In BCS news: nothing. The top six teams in the BCS standings all won yesterday (No. 7 Georgia Tech was off…lazy bastards), most of them by big blowouts against really crappy teams. The exception was Cincinnati’s win against West Virginia, who were ranked No. 25 before heading into southwest Ohio. Whatever. So it looks like after the SEC championship game, which will pit Florida against Alabama, we’ll be left with five undefeated teams. Terrific.
The problem (as if there were only one) is that the teams in the BCS conferences have caught on–if a program like Texas or anyone out of the SEC can run the table, they’ll play for the national championship. Those teams have zero incentive to play quality teams, or even give the so-called mid-majors a game. Teams like Boise State, who have struggled to bolster their strength of schedule, are being left out in the cold. TCU, the Broncos, and Cincinnati (who’s poised to play the role of “2003 Auburn”) are all screwed.
There’s one option that sounds ludicrous, but would be potentially viable in this BCS bedlam–the mid-majors should have their own post-season tournament. Seed the winners of the Mountain West, WAC, Conference USA and anyone else not affiliated with the BCS. Take those top four teams, or top six teams, whatever. Play until there’s a winner. But do something. Until the mid-majors decide to stop being ignored by the BCS, they don’t stand a chance of winning anything.
I can tell you one thing; I know what I like when I see it. And what I see is a big day in college football. Oh, the girls? Yeah, they’re alright, but I’m having trouble getting a read on their personalities and whether they share my interest in role-playing games and Star Trek.
There’s plenty of regional action kicking off at noon eastern (Big 10 Football on ESPN? Whoo!), but ESS-EE-CEE-SPEED (yeawww!) makes its regular season debut in a nationally televised game on CBS (3:30 ET), when the Arkansas Razorbacks (1-1) oink their way into Tuscaloosa to take on Nick Saban’s ego and his third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0). I’m no great college football mind, so I’ll base my thoughts on the game entirely on the above photos, which means I’ll be pulling for Alabama. And then after a nap, I’ll pull for Arkansas, if you know what I mean. I hope the people seated next to me at the bar don’t mind.
Also on tap is #9 Miami at #11 Virginia Tech at 3:30 ET. It should be a rager. Try to make sense of whether you will be able to see the game or not on ABC, ESPN or ESPNHD here, because I’m lost.
In other news, word on the street is that Tim Tebow is one of several members of the number-one-ranked Florida Gators suffering from flu-like symptoms. In fact, Tebow took a separate plane (along with the other ill players - WTF? - he should fly solo) to Lexington for their game against the Kentucky Wildcats (ESPN2, 6:00 ET).
A source close to the team confirmed late Friday night that Tim Tebow was one of several players to fly on a separate plane to Lexington from the rest of the team because he is sick with the flu. The source said that safety Major Wright was also among the players on the separate plane.
[...]
The Gainesville Sun reported this week that 97 percent of flu cases on UF’s campus this fall have been the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. via. via.
Egads! Holy Father, why hast Thou forsaken Tim? The Lord does work in mysterious ways and perhaps this is simply his way of testing the most precious lamb of his flock. Kind of like when Satan tempted Jesus with that badass violin.
Wait. I might be getting a couple of stories mixed up. To be honest, Christianity isn’t one of my strongest areas of study. Everything I know about it I learned through Metallica songs and Danzig albums. In any event, with or without the Tebowner, I don’t see Kentucky snapping their 22-game losing streak to Florida. Just a hunch.
Before we get into discussing the NFL playoffs, it’s kind of worth noting what happened on Friday night: a college football team completed a perfect 13-0 season by dominating a highly regarded SEC team that had been undefeated until the SEC championship. Not too many people gave Utah an outside shot of knocking off Alabama, but the Utes controlled every facet of the Sugar Bowl in a 31-17 win.
In fact, Every Day Should Be Saturday has generously awarded Utah one-quarter of the national title:
Utah beat 5 ranked teams and embarrassed the SEC West champion. They did not lose a game this season. They had a defense that dealt out harm to all they faced and boasted one of the more accurate quarterbacks in the nation. They beat people with spread-option tactics executed with wishbone brutality. If you want more from a team, you’re either unreasonable, a total flaming asshole, or both.
So can we shove something up the BCS’s ass and get a college playoff yet, or what?
Montgomery police arrested 10 people in a prostitution sting, and 28-year-old Leslie Parker, seen here supporting Nick Saban’s Sugar Bowl-bound Crimson Tide, was one of seven women arrested. I think I speak for everyone when I say RAWR!
For your viewing pleasure, the Montgomery Adviser has compiled a photo gallery of the mug shots, and let’s just say that your average small-city Alabama hooker is a much different breed than the high-priced Vegas call girl. Or so I would imagine. It’s not like I’ve strangled one to get off before. Ha ha. No, I’m not sweating. You’re sweating. What am I, on trial?
I am? Oh. I guess that explains the 12 strangers in the box over there.
By virtue of being a top-five team that didn’t shit the bed this past weekend, the Oklahoma Sooners have taken over as college football’s top-ranked team this week. Nick Saban’s previously eighth-ranked Alabama, which defeated preseason #1 Georgia in Athens, moved up to #2.
It was a wild weekend in which the shocking USC and Florida upsets were just the tip of the iceberg — nine ranked teams lost, and six of those were to unranked teams. Golly, numbers like that might mean that the ranking system might somehow be flawed.
You can get the full breakdown of Saturday’s action in The Alphabetical, The Sporting Blog’s excellent weekly feature. All I really care about is that Wake Forest lost at home to freaking Navy, yet they’re still ranked at #25. Hello? Can my 5-0 Northwestern Wildcats get a little love? Rowr-rowr!
Nah, just kidding. I don’t really give a crap about them.
(photo from Sooner Fever)
This screeching she-devil is apparently well-known amongst ‘Bama fans, which makes me that much happier not to be one. Her name is Rena “Ramp Lady,” a sobriquet she has gained by standing in the ramp during Tide football and basketball games and letting loose an ear-bleeding cry sure to down airplanes and render you infertile.
Hayes said she got her nickname because she never sat in her assigned seat. Instead, she moved to the ramp to yell for the Tide.
“I have no idea where my seat is … hell, I don’t know where my seat is tonight,” she said.
With Ramp Lady attending so many Bama functions, most would think she’s a Tuscaloosa resident, right?
Wrong.
“I still stay in Prattville, I drive up here for anything,” she said. “I never went to the University, I just grew up bleedin’, living and breathing Crimson Tide football,”
I’d say she’d have been more on point saying “mouthingbreathing Crimson Tide football,” but no mouthbreather I know can produce a sound like that. Only mythical beasts and certain kinds of injured fawns can do that. And at least they don’t paint their faces.
