The SEC will once again be sending a representative to play for win the National Championship.

Yesterday was a classic day in the SEC.  Just when you thought things were starting to fall into place with the SEC Bowl destinations, all hell broke loose.  It started early in the day when Mississippi State upset took Ole Miss to the woodshed for an “Ole Fashioned Beatdown.”  Houston Nutt once again failed to deliver in a big game in which he was favored (see: Ole Miss at Auburn, or ask any Arkansas fan).  The chaotic day continued when the SEC flexed its muscles on the inferior ACC, and South Carolina dominated Clemson and ruined CJ Spiller’s hopes as a Heisman darkhorse.

Later in the day, the SEC continued its rampage as Florida (-25) covered against FSU, 37-10.  CBS decided that it was going to air clips and bits from the game, but it was generally consumed with the Tim Tebow Senior Day coverage (yes, I also just vomited in my mouth).  In the nightcap, Tennessee held off a tough Kentucky team (like it has done for the past quarter century–think about that), Georgia went down to Atlanta and got some payback on Ga. Tech from last year’s upset, and LSU held off the Arkansas Fighting Malletts in OT to capture the Golden Boot for the first time in three years.

So for you scoring at home, that’s SEC 3, ACC 0.

It also means the SEC bowl picture is about as clear as the Tennessee football team’s legal records.

Here’s what we know:

-Alabama and Florida will play for it all in Atlanta on Saturday. Saban vs. Meyer.  Roll Tide vs. Go Gators.  Houndstooth vs. Jean Shorts.  The winner will go west to Pasadena to beat Ohio State again face Texas, barring a Longhorn collapse in Dallas.  The loser will head south for New Orleans to play (your guess is as good as mine) in the Sugar Bowl.

-LSU is probably going to Orlando to play in the Capital One Bowl.  Les Miles and the fighting hats will likely face Penn State (intriguing matchup) or Iowa.  The fans travel well and LSU has good national recognition.  No way Capital One passes on them.

-Ole Miss and Tennessee will be the next two teams picked because the Rebels finished third in the West and the Vols have the tiebreaker over UGA in the East.  I don’t think the rumors of the Cotton Bowl and Outback Bowl “trading picks” are true–I’m betting Ole Miss will return to Dallas and play in the ‘09 Cotton Bowl (although the game is not in 2009 and isn’t being played in the Cotton Bowl), and the Vols will ring in the new year in Tampa (watch your gas stations, Floridians).

This is where it gets shaky.  After the first three teams (and the two teams bound for BCS bowls), we have five teams at 7-5: Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina.  The bowl pecking order is as follows: Chick-fil-A (Atlanta), Music City (Nashville), Liberty (Memphis), Independence (Shreveport), and PapaJohns (Birmingham).

Arkansas (7-5)
Pros: good traveling fan base, new coach, strong finish, difficult schedule, played UGA, UF, LSU close, exciting offense
Cons: 3-5 in conference, haven’t won bowl game since 2003
Outcome: The Hogs are a great fit for both the Liberty Bowl and the Independence Bowl because of proximity.  If it comes down to it, I would expect the Liberty to take Arkansas.

Auburn (7-5)
Pros: good traveling fan base, new coach, strong finish, national recognition, played Bama close in Iron Bowl
Cons: lost 5 of 7, including final two rivalry games, 3-5 in conference
Outcome: I don’t see Chick-Fil-A taking Auburn, but they could be in play for Nashville.  I think both of the next bowls will pass on the Tigers and you’ll find them in Shreveport, with an outside chance of the Liberty bowl taking them.  Enjoy Northern Louisiana, Auburn.

Georgia (7-5)
Pros: solid traveling fan base, difficult schedule helps explain 5 losses, national recognition, coming off big win, 4-4 in conference.
Cons: fans are less than excited, staff changes are coming, 1-3 vs. ranked opponents this year
Outcome: expect the Dawgs to go bowling at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.  The only possibility of this not happening is if Chick-fil-A goes with South Carolina, in which case UGA plays an ACC team in the Music City Bowl in Nashville.

Kentucky (7-5)
Pros: strong finish, excited program, won at Auburn and at UGA, 4th bowl in a row w/strong showings in all 3
Cons: fan base is not Georgia or Auburn, 3-5 in conference
Outcome: the Cats are the interesting case here.  Kentucky fans always turn out in Atlanta for SEC basketball tournament, but I don’t see them being taken ahead of both Georgia and Auburn.  Nashville is an outside shot because of strong showings in prior Music City Bowls.  If Nashville passes on the Cats, expect them to drop down the ladder all the way to… Birmingham.

South Carolina (7-5)
Pros: fair traveling fan base, coming off big win, played Bama and UF close, Spurrier name recognition
Cons: 2-4 finish, poor showing in Outback Bowl last year, 3-5 in conference
Outcome: Also a toss-up, but I don’t see SC in Atlanta over AU and UGA.  Likely destination is Nashville, unless they get shunned for Kentucky or Auburn, in which case they plummet to Birmingham.

So there it is folks, probably no clearer than when you started reading.  What do you think?

Memphis has made their selection for their open coaching position, former star RB and captain Larry Porter. Porter, 37, starred at the school between 1990-1993, leading the team in rushing three times and finishing 4th in school history with 2,194 yards and 20 TD’s(currently ranks 6th in yards, 4th in TD’s). He was selected over Redskins secondary coach Jerry Smith.

Porter is currently in his 5th season as the RB’s coach for LSU and 4th as the assistant head coach. He also serves as the chief recruiter. He followed Les Miles over from Oklahoma State, where he spent 3 seasons as RB’s coach. Prior to that, Porter was the RB’s coach at Arkansas St for 3 years.

Porter has been very successful with his running backs, producing multiple 1000 yard rushers and NFL Draft picks. At LSU he currently coaches 1000 yard rusher and to be draft pick Charles Scott as well as likely pick Keiland Williams. He has also turned Jacob Hester into a 2nd round pick and Joseph Addai into a 1st rounder and had FB Quinn Johnson selected last year. At Oklahoma State, he had 1000 yard rushers in each of his three seasons, with both of them Tatum Bell and Vernand Morency, becomming draft picks. Also, at Arkansas St, he had Jonathan Adams twice pass 1000 yards.

As a recruiter, he finished as the Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year both in 2007 and 2009 and is responsible for bringing in the following 5 star players:
2006-Keiland Williams
2007-Chad Jones, Terrance Toliver
2009-Russell Shepard, Craig Loston
He also brought in star back Charles Scott and starting DB Danny McCray in 2006 and in 2008 he was responsible for bringing in starting QB Jordan Jefferson.

Waiting for him at Memphis is RB Lance Smith, a Wisconsin transfer, who has shown enough promise to be his next 1000 yard back.

Die neue Familienministerin, Kristina Köhler, schwärmt(e) nicht nur für Helmut, sondern hat auch ein Herz für Homos:

“Gerade als Christdemokratin freue ich mich über schwule und lesbische Paare, die in einer Lebenspartnerschaft dauerhaft füreinander Verantwortung tragen wollen. Hier werden konservative Werte gelebt!”, sagt Kristina Köhler. Natürlich sehe das in der Union noch nicht jeder so. “Aber immer mehr!”, so Kristina Köhler.

Eine derartige Ansicht macht Frau Köhler natürlich noch nicht zur “Schwulenmutti”, aber es ist doch immer wieder schön zu sehen, dass die neue Generation der CDU-Politiker mit dem Homo-Thema entspannter umgeht, als ihre Vorgänger.

Übrigens: Die Bilder der Jungs im verlinkten Beitrag machen wieder einmal eines klar: Konservative Schwule sind – ebenso übrigens wie die liberalen – einfach am schönsten. Keine Ahnung woran das liegt, ich vermute aber der Grund dafür ist, dass deren Leben und Weltsicht nicht geprägt ist vom Weltschmerz darüber, dass der Sozialismus immer noch nicht da ist.

With today’s 45-38 loss at the hands of Stanford University, the Notre Dame University fighting Irish finished yet another regular season with an unimpressive 6-6 record.

Most everyone in the media wants to talk about the end of Charlie Weis’ short tenure at Notre Dame, but I want to look beyond the unimpressive record of 35-28 since taking the head coaching position in 2005.  Weis started brilliantly with a 9-4 record in his first season including a trip to the Fiesta Bowl, a loss at the hands of Ohio State University, and a 10-2 record in 2006 which included a trip to a the Sugar Bowl, another loss this time to LSU.  Though the bowl games did not go in the favor of the Fighting Irish, they had made consecutive trips to BCS bowls for the first time since the creation of the Bowl Championship Series.  So the question remains, what happened to that success and who is to blame?

I say look no further than Notre Dame University.  The University has remained separate from an athletic conference in football and because of this choice of neutrality the Fighting Irish football team has been doomed to mediocrity.

It is safe to say that the memory of the National Championship of 1988 is dead and gone in the minds of 21st century sports enthusiasts.  Notre Dame has not been a National title contender since Lou Holtz left in 1996.  Despite winning seasons in the tenures of Bob Davies, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis, the Fighting Irish have perennially faltered in big time bowl games and have never been in the picture for a BCS Title.

The coaches who followed Holtz all experienced success, but all failed to maintain that success and ultimately all met their fate.  Though Weis has not yet been fired, it is speculated that the announcement could come as soon as this next week.  I am here as a prophet of the truth, fighting against the mainstream media notions that the downfall of Notre Dame is the fault of Weis, Willingham and Davies.

It is nearly impossible for Notre Dame to be expected to compete for the BCS National Championship, and here’s why.

Notre Dame’s football program does not benefit from playing a highly competitive conference schedule because the program refuses to be a part of any conference.  The benefits of this decision can be seen in the fact that the Fighting Irish enjoy national televised broadcasts of every season game thanks to contractual agreements with NBC.  This also allows the Notre Dame football program to schedule whatever teams they so well choose to play with the bait of national exposure.  The downside, however, is that Notre Dame lacks access to an automatic BCS bid that comes with a conference championship in a major conference such as the SEC or Big 12.  The Fighting Irish play what, by many measures, is considered a very weak regular season schedule.  This season Notre Dame played only two teams that remain ranked at this point in time, Pittsburgh University and USC.  The fact that the Fighting Irish still managed only a 6-6 record shows that something is wrong in South Bend, and it isn’t the coaching.

Recruiting has become increasingly more competitive, and the top prospects want the opportunity to play a competitive schedule for a competitive program which has the chance to play for a National Championship–none of these things can be said about Notre Dame.  The program lacks the draw of schools such as Florida, LSU, Alabama, Texas, USC or Ohio State because the Fighting Irish do not compete for a BCS bowl bid on a yearly basis, nothing is promised under the golden dome of Notre Dame.  What today’s recruits have realized is that the glory days of the Fighting Irish have passed and not all the glitters is gold.  Notre Dame has lost its high-profile dominance and success but still remains a permanent fixture in the media coverage of collegiate football.  The past has past for the Fighting Irish, and the future does not hold the promise of success.  Tradition only counts for so much, and Notre Dame’s tradition in the 21st century has been that of underachievers and bowl game busts, something no top recruit would willing sign on to be a part of.  Even at Cincinnati, Rutgers, North Carolina and Pittsburgh there is the opportunity to play in a BCS Bowl every year.  Not being a part of a major conference has hurt Notre Dame and will continue to no matter who is the head coach of the Fighting Irish.

So, before everyone looks to blame Charlie Weis or whoever follows him and inevitably leads the Fighting Irish to a 5-7 record at some point of his tenure, I urge us all to examine Notre Dame from a larger and more forgiving perspective.  This is the case of a school that has lost its competitive edge because of its inability to stay competitive in recruiting and in the all important quest for a National Championship.  It may be time for those in charge at Notre Dame to take some time and pray for the future of the University’s football program.  The current predicament in which the Fighting Irish finds itself will not be resolved with a new coach or over time.  It will be fixed when Notre Dame seriously examines its place in the college football hierarchy, or with the help of humanity’s head coach.  Keep your faith, Notre Dame, because these days the luck of the Irish is just not enough.

I can’t believe that I’m watching the last game of the regular season for LSU. Football is my favorite sport, and man, have we had a roller coaster of close heart attacks, blow outs and, sadly, losses!

I’m looking forward to whatever bowl LSU is in, but I’m still in disbelief that the season is almost over and my Saturday nights will be pretty plain now.

Image source

We had a pretty good run this year, guys. Let’s just forget what happened in the last 30 seconds of the Ole Miss game though…

WESH producer Jon Carlisle invading the WDSU set Friday night.

One of my former WESH co-workers, Sunrise producer Jon Carlisle, stopped by the WDSU studios last night for a visit and after-work get together Uptown.

Jon was passing through New Orleans en route to the Arkansas/LSU game in Baton Rouge today. It was great seeing Jon and his fiancee’ Gina. Poor girl gets dragged across the southeast on road trips all football season. To see Arkansas, no less.

I found this shirt in my parent’s coat closet & thought I should wear it for today’s Iron Bowl. I’m not normally an Auburn supporter, but I’m always a Tide hater. Go Tigers!

The podcast is up and this is some of what you’ll hear:

Starting Five: Beth throws Five Questions at Debbie:

1)      What will be your favorite dish on the Thanksgiving table?

2)      What’s your Tennessee All-time Starting five by position?

Point guard: Candace Parker? (Or Kellie Jolly. Or Holly Warlick. Or Kara Lawson. Or Lea Henry.)

Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings, Daedra Charles, Bridgette Gordon.(Or Jill Rankin. Or Sheila Frost.)

3) “You told me so:” Mississippi State thrashes Maryland. (And a possible Shootaround Shooter of the year list no longer a darkhorse.)

4) With losses to Harvard and Vermont, what is up at Boston College? Or better: What is up at Vermont? (Yowza Courtnay Pilypaitis!)

5) Speaking of Vermont — name you non-BCS top-10

Xavier
San Diego State
Dayton
Middle Tennessee State
Vermont
TCU
Hartford
Illinois State
Gonzaga
South Dakota State (Beth throws in Marist)

Discussion: Where you find parity, diamonds-in-the-rough and poll voters who do their homework.

Poll question (trivia) : Name the only two-time Wade Trophy winners.

Matt the Stat-guy: Congrats to Gabriela Marginean, who broke Drexel’s career scoring record. Is Villanova’s Shelly Pennefather Philadelphia college scoring record next?

The Men of the A-10 (Calendar?) – Jim Jabir, Dayton Flyers and Kevin McGuff, Xavier

1)  Talk about the Art vs. Science of Scheduling

JJ – We’ve scheduled “up” because of the growth of our young players last year.

KM – We want early challenges to build the program, draw recruits and bring attention to the quality of our Conference.

2)      Xavier’s got one of the best front lines in company (Amber Harris, Ta’Shia Phillips,  April Phillips). Talk about Amber Harris’s health.

3) Ta’Shia Phillips. Perhaps overshadowed last year. Now?

KM: Impact of USA Basketball experience

4) Dayton has all five starters back. Give us a snapshot of your team.

JJ – Defense and balance. Brittany Wilson and Kari Daugherty – impact freshmen.

5) Tracking the Growth of A-10: First season that 7 teams had 20 wins. 5 in WNIT. 3 in NCAA. RPI of 7.  Jim – what are you going to tell the NCAA Selection Committee when you participate in the Mock Selection process?

KM – To get to the NCAA we have to be good on Day 1.

6) What’s it like to play with a target on your back?

Full Court Pressure aka Women’s Basketball Trivia: Who was the last non-BCS #1 NCAA seed?

#1 Seed vs. Conference Ranking Discussion: If PAC 10 is the #6 rated conference and A-10 is #7, should Xavier be in the #1 seed discussions the way Stanford is?

Previewing the Paradise Jam: San Diego State, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Oklahoma on one side, Texas, Mississippi State, Rutgers and Southern Cal on the other.

How good are these teams?
Are pollsters right?
A team might come out 0-3, but with “good” losses.
Beth and Debbie argue who’s the biggest gym rat

Notes from the Cocktail Napkin

• Kudos to Andrea Riley 2000pts Alison Hightower 1000pts
• Virgina vs Tennessee – 11,000 attendees and hotdogs
• Doug Bruno and Doug Bruno Court
• WBCA’s So You Want to be a Coach successes. In the 8^th season: 71% of former student – athletes still in coaching
• Close to $2 million raised for Kay Yow Cancer Fund
• Condolences to Chris Spielman on the loss of his wife, Stefanie

Full Court Pressure Trivia Question Hint: The year was 2000.

Comments? Questions: Shootaround@wbca.org

Don’t forget: The podcast is up.

Every Wednesday, from today until the end of time, my close friend and bitter foe Mad Adam is going to stop by and attempt to clarify his delusions of grandeur, dominance, and defeatism. He’s very complex. And, as you’ll soon find out, most of what he has to say comes out of his ass, but man, is he angry! And I’m not talking the kind of angry that can be aptly expressed with all caps and exclamation marks, or even simple declarations of anger… you’ll have to use your imagination a little. Picture the bright red face. Picture the popping veins. Picture the holes in the wall, the shattered remotes, the hospitalized “friends”. Now, multiply it by 386. That gets you halfway there. But here, we’ll let him explain it…

Hello everyone.  Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Mad Adam.  That’s right, not Mad Hatter (Les Miles), Mad Max (Mel Gibson) or Mad Men (those booze swilling cats at Sterling Cooper).  No, just Mad Adam.

Why Mad Adam?  First, I have an anger control problem. This is particularly true when it comes to my sports teams.  I get mad when they let me down.  I get mad when they get screwed over.  I sometimes get mad even when things are going well. What can I say….I’m Mad Adam.  As a bonus, my name is a palindrome.  Don’t know that is? Look it up loser.  And while you are at it, send some hate mail to your language teachers who obviously let you down.

Now that I have revealed that much of my anger is centered on my favorite teams, I better let you in on who those teams are.  Warning, I grew up as a military brat, so I never stayed in a place long enough to pick a team based on geography.  So, I have a pretty disparate set of favorite teams (with the exception of my college team which is clearly a result of the totally awesome education I received at the undergraduate and law schools of the institution listed below).  So, in no particular order, here are the teams that matter most to me: New York Jets (last Super Bowl….1969, the roots of my anger begin to surface); Los Angeles Dodgers; Los Angeles Lakers; Manchester City Citizens (EPL soccer you morons); and of course, my beloved OU Sooners.  Looking for a hockey team?  Go (ice) fish.  Not a fun game to watch on TV.

My proclivity for temper tantrums does not end with my favorite teams.  I also get mad about betting on sports (i.e. placing bad bets, not the act of betting on sports which I am very much in favor of), bad calls, terrible commentators, incomprehensible TV twists, bad uniforms, those who don’t appreciate good music, politics, stupid fans, silly traditions, inane rules….you get the idea.  I am Mad Adam.

The gracious, yet logic deficient Ed Honcho, has asked that I occasionally drop by this site and let all of you know what I am currently mad about.  I appreciate the forum and the opportunity to vent.  I would be remiss if I did not kick things off with a mailbag devoted to my legions of fans and their questions.  So, without further ado, away we go…..

Q: Did you see the Patriots throw a deep pass with only 30 seconds to go this past weekend when they were up 31 – 14 on the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets? How did that make you feel? Cuz, I will tell you how it made me feel.  It made me feel like punching Tom Brady in his pretty face and defecating on Bill Belichik’s car.

- Francis Anastasio, Elizabeth, New Jersey

A: Francis, or can I call you Frank? No? OK. Francis, you could not be more right (except the part about shitting on his car, which is a tad bit weird). Not since Michael Bay decided to have “ghetto” robots in the newest Transformers movie have I seen such a brash and uncalled for decision.

What is he hoping to accomplish?  By kicking the Jets when they are down, does he hope to draw attention away from the most colossal coaching mistake in his career from the week prior against the Colts? By allowing a long pass to Randy Moss did he hope to show that Moss does in fact own Darrelle Revis? (if so, too bad, because Moss turned in a pedestrian 5 catches for 34 yards against my boy Revis).

Or is this just one more bully move by a guy that thinks he is God, but is in fact still the same a-hole that could not turn around the Browns and WHO WALKED OUT ON THE JETS IN 1999 A DAY AFTER TAKING THE HEAD COACHING JOB? What a loser. I HATE that guy. And, I really hate those spy-gate cheating, pretty boy Pats(ies).

Q: How are you feeling about the Lakers so far?

- Bonita Benson, Culver City, California

A: In a word….AWESOME.  So far, Khlomar has not been a distraction.  The return of Gasol has transformed the team.  Ron Artest is playing within the system and has not punched Nicholson in the face on his way down the court yet. And Kobe? Well, he is busy doing work.

Since the Lakers’ Western Conference coronation is all but assured, let’s turn to the more important issue.  Will those turd burgers from Boston make an appearance and get the whupping they deserved two years ago? As of this writing they are 10-4, and look pretty good (for a team in puke green adorned with a picture of a leprechaun sporting a vest, hat and bow-tie covered in freaking shamrocks).  I don’t want another beat-down on Orlando.  I want Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and “look at me I am yelling a lot, I must be really intense” Kevin Garnett to face the music like they did in 1985 and 1987 when Magic and crew beat Bird and his brigade of losers (like Kevin “the Armpits” McHale and Robert “Reefer” Parrish). SCREW THE CELTICS!

Q: When are you going to talk about the Sooners? Texas Tech destroyed Stoops and company and the crowd turned the House of Pain “Jump Around” into an anti-Sooner anthem.  And, don’t forget Capel’s b-ball team that got rocked by the VCU Rams, his former team.  Seriously, did you jump off a cliff this weekend?

- Rusty Jackson, Texhoma, Texas

A: I am typing out this response from the rather large ravine that I did indeed toss myself into after the collective DUMP THAT OU TOOK ON ME THIS WEEKEND.  This is the kind of showing that makes you want to give up sports.

That raises the issue.  Is it possible to really give up on your favorite team?  I say no.  The first time I ever tried to do it was when I was 8 years old and the Dodgers were on a serious losing streak. I declared that I was no longer a fan of Dodger blue and tried to become a Cincinnati Reds fan.  However, each morning when I would look through the box scores in the local paper I found my gaze straying from the Reds to find out what the Dodgers had done the night before. The reason?  If you are a true fan, you can NEVER give up on your team.  Even when they TEAR OUT YOUR HEART, LIKE OU DID TO ME THIS WEEKEND.

Did I kinda avoid answering your questions Rusty? You bet. Stay tuned, though, because if those goat loving, tobacco chewing troglodytes from Stillwater win Bedlam this weekend, then I may have to dedicate an entire column to how FREAKING BAD THIS OU FOOTBALL SEASON HAS REALLY BEEN.

Q: So, how about Les Miles and his clock management skills?

- Earl Papadeaux, Natchez, Louisiana

A: Oh, how I detest Les Miles.  What an overrated, egotistical, arrogant insipid little man crowned with an ill-fitting hat. How many times must he do something like this before Tiger Nation rises up and says enough is enough.  The LSU school newspaper, “The Daily Reveille” is calling for the firing of offensive coordinator Gary Crowton over this debacle.

First, “The Daily Reveille,” really? I had to look up “reveille” to even know what the students there are referencing.  It is a bugle call associated with the military.  So, the newspaper is a daily bugle call.   Whatever.

Second, firing the offensive coordinator is completely missing the point.  Did anyone see Les Miles’ patented “deer in headlights” look as the precious seconds ticked away in the game against Ole Miss? He was befuddled, bamboozled and flummoxed all at the same time. This man could not coach his way out of a paper bag when decisions that are tougher than what to eat after the game are on the line.  Speaking of food…

Q: Don’t you think that Mark Mangino is just mean, mean, mean!

- Dolores Bitterbottom, Mulberry, Kansas

A: Look, I have had my share of crude talking insensitive coaches.  Heck, it is really part of the job description as far as I can tell.  Reminds me of a funny story.  Ed Honcho and I used to have a baseball coach that referred to him as “Colonel Sanders” because he was too “chicken” to get down on the ball when fielding grounders in practice.  That was funny. What Mangino (allegedly) has been doing?  Not cool.

When a college student confides in a coach about his alcoholic father, that should remain between him and the coach. Same thing with a player that tells coach about his brother getting shot in the neighborhood he grew up in .  To use that information against the players is the sign of a man that has lost touch with reality.  He is not breaking players down and then building them up.  He is just breaking them.

While we are on the subject, I am wondering if any Jayhawk ever gave it back to the coach? In case they have not, and current Jayhawks are looking for some ideas, here is my humble proposal for a dialogue with Mangino:

Mangino – “Hey, stop loafing WR!  You keep that up and you will wind up on welfare and turning tricks in an alley for crack cocaine like that story about your mom you shared with me in a closed door meeting the other day.”

WR – “Hey Coach.  Here’s a thought.  Maybe you should drop your daily caloric intake by, I don’t know, maybe 40,000 calories.  Seriously, do you really need that entire rack of ribs to go with your 22 ounce steak, double cheese-burger and fried okra covered in brown gravy?  I’m just looking out for you.  Well, I am also looking out for the players that keep getting hit by one of your 17 chins when you move suddenly on the sideline.”

Q: How about Jimmy Clausen getting cold-cocked by an angry Irish fan at local bar?

- Gaye Barr, Elkhart, Indiana

A: This had to be the first time anything associated with the Irish was on target this whole season.  My only question is why not track down and punch Charlie Weis?  The guy is pushing 3 bills and his knees are shot.  There is no way he could get away quickly enough to avoid a total pummeling. (please note that Mad Adam, while prone to fits of anger, does not condone nor promote violence against athletes and/or coaches….you know, unless they really deserve it).

Q: As an unabashed fan of front-running, big money teams like the Lakers and Sooners, is it any surprise that you’ve recently declared yourself a Manchester City fan? And even though you’ll do your best to spin the answer, it’s mostly rhetorical, as the indisputable answer is “no.”

- Ed Honcho, Sunbathing on the French Riviera

A: Nice try Ed.  You are clearly trying to bait me into a fit of rage.  However, unlike Tila Tequila, I am not that easy.  You see, what you are failing to tell our readers is that it is “undisputable” that I became a fan of the Blues prior to September 2008 when Man City was purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group, making it the wealthiest club in the world.

Which means that I became a fan of Man City, a team that has not won silverware since 1976, before this fortuitous twist transformed them into the Champions League chasing team they are today.  So, SUCK IT ED.  Seriously.

Q: Is it true that you’ve been in the same fantasy football league for almost 20 years and never won?

- Bjorn Bjornssen, Hammerfest, Norway

A: Bjorn, now I am starting to get pissed.  Your “source” is mistaken.  Allow me to provide you a history lesson. Yes, I have been in the same fantasy football league since 1988.  In fact, Ed Honcho, myself and friends may have indeed invented fantasy football.

No, it is NOT true that I have failed to ever be crowned champion.  My team has a long and storied history.  I consistently make the playoffs, and I have been in not one, not two, but THREE championship games.  Several years ago Ed Honcho and I squared off in the championship game.  The game ended in a tie according to an on-line fantasy sports site that will not be named.  Incredibly, after nearly two decades of fantasy sports our collective group had never devised a tie-breaker scenario.  So, we declared a tie and the championship was split between Mad Adam and Ed Honcho.

Now things get interesting.  Approximately 6 months later, one of our friends and fellow fantasy owner, we will call him “ass-wipe,” decided to peruse the web-site because he had nothing better to do.  He was surprised to see that the CRAPPY, STUPID AND PROFESSIONALLY NEGLIGENT web-site that shall not be named had changed the score for Jeff Garcia (my starting QB at the time) by one measly STUPID point.  Ass-wipe decides to share this information with the league.  The result? Years of bickering and a COMPLETELY FALSE AND WHOLLY UNSUBSTANTIATED CLAIM of an undisputed and sole championship by Ed.

Many of you may ask, and rightly so, how in the world can you change the score of a fantasy sports championship MONTHS after the fact?  Isn’t that like tuning in for the Super Bowl and watching the Pats lose to the Giants, only to find out the following summer that the NFL had changed its mind and declared that the David Tyree “helmet catch” was an incompletion and the Pats actually won?  Good point.  And Bjorn, you no fantasy knowledge having dude from Hammerfest, did you stop to ask what would have happened if we applied the tie-breaking rules we have today?  No? Well, let me tell you what would have happened. I WOULD HAVE WON.  And, what would have happened if we played the next week (since we tabulated the points just to see)?….wait for it….that’s right….. I WOULD HAVE WON.

Dammit.  Now my blood pressure is though the roof.  Bjorn, I am sure you can see from the foregoing synopsis that in fact I DID WIN A FREAKING CHAMPIONSHIP.  And, if you don’t agree with me then you CAN JUST ENJOY YOUR CITY WHICH REEKS OF REINDEER MANURE.  That’s right, I said it.

Q: Why so angry? Childhood trauma? Life stacked against you? What?

- Adolfo Ocampo, Ushuaia, Argentina

A: As I am sure you can see from the questions posed by some ingrates above, as well as the other stupid topics that got me riled up, there are plenty of reasons I am angry.  SO, STICK YOUR POP PSYCHOLOGY UP YOUR ASS ADOLFO.  I will be sure to call if I ever need your attention.  Don’t hold your breath in the meantime.

Thank you loyal readers.  Until next time, keep watching sports and DON’T PISS ME OFF!!!

Hard to believe that we are down to the final week of play in the SEC, America’s premiere College Football Conference again this year.

I had another very good week and this will be the next to last post of this nature.  I’ll shift to basketball in late December to prepare for the upcoming SEC conference season.

I am soooo looking forward to the Florida-Alabama game on December 5.  It is too bad that Bama will have their first loss prior to that date!

Note:  If you have not seen “The Blind Side” I highly encourage you to take the time and go see it.  Take some Kleenex along also-it is that kind of movie that makes you feel good as well as think.

Week 1:  9-3

Week 2:  4-2

Week 3:  7-2

Week 4:  7-1

Week 5:  6-1

Week 6:  4-3

Week 7:  4-2

Week 8:  4-2

Week 9:  5-2  (Gena’s picks)

Week 10:  8-0

Week 11:  3-4

Week 12:  5-1

Total:  66-23  (79.8% accuracy-maybe I have found a new living!)

E’ stato uno degli argomenti più discussi nelle ultime settimane, definito “scudo fiscale”, altro non è che una manovra finanziaria che il governo tenta di portare a termine per dare ossigeno ai conti pubblici, che definire disastrosi è dire poco. Questo ipotetico flusso di denaro sporco che dovrebbe arrivare nel nostro paese, dovrebbe finanziare le attività più disparate dello Stato e tra queste, si presume che rientri anche il rifinanziamento degli appalti delle pulizie nella scuola.

Per la verità, secondo il mio punto di vista personale, sarà sicuramente così se pensiamo che nella scorsa finanziaria “dimenticarono” del tutto di destinare la copertura necessaria a questo scopo. Fu  necessario un ripescaggio degli Ex Lsu Ata nel famoso decreto incentivi del mese di marzo u.s. che assegnò i mancanti 260 milioni di euro, cifra che poi venne resa disponibile a tutti gli effetti il 24 agosto u.s..

La situazione economica  nazionale e internazionale, inutile nasconderlo, è ulteriormente peggiorata rispetto ad allora, quindi mi sembra più che lecito da parte dei lavoratori, nutrire delle forti preoccupazioni e tenere alta l’attenzione, così come stanno facendo in questi giorni. Ma sembra che questo non preoccupi eccessivamente i nostri sindacati confederali Cgil Cisl Uil, loro mettono la testa sotto la sabbia come lo struzzo e portano avanti le stesse precise e identiche rivendicazioni di sempre: Rifinanziare le cooperative, anche se questa rappresenta l’operazione più antieconomica che il governo possa fare. A loro questo non importa, procedono con l’illusione che vada come sempre, come ai tempi che tutto passava inosservato perché qualche spicciolo, bene o male, i politici riuscivano a raggranellarlo, così da accontentare queste orde clientelari.

Ora il panorama è completamente mutato. E’ come quando cade una copiosa nevicata e tutto rimane sommerso dal manto bianco per un tempo indefinito, assumendo un aspetto bellissimo…poi allo sciogliersi della neve, tutte le cose tornano alla vista nella loro forma reale. Questo è ciò che accade adesso in Italia, ma gli unici a non esserne al corrente sono proprio quelli che dovrebbero rappresentare i lavoratori. Persino il Ministro Gelmini aveva espresso questo concetto (peccato che sia stato prontamente messo a tacere): “Gli appalti delle pulizie nelle scuole, rappresentano uno dei tanti sprechi di denaro pubblico che lo stato non può più assolutamente permettersi”. A questo proposito, per tranquillizzare i colleghi Ex Lsu Ata, io penso che il Ministro si riferisse alle coop e non ai lavoratori, che come ha detto più volte anche il Sottosegretario Giuseppe Pizza, svolgono da tanti anni un ruolo fondamentale nella scuola.

A conferma di questo stato d’insicurezza e di difficoltà, giunge il comunicato del Miur del 17 c.m., dopo l’incontro con i confederali. Tra le righe ci accorgiamo che il Ministero si arrampica sugli specchi, nel tentativo di mascherare il vero problema, la mancanza di risorse. Se la Corte dei Conti non dà l’assenso, nessun accordo di spesa può essere sottoscritto. Per rendere più corposo il comunicato e impressionare positivamente i lavoratori, scrivono tanto ma non dicono niente, riconfermano risorse che sono già state confermate (mi riferisco all’esercizio finanziario in corso), promettono impegni che non sanno se potranno mantenere, tutto secondo il solito copione, con la differenza che la situazione questa volta è davvero drammatica.

E i sindacati? Invece di puntare sul risparmio, presentando un bel piano di risanamento a tutela della conservazione dei posti di lavoro con conseguente internalizzazione, cosa fanno?…Continuano ostinatamente a voler portare acqua al mulino dei Consorzi di cooperative. Non si rendono conto di avere ormai addosso gli occhi, non solo dei lavoratori ma dell’opinione pubblica intera e delle Istituzioni.

In tempi di magra, una Nazione ha il dovere di amministrare le entrate con la massima parsimonia…e se il nostro Paese è arrivato al punto di farsi sostenere dai disonesti che hanno accumulato patrimoni all’estero, credetemi, la faccenda è davvero seria.

Villapiana 22-11-2009

Mimmo, co-amministratore del blog di categoria  http://exlsu-ata.blogspot.com

Well, here we are in the home stretch of College Football, also known as “Rivalry Week”. What a year it has been. Pre-season stuff had OU in the Top 5 and headed to the Fiesta Bowl. Now, OU is fighting for a 7th win, and OSU is fighting for a potential Fiesta Bowl berth. USC is no longer one of the “elite”, but Cincinnati and TCU are? I will be taking my wife (who is an OSU fan) and my boys (who are OU fans) to their first college football game this Saturday, when we go watch Bedlam. The boys are excited, and I am too for them. Gonna be a good time…be a great time if the Sooners can squeak this out though. Anyway, on with the show:

#11 Oklahoma State Oklahoma (+7) – There’s a team who is 9-2, ranked #11 in the country, and fighting for a BCS bowl bid. The other team has had problems all year, unranked and staring down the barrel of a 6-6 season. A win by this team would make them the spoiler for the ranked team. Sounds familiar when Bedlam happens, doesn’t it? Problem is, the teams have switched. It’s OSU who is ranked and looking to cash in on the BCS action, and OU trying to salvage a season with an upset. The crazy thing is…OU IS FAVORED! There’s a lot at stake Saturday: recruiting, BCS, bragging rights, OU’s 29 home game win streak. And we all know that in Bedlam, sometimes, the best team doesn’t always win. OU’s defense got embarrassed last week, and they won’t let that happen at home, on senior day, and against their bitter rival. Gundy has never beat OU, as a player or as a coach.  MY PICK: OU 31, OSU 28

Memphis at Tulsa (+15) – How bad is Memphis when Tulsa is a 15 point favorite? Bad enough that the coach didn’t make it half the season, that’s how bad. Tulsa has been disappointing this season. Picked to contend for the C-USA championship, were diminished and a new goal was born…just make it to a bowl game. Now, that goal is gone, and TU is playing just to be playing. Horrible season can end with a win this week, and they should get it. Still, remember this TU fans…at least Keith Burns isn’t coaching.  MY PICK: TULSA 28, MEMPHIS 20

Missouri (+4) at Kansas – “Get in my belly”. Sorry, I think that every time I see Jayhawk head coach (for now) Mark Mangino. Coach “I can eat you under the table” Mangino is more than likely done at Kansas…and as a head coach anywhere for a while. This story amazes me. Everything was ok as long as Kansas was winning. But, after losing 6 in a row, accusations of “improper touches” and being too hard on players, have surfaced, and the coach is in hot water. Maybe it’s just me, but Mangino is so big, if he just walks past you in a hall way, wouldn’t he “improperly touch” you then? I’m just saying. Kansas needs a win to make it to a bowl. That won’t happen…  MY PICK: MISSOURI 35, KANSAS 31

Arkansas at #17 LSU (+3) – My sources in Louisiana are telling me (hey, I used to be a sportswriter, I can have sources) that LSU head coach Les Miles is planning to write a book this offseason, entitled “When and When Not To Call Timeouts…For Dummies”. Seriously, what was this guy thinking last week? It was a bizarre sequence of events. Seriously, watch the video here. Facing 3rd down, they do a dump off and get nothing. LSU has a timeout left and 26 seconds left, nobody calls a TO until 9 seconds left. LSU then throws a Hail Mary, and it’s caught inside the 10 yard line, with 1 second left, down by 2. But now, they have no TO’s left, and LSU loses. By the way, that’s how you NOT call timeouts.  MY PICK: ARKANSAS 24, LSU 21

Florida State at #1 Florida (+23) – Ahh, the battle of Florida. This game used to be played early on in the season. Maybe they should move it back to early on, that way Florida State still has a chance to be ranked. Besides Notre Dame, Florida State has to be one of the most overrated schools in the nation. I’m surprised at 6-5, both FSU and the Irish aren’t ranked. The only reason I picked this game, is because it is a rivalry game, and I needed an automatic “W” for me. Florida better use this contest as a tune-up game….next week is Alabama for the SEC title and a National Title game berth. MY PICK: FLORIDA 42, FLORIDA STATE 17…(I meant 14, because FSU never has a FG kicker)

Rivalry Week

Throw The Stats Out The Window

This is the college football week where more money is lost by those who don’t know what they are doing and more money is made by those who do know.  Certain rivalry games are just that—real rivalries.  Others are nothing but an annual beating on a little sister.

There is another bigger factor to this week’s games.  It’s the bowl factor.  Several teams are still looking for one final win to become bowl eligible.  A 5-6 team hosting an 8-3 team must be looked at quite differently than a 2-9 team hosting a 4-7 team.  The desire to get to 6-6 far outweighs the desire to avoid a 10-loss season.

Let’s look at the bowl eligible teams by conference as well as the teams needing to win this week to gain bowl eligibility.

Clemson and Georgia Tech have already clinched their divisions and will meet for the ACC Championship.  Tech edges the Tigers in Atlanta in September, but Clemson gave the game away.

Duke needs to beat Wake Forest this week to earn their first bowl in 15 years.  David Cutcliffe is one of the most underrated coaches in the country, and he should receive some national recognition in the Coach of the Year balloting.

The ACC has nine automatic bowl bids, and only seven bowl eligible teams as of now.  The GMAC Bowl will need to find an at-large team to fill the vacant position, and if Duke loses this week, the Eagle Bank Bowl will look to the MAC to fill that vacant slot.

Regardless of what happens in the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown this weekend, the winner of next week’s Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game will be Big East Champions and automatic BCS Bowl representative.  Cincinnati could still conceivably earn an at-large BCS Bowl bid at 11-1, but that chance is slimmer than slim.

Connecticut can gain bowl eligibility with a win at home against Syracuse this weekend, and they would get another chance next week against South Florida if they faltered against the Orangemen.  If the Huskies get that win, then the Big East will have six bowl eligible teams for six guaranteed spots.  Notre Dame could still possibly steal the Sun Bowl/Gator Bowl spot that goes to a Big East team if the Irish beat Stanford, but it would be a disgrace for them to steal a post at 7-5.  We believe Stanford will take care of business and keep Notre Dame out of the bowl picture altogether this year.

The Big 10 season is basically over.  Illinois has a couple of non-conference games remaining, and the only important factor in that is they play Cincinnati this weekend.  Wisconsin goes to Hawaii in two weeks, and the Outback Bowl bid could be riding on them winning the game.

It is almost a foregone conclusion that a second Big 10 team, either Iowa or Penn State, will receive an at-large BCS Bowl bid.  So, there will be seven teams available for eight bowls.  The Pizza Bowl (formerly Motor City Bowl) will have to look elsewhere and may be forced to invite two MAC teams.

Nebraska and Texas will face off in the Big 12 Championship Game, and the Cornhuskers may have a shot at pulling off a huge upset.  We give the ‘Huskers about a 15% chance of frustrating the Longhorn offense and win ugly.  If so, then another team from the Lone Star State will benefit.

After beginning the season at 5-0, Kansas finds itself in a must-win situation against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  They must earn The Brass Drum to earn a bowl bid.

The most important game though will be the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State game in Norman.  If the Cowboys beat the Sooners, they will more than likely earn an at-large BCS Bowl Bid at the expense of Boise State.  The Sooners must win to guarantee themselves a winning season.  The PiRate Ratings have had a devil of a time with OU this year.  Even at 6-5, their power rating keeps them in the top 10.  It’s hit or miss with them, as they showed how strong they are when they took Texas to the final gun.

If Kansas wins over Missouri, there will be 10 bowl eligible teams for eight guaranteed bowl spots (nine if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma).  Look for Iowa State to be the odd team out of the mix.

Welcome to the conference where everything changes weekly.  With SMU losing to Marshall, the door opened once again for Houston to ascend to the CUSA Championship Game.  A win over Rice is all that’s needed, but all of a sudden the Owls have found their way.  It could be an interesting game—at least for a half.

The East Division championship will be decided this weekend when Southern Miss visits East Carolina.

UAB can gain bowl eligibility with a win over  Central Florida, but it may be a moot point.  There are only five guaranteed bowl spots with a sixth if Army fails to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Six CUSA teams are already bowl eligible, and the Blazers cannot compete with Marshall or SMU in fanbase.

All three independents are still in the bowl mix, but as of now, only Navy is guaranteed a spot.  Notre Dame must beat Stanford to get to 7-5 and earn priority over every other possible at-large team.  At 6-6, they more than likely will find themselves out of the picture as there will be enough seven-win teams to fill the at-large spots.

Army must beat Navy to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Navy has won seven in a row in this series, so it should be one of the best in this series in many years.

Central Michigan has already clinched the West Division, and the Chippewas will play the winner of this week’s Ohio U-Temple game in the MAC Championship Game. 

Two teams will be playing for that important seventh win this week.  Bowling Green hosts Toledo, and Kent State hosts Buffalo.

The MAC gets three guaranteed bowl bids and will get a fourth if Duke fails to beat Wake Forest and earn an Eagle Bank Bowl bid.   That’s where the Bowling Green and Kent State games come into play.  Both could earn bowl bids with wins, and one could even play in the Pizza Bowl against another MAC team.

TCU will manhandle New Mexico this week and then hope that either Texas A&M or Nebraska can upset Texas, Florida State can upset Florida, or Auburn can upset Alabama.  The Horned Frogs need two of the big three teams ahead of them to lose.  The loser of the SEC Championship Game means that either Texas must lose this week or next or the winner of the SEC Championship Game must lose this week.  If one of these events happen, then TCU will be playing for the national championship in January.  It’s hard to believe that this program was once as weak as Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and Washington State are today.

The one team still trying to gain bowl eligibility is Wyoming.  The Cowboys must beat Colorado State in Ft. Collins this week, and these two teams truly put the “war” in “Border War.”  It’s not a given that Wyoming can top the 3-8 Rams.

For the first time ever, the winner of the “Civil War” game between Oregon and Oregon State will earn the Rose Bowl bid.  The Ducks and Beavers are one of the best rivalry games in college football, and I’d love to have a 50-yard line seat next week in Eugene.

The Pac-10 receives six automatic bowl bids, but there are seven bowl eligible teams.  It looks like UCLA will miss out this year unless they can upset USC.  Arizona must beat either Arizona State or USC to get to seven wins.  If both the Bruins and Wildcats win seven games, then expect to see the Pac-10 receiving an extra bid to a western bowl.

This is a monster conference!  With Alabama and Florida headed to Atlanta to play what will be the “Game Of The Decade” (assuming both win this week), it is a given that the loser will still play in a BCS Bowl.  It isn’t completely out of the realm that if the SEC Championship game goes to overtime or is decided in regulation by a point, and if Texas loses to either Texas A&M or Nebraska, that Alabama and Florida could meet in a rematch for all the marbles.

With 10 bowl eligible teams, the SEC will place all 10 in bowls.  There will be a lot of last minute shuffling because there isn’t much difference between team number three and team number 10.

This league is almost assured of earning a second bowl bid this year.  Troy will play in the New Orleans Bowl, but Middle Tennessee will get an at-large bid somewhere.  Both Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe can get to seven wins, but it will take big upsets for both to do so.  ULL plays Troy, while ULM plays MTSU.

Here’s where things should get interesting.  Boise State is a win over Nevada away from being 12-0 and the proverbial odd team out.  If Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, the Cowboys will steal the last BCS Bowl bid at the Broncos’ expense.  Then, watch for the United States Government to put their messy fingers into the college football pigpen. 

Before we get into this mess, Boise State has to beat Nevada.  The Wolf Pack is not a pushover, and it could easily take 50 or more points to win this game.

Of course, if the Sooners win over OSU, then it looks favorable for BSU getting into the field.  Then, they would be competing against a one or two-loss Big East team and maybe a two-loss Georgia Tech team.

If Boise State moves up, then the WAC is safe with four bowls for four bowl eligible teams.

Hawaii could still sneak into the mix, but they would have to beat Navy and Wisconsin.  We don’t see that happening.

Bowl Speculations

For the two in attendance, and the millions of you reading across the internet……Lets get ready for RIVALRIES!!!!!!!

The First game i bring to you is the Border War. Anyone who deals with a rivalry knows that its just a straight out fight, and what better to fight over then an Indian War Drum & the Lamar Hunt Trophy. Missouri and Kansas have been fighting this war since 1891. Dan George summed up the rivalry by stating “It’s more than the schools — it’s a state thing going back to the Civil War, when William Quantrill’s Confederate guerillas burned Lawrence and murdered nearly 200 people. Neither Missouri nor Kansas folks have forgotten it.” The series between to the two stands officially tied (going by NCAA, cant stand it when conferences make their own rules and try to change rules mid season to get things swinging their way) 54-54-9 even though there is some controversy over a player being disqualified due to a school booster using funds to persuade him to come to that school (Kansas was the school he played for). This just added more fuel to the fire of this rivalry, which, even though by request of the athletic directors of the schools not to be called this, is the Border War.

 Next on the list we have the  Iron Bowl. For those of you not around the south, the Iron Bowl is THE rivalry of rivalries. When people think of Alabama playing against Auburn, they equate it to things such as the North fighting against the South… The Axis versus the Allies… some even go as far as to compare it as the battle of good and evil. It gets intense around here and some people tend to get hurt while waiting for the weekend or in this horrid case because of CBS wanting to grab some ratings, Friday to come around for the game to be played to give the fans the bragging rights they have truly earned. The series originated in 1893 with the two schools playing against each other in Birmingham, Alabama (that’s where the iron came from) The Crimson Tide currently lead the rivalry 39-33-1. This year’s game will be played at Auburns site where Alabama has lost its last six visits.

Now I bring you “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate”. Words that could only be used to describe the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech game. The rivalry between these two schools also began in 1893.  The heated rivalry goes all the way back to truthfully 1891 when UGA began to mock Tech for its choice of school colors. The fire only burned stronger as time passed by with UGA once again offending the Yellow Jackets in 1919 by having a parade celebrating UGA’s return to football while making fun of Georgia Tech students for continuing to play football during war time. With only 70 miles between the schools (UGA in Athens, and GA Tech in Atlanta) the schools are in constant competition against each other not only for recruits, but for state funding and for recognition from their home state as well. The winning school of the years football game receives the Governor’s Cup Finally, I just really like the name given to this rivalry.

Next up on the Rivalry list we have the Texas Longhorns, and the Texas A & M Aggies. These being the two oldest public schools in the state of Texas, their rivalry is a natural one. Texas and A & M have been competing against each other since 1894, but their rivalry has been adjusted to spread bragging rights based on all sports rather then just football. in 2004 a points system was introduced. Points are awarded for all sports in which both schools maintain an intercollegiate team. Each sport is worth one point, which is awarded to the winner of the head-to-head matchup between the two teams. If the head-to-head matchup ends in a tie, each team receives ½ point. In baseball, the team that wins the regular season three-game series is awarded one point. In sports where the teams meet twice during the season — currently softball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s basketball — each contest is worth ½ point. If the universities do not compete in head-to-head regular season competition, the university that places higher at the Big 12 Conference Championship will earn the point. Should the universities tie in Big 12 Conference Championship competition the point will be split between the two schools. In the sport of track and field, multi-school meets do not count as head-to-head competition. There are a total of 19 possible points, with 10 points needed to win. In the event of a 9½ to 9½ tie, the winner of the previous year will retain the title for the following year. Texas currently leads the points run 3-2 with a possible tie of the series pending on the rivalry game this weekend. (if A & M manages to tie the points, according to the rules of point, they will retain the title since they were the previous years winner.)

And for the next big game, we have Virginia Tech at Virginia playing for the Commonwealth Cup. This match up rolls back to 1895 when the schools started playing each other. From what I’ve gathered, aside from just a game between people from really close places to each other, there’s not much to this. With the Va Tech Shooting, the rivalry became even less intense. Many fans on both sides of the rivalry have reported a lessening of hostilities between the two universities while maintaining the same intensity of the rivalry in the wake of the Virginia Tech Massacre. According to The Washington Post “students in both camps are more apt to think of themselves as simply Virginians.” UVa students were amongst the first university students to lend support to the comrades at Virginia Tech in the wake of the shootings. Likewise, the connections between the two university’s populations are often very close. Prior to the 2007 football contest in Charlottesville both college’s bands participated in a joint performance. However, the intensity of the rivalry was still as spirited as ever, with both sides cheering passionately for their own team as a berth to the ACC Championship game was on the line. “…there was the sense among Tech students that fans of U-Va. – an institution founded by none other than Thomas Jefferson – looked down their noses at the mountain-ensconced Hokies of Blacksburg. Hokies were “hicks”; Cavaliers were “snobs.” But after the shootings in April, something changed. U-Va. students and faculty members wrote condolence letters, held a candlelight vigil and even painted the campus’s fabled Beta Bridge with a pro-Hokies phrase.” — Jonathan Mummolo, The Washington Post U-Va.’s student newspaper reported that students in Charlottesville were even sporting Hokie sweatshirts on occasion in observance of the tragedy. The University’s Z Society went so far as unveiling a 65′ x 120′ Virginia Pride flag featuring both UVA and VT logos on it during the annual football game, and it was noted that the two fan bases had never been so close as they were after the shootings. “Since the tragedy, it hasn’t been so odd to see a Wahoo wearing a Virginia Tech sweatshirt. Since April, transfer students haven’t felt so awkward saying they used to attend school in Blacksburg. Truly, Hokies and Wahoos have never been so together.” — Eric Kolenich, The Cavalier Daily.

Next up on the list is Pittsburgh playing at West Virginia in The Backyard Brawl. This rivalry rolls back to 1895 when the first game was played. The rivalry basically exists because, you guessed it, the schools are basically in each other’s back yard. Pittsburgh currently leads the series 61-37-3. The 1921 edition of The Backyard Brawl was the first football game to be broadcast over the radio airwaves. Other then the 2007 Pitt team knocking the then number two ranked West Virginia out of the BCS National Championship game, there hasnt really been much to fuel this rivalry then, they’re competing for the same stuff as GA-GA tech.

Another heated rivalry taking place this weekend is the Holy War. The fierce rivalry between the Utah Utes and the Brigham Young Cougars. The big thing that fuels this fire is…..dum dum dum… religion.  Utah is the Mormon capital of the world, so to no surprise, BYU is a Mormon owned school. Utah, being a state owned school, is non-secular. BYU fans accuse Utah fans of being drunks, although many of Utah’s fans are also Mormons, and alcohol is against the Mormon code. Many non Mormon Utes fans love to mess with BYU fans by drinking lots of coffee, swearing and generally going against the Mormon code. The series started in 1895 ( or 1922 according to BYU) Utah leads the series 53-33-4 (or 50-30-4 depending on when it started).  The two schools are approximately 50 miles apart, so its not uncommon for them to constantly compete over recruits, fans and funding. The rivalry began to change in 1993, during Ron McBride’s fourth season as head coach, the Utes won their first game in Provo in twenty-two seasons and their first since LaVell Edwards became BYU head coach. Utah’s kicker, Chris Yergensen, had already missed two out of three field goals on the day. This time, however, Yergensen did not miss and kicked the game-winning 55-yard field goal (the longest of his career) as time expired.After the win, Utah fans and players attempted to tear down the north end zone goalpost at what was then Cougar Stadium. Cougar players returned to the field to protect the goalpost from being torn down. About the incident, Lenny Gomes, a BYU nose guard, said, “Typical Utah bullshit. All those guys think that’s all there is to life. But when I’m making $50–60,000 a year, they’ll be pumping my gas. They’re low-class losers.” The remark is still remembered in rivalry history today.The 1994 season was McBride’s best, as he led the Utes to a 10–2 record and a top-10 finish in national rankings. The Utes and Cougars also staged one of the best matchups in the rivalry’s history, meeting for the first time as top-25 ranked teams. The Utes won the game 34–31, which was coincidentally the same score of their meeting a year before. Utah ran its rivalry winning streak up to three games a year later, with a 34–17 win at BYU. The Utes and Cougars would trade wins and losses the next couple of years, before the 2000 season. During the 1999 edition of the Holy War, Utah recorded its fourth consecutive win in Provo. Early in the fourth quarter, Utah scored a touchdown when quarterback T.D. Crowshaw completed a four-yard-pass to Donny Utu to put Utah up 20–10. In celebration, Utah cheerleader Billy Priddis ran along the visitor’s sideline with a large “U” flag. An unidentified BYU fan ran onto the sideline and tackled Priddis from behind. Priddis turned around and started punching the fan. He landed seven or eight punches before security separated them. About the incident, Priddis said, “”There’s 65,000 fans here, does he think I’m not going to retaliate?” Utah had another undefeated season in 2008 and defeated BYU 48–24. By doing so, they captured another invitation to a BCS game, where they were matched up with the highly favored Alabama. Utah beat Alabama 31–17 for their second BCS victory in five years. BYU’s team slogan in 2008 was “Quest for Perfection,” and T-shirts bearing that slogan were made widely available. However, BYU’s quest for a perfect season ended at TCU, and Utah, who did finish with a perfect record, created red shirts bearing the Utah logo and the slogan “The Quest Perfected.”

This next rivalry is near and dear to my heart as I have an ex-girlfriend who is a big Clemson fan. Naturally I pull for South Carolina (Shout out to my boy Darian Stewart #24) every year since then in the Battle of the Palmetto State. Stick with me people because the next might get long and boring, but it is needed to completely understand where it all came from. Unlike most major college rivalries, the Carolina-Clemson rivalry did not start innocently. In fact, the seeds of bitterness were planted even before Clemson became a college. The two institutions were founded 88 years apart: South Carolina College in 1801 and Clemson Agricultural College in 1889.South Carolina College was founded in 1801 to unite and promote harmony between the Lowcountry and the Upcountry. It closed during the Civil War when its students aided the Southern cause, but the closure gave the politicians an opportunity to reorganize it to their liking. The Radical Republicans in charge of state government during Reconstruction opened the school to blacks and appropriated generous funds to the University, much of which was embezzled. These actions caused the white citizens of the state to withdraw their support for the University and view it as a symbol of the worst aspects of Reconstruction. The Democrats returned to power in 1877 following their decisive electoral victory over the Radical Republicans and promptly proceeded to close the University. Sentiment in the state favored opening an agriculture college so the University was reorganized as the South Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In 1882, the college was renamed to its antebellum name, South Carolina College, which infuriated the farmers because they felt that the politicians had frustrated the will of the people by deemphasizing agriculture education, even though the school still retained the department of agriculture. Benjamin Tillman emerged in the 1880s as a leader of the agrarian movement in South Carolina and demanded that the South Carolina College take agricultural education more seriously by expanding the agriculture department. In 1885, Tillman was convinced of the superiority of a separate agricultural college by Stephen D. Lee, then the President of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi, and subsequently Tillman would accept nothing less than a separate agriculture college in South Carolina. He offered the following reasons why he felt that it was necessary to have a separate agriculture college outside the confines of Columbia:

Mississippi A&M featured practical training without unnecessary studying of the liberal arts.

Mississippi A&M provided poor students work-scholarships so that they could attend the college.

There were too few students who studied agriculture at the College to justify an agriculture college there.

The College was a place “for the sons of lawyers and of the well-to-do” who sneered at the agriculture students as if they were hayseeds.

The students at the College lived a life of luxury as compared with the sweat and toil endured by students at Mississippi A&M.

There was not enough farm land near the College to allow for proper agriculture study.

The Conservatives, who held the reins of power in South Carolina from 1877 to 1890, replied to each point made by Tillman:

The most advanced agriculture educational research was being conducted at the University of California and at Cornell University, both of which combined agriculture colleges with liberal arts colleges. Additionally, a separate agriculture college would be more expensive and result in an inferior product.

The work scholarships attracted the lowest quality of students who only cared about obtaining a college degree, not about an education in agriculture or mechanical studies. Furthermore, there was little advantage of attending a college only to pitch manure and grub stumps.

The constant attacks by Tillman on the College caused many to doubt whether state support for the institution would continue. As a result, the enrollment numbers were not impressive, although the numbers of students taking agriculture and mechanical classes increased from 34 in 1887 to 83 in 1889. Over half of the students at the College were the sons of farmers, though most did not study agriculture as Tillman wished. John McLaren McBryde, President of the College, correctly predicted that most students of an agriculture college would not go back to work the farm after graduation. While some students at the College were the sons of the well-to-do, the majority were poor.Tillman was bolstered in 1886 when Thomas Green Clemson agreed to will his Fort Hill estate for the establishment of an agriculture college. Yet, Tillman did not want to wait until Clemson died to start a separate agriculture college so he pushed the General Assembly to use the Morrill funds and Hatch funds for that purpose. Instead, the legislature gave those funds to the South Carolina College in 1887 which would use them along with a greater state appropriation to reorganize itself as the second University of South Carolina and to also greatly expand the agriculture department. After this victory for South Carolina, in January 1888 Tillman wrote a letter to the News and Courier that he was retiring from public life.It was less than ninety days when Tillman reemerged on the scene upon the death of Thomas Green Clemson in April 1888. Tillman advocated that the state accept the gift by Clemson, but the Conservatives in power opposed the move and an all out war for power in the state commenced. The opening salvo was fired by Gideon Lee, the father of Clemson’s granddaughter and John C. Calhoun’s great granddaughter Floride Isabella Lee, who wrote a letter on her behalf to the News and Courier in May that she was being denied as Calhoun’s rightful heir. Furthermore, he stated that Clemson was egotistical and “only wanted to erect a monument to his own name.”In November, Lee filed a lawsuit in Federal Court to contest the will which ultimately ruled against him in May of 1889.The election of 1888 afforded Tillman an opportunity to convince the politicians to accept the Clemson bequest or face the possibility of being voted out of office. He demanded that the Democratic party nominate its candidates by the primary system, which was denied, but they did accept his request that the candidates for statewide office canvass the state. Tillman proved excellent on the stump, by far superior than his Conservative opponents, and as the Democratic convention neared there was a clear groundswell of support for the acceptance of Clemson’s estate. He was so effective because of his “ability to awaken popular passion and prejudice” when the populace by and large mistook “prejudice for truth, passion for reason, and invective for documentation.” Tillman pitted “the poor against the rich, tenant against landowner, hireling against employer, country against town, all of South Carolina against Charleston and Columbia, upcountry against lowcountry, white against black, do-somethings against do-nothings, and outs against those in power” so that “he could rile them up and then appear as their champion.” In addition, the Conservative leadership was aging and its appeal to the past glories of South Carolina during the antebellum period meant little to the emerging younger generation.Tillman explained his justification for an independently controlled agriculture college by pointing to the mismanagement and political interference of the University of South Carolina as had occurred during Reconstruction. The agriculture college, as specified in Clemson’s will, was to be privately controlled and thus would be able to prevent any “possible invasion by the negroes”. With declining cotton prices, Tillman preyed upon the farmer’s desperation by stating that the salaries of the college professors were exorbitant and it must be a sign of corruption. Consequently, the legislature was compelled to pass the bill to accept Clemson’s bequest in December of 1888, albeit with the tie-breaking vote in the state Senate from Lieutenant Governor William L. Mauldin. Thus was reborn the antagonistic feelings of regional bitterness and class division that would plague the state for decades. Having achieved his agriculture college, Tillman was not content to sit idly by because what he really desired was power and political office. After winning the 1890 election and becoming Governor, Tillman renewed the attacks on the Conservatives and those who had thwarted his agriculture college. He saved the coup de grâce for Senator Wade Hampton III, a South Carolina College graduate and Confederate General during the Civil War, who “invoked Confederate service and honor as a barrier to Tillmanism.” Tillman directed the legislature to defeat Hampton’s renomination for another term in December of 1890, thereby finishing what Sherman had left undone in 1865.While campaigning for Governor in 1890, Tillman leveled his harshest criticism towards the University of South Carolina and threatened to close it along with The Citadel, which he called a “dude factory.” Despite the rhetoric, Tillman only succeeded in reorganizing the University of South Carolina into a liberal arts college while in office. It would eventually be rechartered for the last time in 1906 as the University of South Carolina. However, Clemson Agricultural College held sway over the state legislature for decades and was generally the more popular college during the first half of the 20th century in South Carolina. The rivalry started in 1896. after 106 meetings, Clemson leads, 65-37-4.

Next up, the Colorado State – Wyoming Border War. Nothing is really special about this rival aside from rivalry based on location. Colorado State leads the series 55-40-4. In 1968, the ROTC detachments of the respective schools initiated the Bronze Boot, a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the “Border War” each year. The boot was worn in the Vietnam War by Cpt. Jeff Romero, Sr., a Colorado State graduate and Army ROTC instructor at CSU between 1967 and 1969. Each year leading up to the Wyoming-Colorado State game, the game ball is carried in a running shuttle relay by the ROTC detachment of the visiting team down US 287 to the Wyoming-Colorado state border, where the home team’s ROTC detachment receives it and runs the game ball to the stadium hosting the game. The trophy is guarded by the ROTC unit of the past year’s winning school during the game. Colorado State University leads the trophy series at 21-20.

Off now to the Duel in the Desert and the Territorial Cup. The “Territorial Cup” also known as the “Duel in the Desert” is the rivalry between ASU and UA and is among the nation’s oldest and most heated rivalries, including the oldest trophy in college football. The winner of the game is then given possession of the Territorial Cup until the game is played the next year. In the modern era of the game, it is played on the day after Thanksgiving (and in recent years on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to accommodate network television coverage). The rivalry dates back to before Arizona was admitted as a state, and was a U.S. Territory. In the early history of Arizona, a resentment between the cities of Phoenix and Tucson emerged. The University of Arizona was founded in 1885 as the state’s first university. The same year, Tempe Normal School was founded as a small teacher’s college in the farming community of Tempe, just east of Phoenix. Over the years, Tempe Normal School evolved into Arizona State Teacher’s College, then Arizona State College at Tempe, and eventually Arizona State University. Although both athletic programs have been consistently in the top 20 in the Director’s Cup standings for the past decade, the two schools have featured a difference in athletic strengths. The rivalry started in 1899. University of Arizona currently leads the cup series 45-36-1.

The Bedlam Series is, like most other intrastate rivalries, a rivalry that goes beyond one or two sports. Both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have rivalries with other schools, though most of those rivalries are limited to one or two sports at the most. When the Bedlam Series gained Ford and the Bank of Oklahoma as corporate sponsors, the series became much more formalized. A points system was adopted in order to award a winner of the all athletic competitions combined between the two schools. A crystal bell trophy is awarded to individual Bedlam game winners (such as football), in addition to a trophy for the overall series champion for that year. The “Bedlam Bell” is modeled after the bell clapper in Old Central, the oldest building on Oklahoma State’s campus. For a time, the actual bell clapper was a traveling trophy for the two schools, until the popularity of this tradition waned. Oklahoma currently leads the series 79-15-8 which started in 1904.

Moving on, we have the Washington-Washington State rivalry. This one seems so boring that I’m just going to use the Apple Cup Wikipedia entry to fill this slot in. The Apple Cup is the annual college football rivalry game between the two largest universities in the U.S. state of Washington; the University of Washington (UW) Huskies and the Washington State University (WSU) Cougars. It is traditionally the final game of the regular season and takes place on the Saturday preceding Thanksgiving at Husky Stadium in Seattle during odd years, and WSU’s Martin Stadium in Pullman during even years. From 1950-80 (except for 1954), WSU hosted the game at Spokane’s Joe Albi Stadium. The WSU Cougars won three of these fifteen games in Spokane (1958, 1968, 1972), and have won six of the fourteen played at Martin Stadium (1982, 1988, 1992, 1994, 2004, 2008).Before 1962, the teams played for the “Governor’s Trophy.” The game was renamed the “Apple Cup” in 1962 because of Washington’s famous apple crop. The Apple Cup trophy has been awarded to the winning team ever since. With the recent lengthening of the regular season schedule to 12 games, there was a movement change the date of the Apple Cup from the weekend before Thanksgiving to the weekend following. This would have allowed a bye week sometime during the season. In the 2006 season, both teams played 12 straight weeks without a break, leaving the two teams noticeably fatigued. For the first time, the 2007 edition of the Apple Cup was played two days after Thanksgiving. The Apple Cup has been sponsored by Boeing since 2007.The first rivalry game was held in 1900 and resulted in a tie between UW and WSU. From 1900 to 2008, there have been 101 games between the schools. The Huskies hold a 64-31-6 advantage. UW’s longest winning streak has been eight games, achieved twice: (1959-66 and 1974-81). WSU has never won more than two consecutive Apple Cups, but the Cougars have won back-to-back games on eight separate occasions: (1929-30, 1953-54, 1957-58, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1982-83, 2004-05 and 2007-08). Although Washington currently leads the overall series, the Cougars have taken four of the past five meetings including a double-overtime win in the 2008 meeting. Washington leads the series 64-31-6.

With the Mississippi State vs. Mississippi Egg Bowl I was expecting more of a feud to have started the rivalry then anything else. So, with the same boring info I bring you more Wiki info. Early in the series, Mississippi State dominated, and had only lost five times in the first twenty-three contests. When Ole Miss beat MSU, then known as Mississippi A&M College, 7-6, the Ole Miss fans rushed the field, some trying to tear the goalposts down. A&M fans did not take well to the Ole Miss fans celebrations, and fights broke out. Some A&M fans defended the goal posts with wooden chairs, and several injuries were reported. To prevent such events in the future, students of the two schools created the “Golden Egg”, a large trophy which has been awarded to the winning team each year since 1927. The trophy is a large football-shaped brass piece mounted to a wooden base and traditionally symbolizes supremacy in college football in the state of Mississippi for the year. The footballs used in American football in the 1920s were considerably more ovoid and blunter than those in use today and similar to the balls still used in rugby; the trophy thus, to modern eyes, more resembles an egg than a football. The awarding of the “Golden Egg” was instituted in 1927 by joint agreement between the two schools’ student bodies. Ole Miss leads the rivalry that started in 1901 60–39–6.

Next up we got the Toledo – Bowling Green Battle of I-75. This one is a little more interesting then the last ones (enough that I’m not just going to give you stuff from the Wiki then be done with it.) These two schools are only about 20 miles apart from each other, making the pressure to get recruits and fans from the local area much harder then some others. The winner of the battle is awarded the Peace Pipe Trophy (yep that’s right, a Native American peace pipe). The rivalry between UT and BGSU goes back to 1919. The games were (and to an extent still are) marked by a passionate fan following and a hatred for the respective opponent. In 1935, fans rioted following a 63-0 blowout win by UT and as a result, BGSU removed the Rockets from their athletic schedule until 1947. That year, the smoking of a six-foot peace pipe was instated as a gesture of goodwill between the two teams at half-time of their annual basketball match. The peace pipe would be kept by the winning university until the teams played again the following season. The tradition came to an abrupt and unpleasant end in 1969 when the pipe was stolen from the UT offices. It was never recovered and the thief never caught. In 1980, the Peace Pipe trophy was reinstated when a scale-down replica was fashioned and placed on top of a trophy created by former UT football player Frank Kralik. Kralik donated the trophy to the university to be given to the winner of each year’s football game, which like many other college football rivalries is usually the last game of the regular season for both teams. Nowadays, ESPN annually broadcasts the Peace Pipe game, allowing it to reach a wide audience outside of northwest Ohio. Though the two schools play in different divisions in the Mid-American Conference, they have yet to meet in the MAC Championship Game. Toledo leads the series since the reinstatement of the trophy, 15-14.

With the next teams and their rivalry, I hold little interest in. The fact that they are 12 miles apart and both in the same city, I find entertaining, aside from that, more Wiki read. The UCLA–USC rivalry is the college rivalry between two universities located in Los Angeles, California: the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California.The athletic competition rivalry between the two schools is among the more notable in NCAA Division I sports because both schools are located within the same city. The campuses are only 12 miles apart. The sheer proximity of both alumni and students, and the likelihood of encountering each other and interacting on a daily basis make this one of the most intense college rivalries in the United States. USC is one of the top teams in the country in college football, and recognizes 11 of its teams as National Champions. UCLA has only one team recognized as a National Champion.Quite often, the winner of the football game has won or shared the Pacific Ten Conference title in football. A berth in the Rose Bowl game has been on the line many times as well for both schools. Since the formation of the Pacific Coast Conference in 1916, USC has won or shared 37 conference titles and UCLA has won or shared 17 titles.Washington is third in overall conference titles with 15.Since the 1959 season, when the Pacific 10 Conference was formed as the Athletic Association of Western Universities, through the 2007 season, the schools have won or shared 33 of the 48 conference titles. USC has won 17 championships outright, shared eight and gone to the Rose Bowl or BCS bowl 21 times. UCLA has won six championships outright, shared five and gone to the Rose Bowl eight times. The schools have shared the championship between them three times. Both teams have spoiled conference and national championship runs for the other. USC was already an established national football power under Howard Jones and had begun a major rivalry with Notre Dame when UCLA joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1929. Los Angeles Times Sportswriter Braven Dyer predicted on the day of the first football meeting on September 28, 1929, “In years to come, this game will probably be one of the football spectacles of the West” USC dominated the early games (so much so, that after the first two games, the series was suspended for five years and they did not play each other from 1931-1935) until UCLA established itself. By the late 1930s, star players such as Kenny Washington, Jackie Robinson, and Bob Waterfield enabled UCLA to be competitive. With the hiring of Hall of Fame Coach Henry “Red” Sanders, UCLA became the more dominant program in the 1950s, culminating in their 1954 National Championship. A famous quote was attributed to Sanders regarding the rivalry, “Beating ‘SC is not a matter of life or death, it’s more important than that.” But Sanders died suddenly of a heart attack, and shortly thereafter, John McKay took over a struggling USC program and returned it to national prominence. For most seasons from the mid 1960s to the end of the 1970s, the two schools were the top powers on the west coast. In the 15 Rose Bowls played from 1966 to 1980, USC or UCLA played in 12 of them. Even with the rise of Don James’ Washington Huskies in the 1980s and early 90s, UCLA or USC still went to the Rose Bowl seven times between 1981 and 1995. In the 1990s and until the hiring of Pete Carroll by USC, UCLA was the dominant team, winning 8 straight from USC from 1991-1998, before USC then won 7 in a row from 1999-2005. The 13-9 win in 2006 at the Rose Bowl allowed the Bruins to keep the record for consecutive wins in the rivalry.

Florida vs. Florida State is the next rivalry on the list. Not much going on here aside from state pushed interstate rivalry. here’s the history: The University of Florida has been fielding an officially sanctioned football team since 1906. Though Florida State University (then known as “Florida State College”) played football for several years around 1900, it became a women’s college in 1905 and remained so until 1947, when the football team was re-established. Almost immediately, pressure began building for the Gators to play the new team in-state. Some believe that it took an act of the Florida state legislature to force the contest to take place. This is not exactly true – a bill demanding a UF vs. FSU football series was proposed in 1955 but was voted down. However, the schools bowed to pressure from state leaders and agreed to schedule a yearly series starting in 1958.One of the conditions that the University of Florida put on the agreement was that the contest must always be held in their home stadium, Florida Field in Gainesville. Since 1964, however, the game site has alternated yearly between the Gators’ field and the Seminoles’ home turf of Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee. Since 1958 Florida currently leads the series 32-19-2.

Rice and Houston are the next match up in their competition to take home the Bayou Bucket. The Houston–Rice rivalry (also referred to as the UH–Rice rivalry, Rice–Houston rivalry, or the Rice–UH rivalry) is a cross-town college rivalry between the University of Houston and Rice University. The universities are located approximately five miles from each other in Houston’s “Inner loop” area. It is one of the few NCAA Division I cross-town rivalries, especially between institutions that field Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams. The rivalry has existed in a more official capacity since Houston joined the now-defunct Southwest Conference in 1971, in which Rice was a charter member. Since the breakup of that conference in 1995, the rivalry has continued. In 2005, Rice joined Conference USA, of which Houston was a member, and has again made the rivalry more relevant for conference titles as well. Football is the largest focus of the rivalry and is the sport in which the competition between the two institutions has run the longest. Both teams are part of the NCAA’s Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and have both been part of the Conference USA athletic conference since 2005. The competition includes an annual regular-season football game between the schools. It has existed since 1971, when Houston joined the now-defunct Southwest Conference, of which Rice was also a member. The winner of the game wins the Bayou Bucket. Houston leads this series 24–9. Although the last Southwest Conference football game was part of the series, the teams did not compete against each other in football from 1996 to 1998 as the universities realigned themselves with other conferences. Although the first official meeting between the teams in football didn’t take place until 1971, a scrimmage took place between the inaugural 1946 Houston Cougars team and the Rice Owls. The Owls, having played football since 1914 and being a part of the Southwest Conference, were a much more experienced and accomplished team than the Cougars. In a front of a crowd of thousands, the Owls easily defeated the Cougars. Made famous from football games between the two rivals, University of Houston students often wear red shirts with the words “Ruck Fice” to UH-Rice games. 5 miles apart from each other.. does that not say, “hey I wanna mess with you and take your recruits fans and basis of how you exist” to you?

Notre Dame and Stanford are next on the list. This rivalry is young and not really considered a major rivalry so there’s not much to it. The Irish have a minor rivalry with the Stanford Cardinal (for the Legends Trophy, a combination of Irish crystal with California redwood). The two teams first met in the 1925 Rose Bowl, then played each other in 1942 and again in 1963-64. The modern series began in 1988 and has been played annually except in 1995-96. Notre Dame leads the series 17-6. When the game is played in Palo Alto, it is usually the last game on Stanford’s schedule (as has been the case since 1999), one week after the Cardinal plays archrival Cal in The Big Game.

I finish up with Arkansas and LSU in the Battle for the Golden Boot, an aged old tradition since 1996. I myself was unaware that this was even a rivalry, but I guess everyone needs a rival. Here’s the background on the two teams playing each other. The Arkansas–LSU rivalry, now known as The Battle for the Golden Boot, is the annual college football sports rivalry game between the teams of the University of Arkansas, the Razorbacks, and Louisiana State University, the Tigers. Although the first game between the two teams occurred in 1901, the rivalry between the teams intensified after Arkansas’ entrance into the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1992, and later in 1996 with the first awarding of the “Golden Boot” and the official titling of the game “The Battle for the Golden Boot”. The game is now generally played on the day after Thanksgiving. The two teams have played 53 times since 1901, and as of the 2008 contest, 17 consecutive times after Arkansas’ induction into the SEC. During that time, LSU has won 33 games of the series while Arkansas has won 19, including the latest meeting in 2008, between the two teams. Arkansas and LSU have twice ended the game in a tie, in 1906 and the 1947 Cotton Bowl Classic. Arkansas and LSU began playing each other in 1901, when LSU claimed a 15-0 victory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Between 1906-1936 (with the exception of 1918) and 1953-1956, the two teams played each other during regular seasons on a yearly basis. In addition, the two teams have played each other at the end of the regular season in the Cotton Bowl Classic twice, on January 1 of 1947 and 1966, the former being the second tie in the series while the latter ended in a 14-7 LSU victory. In 1992, LSU and Arkansas resumed their annual rivalry when Arkansas joined the Southeastern Conference after leaving the Southwest Conference. The teams played each other four times in the conference before the introduction of the Golden Boot trophy in 1996. Beginning in 1996, the victor in the rivalry between Arkansas and LSU received the Golden Boot, a trophy that weighs approximately 175 pounds and is generally considered the heaviest “trophy” awarded in all of college football. The trophy itself stands a little over 4 feet tall, is molded out of 24-karat gold, and resembles the outline of the states of Arkansas and Louisiana connected, thus making a boot shape. Since 1996, the game has been set on the day after Thanksgiving, and has been played on alternating years in Little Rock, Arkansas at War Memorial Stadium, which is the secondary home stadium for the Razorbacks, and in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at Tiger Stadium. The series has generally represented an important battle in the SEC Western Division, with either Arkansas or LSU representing the division in the SEC Football Championship Game in many seasons. LSU won the inaugural “trophy meeting” in 1996, 17–7, and for the next six years, the trophy changed hands every meeting, beginning with LSU in 1997. After Arkansas’ “Miracle on Markham” victory in 2002, LSU won the rivalry and the Golden Boot four consecutive times from 2003 to 2006. The trophy returned to Arkansas’ possession on November 23, 2007 when the Razorbacks beat then top-ranked and eventual BCS National Championship game winner LSU 50-48 in three overtimes in Baton Rouge; the victory was the first for former Razorback coach Houston Nutt in five tries in Tiger Stadium. Arkansas successfully defended the Golden Boot again in 2008 with a spectacular come-from-behind victory in the last minute of game play.

Guest columnist Kyle Goeke

Non BCS conferences are here to stay.  Over the past five years, it has become apparent that these conferences want two things: to be recognized with the big boys and (more importantly) to be paid like the big boys.  A berth in a BCS bowl game is worth $18 million to each conference that gets a bid (which gets split evenly to the schools).  That’s right…in 2007, the terrible 1-11 Idaho Vandals received about $2 million because their conference brethren Hawaii got a BCS bid.  So no wonder these non-BCS conferences want their piece of the pie.

Every decision these commissioners and college presidents make is about money.  Why do you think college football hasn’t switched to a playoff format?  Because they’ll make more money pushing a “win or go home” regular season.  Think about it: a 32 team playoff would include Temple, a 16 team playoff would have three-loss Virginia Tech, and an eight team playoff has two loss LSU.  Some people out there even want a four team (Plus One) playoff.  A four team playoff makes sense…only, who are you going to leave out?  Boise State? Cincinnati?  TCU?  Those three teams can all make the case for the fourth spot.  A four team playoff would create just as much chaos as the system that’s in place now.

Anyways…I hate to ramble.  I’m new to this blog thing.  Here is my suggestion: keep the system the way it is.  It has worked thus far (with the exception of the 2004 Auburn Tigers).  Also, these non BCS schools keep complaining that their team is the best, and yet they can’t play for a title.  I asked Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel about this dilemma a few weeks ago at Tiger Talk (Buffalo Wild Wings 40 cent boneless Monday’s!!!).  He has actually experienced this situation from both perspectives.  He was the head coach at Toledo in 2000 when they failed to make a bowl appearance after a 10-1 regular season (Chester Taylor destroyed the MAC that year).  Pinkel believes that it takes a lot of emotion and preparation to beat a top ranked conference foe.  It takes even more to beat that top ranked team and then come out the next week ready for the next tough team.  Could Boise St. beat Florida?  I think so.  Could Boise St. beat Florida and then come out the next week ready to take on Alabama?  No way.  Kentucky had a two game stretch like that earlier in the season.  Boise St. beat Oregon at home in the first game of the season.  That is literally all they have to show for this season (other than nail biters with Tulsa and Louisiana Tech).  TCU has had a tougher schedule.  It’s not their fault that Clemson lost to Maryland or that Virginia is god-awful.  But Texas State?  Get that game off your schedule if you want to be taken seriously.  They have beaten BYU and Utah badly…but they have not had a two game stretch of good teams yet.

To my suggestion: the winner of the WAC and the MWC should meet during Championship weekend.  The winner of this game should get an automatic bid to a BCS bowl so they can get in on the $$$ action.  Enough of Boise St./Hawaii fans and TCU/Utah fans angry that their team doesn’t get a chance.  Let the winner of that game have a chance at the BCS title game…if they are in the top two of course.  This way they can make the claim that they’ve actually played someone.  I’m sure I went way too long with this blog.  Thanks for reading.

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana State varsity Tigers soccer team suffered a disappointing loss against Ole Miss on saturday. With one 2nd left on the clock, a confused Les Miles called for his offense to spike the ball, not realizing until later that it would leave them with no time on the clock. After doing the mathematics over in his head, Coach Miles became angry and perturbed at the lack of clear communication from his soup-can headset. ‘Somebody upstairs is supposed to let me know what to do! I put the soup can up to my ear and couldn’t understand what was going on. What I am intended to do? Coach a team from the sideline? That’s’s ridiculous.’ Coach Miles then looked around for the nearest bus to throw everyone but himself under.

I had to tweak the formula after I saw what it spat out after this weekend (DePaul is not the second best team in the country right now).  I realized that by doing the actual ranking of a team’s schedule, the differences in schedule were being weighted too heavily.  For instance, the schedule difference between number 270 and number 250 is actually zero, but it was getting counted in the formula as a difference of 20.  That meant that teams with a very good schedule so far were being rewarded way too much and teams with an average schedule were getting penalized.

The solution?  Just use the actual schedule rating.  Now teams that haven’t played anyone good are all even (since that’s the norm this time of year) and any teams that have played against some quality opponents or gone on the road are rewarded accordingly.

I’m also including the AP/USA Today Ranking next to each team so we can compare how voters think they’re going to do against how they’re actually playing.

Here are the rankings for this week as of 5:00 PM:

• Team (AP Rank/USA Today Rank)

1. Duke (7/7)
2. Minnesota (22/16)
3. Kansas (1/1)
4. Arizona State (NR/NR)
5. Baylor (NR/NR)
6. Marquette (NR/NR)
7. Tennessee (9/11)
8. Syracuse (10/9)
9. Kansas State (NR/NR)
10. Notre Dame (23/NR)
11. Washington (14/14)
12. LSU (NR/NR)
13. Oklahoma State (NR/NR)
14. Louisville (16/16)
15. Illinois (20/21)
16. Clemson (19/19)
17. Oregon (NR/NR)
18. Texas A&M (NR/NR)
19. Connecticut (13/13)
20. Washington State (NR/NR)
21. Ohio State (17/18)
22. Virginia (NR/NR)
23. Michigan State (2/2)
24. Arizona (NR/NR)
25. Texas (3/3)

Bottom Ten (10 = Worst)

1. Rutgers (NR/NR)
2. South Florida (NR/NR)
3. Texas Tech (NR/NR)
4. Nebraska (NR/NR)
5. South Carolina (NR/NR)
6. Indiana (NR/NR)
7. USC (NR/NR)
8. Iowa (NR/NR)
9. UCLA (NR/NR)
10. Oregon State (NR/NR)

            Nearly one dozen cowards in white, and other various hued, sheets defiantly protested on the steps of Fulton Chapel which is located on the campus of the University of Mississippi.

The belligerent bigots met briefly before the Ole Miss Rebels waged a gridiron battle against their overpowering opposition in the 10^th ranked LSU Tigers, a savvy move that guaranteed that the racist Neanderthals would receive plenty of press attention.

What was the hoopla all about? None other than “Dixie,” the classic southern battle chant that has been a source of white-southern pride since before the infamous “War Between The States,” of which members of the Mississippi’s White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan has been waging a very low key but public war to protect.

University officials moved to ban the song from football games after hearing the fans refused to abandon singing or reciting the tune’s racially tinged ending, “the South will rise again.”

Around 250 anti-Klan protestors were on hand to show support. The move was made to unify everyone on campus by placing relics of its intolerant past firmly in the past which would allow the university, to this day known for its racist climate, to work toward a future brightened by equality.

Protesting members of the Klan report that they were protesting to decry the lost Southern symbolism that once embodied everything that used to be Ole Miss.

I have been an Ole Miss fan as long as I can remember. I grew up less than one mile from the heart of campus and as hard as I tried to escape, I am glad that I decided to be a Rebel. In this time, I have had the opportunity to watch our football team win games we should have lost and lose games that should not have even been close. All this to set the stage for Saturday’s showdown with #8 LSU. There is no team out there that I have more animosity towards than LSU.

When in college, I travelled to Baton Rouge twice to watch the rivalry. In 1997 as a freshman and in the marching band, we won 36-21 in a day game. I will never forget the near-constant rain of bottles and cups that were thrown at the band throughout the game. That’s classy. In 1999, Jen and I drove down for a night game (in the rain) and we put it to them 42-23. With those 2 results, you might think that we have had the upper hand in the series, but 02-07 found us losing 6 in a row. If you look back on the series tally (since I was old enough to go to games), LSU has held the edge 15-9. All this to say, there is a lot of bad blood between these two schools.

Enter Saturday, Nov 21. The CBS SEC game of the week. The early game was dominated by Ole Miss with a couple of questionable calls that took the rebels out of the endzone twice, having to settle for a field goal and a LSU int for a TD. The defense held strong and we went in at the half down only 17-15.

The 3rd quarter was a field position struggle and the real excitement came in the 4th quarter. Dexter McCluster has been the hero of the second half of the season and completed his first pass ever for a TD with 13 minutes left to go putting us up 17-22. A clock-eating drive gave us a field goal to go up 17-25. Up by a TD with 2-pt conversion with 3:42 to go. What happened next is legendary. A methodical drive by LSU gave them a TD with 1:17 left pulled them to within 2. After 2 tries at the conversion, the rebels somehow managed to hold onto a 2 point lead.

Everyone knew the on-sides kick was coming and LSU ran it to perfection. At this point, I had indigestion. I could just see Ole Miss losing this to a last-second field goal. I could barely watch. The mental vaccuum that is the offensive minds in LSU somehow botched clock management and the tigers ended up on the Ole Miss 6yd line with the game clock expired. For once, things went our way. I waited for 10 minutes (well after the game coverage went off the air) to allow myself to breathe and enjoy the tally mark in the win column. At 8-3 with the Egg bowl left to play, the Rebels are finding a way to redeem what was supposed to be a great season. Will await bowl predictions soon.

The night only got more interesting as we went to a Mannheim Steamroller concert. Yes, the uber-popular Christmas music phenomenon tours and has been doing so for some time. Needless to say, it was a Laser Drum, Laser Light, Laser violin extravaganza. I lost it when the violin player pulled a spin move. It was a good day.

Next: Highlights!