College Football Weekend December 6th

My last regular season column of the year, and it's been a fun year. Once again this year has shaped up to be a great example of why college football needs a playoff. I won't harp on that too long, but I will say that I get sick of not seeing games I and plenty of other people want to see. If you take the top 8 teams in the BCS this year, not one of them has played an unimportant game this year, thus those 8 if they made up a playoff would not have the regular season cheapened at all. More importantly I want to talk about the single most impactful (that's a word right?) game this week. Cincinnati Vs. Hawaii. Cincinnati's fate is sealed, they are playing the winner of the ACC championship in the Orange bowl in a game that will get the worst ratings in BCS history. Two loser teams. But the Hawaii game has a far more interesting twist to it, a Chubby Checkers style twist to it. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/stewart_mandel/12/03/mailbag/1.html makes an interesting point, if Cincinnati loses, it could drop Oklahoma below Texas in the BCS rankings even if Oklahoma beats Missouri in the Big 12 title game. This could happen because Oklahoma beat Cincinnati earlier in the year but that win would hold less weight if Hawaii wins at home, which it often does. There are a elephant load more things that will figure into this but that would be really funny to see. That and a comedy about a super villain played by like Ricky Gervais or something. If Oklahoma loses by the way you would see a Texas Vs. the winner of the Florida/Alabama game this weekend probably.

Comments:
"Dude I watched that entire game (Georgia Tech Vs. Georgia), GT looked amazing. Not just Jones but the Fullback as well, he is a monster. They really played well and Georgia simply had no answer. I guess they just wore them down. The FB is a battering ram and just kept pounding them and eventually he broke one up the middle for 60 yards. They you mix in Jones and his speed and they have no answer on the outside. I know that the option isn't going to win you a ton of recruits but it was fun to watch with good players. That win alone, never mind his 7 others, got Paul Johnson a nice long leave from any hot seat because Tech never beats Georgia, especially in Sanford. They partied all night in Atlanta after that one. It was amazing to see the respect they players had for Johnson on the sideline and how they followed his every order. No wonder he won so much at Georgia Southern and the Naval Academy. - Forrest"
I can't believe they came back and won that, I turned it off at halftime. He's a truly unique coach and I think that he bought himself a decade with that win. It's been 8 years since the last GT win over Georgia? I love watching a good triple option, it's so sublime in a way. I think he gets folks to buy into his program, but let's be honest, him beating Notre Dame last year at Navy was the highest that team is ever going to get, so there was nowhere else for him to go. But he's a heck of a coach.

"It's a no-brainer for Myron Rolle, he will be able to say "I'm the toughest doctor EVER", and then he can prove it if people doubt him by tackling them into some beakers like Terry Tate, office linebacker. Regardless, I saw an interview on him (Rolle, not Tate) earlier this year, he's definitely going to Oxford. - Cali"
I think tackling people as a doctor is amazing, and I think that at best this guy would be a bad starter or a career special teams guy. So we'll see how he dies it. I think the Rhodes Scholarship it is, especially because I don't believe there's any point in competing for one if you aren't going to take it. It's a tremendous amount of work.

"Here's a fun fact: knowshon moreno (georgia), shonn greene (iowa), donald brown (uconn) are all from new jersey. What are they puttingin the water over there? - Cali"
Horse steroids and toxic waste, you knew that before you asked.

"Any thoughts on this: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081201-drumline-meets-rock-band-360-in-black-college-football-game.html? - Andy"
I think it's an interesting concept, and that the historical black colleges present a unique look at football mixed with drumlines. But I wonder if it's too small a niche to hit, the college football games lag behind the NFL games as is, and the reason most people buy them is because they went to those schools which are huge state schools. These schools aren't that big and I don't think this game is unique enough to capture a huge market. Also I think it would be hard to capture that kind of atmosphere.

Games:
#17 Boston College vs. #25 Virginia Tech - The VT Hokies lost at Boston College 28-23 back in the middle of October. The question is, how much did playing at the BC Eagles stadium affect the game. 5 points? It's a long road trip from Blacksburg to Boston so you might be able to give the Hokies 5 points there. This game looks on paper like a tremendous time to take a nap, a game that could likely be dominated by defense on both sides. I'm serious, you can get some real sleep in while trying to watch this game. I won't be, I'll be giving my mother a tour of San Diego and having some excellent Mexican food at Miguel's Catina across from the Hotel Del Coronado, then we'll go walk on the beach and through the Hotel to see their annual giant Christmas tree. But if you live somewhere cold, then you can feel free to text me if you can't fall asleep during this game, which may not be a complete snooze fest, because it will probably be decided by less than 7 points. I've been told I don't give VT enough props, so I hope they win, and that they do so convincingly, because I had lots of friends who went there and they deserve to win a ACC championship.

Navy vs. Army - The annual meeting of these two service academies dates back to 1890 and will be played for the 109th time this weekend. The Navy Midshipmen have won the Commander In Chief's Trophy each of the past five years and are guaranteed to at least tie for the trophy. The Army Knights already lost to Air Force, so the best they can hope for is a three way tie. The overall series is 52-49-7 in favor of Navy, but Army is looking to bring themselves closer to even. This is a great game and you will rarely see a game played with more heart and determination, good luck to everyone involved. Also Navy will win.

#1 Alabama vs. #4 Florida - The winner of this game plays for all the chihuahuas, the whole enchilada, the big pinata, the some random thing, the National title. Pretty straight forward, not quite as straight forward as Thunderdome's "Two men enter, one man leave" policy but it is pretty certain. The Gators will need a big performance by QB and Heisman winner Tim Tebow and his variety of offensive weapons (I feel like I just wrote that sentence about a combination of Daniel Day Lewis in "There Will be Blood" and the Punisher...oh man I would totally go see Daniel Day Lewis in a Punisher movie). Alabama Crimson Tide has outpaced all expectations this year, and I personally have picked them to lose no less than 4 times, I have been wrong every time. But, I have this problem where I refuse to learn after putting my hand on a hot stove (something which I have done at least twice in my life). Alabama is the hot stove, and I refuse to believe they will win a big game. Despite all my musings about this game it should be fun to watch. Both teams have great defenses, Alabama has lost 9 fumbles and 5 interceptions in 12 games, which is pretty low, like smurf height low, or Rosie O'Donnell's new shows ratings low (I have to admit, I don't take enough shots at Rosie, maybe next year). Florida has a fun flashy offense, and speed on defense, so this game should be fun to watch.

#2 Oklahoma vs. Missouri - At one time I championed Missouri as the best team in the country, The Tigers had an amazing offense with QB Chase Daniel and WR Jeremy Maclin, I didn't think there was anyone who could stop them and they looked fantastic. But as it turned out they were more like a girl you see in the shadowy darkness, you think she looks really hot from afar, but as you get closer and the season goes on you realize she's just a hobo standing in some funny light, and she smells. It is by no means outside Missouri's reach to win this game, in fact it may be more likely then you think. The big 12 has a history of seeing upsets in the conference championship, and it has caused problems before and it is possible it could again. If Oklahoma loses then perhaps that vaults Texas into the title game, then you have a team that didn't play in it's conference championship playing for the national title. But we'll just have to see how QB Sam Bradford and the rest of the Sooners handle everything. Will we see the Missouri from the beginning of the year, or will we see a hobo, I'm betting on the hobo like always.