce mixed together equally)

Put it all on a hamburger bun with some mayo and enjoy. Terrific sandwich.

JB

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the blog!

Thoughts on the NFL III

I picked the Colts and the Vikings for the Superbowl, those were not too good of picks. I would say Brett Favre's body is done, but he's only missed one game all season which is a lot better than a bunch of younger quarterbacks around the league. Still, I think it's time for him and the Vikings to move on. Nothing has gone right for Minnesota this year, that was an unfortunate pick for me. Not much has gone right for the Colts either, although they have had enough to mount a winning record and they will probably get into the playoffs again.

I think the Falcons are the most complete team in football. They don't deliver any upper cuts, they just jab you and jab you until the bell rings and when you get back to the corner they've broken your nose and you didn't feel it. They are probably the most un-appealing team to watch in the NFL unless you are a fan of them like I am, and I think that is why not a lot of people are waving their flags as a potential Superbowl team. It looks good for acquiring home-field advantage but with possible matchups against the Saints and Eagles, two of the fastest teams in the NFL, playing on turf isn't the most ideal situation. We'll see how it turns out, but I think the Falcons have a great shot of making it to the Superbowl this year.

No one really talks about the Houston Texans being a bad franchise, but they are. I guess they are not as bad as the Lions, but they've been a team for 9 years and still never made the playoffs. They were supposed to be pretty good this year and they even came out and beat the mighty Colts in the first game. Since then they are 4-9 and they're going to miss the playoffs again. The third worst franchise is the Washington Redskins.

I think the obvious choices for MVP this year are Tom Brady and Micheal Vick. Vick has been incredible, he never played near this level in Atlanta. There were glimpses of what he could do, but it was only because of pure athleticism, I think he is working hard in Philadelphia to become a good quarterback and that's what he is. The only lingering question for me is will he be healthy for the playoffs, he always gets dinged up being a 6'-0" running quarterback. Some of the luster got taken off Tom Brady's magic when Matt Cassel took New England to an 11-5 season but he has got to end up winning the MVP. He is pretty much cementing his legacy as one of the all-time greats and he's inching toward the Top 5 all-time QBs.

There should be something done about playoff seeding in the NFL. If the Rams or Seahawks make it in with a 7-9 record I guess I'm okay with it, but they should not get the 4 seed. If things stay the same, the Saints would be 4-5 games better than the Rams but have to travel to St. Louis to play them. Even worse, the Bears or Eagles have to play the Giants who are 3 games better than the Rams. So, the a wild card team is getting an easier win than a division winner! The Rams can make it in, that is fine, but put them as the 6 seed. Let the Saints have the 4 seed and a home game vs. the 5 seed. Make up a rule like if a wild card team is 2 games or more ahead of a division winner they can leap frog. It won't happen much, but I think it's ridiculous that the Saints could be so far ahead of the Rams but still have to travel to their place.

JB

Winter solstice

The shortest day of the year.

I get up, it's dark. I brush my teeth, it's dark. I eat breakfast, it's dark. I pull out of the driveway, the sun starts to rise. I head home, the sun is setting. I pull in the driveway, it's dark. I have to say I'm just not a fan of it being dark an hour before my 6:30 dinner.

The good news is every day for the next six months will be a little bit longer.

JB

Staying Up Late

I've heard people say that they want to stay up late on Friday and Saturday nights because they don't want to feel old.

To me, there is no reason in forcing yourself to stay up late so that you can feel young. What is the point of this exercise? In fact, why does anyone do anything just because it's what they did when they were younger and they don't want to let it go? If I don't want to do something, I don't do it. It's okay to adapt to life as you get older. If I'm tired on Friday night, I go to bed when I get sleepy.

There's no reason to hold on to your youth with the death grip because you're afraid of getting old. If you feel like doing what you did when you were younger then go for it, but if you don't want to do it then don't force it. People get older, it's what happens. The course of life can be enjoyable if you just embrace it.

JB

No More Crab

There is no more crab left in the refrigerator, the 5 days of crab are over. I hope you enjoyed the ride, and I hope that the crab really made great meals for you.

The end.


JB

Steak & Crab

This is it....the 5th day of the 5 days of crab. I've saved the best for last. I love this dish, it is my absolute favorite meal. It combined my two favorite foods of all time....steak and crab.

First, grill your steak to your liking.

Then, follow the same steps for the crab as it was for the chicken and crab sandwich, which is:

-put 1/8 pound of fontina cheese in a cooking pan and let it melt for a couple minutes over medium heat
-put 1/4 pound of crab in
-put about a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream in
-use a spoonful of cream cheese
-a little bit of garlic salt and seasoned salt
-stir and mix the ingredients together and simmer until it's nice and warm

Put the steak on your plate and put the crab on your plate, or on the steak, or in a bowl beside your plate. It doesn't matter but make sure to eat the crab and steak at the same time because the combination of the two flavors is a taste explosion!

JB

Crab Soup

On the 4th day of crab my stomach said to me...I - want - some - soup!

-1/8 pound of crab
-half to 3/4 container of cream of shrimp soup
-two tablespoons of heavy whipping cream
-3-4 shakes on the cayenne pepper
-bring it to a simmer and serve it to yourself

Have some of the crackers left over from the crab cakes to enjoy with it.

JB

Chicken and Crab Sandwich

Day 3 of the 5 days of crab. This may not sound good, but it is. Chicken and crab sandwich.

Probably want to grill the chicken breast, but you could bake it, broil it, sear it, whatever.

-put 1/8 pound of fontina cheese in a cooking pan and let it melt for a couple minutes over medium heat
-put 1/4 pound of crab in
-put about a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream in
-use a spoonful of cream cheese
-a little bit of garlic salt and seasoned salt
-stir and mix the ingredients together and simmer until it's nice and warm

-put some mayonnaise on a kaiser roll, then the chicken and pour the crab creation over the chicken. that's the sandwich and it should be delish.

JB

Crab Omelet

For the 2nd day in my 5 days of crab I'm going with a crab omelet.

-beat 3 eggs like you would before scrambling them
-put in skillet over medium heat for 10 minutes
-put cream cheese, fontina cheese, blue cheese, American, or whatever type of cheese you want in the skillet after 4 minutes
-put 1/8 pound of crab in skillet after 7 minutes
-put anything else you might want to add to this omelet in as well or just leave it with crab and cheese
-take if off, sprinkle a little Tony's on top and have at it


JB

Crab Cakes

For the first of the 5 days of crab I start with crab cakes. This is an obvious choice, but a good one.

-use 1/4 of a pound of crab meat (run water over the crab before cooking)
-about 1/2 of a roll of Ritz type crackers and crumpled them up
-a spoonful of mayonnaise
-little bit of green onion, mustard, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne pepper
-put it all together and shaped it like you would a hamburger patty
-dip it in a beat egg and cover it with flour and place it in a skillet with vegetable oil in it over medium heat
-fry it for 4 minutes on each side

Sauce: spoonful of sour cream, some garlic powder, onion salt, Tony's, and chives.
You can dip it in the sauce or put the sauce on a kaiser roll and make a sandwich.

JB

5 Days of Crab

I love crab. It's my favorite type of seafood, and seafood is my favorite type of food, so crab is way up there. I enjoy eating meals with crab in them, so for the next 5 days I'm going to post a great recipe for an excellent meal involving crab.

What I like to do is by a one pound jar of jump crab meat. The real stuff, not fake crab. It is $12-14 at the grocery store, which is a lot for a pound of meat, but with all the great taste sensations of crab it's worth it. If you're going to take this crab journey with me you'll need the pound of crab plus one steak, one chicken breast, a roll of crackers, heavy whipping cream, green onion, mustard, lemon juice, cream cheese, four eggs, flour, cream of shrimp soup, garlic powder, onion powder, mayonnaise, fontina cheese, sour cream, and seasoned salt.

I hope you're ready, the 5 days of crab begins tomorrow.

JB

Bowl Game Predictions

New Orleans Bowl - Ohio 24 Troy 23

Humanitarian Bowl - Northern Illinois 45 Fresno State 35

New Mexico Bowl - UTEP 31 BYU 17

St. Petersburg Bowl - Southern Miss 21 Lousville 13

Maaco Bowl - Boise State 42 Utah 24

Poinsettia Bowl - San Diego State 31 Navy 24

Hawaii Bowl - Tulsa 38 Hawaii 30

Little Ceasers Bowl - Florida International 24 Toledo 21

Independence Bowl - Air Force 28 Georgia Tech 24

Insight Bowl - Iowa 31 Missouri 28

Champ Sports Bowl - West Virginia 24 N.C. State 14

Alamo Bowl - Oklahoma State 42 Arizona 31

Texas Bowl - Baylor 27 Illinois 21

Military Bowl - Maryland 37 East Carolina 28

Holiday Bowl - Nebraska 38 Washington 14

Music City Bowl - Tennessee 24 North Carolina 17

Pinstripe Bowl - Kansas State 35 Syracuse 24

Armed Forces Bowl - SMU 41 Army 28

Meineke Car Care Bowl - Clemson 28 South Florida 27

Liberty Bowl - Georgia 38 Central Florida 17

Sun Bowl - Notre Dame 24 Miami, FL 21

Chick-Fil-A Bowl - South Carolina 24 Florida State 23

Capitol One Bowl - Alabama 31 Michigan State 10

Outback Bowl - Florida 17 Penn State 14

TicketCity Bowl - Northwestern 28 Texas Tech 21

Gator Bowl - Mississippi State 42 Michigan 30

Rose Bowl - Wisconsin 31 TCU 21

Fiesta Bowl - Oklahoma 35 UConn 17

Orange Bowl - Stanford 31 Virginia Tech 28

Sugar Bowl - Arkansas 28 Ohio State 20

GoDaddy.com Bowl - Miami (OH) 21 Middle Tennessee State 10

Cotton Bowl - LSU 27 Texas A&M 17

BBVA Compass - Kentucky 34 Pittsburgh 21

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - Nevada 45 Boston College 28

BCS Title Game - Auburn 45 Oregon 31


JB

If there was a playoff....

I am a huge advocate for a playoff. Not only do I want to settle it on the field, but I want to see hugely exciting playoff games on New Year's Day involving teams that deserve a shot at the National Title. Yesterday I gave the options for a playoff system, today I will show what they would look like this year and any consequences they would bring. Here goes...

16-team playoff: There are two ways to do this. The first way is to let the BCS formula, or a blue-ribbon group (similar to the NCAA tournament selection committee) determine the teams. The second way is to take the 11 conference champions and 5 at-large teams. With either scenario conference championship games would have to be eliminated because of the amount of games...so the first round would have been played last weekend (first Saturday in December) and at the higher seeds home stadium.

Using the BCS to determine the Top 16:

16 Alabama at 1 Auburn
15 Nevada at 2 Oregon
14 Oklahoma State at 3 TCU
13 Virginia Tech at 4 Stanford
12 Missouri at 5 Wisconsin
11 Boise State at 6 Ohio State
10 LSU at 7 Oklahoma
9 Michigan State at 8 Arkansas

I don't like this playoff at all. 1) There are two WAC teams. 2) Alabama is playing Auburn, a game that just happened. If you move the game so they don't have to play each other than Oregon has to play Alabama but Auburn gets to play Nevada? How is that fair at all...at least with the conference champion scenario the top two or three teams get an easier game. 3) This would have to be decided by a selection committee because you can't have VA Tech traveling across the country by Oklahoma State gets to drive hop, skip, and jump to their game in Fort Worth. And by creating a selection committee you're going to leave teams out just like in basketball. 4) Alabama could win it all, but they don't deserve a shot because they lost 3 games this year. I'd rather have Miami (OH) in the field even though they lost 4 games because I know they can't make it through. 5) Every single one of the Top 6's last game of the regular season had no real meaning since they were in anyway. Sure, they would play for seeding, but if their running back or linebacker was battling injury they would sit them for the playoff, thereby Alabama would have won the Iron Bowl and all of that seeding would have been destroyed.


Using 11 conference champions and 5 at-large:

16 Florida International at 1 Auburn
15 Miami (OH) at 2 Oregon
14 Central Florida at 3 TCU
13 UConn at 4 Stanford
12 Virginia Tech at 5 Wisconsin
11 Boise State at 6 Ohio State
10 LSU at 7 Oklahoma
9 Michigan State at 8 Arkansas

I like this one a lot better because it cancels out some of the stuff I mentioned above and also gives the Top 3 or 4 teams an easier game while the rest of the teams really have to battle to get in the 2nd round. However, it's still too many teams. I like conference championship games instead of this round. Virginia Tech lost James Madison, Michigan State lost to a 7-5 Iowa team by 31 points, UConn lost 4 games, Boise State had a horrible schedule and only tied for the WAC title. It's possible that any of those teams could make a run, maybe win a game or two, but they don't deserve to get a shot based on what they did in the regular season.


8-team playoff: If there was an 8-team playoff I would want to play all four games on New Year's Day, then the semifinals a week and a half later and then the Championship Game the Saturday of the weekend before the Superbowl. It would look like this

Sugar Bowl: 1 Auburn vs. 8 Oklahoma

Rose Bowl: 2 Oregon vs. 7 Arkansas

Orange Bowl: 3 TCU vs. 6 Ohio State

Fiesta Bowl: 4 Stanford vs. 5 Wisconsin

Now, who wouldn't want to see these games? We've eliminated all the teams in the 16-team playoff that didn't have a worthy enough regular season, there aren't any cupcakes, and we can still have conference championship games. The second round might be hosted by the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl and then the Fiesta would get the Championship Game. The Sugar would have had it last year, it would rotate, so next year the Fiesta would only have first round action. I think this is a great setup because it includes all teams worthy of competing for a National Title. It allows a team to have one slip up...because after all, a conference road game loss might not really be that much of a slip up, it's tough to win those games. This, in my eyes, stands tall as the best option, the only downside is the travel burden it puts on a team's fans. Football relies on huge stadiums and 3 playoff games in far-away destinations in one month is too much for most fan bases. That would be the biggest obstacle to overcome.


4-team playoff: This is a great scenario because we can include those 'non-AQ' schools who go undefeated. TCU does not belong in a National Title Game this year with Oregon and Auburn going undefeated, but how good are they really? Even if they beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl they won't get any share of the National Championship, this would settle those debates. If this was going to be done I like playing it on New Year's Day and then waiting until the Saturday of the weekend before the Superbowl, give each team 3-4 weeks to prepare for the National Championship Game just like we gave them for the Semifinal.

4 Stanford vs. 1 Auburn

3 TCU vs. 2 Oregon

There could be some debate about whether or not you need to win your conference to get in, and I might agree with that. If Oregon had been #1 then Stanford would have played them, and that should've been duked out in a conference championship game. So maybe Wisconsin would be #4 here, but for the purpose of this discussion we are giving TCU a shot at the title.


Plus-One: Many in the media refer to the 4-team playoff as a 'plus-one model'. Well it's a 4-team playoff, but they don't want to say that because college presidents are so opposed to the word playoff. But a real plus one is playing the BCS bowls and after they're complete, ranking the teams and whoever comes out at #1 and #2, they will play for a National Title. The point of doing this is so that teams like TCU or Ohio State, who had weak schedules, would have to prove themselves against a really good team before they could qualify. The only fair way to do this would be to use traditional bowl pairings, it would look like this:

Rose: 2 Oregon vs. 5 Wisconsin

Sugar: 1 Auburn vs. 4 Stanford

Fiesta: 7 Oklahoma vs. 3 TCU

Orange: 13 Virginia Tech vs. 6 Ohio State

* I am making the assumption that UConn would be eliminated due to their poor record and Ohio State would replace them.

Those are some great games, but what if Wisconsin beats Oregon, Auburn beats Stanford, and TCU beats Oklahoma? Have we solved anything? Not really, TCU would be more legit but still left out of the party. And if you excluded Wisconsin they would have major beef. So I don't think this logic would work.

Tim Brando is not my favorite character, but he is an avid hater of the BCS. I agree with him that the only way to get a playoff is to start out with a 4-team playoff. Everyone wants to blow up the BCS and create a 16-team playoff, but that just won't work with the politics involved. It will have to start with a 4-team playoff and then it will stretch into an 8-team playoff 15-20 years later. Maybe 50 years from now there will be a 16-team playoff, but it's got to take baby steps. By then the population will be even greater so more teams will be legit contenders so I think a 16-team would work. But for now, I'll settle for a 4-team, but what I really want is an 8-team playoff.

JB

College Football Playoff

I've already posted this when I began my blog, but it's that time of year again so why not re-post it.

Should there be a college football playoff? Yes. Basically because one or two, maybe even three teams get left out almost every year, and even though we probably know they arn't as good as the two teams at the top, wouldn't it be nice to find out on the field? Who can argue with more football?

I've heard all the arguments on a playoff vs. the current system. The one thing I like from the current system is how much emphasis is placed on the regular season. Without a doubt, there is no debate that the college football regular season is the most exciting in all of sports. Even if a team is not chasing a championship, they (and the fan base) have something invested in each game because of the rivalries and bragging rights. That is something that is the utmost of importance to maintain.

So what is the best way to do a playoff? Initially, I thought taking the 11 conference champions and then 5 at-large teams would be best. A lot of people like this solution. It would offer 4 rounds, with the first round to be played at the higher seeds home field. The main reason I don't like this is you're basically making this college basketball where the regular season is dwarfed to nothing. In basketball, does anyone really pay much attention to a January matchup between #1 Duke vs. #4 Wake Forest? Other than college basketball junkies, not that many people are going to make plans to watch because the outcome really has almost no meaning other than a measuring stick for those teams. So I don't want #2 Texas vs. #3 Oklahoma to turn into just another game since we all know they will make it into the playoffs. The Red River Shootout IS A PLAYOFF GAME. That is round one, it is just in October instead of December. And sure, the 16 team field lets even the little guys have a chance, but that model is just too big.

The next suggestion is 8 teams. You could do this one several ways. You could just let the BCS formula pick the top 8 teams and play on from there, or you could pick 6 BCS conference champs and 2 at-large. Or you could take all of the conference champions (11), give the top 5 a bye and let the bottom 6 duke it out in a play-in round to advance to the round of 8. I used to be in favor of the conference champions, but really all that does it dumb down the regular season as well. Maybe not to the extent of a 16-team playoff, but each team would only focus on its conference. Games like Florida St. vs. Florida and USC vs. Notre Dame would have a whole lot less meaning. Plus, coaches wouldn't want to get their players hurt playing in a game without meaning, especially the week before the conference championship game. If an 8-team playoff was going to be the case, it would be best to have the BCS formula pick the top 8 teams because at least teams will play out their seasons. For example, if you only took conference champions and Florida was 9-0 (7-0 in the SEC), and had already wrapped up the SEC East, they could cruise and lose 2 out of the last 3 games without any worries like the Colts do every year in the NFL. But at least having to be in the top 8 would force them to play those games the best they can knowing they need to maintain that rank. I like this scenario because it would be really exciting. You could play the first round on New Year's Day. Then play the semi-finals about 10-11 days later, and the championship game during the off week before the Superbowl. You could use the BCS bowl locations as hosts of each game, rotating each year. What I don't like about this is the logistics of having a school's fans purchasing airline tickets, game tickets, hotel reservations, etc. for possibly 3 games in one month at distant locations. Sure, the same fans might not attend each game, but many schools probably don't have enough fans to fill 40,000 seats 3 times over with those parameters. The other thing I don't like is that the 7th & 8th teams, maybe even the 6th probably don't deserve a shot because they have 2, maybe 3 losses. But with this you would be assured of giving the teams that deserve a shot, a shot at the title.

The next scenario is one I got from Phil Steele, who I know has given it a lot of thought. A four team playoff. The first two games would be just after all of the bowl games, and then the championship game would be during the off week before the Superbowl. This means only two games for fans to attend, and you would know the top 4 teams deserve to be there. You probably have a 50% chance of having the #4 team with 2 losses, but I think it would be worth it for the years when there are 4 undefeated teams. When there are 5 undefeated teams, then I don't know what to say other than sorry, bad luck this year. You could have a play-in game but is that fair for the #4 team, they may really be #2? I would just leave it at 4. And I would make a stipulation that you have to win your conference. Once the Big 10 and PAC 10 get neutral site championship games there is no excuse for not winning your conference if you want to be considered for the national championship (before you could've said you lost to the conference champion on the road). That might get a little hazy like when Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech all had 7-1 conference records, but each conference needs to make up a tie-breaker and have a conference championship game. My suggestion in the case of that 3-way tie would be to come to a pre-determined location on the Monday following the final weekend and play it out. Play a round-robin of overtime rules until somebody wins.

The final scenario is a plus-one. Many people advocate for this. The idea is that after all the bowls you come up with the top 2 teams and play a championship game. The idea behind this is that teams who play a weaker schedule will either be weeded out or rise to the front once they play a top-tier team in the bowl. This is a good idea except that it could, and in most cases probably would create more chaos when there are still 3 undefeated teams, or 3 really good 1-loss teams, or just no clear cut two teams. How do you decide? It may have been clear before the bowls but now it is worse. I don't like this idea for those reasons.

So my first choice is the 4-team playoff, but I could go for the 8-team playoff too. Both of them would keep the importance on the regular season, but ultimately I think the 4-team playoff has less drawbacks. Tomorrow I will post how each of these playoff scenarios would work out for 2010.

JB

Preseason Predictions vs. How it Actually Turned Out

SEC

My predicted finish (where they actually finished):

East
1. South Carolina (1st)
2. Florida (2nd)
3. Georgia (3rd)
4. Kentucky (5th)
5. Tennessee (4th)
6. Vanderbilt (6th)


West
1. Alabama (4th)
2. Auburn (1st)
3. Arkansas (2nd)
4. LSU (3rd)
5. Ole Miss (6th)
6. Mississippi State (5th)


Nationally:

1. Boise State (11)
2. Alabama (16)
3. Nebraska (18)
4. Iowa (NR)
5. Ohio State (6)
6. Miami, FL (NR)
7. TCU (3)
8. Florida (NR)
9. Oregon (2)
10. North Carolina (NR)
11. Houston (NR)
12. Oklahoma (7)
13. Texas (NR)
14. Pittsburgh (NR)
15. Wisconsin (5)
16. Auburn (1)
17. South Carolina (20)
18. Virginia Tech (13)
19. West Virginia (22)
20. Arkansas (8)

Misses: Stanford (4), Michigan State (9), LSU (10), Missouri (12), Oklahoma State (14), Nevada (15), Texas A&M (17), and Utah (19).

I guess luckily I didn't miss on my own team, Mississippi State landed at #21.

Phil Steele, who claims to be 'the most accurate preseason magazine the last 11 years', had 10 teams in his Top 20 end there. I had 11. Hahaha! Not saying I'm better than he is, I did get most of my information from his magazine.


One thing Phil Steele was accurate on was his view of Auburn. He said they stood a great chance to go into the Iron Bowl undefeated. I saw it similarly, but I thought Mississippi State would be their only loss heading into that game. What I didn't know, as no one did, was how good Cam Newton would be. He proved to be the best player in all of college football...he had a remarkable season.

Throughout the entire Cam Newton saga a lot of Auburn fans have been claiming that Mississippi State has sour grapes about not being able to secure Newton during recruitment. Well whatever you want to believe is fine but the facts are that Cam Newton was verbally committed to Mississippi State, and that Cecil Newton requested money from MSU to get his son's signature on a letter of intent. Those are the facts, they are undisputed.

So it looks to me like Cecil Newton is the one with sour grapes. If for Auburn's sake Cam Newton didn't have knowledge of his father's wrongdoings and Auburn didn't pay the Newton's any money, then it is obvious Cam Newton ended up at Auburn because Cecil Newton was bitter about MSU's refusal to pay him. What other logic can there be? We already know that Cam let Cecil make the final decision for him.

So if it weren't for the greedy Cecil Newton, Mississippi State could be going to Glendale, Arizona to play the Oregon Ducks for the BCS Title. That's right, MSU has a great supporting cast, just as good as Auburn does. Did Cam Newton flourish under the offensive system of Gus Malzahn - yes. Is there any evidence that Dan Mullen's system, one that has produced two quarterbacks that were first round draft picks - one was the #1 overall and one a Heisman Trophy winner, would not do the same for Newton? I don't think so. It makes me a little queasy to think that Cecil Newton is the only thing standing between us and a shot at the National Title. I do not care for that man.

JB

End of the Year Grades / Strength of Schedule

Ranking the defenses:

1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Mississippi State
4. South Carolina
5. Florida
6. Auburn
7. Georgia
8. Arkansas
9. Tennessee
10. Ole Miss
11. Vanderbilt
12. Kentucky


Offenses:

1. Auburn
2. Arkansas
3. Alabama
4. Kentucky
5. South Carolina
6. Georgia
7. Mississippi State
8. Tennessee
9. Ole Miss
10. LSU
11. Florida
12. Vanderbilt


Coaching Jobs:

1. Dan Mullen
2. Gene Chizik
3. Derek Dooley
4. Steve Spurrier
5. Bobby Petrino
6. Nick Saban
7. Joker Philips
8. Les Miles
9. Robbie Caldwell
10. Mark Richt
11. Urban Meyer
12. Houston Nutt


Top SEC Players:

1. Cam Newton, AUB
2. Nick Fairley, AUB
3. Patrick Peterson, LSU
4. Randall Cobb, UK
5. A.J. Green, UGA
6. Marcus Lattimore, USC
7. Julio Jones, UA
8. Ryan Mallett, ARK
9. Alshon Jeffrey, USC
10. Drake Nevis, LSU
11. Danny Trevathan, UK
12. Kelvin Shepard, LSU
13. Derrek Sharrod, MSU
14. Mark Ingram, UA
15. Marcell Darius, UA
16. Chris White, MSU
17. Lee Ziemba, AUB
18. Pernell McPhee, MSU
19. DeMarcus Love, ARK
20. Justin Houston, UGA


QBs 1-12:

1. Cam Newton
2. Ryan Mallett
3. Greg McElroy
4. Mike Hartline
5. Stephen Garcia
6. Aaron Murrey
7. Chris Relf
8. Tyler Brey
9. Jeremiah Masoli
10. Jordan Jefferson
11. John Brantley
12. Larry Smith



In conference SOS (records of SEC teams they played):
* I did not include the SEC Championship Game in all this.

1. Alabama (37-27)
2. Mississippi State (35-29)
2. Ole Miss (35-29)
4. Arkansas (33-31)
4. Georgia (33-31)
6. Auburn (32-32)
6. LSU (32-32)
6. South Carolina (32-32)
9. Vanderbilt (30-34)
10. Kentucky (29-35)
10. Florida (29-35)
12. Tennessee (27-37)

Based on the formula I used on August 30th:

1. Alabama, 69.5
2. Ole Miss, 64.25
3. Mississippi State, 63.5
4. Arkansas, 62.25
5. Auburn, 60
6. Georgia, 59.25
7. LSU, 58.5
8. South Carolina, 55.5
9. Vanderbilt, 55.25
10. Kentucky, 50.75
11. Florida, 50.25
11. Tennessee, 50.25

Non-conference teams ranked:

1. Oregon
2. Texas A&M
3. Florida State
4. West Virginia
5. Penn State
6. Georgia Tech
7. North Carolina
8. UConn
9. Clemson
10. South Florida
11. Northwestern
12. Southern Miss
13. Louisville
14. Colorado
15. Houston
16. Fresno State
17. Miami (Ohio)
18. UTEP
19. UAB
20. Troy

Divided by 3 this time because of those 20 team's poor strength

1. Florida, 12.5
2. LSU, 11.24
3. Tennessee, 11.08 (I divided the Oregon game by two since they are so much better than all the other non-conference teams)
4. Vanderbilt, 9.49
5. Arkansas, 8.46
6. Georgia, 8.24
7. South Carolina, 7.91
8. Alabama, 6.08
9. Auburn, 4.67
10. Kentucky, 4
11. Mississippi State, 3.2
12. Ole Miss, 2.32

Toughest Complete Schedule:

1. Alabama, 75.58
2. Arkansas, 70.71
3. LSU, 69.74
4. Georgia, 67.49
5. Mississippi State, 66.7
6. Ole Miss, 66.57
7. Vanderbilt, 64.74
8. Auburn, 64.67
9. South Carolina, 63.41
10. Florida, 62.75
11. Tennessee, 61.33
12. Kentucky, 54.75

JB

Week Fourteen

I think the BCS got it right, the two best teams will be playing for the their title. While most people probably say this way a perfect season for the BCS, I have to disagree. Will we ever really know how good TCU is? Sure, they will play a very good Wisconsin team in the Rose Bowl, but if they win people will just say Wisconsin wasn't prepared to play like they said when Utah beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. If there was a playoff, then we would know both teams came to play and so there's no debate about the losing team's motivation.

Auburn was extremely impressive against South Carolina. Cam Newton is far and away the best player in college football, it's not even close. Last night I heard plenty of people talking about how unstoppable he is. While he is a great quarterback, and he may be the complete fruition of everything a quarterback can be, he is not unstoppable. Mississippi State stopped him the entire second half of their game, Clemson stopped him the first half, even Kentucky stopped him for a quarter. Alabama stuffed him for a quarter in a half, he didn't get anything. He's a great player, but he's not unstoppable.

Based on what's been proven in the Cam Newton saga, there is no reason to hold anything against Auburn. But I don't have a problem with people not voting for him to win the Heisman Trophy. It's been proven that his father was shopping him around, and if a voter believes that should disqualify him from the prestigious award then I don't think you can argue with that. I think it should be more for the on-field achievements and that he should win the award.

I ended the year at 78-18 on my SEC picks. Here's the final power poll:

1. Auburn, 13-0 (9-0)
2. Arkansas, 10-2 (6-2)
3. LSU, 10-2 (6-2)
4. Alabama, 9-3 (5-3)
5. South Carolina, 9-4 (5-3)
6. Mississippi State, 8-4 (4-4)
7. Florida, 7-5 (4-4)
8. Georgia, 6-6 (3-5)
9. Tennessee, 6-6 (3-5)
10. Kentucky, 6-6 (2-6)
11. Ole Miss, 4-8 (1-7)
12. Vanderbilt, 2-10 (1-7)

My Final Top 5:
1. Auburn, 13-0
2. Oregon, 12-0
3. TCU, 12-0
4. Stanford, 11-1
5. Wisconsin, 11-1

It looks like a clean BCS this year, but I still want more. TCU went undefeated, I think they should get a shot at the title so we can have closure on how good they really are. Stanford's only loss was on the road at undefeated Oregon...if it had been at home then that would be a different story, but it wasn't. Wisconsin's only loss was on the road to an 11-1 Michigan State team. Ohio State's only loss was on the road to an 11-1 Wisconsin team. I think all 6 of those teams have a case to be worthy enough to play for a national championship, and so I don't think that if they were involved Auburn and Oregon could have much beef even though they went through unscathed. I can live with the results this year, but I still think it can be improved.

JB

16-team Playoff

I am not a huge fan of the idea of a 16-team playoff. I think that if it were implemented it would cheapen the regular season a little bit. Most proponents of a 16-team playoff say that the first round of games would be played in the home stadium of the higher seeded team, and it would probably take place today...the first Saturday in December (Championship Saturday as it's known now). The idea of 8 playoff college football games going on today is pretty enticing. Using the BCS standings, this is how it would shake out (using the 11 conference champion, 5 at-large format).

12:00 - 16 Florida International (Sun Belt Champ) at 1 Auburn (SEC Champ)

1:00 - 12 Virginia Tech (ACC Champ) at 5 Wisconsin (Big Ten Champ)

2:00 - 14 Miami (OH) (MAC Champ) at 3 TCU (Mountain West Champ)

3:30 - 9 Oklahoma (Big 12 Champ) at 7 Arkansas (at-large)

4:30 - 13 West Virginia (Big East Champ) at 4 Stanford (at-large)

5:30 - 11 Boise State (WAC Champ) at 6 Ohio State (at-large)

7:00 - 10 LSU (at-large) at 8 Michigan State (at-large)

8:30 - 15 Central Florida (C-USA Champ) at 2 Oregon (PAC 10 Champ)


Michigan State would play the 10 seed and Arkansas would play the 9 seed to prevent two teams from the same conference playing each other in the first round.

Imagine that day right there, that would be pretty great. Or if there were a 4 or 8 team playoff but all conferences were having championship games today, that might be just as exciting.

JB

College Football - Week 14

The SEC Championship is one of the most impressive spectacles in all of sports. In some ways, I think it is bigger than the National Championship Game...certainly the last two years it has been. You can take away the Superbowls, SEC basketball tournaments, Final Four, Falcons home games, etc. The Georgia Dome was made to be the home of this game.

For all the things I love about the SEC Championship Game, the only thing I don't really like is when there is a matchup between teams that have already played in the regular season. But in the case of Auburn and South Carolina I'm okay with it because the Gamecocks lost at Auburn. If Auburn had gone to Columbia and won then I really wouldn't like them having to play this game.

There are a lot of people pointing to the fact that Steve Spurrier will have essentially had three weeks to prepare for this game, and he is tough to beat in that case. Perhaps that used to be the case, but as we all know, the Ole Ball Coach has lost some of his muster. Still, he will be able to come up with a good game plan I think and really challenge Auburn. He got USC to this game, which is farther than they have ever gotten. South Carolina fans really want to win this because who knows when they'll get back. There is plenty of motivation on their sideline.

After pulling out that great comeback at Alabama, Auburn will have to bounce back quickly from that emotionally charged victory. The Tigers have proved many things this year especially their ability to win close games and come from behind. They are one of the most resilient teams in recent memory. Auburn has beaten every one of the top 6 teams in the SEC, they are the best team no matter what happens in this game. The question isn't whether they can win, it's will they come out with the emotion needed to get a victory against a USC team that will give it everything they've got.

South Carolina has the #1 rushing defense in the SEC by a good margin at 93.2 yards/game. Auburn has the best rushing offense in the SEC by a huge margin at 291.2 yards/game. That will be an interesting matchup. No one has stopped Cam Newton yet, even last week vs. Bama he still threw the ball well.

South Carolina's rushing statistics are a little skewed because there has been several games where Marcus Lattimore sat out for a while including the game at Auburn. They are 7th in the SEC. Auburn's rush defense is 2nd.

Auburn has the #1 scoring offense, South Carolina has the #3 scoring defense. It's like this at every category statistically. Both these teams match up very well in all phases of the game.

South Carolina may be 9-3 and ranked 18 spots below Auburn in the BCS standings but they are a much better team than that. In the Auburn game they turned the ball over 4 times in the 4th quarter, and still only lost the game by 8 points going down the wire. Spurrier really cost the Gamecocks that game by pulling Garcia after he fumbled the ball twice (he was having one of the best games of his career)...Conner Shaw proceeded to throw two interceptions. USC's second loss was a predictable one, coming off the emotional win vs. #1 Alabama they fell to a talented Kentucky team on the road...but they're a better team and should've won if they were focused. Then knowing they had the East wrapped up Spurrier put Lattimore on the sideline and the Cocks rolled over and got smoked by Arkansas. I think South Carolina is better than their record and rank indicate. I don't know if they are better than Arkansas but with that game being in Columbia, if the Gamecocks were focus and determined to win I think they could be 11-1 right now and this would be another SEC Championship Game which acts as a semifinal for the BCS Title Game.

With all that said, Auburn is a better team now then when they played in September. No one has stopped Cam Newton and Auburn's offense. No one has stopped Nick Fairley either. If those two come to play and their supporting cast executes their roles as they have for 12 games already, they are the best team in the country. I don't think Auburn will be able to stop Alshon Jeffrey, but they haven't stop any star receivers this year and they still win. It's going to be another exciting game to watch, Auburn 42 South Carolina 35

JB

Healthcare Part 3

There is no doubt that our healthcare system has it's flaws. The main flaw is the inability to get insurance because of pre-existing conditions. Other flaws include insurance companies unwillingness to pay, medical lawsuits, lack of coverage for underprivileged children, and high premiums.

What the government can do to help the healthcare system is work with insurance companies to come up with a set of rules. It needs to be determined what an insurance company needs to make to cover cost, overhead, and reasonable profit. Figuring conservatively, ceiling amounts should be placed on premiums for people based on age and health history. For example, an insurance company may be able to charge a 40-year-old female with no major medical history $600 a month at a ceiling...from there insurance companies can be competitive with prices lower than $600/month to get her business. People with pre-existing conditions must be taken by insurance companies. When they are taken they are reported to the government agency in charge. That government agency is responsible for making sure all insurance companies are taking a equal percentage of the at-risk individuals. Costs stemming from that at-risk patient exceeding a certain amount can be tax-deducable.

I believe that all children should be able to receive healthcare. I know that if that is a hard and fast rule then children of people with insurance would take advantage of the system so it should be done through taxes. For example, medical costs could be used as tax credits for parents making under a certain wage. If a child has cancer or another disease then the government could absorb the cost for treatment. If my taxes go up ever so slightly to give a child a chance at life then I am for it.

One of the biggest reasons medical insurance is so expensive is because of all the tests and re-test and things doctors do to make sure they don't get tangled up in a medical malpractice law suit. There are a few things like checking blood pressure and such that need to be done but all the unnecessary x-rays and things that really don't pertain to why the patient is there should be eliminated in the name of money. There needs to be tort reform to eliminate some of the law suits regarding negligence because a doctor didn't run the 19th and 20th test on you to make sure your bladder is properly functioning when you came in for him to check your throat.

The practice of insurance companies not wanting to pay for medical expenses needs to end. If a patient goes to the doctor complaining of chest pains and it just turns out to be heartburn I understand they don't want to pay $250 for that visit. So every customer needs to have a deductible worth approximately 3% of their annual household income...and they need to pay it in full before the insurance company pays any coverage. This will prevent people from just going to the doctor for every little ache and pain.

JB

Healthcare Part 2

We know that politicians are smart people. Most of them have been to law school, most are wealthy, and after all they did get elected. So why would wealthy, smart politicians want to enact a healthcare bill that would give us all the consequences I mentioned in Part 1? The simple answer is that if millions of people get free healthcare, they will be dedicated voters for their party.

Think about it. If you are a person who has never had healthcare coverage, doesn't have it right now, and doesn't foresee any time when you will have it, then you would be glad to get it no matter what form it's in. So when healthcare takes effect and all of the sudden you get coverage, you are going to vote for the party who favors universal heathcare because you don't want the other party taking it away.

The healthcare bill that was passed in March of 2010 is not entirely universal heathcare. Many democrats started with universal healthcare and landed somewhere in the neighborhood of just making everyone get insurance. This is a problem because in at no time during the history of the United States has the government forced the people to buy something. Just the mere fact that you are breathing means you will have to purchase health insurance. I take my freedom very seriously, and nothing about that says freedom to me....all I see is the government telling me what to do, and I don't like it.

The healthcare bill is going to be implemented over the next few years and it will take full effect in 2014. It is unclear how much of it will have gone into effect before the 2012 election. Healthcare must be repealed because if some of it's initiatives are implemented then the '30 million' who don't have it will be yelling and screaming that the Republicans are trying to take it away in 2012, and if enough democrats retain control then it will all come to fruition. Once that takes place, they will take more steps towards universal healthcare in the future.

JB

Healthcare Part 1

Healthcare is very important. It's literally critical to the health and wealth of America. We all want good healthcare, and we all want everyone to be able to receive it. I believe the key to understanding the healthcare debate is to determine the consequences that will take place once certain action is implemented.

On the surface, the idea of free healthcare to all American citizens is a great thing. There is no doubt that for anyone to be able to go to the doctor or to the emergency room free of charge is something that is desirable, and I believe all Americans think that ideal is a good thing. The problem with the universal healthcare debate is that for so many people it ends there. That is all they see. Free healthcare for everyone. That is good. End of story.

Unfortunately that is not all there is to it. Healthcare will never be free, at least not until doctors start volunteering and manufacturers of machines donate their inventions, and contractors build hospitals as a charity. There is cost for healthcare, lots of cost, and it has to be paid for somehow. And with the idea universal healthcare comes the reality that tax payers must pay for it.

So how can we reallocate the money we've paid in taxes that are being used for other things to now be used for heathcare? We can't. The fact is that even if we cut government overhead in one area to spend it on healthcare we are really just adding back that overhead because the government will be running it...so all we've done is shifted government employees from one sector to another. The only way to pay for healthcare is to raise taxes, plain and simple. So, that's you're first major consequence of healthcare, higher taxes.

The second major consequence of universal healthcare is the deterioration of service. If every patient is viewed the same and doctors basically become government employees then what is their motivation for providing excellent service? I know there is an ideal that they will be motivated by helping others, and while their motivation will in all likelihood be greater than the government worker at the DMV, the service will decline. Some doctor's view of their jobs will change because of the loss of capitalism in healthcare, and with that their practice of medicine will suffer....and we don't want that. Since everyone can receive healthcare free of charge there will be 30-40% more people in that waiting room. Not just the 10% that don't have healthcare now, but the additional people who have insurance but may not go to the doctor when they have the slightest cold because they don't want to pay higher rates or a deductible. There will be lack of privacy in hospital rooms and long waits for surgeries and treatments. Look at Canada and England's universal healthcare systems: 65% of Americans survive cancer for 5 years after being diagnosed compared to 46% in England and 42% in Canada, 93% of Americans diagnosed with diabetes received treatment within the first six months compared to 15% in England and 43% in Canada, 77% of Americans who are referred to a medical specialist are seen within one month compared to 40% in England and 43% in Canada.

The third major consequence of universal healthcare is losing our access to the best doctors and medical machines in the world. Once the government controls healthcare they will set the wages for doctors. So the doctor that provides great service and does great work will be making the same and the doctor who does just okay work. The foreign doctor who came to America to make $1,000,000 a year will leave because they would rather be in their home country if they are only going to make a certain wage. There is a reason why leaders from around the world come to America for surgeries, it's because we have the best doctors. And the best doctors come here from around the world to make the most money. They will leave America and that combined with having to cover more people and less 'rich people' wanting to become doctors will create such a need for doctors that medical schools will have to lower their admission standards, thereby creating a lesser medical field. When the government sets prices on what they will pay for machines, companies who manufacture those machines will spend far less time creating new ideas for them because the pay is less. Less inventions and technology will be developed because of this. Let's use England and Canada again: there are 71 MRI scanners in America per one million people compared to 14 in England and 18 and Canada.

The fourth major consequence of universal healthcare is having the government control our lives through it. The cost of healthcare will be large, and with a certain budget there will be strict guidelines for doctors to follow in order to keep costs down. One of these guidelines will in all likelihood be that once a person reaches a certain age they should not receive as much attention because they are so close to the end of their life. So the heart-bypass that Grandpa needs will be pushed to the end of the line, Grandma will have to wait on her hip replacement, and after a few days of struggling in the hospital a great Aunt of yours might have the plug pulled by a doctor with orders from Uncle Sam.


JB

Week Thirteen

I'm officially going to give up predicting the national games for 2010. I managed to only get one game out of 8 right...and that was Ohio State over Michigan which was a very easy one to pick. So I'll end it with an above .500 record of 37-34, pretty pathetic picking the games straight up.

The Auburn comeback over Alabama was one of the greatest comebacks I've ever seen considering the circumstances. On the road, national championship, bragging rights, everything on the line and they were getting dominated, really it could have been much worse than 24-0 before they final moved the ball on offense. But you have to really hand it to Nick Fairley, he and Antoine Carter kept them in the game until the second half when Cam Newton took over. That game goes to show how important emotion is, Bama was on fire feeding off the crowd in the first half...but they couldn't sustain it after halftime and the crowd exhaled while Auburn crept back into the game.

While I was watching Boise State perform the same collapse Alabama did I was thinking how I could justify a close win to Nevada to keep them in contention. I think it could have been easy to do because Nevada creamed Cal, who only lost to Oregon by two points. But Boise State lost, and I was a little bit disappointed. They certainly can't blame it all on the field goal kicker because they got knocked off the ball on both lines of scrimmage the entire second half. But what I find amazing is that all the people who want a playoff so bad also were happy Boise State lost. Boise State is the exact reason why we might eventually get a playoff, and it's ashame people can't understand that. It's the folks like the Ohio State president who can't stand having Boise State around that are going to vote for a playoff if indeed Boise State or TCU can make it to the title game. They will vote for it because they figure if the little guys can get in anyway, let's give ourselves a chance with a 4 or 8 team playoff. It makes too much sense, but we've got Gary Danielson and Craig James filling everyone's mind up with all this 'they don't play the same schedule', which is just a red herring for the real problem...which is the BCS!

The final score of the Egg Bowl might have only been 31-23 but Mississippi State dominated that game. I really believe that getting six wins, beating Florida, and beating Ole Miss to push their heads a little further under water has really allowed the program to take three steps this year instead of just the one I was hoping for. It's been a great year for State. I was 6-2 on my SEC picks this week, so that's 77-18 on the year. Here's my power rankings:

1. Auburn, 12-0 (8-0) - They are the best, there is do doubt about it. It's amazing they have run the table in the SEC with an average defense but they have won in every way imaginable on the road and at home.

2. Arkansas, 10-2 (6-2) - The Hogs are one of the hottest teams in the country right now. This makes me think an 8-team playoff could work...if there was one this is a team I wouldn't want to face.

3. LSU, 10-2 (6-2) - I cannot believe they finished the season with 10 wins. If you say great coaching job by Les Miles then his shortcomings have made you believe he did a good job. He had some of the best talent in the country, this is the record he should have had...but he was lucky to get it.

4. South Carolina, 9-3 (5-3) - They are playing really well right now. Auburn fans might think it's in the bag, but you know the Ole Ball Coach has got some stuff up his sleeve.

5. Alabama, 9-3 (5-3) - Bama falls all the way to #5... got to do it, they lost to the Gamecocks. This still are a great team, and they should cream whatever Big 12 team is thrown their way in the Cotton Bowl.

6. Mississippi State, 8-4 (4-4) - State did a great job this year of playing consistent football and I believe they are in the Top 12 or 15 teams in the country on a neutral field. I'm sure Chizik will get coach of the year, but he's got Cam Newton and Nick Fairley who have won him all his games, Mullen should be SEC Coach of the Year.

7. Florida, 7-5 (4-4) - This year was an absolute disaster from the first game to the last. Everyone should have realized things would go down losing Dan Mullen, Charlie Strong, and Tim Tebow, but this was a surprise.

8. Georgia, 6-6 (3-5) - They made a bowl, congratulations. Starting the day after the bowl game, Mark Richt is officially on the hot seat.

9. Tennessee, 6-6 (3-5) - What a November comeback for the Vols. I know it wasn't against top competition, but they played really well and Derek Dooley should get some votes for coach of the year.

10. Kentucky, 6-6 (2-6) - How do they lose to UT again? I don't know about their program. They've got a bunch of playmakers, they can hang with almost anybody, but they can't get any better than making it to a lower-tier bowl.

11. Ole Miss, 4-8 (1-7) - This was a rebuilding year for Ole Miss, their problem is that they couldn't recognize it. Jerimiah Masoli completely backfired in their face from the first game of the season. Tyrone Nix should be fired.

12. Vanderbilt, 2-10 (1-7) - I'm surprised Robbie Caldwell resigned before the last game. I thought he was doing a decent job. I'm not sure what direction they go from here. I think they need to re-evaluate and hire an athletic director.

My Top 5:

1. Auburn, 12-0
2. Oregon, 11-0
3. TCU, 12-0
4. Stanford, 11-1
5. Wisconsin, 11-1

Wisconsin is a solid team, them and Arkansas might be the hottest teams in the country right now. I think TCU vs. Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl would be a great game, and I hope TCU torches them. I wonder what the Ohio State president would say then, especially since his team lost to Wisconsin. And I hope Ohio State plays Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl and they get torched as well. Should be interesting to see how it all plays out, but it looks like there will be some great BCS games.

The Falcons are 9-2. Matt Ryan is 19-1 career at home. They look really good. I don't see them losing more than one game down the stretch.

JB

College Football - Week 13

I'm putting this week's preview out today because I wasn't going to post anything else with Thanksgiving this week, and so this can sit as the latest post for a few days.

This is a huge week in college football, perhaps the best. It's Rivalry Week...a bittersweet week. It's so great but yet we know the college football season is coming to an end. All across the country there are great games.

Two 2-9 teams that are tanking will be playing with Wake Forest at Vanderbilt. These two programs were having banner years a few years ago but it's all fallen apart. I picked Vandy before the year in this game and I'm going to stick with them. At home, the worst team in the SEC needs to beat the worst team in the ACC.

Georgia has got to beat Georgia Tech. This has been a terrible season for both teams but especially UGA. If they lose this game there will be no bowl game and that would be the first time they haven't made a bowl since 1996, Ray Goff's last season in Athens. GA Tech is only 6-5 and they have had plenty of attrition on defense. I think the Dawgs use their two weeks of preparation and home field to their advantage and win the game.

The odds-makers seem to be favoring all the home teams in the rivalry games this weekend, and so even Florida State is getting the benefit of the doubt hosting Florida. Both of these teams have been very inconsistent. I'm pretty sure the last time FSU won this game was 2003, when Zook was the coach for Florida. But this year is the year to stick it to the Gators...they are not good. Mississippi State and South Carolina took advantage of it but Georgia didn't. I think being at home, and with plenty of motivation Florida State will win the game by a field goal.

South Carolina at Clemson. I don't even know what they call this game. Two schools whose fan base always wants to win so bad but they stick to 6-8 wins a year. The Gamecocks have broken loose from that a little this year and they could get their 9th win in this game. I was a little unsure about how USC would perform in the last two weeks knowing they just want to win the SEC Championship but they stomped Troy, although Troy basically played dead in that game. Clemson proved they can run play with the SEC when they took Auburn to overtime on the road but they haven't been very consistent this year. In no way would I be surprised if Clemson won this game but I'm going to pick South Carolina to pull it out, maybe by a field goal.

So I'm picking the SEC to go 3-1 over the ACC this week. If it's any less than that it would be embarrassing.

In the same way that this year is everyone's turn to beat Florida, this is the year to get Tennessee. Vandy was able to stay in the game last week, but Kentucky is better than that and they have got to win this game even if it is in Knoxville. After 25 years of dominance, when is this going to end? Kentucky is not that bad of a program, especially the last 5 years. Hartline is a senior, Cobb is such a great athlete. I think this is going to be a great game and I'm going to stick with my preseason pick...Kentucky wins the game and keeps UT out of a bowl game.

How great is the SEC West? The Top 5 teams in the West went 14-1 vs. the East. Outside of playing each other, the Top 5 teams in the West are 38-1. All 5 top teams are ranked in the Top 25 and the Top 4 are all ranked in the Top 12. LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas have a combined 5 loses and they all have been out of contention for the division title for two weeks! This weekend would be great just based on the above 5 games but then there's the following three including games pitting my SEC #1 at #3 and SEC #2 at #4. It doesn't get much better than that.

The Egg Bowl is going to be huge this year, just like it was last year. The game won't have any impact on who's going to a bowl although State's bowl positioning will be affected. If Ole Miss wins, they will have taken the air out of MSU's great season and that will help them on the recruiting trail just like it did for State last year. But if State can win they will possibly get to a New Year's Day bowl game and be able to stuff Ole Miss down to the bottom of the SEC and have won the Egg Bowl trophy two years in a row. The road team hasn't won this game since 2003 but I think that changes this year. State played great against Arkansas and Ole Miss' defense is very poor. Mississippi State 31 Ole Miss 21

LSU at Arkansas could be a play-in for a BCS game. A lot will depend on how the Iron Bowl turns out, but this game looks like a heavy weight fight between two great teams. Arkansas is playing great football right now, and LSU has been good and lucky all year. In the last 3 years LSU only beat Arkansas last year, and that took overtime. This game is always great no matter what. Arkansas is one of the toughest home teams in the SEC, even in Little Rock, and with the way they are playing I think they will pull this game out and throw a wrench into the BCS and bowl game scenarios. Arkansas 34 LSU 30

This year's Iron Bowl is the game of the year. Fortunately, some of the Cam Newton talk has died down in the last week or so. Auburn is coming off a bye which I think will have given their coaches time to develop a good game plan and the players time to heal and distance themselves from the distractions. Alabama should be coming in on fire and healthy, Richardson hasn't played since the LSU game and I think he'll be fresh. The game is in Tuscaloosa and the Tide haven't lost there since ULM beat them in 2007. Bama is favored in this one but I just don't see them stopping Cam Newton. Auburn only won by 3 points in Starkville and Lexington but since the Arkansas game this team has gotten really tough, and they creamed Ole Miss in Oxford. Auburn 31 Alabama 24

There are some good games nationally this week so I'll pick a few more than usual.
Arizona over Oregon - Arizona has scored a lot of points this year and they have a good defense. They've had two weeks to prepare for Oregon as well.
Texas over Texas A&M
Boise State over Nevada
Pittsburgh over West Virginia
Penn State over Michigan State
Ohio State over Michigan
Oklahoma State over Oklahoma
N.C. State over Maryland


JB

Baby Back Ribs

Ingredients: Baby back ribs, BBQ sauce, light brown sugar, Jack Daniels, salt and pepper.

Cook Time: 4 hours

Take however many racks of ribs you want and break them in half. Put them in a large pot, salt and pepper a little bit and cover with water. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Take the ribs out of the pot, rinse them off and put them on a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil. Put a generous amount of light brown sugar in a bowl. Pour some Jack Daniels over the brown sugar and stir it around. The brown sugar will turn dark and clump together. Take this and rub it all over both sides of the ribs. Cover with the aluminum foil and cook it in the oven for 2 and a half hours.

Fire up the grill and bring it to medium heat. Put the ribs on and baste with your favorite BBQ sauce. Do this about 3 times on the top and bottom of the ribs, and let them be on the grill for about 30-45 minutes...make sure not to burn them.

They should look delicious at this point, and after 4 hours you should be pretty hungry. Enjoy.

JB

Week Twelve

College football is a great sport and one of the reasons is because you never know how things are going to turn out. That's mostly because there is so much based on emotions and they vary from week to week. Ole Miss layed an egg against Tennessee last week and they fight LSU in Baton Rouge to the wire. Mississippi State got demolished last week at Alabama and they played a very hot Arkansas team to 2 overtimes. Who knows what will happen, I don't. That MSU was a very entertaining game and even though State lost I'm not to broken up about it. The combined record of the 4 teams State has lost to is 39-5.

I went 6-0 on my SEC picks and 1-2 on the national ones. I'm 71-16 this year in the SEC and 36-26 on the others. Here's my power rankings:

1. Auburn, 11-0 (7-0) - Next week's game has Auburn heading into Tuscaloosa in the same position Alabama came into Auburn last year...Heisman candidate and everything.

2. LSU, 10-1 (6-1) - They survived again. Next week at Arkansas could be for the right to play in a BCS bowl.

3. Alabama, 9-2 (5-2) - The Iron Bowl is going to be huge. Trent Richardson will have had 3 weeks to rest and they should be at full strength.

4. Arkansas, 9-2 (5-2) - If Knile Davis had been a part of this offense at the beginning of the season like he is now, would the Hogs be 11-0 or 10-1?

5. South Carolina, 8-3 (5-3) - Impressive spanking of Troy. The key next week is beating rival Clemson without anyone getting hurt.

6. Mississippi State, 7-4 (3-4) - I thought State played a great game vs. Arkansas it just didn't end with a W. Got to regroup for a pivitol game at Ole Miss with bowl positioning, recruiting implications, and bragging rights on the line.

7. Florida, 7-4 (4-4) - I thought there was a chance they could struggle with App. State but they didn't. I might be pulling against them next week at Florida State becuase it will have an effect of MSU's bowl position.

8. Georgia, 5-6 (3-5) - This hasn't been a good year for UGA but a win vs. GA Tech next week would go a long way towards healing the wounds. A loss and the entire fanbase is going to jump off a cliff.

9. Kentucky, 6-5 (2-5) - The Wildcats had this week off to prepare for Tennessee. This has got to be the year they break the 25-game losing streak.

10. Tennessee, 5-6 (2-5) - Tyler Brey has lead them from the abyess to the brink of bowl eligibility. Huge game next week vs. Kentucky.

11. Ole Miss, 4-7 (1-6) - This year has not gone well for the Rebs but they still almost beat LSU...it's amazing how they can play them so well but State cannot beat them.

12. Vanderbilt, 2-9 (1-7) - I read a few articles last week that questioned Vandy's commitment to the football program. I believe they don't have much of it and if that's the case then they might as well keep Robbie Caldwell...but if they are going to let him go then they need to show more of an effort to support football from a University standpoint.

My Top 5:

1. Auburn, 11-0
2. Oregon, 10-0/Boise State, 10-0
4. TCU, 11-0
5. LSU, 10-1

I was throughly impressed by Boise State beating Fresno State 51-0. Beating a team like Fresno that bad tells me you are a good team...and holding them to no points is amazing. So to prevent myself from being prisoner of the moment I looked at their schedules and the final scores to see who I though should be ranked higher, Oregon or Boise. Oregon's best win was at home vs. Stanford (10-1, would be my #6 team) - very impressive win. Boise's best win is the virtual road game vs. Virginia Tech (9-2, ranked #13 in the AP) - slightly impressive? The rest of both their schedules is pretty unimpressive. Oregon has played better teams, scoring over 50 points on almost all of them and giving up 20-30 points. Boise State has played lesser competition and scored over 50 points on almost all of them and giving up 0-15 points. So it looks like they are pretty even except for the win over Stanford is better then VA Tech, but Boise did beat Oregon in '08 and '09 so I'm just going to have to call it a dead heat for #2 in my book.

JB

Thoughts on the NFL II

I am probably more interested in the NFL right now than I have been in four or five years. And that is surprising because Mississippi State is 7-4. I'm still not interested enough to watch games around the league but I've got greater anticipation when the Falcons are about to play. The birds are enjoying quite a start to the season at 7-2 and maybe people around the country are starting to take notice. If Matt Ryan and Roddy White (MVP candidate) can stay healthy I think they can get home field advantage throughout...their remaining schedule is pretty weak.

The last time I gave some thoughts on the NFL (after week 4) I said I thought the Steelers were the favorite to win the Superbowl. They are still in contention at 6-3 but I don't know if they are the favorite anymore. Really, I don't think anyone is the favorite like it was last year with the Saints and Colts. I would say there is nine teams in contention for the Superbowl right now: Jets, Patriots, Ravens, Steelers, Colts, Saints, Falcons, Giants, and Eagles.

To me there is no doubt the most dangerous team in the NFL is the Eagles. Who knows what Micheal Vick could do you? That is what I loved about Vick when he played for the Falcons from '02-'04. He was like Cam Newton is for Auburn right now, but you could replace Newton's physicality with Vick's pure speed. But 3rd and short or even 3rd and long he could break a run that turned the game around. It's too bad he wasn't focused because just as he was becoming a better player his attitude changed and he became a thug in '05 and '06 and his game and the Falcons record dropped off. But right now he is the player we all knew he could be if he put his mind to it. I'm glad the Falcons have Matt Ryan though, no ill feelings towards Vick...but if he beats Atlanta in the playoffs I will not be happy about it.

JB

College Football - Week 12

There seems to be a huge sentiment among the 'experts' in college football that Auburn will lose to Alabama next week and Boise State will play Oregon in the BCS Title Game. I'm glad people are opening up to the possibility of Boise playing for the title but I think this has more to do with people preparing for Auburn's demise. With all the speculation around Cam Newton there is no doubt that most people think he is guilty of the allegations. While people are saying the right thing, innocent until proven guilty, they know deep down which way they are leaning. So, I think a lot of people will be rooting for Alabama in the Iron Bowl because they don't want to see a possible tainted Champion. As far as the possibility of Auburn losing but still making it, I don't think so. Because of what I just said, if Auburn loses to Bama they are going to drop faster than a led zeppelin and probably land 6th or 7th in the polls...too far down to make it back.

I'm 1-0 already this week, Bama beat Georgia State. I also can't lose with Georgia, Auburn, and Kentucky because they are finally taking their bye week.

One would think South Carolina will get to enjoy Senior Day with an easy victory over Troy but I'm not sure it will be a route. Troy only lost at Oklahoma State, who is now #10 in the BCS, by 3 points in week 2. Still, South Carolina wins this game. The way Florida played last week who knows what could happen against Appalachian State but I think they'll find a way to get it done.

Tennessee should be able to take one more step towards bowl-eligibility this week at Vanderbilt. UT's always had Vandy's number and mostly because they are better, this year is no different even with the Vol's struggles. Tyler Brey looks like the real deal and I look for them to cover the nine point spread easily.

Ole Miss is going to Baton Rouge to have revenge taken out on them for the last two years. I don't give them a shot against what has turned out to be a good LSU team. Normally, this game is pretty close, but Ole Miss looks like they have quit, LSU is motivated from the last two years and I think this kick in the teeth will be just what the doctor ordered for a State fan like myself.

CBS may be playing the 'Magnolia Bowl' but the real game of the week is Arkansas at Mississippi State. That is just stating facts because both teams are ranked. Somehow this game gets pushed to the back-burner every year. Finally the SEC has a TV contract so it has to be televised. Arkansas is favored by three points and I think that is a fair spread. Knile Davis has emerged as a stud in the Hogs backfield and State will need to stop him to make them one-dimensional. Corey Broomfield played horrible at Bama and was a contributing factor is all three of their long touchdown runs...hopefully he will show up. I'm not so sure about this game, and for the first time this year I am going to pick against MSU. It will be a close game, but I'm not sure State has enough to defend Arkansas' weapons; Arkansas' offense may be better than Auburn's right now.

Virginia Tech over Miami, Iowa over Ohio State, Nebraska over Texas A&M.

JB

Basketball Schools vs. Football Schools

There are a bunch of college sports out there. Some schools have more than others, but most major colleges have a baseball, basketball, and football team. Outside of the south and maybe the west, baseball isn't a big sport. It's all about basketball and football. There are basketball schools and there are football schools.

While I was at Mississippi State the football team was horrible, they never won more than three games in a season the entire time I was there. But while I was in Starkville the basketball team made three NCAA tournament appearances, went to the NIT final four, and won the SEC in 2004...arguably State's best team ever. Perennially, State was at the top of the SEC West in basketball, and at the bottom of the West in football. So I thought, is Mississippi State a basketball school?

When you say basketball school the names that pop into your head are Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Kansas. At all of those schools winning in basketball outweighs winning in football. In 2006 Florida won the national championship in both sports. They were excited about the basketball championship but it was no where near the level of winning it all in football.

If you had asked me, while I was at State, if I would trade an NCAA tournament appearance for a bowl game I would have said yes. In fact, if we could've gone to a New Year's Day game I would've traded our 25-2 SEC Championship season. I would rather State win the SEC in football than go to the Final Four in basketball. The only thing that could outweigh a SEC title in football would be a national championship in basketball. The fact is, I care more about football than basketball and I'd rather us be better in football...and I think most MSU fans feel that way.

So the bottom line in differentiating whether a school is a basketball or football school isn't necessarily what they are good at, but which sport would the fans rather be good in. If Mississippi State tanked in football for the next 15 years and the basketball team went to a couple final fours, maybe a championship...then that sustained winning and football losing might sway the tide, but for now State is a football school...just like almost every other school in the country.

JB

I'm picking Alabama to beat Georgia State tonight.

Coolest Album Covers

Jack Johnson - "In Between Dreams"




The Beatles - "Abbey Road"




















Jimmy Buffett - "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes"

















Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young - "Deja Vu"














The Allman Brothers Band - "Eat a Peach"







Eric Clapton - "Slowhand"














Pearl Jam - "Ten"



















Pink Floyd - "Dark Side of the Moon"







Van Halen - "Van Halen II"













Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Californication"











Creed - "Human Clay"

Week Eleven

I thought Auburn looked frustrated and really lacked focus in the first quarter against Georgia. They had a couple unsportsmanlike penalties, two dropped balls, and Cam Newton gave a brat-like stiff arm to a defender. But after that he and the rest of the team really settled down and ended up looking like the Auburn team that we've seen all year. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next two weeks before the Iron Bowl with all the Newton allegations, hopefully it will die down though...I need to get some work done.

A least a few of Mississippi State's players were obviously not over the loss of Nick Bell. There wasn't the same focus and determination we've seen all year, and State got creamed. If it wasn't for the mercy of Nick Saban the score would've completely been out of hand. That is something I will commend Saban for, there has been several opportunities this year to put up a huge number but he's backed off for the sake of being a good sport.

Congratulations to South Carolina. It's really been a banner year for that school. I'm pretty sure they had only won a national championship in track before 2010, and then this spring they won the baseball national championship. Now, they've won the SEC East, something they had never even come close to doing. I thought this would be their year, and it was.

I was 4-1 on my SEC picks and 1-2 nationally. So that's 65-16 SEC and 35-24 around the country for the year. Power Poll:

1. Auburn, 11-0 (7-0) - We'll just see if Cam Newton is still eligible for the Iron Bowl...and likewise if Auburn is eligible for the SEC Championship Game and BCS Title Game. But if they are they've got a great chance to win all three.

2. LSU, 9-1 (5-1) - Nice win over ULM, they finally didn't struggle with a lesser team. 'Magnolia Bowl' next week.

3. Alabama, 8-2 (5-2) - I was impressed by their ability to come out firing vs. MSU. They are still a great team and after a scrimmage vs. Georgia State they will be quite a test for Auburn.

4. Arkansas, 8-2 (4-2) - The Hogs have made their way back up to #4, and they've quietly won four in a row. Next week at Mississippi State could be a battle for the Cotton Bowl.

5. South Carolina, 7-3 (5-3) - The SEC schedule is over and the Gamecocks are East Champs! I'm glad they came through for me. Now we'll see if they can finish strong vs. Troy and Clemson.

6. Mississippi State, 7-3 (3-3) - I have been forced to drop my beloved dawgs. I almost don't even count that game with respect to evaluating the season as a whole due to the off the field distractions. They need to rebound this week to get ready for a really good Arkansas team.

7. Florida, 6-4 (4-4) - Their SEC schedule is also over and they have a horrible record for their standards. The offense reached new lows...in week 11! I think it's safe to say they miss Mullen and Tebow. And I think they should fire Addazio, because when you have that much talent you've got to be able to find a way to move the ball.

8. Georgia, 5-6 (3-5) - Another East team whose SEC schedule is over. Now it's crunch time and they've got two weeks to prepare for 'clean old fashioned hate' with Georgia Tech. They really need a bowl game to work on the defensive strategy.

9. Kentucky, 6-5 (2-5) - 2010 will make 5 straight bowl games for the Cats. That is quite an impressive streak for a program with their history. Joker Philips has continued Rich Brooks legacy, now we'll see if he can get over the hump in the coming years. He's got two weeks to prepare his team for the first hump which is finally beating Tennessee...and this is the year to do it.

10. Tennessee, 4-6 (1-5) - Finally got an SEC win, and did it in very convincing fashion. Tyler Brey looks like he could be a star in this league. Plus it gets easier next week at Vanderbilt.

11. Ole Miss, 4-6 (1-5) - I don't know if Jeramiah Masoli was suffering ill-effects from his concussion or not but he looked awful Saturday. Getting beat 52-14 by a 3-6 team has to be the low point of Houston Nutt's career...on the field. They've got to win out at LSU and vs. Mississippi State to make a bowl, don't think it's gonna happen.

12. Vanderbilt, 2-8 (1-6) - I watched every snap of the game at Kentucky and I really think they played well. I'm going to take back what I said about Robbie Caldwell last week, I didn't realize just how many injuries they've suffered. Vandy played really well for 3+ quarters on Saturday, just came up short. Having said that, I won't blame them if they have a coaching change.

My Top 5:

1. Auburn, 11-0
2. Oregon, 10-0
3. Boise State, 9-0
4. TCU, 11-0
5. LSU, 9-1

I was a little suspisious going into the week with Oregon going into Cal with them being undefeated at home this year, but I never had any clue they'd lock into a defensive struggle. TCU and Oregon both looked vunerable, so that means everyone in the Top 4 has played a close game they had to pull out this year. With Utah going down and VA Tech continuing to rise, Boise State is positioning themselves to be in the BCS Title Game should Auburn or Oregon go down. Auburn plays at Alabama, and Oregon plays Arizona and at Oregon State. Those are some pretty tough games for the top teams, should be an exciting finish.

With the NY Giants horrible loss at home to the Cowboys the Falcons officially have the best record in the NFC. I'm not going to say they are the best team because the Saints are the Superbowl Champs, and they are still good. So even though the Falcons beat them in New Orleans, I'll wait for the game in Atlanta before I pass that judgement. But the Falcons are for real, and their schedule down the stretch is pretty light so watch out home-field advantage in the NFC, the Falcons are coming. P.S. Matt Ryan is 18-1 at home in his career.

JB