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Posted on 11/22/2006 7:09:01 PM PST by MikefromOhio
Weekend Twelve showcased what is, in my opinion, the best rivalry in college football and one of the best rivalries in all sports. Ohio State vs. Michigan seemed to actually live up to the hype, with an Ohio State victory over Michigan 42-39. The game was dampened a bit by the passing of a legend, Bo Schembechler, the day before the game. Needless to say, Bo (and Woody for that matter) would not have liked the game given the nearly 900 yards of offense and over 80 points scored. This weekend gives us several match-ups that are key to the BCS equation. Notre Dame travels to LA to take on USC while LSU can seriously hinder Arkansas’ (and by extension Florida’s) chances to get to the game.
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(9) LSU at (5) Arkansas (PICK)
This game has several implications for the BCS. If LSU wins, it has an outside shot at a BCS At-Large bid if the cards fall right. IF Arkansas wins impressively, it still has an outside shot at the BCS national title game with a win against Florida in the SEC championship game. Arkansas is on a roll. LSU’s quarterback tends to try to force things when playing in a big game like this. Will he make another big mistake? I think so.
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Here is yet another game pitting 2 teams with BCS hopes. USC and Notre Dame can both make a statement and put their teams into a good spot for the BCS title game. USC needs to win this game impressively enough to switch 3 or 4 coaches poll voters to vote them over Michigan as #2 OR defeat Notre Dame impressively enough to drop them in the polls to hurt Michigan’s computer ranking. Notre Dame, conversely, needs to win this game and hope that people have forgotten how badly they were beaten by Michigan in week 3 of this season. USC is by far the better team. That didn’t stop Notre Dame from making it a GREAT game last year. I think USC is better on defense this year and still has enough offense to get past Notre Dame.
,br> USC 33 – Notre Dame 17
(18) Boston College (-4) at Miami (FL)
This will be the 22nd anniversary of the miracle throw by Doug Flutie. Now that might sometimes motivate some teams, Miami is pretty lethargic about everything it seems. They need to win to be bowl eligible.
BC 31 – Miami 15
(1) Ohio State BYE
(2) Michigan BYE
(4) Florida (-9.5) at Florida State
Florida 27 – FSU 7
South Florida at (7) West Virginia (-20.5)
WVU 36 – South Florida 14
(8) Louisville (-11.5) at Pittsburgh
Louisville 27 – Pitt 19
(10) Wisconsin BYE
(12) Boise St. (-3) at Nevada
Boise St. 21 – Nevada 20 ****UPSET ALERT****
(13) Oklahoma (-6) at Oklahoma St.
Oklahoma 33 – Oklahoma St. 10
(14) Auburn BYE
Syracuse at (15) Rutgers (NL)
Rutgers 20 – Syracuse 3
(16) Georgia Tech at Georgia (-2)
Georgia 23 – Georgia Tech 18
Virginia at (17) Virginia Tech (-17)
Virginia Tech 38 – Virginia 10
Kentucky at (19) Tennessee (-19)
Tennessee 38 – Kentucky 24
(20) Virginia Tech at Maryland (-1.5)
Maryland 22 – Wake 18
(21) BYU (-10.5) at Utah
BYU 32 – Utah 17
(22) California BYE
South Carolina at (24) Clemson (-5.5)
South Carolina 23 – Clemson 20 ****UPSET ALERT****
Purdue at (25) Hawaii (-17)
Purdue 48 – Hawaii 45 ****UPSET ALERT****
New Mexico 27 – San Diego St. 20
Texas A&M at Texas (-13)
Texas isn’t anywhere near the team it was at this point last season, but if Colt McCoy is healthy, they should win this game. If A&M has a good day throwing the ball, they could make this game interesting for at least 3 quarters.
Texas 38 – Texas A&M 20
(4) Florida (-9.5) at Florida State
You have to score points to win. FSU could ruin Florida’s chances at the BCS National Title game here. Unfortunately a long year will only get longer. FSU won’t really ever be in this one I don’t think.
,br>
Florida 27 – FSU 7
I hope so, too! Who wants to see ANOTHER beatdown of Notre Dame by Michigan during a bowl game? 
Mushberger trying to make up for giving away USC's signals earlier in the year by Kissing their a## all night. Mushberger also acts like he has a poster of Brady Quinn on his wall.
Mickey Mouse is the Anti Christ
Disney, ABC and ESPN are sick
Corso just announced that Notre Dame will go to the Rose Bowl because their isnt anyone else to pick. Also the score doesnt tell the whole story and it wasnt a bad beating. FLorida LSU need not apply I guess
Davie on aBC say that it isn't who deserves to go to the BCS/Rose, it's about Nute Rockne and all that
The Bias is so overwhelming. I hope to God SEC Commish Silve gets off his ass in Birmingham and make sure the Conference is about to be take up the rear
Some of the people in the SEC should get off their a## and demand a playoff in the future.
Big 10 team plays 13 games and none of them are OSU or MU?
Now they are down 14 to Hawaii?
True, I have never been a huge advocate of the playoff system but this media bias is incredible. The problem is that I really do think it effects things.
I think within three years we'll see a three-game playoff (BCS #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3 for the semifinals, with the winners playing the final). The semifinals and finals will be the current BCS bowl games.
Bowl eligible teams by conference:
Pac Ten - 8 of 10
Big East - 6 of 8
Big Twelve - 9 of 12
SEC - 9 of 12
ACC - 8 of 12
Big Ten (sic) - 7 of 11
Mountain West - 5 of 9
Conference USA - 6 of 12
Independents - 2 of 4
Sun Belt - 4 of 8
WAC - 4 of 9
Mid American - 5 of 12
Why does this not please me???
:)
That was (mostly) tongue-in-cheek. Arkansas did as much to kill UF's hopes as FSU did.
Best of luck in the Sugar Bowl...against Boise State!
(That was meant to be a joke, but it could happen.)
No Lakeshark sightings as of yet, but I'm sure he will be back sometime soon!!
I thought USC's defense was somewhat flat against Notre Dame yesterday. They weren't as animated and flying to the ball like they were against Cal, who is clearly a better team than Notre Dame. I think USC had geared up against Oregon and in particular Cal, and the hard-hitting from the Cal game had some lingering impact. That being said, obviously, they did more than enough to beat Notre Dame.
UCLA is a tough game next week, but they are rumbling about bringing that lefthanded QB Olson back from injury to start that game, which would be a huge bonehead move. The new guy they have, Cowan, is a much better player and leader than Olson.
I hope you had a chance to see Lou Holtz after the game, hat-in-hand. He's been calling for everybody USC plays to beat them, and I think he finally realized yesterday that they are pretty good.
I don't want to take anything away from USC's performance, but I think the game once again demonstrates that Notre Dame is chronically overrated. The Irish haven't won a bowl game since 1994 and haven't finished in the top 10 in the Coaches Poll since 1993.
Scheduling the military academies is a nice tradition and all, but it doesn't prepare you well for playing a true BCS caliber opponent. Both times they tried this year, they got their butts handed to them.
"The Irish haven't won a bowl game since 1994..."
But it's not so much an 'overrated' issue as it is that Notre Dame is a great draw, so they almost always have to 'play up' in their bowl games. Probably happen again this year.
Notre Dame's schedule is generally solid, despite their commitments to the service academy teams. And in many years, Navy and Air Force can be decent opponents. Notre Dame turned the ball over 5 times against Michigan, and that's the primary reason that game got out of hand. Arkansas turned the ball over 5 times to USC and it ended up 50-14. If Notre Dame had played Michigan as well as they played USC yesterday, they would have been in that game. They had beaten Michigan three of the prior four seasons coming into this year, something other top programs would be crowing about if they had done so.
Notre Dame has a HUGE fan base that travels well. That's why there were a lot of Notre Dame fans at the Fiesta Bowl last year.
And got their butts handed to them.
There's no doubt whatsoever that Notre Dame is a popular team. They are the only team that is always covered by network television.
But popular does not automatically equate to great, and while they do have an impressive history and are able to field good teams, their popularity tends to equate into a higher estimation of the team than is probably justified most years.
So love them or hate them, they're going to get invited to a big bowl, and they'll probably get waxed again.
There's a weird dynamic surrounding the way Notre Dame gets evaluated. They get little credit for their wins and they get crushed by people when they lose, even when losing to teams that most would lose to. Consider this year. Big Ten honks on this very forum try to pump up the lousy schedules played by Ohio State and Michigan by pointing out their big wins over Penn State, Purdue, and even Michigan State who can be a dangerous team. Well, Notre Dame beat all of those teams, and routed Penn State and Purdue, who are upper half Big Ten finishers this year. They also beat Georgia Tech, who will play for the ACC championship. They beat Air Force who gave Tennessee everything they could handle at Tennessee in a one-point game. They beat UCLA who is a solid Pac-10 team. But Notre Dame gets crushed because they went flat against Michigan and had their one bad turnover game of the season, turning it over 5 times against the Wolverines. And they lose to USC, just like everyone else who has played them over the past five years.
They beat Michigan 3 out of the last 4 years coming into this season, they gave USC an incredible game in South Bend last year and just because they don't match up well with a very hot Ohio State team in the bowl game, people hammer them.
I would love to see Notre Dame versus Wisconsin in a bowl game this year, or maybe even Louisville, just for perspective.
I'm not saying Notre Dame is a lousy team. They recruit well, and they're surely not an underfunded team. They start every season with an advantage that all other teams can only dream about.
They don't play a conference schedule and they can pick their opponents. Every game they play is televised nationwide.
They started the season ranked #2. If you asked Notre Dame who they think their peers are in terms of being a football powerhouse, they wouldn't mention Purdue or Georgia Tech. They'd say, Michigan, USC, and Ohio State. But those teams have faced Notre Dame four times in the past year, and Notre Dame lost all four, three by double digits. They came up 63 points short against all three.
They're pretty much guaranteed a BCS bowl appearance just because of their reputation. But I certainly wouldn't bet on them to win. 1994 was a long time ago.
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