Category: College Football (Page 138 of 296)

      2009 College Football Week 12 Point Spreads & Odds

      November 17, 2009 /

      Along with a complete list of odds for the top 25 games, here are quick-hit previews for some of the marquee matchups for Week 12 in college football.

      No. 8 LSU at Ole Miss, 3:30PM Saturday
      The Tigers travel to Oxford this Saturday to take on an Ole Miss team that has won four of its last five games. LSU’s excellent front seven will have its hands full with running back Dexter McCluster, who is coming off an eye-popping four-touchdown, 282-yard rushing performance against Tennessee last weekend.

      No. 12 Ohio State at Michigan, 12:00PM Saturday
      This rivalry has certainly lost a lot of its luster over the past two seasons as the Wolverines continue to flounder under Rich Rodriguez. One would think that this game would be over by halftime, but never underestimate the power of a rivalry. For the most part, the Buckeyes struggled with a depleted Iowa team last week, so you never know if Tate Forcier and company can rise to the challenge and shock Jim Tressel’s team. Michigan certainly has more than enough offense to contend, but its defense has often been abused this season and might suffer a similar fate this weekend. (Of course, if Tressel continues to play things ultra-conservative with his offense, then maybe the Wolverine defense can keep UM in the ballgame.)

      No. 25 California at No. 17 Stanford, 7:30PM ET Saturday
      Of all the games on the Week 12 schedule, this might be the best matchup, although Cal will once again be without star running back Jahvid Best (concussion). Jim Harbaugh has his team playing as well as anyone in the country right now and is coming off impressive back-to-back wins over Oregon and USC. Running back Toby Gerhart has been a one-man wrecking crew for the Cardinal while compiling 1,395 yards and 19 touchdowns on 262 carries. Can the Golden Bear defense stop Gerhart or will they be yet another victim?

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      College Football

      What would a college football playoff look like this year? (Version 2.0)

      November 16, 2009 /

      Last week, I debuted this season’s “what if” college football playoff bracket, and there was one serious flaw — Boise State was left out of the playoff despite being ranked ahead of Oregon and having a head-to-head win against the Ducks. This week, I’ll remedy that.

      Here are my assumptions:

      1. The six BCS-conference champs get an automatic bid unless they are ranked outside the top 15. There would need to be some sort of ranking system used. For now, we will use the BCS.

      2. If a conference champ is ranked lower than #15 in the rankings, they give up their automatic bid and it becomes an at-large bid. (This rule is to ensure that the regular season keeps its meaning and only the elite teams make the playoffs.)

      3. Seeds and at-large bids are distributed based on the current BCS standings. Certainly, these rankings need to be tweaked to place more of an emphasis on head-to-head matchups, but they are fine for now. If an at-large team has a better BCS ranking than a conference champion, they will get a higher seed.

      4. There will be three rounds of playoffs. The first round will be held at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and the final will rotate amongst the four BCS cities (Miami, Pasadena, Tempe and New Orleans), so that those cities don’t lose the revenue from the bowl games.

      I’m adding a fifth assumption, the “I Drink Your Milkshake” Rule. Last week, Boise State was left out of this playoff despite having a head-to-head win against Oregon and being ranked ahead of the Ducks. So, there is one more caveat for the conference champions: If they are ranked behind a non-BCS school, and have a head-to-head loss to that team, then they give up their playoff bid to that team. I drink your milkshake!

      How does this affect our bracket? Let’s take a look…

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      Notre Dame should cut its losses with Weis and move on

      November 16, 2009 /

      Notre Dame should fire head coach Charlie Weis at the end of the season and I don’t write that only because the Irish lost to Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

      Anyone that has watched a decent amount of Big East football this year knows that PITT has a good team – much better than Notre Dame anyway. The Panthers’ passing attack might not be as potent as ND’s, but they can certainly put points on the board and they play much better defense.

      So it isn’t surprising that the Irish lost last weekend in Pittsburgh. What would be surprising is if Weis kept his job now that one of his teams is once again underachieving.

      At Notre Dame, everything is set up for the Irish to at least make some kind of a run at a BCS Bowl bid – if not a national championship. They play a cupcake schedule (more than other collegiate teams, that is), they play most of their games at home and they play on national television every week so that voters can overrate their performances.

      But despite all of these benefits, the Irish continue to flounder under Weis. It’s not enough for the Irish to lose at home to Navy, but they also lost to a dysfunctional, horrible Michigan team in Ann Arbor and were never really in the game against Pittsburgh even though the final score would indicate otherwise.

      Oh, they did have a chance to tie and possibly beat USC this year. But big freaking deal. The past couple weeks have proven that this is the worst Pete Carroll-led Trojans team ever, so sniffing a win against USC is hardly grounds to keep Weis for another season.

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      TCU embarrasses Utah

      November 15, 2009 /

      In one of the more impressive beat downs of the college season, No. 4 TCU beat Utah like a rented mule on Saturday night. The Horned Frogs jumped out to a 38-14 halftime lead, in route to a 55-28 victory.

      TCU dominated every phase of this game, while racking up 342 rushing yards and holding Utah to just 284 yards.

      Let me repeat that: TCU GAINED 342 RUSHING YARDS. Three hundred and forty two. Three…forty…two. That’s an ass-kicking of epic proportions.

      TCU proved tonight that Utah didn’t belong on the same field as them. I don’t know how the Utes scored 28 points, because the Horned Frogs flustered freshman Jonathan Wynn (16-of-32 219 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) the entire night, even if his final stats would suggest otherwise. Utah had no clue how to stop TCU and the Utes didn’t help themselves by allowing TCU to block a punt and return an interception for a touchdown.

      I would love to see what TCU could do against Florida, Alabama or Texas. Some might suggest that they would get blown out, but don’t forget that Utah handled Alabama last year in the Sugar Bowl when nobody thought a Mountain West team could beat a SEC squad. So don’t jump to conclusions and assume the Horned Frogs couldn’t go toe to toe with one of the top three teams in the nation.

      If you haven’t seen this TCU team play yet, you’re missing out. The Horned Frogs have one of the fastest, most aggressive defenses in the nation and an explosive offense to match it. Most would disagree, but I think they could match what Florida, Alabama and Texas bring to the table.

      College Football

      Stanford crushes USC as Barkley struggles

      November 14, 2009 /

      USC’s reign over the Pac-10 is officially over after Stanford obliterated the Trojans, 55-21 in Los Angeles on Saturday.

      This was the first time USC has lost in November under Pete Carroll, who was 28-0 coming into this game. It was also the first homecoming loss for USC under Carroll and the worst loss in the Carroll Era, topping a 47-20 defeat at the hands of Oregon two weeks ago.

      USC found out today what most of the Pac-10 already knew: That Toby Gerhart is pretty freaking good. The senior running back gained 178 yards on 29 carries for a 6.1 YPC average and also scored three touchdowns. Much like he was last week against Oregon, Gerhart served as a Mac truck and often ran threw USC defenders. His draft stock has risen dramatically the past two weeks.

      Freshman quarterback Matt Barkley had a rough day for the Trojans. He turned the ball over four times, which lead to 28 points for the Cardinal. He never looked comfortable and it showed as he threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for a defensive touchdown.

      Barkley clearly has a ton of talent, but he needs time to develop. This turned out to be a horrible year by USC standards, but at least he gained a lot of experience. He’s a gunslinger by nature, but he needs to cut down on the turnovers if he wants to take his game to the next level.

      On the other side, Jim Harbaugh has something great building at Stanford. His team competes every week and while they’ll lose a lot when Gerhart graduates after the season, it’s clear that he has this program moving in the right direction.


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      College Football

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