It’s the most, wonderful time, of the year.  Apologies to Eddie Pola and George Wyle, but bowl games are the real reason for the season.  If I could, I’d scrap the pretense of the Bowl Championship Series and return to the greater bowl anarchy we had back in the days… and all on the same day too¹.  That, and I’d bring back the T-Formation, Wing-T and Notre Dame Box… and probably even single-platoon football.  All of this, of course, is a topic for another conversation.

Since I’m on vacay, and because all these games are on national television, I think I’ll get to watch every single bowl game.  I usually do.  The problem, though, is the prevalence of crappy teams from uninteresting conferences that occupy Week 1.  Still, each bowl game — with all its corollary corporate advertisement dross — is like a present… even if the present is like a pair of Christmas-themed socks that you would never wear otherwise.  So, what do we have to look forward to this next week, up to Saturday?

• EagleBank Bowl (Wake Forest v. Navy) [11:00AM ET, ESPN].  The EagleBank Bowl is a new addition to the bowl season with its inaugural game to be played on Saturday morning.  This game does several things right, and several things wrong.
  • First, here’s what it does right:
  • It gives both service academies (Army, Navy) a tie-in to this game, a tie-in that alternates season-by-season.  In its inaugural kickoff, Navy was the service academy tie-in in the event they were bowl eligible.  Next year, it’ll be Army… which probably means the bowl will have to go looking for someone else.
  • It gives the Big Ten a tie-in that it lost when one of the Music City Bowl was no longer interested in the conference.  As far as I know, the agreement among conferences for the bowl game is primarily an ACC v. service academy matchup, but the Big Ten enters into the conversation if there’s not enough bowl eligible ACC teams or the service academy in question is ineligible
  • It puts a bowl game in Washington DC.  In a time when so many inappropriate places jockey for a bowl *cough*Boise*cough*, a predicament made more absurd by the cost of transportation and the tanking economy *cough*Boise*cough*, a bowl game in the nation’s capital is both economically prudent and unmistakeably American.  Now, if we can go about resurrecting the Gotham Bowl…
  • Buuuut…
  • It’s a repeat matchup.  I love bowl games and I wish to turn back the clock on the college football offseason, even if it means having the UPI wire in its pick for national champions before the bowl game is even played because even that is less absurd than the BCS.  But, repeat matchups are the bane of the system because of the disingenuity inherent in Round 2².  In this specific context, Navy derailed Wake Forest’s train earlier in this season in Winston-Salem, thus souring national perception of what was expected to be an ACC Championship-caliber team.  Turnovers were the story that game as Riley Skinner had 4 INTs.  You can spin it as “Wake Forest looking for payback”, but it’s just not that interesting.
  • Corporate sponsorship has sullied what is otherwise a triumphant move for college football into Washington DC.  When it was first conceptualized, it was originally supposed to be called the Congressional Bowl.  This is an awesome choice.  However, once EagleBank wanted to get involved, it rechristened the bowl in its own honor.  This is most definitely not an awesome choice.  Again, the same guy writing this post is the same guy who wants the damned Gotham Bowl back.  With very few exceptions (see: Bacardi Bowl), corporate sponsorships screw things up… and I’m definitely looking in your direction, Capital One.
  • I’m not sure Navy has assured college football fans everywhere that it won’t wear those monstrosities it whipped out for the Army-Navy game earlier this month.  Sweet Jesus those were ugly uniforms worn by both sides.

• New Mexico Bowl (Colorado State v. Fresno State) [2:30PM ET, ESPN].  Fresno State’s punishment “reward” for falling short well short of its preseason BCS aims is a trip to New Mexico to play in the New Mexico Bowl.  The bowl game is fielding just its 3rd ever installment in 2008 and, yes, the first one without the University of New Mexico playing.  For those unaware, the bowl game is played on site at the University of New Mexico, giving the Lobos something of an unfair advantage.  In lieu of the Lobos, the Colorado State Rams will be representing the Mountain West.  The Rams are a screwy team, having almost beaten Brigham Young and having almost lost to San Diego State in the sam season.  Interest factor in this game is about a 4 on a scale of 10 with high values corresponding to high user interest.  The biggest interest comes in the bowl game being in New Mexico. New Mexico is a state that you almost forget is part of the continental United States until you’re presented with a visual reminder.  Such was my drives through Albuquerque en route from Los Angeles to Columbus, Ohio for school way back in the day.
• magicJack Saint Petersburg Bowl (Memphis v. USF) [4:30PM ET, ESPN2].  Corporate sponsorship of bowl games fails because it often times does not intuitively correspond with the location or theme of the bowl game itself.  The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl and Tostitos Fiesta Bowl are exemplars of intuitive corporate sponsorship.  Corporate sponsorship of bowl games fails disastrously when, on top of the previous point, no one knows what the hell the corporation in question is.  This is the magicJack St. Petersburg Bowl.  I had to look it up, but magicJack is an internet telephony service.  Given that this bowl game is an inaugural matchup and given the reviews of the corporate enterprise itself, I don’t see this sponsorship deal lasting any more than a year or two.  For what it’s worth, USF’s punishment reward for failing to win the Big East like it was expected to do is a trip across the street to host its own bowl game.  This will become fair precisely when there becomes such a thing as the Buckeye Bowl in Columbus, Ohio.  I’m waiting.
• Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl (Brigham Young v. Arizona) [8:00PM ET, ESPN].  The Mormons are rounding up their Postum and their name tags, hopping on their bicycles and trippin’ over to Las Vegas to spread the word of Heavenly Father and play a Pac-10 team in the Las Vegas Bowl for the 4th consecutive year.  It’s no doubt a disappointment for a team with visions of Sugar dancing in their head earlier this season.  On the flip side, it is no doubt a reward for Mike Stoops’ ‘Cats, making their first bowl appearance under his tutelage, and the first in the program since 1998.  Consequently, a lot of analysts are speculating that this might be the first upset of the bowl season.  Until that point is clear, there’s things we know right now.
  • First, the high in Las Vegas is expected to be in the mid-40s.  Yes, mid-40s.  The area has been blanketed by snow in the past day.
  • Second, David Hasselhoff will be singing the national anthem.  Yes, the ‘Hoff.  Singing the national anthem.  Click that link, I dare you.  Apparently his daughter attends U of A, and hence the relationship between the bowl participants.
  • Third, I’m going to be reciting lines from Orgazmo all the while watching this game.  You won’t be around me as I do this.  You won’t be able to hear me do it, nor will you be able to stop me.  Rest assured, though, it will happen.  Anything involving Mormons is going to trigger that movie playing in my head.

Lights are on. It’s bowl season, Captain. Woohoo! Let’s see some fuckin’ action!

1. Remember when January 1st was like a bowl orgy? It was like the first two rounds of the NCAA hoops tournament
2. …and it’s not a problem that a playoff system would fix.  If anything, it might make it more disingenuous.

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Fortunately or unfortunately, I know my readers and viewers of my videos expect a lot more from me than looking at a lineup of games and just saying who I think will win or cover. They want me to sit down and do the homework and show them why I am leaning one way or another.

While I’m not right all the time, and some weeks not right much of the time, most weeks I’ve done pretty well in the picking department, and I hope my analysis has been spot-on all the time. Regardless, I know that at The College Football Place, over 350,000 people a month stop by, and a good bulk of them really know their college football.

While not everyone is brave enough to enter my free picking contest, those that do as a unit have a much higher winning percentage than just about any expert out there. That in itself is a testament to the community we have formed.

I am hoping that tonight or possibly today I’ll have a chance to send out the entries for the free bowl picking contest for those already signed up. For those not signed up yet, you have until the games kick off on Dec. 20. It’s easy, free, and we even have prizes.

So with no picks in place, it doesn’t mean I have come up with any opinions or leans as they are referred to, as I have several—some are stronger than others. While just because I’m leaning one way or another is no guarantee that is how my final pick ends up, it’s generally a good indication.

Please keep in mind though that a few weeks ago in the forum I was leaning Alabama, and then when I did my homework and wrote up the pick, I ended up taking Florida. While it’s rare, it happens, but when it does you are always given plenty of notice to move things around.

In any event, here are a few games I’m leaning one way or another and my reasoning. Please feel free to comment or hit the forum, as I’ve found when we do this together, the more we are all in agreement the better our record is. Our poll was well over 70 percent this season, probably North of 80 percent against the spread.

Here are a few games I’ve been looking at already and some early leans.

Texas Tech is a mere -5 1/2 against Ole Miss, dropping from the 7-7 1/2 range. I guess beating Florida at Florida several months ago means that much to Ole Miss, but it doesn’t get held against the Gators too much?

I have yet to figure this one out, but the big argument and what is helping us out having to lay less points is people are under the impression that Ole Miss is a good team. This just in: They aren’t. Ole Miss ranks 62nd in the country against the pass, and that’s 11th in the SEC for those keeping score of SEC stats.

Anyone still like the Rebels’ chances against Graham Harrell and company? Be my guest to step up to the betting window and knock the line down even further, because the rest of us are laughing at you.

Ole Miss beat a total of three bowl teams this year: the aforementioned Florida, LSU, and Memphis. Memphis was 6-6 with one of those coming against a I-AA opponent, and LSU was 7-5 with one win coming against a I-AA opponent. Texas Tech lost one game total in a brutal Big 12 this year. I think Houston Nutt’s boys may be in over their heads by a ton in this mismatch.

Boston College is -3 against Vandy. This line has moved from -4. For those who didn’t watch the second half of the season this year, Vandy lost six of their last seven games and barely made it to a bowl game. They even lost to Tennessee, which wasn’t an easy thing to do this year—just ask the Wyoming Cowboys and their 120th-ranked defense.

In any event, BC went 9-4 and had won four straight before losing to Virginia Tech in the ACC championship. Many feel that if BC didn’t suffer the late season injuries they had, they probably would have gone to a BCS Bowl game. Let me rephrase this so you understand it better: Their QB got knocked out and they played a guy with no experience and still managed some wins. BC with preparation in this one should easily dominate.

Also, for those looking at the conference matchup alone, the ACC got the best of the SEC this year, especially late in the season. Did I mention Vandy has the 104th-ranked offense and BC has the 18th-ranked defense? This may get ugly.

See the rest of Mitch’s First leans of the 2008/2009 college bowl season.

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Here’s the second part of my interview with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. For Part I, click here. 

The parity the ACC achieved this year is unparalleled. Is it better to have a bunch of teams performing evenly and no true great team, or have what the Big Ten had, two Top 10 teams, some decent ones and four teams with losing records?

Jim Delany: The best combination is a good dose of classic programs and a good dose of parity. I don’t think a dominant situation where you have two great teams or one great team and seven weak teams is helpful. And I don’t really think having eight equal teams is all that helpful. You can’t ordain it, but what we’ve had is a pretty nice mixture over the last 10 or 15 years. We’ve have nine different champions, we’ve won a couple of national championships, we’ve competed for a couple more. We’ve had lots of Top 10 and top-20 teams. Penn State’s won two of the last four [Big Ten] championships, Ohio State, Michigan have been in the mix. But also, we’ve had the Wisconsins, the Northwesterns, the Illinois, the Iowas and the Purdues all putting together competitive teams. I kind of like where we’re at when you look at it over a 10- or 20-year period. If you looked at the 70s and the 80s, we had two teams and each won 10 championships, there were only a few other championship and we never won a national championship. Overall, you’ve seen some classic programs existing among what I would think is a lot of parity. I don’t know if there’s another conference in the last 15 or 20 years that had nine different champions. And yet Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State all have elements of classic programs. And then you’ve had people like Wisconsin bust in and win 10, 11, 12 games. The thing that tends to characterize us is that we have programs that are all committed to competing on the national level, and they do.

The bowl selection went in order of the Big Ten standings except for the Outback Bowl, which chose Iowa over Northwestern. It’s been a couple times now that Northwestern has been passed over. Is that a concern for you at all? 

JD: The athletic directors give the [non-BCS] bowls some flexibility and even more flexibility when we move two teams [into BCS games] because they’re not picking third, they’re picking fourth. I would attribute it more to Iowa’s appeal, not to Northwestern’s lack of appeal. [Northwestern] did fabulously well in Orlando in ‘96 and the Rose Bowl in ‘95. You’d have to ask [Outback Bowl president] Jim McVay what his thinking was. This year that was the only time it went out of order a little bit, but I’ve seen head-to-head not be the defining moment. If the athletic directors wanted head-to-head to determine bowl selections, they could easily put that on the bowls, but they don’t because that’s not basically what they’re asking for. We don’t have selections that mirror our standings in most years. We’ll have a deviation or two. A lot of it has to do with how often have you been there? What’s your history? What’s the matchup like? Our goal is to create the best matchups, and in some regards, maybe the Missouri matchup [in the Alamo Bowl] is the better matchup if someone thought Northwestern’s the better team because Missouri’s the highest-ranked of all four teams. Northwestern is a rated team playing against another ranked team in Missouri, and South Carolina and Iowa are both unranked. So you might argue that it’s the better game. We wouldn’t want a system that was totally driven by how the teams finish because there are too many other factors that come into play that make a good postseason college football game. 

It seems like the Big Ten becomes somewhat forgotten after finishing games before Thanksgiving. Do you think that having games at least one week later in the future will keep the Big Ten more in the spotlight? Is that even important? 

JD: It is and it isn’t. The bye week is why we’re going that route. Hopefully it will have a nice competitive effect, but it’s the bye week we’re trying to resolve. Nobody said anything about time off two years ago. You weren’t writing the article that we were at a disadvantage vis-à-vis Miami or Kansas State or Notre Dame or Florida. Basically you’re looking at results and trying to understand them. But you need to look at it and say, ‘Well, it didn’t affect you before, why is it affecting you now?’ I would suggest the teams that beat us soundly were better teams. That’s probably the reason. I would not give as a reason, ‘Well, if we played one week later, we would have won the game.’ Is that the reason why we didn’t do well? That can’t be the reason. 

But more in terms of being a story, being around in terms of interest level, continuing that a little longer. It just seems like after the last week of games, all the attention goes away from the Big Ten. Is it important to sustain it longer?

JD: We’ve always had a tradition of finishing the season a little bit early, and to be honest, if you’re competing for the BCS, you’re OK. The Big 12 and the SEC had four teams trying to get into the 1-2 game, and that made them relevant. The games in the MAC championship and the ACC championship were, I don’t know, were they compelling? The game is either compelling or it’s not. If the Big 12 were playing games among two teams that were 7-5 or two teams that were ranked 12th and 13th in the BCS, they would be fine football games, but they wouldn’t dominate the way the Florida-Alabama game did with a 10 [TV] rating. The Florida-Alabama game, it was a great rating. It wasn’t Michigan-Ohio State [in 2006], that did a 13. People call it the “Game of the Century” even though it happened a week before Thanksgiving. And then they disappeared, but it was relevant. So what is the defining point? The significance of the game, not the timing of the game. If you play late and you don’t have a compelling game, it doesn’t make any difference when you play. If you have a compelling game and it’s Michigan-Ohio State, you can dominate the stage. When Michigan doesn’t compete, the game is not as compelling. The rating is not as compelling, the coverage is not as compelling, the outcome is not as meaningful. 

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Anyways, here’s what’s on if you have nothing else to do.

Thursday

• Texas A&M @ Texas (ESPN, 8:00PM ET).  Texas A&M were the lead aggressors in this rivalry through most of the 1990s, dropping only 3 decisions during the decade if memory serves correct (1990, 1995, 1998).  However, the course of the rivalry — and certainly the direction of both programs — has changed dramatically since the arrival of Mack Brown to Texas in 1998.  Still, in spite of College Station now being the dusty outpost of the Big 12 South and Austin now being house to a national contender, Texas A&M has a two-game winning streak in this rivalry.  It’d be cool if it continues, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Friday

• West Virginia @ Pitt (ABC, 12:00PM ET).  A lot of football will be played on Friday, though I’m not entirely sure why.  On the topic at hand, this marks the first Backyard Brawl since the ugly “Oh my God how did they lose this?” Backyard Brawl from last year.  The 4-7 Pitt Panthers upset the 2nd ranked Mountaineers, in Morgantown, 13-9 in a game that was supposed to be a coronation ceremony for the BCS Championship Game-bound Mounties.  As it was, WVU’s explosive offense was held to just one second quarter touchdown as the Mounties lost their outright Big East crown, lost their chance at a national title and, well… lost their coach in the process as well¹.  Judging from the course of the program under Bill Stewart, the hangover from this loss isn’t going away anytime soon.
• Mississippi State @ Ole Miss (ESPN360.com, 12:00PM ET).  I’m 99.9% positive this game will be on Raycom Sports, but I’m too lazy to look it up.  I’ve been down here for 3 years now and work with a good number of Mississippi State fans (Starksville is like an hour and a half from Tuscaloosa), and still haven’t gotten a clear answer on why it’s called the Egg Bowl.  This game is one of the more underappreciated, if not the most underappreciated, in the Southeastern Conference.  It’s the only rivalry situation I’ve encountered where teams shout at each other to, quote-unquote, go to hell.  Granted, such wishes are pervasive in just about every rivalry, but often implicit or substituted in lieu of the obscenity brought to you by the letter F.  In the Egg Bowl, though, it’s explicit.  Of course, one of the reasons why this rivalry may be so unknown elsewhere might be attributable to the fact that it’s the state of Mississippi, which, as I like to say, is the Alabama of the South.  If you constructed an alternative reality of states below the Mason-Dixon Line and delineated North and South one step further, Mississippi would carry the new stigma of being Hyper-Southern… like Southern in a fourth or fifth or sixth dimension kind of way.  Sci-fi Southern.  It’s that bad.  At least Georgia has Atlanta as a cultural mecca.  Alabama has Birmingham, a pretty sophisticated city when you look deeper into it.  Mississippi has… umm… hmmm.  Moreover, both teams usually suck, adding to the invisibility of the rivalry on a national stage.
• LSU @ Arkansas (The SEC Network, 2:30PM ET).  The rematch of the 2007 classic which, in a just world, should’ve cost LSU a shot at a national title last year.  Instead, it’s written into the BCS clause that LSU gets to host its own national title games.  But oh well.  LSU is trying desperately to add a 5th loss to its record, having been thwarted at doing so by a furious 4th quarter rally against Troy.  LSU is an interesting program for a variety of reasons.  One of the most intriguing elements to LSU is that it is a program without a real rivalry.  Since the SEC split into two divisions in 1992, the SEC has tried long and hard to create a rivalry for the Tigers.  The Florida Gators, an SEC East opponent (obviously), appears on their schedule every year, never being cycled off, for that very reason.  Further, a rivalry has been hyped up between the Tigers and the Crimson Tide, and not all of it reducible to Nick Saban.  Indeed, before Nick Saban arrived, LSU had not beat Alabama in Baton Rouge for 30 some-odd years.  This lead to the expression down here among the savages “The Tide Always Rolls in Baton Rouge”, though it’s pronounced more like “Tha Tiiiiiiiiiide ahlways rolls in Bahtawwwn Ruuuge. Rooooooooollllll Tiiiiiide”.  Getting back to Arkansas, the need to manufacture some kind of rivalry has led to Arkansas being their designated season finale, having been the case since the Razorbacks joined the conference in 1992.  They even created a trophy for the occasion, a “Golden Boot” signifying how the shape of the two states, when juxtaposed, looks boot-ish.  Are you interested yet? Are ya? Yeah, I didn’t think so…
• Colorado @ Nebraska (ABC, 3:30PM ET).  In 2007, these two defensive heavyweights combined 116 points in regulation in a 65-51 victory for the Buffaloes.  The only thing making that game watchable was the infamous introduction of the Buffaloes by Eric Cartman (defense, offense).  Since ABC/ESPN/WWL/Disney-whatever stopped doing those player introductions — for whatever reason — I can think of no reason to watch this game.  Go do some shopping instead.
• Fresno State @ Boise State (ESPN2, 6:00PM ET).  A Boise State loss gives the Buckeyes an in-road to the BCS… if you’re interested…
• UCLA @ Arizona State (ESPN2, 9:30PM ET).  It’s been awhile since I’ve dialed up UCLA in one of these, mostly because their games haven’t been worth watching and, naturally, have not been on national television.  But now, His Coachness Rick Neuheisel will be returning to my moving pictures box so I may behold his divinity.  I think this will be the first UCLA game I’ve watched since the Tennessee game, where the beauty of His Coachness was confirmed.

Saturday

• Georgia Tech @ Georgia (CBS, 12:00PM ET).  This game doesn’t have any conference implications.  Georgia was out of the running after Florida kicked them in the jimmy a while back.  Georgia Tech is done with ACC play and needs Virginia Tech to lose against Virginia in order to play in the ACC title game under first year head coach Paul Johnson.  That said, if you are not rooting for Georgia Tech in this game to go 2-0 against the SEC this season, I hate you and we cannot be friends.  Paul Johnson is the man.
• Syracuse @ Cincinnati (ESPN360.com, 12:00PM ET).  Cincinnati wins this game and they win a BCS spot.  So lose damn you.  I don’t want to have to hear about Cincinnati making a BCS game while Ohio State may not.
• South Carolina @ Clemson (ESPN2, 12:00PM ET).  It’s ACC-SEC rivalry week.  Root for the ACC accordingly.
• Virginia @ Virginia Tech (ESPN, 12:00PM ET).  If Va Tech loses this, then Georgia Tech gets in the ACC Championship Game.  I’m all for more Paul Johnson on national television, especially as it becomes clear that he can run a gimmick offense without the proper talent and still get instant results whereas Rodriguez struggled so mightily up north.
• Auburn @ Alabama (The SEC Network, 3:30PM ET).  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: This rivalry is, far and away, the most overappreciated rivalry in college sports.  The fans like each other too damn much — so much that they often interbreed, giving birth to those stupid “House Divided” license frames that are everywhere down here.  Even the thought of a holding a family together in light of these differences validates, for me, that the differences aren’t that important.  And down here, it’s clear to me that Alabama easily obsesses more about Tennessee than they do about Auburn.  I think this town is about 30-35% Auburn fans, openly so, and I’ve been heckled more for my Ohio State shirts down here than any one of my Auburn-inclined coworkers have been for their Auburn truck decals… or truck flags… or license frames… or sunglass straps… or belt buckles… sigh.  Anyways, Alabama has never beaten Auburn in Tuscaloosa, though the rivalry was played in Legion Field before that point (1948-2000, I think)… giving birth to the Iron Bowl monicker.  This rivalry sucks, and in terms of venom, it’s not on the level of Florida-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee, Tennessee-Florida or even Mississippi State-Ole Miss.  On the game at hand, if Alabama can’t win this and send Auburn home for the holidays with seven losses, then Tuberville truly has their number.  He’s won 6 straight against Alabama, the most for Auburn in the history of the series.
• Florida @ Florida State (ABC, 3:30PM ET).  Again: it’s ACC-SEC Rivalry Week, but, in this game, don’t get your hopes up.
• Maryland @ Boston College (ABC, 3:30PM ET).  If Boston College wins, they advance to the ACC title game for the second straight year under second year head coach Jeff Jagodzsh1qjkjkjkjkjimililinski, or whatever that dude’s name is.  It doesn’t appear that BC is missing Tom O’Brien at all.  On the flipside, if BC loses, Florida State goes to the ACC title game representing the Whatchamacallit Division against either Va Tech or Georgia Tech in the Whatsitcalled? Division.
• Kentucky @ Tennessee (ESPN2, 6:30PM ET).  Kentucky is 6-5. Tennessee is 4-7.  So what does ESPN do with this game? You guessed it: primetime night game.  Ohhhh yeah.  If you thought making Kentucky-Vanderbilt a night game was the worst thing that ESPN could do, guess again, buster.  On the game at hand, no matter how awful Tennessee is, Kentucky can never beat them.  Tennessee has won 23 straight in this series.
• Oregon @ Oregon State (???, 7:00PM ET).  If Oregon State wins this one, they’re in the Rose Bowl.  If they lose this, Ohio State seems to be in prime real estate for a BCS berth.  Even then, that’s not the reason I want Oregon State to lose this game.  With Penn State going to Pasadena for the first time since the 1994 season, the last thing I want to see is some shitty rematch between Penn State and an Oregon State team that the Nitts destroyed earlier this season.  I want Penn State-USC dammit.
• Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State (ABC, 8:00PM ET). BEDLAM.  Oklahoma State looks for its first victory over the Sooners since Les Miles beat them in 2002.  If you remember, it was this same upset of the Sooners in 2002 that virtually ended, once and for all, all petty talk from national commentators about how Oklahoma was more deserving of a spot in the title game in spite of their loss to Texas A&M earlier that year.  The Big 12 South is screwy this season.  If Texas (v. A&M), Texas Tech (v. Baylor), and Oklahoma (@ OK State) all win, the top ranked team in the BCS goes to the title game.  Presently, that’s Texas though a victory over higher ranked Oklahoma State might push the Sooners over the Longhorns.  A loss by any one of them makes it a tiebreaker situation.  Intransitivity is fun, isn’t it?
• Notre Dame @ USC (ESPN, 8:00PM ET).  There was a period under Lou Holtz where the Irish won 11 straight in this series (1983-1993).  Now, USC has won 6 straight and at least appear to be able of blowing that streak out of the water with the least of effort.  Have fun with that game, Notre Dame fans.

1. Albeit losing Rodriguez wasn’t caused by the Pitt loss, per se, just made possible by it.

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I went 13-5 against the spread on Saturday, including 7-2 in games I gave a confidence rating of 7 or higher to. Jordan turned in another winning week, which has become just a matter of course for him, and the free newsletter picks were a perfect 3-for-3 against the spread.

In the free picking contest it was a smashing week with the best performances overall of the year and the highest scores across the board. This week’s winner was Mayday, who went a crushing 12-3 against the spread and racked up a record 105 confidence points. Many were close to that record, but Mayday just was dialed in on what games he thought were the easiest to pick. We’ll get in touch with him shortly and we hope he has more to add as to how he got it done.

Personally, I can say I got it done using the same methods I used all season and have been using for years, a ton of number crunching and research. I also used all of the resources available, including the forums and chat room, where I have found the most knowledgeable group of college football fans.

What has happened in our community is we have fans from all over, and each has a specialty and it has really narrowed things down and made life much easier; this is going to really be something to see in years to come.

While the future looks exciting, so do this week’s games. Before I go on much further and the lines start to move, here are the opening lines for Week 14 of college football.

The week starts with a double-header on Tuesday with Western Michigan +10 1/2 at Ball State and Navy +3 at Northern Illinois. Both of these games are on TV and we have seen plenty of all of these teams this season.

On Thanksgiving night, Texas A&M is +33 1/2 at Texas. These are just two teams in two different places.

As we move into Friday, we have a whole day full of action.

West Virginia is -3 at Pittsburgh for The Backyard Brawl. Last year Pitt won outright as 29 point underdogs.

Ohio is +1 at Miami (OH). Both of these teams would love to win this one for their fans.

Mississippi State is +13 at Mississippi in the Egg Bowl. The trophy won’t come easy this year.

Akron is +3 at Temple. Temple has been great against the spread while it hasn’t meant outright wins.

UTEP is +5 at East Carolina. UTEP is closing well while ECU started well.

Central Michigan is -10 1/2 at Eastern Michigan. This looks very low but they usually are in rivalries.

Kent is +10 at Buffalo. Buffalo won in a major comeback on the road last week.

LSU is -4 at Arkansas. While neither of these teams are contending for a title, they both play hard.

Bowling Green is -3 at Toledo. Yet another game with a road favorite.

Colorado is +15 at Nebraska. This game traditionally has one team scoring a bunch.

Fresno State is +19 at Boise. Boise needs this one to clinch a perfect regular season.

UCLA is +10 at Arizona State. Both of these teams are having season they’ll want to forget soon.

As we move into Saturday, Miami is -1 1/2 at NC State. Miami looks to rebound while NC State looks to ride the momentum.

Vanderbilt is +3 1/2 at Wake Forest. Both of these teams wish they could only finish the season like they started it.

Maryland is +7 at Boston College. If BC wins they go to the ACC Championship game, again.

See the rest of the week 14 college football odds and point spreads.

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Check out who made the noise over this past college football weekend.

#5 Oklahoma 65, #2 Texas Tech 21

That score is not a typo, people. The Oklahoma Sooners not only dominated the Ultimate Underdogs of the Big XII…they straight up sank their undefeated ship. Now the Sooners have no other choice but to take the #3 spot away from Texas. Why is that you ask? Let’s do the rundown of the three meetings between these three teams this season:

Texas beat Oklahoma by 10 in the Red River Rivalry. Texas Tech beat Texas by six on a last second touchdown pass from Graham Harrell to Michael Crabtree. This past weekend, Oklahoma killed the Red Raiders by 44. Need I say more? In the words of WWE’s Good Ol’ JR: Boomer Sooner! Oklahoma in my book did enough to earn the #3 spot, but unfortunately, they didn’t do enough to get #2 because…

#3 Florida 70, The Citadel 19

If Tim Tebow is heading to the NFL after this season, expect people to talk about his performance in his final five games. But yesterday, the Superman of Florida put on a clinic against a team that is used to being the punching bag of the Gators. The Gators scored on their first seven possessions and racked up 512 yards…in the first half alone!

Here’s another dangerous stat for Florida State and Alabama to realize: Florida is the first and only team to score 42 points in six consecutive games. Now who did they play before that streak started? You guessed it. Ole Miss. So if this was the last time that the Gator Nation saw him at Da Swamp, he sent everyone home with visions of National Championships dancing in their heads. And with the Sooners beating Texas Tech, they will jump Texas and take #2 outright.

#21 Oregon State 19, Arizona 17

The Beavers are smelling roses? That’s right. With a win against Oregon this coming weekend, the Oregon State Beavers will have done what many have tried but been unable to do: Take the Pac-10 Championship away from Los Angeles, California. On a night where anything could have happened, the Beavers shocked the world once again with a victory over a pretty good football team in Arizona.

With the victory over the Wildcats, the Beavers are primed to win the Pac-10 Championship even if they finish in a tie with the USC Trojans. Even better news? The win over the Ducks will put them in the Rose Bowl against a team that dominated the big Ten all season long…

#8 Penn State 49, #17 Michigan State 18

He may not be talking, but he is smiling right now. After a season that saw the Nittany Lions’ chances of a berth in the BCS Championship go up in smoke after a trip to Iowa, the Lions continued to do what they do best: Winning. After destroying the Spartans in a game that wasn’t even close, the Lions are now heading to Pasadena to play in the Rose Bowl. Whether it’s against USC or Oregon State remains to be seen, but for Penn State, it doesn’t matter.

As far as smiling goes, Joe Paterno is doing nothing else but smiling. The talks of retirement far from his mind, he is now focused on The Rose Bowl and getting the respect back into the Big Ten that was lost on Ohio State and Michigan.

Florida State 37, #22 Maryland 3

This is a touching story, and coming from a Florida Gators Fan, that means a lot. But despite the Seminoles crushing blow on the Terrapins last night, it was about one player in particular.

I would like to send my congratulations to Myron Rolle of Florida State who interviewed for the Rhodes Scholarship on Friday in Birmingham, Alabama. The young Seminole won the Scholarship and then went out and did his part to ensure that Florida State not only is motivated going into their home showdown for the Governor’s Cup against Florida this coming weekend, but also looking at a chance to play in the ACC Championship. But they need Maryland (yes, the very same team they just crushed) to beat Boston College next week.

So where will Florida State’s concentration be come next Saturday?

#10 Ohio State 50, Michigan 14

Just to make all the Buckeyes fans feel better, and to make the Wolverines fans cry even more, the Ohio State Buckeyes delivered a couple of gifts to Big Blue over the weekend:

The first was the Wolverines most embarrassing loss in this rivalry since 1968. The second gift was handing the Wolverines the most losses in their program’s history. Head coach Rich Rodriguez gave Michigan a few gifts of their own: The first time in 34 years that we will not see Michigan in a bowl game and they have their first losing season in 41 years.

Now that it’s over, I have a question for the Michigan Fans. You had high hopes after Lloyd Carr left the program. Rich Rodriguez sorely disappointed you this season. Now the Wolverines will be scratching their asses at home instead of playing against someone in a bowl game. First losing season in 41 years and no bowl game for first time in 34 years. Actually two questions: How do you like ‘dem apples and can Rich right the ship next season?

So how’s the Top Five Look Now?

#5) Texas Tech

#4) Texas

#3) Oklahoma

#2) Florida

#1) Alabama

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While many consider the bowls the tradition that is college football, it’s really these games and rivalries that go far beyond a football game. While we don’t have a spread on the Harvard-Yale game that will be played Saturday, you can bet there are a lot of people who care about it.

We obviously have a lot of people that care about many of the games as the entries have been coming in for this week’s free picking contest. There is still plenty of time to enter and get involved, and it’s all free. While it isn’t the typical picking contest that you see, it certainly creates some interesting scenarios, and we can really get a feel for what games people feel strongly about across the board, not just a few select games that I decide on.

The forums are also really heating up, and there has been some great info exchanged, so feel free to post or to at least vote in our numerous polls regarding some games that are on the board. The in-game chats can also be accessed through the forum, and they have been a big hit for those who have participated. I really enjoy getting a chance to chat with and get to know everyone.

In any event, we have a lot of ground to still cover and a lot more games to look at, so let’s just continue with what we do around here.

Miami +3 1/2 at Georgia Tech (Thursday, Nov. 20, 7:45 EST): 7 out of 10

Miami comes into this game red hot, winners of their last five and firmly in control of their own destiny in the ACC. Georgia Tech comes in losers of two of their last three, which could have easily been three in a row if it wasn’t for a fortunate fumble by Florida State inside the Tech five-yard line with less than a minute left to play.

This should be a low-scoring, hard-hitting game as neither team has a great offense, but both have superlative defenses.

For Miami, while they rank 43rd in scoring offense, they don’t come within 30 places of that positioning in other offensive categories, like yards gained on the ground or through the air. For Georgia Tech, their offense is an option style, which makes their running game one of the best in the country, but their passing game is lacking. Overall they are the 78th-ranked scoring offense.

On defense the Hurricanes are young and fast and rank in the top 20 in most defensive categories and are 19th in the country against the run, giving up just over 100 yards per game. For the Yellow Jackets, they rank close to the top 10 in most defensive categories.

Miami comes in at 5-4 against the spread, and Georgia Tech is an impressive 5-2-1 against the number. The road team in this series is 4-1 against the spread in the last five meetings. Miami is 4-0 against the spread in their last four road games against a team with a winning record, and they are 5-0 in their last five on the road.

Georgia Tech is 2-5-1 against the spread in their last eight road games and 2-5-1 against the spread when playing a team with a winning record. Georgia Tech is also 1-4 against the spread in their last five Thursday games and 1-7 against the spread in the week following a bye week.

I look for Miami to use its team speed on defense to give their offense good enough field position to score and win the game. I also look for some very hard hitting, and the winner of this one should be deserving. My pick is that Miami wins and continues its march towards the ACC Championship.

See more of Mitch’s Week 13 Part Three College Football picks against the spread.

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Many teams have shifted, but most of the bowl games remained the same with the exception of one team.  Florida State replaced Georgia Tech as the ACC Champions.

This article lists the BCS teams and bowl matchups if the season ended today.  It is based on the BCS rankings and the bowl selection process.  There are some slight changes from last week.

BCS Top 25

BCS Bowl Picture

Bowl Matchups

BCS National Championship

Texas vs. Alabama

Fiesta Bowl

Oklahoma vs. Ohio State

Sugar Bowl

Georgia vs. South Florida

Orange Bowl

Florida State vs. Utah

Rose Bowl

USC vs. Penn State

BCS Teams by Conference

ACC: 1

Florida State (Conference Champion)

Big East: 1

South Florida (Conference Champion)

Big Ten: 2

Penn State (Conference Champion)

Ohio State (At-Large)

Big 12: 2

Texas (Conference Champion)

Oklahoma (At-Large)

Pac-10: 1

USC (Conference Champion)

SEC: 2

Alabama (Conference Champion)

Georgia (At-Large)

Non-BCS: 1

Utah (Auto-Bid)

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