This is the final PFT for the 2007 season, but worry not problem gamblers, "Bertuci's Bowling for Bowls" begins Thursday, December 20. I don't know what I'm missing here but it looks like the oddsmakers are giving us a Holiday present for this the final edition of a pick segment that has had mediocre results at best...
Rutgers (+2.5) at Louisville, Over/Under 60
Vegas Algebra says: Louisville 31.25 , Rutgers 28.75
Thoughts: Rutgers is undefeated midweek and having already accepted a bid to the International Bowl (below preseason expectations) is looking for a statement conference win to the end the year, its Pitino season in Louisville and the team isn't healthy and Steve Kragthorpe has been shooting down coaching rumors the past two weeks.
Suggestion: I like Rutgers, Ray Rice, and Ray Rice's mom huge over a Louisville team which may mail it in. Rutgers likes to run first and throw when necessary so I can't expect them to light up the Louisville secondary the way others have, which is why I like the Under
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hello...still...Greg Robinson
In news that comes as little surprise to those who know Syracuse football but turns some heads nationally, Greg Robinson will be back as Syracuse's Head Coach in 2008.
The move has less to do with anybody's pleasure with Robinson's performance in his three years at Syracuse (at 7-28, 2-19 in the Big East, how can it be?) but rather a reluctance to buyout Robinson's contract (a buyout was projected at $3 million, a little steep for a private school but it could've been done) and a greater reluctance to give Athletic Director Daryl Gross the autonomy to head another football coaching search.
There is also a sentiment that Robinson has been a victim of timing from the day he was hired and that his young team should improve in 2008.
Still, the empty seats in the Carrier Dome and the emergence of football powers throughout the Big East are making Robinson's Pollyanna act at Syracuse wear thin and another losing season will seal his fate undoubtedly in 2008.
The move has less to do with anybody's pleasure with Robinson's performance in his three years at Syracuse (at 7-28, 2-19 in the Big East, how can it be?) but rather a reluctance to buyout Robinson's contract (a buyout was projected at $3 million, a little steep for a private school but it could've been done) and a greater reluctance to give Athletic Director Daryl Gross the autonomy to head another football coaching search.
There is also a sentiment that Robinson has been a victim of timing from the day he was hired and that his young team should improve in 2008.
Still, the empty seats in the Carrier Dome and the emergence of football powers throughout the Big East are making Robinson's Pollyanna act at Syracuse wear thin and another losing season will seal his fate undoubtedly in 2008.
The Pride and The Pageantry Index: November 28, 2007
Rank Team Conf W L OW OL OOW OOL TPTPI
1 West Virginia Big East 10 1 69 61 799 732 0.623127624
2 Missouri Big XII 11 1 73 70 834 733 0.617468218
3 LSU SEC 10 2 78 65 888 798 0.612733204
4 Georgia SEC 10 2 75 67 852 699 0.609748595
5 Florida SEC 9 3 80 61 819 724 0.60388399
6 Virginia Tech ACC 10 2 76 67 803 769 0.601771161
7 Ohio State Big Ten 11 1 67 76 816 747 0.593950635
8 Tennessee SEC 9 3 79 64 867 814 0.592664883
9 Boston College ACC 10 2 72 70 807 745 0.591848017
10 Arizona State Pac Ten 9 2 63 62 755 677 0.588354114
11 Oregon Pac Ten 8 3 70 55 724 708 0.58821483
12 Oklahoma Big XII 10 2 71 72 875 819 0.585717313
13 Illinois Big Ten 9 3 77 66 793 774 0.583246404
14 South Florida Big East 9 3 74 64 757 733 0.582629365
15 Clemson ACC 9 3 74 69 812 750 0.576202846
16 Kansas Big XII 11 1 59 83 837 716 0.57165236
17 Brigham Young Mountain West 9 2 63 66 667 703 0.57044683
18 Auburn SEC 8 4 77 66 830 725 0.56933795
19 Texas Big XII 9 3 71 72 874 820 0.5647364
20 Southern California Pac Ten 9 2 56 70 781 648 0.563401687
21 Cincinnati Big East 9 3 67 70 769 715 0.561574065
22 Texas A&M Big XII 7 5 82 60 780 768 0.56053472
23 Virginia ACC 9 3 69 74 876 808 0.558806247
24 Penn State Big Ten 8 4 76 67 853 846 0.557915941
25 Michigan Big Ten 8 4 74 68 803 746 0.556829789
26 Kentucky SEC 7 5 79 62 801 738 0.556092136
27 Connecticut Big East 9 3 65 74 789 711 0.55281295
28 Wisconsin Big Ten 9 3 67 76 806 754 0.550932401
29 Oregon State Pac Ten 7 4 65 60 673 624 0.548813345
30 Florida State ACC 7 5 77 67 926 782 0.548733086
31 Wake Forest ACC 8 4 71 71 889 794 0.548722519
32 California Pac Ten 6 5 70 55 747 685 0.546775648
33 Michigan State Big Ten 7 5 79 64 843 854 0.546246856
34 Oklahoma State Big XII 6 6 83 58 770 770 0.544326241
35 South Carolina SEC 6 6 82 61 820 740 0.543123543
36 Mississippi State SEC 7 5 74 68 838 715 0.541296907
37 Rutgers Big East 7 4 65 62 683 670 0.541197456
38 Arkansas SEC 8 4 67 73 824 703 0.540857424
39 Alabama SEC 6 6 82 61 803 760 0.540152186
40 UCF Conference USA 9 3 66 78 833 882 0.538095238
41 UCLA Pac Ten 6 5 67 58 763 665 0.537942068
42 Nebraska Big XII 5 7 87 55 848 830 0.536845577
43 Hawaii WAC 11 0 43 84 564 643 0.536109897
44 Colorado Big XII 6 6 81 62 856 837 0.534619618
45 Texas Tech Big XII 8 4 67 76 820 748 0.531672197
46 Utah Mountain West 8 4 67 72 803 816 0.531670155
47 Maryland ACC 6 6 77 63 793 735 0.529744764
48 Boise State WAC 10 2 57 82 686 789 0.529640491
49 Georgia Tech ACC 7 5 71 71 826 726 0.528887457
50 Tulsa Conference USA 9 3 62 80 807 887 0.524906671
51 East Carolina Conference USA 7 5 73 70 818 894 0.520529023
52 Air Force Mountain West 9 3 57 81 746 741 0.519442048
53 Troy Sun Belt 8 3 55 74 679 698 0.518271712
54 Purdue Big Ten 7 5 70 73 798 769 0.517901916
55 Indiana Big Ten 7 5 70 73 794 776 0.517021699
56 Fresno State WAC 7 4 60 67 633 704 0.513673386
57 North Carolina State ACC 5 7 80 62 795 761 0.51358817
58 Louisville Big East 5 6 69 60 715 657 0.511362481
59 Washington Pac Ten 4 8 81 55 800 757 0.509579603
60 Arizona Pac Ten 5 6 66 58 669 622 0.509316132
61 New Mexico Mountain West 8 4 61 79 736 768 0.506864235
62 Vanderbilt SEC 5 7 77 66 836 730 0.506858483
63 Kansas State Big XII 5 7 75 67 809 737 0.499072648
64 Washington State Pac Ten 5 7 71 64 797 739 0.496849682
65 TCU Mountain West 7 5 64 77 818 831 0.496798242
66 Mississippi SEC 3 9 87 55 793 758 0.496658789
67 Iowa Big Ten 6 6 69 75 881 828 0.493459869
68 Miami (Fla.) ACC 5 7 73 70 911 800 0.492520715
69 Northwestern Big Ten 6 6 67 75 792 765 0.488083123
70 Pittsburgh Big East 4 7 69 59 683 683 0.485440341
71 Wyoming Mountain West 5 7 74 67 781 871 0.484768087
72 Ball State MAC 7 5 63 79 724 830 0.484137936
73 Bowling Green MAC 8 4 56 87 754 816 0.482534557
74 Notre Dame Independent 3 9 82 58 819 821 0.480204704
75 Central Michigan MAC 7 5 61 81 737 818 0.479110812
76 Southern Mississippi Conference USA 7 5 61 82 745 831 0.477298981
77 North Carolina ACC 4 8 74 69 830 732 0.474917102
78 Houston Conference USA 8 4 51 91 781 779 0.471404388
79 Navy Independent 7 4 48 80 676 696 0.469768752
80 Louisiana Tech WAC 5 6 60 68 648 699 0.468278624
81 Florida Atlantic Sun Belt 6 5 53 77 774 742 0.467848313
82 Iowa State Big XII 3 9 80 63 789 782 0.46777725
83 San Diego State Mountain West 4 7 66 64 673 703 0.467029954
84 Louisiana-Monroe Sun Belt 6 6 61 78 721 782 0.464351273
85 Syracuse Big East 2 10 83 57 826 812 0.464163614
86 Western Michigan MAC 5 7 68 74 737 819 0.462015883
87 Stanford Pac Ten 3 8 65 60 750 678 0.459484339
88 Toledo MAC 5 7 69 74 700 867 0.457103774
89 Miami (Ohio) MAC 6 6 60 84 837 867 0.456132629
90 Akron MAC 4 8 74 69 769 928 0.455362748
91 Army Independent 3 8 70 60 661 741 0.45527992
92 Baylor Big XII 3 9 75 67 780 775 0.451986436
93 San Jose State WAC 5 7 63 74 667 782 0.449173039
94 Marshall Conference USA 3 9 84 70 773 923 0.449171848
95 Ohio MAC 6 6 58 85 730 836 0.444336156
96 Middle Tennessee Sun Belt 5 7 62 76 686 806 0.443750729
97 UNLV Mountain West 2 10 80 60 753 885 0.442307692
98 Nevada WAC 5 6 54 75 647 714 0.441785126
99 Memphis Conference USA 7 5 50 93 762 811 0.441764675
100 Duke ACC 1 11 84 59 847 845 0.439687381
101 Buffalo MAC 5 7 61 82 816 881 0.437665519
102 Texas-El Paso Conference USA 4 8 69 74 698 865 0.436236348
103 Minnesota Big Ten 1 11 84 58 730 830 0.433595161
104 Colorado State Mountain West 3 9 69 71 754 767 0.432860195
105 Temple MAC 4 8 66 76 762 921 0.42891843
106 Arkansas State Sun Belt 5 7 57 82 766 872 0.426113505
107 Eastern Michigan MAC 4 8 64 78 721 831 0.42482591
108 UAB Conference USA 2 10 76 67 739 843 0.424183486
109 Tulane Conference USA 4 8 62 80 737 819 0.420055789
110 New Mexico State WAC 4 8 61 78 613 741 0.415940955
111 Kent State MAC 3 9 67 76 722 847 0.411807162
112 La.-Lafayette Sun Belt 3 9 63 76 704 802 0.405984575
113 Rice Conference USA 3 9 64 79 722 857 0.40058908
114 Utah State WAC 2 10 68 73 759 871 0.399212461
115 North Texas Sun Belt 2 9 60 68 607 760 0.390839055
116 Florida International Sun Belt 0 11 71 59 703 819 0.388549985
117 Southern Methodist Conference USA 1 11 70 72 735 947 0.376557153
118 Idaho WAC 1 11 61 66 598 743 0.372474781
119 Northern Illinois MAC 2 10 59 83 703 835 0.363684927
Football Champ Sub 0.1 1 10
1 West Virginia Big East 10 1 69 61 799 732 0.623127624
2 Missouri Big XII 11 1 73 70 834 733 0.617468218
3 LSU SEC 10 2 78 65 888 798 0.612733204
4 Georgia SEC 10 2 75 67 852 699 0.609748595
5 Florida SEC 9 3 80 61 819 724 0.60388399
6 Virginia Tech ACC 10 2 76 67 803 769 0.601771161
7 Ohio State Big Ten 11 1 67 76 816 747 0.593950635
8 Tennessee SEC 9 3 79 64 867 814 0.592664883
9 Boston College ACC 10 2 72 70 807 745 0.591848017
10 Arizona State Pac Ten 9 2 63 62 755 677 0.588354114
11 Oregon Pac Ten 8 3 70 55 724 708 0.58821483
12 Oklahoma Big XII 10 2 71 72 875 819 0.585717313
13 Illinois Big Ten 9 3 77 66 793 774 0.583246404
14 South Florida Big East 9 3 74 64 757 733 0.582629365
15 Clemson ACC 9 3 74 69 812 750 0.576202846
16 Kansas Big XII 11 1 59 83 837 716 0.57165236
17 Brigham Young Mountain West 9 2 63 66 667 703 0.57044683
18 Auburn SEC 8 4 77 66 830 725 0.56933795
19 Texas Big XII 9 3 71 72 874 820 0.5647364
20 Southern California Pac Ten 9 2 56 70 781 648 0.563401687
21 Cincinnati Big East 9 3 67 70 769 715 0.561574065
22 Texas A&M Big XII 7 5 82 60 780 768 0.56053472
23 Virginia ACC 9 3 69 74 876 808 0.558806247
24 Penn State Big Ten 8 4 76 67 853 846 0.557915941
25 Michigan Big Ten 8 4 74 68 803 746 0.556829789
26 Kentucky SEC 7 5 79 62 801 738 0.556092136
27 Connecticut Big East 9 3 65 74 789 711 0.55281295
28 Wisconsin Big Ten 9 3 67 76 806 754 0.550932401
29 Oregon State Pac Ten 7 4 65 60 673 624 0.548813345
30 Florida State ACC 7 5 77 67 926 782 0.548733086
31 Wake Forest ACC 8 4 71 71 889 794 0.548722519
32 California Pac Ten 6 5 70 55 747 685 0.546775648
33 Michigan State Big Ten 7 5 79 64 843 854 0.546246856
34 Oklahoma State Big XII 6 6 83 58 770 770 0.544326241
35 South Carolina SEC 6 6 82 61 820 740 0.543123543
36 Mississippi State SEC 7 5 74 68 838 715 0.541296907
37 Rutgers Big East 7 4 65 62 683 670 0.541197456
38 Arkansas SEC 8 4 67 73 824 703 0.540857424
39 Alabama SEC 6 6 82 61 803 760 0.540152186
40 UCF Conference USA 9 3 66 78 833 882 0.538095238
41 UCLA Pac Ten 6 5 67 58 763 665 0.537942068
42 Nebraska Big XII 5 7 87 55 848 830 0.536845577
43 Hawaii WAC 11 0 43 84 564 643 0.536109897
44 Colorado Big XII 6 6 81 62 856 837 0.534619618
45 Texas Tech Big XII 8 4 67 76 820 748 0.531672197
46 Utah Mountain West 8 4 67 72 803 816 0.531670155
47 Maryland ACC 6 6 77 63 793 735 0.529744764
48 Boise State WAC 10 2 57 82 686 789 0.529640491
49 Georgia Tech ACC 7 5 71 71 826 726 0.528887457
50 Tulsa Conference USA 9 3 62 80 807 887 0.524906671
51 East Carolina Conference USA 7 5 73 70 818 894 0.520529023
52 Air Force Mountain West 9 3 57 81 746 741 0.519442048
53 Troy Sun Belt 8 3 55 74 679 698 0.518271712
54 Purdue Big Ten 7 5 70 73 798 769 0.517901916
55 Indiana Big Ten 7 5 70 73 794 776 0.517021699
56 Fresno State WAC 7 4 60 67 633 704 0.513673386
57 North Carolina State ACC 5 7 80 62 795 761 0.51358817
58 Louisville Big East 5 6 69 60 715 657 0.511362481
59 Washington Pac Ten 4 8 81 55 800 757 0.509579603
60 Arizona Pac Ten 5 6 66 58 669 622 0.509316132
61 New Mexico Mountain West 8 4 61 79 736 768 0.506864235
62 Vanderbilt SEC 5 7 77 66 836 730 0.506858483
63 Kansas State Big XII 5 7 75 67 809 737 0.499072648
64 Washington State Pac Ten 5 7 71 64 797 739 0.496849682
65 TCU Mountain West 7 5 64 77 818 831 0.496798242
66 Mississippi SEC 3 9 87 55 793 758 0.496658789
67 Iowa Big Ten 6 6 69 75 881 828 0.493459869
68 Miami (Fla.) ACC 5 7 73 70 911 800 0.492520715
69 Northwestern Big Ten 6 6 67 75 792 765 0.488083123
70 Pittsburgh Big East 4 7 69 59 683 683 0.485440341
71 Wyoming Mountain West 5 7 74 67 781 871 0.484768087
72 Ball State MAC 7 5 63 79 724 830 0.484137936
73 Bowling Green MAC 8 4 56 87 754 816 0.482534557
74 Notre Dame Independent 3 9 82 58 819 821 0.480204704
75 Central Michigan MAC 7 5 61 81 737 818 0.479110812
76 Southern Mississippi Conference USA 7 5 61 82 745 831 0.477298981
77 North Carolina ACC 4 8 74 69 830 732 0.474917102
78 Houston Conference USA 8 4 51 91 781 779 0.471404388
79 Navy Independent 7 4 48 80 676 696 0.469768752
80 Louisiana Tech WAC 5 6 60 68 648 699 0.468278624
81 Florida Atlantic Sun Belt 6 5 53 77 774 742 0.467848313
82 Iowa State Big XII 3 9 80 63 789 782 0.46777725
83 San Diego State Mountain West 4 7 66 64 673 703 0.467029954
84 Louisiana-Monroe Sun Belt 6 6 61 78 721 782 0.464351273
85 Syracuse Big East 2 10 83 57 826 812 0.464163614
86 Western Michigan MAC 5 7 68 74 737 819 0.462015883
87 Stanford Pac Ten 3 8 65 60 750 678 0.459484339
88 Toledo MAC 5 7 69 74 700 867 0.457103774
89 Miami (Ohio) MAC 6 6 60 84 837 867 0.456132629
90 Akron MAC 4 8 74 69 769 928 0.455362748
91 Army Independent 3 8 70 60 661 741 0.45527992
92 Baylor Big XII 3 9 75 67 780 775 0.451986436
93 San Jose State WAC 5 7 63 74 667 782 0.449173039
94 Marshall Conference USA 3 9 84 70 773 923 0.449171848
95 Ohio MAC 6 6 58 85 730 836 0.444336156
96 Middle Tennessee Sun Belt 5 7 62 76 686 806 0.443750729
97 UNLV Mountain West 2 10 80 60 753 885 0.442307692
98 Nevada WAC 5 6 54 75 647 714 0.441785126
99 Memphis Conference USA 7 5 50 93 762 811 0.441764675
100 Duke ACC 1 11 84 59 847 845 0.439687381
101 Buffalo MAC 5 7 61 82 816 881 0.437665519
102 Texas-El Paso Conference USA 4 8 69 74 698 865 0.436236348
103 Minnesota Big Ten 1 11 84 58 730 830 0.433595161
104 Colorado State Mountain West 3 9 69 71 754 767 0.432860195
105 Temple MAC 4 8 66 76 762 921 0.42891843
106 Arkansas State Sun Belt 5 7 57 82 766 872 0.426113505
107 Eastern Michigan MAC 4 8 64 78 721 831 0.42482591
108 UAB Conference USA 2 10 76 67 739 843 0.424183486
109 Tulane Conference USA 4 8 62 80 737 819 0.420055789
110 New Mexico State WAC 4 8 61 78 613 741 0.415940955
111 Kent State MAC 3 9 67 76 722 847 0.411807162
112 La.-Lafayette Sun Belt 3 9 63 76 704 802 0.405984575
113 Rice Conference USA 3 9 64 79 722 857 0.40058908
114 Utah State WAC 2 10 68 73 759 871 0.399212461
115 North Texas Sun Belt 2 9 60 68 607 760 0.390839055
116 Florida International Sun Belt 0 11 71 59 703 819 0.388549985
117 Southern Methodist Conference USA 1 11 70 72 735 947 0.376557153
118 Idaho WAC 1 11 61 66 598 743 0.372474781
119 Northern Illinois MAC 2 10 59 83 703 835 0.363684927
Football Champ Sub 0.1 1 10
Hello...Art Briles, Goodbye...Art Briles
Art Briles has left the University of Houston to take the opening at Baylor
Briles was 34-28 with Houston, leading the Cougars to a 8-4 record and berth in the Texas Bowl in 2007.
Briles contract at Baylor is for 7 years at a salary of $1.2 million a year.
He will attempt to post the first winning season at the Big XII's only private university since 1995 and take the Bears to their first bowl since 1994.
Briles was 34-28 with Houston, leading the Cougars to a 8-4 record and berth in the Texas Bowl in 2007.
Briles contract at Baylor is for 7 years at a salary of $1.2 million a year.
He will attempt to post the first winning season at the Big XII's only private university since 1995 and take the Bears to their first bowl since 1994.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Goodbye...Bill Doba
This happened last night but I missed it in my coaching carousel coverage..
Bill Doba (30-29 over 5 seasons) gets to move out of Pullman, Washington.
Bill Doba (30-29 over 5 seasons) gets to move out of Pullman, Washington.
Hello...Houston Nutt
A day after resigning as head coach at Arkansas, Houston Nutt has agreed to become the head coach at Mississippi
Nutt is now the fourth coach in the SEC West to have coached at two schools in the division.
The coaching carousel in the SEC West has become...dare I say...incestuous!
Nutt is now the fourth coach in the SEC West to have coached at two schools in the division.
Tommy Tuberville (Mississippi, Auburn)
Sylvester Croom (Alabama as an Assistant, Mississippi State)
Nick Satan (LSU, Alabama)
The coaching carousel in the SEC West has become...dare I say...incestuous!
Tuesday Morning Superhangover: The Firings
As the regular season has ended for many teams, so has the coaching tenures for many coaches. Whether they were fired, resigned, retired or bought out, the truth is they used to coach at universities that if they wanted them would have retained them, so for simplification let's just call of these partings "firings" and comment on them as so...
Dennis Franchione 32-28...Nobody didn't see this coming. The perennial mediocrity at Texas' second largest university and an e-mail fundraising scandal sealed Coach Fran's fate.
Bill Callahan 27-22...Your school hiring a predecessor you once called a "crusty old fuck" as your boss to replace your old boss because of a performance by your defense, is as good of a sign as it seems. Reportedly the meeting between Tom Osborne and Bill Callahan was 15 minutes. 15 minutes? What was talked about in the 14 and a half minutes after the words "You know why I brought you in here".
Ed Orgeron 10-25...This was the first surprise of the coach firing season. When a coach recruits as well as Coach O did (and I'll be able to read about how he did so this Christmas, hopefully), schools usually give you the rope needed to see that recruiting through. Ole Miss didn't win an SEC game however and blew a fourth quarter lead to rival and once on the hot seat Mississippi State and Sylvester Croom. That embarrassment must've been the nail in Coach O's coffin.
Chan Gailey 44-32...now starts the parade of coaches fired because of failure to meet expectations whether they be high...
Ted Roof 6-45...low...
Jeff Bower 119-82-1... or somewhere in-between Anyway, this is by far the most surprising firing of the past week. Technically a forced resignation, Southern Miss I guess expected a Hawaii-like season from Bower this year, unless Coach O feels like contending for Conference USA titles, Southern Miss will end up regretting this decision as East Carolina did in the years after firing Steve Logan.
Sonny Lubick 108-74...Lubick has reportedly been offered an Assistant AD job which may be more of an olive branch than anything else. Lubick has been contemplating retirement all year but if you can get a buyout after what you decided was going to be your last season anyway, wouldn't you?
Houston Nutt 75-48...Nutt was reportedly offered a 2-year extension but turned it down as he had seen the writing on the wall. Off-the-field issues and the Mitch Mustain fiasco had more to do with Nutt's leaving than anything on the field, Nutt and Arkansas can only benefit from this parting which is sure to not be the last of what is turning out to be an offseason heavy in coaching turnover.
Dennis Franchione 32-28...Nobody didn't see this coming. The perennial mediocrity at Texas' second largest university and an e-mail fundraising scandal sealed Coach Fran's fate.
Bill Callahan 27-22...Your school hiring a predecessor you once called a "crusty old fuck" as your boss to replace your old boss because of a performance by your defense, is as good of a sign as it seems. Reportedly the meeting between Tom Osborne and Bill Callahan was 15 minutes. 15 minutes? What was talked about in the 14 and a half minutes after the words "You know why I brought you in here".
Ed Orgeron 10-25...This was the first surprise of the coach firing season. When a coach recruits as well as Coach O did (and I'll be able to read about how he did so this Christmas, hopefully), schools usually give you the rope needed to see that recruiting through. Ole Miss didn't win an SEC game however and blew a fourth quarter lead to rival and once on the hot seat Mississippi State and Sylvester Croom. That embarrassment must've been the nail in Coach O's coffin.
Chan Gailey 44-32...now starts the parade of coaches fired because of failure to meet expectations whether they be high...
Ted Roof 6-45...low...
Jeff Bower 119-82-1... or somewhere in-between Anyway, this is by far the most surprising firing of the past week. Technically a forced resignation, Southern Miss I guess expected a Hawaii-like season from Bower this year, unless Coach O feels like contending for Conference USA titles, Southern Miss will end up regretting this decision as East Carolina did in the years after firing Steve Logan.
Sonny Lubick 108-74...Lubick has reportedly been offered an Assistant AD job which may be more of an olive branch than anything else. Lubick has been contemplating retirement all year but if you can get a buyout after what you decided was going to be your last season anyway, wouldn't you?
Houston Nutt 75-48...Nutt was reportedly offered a 2-year extension but turned it down as he had seen the writing on the wall. Off-the-field issues and the Mitch Mustain fiasco had more to do with Nutt's leaving than anything on the field, Nutt and Arkansas can only benefit from this parting which is sure to not be the last of what is turning out to be an offseason heavy in coaching turnover.
Tuesday Morning Superhangover: The National Championship Picture
As we thought it would, the National Championship game picture is a lot clearer than it was last week and thanks to Arkansas, and Missouri, some teams previously left for dead are now very much alive. This weekend two games will ultimately decide which two teams play in the BCS National Championship game in New Orleans:
Pittsburgh at West Virginia and Oklahoma vs. Missouri in Kansas City in the Big XII Championship Game. West Virginia and Missouri being the teams in line to play for the National Championship. But this season the theme has been that as soon as a team warrants our attention they quickly are proven to be an afterthought. That said here are the scenarios:
1) If West Virginia and Missouri win: West Virginia vs. Missouri (I know sounds too easy)
2) If West Virginia wins and Missouri loses: West Virginia vs. Ohio State (and this game is as much of a laugher as last year's and NOT in the Buckeyes favor)
3) If West Virginia loses and Missouri wins: Missouri vs. Ohio State (I'll get back to ya)
4) If West Virginia and Missouri lose: Breathe...take a deep breath. Ohio State would be in, that much is certain. Then you take your pick from this pool: Kansas (only one loss but recent with as poor a non-conference schedule as you'll find) West Virginia (having just lost to an unranked opponent, not likely), Missouri (would have the same record as Oklahoma having lost to them twice so not over Bob Stoops' dead body), Oklahoma (would have to leap a lot of teams but if they dominated Missouri it wouldn't be impossible), and either Georgia or LSU (If LSU won the SEC Championship, they could get to New Orleans after all)
One would think West Virginia has an easy road to New Orleans at home vs. Pittsburgh. But the "Backyard Brawl" is tricky, and you don't need me to tell you that stranger things have happened.
Pittsburgh at West Virginia and Oklahoma vs. Missouri in Kansas City in the Big XII Championship Game. West Virginia and Missouri being the teams in line to play for the National Championship. But this season the theme has been that as soon as a team warrants our attention they quickly are proven to be an afterthought. That said here are the scenarios:
1) If West Virginia and Missouri win: West Virginia vs. Missouri (I know sounds too easy)
2) If West Virginia wins and Missouri loses: West Virginia vs. Ohio State (and this game is as much of a laugher as last year's and NOT in the Buckeyes favor)
3) If West Virginia loses and Missouri wins: Missouri vs. Ohio State (I'll get back to ya)
4) If West Virginia and Missouri lose: Breathe...take a deep breath. Ohio State would be in, that much is certain. Then you take your pick from this pool: Kansas (only one loss but recent with as poor a non-conference schedule as you'll find) West Virginia (having just lost to an unranked opponent, not likely), Missouri (would have the same record as Oklahoma having lost to them twice so not over Bob Stoops' dead body), Oklahoma (would have to leap a lot of teams but if they dominated Missouri it wouldn't be impossible), and either Georgia or LSU (If LSU won the SEC Championship, they could get to New Orleans after all)
One would think West Virginia has an easy road to New Orleans at home vs. Pittsburgh. But the "Backyard Brawl" is tricky, and you don't need me to tell you that stranger things have happened.
Tuesday Morning Superhangover: The Games
Thanksgiving is known for three "vices", Overeating, Overdrinking, and Overfootballwatching. I did all three but my fourth vice, blogging had to be neglected as when you're entertaining and visiting family its tough to get away to a computer even on what was the most important college football weekend of the year. But now that the weekend is over I should probably give some thoughts on the weekends events, this being a college football blog and all. Let's start with whats most important; the games, or at least the ones I was able to watch...
USC 44, Arizona State 24- There may come a year that these two are battling for Pac Ten titles year after year. Arizona State wasn't quite "Ready for Prime Time" but this was fun game to watch for reasons other than the hot tail on the sidelines.
Colorado 65, Nebraska 51 Its sad what has happened to this rivalry, once an Orange Bowl playoff game. Now we need gimmicks like Eric Cartman introducing Colorado to get people to watch. And when did the Big XII become the WAC?
Arkansas 50, LSU 48 Of course Les Miles is getting second guessed for some of his play calls in this one. That's what happens when your Les Miles. Its just too bad Glenn Dorsey couldn't be at 100% to add to this matchup vs. Darren McFadden. As it was Run DMC almost single-handedly beat the #1 team in the country. Simply an amazing performance.
Hawaii 39, Boise State 27 If you're seeing more "Vili the Warrior" and less Chrissy Johnson, that ain't good if you're a Bronco fan or a heterosexual male. Boise State needed more tackling practice but this was an impressive win for a team that I rarely watched sober and played two Division I-AA teams, Idaho, and Utah State. This win and a win over Washington should be enough to get Hawai'i into a BCS Bowl.
West Virginia 66, Connecticut 21 Ladies and Gentlemen you now need to start paying attention to the 'eers. A brutal matchup for any lucky DC that should have to play them. But of course now that you're paying attention they are twice as likely to lose.
Tennessee 52, Kentucky 50 Another SEC classic. Even as a Yankee I have always loved this conference and the games seem to get better each year. Now is it politically incorrect to expect Andre Woodson to run those last three yards into the endzone?
Missouri 36, Kansas 28 This was a fun one even if Mizzou seemed in control throughout. Chase Daniel is making the "Best player on a winning team" argument for the Heisman Trophy which will be discussed much more next week.
USC 44, Arizona State 24- There may come a year that these two are battling for Pac Ten titles year after year. Arizona State wasn't quite "Ready for Prime Time" but this was fun game to watch for reasons other than the hot tail on the sidelines.
Colorado 65, Nebraska 51 Its sad what has happened to this rivalry, once an Orange Bowl playoff game. Now we need gimmicks like Eric Cartman introducing Colorado to get people to watch. And when did the Big XII become the WAC?
Arkansas 50, LSU 48 Of course Les Miles is getting second guessed for some of his play calls in this one. That's what happens when your Les Miles. Its just too bad Glenn Dorsey couldn't be at 100% to add to this matchup vs. Darren McFadden. As it was Run DMC almost single-handedly beat the #1 team in the country. Simply an amazing performance.
Hawaii 39, Boise State 27 If you're seeing more "Vili the Warrior" and less Chrissy Johnson, that ain't good if you're a Bronco fan or a heterosexual male. Boise State needed more tackling practice but this was an impressive win for a team that I rarely watched sober and played two Division I-AA teams, Idaho, and Utah State. This win and a win over Washington should be enough to get Hawai'i into a BCS Bowl.
West Virginia 66, Connecticut 21 Ladies and Gentlemen you now need to start paying attention to the 'eers. A brutal matchup for any lucky DC that should have to play them. But of course now that you're paying attention they are twice as likely to lose.
Tennessee 52, Kentucky 50 Another SEC classic. Even as a Yankee I have always loved this conference and the games seem to get better each year. Now is it politically incorrect to expect Andre Woodson to run those last three yards into the endzone?
Missouri 36, Kansas 28 This was a fun one even if Mizzou seemed in control throughout. Chase Daniel is making the "Best player on a winning team" argument for the Heisman Trophy which will be discussed much more next week.
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