Winners and Losers

First of all, can I please comment on the end of the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State game tonight. If you are up by 13 with 30 seconds left, and you have even ONE OUNCE of sportsmanship in you, you kneel and leave with a big victory over your rival. However, if you are Bob Stoops and you are a complete douchebag, you run another play and run up the score so that you win by 20. Look, I understand that the BCS is about style points, but there is something called sportsmanship, and OU failed the test tonight. Embarrasing.

Winner: Rice

Despite 70% of the morons in the Houston Chronicle predicting a huge UH win (probably UH grads and, let's face it, UH isn't a real college. COUGAR HIGH SCHOOL!), Rice did whatever they wanted in a 56-42 win. With 9 wins going into either the Texas Bowl or the Armed Forces Bowl coming up, we could go for 10 wins for the first time in our history. I'm not only fired up to be a grad, but am really proud of the student-athletes for Rice. Congrats Coach Bailiff!!!

Loser: UH

All their graduates will work for Rice grads anyways.

Winner: Oklahoma

Once again they proved they are unstoppable on offense and are a heck of ballclub.

Loser: Oklahoma

(See above). Unsportsmanlike a-holes.

Winner: Texas

Dominated A&M all over the field in their 49-9 win. And took their starters out so NOT AS TO RUN UP THE SCORE.

Loser: Notre Dame

Weis deserves to be fired, and Claussen should never start another game for ND. Being the top recruit in the country doesn't mean you get to start for 4 years. Jimmy has a cannon, but he sucks.

Winner: James Casey, Rice. Thor had an amazing game and set the record for receptions for anyone in Conference-USA. Congrats!!

Loser: Auburn. Absolutely embarassing. Nice job.

Winner: Florida. Looked great in their beat down of the lowly Seminoles. Though once again, and please pay attention everyone with a Heisman vote: TIM TEBOW DOES NOT DESERVE THE HEISMAN this year. Also, HE WILL NEVER BE A GOOD NFL QB!!! I don't get it. Average arm, average reader of defenses. What am I missing? You can't run the spread in the NFL. Deal with it Timmy.

Winner: Baylor. Played Tech down to the wire in a great 35-28 loss. Baylor is on the right track and their fans should be excited about the direction they are taking.

Loser: A&M. They are screwed. And that's what they deserve for being a classless bunch of uncouth malcontents. Hey A&M, Obama won the election....deal with it.

When anyone brings up OU vs. UT, I will refer them to the simple score of 45-35.

GO RICE!!!

A BCS Mess

First of all, I'm an idiot. Apparently if you get the 2008 Texas Tech football team on a field outside the friendly confines of Lubbock they turn into the 2000-2007 Texas Tech football team. Good lord. Just a bludgeoning on Saturday night in Norman. Not only did Tech look like a D-II team, but Leach helped assist the blowout along with some moronic coaching decisions. Not that it would have turned the tide by any means, but if you're down 14-0 and have a chip shot field goal - you kick it and give your team some semblance of hope. Also, if you're on your side of the 50, you haven't scored all game, and it's 4th down...you punt the ball. This isn't about balls, it's about common sense. I understand the argument that "we can't stop them, so we might as well" but all that thinking does is make the game 42-7 at the half. Just a stunning, stunning ball game.

So it looks like if OU and UT win out next week, OU will pass UT in the BCS and go to the Big 12 title game against Missouri. Which, in my opinion, is wrong. Voting OU ahead of UT is not indefensible (yes they DID look that good on Saturday) but Mark Schlabach sums it up well
here. The bottom line is UT lost on the road, at the last second while OU lost on a neutral site. More importantly, they lost TO UT. If the reverse was true, I'd have to give OU the nod as well. Get ready for a lot of annoying lobbying by all coaches and tons of mindless idiots everywhere.

Updated Top 10:

1. Alabama (11-0) Idle - Next up the Iron Bowl, then Florida. Two chances for the dream to die.

2. Texas (10-1) Idle - When they met OU on the field, they won. Case closed.

3. Oklahoma (10-1) Demolished Texas Tech 65-21. Beat OSU and you go to the Big 12 title game. Time for a typical out of nowhere Sooner collapse...or do they just wait until the national title game for those?

4. Florida (10-1) Defeated Citadel 70-19. Why the hell are they playing Citadel this late in the year? I mean....really? Nothing gets you tuned up for Florida St. like beating a local high school team. Also, if one more tv person tells me Tim Tebow is back in the Heisman race after going 9 for 11 for 200 yards against the Citadel I'm going to puke.

5. USC (9-1) Idle - Notre Dame has no chance. None. Weis may be coaching for his job this week. That Syracuse game was pathetic. Although nice job Irish fans! Nothing like pelting your own team with snowballs during the game. Straight class South Bend!

6. Utah (12-0) Throttled BYU 48-24. Turned the Holy War into a Holy Ass Kicking. I'd rank them over USC on their body of work this year...they've now beaten Oregon St., BYU, TCU and Air Force. But I still think they lose on a neutral field to the Trojans. And anyone who thinks this Utah team will meet the same fate as Hawaii last year is an idiot...this is a damn good football team. Although all red uniforms? Really?

7. Penn St. (11-1) Beat Michigan St.49-18. Okay, consider me impressed. I thought this game would be close and Penn St. came out and laid an ass-whipping on the Spartans. They've earned their Rose Bowl trip. Enjoy it JoePa!

8. Texas Tech (10-1) Humiliated by OU 65-21. I've never seen a higher ranked team that scared in a big game in my life. Nice job getting them ready Mike.

9. Boise St. (11-0) beat Nevada 41-34. Hung on to stretch their record to 11-0. With Utah winning they are out of the BCS hunt, but another great season by the smurf turfers.

10. Oklahoma St. (9-2) Idle. They get their chance to ruin OU's chances this weekend. BEDLAM!!!

BCS Predictions:

NCG: Oklahoma vs. Florida
Fiesta: Texas vs. USC
Sugar: Alabama vs. Utah
Rose: Oregon St. vs. Penn St.
Orange: Cincinnati vs. Florida St.

Awesome Rice, Lousy Irish and a Prediction For Tonight

Three thoughts as we head out to meet friends at Fado to watch the HUGE Tech/OU game:

1. Rice blew out Marshall today 35-10 at home to move to 8-3 on the year.  Houston is currently in a dogfight with UTEP with 4 minutes to go, so after today there could still be a 3 way tie atop Conference USA's West Division between Tulsa, UH and Rice - all at 6-1.  The Owls host the Cougars next week while Tulsa will likely blow out Marshall on the road.  Unless Rice wins and Tulsa loses (thus sending Rice to the Conference USA title game) Rice will be heading to either the Houston Bowl or Armed Forces Fort Worth Bowl.  LET'S GO RICE!!!

2. The word "putrid" doesn't do justice to how horrid Notre Dame looked today at home vs. Syracuse (a 24-23 loss).  Syracuse had lost on the road this year by an average score of 32-12 and were the worst team in the Big East...yet they dominated the line of scrimmage and made plays when they had to.  ND only managed 1.5 years a carry and were lucky to have been ahead at all, after Golden Tate hauled in a TD at the end of the first half after the cornerback for the Orange forgot to cover. (When did Syracuse become the "Orange" by the way? So dumb.)  Claussen was his usual scattershot self (22-40) and took some horrible sacks.  He might be talented, but he is a loooooong way from being a QB that can lead them to the BCS.  The play calling was brutal and Weis' decision at the end was stupid.  Your kicker just left a 49 yarder short, so you let him kick a 50+ yarder with 5 ticks still on the clock? your only chance is to throw a quick 5 yard out and get it within 47 or so.  Obviously he's going to leave it short.  The clock is ticking Charlie....

3. THE game of the day is coming up here in an hour. #2 Tech at #5 OU.  I admit, every sign points towards it being OU's day.  They've won 23 in a row at home and are something like 50-2 at home under Stoops.  Leach' troops are 0-4 in Norman during his tenure in Lubbock, and OU has been playing at a ridiculously high level since their 45-35 loss to #3 Texas.  I've watched OU play against UT, and caught some of their games since, and I've watched most of Tech's last 3 games.  Bottom line: for the first time in years, I truly believe Texas Tech is the better team.  

Prediction: Texas Tech - 45

                     Oklahoma - 42

My Top 10 and BCS Predictions

After a ho-hum weekend of college football (you mean most of the favorites can actually win? WTF?) here is my updated top 10 and BCS predictions...but not until I put the entire football team of Troy ON NOTICE!

YOU WERE UP 31-3 at LSU AND YOU LOST!!! YOU COULD HAVE SENT 80,000 WHISKY DRUNK PEOPLE HOME UNHAPPY! DAMN YOU TROY!!!!

Sorry, I had to let that out. Now, onto the rankings:

1. Alabama (10-0) - Defeated Miss. St. 32-7. The Tide keep on rolling towards the SEC championship game. The Iron Bowl is their last hurdle before then, and nothing could salvage Auburn's season like beating an undefeated Alabama and ruining their national title hopes. Well, that or a new offensive coordinator. I mean seriously, do you think even Auburn diehards will play with their team when NCAA 2010 comes out next year? Yuck.

2. Texas Tech (10-0) - Idle. Who are they playing this week? I haven't heard anything about them this week. (note: heavy sarcasm)

3. Texas (10-1) - Handled Kansas 35-7. McCoy kept up his Heisman chances by throwing for 255 and 2 scores and running for another one. On a less happy note, freshman safety Blake Gideon still doesn't know where he is thanks to Angus Quigley. There are concussions and then there are CONCUSSIONS. Gideon has the latter.

4. Florida (9-1) - Destroyed South Carolina 56-6. This team is playing as well as anyone in the country and is actually starting to garner support from people who have most of their teeth. However, the people who voted them #1 over undefeated Alabama and Texas Tech should have their votes taken away. Seriously. Once they beat Alabama, then go ahead, but until then just stop it.

5. Oklahoma (9-1) - idle. Everyone in the state of Oklahoma is looking forward to Saturday night and all the roadkill nachos they're going to be making while they watch the game.

6. USC (9-1) - Beat a game Stanford team 45-23. What's the over/under on how many picks ND's Jimmy Claussen throws on Saturday? 6? 7? I saw where Sporting News ranked this as one of the top rivalries in the country - doesn't one of the teams have to win at some point to be a "rivalry?"

7. Utah (11-0) - Hammered hapless San Diego State 63-14. The Holy War is ON this weekend!! Let the best group of Mormons win!

8. Boise St. (10-0) - Beat Idaho 45-10. This is one group of smurf turfers who will be cheering on BYU this weekend...if BYU upsets Utah, the odds are Boise St. takes Utah's place in the BCS. Since birds mistake Boise St.'s blue turf for water, and kill themselves diving into it, can we build a few of those fields in Austin? My friends and I got seriously dumped on downtown at happy hour last friday.

9. Penn St. (10-1) - Beat Indiana 34-7. If they beat Michigan St. they go to the Rose Bowl. That would be a great way for JoPa to go out (hint, hint).

10. BYU (10-1) - Won at Air Force 38-24. Is there a better name than the "Holy War" for a rivalry game?

BCG: Texas Tech vs. Florida

Fiesta: Texas vs. Ohio St.

Rose: Penn St. vs. USC

Orange: Maryland vs. Cincinnati

Sugar: Alabama vs. Utah

One BCS thing I forgot to mention

I'm not sure if it's 100% certain or not, but I'm pretty sure that if:

UT loses to Kansas and A&M
Tech loses to OU and Baylor
Florida loses to Florida St.
Alabama loses to Miss. St.
Penn St. loses to Michigan St.
USC loses to Notre Dame
Sam Bradford becomes Mormon and goes on a mission before the Tech game, then

Rice is declared national champion!

Texas and the BCS - Let Chaos Reign

Before we get into UT's National Title chances...can we GIVE IT UP FOR RICE OWLS FOOTBALL??!!!! Rice is now 7-3 and ranked #39 in the country by Sports Illustrated and are projected to go to the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth...awwww yeah!! We also got one vote in the Harris poll - oh yes, Rice has arrived.

Now that the important stuff is out of the way, let me say that if UT wins at Kansas and hosting A&M these next 2 games, Texas goes to a BCS game. Period. They are the most attractive school out of the Big 12 for the Fiesta bowl to take, so at worst, they're going to the Fiesta Bowl at 11-1. Not shabby for a team that was predicted to go 9-3 this year.

However, their chances for the National Championship Game are looking about as likely as Obama appointing McCain as Secretary of Defense - slim. Let's look at what could happen and what the results would be:

ASSUMPTIONS:
First, I'm assuming that either Florida or Alabama wins out. If we try and factor in what might happen if either school loses one of their last two games and then that losing team then wins the SEC, well, it will get WAY too complicated. And bottom line, I'm just not that smart.

Secondly, I'm assuming UT beats Kansas and A&M. If they lose one of those games they can kiss the BCS goodbye. And also they deserve to go to a crappier bowl. Kansas is practicing the "Ole" defense this year and the Aggies, well, life is always good when they're this bad. Gig this! First a 4-6 season then Obama's win - not a good time to be in College Station. (of course, when IS it a good time to be in College Station?) [hint: never]

Lastly, I'm assuming Missouri wins the Big 12 North.

Scenario #1: Tech wins out, and wins Big 12 Championship.
This one is easy. Whew!
Result: Tech in NCG. UT in Fiesta.

Scenario #2: Tech wins out and loses Big 12 Championship.
This would mean Big 12 South champ Tech would have one loss, UT would have one loss, and OU would have 2 losses. Missouri goes to the BCS, but with 2 losses, doesn't get into the NCG. the Fiesta takes them since they are the Big 12 Champion. With Tech's loss coming at the end, UT likely jumps them and gets to the title game. However, people may vote USC up higher if neither UT or Tech has won their conference. But the computers would still have UT or Tech far ahead most likely. Thus the Big 12 "champion" would play in a lesser bowl than a Big 12 team that didn't even win its own division. Just awesome!
Result: UT likely in NCG. Missouri in Fiesta.

Scenario #3: OU wins out. South Champion wins Big 12 Championship.
Here's where it gets fun, OU, UT and Tech would each have one loss, and each would be 1-1 against each other. It would go through the tiebreakers until it got to the deciding factor: whichever team is ranked highest in the Final BCS. But who is that going to be? Right now UT is #3 in the BCS, but that gap would likely shrink to a typical LSU student's wein size or disappear (like Miami's football program) since UT would have beaten a 6-4 Kansas and a 4-6 A&M team, while at the same time OU would have beaten Tech and OSU which should dramatically increase their strength of schedule. [that was a REALLy long sentence. Sorry about that.]

Right now OU is ahead of UT by one spot in the coaches' poll (which goes to show that coaches are idiots) and behind them by one spot in the Harris poll. I think it's more likely than not that OU would be a spot ahead of UT in the final BCS poll, but people have switched their votes at the very end before (see final rankings of the 2004 season in which UT vaulted ahead of Cal and into the 2005 Rose Bowl against Michigan. Suck it Cal!!)

The big question is where would Tech be? I think a lot would depend on how close the OU game is. If they get blown out, they will assuredly get dropped below OU and UT since their big wins would have come at home, while their one road game against a top team would have been a blowout. Meanwhile UT lost a close game on the road, and OU lost a close game at a neutral site. If OU squeaks by Tech though, all bets are off. I have no idea. However, style points will most definitely matter at this point! So teams do your best Spurrier impression these last 2 weeks! Run up that score like Cougar High School!

Result: Who knows. Though the team that emerges plays in the NCG. If it's not UT, then UT in the Fiesta.

Scenario #4: OU wins out. Big 12 South winner loses in Big 12 Title Game.
Well crap. If #3 was confusing, good luck with this one. The Big 12 South's winner's NCG chances aned BCS chances period are over and done with. Missouri goes to the Fiesta.

Now, what about the chances for the two 1-loss Big 12 South teams that didn't win the South? If it is OU or UT (if Tech won the South) then one of them probably plays in the NCG ahead of USC, while the other one is no longer BCS-bound despite being 11-1. Think about this. The current #3 and #5 teams in the country could each win their last 2 games, have either the #1 or #4 teams guaranteed to lose, have the #2 team lose....and one of them could miss the BCS. Tech might or might not finish ahead of USC in the event it is one of the Big 12 South teams that doesn't advance to the Big 12 Championship.

Result: Likely that one of the Big 12 South teams that wouldn't have even won its own division of the Big 12 could play in the NCG. Weird, weird stuff. If OU finishes ahead of UT, then UT misses the BCS.

Scenario #5: OU beats Tech. OSU beats OU. Tech wins the Big 12 Title Game.
Tech and UT have one loss (OU and OSU have 2). Tech wins the tiebreaker. However, then it comes down to can Tech hold off USC for the NCG. My guess would be that USC would jump Tech in the human polls, but still trail by a decent amount in the computer polls (since USC's strength of schedule is terrible). If Tech doesn't play in the NCG, they automatically go to the Fiesta. UT likely gets picked to go to the Rose Bowl against Penn St.
Result: (1) Tech advances to the NCG. UT goes to the Fiesta; OR
(2) Tech automatically goes to the Fiesta. UT goes to the Rose.

Scenario #6: OU beats Tech. OSU beats OU. Tech loses the Big 12 Title Game.
And chaos reigns again. Tech wins the tiebreaker with UT as in #5, but now their second loss in the Big 12 title game ends their BCS hopes.
Result: Same result as #2 - Missouri in Fiesta, UT in NCG.

BOTTOM LINE: UT has a slim chance of getting to the Big 12 Championship, but if Missouri beats either Tech or OU, they could still get into the NCG.

I have a headache now.

Updated BCS Predictions

Here is a down and dirty (yes, THAT kind of dirty Jack) explanation of the BCS rules:

1. Top 2 teams go to the Championship Game (NCG).

2. Unless they are in the NCG, the conferences are locked in as follows:
Atlantic Coast Conference-Orange Bowl
Big Ten Conference-Rose Bowl
Big 12 Conference-Fiesta Bowl
Pac-10 Conference-Rose Bowl
Southeastern Conference-Sugar Bowl

3. If a bowl loses a host team to the NCG, then that bowl shall choose from the at-large candidates to fill it's slot first. If two bowls lose their host teams, the bowl losing the #1 team in the country chooses first.

4. After all of that, the bowls pick in the order (in 2009) of Fiesta, Sugar and Orange.

So here are my picks for the BCS:

National Championship: TEXAS TECH vs. FLORIDA
I think Tech's defense slows down OU enough to win in Norman, cause OU isn't going to slow down Tech. They then take care of Missou and it's onto the title game. If Florida wins out and beats Alabama, I would be shocked if they didn't end up #2 in the BCS. (much to my chagrin as a UT fan)

Fiesta: TEXAS vs. OHIO ST.
Choosing first, the Fiesta will snap up Texas, provided they win out, will get chosen over Oklahoma. With Penn St., USC and Alabama locked into other bowls, the Fiesta won't take the best team, but will instead take the best draw left - Ohio St. Then after a UT beatdown, the Big Ten goes back home with its tail between its legs.

Orange: FLORIDA ST. vs. CINCINNATI
Welcome to the worst BCS matchup. I'm guessing Florida St. somehow makes it out of the quagmire that is the ACC, but who knows. North Carolina and Wake are better coached, but they may not even make it out of their side of the Conference. I think Florida St. has a clearer path to the ACC title game, thus I'm going with them. The Orange also gets stuck with the last required BCS team available - the Big East champion. Can you feel the excitement??

Rose: USC vs. PENN ST.
Thanks to Penn St. stumbling in Ames (Thank you Iowa! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!), not only will the NCG be watchable this year, but we'll get a Big-10/Pac 10 matchup in Pasadena. I think Oregon St. will stumble in one of its last 3 games, giving USC the title. If they don't...well, these predictions will be quite different top to bottom. Enjoy scoring 7 points or less Penn St.

Sugar: ALABAMA vs. UTAH
Sugar will snap Alabama up after losing Florida, and Tide fans will pour into Florida. After Ohio St. has been picked by the Fiesta, they will take the best available left between Utah and Cincinnati, and take the undefeated Utes. Thanks for coming Utah.

Settle Down Nutjobs!

For starters, this is directed to all "right wing nutjobs" and not "conservatives." This post does NOT apply to all conservatives - just those who are speaking of an Obama Presidency as if it's the end of the world. In fairness, I happen to be fairly liberal, but I agree with conservatives on some issues and can at least respect their opinion when I disagree. However, this post is not directed at rational conservatives at all...this is directed at people like this. Too many McCain backers are going off the deep end with their comments and fears right now - if I was a Republican I would be embarrassed by their actions. The end of the world as we know it is not upon us. A few corrections of your hysterical ramblings are in order:

1. Obama is not a socialist. Socialism "refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society." Obama is an advocate for slightly increasing the tax burden of the top 5% of the country in order to reduce taxes on the remaining 95%. He has never said, nor has he done ANYTHING to imply that he is going to take property or take the means of production away from those in power. To believe otherwise is complete rubbish. He has presented a tweaking of the progressive tax system - a system that has been in place for nearly 100 years. He is not advocating the creation of a new imbalanced system, just a slight adjustment to the current one that would benefit NINETY-FIVE percent of the nation...including those protesting most loudly against it.

Also before anyone begins yelling that one of the biggest proponents of a progressive tax system was Karl Marx, please note that long before him a man was advocating it as follows: "It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion." The crazed socialist thinker that wrote this? Adam Smith. Author of the Wealth of Nations and a firm believer in the free market.

2. Obama is NOT a communist. This notion is so moronic I truly can't believe people even believe it. (of course people also apparently continue to watch shows like "Two and a Half Men" while shows like "Arrested Development" get cancelled...so let's say I don't have a lot of faith in the intelligence of my fellow humans at times). Again, communism "is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless society based on common ownership of the means of production and property in general." Please point to one...just ONE....example of a time when the President-Elect has advocated a classless society or that everyone will have equal (or even somewhat equal) ownership of the assets in the United States. Raising the top 5% income tax rates is not communism. Ridiculous.

3. Obama is NOT a terrorist. Again, this is ridiculous. When William Ayers committed his acts years ago, Obama was a boy. To think that upon meeting Ayers in his capacity as a professor Obama would be suddenly taken in with terrorist ideology is an argument radiant with ignorance. In addition, I'm guessing that if the University of Illinois-Chicago has hired Ayers and allows him to teach its students, that they feel he is no longer a danger to anyone else either. To say Obama is a terrorist not only demeans his ability to be his own person, but also speaks to the idea that once a person commits an act of violence that he is always the same person mentally who committed that act. One is saying that nobody can learn from their mistakes and nobody deserves a second chance.

4. Obama is not going to swoop in and take everyone's guns. First of all, here is the Second Amendment: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." I'm not going to get in a discussion of caselaw, mainly because I would fall asleep, but nowhere does it grant the right of American citizens to own any and all firearms they desire. While I am a strong advocate of gun laws, I would never deny a person to right to protect themselves or their family through a ban on guns. Nor will Obama. Even if Obama supported banning any and all gun ownership (which he has never said, nor have any of his actions - or any of the actions of the Democratic party supported), the NRA and other lobbies are certainly strong enough to prevent it. So people are going to continue to have guns...no matter who is the President. Rest easy militants.

However, those who are rushing to buy AK-47s and other similar guns, sorry, but the Second Amendment does not guarantee you the right to have any gun you choose.

5. Obama does not want 4 and 5 year olds to be taught how to have sex. The President-Elect has supported legislation that teaches only "age-appropriate" information to help authorities and teachers be able to determine if a child is being molested. They're not going to learn about penises and vaginas. Come on.

Look, I understand that some people don't like Obama, nor Democrats, nor anything remotely liberal. And that's okay. But stop freaking out that this election is the end of the world, and weeping into your pillows. South Park hit it perfectly last week when it made fun of people TOO excited about Obama's election and people TOO terrified of it. At one point the kids ask Mr. Garrison to take Ike to a hospital and he yells back at them "Don't you get it! There's not going to BE a hospital."

There's going to be a hospital people. Settle down.

The Astros: What a Mess

The Astros won 86 games this past year...which was good enough to finish 11 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central. This wouldn't be bad news if both the Cubs and the Brewers (who finished ahead of the Astros also) weren't bursting with young talent....or at least more talent. The Astros don't have the pieces to truly compete for a World Series title over the next few years, but nor do they have a situation where they are in rebuild mode. Unless they would be willing to move All-Stars Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Roy Oswalt they are not going to get any younger, nor have any impact prospects coming up. Thus, the Stros seem stuck in perpetual above-mediocrity - just good enough to keep you entertained and to stay into the race until September, but not good enough to actually win anything.

So what to do? Barring a complete tearing down of the roster which would probably entail the trading of Lee and/or Oswalt (there might be a riot in Houston if Berkman was traded - in part because of how popular he is with the fans and in part because how much he loves being an Astro), there are some steps that the Stros can take to improve their chances.

1. Improve the Starting Rotation. There is little doubt that the rotation is the Astros weakest link by far. Oswalt is a given. Wandy still could be a plus pitcher, but let's face it, he's not a #2 at this point. Backe was flat out terrible this last year (6.05 ERA) and Moehler is mediocrity personified (4.56 ERA). The question is, how can they improve?

I would push hard to sign Randy Wolf. While this isn't a game changer, in his 12 starts last year, Wolf went 6-2 with a 3.57 ERA and a solid 1.30 WHIP.

Sign at least one SP free agent. I would push to sign either Ben Sheets, Ryan Dempster or Jon Garland in that order. There are problems with each:

Sheets: Once Milwaukee loses out on CC Sabathia (and once the NYY offer him $150M, they WILL lose out), I would expect them to pony up a substantial amount for Sheets. As talented as he is, he has made 31, 24 and 17 starts the past 3 years. Not exactly the kind of person you want to give more than 2 or 3 years to...and it may take more than that to get it done.

Dempster: Coming off his best year as a pro, he has made it clear he wants to stay in Chicago. With the resources they have, I would be shocked if he signed elsewhere. Still, it wouldn't hurt to kick the tires.

Garland: He's not a top flight pitcher anymore (if he ever was) but he's an innings eater, and would still be an improvement over Backe. Plus, he could be had for a much smaller salary than the above two.

2. Sign a bullpen arm: After declining Brocail's option for $3.6M (which i don't understand) the Stros are in need of another arm in the pen. I would have no problem with ponying up the cash to sign Juan Cruz who has struck out 246 batters the past 3 years in only 206.7 innings. In fact, I would like it if the Astros could sign Cruz to a 3 or 4 year deal, and find a taker for Valverde. If not, you would have two power arms in the bullpen for the 8th and 9th innings.

3. Figure out if Bourn can be a starting CF: There is no doubt that the trade of Bourn for Lidge (along with a few others thrown in) was a disaster. Lidge blew zero saves in leading the Phillies to the Series title, and Bourn continued to discover the fact that you aren't allowed to steal first base (.588 OPS). Either he gets his OPS up to .700, or he is a very, very fast pinch runner.

The Astros can score enough runs, but if they don't improve their SP, they have little chance of making the postseason next year, and even less of a chance of winning a series once they get there.

Updated Top 10

In case you were wondering, you have to look no farther than the previous post for proof that I have no idea what I'm talking about.  Thanks TCU.

Without further ado, my new Top 10:

1.  Texas Tech (10-0) - Consider me convinced in Leach, Harrell, Crabtree and their cohorts.  Their offense is simply the most efficient offense I've seen in a long, long time.  It all comes down to their trip to Oklahoma in 2 weeks obviously, but right now, they have earned the top spot in the land.

2. Alabama (10-0) - They gutted one out against LSU despite doing everything they could to give the Tigers the game.  Lousy offense, plus lousy kicking plus lousy everything....and yet, they won the game in a hostile setting.  It's going to come down to an AL/FL showdown in the SEC title game.

3. Texas (9-1) - Cruised past Baylor 45-21 and hopefully will slowly start to get the troops healthy again.  The fact that Oklahoma is ranked ahead of UT in the polls, despite UT having beaten them, is flat out stupid.  They've beaten 3 top-11 teams, and lost to the #2 Red Raiders on the next-to-last play of the game.  They're still the top 1 loss team in my book based on their body of work.  

4. Florida (8-1) - Demolished Vanderbilt 42-12.  Despite the fact that they look terrifying these days, I still rank their overall body of work slightly behind UT's, though they're more of a 3A these days.  They are clicking on all cylinders...thanks for coming Vandy.

5. Oklahoma (9-1) - Beat the lowly, lowly, lowly Aggies 66-28.  OU has now scored 231 points in the 4 games since they lost to UT.  Their game against Tech in 2 weeks could be the highest scoring game between two top 5 teams since, well, since they lost to UT 45-35.  Bradford and Company can flat out score.

6. USC (8-1) - Beat Cal 17-3.  Their offense still isn't sharp, but their D is everywhere. They're going to need a LOT of help to get to the BCS championship game.  And some help from one of Oregon St.'s opponents to even get into the Rose Bowl.  Plus they go to school across the street from the ghetto.

7. Utah (10-0) - Beat TCU 13-10.  The Utes proved me wrong by pulling out a late win against the Toads.  Now only their game against BYU in the Holy War stands between them and the BCS.

8. Boise St. (9-0) - Beat the holy crap out of Utah St. 49-14.  Barring a major, major upset Boise St. will be in the BCS as well.  Smurf Turf 2008!!!

9. Missouri (8-2) - Defeated Kansas St. 41-24.  Though they've still been up and down, they're going to have a shot at redemption against whoever comes out of the Big 12 South.  I wouldn't be looking forward to it, but they'll get it.

10. Penn St. (9-1) - Lost to Iowa 24-23.  I wanted to drop them out of the Top 10, but who do I promote? Ohio St.? Absolutely not.  Ball St.? Please.  Georgia. Good god.  So here they are. 

TCU vs. Utah

For two non-BCS teams it doesn't get any bigger than this: #10 vs. #11 in a battle not only for first place in the conference, but for possible automatic inclusion into a BCS bowl. That's the position TCU (9-1) and Utah (9-0) find themselves in tonight's prime time showdown in Salt Lake City. TCU has already dismantled #15 BYU 32-7 and their only loss was to #6 Oklahoma 35-10 early in the year. Though undefeated, Utah has had a number of close calls against the top teams on their schedules, including against Michigan 25-23, Air Force 30-23, Oregon State 31-28, and New Mexico 13-10. So who wins the game?

Offense: The two teams are almost identical:
Pts per Game: TCU 36.6, Utah 36.1
Yards per Game: TCU 408.5, Utah 405.3

TCU runs the ball more per game (224 to 185) while Utah employs the pass a bit more per game (220.3 to 184.5).

Defense: This isn't even close. TCU is the 3rd ranked scoring defense in the land, giving up only 10.8 points per game while Utah gives up a respectable 17.7 points per game. TCU also gives up more than 50 yard less per game on defense than the fighting mormons do.

Utah is playing at home, and is apparently wearing special black uniforms instead of their typical red home jerseys (Joseph Smith would have preferred white I'm sure). Hey Utah, that worked really well for Georgia earlier this year against Alabama!

Bottom line: running the ball and a good defense wins championships. TCU goes into Salt Lake City (aka No Fun City) and drops the defensive hammer on them in a 20-10 victory.

Obama

Tonight was amazing not only for anyone who was an Obama fan, but for anyone who has an appreciation of history.  It was a mere half-century ago that African-Americans were forced to drink at separate drinking fountains than whites, and now Obama - a man who is half African-American and half-white is President.  Even for those who disagree with his politics and his ideology, I hope that everyone appreciates the magnitude of what transpired today.  I firmly believe in Senator Obama as a candidate, and believe he will be a great President.  However, what I can't stop thinking about are all of the elderly African-American people in our country who lived through Jim Crow and segregation, and now before they die are getting the chance to see a man elected President with African-American heritage.

I think of Chris Rock, who said that he's not a fan of Barack Obama because he's black, but because he is Barack Obama.  Rock said (to paraphrase) I'm not a fan of him just because he's black...I wouldn't be a fan of Flavor Flav.

Agreed.  I could not be happier that Senator Obama is my President because I believe in his platform and ideology.  But more than that, I believe in the person he is.  I truly think that he appreciates the opportunity he's been given - not just that he's now President, but that he carries the banner and the mantle of being the first African-American President in our nation's history.  

I wish Senator Obama safety going forward and I pray that the country comes together and gives people who disagree them a chance.  To throw out the cliche of cliches...God bless America. And God bless everyone on this planet.  We have a long way to go, but I firmly believe that no matter what he is, that YES WE CAN!

How the C. Football Season Will End

With so many teams with one loss, and only 3 relevant D-1 (I'm still calling it D-1...this "FBS" crap is stupid) schools undefeated (sorry Utah and Boise St.), it's time to figure out the Big 12's possibilities for BCS bowls.

10 teams go to the BCS:
1. Big 12 Champ
2. Big 10 Champ
3. Big East Champ
4. SEC Champ
5. ACC Champ
6. Pac-10 Champ
7. 4 open slots.

The champ of Conference USA, Mountain West, Mid-American, Sun Belt, and WAC automatically qualifies if that team is ranked among the top 14 teams in the BCS final rankings. So who's in? Here is a look at each conference and the number of bids they will get in parentheses.

BIG 10 LOCK:

Penn St. (1) - They aren't going to lose 2 out of their last 3 games, and since they have a tiebreaker over anyone they would be tied with that has one loss....they're in. If they go undefeated they probably go to the BCS title game (though they shouldn't).

SEC:

Florida, Alabama (2): Barring a huge upset, these teams should meet in the SEC title game, most likely with 1 and 0 losses respectively. The winner of the title game automatically goes, and I would be surprised if the loser doesn't go to a BCS bowl as well - especially if the title game is competitive. Two fan bases that travel well and two traditional powers that are playing great football. Georgia and LSU may still be on the bubble, but after getting blown out by the two above teams, I can't imagine one of those would jump AL or FL to get into the BCS.

BIG EAST:

West Virginia or whoever wins this crapfest of a conference (1): Remember when West Virginia was a preseason national title contender? Me either. But they've been playing better recently, and neither Pitt nor South Florida has done much to make me think they can better West Virginia.

PAC-10:

USC, Oregon St. or both (1 or 2): Right now, Oregon St. controls their own destiny after beating USC in Corvallis earlier this year. If Oregon St. wins out, they go to the Rose Bowl. If USC wins out they would still go to a BCS bowl easily...again, they put people in the seats. If Oregon St. loses another game and USC wins out, this conference only gets one bid.

ACC:

Who knows? (1): Right now, I like Georgia Tech but realistically there are about 5 teams who could win this surprisingly competitive conference. Despite taking a lot of criticism these past few years, the ACC is full of above-average football teams. they don't have one marquee team, but top to bottom they are much tougher than the Pac-10. There will only be one bid out of this one.

Big 12:

Again, who knows? (2): Unlike the ACC, 2 of the Big 12 teams will go the BCS but it could be any of Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma St. and Missouri. Missou only goes if they can upset the South champion, which seems unlikely at this point. Tech still has OU and OSU to play, and OU and OSU play as well...so the next few weeks will sort things out. I don't see Tech going 2-0 in those games, but if they do they're likely in, unless they were to lose to Missou...then all bets are off. OU and UT travel more fans and if UT runs the table, I believe they are in the BCS regardless because one of the below situations will have occurred:

1. Tech loses to either OU, OSU or both, and doesn't win the South
2. OU or OSU loses another game to give them 2 Ls (UT having beat them both twice)
3. Tech runs the table, giving both OU and OSU two losses.

the only situation I can see where UT doesn't go (barring another loss of course), is if Tech runs the table then loses to Missou in the title game. Missou has to go, and with Tech having beaten UT, a bowl COULD choose them over UT...though it's doubtful.

My prediction: Texas wins the big 12 south after both OU and OSU beat Tech the next two weeks, regardless of the OU-OSU outcome. Two Big 12 teams that go: UT and OU.

WAC:

Boise St. (1) - They aren't going to lose to anyone from here on out, and will automatically qualify.

Mountain West:

Utah or TCU (1) - BYU has started playing like crap, and is struggling to beat lesser teams. Utah should beat BYU in the last game of the year, thus making this weekend's Utah/TCU game the BCS qualifier. HUGE game for both of these schools...and I like TCU to beat 'em and put the Horned Frogs into the BCS.

My predictions for the 5 BCS games (not who I think SHOULD play in them, but I believe will):

BCS National Title Game: Penn St. vs. Florida
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. TCU
Rose Bowl: USC vs. Oklahoma
Fiesta Bowl: Texas vs. Boise St.
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. West Virginia

NOTE: After talking about this with one of my friends, Ball St. (currently leading the MAC and #17 in the BCS polls) has a chance to move into the top 14, which would mean that we could have THREE BCS busters (Ball St. Boise St and Utah/TCU) in this year's crop of games. Bring on the chaos!

YES WE CAN!!!

I'm officially not able to focus on work today due to my inability of the general population to agree with my politcal affiliation. If Obama can't win this year, coming off 8 years of the most unpopular president of our time, and against a remarkably mismanaged campaign with a moron as VP...well, a Democrat just can't win.



Here's hoping my friends and I are all popping champagne later tonight here in Austin - the one blueberry in the middle of the red tomato soup that is Texas!!!

Yes we can!!

My B(C)S Rankings...

Wow. So though I was upset and not pleased this weekend after the dastardly Red Raiders came back to defeat the Horns with 1 second (1 FREAKING second!) to play 39-33, I've got to say this: Objectively, the best game of the year in all of college football. Period.

However, and nobody is saying anything about this...HOW DOES UT NOT TAKE MORE TIME OFF THE CLOCK??? I'm not talking about the whole drive down the field. You have to first score a TD, I get that. But when they hiked the ball on the TD run, they still had 21 seconds on the clock. Any freshman who has played football on the PS3 or XBox knows that you run the clock all the way down to 1 second in that situation. If you don't score a TD on the drive, there isn't enough time anyway...so run it down as much as you can. If they do that, they score with 1:08 left. at the time, not a big deal....when you see that Tech scored the winning TD WITH ONE FREAKING SECOND LEFT, it is a HUGE DEAL. Mack Brown, you are better than that.

That being said, we've got two teams now going on two very different paths the rest of the way. Tech tries to get over the hoopla of Saturday's victory, and host possibly the most underrated team in the country in Oklahoma State. Not only will OSU be ready to go from the first whistle (For whatever reason, UT was not), but there is zero chance Tech will come out at the same level of intensity they did against the Horns. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team that focused from the opening kickoff through the end of the first quarter. Damn impressive Texas Tech. Then, if Tech survives OSU, they get to go to Norman the following week to face an OU team that seems to have 50 points by halftime each week. So good luck with that guys.

A very, very banged up UT team will limp home to host Baylor this weekend in a game that should help them get healthy very quickly. They can still win their last 3 games with the injuries they have, but they need to get healthy asap. They should pound Baylor, Kansas and A&M to finish the season 11-1, however, they will need Tech to either lose the next two weeks, or will need there to a 3 team tiebreaker to give them a shot at the Big 12 Title Game. It's Tech's bid to lose.

Here is my updated Top 10:

1. Alabama (Idle) - If they can win at #15 LSU, then it's relatively smooth sailing (Miss. St./Auburn) to the SEC title game. A rivalry game is always a tossup, but Auburn has been so dreadful on offense, they couldn't score with a $1000 at the Bunny Ranch these days. If Alabama gets to the SEC title game...they get Florida. Good luck with that.

2. Texas Tech (Def. #1UT 39-33) - The Biggest Game in Tech History is now followed by two more Biggest Games in Tech History. Lost these two, and the UT game is a distant memory. OSU will pound Tech's line more than UT did, and can score with the Red Raiders. Tech will need to play at the same level they managed against UT to win this one too.

3. Florida (Def. #8 Georgia 49-10) - I have them ranked ahead of UT for one simple reason...with UT being as hurt as it is RIGHT NOW, I think Florida beats them on a neutral site. The pain the Gators have inflicted the past 4 weeks has been unreal. 201-43 over the past 4 games. I have a feeling neither South Carolina, the Citadel nor Florida St. will do much to stem that tide. It's looking more and more like a 1 loss Florida team against #1 Alabama in the SEC title game. Again, good luck Bama. You'll need it.

4. Texas (Lost to #2 Texas Tech 39-33) - For the first time all season, UT didn't match the other team's intensity, and it cost them to the tune of a 22-6 halftime deficit. Despite their re-taking a 33-32 lead with 1:29 to go, they were outplayed in this game plain and simple. However, considering it was the 4th Top 11 Team in a row, in a hostile environment, UT has acquitted itself remarkably well this year. Hook 'Em!

5. Oklahoma (Def. Nebraska 62-28) - The offensive machine that is the Sooners just keeps humming along. On an aside, can they be called "Oklahoma" when there are more Texas players on their roster than Oklahoma ones? I say no...they should be called OklaTexas. Also, they have the worst fight song in the country. Have I mentioned there is no reason to go into the state of Oklahoma except for a sporting event that your team is playing in? Even then, just get in and get out. Ugh.

6. Oklahoma St. (Def. Iowa St. 59-17) - My pick for the most underrated team in the country gets their chance to shine this week in Lubbock. Their secondary better be ready, that's all I've got to say.

7. USC (Def. Washington 56-0) - Sure they're beating up on cream puffs, but if your life depended on picking the winner between USC and Penn St. and playing that game on a neutral site, who would you pick? That's what i thought.

8. Penn St. (Idle) - They only have 3 mediocre opponents, so they'll probably win those and back into the national title game, where they will get smoked by any of the teams above them. It's a nice story, but they have no chance in a title game. None.

9. Utah (Def. New Mexico 13-10) - They certainly didn't play like it this weekend, and let's face it, the rest of their schedule determines everything for this team. They host #12 TCU this weekend and #17 BYU in a few weeks. If they lose either of those games please forget I ever ranked them this high.

10. Boise St. (Def. New Mexico St. 49-0) - I debated between them and Missouri, but in the end, I can't rank a team with two losses ahead of one that's undefeated and did beat a ranked Oregon team on the road. The problem with Boise St. is that until a bowl game, we have no way to gauge them since the rest of their conference is crap.

Also, much love to my Rice Owls who held on 49-44 at UTEP! Army is now up. Can we go 9-3? YES WE CAN!!