Category: College Football (Page 140 of 296)

      College Football Week 11 Picks and Predictions

      November 11, 2009 /

      After two strong weeks in which I went 8-0 straight up and 7-1 against the spread, I crapped the bed last week. I went just 2-2 straight up and 1-3 against the spread. My only saving grace was that I predicted Ohio State to beat Penn State outright, but the refs took care of any opportunity LSU had of covering.

      No. 25 West Virginia at No. 5 Cincinnati, 8:00PM ET, Friday
      The Bearcats received a scare last week from Connecticut, which scored 35 second half points in order to erase a 30-10 halftime deficit. While Cincinnati held on to beat the Huskies 47-45, the narrow win raised some doubts about whether or not the Bearcats should be ranked in the top 5. Tony Pike continues to battle a forearm injury, which means sophomore Zach Collaros will once again be counted on to keep Cincinnati’s BCS hopes alive. The Bearcats might have trouble running against a decent West Virginia front seven, but Collaros should have opportunities to methodically drive the ball down the field on an inconsistent Mountaineer secondary. I see this game being close early, but Cincinnati will pull away and hold on to victory in the second half.
      Odds: Cincinnati –9.
      Prediction: Cincinnati 34, West Virginia 24.

      No. 16 Utah at. No. 4 TCU, 7:30PM ET, Saturday
      I’m a little surprised to see that TCU is a whopping 19.5-point favorite in such a marquee matchup. I fully expect the Horned Frogs to take care of business at home, but the Utes have a good enough defense to somewhat contain quarterback Andy Dalton and TCU’s trio of running backs in Joe Turner, Ed Wesley and Matthew Tucker. Plus, Utah can grind it out on the ground with running backs Eddie Wide and Sausan Shakerin, so they have the ability to keep TCU’s potent offense on the sidelines and have a chance to win in the fourth quarter. In the end, I think freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn will succumb to the pressure of TCU’s aggressive defense, but this one will be close throughout.
      Odds: TCU –19.5.
      Prediction: TCU 30, Utah 24.

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      College Football

      College Football Week 11 Point Spreads

      November 11, 2009 /

      Along with a complete list of point spreads for the top 25 action in college football, here is a quick-hit look at some of the marquee matchups in Week 11.

      No. 25 West Virginia at No. 5 Cincinnati, Friday, November 13
      This is the first of three important games left on the Bearcats’ schedule. After playing the Mountaineers on Friday night, Brian Kelly’s squad will take on Big Ten foe Illinois on November 27 and then have a marquee Big East showdown with No. 12 PITT on December 5. Kelly won’t have starting quarterback Tony Pike again this week as the senior continues to nurse a forearm injury. That means impressive sophomore Zach Collaros will once again be counted on to keep Cincinnati’s BCS hopes alive. After ratting off four straight wins to get to 6-1 on the season, West Virginia has struggled the past two weeks. They were defeated by South Florida two weeks ago and then struggled generating offense against a below-average Louisville team last Saturday. Will Collaros and the rest of Cincy’s backfield be too much for the Mountaineers to handle?
      Odds: Cincinnati –9.

      No. 16 Utah at No. 4 TCU, 7:30PM ET, Saturday
      Now that the Horned Frogs have leapt into the No. 4 spot in the rankings, they have one more hurdle to overcome on their schedule before they let fate take the wheel for the rest of the season. Utah will do everything in its power to knock off its Mountain West foe and gain the inside edge for a second straight conference title. But the Utes’ task is a daunting one. TCU has the sixth best rushing attack in the nation and are ranked eighth in total offense. They also rank third in total defense and fifth in scoring defense. The Frogs look like a small-school juggernaut right now but if they will be challenged this weekend in Fort Worth.
      Odds: TCU –19.5.

      No. 10 Iowa at No. 11 Ohio State, 3:30PM ET, Saturday
      In the blink of an eye, the Hawkeyes saw their national title hopes and quarterback go down in one fall swoop last Saturday as Northwestern shocked them at home. Now Iowa can only hope for a Big Ten title, but even that looks dim considering it has to go into Columbus this week in attempts to beat a confident Ohio State team. The Buckeyes knocked off Penn State last Saturday in Happy Valley and now has the inside track to winning the Big Ten again this season. The Hawkeyes will start redshirt freshman James Vanderberg, who struggled last week after Ricky Stanzi suffered an injury in the first half. Asking a redshirt freshman to beat the Buckeyes in Columbus is no small order and it appears that Iowa’s magical 2009 season won’t have a fairytale ending.
      Odds: Ohio State –17.

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      College Football

      What would a college football playoff look like this year?

      November 9, 2009 /

      Last year, I proposed an eight-team playoff system for college football that would take the place of the BCS. 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.

      So, at this point in the season, what would a playoff look like?

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      College Football

      Screenshots of Patrick Peterson’s interception

      November 9, 2009 /

      My esteemed colleague Anthony Stalter did a nice job of covering the immediate aftermath of the Alabama/LSU game, but I wanted to provide a few screenshots of Patrick Peterson’s interception that was ruled incomplete, even after replay.

      I watched the game as an objective observer — I didn’t really care who won, and still don’t — but this was clearly a pick and I thought the Tigers got screwed on this play.

      I’m not focused so much on whether or not he gets his right toe in. When I originally saw the play, I thought he clearly had possession of the ball and had his left foot in.

      The first shot is from behind and establishes his position relative to the sideline. The ball is in his hands and his left foot is down.

      The second shot is from the side. The ball is under his control and his left foot is down.

      The third shot is from the front. At this point, Peterson has already caught the ball and is turning it to tuck it. His left foot is clearly down and his right one may be as well.

      Alabama fans can rationalize it if they want — by point out earlier calls that went LSU’s way or by saying that officiating is never 100% correct. But the bottom line is that in this crucial point in the game, LSU should have been awarded the ball.

      It’s one thing for a linesman to blow this call in live action, but there’s no excuse for the call to stand after the replay. What’s worse, the lead official didn’t even explain why the ruling on the field was confirmed, he just said that it was and went on about his day. Did he think that Peterson didn’t have possession? Or did he think that Peterson didn’t get his foot down?

      Ridiculous.

      Thanks to Vcize over on YouTube. I pulled these screenshots from his video of the play.

      College Football, Television

      TCU jumps to No. 4 in the BCS standings

      November 9, 2009 /

      The TCU Horned Frogs have leapt into the top 5 in the BCS standings according to ESPN.com.

      TCU took over fourth place in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday behind Florida, Alabama and Texas. It’s the highest BCS ranking ever for a team from a conference without an automatic bid to the big-money bowl games. No potential BCS buster had ever done better than sixth in the BCS standings.

      Florida is first for the fourth straight week, and Alabama and Texas switched spots for the second week in a row.

      The Gators and Crimson Tide have clinched their respective divisions in the Southeastern Conference and will meet Dec. 5 in the league championship game. One of them is all but guaranteed a spot in the BCS title game on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., if they can get through the next month without a loss.

      The same goes for Texas, which has three regular-season games and possibly the Big 12 championship remaining.

      The other undefeated teams — TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State — need the top three to stumble to have any shot of reaching the title game.

      Some complain about TCU’s schedule, but at least they crush their opponents on a weekly basis. Clemson and Air Force are the only two teams that have given the Frogs a game this season and TCU played both of those contests on the road. And the fact that they’re willing to play non-conference foes like Clemson and Virginia should count for something.

      The Frogs have one of the fastest, most aggressive defenses in the nation and I’d love to see what they could do in a BCS bowl. Of course, they have to get by Utah first, whom they play next Saturday.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

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