The final weekend of November, 2009 is the last hurrah for a full schedule for college football with some conferences finished for the year such as the Big 10. Others are playing their conference championship. While other games feature great rivalry games.
It’s interesting to go back and look at the AP Top 25 to start the season. Sure enough as expected, Florida is #1. Texas was ranked 2nd and many would argue they should be ranked higher than ‘Bama who claimed the second spot. One thing’s for certain. If Texas continues winning, after next weekend’s action they will be at least #2 as either Florida or Alabama will have suffered one loss. Oklahoma was ranked 3rd. Where are they now? State rival Oklahoma State stands 12th in the BCS. The Sooners are goners not even in the top 25.
Shockers of shockers, what happened to USC this year? They were ranked 4th but some argued they were slighted, but with a 7-3 record including an embarrassing home loss to Stanford, they’re way down in 20th rookie quarterback and all.
Alabama started in 5th, perhaps slighted a bit as they are now the bridesmaid, but Ohio State at #6 had a mighty tough season leading them to 10th.
We’d have to get technical talking about the ACC in 2009. Technically, the conference was seen as weak not fielding a true championship team. If they had one, it would come from Virginia Tech who was ranked 7th. Well, they got the Tech part right but it’s Georgia Tech who was ranked 15th but pulled all the way up to 7th.
Mississippi looked great as #8, but they’re hanging on the edge of the cliff in 25th.
Oklahoma State was supposed to put two Okie teams in the top 10 sharing 9th place with Penn State. They finished close to where they were predicted, 12th, but no one expected them to be the real pride of Oklahoma.
Could Joe Paterno guide the Nittany Lions to a championship? Once again, the bubble was burst initially by Iowa who beat them on a horrible rainy night in central Pennsylvania. The team with the most ordinary uniforms landed in 13th while Ohio State turned in at 10th and the upstart Iowa Hawkeyes are in 11th.
The top ten has some uninvited guests with TCU in 4th, ranked 17th in August. The same can be said of Boise State in 6th but started in 14th.\
Perhaps seeing Oregon in 8th helps fill the void left by USC’s absence. They were only in 16th.
Other teams on the board the beginning of the year included Georgia in 13th. Had that held, imagine how that would stir up this weekend’s grand cocktail party in Jacksonville.
Dark clouds and vultures hover over two of the most historic and accomplished programs in college football history who were both supposed to return to being significant respected powers in 2009. Florida State started in the 18th slot while Notre Dame stood in 23rd.
Though they played a classic intense game against their rival, Miami to open the season, the Seminoles lost 38-34. Losses mounted and Bobby Bowden’s tenure erupted into hot controversy as they lost to South Florida, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Clemson. One surely sees Bobby Bowden’s days as a factor in the highest echelon are over. It’s tragic to see a once great figure still hanging in there after the magic is gone. His trip to Gainesville could be his last. Meanwhile, Miami mounted a significant comeback taking what perhaps was supposed to be their ACC Florida rival securing 17th.
The chill of winter was felt early in South Bend Indiana. What could have been proved to be worse that wishful thinking? Though ranked at 23rd when the season began, the Notre Dame Publicity machine and their vast network of dedicated fans had much higher hopes such as BCS bowl competition or even a shot at the championship. So what changed from last year to make them that much better? Nothing really. QB Jimmy Clausen could not carry the team and coach Charlie Weiss’s effectiveness was questioned through out. At 6-5, the Weiss regime never accomplished what they were hired to do, but the fighting Irish have not been much of a factor since Lou Holtz charmed the sidelines. Sure, they’ll get some minor bowl bid, but they have so little to show for it as they were almost certainly be slaughtered by Jim Harbaugh’s team at Stanford.
One more team deserves so much praise, the US Naval Academy who should run the table and finish their season at 10-3. Not only did they beat the Fighting Irish in South Bend, they also beat Louisiana Tech, and SMU as a couple of their most noteworthy wins. They lost to Ohio State in Columbus by just four points. The whole nation should be proud of these wonderful young men.
Week 13 Picks:
Alabama #2 (-10) at Auburn
Sweet home Alabama will be rocking as the Auburn Tigers are no match for the much more powerful Crimson Tide. Auburn will need to improve as an organization to reinvigorate this classic rivalry.
Pittsburgh #9 (-1) at West Virginia
West Virginia isn’t quite strong enough to hold off a superior Pitt.
Florida State at Florida #1 (-24)
What a sad game this will be. How much restraint can Florida afford to show when they’re competing for a BCS championship? Though it will come as no surprise, Florida State’s loss to Florida will be a very heartbreaking loss as it might be the end of one of the greatest tenures in all sports, the brilliant career of Bobby Bowden.
Utah #21 at Brigham Young #19 (-7 ½)
Two closely matched teams compete for being second best to TCU in the Mountain West. Brigham Young shows a slight edge, perhaps not the touchdown plus advantage those bad boys down the road in Vegas project.
Georgia versus Georgia Tech #7 @ Jacksonville, FL (-8)
Just because both teams aren’t in the upper ranks of the BCS doesn’t mean the Georgia family feud won’t be a wild one. Had the original AP poll rankings held, this game would be white hot. Nevertheless, Georgia Tech needs this win to finish as high in the national rankings as possible perhaps a top 5. Georgia is looking for bragging rights for a season that fell apart.
Notre Dame at Stanford (-10 ½)
Stanford returns home ten feet tall after their historic smashing of the USC Trojans last week. Meanwhile, it’s an unhappy locker room for Notre Dame with coach Weiss’s fate dangling in the wind. Much more was expected of his tenure, but that tenure almost certainly is coming to an end despite the ridiculous long term contract the Notre Dame brass committed to. Stanford should dominate this game convincingly.
Navy (-9) at Hawaii
How wonderful it is that the Midshipmen should be able to journey to Hawaii to prepare for their annual battle with Army the following week. Aloha men! They’ll surf to a sure victory while getting ready for a bigger win against Army next week.
It’s interesting to go back and look at the AP Top 25 to start the season. Sure enough as expected, Florida is #1. Texas was ranked 2nd and many would argue they should be ranked higher than ‘Bama who claimed the second spot. One thing’s for certain. If Texas continues winning, after next weekend’s action they will be at least #2 as either Florida or Alabama will have suffered one loss. Oklahoma was ranked 3rd. Where are they now? State rival Oklahoma State stands 12th in the BCS. The Sooners are goners not even in the top 25.
Shockers of shockers, what happened to USC this year? They were ranked 4th but some argued they were slighted, but with a 7-3 record including an embarrassing home loss to Stanford, they’re way down in 20th rookie quarterback and all.
Alabama started in 5th, perhaps slighted a bit as they are now the bridesmaid, but Ohio State at #6 had a mighty tough season leading them to 10th.
We’d have to get technical talking about the ACC in 2009. Technically, the conference was seen as weak not fielding a true championship team. If they had one, it would come from Virginia Tech who was ranked 7th. Well, they got the Tech part right but it’s Georgia Tech who was ranked 15th but pulled all the way up to 7th.
Mississippi looked great as #8, but they’re hanging on the edge of the cliff in 25th.
Oklahoma State was supposed to put two Okie teams in the top 10 sharing 9th place with Penn State. They finished close to where they were predicted, 12th, but no one expected them to be the real pride of Oklahoma.
Could Joe Paterno guide the Nittany Lions to a championship? Once again, the bubble was burst initially by Iowa who beat them on a horrible rainy night in central Pennsylvania. The team with the most ordinary uniforms landed in 13th while Ohio State turned in at 10th and the upstart Iowa Hawkeyes are in 11th.
The top ten has some uninvited guests with TCU in 4th, ranked 17th in August. The same can be said of Boise State in 6th but started in 14th.\
Perhaps seeing Oregon in 8th helps fill the void left by USC’s absence. They were only in 16th.
Other teams on the board the beginning of the year included Georgia in 13th. Had that held, imagine how that would stir up this weekend’s grand cocktail party in Jacksonville.
Dark clouds and vultures hover over two of the most historic and accomplished programs in college football history who were both supposed to return to being significant respected powers in 2009. Florida State started in the 18th slot while Notre Dame stood in 23rd.
Though they played a classic intense game against their rival, Miami to open the season, the Seminoles lost 38-34. Losses mounted and Bobby Bowden’s tenure erupted into hot controversy as they lost to South Florida, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Clemson. One surely sees Bobby Bowden’s days as a factor in the highest echelon are over. It’s tragic to see a once great figure still hanging in there after the magic is gone. His trip to Gainesville could be his last. Meanwhile, Miami mounted a significant comeback taking what perhaps was supposed to be their ACC Florida rival securing 17th.
The chill of winter was felt early in South Bend Indiana. What could have been proved to be worse that wishful thinking? Though ranked at 23rd when the season began, the Notre Dame Publicity machine and their vast network of dedicated fans had much higher hopes such as BCS bowl competition or even a shot at the championship. So what changed from last year to make them that much better? Nothing really. QB Jimmy Clausen could not carry the team and coach Charlie Weiss’s effectiveness was questioned through out. At 6-5, the Weiss regime never accomplished what they were hired to do, but the fighting Irish have not been much of a factor since Lou Holtz charmed the sidelines. Sure, they’ll get some minor bowl bid, but they have so little to show for it as they were almost certainly be slaughtered by Jim Harbaugh’s team at Stanford.
One more team deserves so much praise, the US Naval Academy who should run the table and finish their season at 10-3. Not only did they beat the Fighting Irish in South Bend, they also beat Louisiana Tech, and SMU as a couple of their most noteworthy wins. They lost to Ohio State in Columbus by just four points. The whole nation should be proud of these wonderful young men.
Week 13 Picks:
Alabama #2 (-10) at Auburn
Sweet home Alabama will be rocking as the Auburn Tigers are no match for the much more powerful Crimson Tide. Auburn will need to improve as an organization to reinvigorate this classic rivalry.
Pittsburgh #9 (-1) at West Virginia
West Virginia isn’t quite strong enough to hold off a superior Pitt.
Florida State at Florida #1 (-24)
What a sad game this will be. How much restraint can Florida afford to show when they’re competing for a BCS championship? Though it will come as no surprise, Florida State’s loss to Florida will be a very heartbreaking loss as it might be the end of one of the greatest tenures in all sports, the brilliant career of Bobby Bowden.
Utah #21 at Brigham Young #19 (-7 ½)
Two closely matched teams compete for being second best to TCU in the Mountain West. Brigham Young shows a slight edge, perhaps not the touchdown plus advantage those bad boys down the road in Vegas project.
Georgia versus Georgia Tech #7 @ Jacksonville, FL (-8)
Just because both teams aren’t in the upper ranks of the BCS doesn’t mean the Georgia family feud won’t be a wild one. Had the original AP poll rankings held, this game would be white hot. Nevertheless, Georgia Tech needs this win to finish as high in the national rankings as possible perhaps a top 5. Georgia is looking for bragging rights for a season that fell apart.
Notre Dame at Stanford (-10 ½)
Stanford returns home ten feet tall after their historic smashing of the USC Trojans last week. Meanwhile, it’s an unhappy locker room for Notre Dame with coach Weiss’s fate dangling in the wind. Much more was expected of his tenure, but that tenure almost certainly is coming to an end despite the ridiculous long term contract the Notre Dame brass committed to. Stanford should dominate this game convincingly.
Navy (-9) at Hawaii
How wonderful it is that the Midshipmen should be able to journey to Hawaii to prepare for their annual battle with Army the following week. Aloha men! They’ll surf to a sure victory while getting ready for a bigger win against Army next week.
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