The SoapBoxers

You knew it could not go away this quietly. Tattoo gate is alive and still well in Columbus Ohio. According to Yahoo Sports, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel was informed that some of his players had sold memorabilia to the owner of a tattoo parlor more than eight months before the school said it was made aware of improper transactions.

Yahoo Sports, citing an unidentified source (shocker, when is the last time anyone reported their source in a scandalous story?), reports Tressel received information as early as April 2010 that players were selling items to Edward Rife, who owns Fine Line Ink Tattoos in Columbus.

Ohio State officials did not immediately respond to a requests for comment by the AP. – Again a big shocker here. They need to back pedal or more importantly call in Tressel this morning.

Ohio State Athletic Dept – So ummmmm Jim. You knew about the tattoo stuff way back in April last year???

The Vest – I cannot confirm nor deny that rumor.

OSAD – But Yahoo! Sports is claiming that you knew about this much earlier than you previously told us and we were only alerted by the US Attorney’s office last December. The NCAA who loves the Big Ten more than, well Dan Bebee loves Texas went kid gloves on us. They even allowed us to make a deal to let the guys all play in a bowl game but they had to cross their fingers and toes and “promise” to come back and play for us next year and not go professional or anything like that.

The Vest – Yeah I did not know anything earlier, I promise “wink wink, nod nod”

If it does come out that Tressel, or anyone at thuh Ohio State for that matter, had any knowledge or knew anything prior to this date in December, the punishment should be swift and fierce. Including ruling all players ineligible for the remainder of their college days as well as loss of scholarships, suspensions of coaches etc.

The NCAA is walking a fine line here. They essentially bust Cam Newton for one day, but then take off the gloves and do nothing. The Reggie Bush sage lasted 5 years but at least the penalties were harsh.

The NCAA needs to set an example that cheating, or breaking rules, in any way shape or form will not be tolerated whatsoever. Period end of Story.

Isn’t a school which calls itself “Thee” already laying the impetus for a crashing fall from grace due to improprieties. Or does the entire university, just like those players that trades gifts for ink fell that they are above the law in little Columbus, Ohio. It is amazing that the normally un-reserved Buckeye fans have been so quiet.

Nice job Bunkeyes. Nothing like tarnishing your program for the next decade or so if any more of this turns out to be true. And all over a bunch of tattoos that you are going to look at when you are in your 50’s and wonder ‘what the heck was I thinking”

At least your conference landed Nebraska, maybe that will turn away the problems for awhile.

Nothing big in the world of sports for me to devote an entire article to this week, so I will touch on a number of topics as we “span the globe”

Nascar
I am not a racing fan. Never have been, never will be. But when a rookie driver wins in just his 2nd Cup start and it is not just any win but a Daytona 500 win, that is pretty special. Almost as speical as his reaction to his crew on the radio as he crossed the finish line. “Are you serious?” Yes, we are serious and now you have seriously altered your career and future in the sport. Congratulations Trevor Bayne.

Basketball
Carmelo Anthony gets marquee billing as he is traded to the Knicks. Horrible trade for the Knicks. While Melo is a go to guy, he is playing with Amare Stoudamaire who requires a point guard to get him the ball, (well I guess they did also get Chauncey Billups in the deal). Carmelo is a full time shooter, mid range jumper take it to the rack occasionally type of guy … sounds a lot like Amare. I guess the Nuggets are the real winner here as they would have lost him to Free Agency and now they at least get something to show for it.

Golf
Yani Tseng wins her third straight tournament on the LPGA tour and has firmly grabbed the #1 spot in the LPGA world golf rankings. She is young, playing well and appears to be poised to dominate in 2011 on the women’s tour.

The Accenture match play starts this week for the guys on the PGA tour. With no one playing dominant and the ever crafty guise of match play it is a wide open – anyone can win event. I filled out a GolfWeek entry pool, and my pick was Paul Casey, which coincidentally appears to be the pick of the golf writers for the USA Today.

Who is #1?
What a crazy week in College Basketball, Kansas, Texas, Ohio State and Pittsburgh all have a shot at being ranked #1 and all promptly go out and lose. Duke claims the top spot with exactly 2 wins over teams ranked in the top 25 on the year. This is called a paper tiger folks … Duke is over-rated and hopefully will see an early exit from the Tourney this year, but the lofty ranking will likely get them a #1 seed and the easiest road much as last year.

NBA All Star Game Weekend
This all star event has officially jumped the shark, or in this case a Kia Optima. The slam dunk competition needs to go “old school” and get rid of all the props and added features. How about just dunking…what a novel concept.

The game itself is almost as big of a joke as the NFL All Pro game. When is the last time a home town player did NOT win the MVP award? Seems like it happens every year. I bet Vegas had the Black Mamba at 2/5 to win the MVP before the game was played.

Until next week, stay classy Austin Texas … and pass that bill that is going to allow anyone on a college campus to carry a concealed handgun. Remember folks, it is not a state … it is a Republic!

As we attempt to corner the market on Pujols-related commentary, Johnny adds his thoughts on the topic.

Pitchers and Catchers are reporting … we are headed into the upcoming baseball season as the NFL appears to be mired in a circus of doom regarding salaries and collective bargaining agreements, or lack thereof.  But another disagreement regarding salary is looming large on the horizon in Major League Baseball.  The Cardinals current inability to come to terms with Albert Pujols.

No realistic talks have taken place for a few weeks.  The Cardinals are offering 30 million a year for 5 years.  That is some fat money no matter how good you are in baseball terms.  Prince Albert is allegedly looking for a bit more security and wants 10 years in a new contract, to the tune of about 300 million.

There have been some other large contracts recently in the majors that after the fact never seem to look all that good.  Pedro Martinez signed for humongous cash and promptly put two to three epic years on the mound, but then injuries and age caught him quicker than anyone could have imagined.

Most people point out the ridiculous contract that was penned by Alex Rodriguez, both in terms of numbers of years and also total amount of money.  Can any one player live up to that type of value?  For the type of money and length of contract that is being desired by Pujols, the Cardinals could instead get 3 major impact players for the ballclub.  So … why would they want to sign him for this type of money?

In the age of Free Agency, few players are the face of the franchise like Pujols currently is.  A few others come to mind.  Derek Jeter of the Yankees, Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies, Ichiro of the Mariners … and I am sure there are others.  But most any player that starts out on a small market team does not stay there long.  The money is too great and there is always the deep pockets of teams like the Red Sox and Yankees ready to pony up the funds to bring in some guns for hire.  Signing Pujols long term means you are paying a premium to keep him around as the centerpiece of your St Louis Cardinals, where you plan on having him stay.

Pujols also has numbers to back up getting a ridiculous contract.  Ten straight years of hitting over .300 and knocking in over 100 runs.  That is something even Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig cannot claim to have done.  Pujols is at the top of the list for doing this and is still in his prime.  He has endured this streak through injuries and is perennially among conversations involving the Triple Crown. (leading the league in Batting Average, Homers and Runs Batted In)  The last player to win a triple crown was Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 as he single handedly propelled the Red Sox into the World Series where they lost to … guess who … yep, the same Cardinals.  Stats Like these with Pujols don’t lie, he is worthy of the largest contract in the league.

The flip side is he is 10 years into his career.  At what point does he start to decline?  Will injuries continue to creep into his playing time?  Can he keep this up forever?  What does a contract like this do to the ability to sign other good players in the competitive National League Central?

These are all questions that the Cardinals organization as well as the fans of St Louis need to be taking into consideration.  The good news for the Cardinals is it is late in the game.  I am not sure at this stage when teams have restructured their contracts and loaded up in Free Agency that they could pay Albert the type of money he is looking for either.  To me it seems like we are witnessing a real world game of chicken, albeit for a lot of money … and the key to playing chicken…you gotta know when the other guy is going to flinch.

Stay Classy St Louis!

We are just about to the end of the seemingly longer and longer NFL football season. This past weekend was filled with four games but I don’t think we really learned anything new watching any of the games. Here is a recap.

Jets vs. Patriots. – What we knew going in – The Jets are a loud mouthed smack talking bunch and so is their head coach. What we learned? Yep, that pretty much sums it up……

I was particularly entertained by Bart Scott going on a tirade following the game how they are all disrespected and that no one gave them a chance and everyone in the media is bad mouthing them. First off who is “they” Secondly, no one was disrespecting you in the media. The media has just pretty much been saying that the team you play for – starting with the head coach down to the 4th string kicker – like to run their mouths a lot. I guess you proved to everyone Bart after this weekend that YES – in fact the media had this one right all along.

Steelers vs. Ravens – What we knew going in – Flacco has never beaten Roethlisberger in the Playoffs. What we learned – Yep that pretty much sums it up….

Another old fashioned slobberknocker of a football game, but the main story here was the Steeler magic as the Ravens blow a HUGE halftime lead and get sent home, yet again, at the hands of the division rival.

Packers vs. Falcons – What we knew going in – The Packers are playing really good right now. What we learned? – The Packers are playing even better than we thought.

This was the most lopsided game of the weekend as Atlanta is good, they were at home, and they got whipped bad. This was not even as close as the score. This sets up a dandy this weekend with…

Bears vs. Seahawks – What we knew going in – The Bears live and die by the play of Jay Cutler – What we learned? This last weekend Cutler was pretty dadgum good.

Da Bears are not the 1985 Bears although the media has to ALWAYS go there. The defense is good, but nowhere close to the total stymie defense of 85. The offense is totally Jekyll and Hyde and that falls mainly on the fact the Bears have no good wide receivers, a limited run game, but the special teams and defense are good enough that it can keep them in most games, unless they become unraveled by the QB play. This one to me is the most intriguing matchup of the playoffs. Old School rivalry. Playing in the cold and the snow. Black and Blue division…..etc. Should be a good one.

I have the Steelers vs. the Packers in the Match Up next week. The Jets do not have enough defense to counter the power game of the Steelers and the Steelers defense…well…it is a WHOLE lot better than the Patriots.

In the NFC, I have the Packers moving on. I think they are playing better than anyone right now. Their defense is good enough, their offense is explosive, and most importantly I would take Rodgers over Cutler all day long.

Enjoy the weekend and some great football games.

Stay Classy Tucson!!

The College Bowl Season is now in the books. The experts as usual were way off on the Tostitos National Championship game predictions last night figuring this game would be a high scoring offensive explosion. I for one missed on a ton of my bowl predictions but I did get this one right. The Johnny Goodman prediction was a lower scoring defensive battle.

Overall it was a close and entertaining game. Radio talking heads are crying foul on what was a decisive play late in the game where Auburn’s running back landed on top of the defender and then got up, and with the urging of his entire sideline, continued to run down field getting the Tigers, errrrr War Eagles … errrr whatever their mascot is this week into field goal range. Some of the sports talk analysts are indicating his momentum was stopped, the whistle should have blown etc. I for one did not think he was down when I watched the play live at full speed, but admittedly knew it was close.

Overall a great job done by the Big X officiating crew last night. Of all the plays that were reviewed the only one that they got incorrect and over-turned was the last long run and they corrected the call and placed the ball at the ½ yard line after reviewing that the runners knee was indeed down.

I totally missed the memo that indicated that the Oregon Ducks have changed their official school colors from Green and Gold to Black, Gray, White and Highlight Marker Yellow. Seriously Nike, those are the 2nd worst uniforms behind the Mustard Yellow and Mud colored Denver Broncos throwback uniforms. If this keeps up I fear we will see Notre Dame come out sporting Seafoam Green with Candy Apple Red and Electric Blue highlights around the jersey name and numbers.

Might as well look forward to August and the new rankings and I want to beat everyone to the punch, so here is my Top 5 to start 2011

1. Oklahoma – They seriously underachieved this year and get Broyles back along with an improved defense and offense.
2. Alabama – No Mark Ingram….won’t matter
3. Wisconsin – Big 10 will be soft next year, and thuh tattoo-oh state has to sit main players for 5 games
4. Oregon – The ducks and their horrific uniforms continue to rule the weak Pac 10 errrrr 12
5. South Carolina – Lattimore for Heisman!

Stay Class San Diego!

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