Posts Tagged ‘Big XII’

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by — as you might imagine — CBS Sports.

Week 7

Through 11 October 2009

Glory be!  Yes, I have succumbed to my inner instincts and have made a change at the very top of my ballot this week.  As for the rest of the changes in the world of college football represented in my BlogPoll Top 25 ballot for this week, hopefully most are fairly obvious.  Either way, here’s my ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	2
2	Florida	1
3	Texas	1
4	Southern Cal	2
5	Boise State	–
6	LSU	2
7	TCU	–
8	Ohio State	–
9	Penn State	–
10	Iowa	–
11	Virginia Tech	–
12	Miami (Florida)	1
13	Cincinnati	1
14	Kansas	2
15	Notre Dame	–
16	Oklahoma	1
17	Oklahoma State	1
18	Nebraska	2
19	South Carolina	NR
20	Mississippi	8
21	Oregon	1
22	Pittsburgh	1
23	Georgia Tech	NR
24	Houston	NR
25	Auburn	6
Last week’s ballot

Explanations after the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

Due to trials, funerals, and numerous other obligations, this will probably be my only post this week.  I will, however, be back next weekend after the Florida Game to commiserate or celebrate (after the UCLA disaster, I’m afraid I know which it will be).

At any rate, here is my preliminary ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 for all to attack, without comment:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	–
2	Southern Cal	–
3	Texas	–
4	Penn State	–
5	Alabama	–
6	Mississippi	–
7	California	–
8	Boise State	3
9	LSU	3
10	Miami (Florida)	4
11	Oklahoma	2
12	TCU	3
13	Brigham Young	3
14	Nebraska	3
15	Ohio State	7
16	Iowa	4
17	Pittsburgh	1
18	Georgia	1
19	UCLA	3
20	Notre Dame	10
21	Kansas	2
22	Oklahoma State	13
23	Virginia Tech	1
24	Cincinnati	1
25	Utah	1
Last week’s ballot

Sorry to be so brief, but duty calls…

– So it goes …

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by—as you might imagine—CBS Sports.

Week 2

Through 8 September 2009

After the past week in the world of college football, there have been a bunch of changes, mainly at the back end of my poll.  The other biggie is the Oklahoma Sooners who plummeted after losing to BYU.  In addition, the entire back end of my poll pretty much emptied out as a result of a ton of teams losing.  Thus, there are some new faces, and a few that have departed.

Unfortunately, I am starting a multi-week trial today and am already running behind in getting this posted.  Given my trial schedule, it is doubtful that I will get much of substance posted for the next week or so.  Be that as it may, most of my changes should be fairly obvious.   Either way, here’s my ballot:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida	–
2	Southern Cal	1
3	Texas	1
4	Penn State	1
5	Alabama	2
6	Mississippi	–
7	California	1
8	Ohio State	1
9	Oklahoma State	4
10	Notre Dame	–
11	Boise State	3
12	LSU	–
13	Oklahoma	11
14	Miami (Florida)	5
15	TCU	–
16	Brigham Young	6
17	Nebraska	3
18	Pittsburgh	5
19	Georgia	8
20	Iowa	1
21	Clemson	3
22	UCLA	3
23	Kansas	3
24	Virginia Tech	8
25	Cincinnati	1

Alas, I simply don’t have time to post any real explanations aside from “this is what I think,” but such is life…

You can view the final results of this week’s poll over at CBS Sports later this week and check out an analysis of how the collective blogging brain-trust arrived at this week’s result.  If you’re craving even more BlogPoll goodness, you can also check out how other bloggers voted and see how your team fared across the Blogosphere.

Oh, yeah, and if I ever figure out who it is that keeps spamming the comments here at the Gate with random crap offering links to porn sites, Viagra shipped to your home, or moneymaking schemes, I’m going to find his address and tell Eric Berry that the jerk said something nasty about his mother…

– So it goes…

Here’s my ballot for this week’s CBS Sports BlogPoll Top 25 hosted by—as you might imagine—CBS Sports.

Preseason Prognostications

Through 20 August 2009

Well, it’s been almost nine months since last I posted a BlogPoll ballot, and let me tell you that it feels mighty good to be back in the saddle again.  This does not, however, mean that I have suddenly gained any sense or am any more reliable.

As a general rule, I consider preseason ballots to be dubious at best.  They are based upon little more than rumor and innuendo.  There is little to no basis for selecting one team over the other.  Thus, as Hooper has pointed out, this is little more than a turkey shoot.  That said, here’s my preseason Top 25 for everyone to attack:

My Ballot for the Week

Rank	Team
1	Florida
2	Oklahoma
3	Southern Cal
4	Texas
5	Penn State
6	Ole Miss
7	Alabama
8	California
9	Ohio State
10	Notre Dame
11	Georgia
12	LSU
13	Oklahoma State
14	Boise State
15	TCU
16	Virginia Tech
17	Illinois
18	Rutgers
19	Miami (Florida)
20	Nebraska
	Iowa
22	Brigham Young
23	Pittsburgh
24	Clemson
25	UCLA

Explanations after the jump…

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Note: The Tennesseeum is in its infancy, but I hope to eventually develop it into a virtual museum (hence “Tennessee-um”) of rosters, images, articles, and records pertaining to the Vols.  For now, however, it is little more than a landing page for current rosters and a few other items of interest.

If you have any content that you think belongs in a virtual museum dedicated to the Vols, feel free to contact me.

2009 Football Collection:

• 2009 Tennessee Football:

  • 2009 Coaching Staff
  • 2009 Alphabetical Roster

• 2009 SEC Previews:

  • SEC East:

    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Kentucky
    • South Carolina
    • Tennessee
    • Vanderbilt

  • SEC West:

    • Alabama
    • Auburn
    • Arkansas
    • LSU
    • Ole Miss
    • Mississippi State

Other Collections:

The Cumberland Wing:

Dedicated to the sights, sounds and history of that little collection of buildings along Cumberland Avenue known simply as “The Strip”

• “Sam & Andy’s Forever”: Remembering the legendary hangout that was Sam & Andy’s

The Tennessee Home for the Visually Offensive:

A virtual museum of some of the finest Farks (a/k/a “photoshopped”) images from the world of sports that the web has to offer including the following sub-collections:

• Lawvol’s Masterpieces
• The SEC Collection:
  • Tennessee
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Auburn
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Kentucky
  • LSU
  • Ole Miss
  • Mississippi State
  • South Carolina
  • Vanderbilt
• The College Sports Collection:
  • Memphis
  • The Big Ten
  • The ACC
  • The PAC-10
  • The Big XII
  • The Big East & Notre Dame
• The Professional Sports Collection:
  • NFL Farks
  • MLB Farks
• The Broad Horizons (Miscellaneous) Collection

This virtual museum is under construction.

New Collections Debuting Soon!!

Big Games in SEC and Big XII

So amidst the stir I more or less caused with last week’s Alabama hate post and the Big Orange Roundtable collaboration and farks, I never got around to previewing the weekend’s slate of games. For that I apologize now. I also apologize for more or less going M.I.A. since then.

I actually got to go to the Colts-Titans matchup this past Monday night, quite an atmosphere it was. However, having class the next morning made getting back at 3 a.m. have some unfortunate lasting effects.

It’s beginning to look like the BCS is going to have quite the mess on its hands at the end of this year. Texas is undefeated and running through their current gauntlet in the Big XII. If they get by Texas Tech Saturday night, the only real challenge might be the trip to Kansas. Penn State goes undefeated, barring a loss in a tricky trip to Iowa in a couple of weeks. USC is still in the mix.

Alabama’s still unbeaten, and looks to have the SEC West all but wrapped up. Also, their “tough” games – at LSU and Auburn at home – don’t look so tough anymore. Florida and Georgia both look to be rolling into their showdown in J’ville this weekend.

Utah and Boise State are still lurking, and let’s not forget about Tulsa sneaking up into the Top 20.

As we enter the month’s last season, all I’ll say is that it’s going to be real fun watching all this unfold. There’s going to be some great games, and there’s bound to be some upsets and some things no one will have seen coming. So it begins…

SEC Games

Auburn at Ole Miss (12:30, RayCom): Auburn fans, we feel your pain. We know how you feel. While Tennessee’s closing schedule is manageable, it’s just now getting difficult for Auburn. The Tigers close after this road trip with Tennessee-Martin, Georgia, and a trip to Alabama. Not getting to 6-6 for a bowl game is a very likely possibility.

Ole Miss bounced back from the Bama loss by surviving Arkansas. Now they have a chance to all but wrap up a bowl game, and second place in the SEC West – a big step from 0-8 – is within reach, believe it or not. With Auburn reeling, it makes pretty good sense to think Ole Miss will win.

Tulsa at Arkansas (2:00, ESPN GamePlan): Speaking of the Golden Hurricane, this is the toughest game of their season. A win here and they might as well book an undefeated season. The Hogs struggled with Western Illinois and UL Monroe, and their defense has been bad at times. Tulsa’s quirky offense is going to give them trouble, despite Arkansas having the advantage in athletes.The other storyline here is Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn’s return to Arkansas, in a game definitely worth keeping your eye on.

Kentucky at Mississippi State (2:30, ESPN GamePlan): Ouch. Kentucky, like Vanderbilt, has somewhat returned to their awful ways. After stealing a W from Arkansas, the Cats were smashed by Florida. How will they respond with a bowl bid potentially on the line in Starkville?

Despite winning last week over MTSU, this is State’s last chance to even think about a bowl bid. They can more or less guarantee getting out the cellar with a win here – remember they already knocked off Vandy, and host Arkansas in a couple weeks. Both these offenses are horrific, so it might be the first to 14 wins. I’ll take Mississippi State at home.

Arkansas State at Alabama (3:00, ESPN GamePlan): Another November Sun Belt opponent at home for Alabama. Arkansas State already won at Texas A&M to open the season. Just throwin’ that out there…

Georgia vs. Florida in Jacksonville (3:30, CBS): So many storylines here. Florida scored 63 points last week and look to be rolling. Georgia hung 52 in Baton Rouge last week. There’s the whole endzone celebration that everybody’s downplaying. Athletes everywhere. The SEC East on the line. Staying in the national title chase on the line. SEC football at its best.

We all remember this little deal...especially the Gators...

I hate to see either of these teams – and Bammer too – play for championships while Tennessee wallows in its awfulness. But I would be a total moron to not watch this game. TOTAL. MORON. The safe pick is Florida. Why? Well, for one they have Tebow of Nazareth. Two, they own Georgia. Three, they remember last year. I thought Florida would win the East at the beginning of the year, and I don’t see how the Dawgs can keep that from happening.

Tennessee at South Carolina (7:00, ESPN2): Six points against Florida. 14 at Georgia. Nine against Alabama. Tennessee’s offense is really bad. OK, enough with stating the obvious. It’s actually South Carolina that has the top defense statistically in the SEC. I have no idea how Tennessee will move the ball and how the Vols will score. Not a clue.

I’m seeing the same ol’ same ol’ from Tennessee. The defense forces some mistakes from Stephen Garcia, keeps the score close for a while, but then just gets worn down. The frustration continues. I would say last weekend was THE bottom (here’s why I think so), but now – down to basically one healthy DT – the team’s gotta go play a road game. I was gonna go, but not anymore. I’ll watch, and be prepared for more frustration.

Tulane at LSU (8:00, ESPN GamePlan): Speaking of reeling, what’s up with LSU? Florida scored 51. Georgia scored 52 – at LSU. The defensive losses eventually became too much to overcome, and now LSU looks like they won’t repeat anything. Tulane hung with Alabama earlier this year in Tuscaloosa, and who knows how LSU comes out after two beatdowns. Just sayin’…

THERE’S MORE

The Weekly Duke Update:Go Duke! The Devils have a winning record in November. In football. After beating Vanderbilt in Nashville last week, David Cutcliffe’s Blue Devils sit at 4-3 entering the toughest part of the schedule. Duke plays at Wake Forest Saturday. The host NC State and North Carolina and play at Clemson and Virginia Tech down the stretch. I don’t know if there’s two wins, but even four wins at Duke is quite the accomplishment.

I know we Vol fans learned how important Coach Cut was to Tennessee, but I for one don’t want to see him come back if/when Fulmer’s done. First, I want a younger up-and-comer. Two, Cut is building something here people.

Duke is 4-3 after beating Vanderbilt, Tennessee is 3-5...go figure...

Elsewhere in the wide-open, who-knows-who’s-actually-good-enough-to-win-the-thing ACC, Florida State plays surprising Georgia Tech in Atlanta. After sucking in September, Al Groh has Virginia of all teams at 3-1 in the ACC after beating Tech last week in Atlanta. UVA hosts Miami Saturday.

The JV League/Big East is garbage and no one cares who wins it. The Big Ten is pretty much Penn State’s, but somehow, someway, Minnesota is 7-1 hosting Northwestern Saturday. The Gophers – ranked in the top 20 now – have beaten exactly zero good teams, and avoid Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan State . Honestly, they could go 11-1 and, if Penn State ends up playing for it all, could sneak into the Rose Bowl a la Illinois last year, where they would likely get trounced by somebody. Feel-good story? Nope, something else that needs to be fixed.

Can Texas stop Graham Harrell and/or Michael Crabtree?

Much like the Big Ten, the Pac 10 is all USC, who hosts winless Washington Saturday. That said, Oregon State still actually leads the league, tied with the USC team they smacked at 3-1. More technically, Oregon leads the league at 4-1. However, they play at 3-1 Cal Saturday afternoon, so an elimination game there that zero of us over here in the South (a) care about and (b) will get on ABC at 3:30.

That leaves the New Pac 10, aka the Big XII. Last week’s Okie State-Texas game was 28-24, which is like a game in the 50s in hoops (which has now started, yes!!). Oklahoma scored 51 points – in the first half – at Kansas State. Forgotten Missouri beat Colorado 58-0. Texas Tech hung 63 on Kansas in Lawrence. Are the defenses this bad? Are the offenses this good? Guess we’ll find out when one of these teams is playing in the title game…

Speaking of that title game, Texas has a trip to Lubbock Saturday night basically between them and a Missouri rematch/unbeaten season (no, I don’t think Kansas gets them). How does my new coach choice Will Muschamp plan to stop Mike Leach and Graham Harrell. Michael Crabtree would be an NFL receiver – now. This should be a great game to watch, with obviously tons of offense. Still, it’s Texas Tech. When have they won these types of games? I like Texas in this game.

ENJOY!

Images Courtesy of: Memphis Commercial Appeal • Mark Humphrey / AP (Daylife) • Matt Slocum / AP (Daylife)

Last week offered some great in-conference matchups and a couple turned out to be more lopsided than many thought. The great conference games continue this week, as the races begin to take shape.

Indeed, the conference races will continue to take shape as the temperatures drop around the country (it was 86 in Knoxville yesterday) and leaves start falling everywhere. Yes, I’m avoiding mentioning Tennessee’s now meaningless season by discussing the weather…

Another larger storyline that’s been discussed already this week is the Big 12’s apparent attempt to claim itself as the best conference. While the league is pretty good at the top, I still think the SEC has better depth, even with the struggles of Tennessee and Auburn.

Anyways, here’s the games to watch, and hopefully this time I’ll do a better job picking them – I picked LSU, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and they all lost…

SEC Games

Vanderbilt at Georgia (12:00, RayCom): So much for that little run. Vandy just missed out on a huge opportunity to get to 6 or more wins. There’s still chances with games against Kentucky, Tennessee and Duke, but beating Florida, Georgia and Wake Forest may be a tough order. Vandy’s offensive struggles were exposed last week against Mississippi State, and Georgia’s not the best team to face with an iffy offense…

The questions with Georgia: they left plenty of points to be gotten last week against the Vols, with two picks and kicking four field goals. They better not overlook Vandy, as trips to LSU and the showdown with Jacksonville come in the next two weeks.

Ole Miss at Alabama (3:30, CBS): Alabama comes off the bye looking to continue the momentum from hammering Georgia and edging Kentucky two weeks ago. Ole Miss has been better, yet horribly inconsistent, beating Florida on the road but falling to Vandy and South Carolina at home.

I don’t expect Ole Miss to win, but they should keep it close. I’m still expecting Alabama to lose a game, but it won’t be Saturday. The matchup to watch is the Tide’s offensive line against the Rebels’ defensive front. The only way Ole Miss can win is limiting the turnovers that hurt them in their two home SEC losses.

Arkansas at Kentucky (7:00, ESPNU): Give me some credit, last week I didn’t explicitly pick Arkansas to upset Auburn, but I did say the Hogs were gonna get somebody at some point this year and they did. Can they follow it up? Kentucky’s offense is still struggling, so Arkansas can certainly keep it close. This is a big game for UK’s bowl hopes, as they sit at four wins on the year.

This 63-yard TD run by Michael Smith led Arkansas to the upset over Auburn. Can they Hogs get UK this week?

Mississippi State at Tennessee (7:00, PPV): Ugh. Good thing this game is on pay-per-view…who wants to watch these offenses?

Uh oh...Mississippi State held Vanderbilt to 107 yards of total offense...

Obviously I do, because I’ll be there in the fourth row. I’m expecting an ugly game with points few and far between. Tennessee can’t really lose at home to Mississippi State, can they? State has played decently the past two games, and no doubt have some momentum coming into Knoxville. How does Tennessee show up with nothing but pride to play for? Is Phil Fulmer the next coach to be Croomed like Ron Zook and Mike Shula?

LSU at South Carolina (8:00, ESPN): Ouch. Didn’t see that coming. LSU got crushed by Florida, and now they travel over to Columbia to a Carolina offense that’s gained some confidence with SEC road wins in Oxford and Lexington. Whoever’s been playing QB for the Gamecocks – Chris Smelley and/or Stephen Garcia – have actually done pretty well.

LSU’s defense isn’t what it was last year – they’re 9th in the league in total defense. Carolina’s defense is going up against an inexperienced QB and an offense that got beat physically by Florida last week. How do they respond?

Honestly, I want to say Carolina will win. But this is historically one of those “almost” wins for the South Carolina program. “Almost” as in they “almost” win a huge home game over a better opponent. That said, I think LSU bounces back, setting up that showdown with Georgia next weekend.

Florida is off this week, but I want to give a little shout-out to Brandon Spikes. Now I hate the Gators and hope they fail at everything, but when something’s funny, it’s funny. Here’s Brandon Spikes’ attempt at a punt into the stands after a pick-six…

OTHER CONFERENCES

Some Mountain West love: big game tonight for unbeaten BYU, as they travel to TCU tonight. The unbeaten Cougars essentially have two tests between them and a BCS Bowl: tonight and the season finale at fellow unbeaten Utah. Keep an eye on this game…

The Weekly Duke Update:After a bye week, the 3-2 Blue Devils are back in action with a big game, at home against young Miami. Just 4.5-point dogs, Duke looks for the upset. This game is on ESPNU at 3:30, so if Alabama starts killing Ole Miss (and you actually have ESPNU), switch on over and see if the missed Coach Cut can lead Duke to the upset. The emptiness of Duke’s stadium won’t have any adverse effects on the Canes – they’re used to it…

Big XII

Kansas at Oklahoma (3:30, ABC): Oklahoma and Bob Stoops is going to be pissed off. Poor, poor Kansas. They avoided OU and Texas last year. Er, not this year. How Kansas stops OU I have no clue. Then again, the Sooner defense got worn down watching Texas go up-and-down the field on them in Dallas. Kansas keeps it close – for a half.

Missouri at Texas (8:00, ABC): So much for Missouri beating Oklahoma State by three TDs. The Tigers essentially gave the game away, and now face a make-or-break game at #1 Texas. I say make-or-break because Missouri’s schedule is pretty clear sailing after this game, and they obviously have to win to stay relevant in the title race.

Can Texas return to earth after beating their hated rival last week? This should be a pretty high-scoring game (duh, it’s the Big XII new Pac 10…), and entertaining. I think Texas wins the game in the fourth quarter.

Javon Ringer faces a tough Ohio State defense Saturday afternoon

Big Ten

Ohio State at Michigan State (3:30, ABC):
Yes, people, Michigan State is very much in the Big Ten race. Of course they have to beat Ohio State to stay there. The Spartans are led by HB Javon Ringer, but the Ohio State defense is tough up front.

Ohio State has been overly impressive on offense. They have actually been kinda bad. If Michigan State doesn’t give up a special teams or defensive TD to the Buckeyes, I like their chances to keep Ohio State’s offense in check. The winner would become the biggest challenger to the dominance Penn State has shown this year.

Michigan at Penn State (4:30, ESPN): I know, I know, Michigan sucks and Penn State is really good. Thought losing to Toledo is bad? The Wolverines better be ready to get blasted Saturday. Penn State is a legit team. Keep in mind two things: (1) Penn State hasn’t beaten Michigan since 1996 and (2) they are at Ohio State next weekend.

Outside of these games, there isn’t much else. We all know USC will win the Pac 10 and whoever wins the Big East doesn’t matter. As it is, enjoy this weekend…

Images Courtesy of: Dave Martin / AP (Daylife) • Rogelio V. Solis / AP (Daylife) • Nam Y. Huh / AP (Daylife)