The SoapBoxers

Here are Johnny Goodman’s Top Eleven Sports items to keep an eye out for in 2011.

11. – Cam Newton – What will be the eventual fallout of all of the alleged financial improprieties? Will this be another case of Reggie Bush – meaning the real facts will come out years after the allegations? Will the penalties be as severe, or is everything clean as a whistle? One thing is for sure. Cam Newton proves that just like Vince Young at Texas, you can’t mess up good players even with sub par coaching

10. – Tattogate at O State. Why the heck did the NCAA not ban these players from the Bowl Game? Just shows the favoritism that the NCAA gives certain schools (thuh ohio state) while other schools (Georgia) get thrown under the bus with similar acts of conduct of players selling school issued item for money (immediate 6 game suspension for future Star NFL Prospect Green)

9. – Will Tiger Woods return to being a force on the PGA tour, now that he has apparently put all of his troubles of 2009-10 behind him? I am saying yes to this one. Woods appeared to play pretty darn well later in the year and in the Ryder Cup. I fresh start in 2011. I will lay early odds that he will be the favorite when we tee it up at Augusta this Spring.

8. – Will the Miami Heat win it all? They started the year slow, and now they are on…well….a heater. They have all the talent, all the hype and all the expectations. This will be fun to watch come August, or whenever the heck the NBA playoffs actually get over with.

7. – Can ESPN land any more deals to cover any more football games? We had to put up with the crazy schedule that had some games starting at 10 pm on the East Coast, all to fit the programming of the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. However, I sure don’t miss the constant Fox Sports showing 38 shots of the band in the stands every game.

6. – Will the big name acquisitions of the Boston Red Sox lead them to another World Series Title? They have ponied up big bucks this offseason to bring in some talent, namely Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzales. Should be another fun year in Beantown.

5. – Will The Huskies repeat again and women’s NCAA Champs? Now that the “streak” is over and we no longer have to listen to the ever spewing of Geno the hut, I am curious to see if Stanford or Baylor led by Brittany Griner can knock off the Huskies this year come tourney time.

4. – As more and more players from the “steroid era” in baseball are coming up for consideration for the Hall of Fame, will they continue to be turned away by the BBWAA?

3. – Will Hoodie and Tom Brady come away with another Superbowl Title early this year? Does it really seem like they went 14-2?

2. – Will the Nittany Lions Volleyball team win an unprecendented 5th straight title?

1. – What will happen with the new collective bargaining agreement for the NFL? Rookie contracts need to be restructured as it is ludicrous that rookies who have never played can make more than a guy like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. Will there be a lock out? Will the league move to an 18 game schedule? All key questions for the most popular of American sports.

Welcome to the 1st annual Johnny Goodman Bowl Spectacular. Tis the season for great (or in most cases not great!) bowl games. Here is the complete lineup of all Division 1 Bowl games for your holiday football season.

December 18th

New Mexico Bowl. BYU vs. UTEP. The Niners have no chance. Stormin Mormans have gotten better as the year has progressed. BYU 52- UTEP – 24

Humanitarian Bowl – Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State. Everyone is a Pat Hill believer, except me. NIU – 40 Fresno St – 17

R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Troy vs. Ohio. The Fighting Frank Solich’s are way overmatched against the high speed attack of the REAL Trojans. Troy. 48- Ohio – 21.

You may have noticed I picked all of these dead on the money. That is because I am a freaking genius when it comes to picking bowl games that have already been played. Coincidentally, I really did have all three of these games picked in my ESPN Bowl Mania Pool, so I don’t care if you throw me under the bus, I have points on the board!

December 21

Beef O Brady’s St Petersburg Bowl – Louisville vs. Southern Mississippi – Huh? The strangest name for a bowl game. I would pass this one up as a University President based on the name alone. So Miss – 24- Louisville – 20

December 22- MAACO Bowl – Las Vegas – Utah vs. Boise St. Wow talk about a blowout in the making. Boise St 63- Utah 21.

December 23

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. San Diego St vs Navy. Man, that credit union must be charging some freaking outlandish fees to their customers to be able to sponsor a bowl game. Maybe that is why they matched up the local team against the local fleet parked in the ocean. I will take the Middies! Navy 31- SDSU – 28

December 24

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. Tulsa vs Hawaii – The Rainbow Warriors make like their 48th appearance in their home bowl game. But it will be enough for Jet Lagged Tulsa. Hawaii – 35- Tulsa 21

December 26

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. Toledo vs Florida International. When in doubt take the home team here. Toledo is much closer than FIU to Detroit. Toledo – 28- FIU – 21

December 27

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl. Georgia Tech vs. Air Force. Two things of interest here. 1) I guess they will let anyone sponsor a bowl game and 2) this will set a record for fewest passes ever thrown in a bowl game. AF – 28- GT 27

December 28

Champs Sports Bowl – North Carolina State vs. West Virginia. The Mountaineers are superior if the coaching is right. They lose way to many games in my opinion due to bad coaching decisions. But hey they have had three weeks so we will give them the nod. West Va – 28 – NCSU – 20

Insight Bowl – Missouri vs. Iowa – since Iowa students are starting pharmacies and all drinking in their spare time, they have lost good players to this game. The most overrated coach in the Big X against the worst coach in the Big XII that went to a bowl game this year. Tigers – 21- Squawkeyes – 14

December 29

Military Bowl – Maryland vs. East Carolina – Since the Terps canned their coach they will send him out a winner. Maryland – 21 East Carolina – 10

Texas Bowl – Illinois vs. Baylor – Art Briles goes bowling and comes home a winner. I love Robert Griffin III. No really I do love him. Baylor 42- Illinois – 21

Valero Alamo Bowl – Oklahoma State vs. Arizona. Why does Arizona get so much publicity. They got shut out last year in the bowl game, this year they will get blown out. Okie State – 49- AZ – 28

December 30

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl – SMU vs. Army. Nothing makes me want to go out and buy a helicopter like watching a bowl game. June Jones for Heisman! SMU – 31- Army – 10

New Era Pinstripe Bowl – Syracuse vs. Kansas State. Snyder “the rat” is golden with extra time. Cats find a way to get er done. Mildcats 28- Syracuse 17

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. North Carolina vs. Tennessee – Nothing says “Nashville” to me like Franklin American Mortgage Company. NC – 17 – Tennessee – 16

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl. – Washington vs. Nebraska – worst match up of the season. Not even rabid husker fans want to see this one again. Huskers 28 – Washington 14

December 31

Meineke Car Care Bowl – Clemson vs. South Florida – Daaaaaaa Bullls , Da Bulls, Da Bulls, Da Bulls. SF – 21- Clem – 20

Hyundai Sun Bowl – Notre Dame – Vs. Miami – Hurrigangsters way to athletic for the crew from South Bend. Gangsters – 31- ND – 17

AutoZone Liberty Bowl. – Central Florida vs. Georgia – Georgia was dead in the water early in the year. This is late in the year. GA – 24- Cent Fla – 17

Chick-fil-A Bowl – Florida State vs. South Carolina – Gimmie the Ol Ball Coach! South Carolina – 21- Florida State – 17

January 1

TicketCity Bowl – Northwestern vs. Texas Tech – No Persa = No chance for the Wildcats. TT- 35- NW – 21

Outback Bowl – Penn St vs. Florida – Do you really think Urb is going to lose his last game…well we think it is his last game but we also through Brett Favre was retiring a couple times ago too…..FLA – 28- Penn St – 24

Capital One Bowl – Michigan State vs. Alabama – What’s in your wallet? The TIDE! Bama 35- Mich St 10

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl. Michigan vs. Mississippi State – Nothing says happiness like copy machine reptiles. Michigan rolls. Wolverines – 28- Miss St – 20

Rose Bowl presented by Citi. Wisconsin vs. TCU. Since the Rose Bowl won’t allow sponsors they have it “presented by Citi”……whatever. Wisco rolls, blah blah blah….Cheeseheads 52- Frogs – 21

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl – Oklahoma vs. UCONN – other than Nebraska game this one will have about 2 more viewers…boooorrrrrrring. Oklahoma 49 – UCONN 3

January 3

Orange Bowl – Virginia Tech vs. Stanford. Andrew Luck for…well leaving early. Stan – 24- Va Tech 21

January 4

Allstate Sugar Bowl – Arkansas vs. thu ohio state. Ryan Mallet thinks he is back in the Big X again for a day and still ticked off at thuh ohio state since he used to play for Michigan. Ark – 21- thuh ohio state – 17

January 6

GoDaddy.com Bowl – Miami – OH vs. Middle Tennessee State. No one will tune in unless Danica Patrick is the halftime entertainment. Miami – 42- Midtenst – 21

January 7

AT&T Cotton Bowl. Texas A&M vs LSU – somehow the Cotton Bowl thinks moving their bowl game later makes it more appealing….ummmm it doesn’t. LSU – 14- A& M 12.

January 8

Birmingham Bowl – Pittsburgh vs. Kentucky – Wannestadt is gone, Pitt plays ticked off. Pitt 35 – Kentucky 14

January 9

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl – Boston College vs. Nevada. Colin Kaepernick for Heisman! Wait they already voted on that…oh well. Nevada 35- BC – 20

January 10

Tostitos BCS National Championship Game – Auburn vs. Oregon. Everyone predicts a high scoring game but me. Auburn 9 – Ore 7

The coaching carousel is in full swing. Dave Wannstedt figured out what Nebraska Cornhusker fans figured out a long time ago … Steve Pederson is not the guy you want to work for … and he left Pittsburgh. Smiley Jones, the Athletic Director at Pitt, now may go after another former Husker Coach, Jay Norvell, to come and save his day in Pittsburgh.

Miami fired their head coach, Randy Shannon, and are bringing in new blood to coach the hurrigangsters, although the fair weather fans at “the U” want a more thuggish image for the program, a return to the glory days if you will.

Urb hangs it up at Florida. Once again citing health issues. This guy is turning into the Brett Favre of coaches. I am retiring….wait I am not retiring, no – – really now I am retiring. We will see how long this one lasts. I predict 2-3 years at the most.

A number of other coaches are on the hot seat. Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, where they can find guys that remind fans of Appalachian State type of players that beat the Wolverines in the big house just a few years ago. Michigan however, has seemingly forgotten that you also have to play defense when your offense is on the field. It will be interesting to see what happens if Big Blue loses the bowl game.

Ron Zook at Illinois seems to be on the watch list every year for coaches that are on the way out the door. Truth is at Illinois you are going to have a bunch of around .500 seasons and that is likely as good as it is going to get. Zook got run out of Florida and then Urb won with what was essentially his recruited talent. Illinois is young again, so we will see how this plays out.

Texas … oh my beloved Longhorns. From National Title game to TV watching this December and January. First your offensive coordinator conveniently resigns … hmmmmmm … Then the defensive coordinator that your school has been seriously overpaying to keep him on staff as the heir apparent “coach in waiting” leaves to take over for Urb at Florida. Mack must be spiraling into a pit of despair. The only National title this guy has won was with arguably the best dual threat quarterback in the history of college football, and even he could not screw that up, make you wonder how such high recruiting classes every year have lead to exactly one national title, and now everyone leaving. I smell more big problems in Austin and the eventual collapse of what remains of the Texas…..errrrr….Big XII Conference.

Up next will be the Johnny Goodman bowl game spectacular. Stay tuned.

This year it looks like the UCONN Huskies are going to be heading to the Fiesta Bowl to play against the eventual Big XII champion – either Oklahoma or Nebraska. TCU can move right on into this conference and be a substantial force right out of the gate. They along with Boise State get the knock every year that they play a weak schedule (which they do) but in the past decade TCU has played a lot more of the so call – Big Boys – than the Broncos in Boise have played. Plus they don’t have the stupid blue football smurf turf that Boise is renowned for.

Nope, I predict the Frogs may struggle in the short term as they lose a very experience quarterback in Andy Dalton and an experienced QB is never easy to replace. However, Coach Patterson always has the Frogs playing tough defense and a good defense will keep you in just about every game. The Big East is not exactly full of powerhouses and does not appear to be headed that way any time soon, unless of course you count TCU among that mix.

Speaking of TCU, is there a better mascot name than the Horned Frogs? Come to think of it all two word mascot names in Division I are pretty decent. The Demon Deacons, Thundering Herd, Green Wave, Rainbow Warriors,  Fighting Irish … well maybe the Duke Blue Devils are kind of weak as a nickname but the others are all above average.

Thursday

Arizona State @ Arizona (-5.5) – the dueling piano bars in Phoenix make a ton off the fight songs in this game. AZ- 31- ASU – 18

Friday

Illinois (-4.5) @ Fresno State – ugh…nasty Friday nighter, I guess it beats re-runs of Who’s the Boss…..Illinois – 28 – Fresneck – 21

Saturday

Middle Tennessee @ Florida Intl (-4.5) – Might as well call this Jack Daniels State vs well….a country named Florida….. MTSU – 21- FIU – 20

Rutgers @ West Virginia (-21.5) – let down after big win against Pitt but they win. WV – 35- Rutgers – 24

Southern Methodist @ Central Florida (-9.5) – Love to wager on SMUUUUUU. CFU – 15- SMU – 7

Pittsburgh (-1.5) @ Cincinnati – The Natti Playing Better, Pitt is overrated. Natti – 28 – Pitt 24

North Dakota State @ Montana State (-2.5) – Battle of the upper frozen tundra of the Great Plains. Mont St – 21- NDSU – 17

Utah State @ Boise State (-43.5) – Big Number, Boise has nothing left to play for so will call off the dogs and empty the bench this week. BSU – 49- UT ST – 14

Oregon (-16.5) @ Oregon State – Civil War, Ore St will be up but Oregon is well….good. ORE 55- Ore St – 17

Auburn (-7.5) vs South Carolina – Gimmie the old ball coach! SC – 21- AUB – 20

Washington (-10.5) @ Washington State – does anyone outside of Pullman care about this game? Wash – 28- Wazzo – 14

Florida State vs Virginia Tech (-4.5) – Hokies looking for 11 in a row. Va Tech – 28- Fla St 20

Oklahoma (-4.5) vs Nebraska – Landry Jones won’t throw for 470 this week against the Blackshirts. Neb – 23- OU – 21

Connecticut @ South Florida (-2.5) – UConn goes bowling to the desert. Huskies – 21 Bulls – 17

USC (-7.5) @ UCLA – USC still stinging after 82 dropped passes cost them game last week agaist the No Defense Fighting Irish. USC – 24- UCLA -10

UNLV @ Hawaii (-30.5) This game will be on too late for me to care…so no pick on this game.

Much of the hype surrounding my beloved town of Lincoln, Nebraska this past week is the much alleged Big Twelve Conference Conspiracy against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  There are many facts figures and statistics that are in the media including

• Nebraska’s opponents are the least penalized in the Big XII, second on the list the other team leaving the conference – Colorado
• Nebraska has had the same crew of officials for their three tightest games, all in which the officiating was very lopsided in favor of their opponents.  Texas, Texas A&M and Iowa State

The list goes on for miles, but I will just say that the Husker Head Honcho, Bo Pelini, has brought on most of this himself. He continually berates officials, has dropped about 309 F Bombs on the sidelines and let’s face it, officials no matter how bad they might be, are humans and prone to being biased in their opinions after being yelled our pretty much non-stop for quarters on end.

Bottom Line, the Huskers offense is in shambles, the defense is playing well, and the officials in the Texas A&M game, while they might have contributed to the frustration did not directly impact the outcome of the game.

Thursday

Texas A&M (-4.5) @ Texas – gig em … .Horns are horrible.  A&M 21- TX- 14

Friday

West Virginia @ Pittsburgh (-3.5) – Backyard Brawl … what a yawner.  WV- 21- Pitt – 20

Auburn @ Alabama (-3.5) Roll Tide.  Cam Newton loses Heisman, Boise State to National Title Game – Bama – 17- Auburn – 15

Colorado @ Nebraska (-20.5) – Buffs cost Huskers the Big XII title in the North. Buffs 15- Huskers 13

Arizona @ Oregon (-20.5) – You know the story here, Cal held them to 15, that won’t happen again.  Ore – 55- Arizona – 21

Boise State (-15.5) @ Nevada – Colin Kaepernick for Heisman.  Boise 49- Nevada – 42

Saturday

Michigan @ thuh ohio state (-18.5) – Bunkeyes roll at home.  OSU – 42- MICH – 21

Michigan State (-1.5) @ Penn State – JoPa goes out a winner .  Penn St 21- Mich St 20

Kansas vs Missouri (-25.5) – Tigers looked bad last week, time to get rolling in Columbia – Mizzou – 35- KU 10

LSU @ Arkansas (-4.5) – Ryan drops the Mallett – ARK – 21- LSU – 17

Florida @ Florida State (-2.5) – Free Shoes U! – FSU – 21- FLA – 17

Washington @ California (-6.5) – California rolls this week as inconsistent Jake Locker is down again on Thanksgiving weekend.  Cal – 28- Wash 20

South Carolina (-3.5) @ Clemson – Lattimore for Heisman – SC- 27- Clem – 20

Mississippi State (-2.5) @ Mississippi – Battle for … well …. Mississippi.  Houston Nutt wasted his upset chance last week.  Miss St 21- Mississippi – 14

Oregon State @ Stanford (-14.5) – Stan rolls again.  Stan 40- Ore St – 17

Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State (-1.5) For all the marble in the South.  Which OU team shows up this week?  A losing one…..OSU – 28- OU – 24

Notre Dame @ USC (-3.5) – No Defense cannot contain the Trojans in the Mausoleum.  USC – 28- No Defense – 17

Much better weekend of games this week. Good thing I was not on record with picks last week as they would have been pathetic to say the least.

Texas looks like they will not be bowl eligible. Wow. National Title game to no bowl game.

Cam Newton still in the news although it has quieted down somewhat. Biggest football story of the weekend was Michael Vick’s performance in Monday night football. 6 Touchdowns…..who does he think he is? Gale Sayers?

Georgia State @ Alabama (-56.5) – Seriously who cares? Alabama 112,963 – GA State 4

 UCLA @ Washington (-2.5) – Which Bruins team shows up this week. A winning one! UCLA – 28 – Wash – 24

Friday

Fresno State @ Boise State (-30.5) –  Battle of states that don’t exist. Boise Needs style points on the smurf turf. BSU – 45- FSU – 14

 Saturday

Wisconsin (-6.5) @ Michigan – Power running vs small guy fast running. I take power running. Cheeseheads – 35- Mich – 28

Purdue @ Michigan State (-20.5) – Purdon’t covers! MSU – 31- PUR – 21

North Carolina State @ North Carolina (-2.5) – Battle of North Carolina. Give me powder Blue – NC – 21- NC State – 17

Stanford (-7.5) @ California – Andrew Luck for Heisman – Stan 21- Cal – 14

Thuh Ohio State (-3.5) @ Iowa – Buckeyes different on road, but Iowa is seriously overrated. OSU 28- IA 14

Virginia Tech (-2.5) @ Miami – Hurrigangsters different team at home. Upset special. Miami – 17. Va Tech 14

Illinois (-7.5) @ Northwestern – No Dan Persa, No Chance. Illinois 35- NW – 21

Mississippi @ LSU (-16.5) – Bengal tigers good one week not so good next but keep winning. LSU 12- Miss St – 9

Nebraska (-2.5) @ Texas A&M – Taylor Martinez 100%? More like 65% Blackshirts still good enough. Nebs – 31- A&M 21

Oklahoma (-7.5) @ Baylor – Boooooooomer Soooooner, they could still win the South. OU – 31- Baylor – 28

USC (-3.5) @ Oregon State – Ore St lost to Wazoo last week…..wowie. USC -32- Ore St 10

No picks this week as I want to go around the world of college football.

Coaching changes – Adios Dan Hawkins in Colorado. I guess we all figured out now who the real brains behind the Boise State empire was when you were still coaching there.  Too bad the Buffs athletic department did not figure that out sooner.  The last straw was the 35 point meltdown to the Kansas Jayhawks who rallied from that huge deficit for the 2^nd largest comeback win in NCAA history.

Cam Newton – This gets better every day.  First the $200,000 allegation.  Then the cheating allegation.  Now this morning the money allegation again.  Why does this type of thing always seem to pop up in the SEC?  Are their fans just so rabid that they have spies everywhere on everyone else’s campuses to get an edge when their team is down and some other team is up?  I call it the SEConspiracy theory.  What I still don’t get is how he goes from Florida to a Juco, before coming back.  I mean would sitting out a year somewhere have really been any worse … or … did he really need some academic help meaning the allegations of cheating at Florida could be true? Hmmmmmmmm.  Can’t wait to see what unfolds as this week progresses as news seems to come out daily on the current Heisman Trophy Front Runner.

Heisman – First it was all Denard Robinson’s to lose.  Now it might be Cam Newton beating various raps to keep the hardware.  Of course an Iron Bowl spoiler courtesy of the Tide could change a lot of voters minds in November.  Kind of reminds me of the year Deshaun Foster was running away with it and then got in trouble and suspended … along with his Heisman hopes.  This could be the year of the last man standing wins.

Big XII – The might South Division is struggling.  Bad losses last week by Oklahoma and Texas, well, I have thrown them under the bus for weeks now, more on that later.  Oklahoma State looks to be in control in the South, who the heck would have predicted that to start the year.  Also thanks to the Missouri Tigers who once again show they have no coaching, abandon the running game and get throttled in the last three quarters for a horrible loss at Texas Tech. Merry Christmas Nebraska, you just won the North.

Texas – I have been piling on for weeks, it will get worse.  Does anyone think they are going to stop Oklahoma State this week?  Texas is in SERIOUS jeopardy of not being bowl eligible.  From BCS title game to not even making the Motor City Bowl.  Wow it must really be bad to be a Longhorn fan this year.

Oregon – These guys are Playstation 3 football.  Can anyone hold them under 50 points?  Does anyone want to play them at all?  The weird thing is when you watch them play they really don’t look that good, they just score fast, play fast and wear other teams out.  Wonder when someone figures out how to stop that from happening.

TCU to the Big East – Horned Frog Officials are indicating they want the all or nothing package.  They are not just going to jump ship for football, where they would roll, but they want the mighty basketball program to travel thousands of miles each week to get their butts kicked in the biggest thug ball conference in America.  Good for you for standing up to your beliefs.

This is one of the worst weekends for college football this year.  Due to many traditionally good teams struggling there are not a lot of meaningful games this week.  I will be back next week with picks, but if you want a short list…..Take Oregon, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and until next week, good luck!

Normally each week I just make my picks, but there is way too much to talk about in the world of football in the Republic of Texas. The Dallas Cowboys were hyped to become the first team to play in a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Guess someone forgot to tell the players. The Cowpokes have struggled mightily all year long, with the last straw being the loss of starting Quarterback Tony Romo for the year. Now John Kitna gets the privilege of facing the Giants who are known to sack qb’s about 15 times a game. Good Luck this week Cowboys.

The Longhorns are in total disarray. Now I will give all the UT fans the “scoreboard” call as my beloved Huskers got smoked at home where they played their worst game of the year. Nebraska looked inept in that game, especially in the first quarter, and the Longhorns did just enough to win that game. Problem is they have not looked like a football team since that moment in time. Horrible home losses this year to UCLA, Iowa State, and Baylor must be causing a horrible uprising in Austin. Blogs are calling for Mack Brown’s firing. Offensive Coordinator Greg Davis has a variety of “Fire Greg Davis” Blogs up and running. Even the beloved Will Muschamp would be wise to look into taking a head coaching job somewhere else as I would think he would not want any part of this hot seat … maybe back to his native state of Georgia? Perhaps to LSU where he was also an assistant coach as the natives there appear to be restless with Les Miles?

Big XII Commissioner Dan Beebe must be hating his job about now. The Commish starts the pre-season by setting an ultimatum to all the universities and in particular Missouri who was rumored to be leaving the Big XII and Nebraska … “We need to come to terms with that. We’re going to head into our meetings in Kansas City and I think we need to have a very frank conversation about where we’re going and who’s going to be on the plane when we take off.” Mr. Beebe said. “I will be very direct and talk about that with our membership and want to find out. It would be a shame, given that all boats have risen with this tide that’s been created in the Big 12, for anybody to think they’re going to have a better future somewhere else.” .

Well the Big 10 said “No Thanks” to Missouri, said “Hello” to Nebraska, and Colorado bolted to the Pac 10 Conference, which frankly is a better fit for the laissez faire attitude Buffs fans.

Nebraska took their ball and went home, effectively leaving the weaker North schools scrambling hoping the Texas … errrrrrr Big 12 conference would keep it together. So far so good, but one has to wonder with the problems of the quote “centerpiece “ football program and the “all controlling university that wears burnt orange, where does the future of the conference lie?

I think that BYU going independent may be part of the future of the Big XII. BYU has a strong following much like their counterparts of the Catholic background in South Bend. I still suspect that BYU is not a large enough of a power to pull off their own TV deals and such on their own. Getting out of their current affiliation lines them up well for a future North division team in the old Big XII. The problem is finding one more team. Wyoming? Nope, Colorado State perhaps? Maybe. Quite frankly there is not a lot to choose from.

The biggest issue might be that phone conversation taking place between two folks already mentioned in this article. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Big 12 Commish, Dan Beebe. Since the Big 12 will no longer have 12 teams, they will no longer be able to host a conference championship game. Jones had recently inked a 3 year deal to have the game at the Jerry Dome in Dallas. I would love to be a fly on the wall for this phone conversation:

Jerry: Beebster, you have GOT to get two more teams in, you signed the contract for three years, I don’t give a damn if Nebraska and Colorado left the conference, get someone else in here.

Dan: The NCCA has told us we can’t have the game unless we have twelve teams in the conference.

Jerry: I don’t care! I was going to sell 100,000 seats for each of those games and think of all the booze sales! Plus those eager fans will come through and do the tour ahead of time and we charge $20 bucks a head for that as well. You are costing me a lot of money!

Dan: Have you looked at the division one football programs in the upper Midwest? Who am I going to get? South Dakota State?

Thursday

Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech(15.5) – Do the Hokey Pokey. Va Tech 28- GT- 14

Saturday

Maryland @ Miami (-4.5) – Is Harris out? Won’t matter. Hurrigangsters 28- Freiders Fighting Turtles – 14

Illinois @ Michigan (-1.5) – Michigan has to cover sometime. MEEEEEECHIGAN – 28- Ill 21

Baylor @ Oklahoma State (-6.5) – This could be for all the marbles in the South. OSU – 35- Baylor – 31

Washington @ Oregon (-28.5) – Oregon is good every week. Ore 56- Washington – 21

TCU (-4.5) @ Utah – Frogs defense just too much…..TCU 35- Utah 17

Nebraska (-17.5) @ Iowa State – Corn wins but Cy covers. NEB 35- Clones 21

Northwestern @ Penn State (-6.5) – JoPa gets 400. Penn St – 28- NW 21

Oklahoma (-6.5) @ Texas A&M – One week wonder for A&M last week, back to reality this week. OU – 35- A&M 14

Arkansas @ South Carolina (-3.5) – one of the better games of the week. Ark – 21- SC – 17

Oregon State (-7.5) @ UCLA – which UCLA team shows up? The one that loses…..Ore St 28- UCLA – 14

Missouri (-7.5) @ Texas Tech – Mizzou stinging after beatdown at hands of huskers. Tigers – 35- TT – 21

Alabama (-6.5) @ LSU – Roll Tide, LSU is way over-rated. Tide – 28 LSU – 13

Texas (-6.5) @ Kansas State – Why would I stop piling on the longhorns now? Mack Brown circled the wagons last week and THAT went well didn’t it. Goalposts come down in the little apple. KSU – 28- Hook em – 24

What a bad time to be a top ranked team. First the tide does not roll. Then thuh Ohio State gets housed by the cheesy road graders from Wisconsin. MIZ-ZOU buries the Sooners at home. What next?

And the end all of end all is Texas gets smoked at home by THE IOWA STATE CYCLONES. How the heck did my beloved Huskers get beat by THAT team….Can’t wait to hear the presser from Coach Brown this week after Baylor knocks them off in Austin.

Thursday

Florida State (-4.5) @ North Carolina State – Free Shoes U!. FSU 27- NC St 20

Saturday

Oklahoma State (-4.5) @ Kansas State – Aggies are boiling after losing high scoring homecoming against the cornshuckers. OSU – 44- K St. 28

Clemson (-7.5) @ Boston College – Uncle Clem gets er done again. Clem – 28- BC -17

Tennessee @ South Carolina (-17.5) – Vols are bad. Nothing else to say. SC- 28- Tenn 14

Kansas @ Iowa State (-14.5) – Let down game for the cyclones…maybe but Kansas is worse than Tennessee. ISU 31- Kansas 7

Tulsa @ Notre Dame (-10.5) – Irish got whooped by Navy last week. Welcome home touchdown Jesus. ND- 28- Tulsa – 20

Arizona (-8.5) @ UCLA – yuk, and I suppose this is the late game of the week on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. AZ – 28- UCLA – 17

California @ Oregon State (-3.5) – Cal is rolling, but Corvallis is tough to play at…..Ore St 24- Cal 21

Texas Tech @ Texas A&M (-6.5) – New QB in place at College Station. A&M 28- TT- 21

Michigan State @ Iowa (-4.5) – Hawkeyes are due! Iowa – 21- Mich St – 20

Missouri @ Nebraska (-6.5) – I hate to pick against Nebs but….Mizzzzzzzz- 31- Neb – 28

Auburn (-7.5) @ Mississippi – Masoli should be in jail. Auburn – 31- Ole Miss 14

Stanford (-7.5) @ Washington – Jake Locker the great disappearing quarterback get smoked again this week. Stan – 35- Wash – 17

Baylor @ Texas (-9.5) – R.G.III! Texas loses again at home. Withdraws from Union! State Fair Moved to Abilene! Baylor 24- Texas 21

Utah (-5.5) @ Air Force – Frogs beat up the Cadets last week, Utah just piles on more. Utah – 35- AF – 21

Oregon (-7.5) @ USC – Two Words…Playstation Football. Ore 52- USC – 21

Michigan (-3.5) @ Penn State – The Dennard Robinson show starts back up this week…if he is healthy! Meeeeeeechigan – 35- JoPa’s Warriors – 14

Thursday

UCLA @ Oregon (-21.5) – Oregon…each and every week until proven otherwise. Ore 52- UCLA 21

Friday

South Florida @ Cincinnati (-8.5) – Da Bulls, Da Bulls, Da Bulls, Da Bulls. Natti – 28 – SFU – 21

Saturday

Purdue @ Ohio State (-27.5) – It’s good to be home again, but no energy this week. OSU – 31- Purdon’t – 17

Michigan State (-8.5) @ Northwestern – Northwestern catches em on a sleeper. Mich St 24- NW – 21

Rutgers @ Pittsburgh (-8.5) – Rutgers is playing better. Pitt 17- Rutgers – 14

Notre Dame (-4.5) @ Navy – the Middies streak ends this year. ND – 28- Navy 21

Maryland @ Boston College (-4.5) – BC will conquer the turtles. BC- 28- Maryland- 20

Nebraska (-3.5) @ Oklahoma State– Huskers won’t drop 9 passes this week. Corn 35- OSU 28

LSU @ Auburn (-4.5) – War Eagle! Auburn 21- LSU – 10

Wisconsin @ Iowa (-6.5) – Wisconsin cannot get the karma going again on the road this week but will cover. IA – 24- Wisco – 21

Arizona State @ California (-1.5) – Who Cares? ASU – 35- Cal -31

Georgia Tech @ Clemson (-5.5) – Clem gets back on track this week…Dabo..dabo Doooooooo!. Clem – 31- Ga tech – 21

North Carolina @ Miami (-7.5) – The gangsters are better at home. Miami – 28- NC – 14

Air Force @ TCU (-16.5) – The Cadets stinging after last week, not a good week to make up for it. Frogs- 35- Fliers – 14

Oklahoma (-6.5) @ Missouri – Mizzou gets a taste of what it is like to finally play someone good. OU – 42- Mizzou – 21

Washington @ Arizona (-4.5) Jake Locker looking like a Heisman candidate again? AZ- 28 – Wash – 27