OT: Pac-10 Forever, Ringo Never. C'mon, getcha spring tuition here!

by Titov on Dec 3, 2010 8:49 AM EST

Yep, we're comin' down to El Cruncho now -- and in pretty good shape, all things considered. (OK, all but one thing, which happened yesterday-- see below, and %$#@ kickers forever, eh?). Anyway, some pretty easy swag lyin' around this week in the post-desert picks:

ASU @ Zona (-5 ½ ) (Thurs): If Foles could throw for 448 at Orygun in a cold rain, whaddaya think he can put up against the Scum Devils in the warm, thin desert air? Sure, I was as impressed as anybody by Osweiler’s step-up job for a bell-rung Threet against UCLA, but this Big Game may be too tall an order even for a 6’ 8" QB – he’s starting his first game, all right? I’ll take Zona @ 5 ½, thanks.

Debbils 30-29 (2 OT). The reason NCAAF is hard to bet is that even when games follow the script, you can still lose easily enough, often enough. Foles beats Osweiler, but his team misses two PATs — one for OT, one for ball game — and that’s that. Zona shoulda won this by 7 in the 3rd OT, but they didn’t, dammit, and I think we should put the blame squarely where it belongs: Obama is a socialist.

Orygun (-16 ½) @ OSU: Yeah-yeah, the Civil War and everything. This is normally a hard-fought Big Game – I know, whose isn’t? – and this year won’t be any different. Dem Ducks are likely to key on Quizz, since Katz is not Foles, and after a respectably close 1st half just Do What They Do in the 2nd. Yes, Da Beavs have a world of motivation here (bowlericity, denying a nat’l title) but it’s still not enough to stop the Wear-‘em-Down Express: OR wins ‘n’ beats, I say. I'm just sorry (sort of) they won't get a chance to run over the Boise Whining Broncos.

U Dub (-6) @ Wazzu: It’s Apple Cup time, and bowlification hangs in the air like a post-cider fart for the Dubs: after a last-play finger in Cal’s eye got them to 5 wins, all they have to do now is drop Wazzu and they’re guaranteed a spot in the Cheez Food Substance/Dork Rental Car Bowl against another Jekyll ‘n’ Hyde squad or some Big Dim mediocrity. Wazzu *did* stun OSU in Corn Valley, and if they concentrate on breaking another one of Locker’s ribs in the 1st half, Tuel could make this close (by running more again). But don’t bet on it. I ain’t. UW to beat 6 is moolah.

SC (-6 ½) @ UCLA: Well, maybe there’s an Embarrassment Factor here for the feckless Rubbers, who phoned it in from a cheap mobile against ND: “To go out and play like that is extremely disappointing,” said Kiffin, “especially since we cost Titov a nice piece o’ change. But then, he’s always hated us.” OK, I added those last parts. Anyway, what was the last time an SC-UCLA game involved 0 bowl-bound teams? For this major non-event, in any case, take the Rubbers at 6 ½... and hold your breath.

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Regional Picks o’ the Wax:

San Jose @ ID (-13 ½): Joke o’ the Week game. SJS is a truly awful team, though Coach Mac is commendably Taoistic about being 1-11 (“We are what we are”); the scurrilous Vandals, meanwhile, are no-bowlers again – so a whole lot o’ nothin’ is at stake here. But maybe the ID seniors have a certain Pride Thing to work out before hangin’ ‘em up there in “one of college football’s most-remote outposts”. Tough call on this one (yawn), but I think the Joses'll get Vandalized by 14.

NEV (-8 ½ ) @ LA Tech: Nobody much believed me on Kaepernick & Co. in Sept. – funny how I seem to have gotten a lot smarter since last week. Anyway, look for The Kap to do his thing and Taua his, jus' like always. Problem is, this is a classic trap game: NEV just won the only game that mattered to them and Tech is motivated by bowlification, home field and good curve (4 of 6, albeit against crap). So it’s a tougher call than you’d think, but take NEV to beat.

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Who you guys like for AUB (-5 1/2) @ S. Carolina?

I have a strong suspicion that much of the country joins me in hoping for an upset by the Gamecranks, since that would presumably take the AUB scandal off center stage for a while (til the FBI finally checks in, apparently).

But that’s just sentiment. What about money? ’Cranks to beat the spread or what?

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 4, 2010 1:36 AM EST reply actions

auburn has a team of destiny feel to them.

They’ve come back in 8 of the 12 games they’ve played. I think it will be close, if Garcia didn’t get yanked late in the game USC might have won. It’d take Auburn but USC with the spread. I’m also rooting for Auburn and Oregon just so I can go put a nice bit of fake money on the over. OTOH, if AU loses, I won’t be too sad assuming TCU is in the MNC, because Wisky-Stanford would a great game.

Igpay Atinlay

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Dec 4, 2010 8:01 AM EST up reply actions

I'm less excited about Wisc than you are, with their ho-hum over San Jose [!] and 1-pt W against ASU at home...

in which they lumbered around looking overweight and confused— very Big Dim Conference stuff. You have to wonder about them putting up 70-pt and 80-pt games later on: did the whole team start taking steroids or what?

I think Stanford — in decent weather at a neutral site — would hand them their lunch. But it might be a lunch that went over 100 pts, sure…

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 4, 2010 1:35 PM EST up reply actions

And for those of you who'd like to experience the sensation of drunkenness without popping a cork or flipping a tab...

here are the Yahoo/Rivals prospective bowl match-ups as of this a.m.:

http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1156897

Now that’s some real eye-rollin’ SH#T there, ’s what that is…

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 4, 2010 3:00 PM EST reply actions

And a nice 4-2 week to put you in the holiday mood. You're welcome!

And the Pac-10 is no more. While I’m sorry to see the conf go, I was sorry to see the Pac-8 go too…and still am, actually.

Anyway, it’s time to start marking your bowl cards, people – and this year, dammit, I am NOT going to take a Bowl Bath again. I have spoken. Grrrr!

ASU @ Zona (-5 ½ ) (Thurs): If Foles could throw for 448 at Orygun in a cold rain, whaddaya think he can put up against the Scum Devils in the warm, thin desert air? Sure, I was as impressed as anybody by Osweiler’s step-up job for a bell-rung Threet against UCLA, but this Big Game may be too tall an order even for a 6’ 8" QB – he’s starting his first game, all right? I’ll take Zona @ 5 ½, thanks.

Debbils 30-29 (2 OT). The reason NCAAF is hard to bet is that even when games follow the script, you can still lose easily enough, often enough. Foles beats Osweiler, but his team misses two PATs — one for OT, one for ball game — and that’s that. Zona shoulda won this by 7 in the 3rd OT, but they didn’t, dammit, and I think we should put the blame squarely where it belongs: Obama is a socialist.

Orygun (-16 ½) @ OSU: Yeah-yeah, the Civil War and everything. This is normally a hard-fought Big Game – OK, whose isn’t? – and this year won’t be any different. Dem Ducks are likely to key on Quizz, since Katz is not Foles, and after a respectably close 1st half just Do What They Do in the 2nd. Yes, Da Beavs have a world of motivation here (bowlericity, denying a nat’l title) but it’s still not enough to stop the Wear-‘em-Down Express: OR wins ‘n’ beats, I say.

OU, 37-20. Yup. The wear-‘em-down does wear ‘em down, and I’m not sure how AUB – which at some pt. will go up by 14-17 over this team before falling under the steamroller, in a scene that will suggest Austin Powers – expects to defend that. There’s no "defense" for getting tired and outmanned (though they’ll study the Cal tapes, of course), and their comeback record won’t help. But that’s Jan. Today the Punkin eaters did what they could before bowing to the inevitable, so good on them.

U Dub (-6) @ Wazzu: It’s Apple Cup time, and bowlification hangs in the air for the Dubs like pungent post-cider flatulence: after a last-play finger in Cal’s eye got them to 5 wins, all they have to do now is drop Wazzu and they’re guaranteed a spot in the Cheez Food Substance/Rental Car Insurance Bowl against another Jekyll ‘n’ Hyde squad or some Big Dim mediocrity. Wazzu did stun OSU in Corn Valley, and if they concentrate on breaking another one of Locker’s ribs in the 1st half, Tuel could make this close. But don’t bet on it. I ain’t. UW to beat 6 is moolah.

UW, 35-28. Yup again. Tuel was good, Locker was clutch and Polk ran for 288 [!], so it’s Cheez Bowl for U Dub, which is no doubt a blessed relief after 8 yrs. Funny season, but there you are, bowlified – though your talent level is well below, say, UCLA’s. Anyway, good job all around: now go beat some clods from a stupid Flyoverland Conf.

SC (-6 ½) @ UCLA: Well, maybe there’s an Embarrassment Factor here for the feckless Rubbers, who phoned it in from a cheap mobile against ND: "To go out and play like that is extremely disappointing," said Kiffin, "especially since we cost Titov a nice piece o’ change. But then, he’s always hated us." OK, I added that last part. Anyway, what was the last time and SC-UCLA game involved 0 bowl-bound teams? At all events, take the Rubbers at 6 ½ here and hold your breath.

SC, 28-14. This was actually harder than it looks, as many Big Games are – even the no-post-season Futility Bowl, in this case. Credit to SC for (a) showing up and (b) playing hard all game, esp. Barkley, who was not 100%. The 4th looked like an OR wear-down, but even then UCLA kept at it. So the last game of the Pac-10 Conf wasn’t an embarrassment: rah!

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Regional Picks o’ the Wick

San Jose @ ID (-13 ½): Joke o’ the Week game. SJS is a truly awful team, though Coach Mac is commendably Taoistic about being 1-11 ("We are what we are"); the scurrilous Vandals, meanwhile, are no-bowlers again – so a whole lot o’ nothin’ is at stake here. But maybe the ID seniors have a certain Pride Thing to work out before hangin’ ‘em up there in "one of college football’s most-remote outposts". Tough (yawn) call, but I think the Joses get Vandalized by 14.

ID, 26-23 (OT). I know, you couldn’t wait to say it: the joke’s on me. Well, SJS *had put up some good "respectable loss" numbers this year, and this was another example. I’m just thankful this is the last time I have to go anywhere near a bet on ID this year.*

NEV (-8 ½ ) @ LA Tech: Nobody much believed me on Kaepernick & Co. in Sept. – funny how I seem to have gotten a lot smarter since last week. Anyway, look for Kaepernick to do his thing and Taua his, like they always do. Problem is, this is a classic trap game, since NEV just won the only game that mattered to them and Tech is motivated by bowlification, home field and good curve (4 of last 6, albeit against crap teams). So it’s a tougher call than you’d think, but take NEV to beat.

NEV, 35-17. Played to form, and good for everybody, as the 1st half made a nice game to watch — and Kap’s 4th and 9 TD scramble was a thing of beauty. He’s now tied for the career QB ground TD record, which he’ll break in the SF bowl. Your question should be How did only one 1 school recruit this guy? – and it’s a good one.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 5, 2010 2:12 AM EST reply actions

OU, 37-20. Yup. The wear-‘em-down does wear ‘em down, and I’m not sure how AUB – which at some pt. will go up by 14-17 over this team before falling under the steamroller, in a scene that will suggest Austin Powers – expects to defend that. There’s no “defense” for getting tired and outmanned (though they’ll study the Cal tapes, of course), and their comeback record won’t help. But that’s Jan. Today the Punkin eaters did what they could before bowing to the inevitable, so good on them.

Cam Newton. Who cares about defense.

Igpay Atinlay

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Dec 5, 2010 9:12 AM EST reply actions

I suspect Cam "I Didn't Know A Thing About It Heh-heh, So It's Perfectly Legal" Newton will have one good half against OR

Several teams have done that. Doesn’t much matter which half here, though I suspect it’ll be the first. Anyway, Cam doesn’t have the players to put up a complete game win against this team. It’s that simple. And the nicest thing is, AUB will be favored, hee-hee.

’Course, you may disagree…and we could, er, step outside, wallets in hand, and settle this thing like real gennelmans…

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 5, 2010 10:16 AM EST up reply actions

This.

I don’t have much tolerance for stupid. Or cheese on food that doesn’t need it. -duck

by twistedlogic on Dec 5, 2010 10:23 AM EST up reply actions

How many AU games have you seen?

Because he’s faced, and done great vs. defenses better or the same then Oregon’s. LSU and Alabama, top 15 in nearly every defensive stat, he won against both of them. Auburn has two solid backs in McCalebb and Dyer, who can make defenses pay if they lock on to Newton. I’m not paying AU will win, I’m saying they won’t die out in the 2nd like every other team as long as Newton is playing.

Igpay Atinlay

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Dec 5, 2010 10:51 AM EST up reply actions

"I'm not paying AU will win...": Heh-heh, excellent Freudian slip there, I'd say...

More seriously, get out your magnifying glass and look up and down the AUB schedule for a team that isn’t part of the SEC-regional circular logic PR bandwagon (“We’re good b/c we play SEC and regional teams, which are good…b/c they’re, y’know, good”). AUB, with zero outside dates, beats ALA, whose outside sked is one Big Dim (PS) and, gulp, the 1-11 SJS. The Bib Overalls League is a lot of self-congratulatory good-ole’ back-slappin’, and you’re welcome to buy in, if you like…

This is the same self-fulfilling prophecy approach that made the Big Dim “the best conference” for decades (and the residue of that still hasn’t faded entirely). It’s simply a lot easier for eastern corridor media to file stories on teams whose games end at 4:00 than at 8:00 or midnight, so the latter become the “and also there was this” teams, the afterthoughts— and only USC could make the incovenient truth evident (as a sort of anomaly) on anything like a regular basis. (Boise has also been underrated to an extent under the same principles [although their constant whining became self-defeating, hence their poll over-drop after a 1-pt OT loss to a ranked team. That’ll teach ‘em to kvetch at high volume for a living, let’s hope]).

But hey, don’t take my word for it. Get some bowl scratch down on SEC/regional teams against west-of-Miss teams at neutral sites — and show me how deluded I am.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Dec 6, 2010 1:24 AM EST up reply actions