Where feminine hygiene is no laughing matter ...Rick's Cafe Americain

* 1983, Game 16: Mike Lansford kicked a game winning field goal for the Rams in a game that decided the wildcard. The Saints finished 8-8, missing out on both their first playoff appearance and their first winning record.

** 2000, Wildcard Game: Again the Rams, but this time Az-zahir Hakim muffed a late punt, Brian Milne recovered it for the good guys, and the fumble stopped what was quickly becoming a disastrous choke job. The Saints finally won a playoff game. This, to a Saints-fan, is a huge deal.

Only one league - the NBA - has ever made a credible case for a salary cap. They did it by opening their books, allowing the union to audit them, proving that the league was on the verge of collapse, and inviting the players to become partners in the revitalization of the league. The salary cap in the NBA is soft enough that it doesn’t really act as a drag on salaries and, as long as the well-oiled marketing machine of the NBA keeps printing money, will never be much of a drag anway (the cap number is linked to league revenue). 

Baseball shouldn’t have a cap. Neither should football. Both leagues are highly successful, highly profitable enterprises. Teams that lose money in baseball earn that red ink through stupid decisions in the general manager’s office and the marketing department. The NHL - purportedly bleeding money - is not quite the cash cow that the other sports are, but there is no way that the teams are losing as much as ownership claims. First, the owners are all savvy businessmen who have proven themselves to be - if nothing else - rational economic actors. I refuse to believe that they keep making the same “mistake” over and over again. It appears that other savvy businessmen don’t believe it either. Every time a team is up for sale there is someone willing to purchase the franchise at a substantial profit for the selling owner.

The league offered the players a bum deal and the players turned it down at substantial cost to themselves. Papers across the country are dutifully squawking the same sad refrain: the players are “greedy” (the owners aren’t?) and “owe it to the fans” to just sign and play (is this a professional gig or a charity appearance at a senior center?). The conventional wisdom of the press is unvarnished horseshit and I for one am glad that the union stood strong.

Of course, I’d rather watch college hockey anyway. Cornell is currently #3 in the country (or, if you are a pure stathead, #7).The ECACHL conference tournament is coming up in a few weeks, so I’ll have plenty of hockey to enjoy. Plus, I got to see Cornell blow out league rivals Princeton and Yale last week. They continued to roll this weekend. Cornell is a virtual lock for the NCAA’s, so I’ll have plenty of hockey to watch. 

At 4-8, my New Orleans Saints didn’t look like they had a shot at the playoffs. I don’t think they had won a game in December since Clinton was President and every week they found new ways to leave receivers open for long gains. Also, they couldn’t stop the run. Also, Aaron Brooks appears to be as dumb as a bag of hammers.

And then the Saints beat the Cowboys. The article talked about how the loss hampered the Cowboys’ playoff hopes but didn’t even mention that the Saints were still alive as well.

The next week they beat Tampa Bay and the writer noticed that the Saints were really still alive. I wrote to a friend and said that, barring some crazy, inconceivable three-way tiebreaker possibilities, the Saints controlled their own destiny.

In the penultimate week, the Saints played their best game of the year against a resting Falcons squad and won their third game in a row. In the meantime, the Vikings had lost three of their last four and were proving that I might not know what the word inconceivable means.

The last week was for all of the marbles. A rematch with the Carolina Panthers - who killed them a month ago AND knocked them out of the playoffs in the last game of 2002 - would almost certainly determine the final wildcard team.  The New Orleans Saints WON!!! They played even better than they did against the Falcons the week before. Carolina never really had a chance.

And then the Vikings choked against the Redskins. And the Jets choked against the Rams. So the Rams, Vikings and Saints all finished at 8-8. With the best NFC record of the bunch, the Rams moved on. Because they beat the Saints in week six, the Vikings advanced. So the Saints, despite playing the best football in the NFC in December, once again finished out of the playoffs.

To rub salt in the wound, the Vikings and Rams both won this week, proving that the NFC is hopelessly weak. This was a year when a team as erratic as the Saints might have made it to their first Super Bowl. That, I now know, is inconceivable.

Truth be told, the Bill Simmons columns during the Sox’ amazing run make me think that Boston fans are going to be classy winners.

So congratulations, Red Sox fans.

But remember: If you tear down Fenway Park, the Curse of the Monster will keep you waiting until 2090 for another title. You read it here first.

Quick note to Sox Blog. As a Pirates fan who counts the 1992 NLCS among my most painful memories, you’re damn right that I dispute the contention that 1986 Series was the toughest loss in sports. There is probably still a hole in the wall of a shitty Blair Street hovel in Ithaca to testify to my anguish. 

James Frederick Dwight, proprietor of the SoxBlog, actually is family.  Well, sort of, anyway.  We’re related by one marriage (mine) and one engagement (Mother of Ilsa and Father of James).

Soxblog has been up for a long time, but I haven’t linked to it before because, well, I was afraid that once James and I got going in the blogosphere, Christmases and Thanksgivings might be a little awkward.  Still, I don’t get to see him enough, and I enjoy arguing—er, engaging in discourse with him.  Besides, Rick’s needs an intelligent conservative voice to penetrate the liberal echochamber, and our former resident Bush wacko seems to have gone all Jack Torrance on us ("All work and no play makes Rick a dull boy . . .").

So, without further ado, and in honor of the Red Sox’s record-breaking (and curse-breaking?) win in the AL, I welcome SoxBlog, and spirited political debate, to Rick’s.

BCS Conference Rankings

In my season preview, I gave the nod to SEC as the top conference in America, with the Big Ten and the ACC close behind.  As discussed below, the Big Ten has surged to the top after one full week of action.  Also, there is a race for the sixth spot between the Big East and non-BCS Conference USA.

6. The Big Least, I mean East.  In my season preview, I suggested that the Big East, while one of the 6 BCS conferences, might not be one of the 6 best conferences.  After week one, however, it looks like only one Mid-Major conference that can compete for the 6th spot is Conference USA.  The upper echelon of the MAC got demolished this weekend (see below).  The WAC is only a two team conference (Fresno St. and Boise St.).  While both of those teams would have a shot at winning the Big East, the overall conference depth is clearly below the Big Least.  The Moutain West is ok, and Utah might be better than any Big East team, but the drop off after Utah is too steep.  The Sun Belt is the worst conference in America.  Conference USA, however, is loaded.  Louisville shut out Kentucky, Memphis beat Ole Miss (that’s two wins over the SEC), UAB destroyed Baylor and TCU beat Northwestern (though they did get out played at home as the favorites and got a lucky win).  Each of those four teams would have a shot at winning the Big East.  Additionally, Cincinnati and Southern Miss are teams that could play in the Big East.  As for the Big East itself, West Virginia looked good, Rutgers continued there rise with an upset over Michigan State, Boston College struggled with a crappy MAC team, UCONN looked solid, Temple still sucks and Syracuse got obliterated by Purdue.  A possible litmus test game between South Florida (CUSA) and Pitt (Big East) was rescheduled due to Hurricane Francis.  Pay attention to the next couple of weeks, with some big wins, Conference USA could slide into the 6th spot.

5. Pac-10.  Barring some shocking turn of events, the Pac-10 will sit in the five spot all season.  Oregon State almost pulled the huge upset over LSU, but this is still a conference with only one top tier team and a few middling teams…it can’t compete with the Big Four.

4.  Big 12.  No big news, other than that Texas A&M showed that they might be as bad as they were last year (and if they aren’t, Utah is damned good) and Kansas St. struggled with Western Kentucky.

3. ACC.  Even less to report.  Maryland narrowly avoided being upset by Northern Illinois again, but no big surprises otherwise.

2. SEC.  The SEC lost some luster last weekend.  LSU got outplayed and should have lost to Oregon State (3 missed extra points and a bad call late in the game that would have given Oregon St. the ball at midfield with less than 5 minutes to go with an 8 point lead) and Georgia struggled with and gave up 294 rushing yards to Div. 1-AA Georgia Southern.  Additionally, Mississippi lost to C-USA Memphis and Kentucky was crushed, 28-0, by C-USA Louisville.  No, this doesn’t cause alarm bells to go off, but it is enough for the SEC to slide behind the Big-10.

1. Big 10.  Michigan won by 33 over Miami, OH, who was still trying to ride the wave of last years top 15 ride (though the game was closer than the score indicates) and Ohio State looked solid polishing off Cincinnati.  But it wasn’t the play of the big 2 that gives the Big Ten its boost to top conference dog, it was the rest of the Big 10’s big six.  Minnesota, playing against pre-season MAC favorite Toledo, simply destroyed the Rockets 63-7 in a game that was only made that close by two garbage time Toledo touchdowns and Purdue matched a smothering defense with its always explosive offense to route Syracuse 56-0.  Wisconsin and Iowa also crushed lesser opponents (though the Badgers lost Anthony Davis for a few weeks, which will hurt).  Additionally, Penn State tried to make the claim that I should be referring to a big 7, rather than a big 6 by routing Akron ― we’ll see how they do against Boston College next week.  Even lowly Indiana and Illinois won easily.  Michigan St. losing to Rutgers was a disappointment.  Rutgers is an up and coming team, but they are still Rutgers.  Also, Northwestern lost to C-USA TCU, but the Wildcats were big underdogs, outplayed tough mid-major TCU and only made one of six field goals (including two OT misses) in a game they should have won.  All in all, after one week of college football, the Big Ten looks like the toughest conference top to bottom.

Disappointment of the Week

This one is easy.  The Mid-American Conference.  The MAC had a great year last year.  Northern Illinois knocked off a bunch of BCS teams, and they were only about the 5th best team in the conference.  Marshall knocked off Kansas State.  Bowling Green beat Purdue.  Toledo was better than both of those teams and Miami of Ohio finished in the top 15.  The MAC was hoping to claim the title of best non-BCS conference, but last weekend eliminated that possibility.  Bowling Green and Miami of Ohio did not get embarrassed, but both were outclassed by Oklahoma and Michigan.  No big deal, the Sooners and Wolverine will beat teams in their own conferences worse.  However, pre-season favorite Toledo getting utterly destroyed by Minnesota and Marshall losing to Troy, turned the weekend sour.  Northern Illinois almost upset Maryland again, but couldn’t quite pull it off, giving the MAC no major victories.  The MAC is still a nice little conference that deserves respect, but when only 3 of 14 teams have winning records after week one, you can’t claim to be playing with the big boys.

What to Watch For This Week

Miami vs. Florida St. on Friday night is obviously the game of the week, but pay attention to the mid-majors this weekend.  Utah travels to Arizona, Boise St. hosts Oregon St. (Friday), Fresno St. travels to Kansas St., Troy hosts Missouri (Thursday) and Southern Mississippi goes to Nebraska.  Utah is a big favorite over Arizona and should roll, but that will still be another BCS scalp for the Utes.  Also, Arizona might be the only team standing in the way of an undefeated season for Utah.  The rest of those match-ups are potential statement games; however, Boise St. is a surprising 8 point favorite on Oregon St., considering State’s performance in Baton Rouge last weekend.  If Fresno St. and Boise St. can win this weekend, look for the winner of their eventual match-up (they play October 23rd), to go undefeated and make some BCS noise. 

The Buckeye Report

Ohio State looked good against Cincinnati and pretty much how I expected (hoped) they would look.  Let’s start with the defense.  OSU had seven new starters, so some in the media had questioned whether this year’s defense would be as strong as last years.  But that stat is somewhat misleading when you take into account transfers, guys who were injured last year and guys who were all but starting last year, so I was not surprised when the defense was, again, dominating.  The Bearcats only mustered 6 points (both FGs helped by OSU turnovers), and had no sustained drives, no big plays and just over 200 yards in total offense.  Critics will say that Ohio State had no turnovers and no sacks; however, that was largely the result of conservative play calling by Bearcat head coach Mark Dantonio (who was OSU’s defensive coordinator last year).  Teams often avoid playing the Buckeye’s defense “straight-up”, relying on short passes, roll outs and misdirection, but don’t worry, the sacks and turnovers will come.  Still, if I am looking for weaknesses, I’d like to see better push by the defensive line.  Our linebacking situation is better than last year and the secondary is probably close and might be better as the season goes on, but, as of now, the D-Line is not “as” dominating as it was last year.  Overall though, it looks like the Buckeyes have one of the top, if not the top, defenses in the country yet again.

On offense, I saw a lot to be excited about.  Justin Zwick made some passes that Craig Krenzel could only dream about making and looks like he could be a great one.  However, he also made some mistakes (fumbles, interceptions) that Craig never would have made.  But, it was his first start and I suspect he will be able to iron out those issues.  Of course, Troy Smith saw time as well and some are calling for him to be the starter based on his beautiful fade pass to Santonio Holmes.  Unfortunately, Tressel otherwise kept him under raps so it is hard to get a read on Troy, but he looks to be more than serviceable if anything happens to Zwick.  I don’t buy into the QB controversy that some are suggesting, it looks to me like Zwick will be the man, but Tressel will give Smith some chances as well, which is fine by me.  I’d love to see some misdirection and fancy plays involving Troy this year.

The running game put up big numbers, with both Lydell Ross and freshman Antonio Pittman rumbling, but I still have serious questions about our running game.  It did not look good early in the game.  In fact, it looked awful up until Lydell’s 68 yard rumble.  The offensive line was not opening holes, Lydell Ross was not creating holes and he wasn’t finishing off runs strong.  I am not sure if things opened up later because our execution got better or because we simply wore out the Bearcats.  Frankly, I don’t think we’ll find out until at least the N.C. State game if Ohio State can run the ball with authority on a good team, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.  I don’t see this being a dominating offensive line and Lydell Ross is, at best, a decent running back.  If the Buckeyes have a solid running game this year, we should be happy with that.

Turning to the wide receivers, Holmes looks like he will pick-up where he left off last year, Bam Childress was a pleasant surprise and it is great to see that Zwick seems able to find him.  He could pile up a lot of RAC this year.  Down the road, Ted Ginn will hopefully be doing much the same and game one shows that Tressel and Co. are serious about working this guy into the offense and throwing more.  Hamby looks solid at tight end.  The one guy that needs to step-up and show me something is Roy Hall.  The one thing the Buckeyes offense is lacking is the big, tall go to receiver (well, leaving aside Maurice Clarett).  Hall needs to try and become that guy, but he may not be able to do it.

Kicking game looked solid.  Only one punt, so jury is still out there, but Nugent is a weapon as a placekicker.

Overall, things look just like I expected.  The Ohio State defense might just be as good as last year, maybe even better.  The offense will be more productive, but it will also be more accident prone.  Ohio State should be better than every team on its schedule until Michigan, but N.C. State, Iowa, Wisconsin and Purdue are all teams to be reckoned with.  My concern is that we will lose one of those games because of offensive mistakes ― it will certainly be a lot harder to beat those three with a -3 turnover margin like we had against the Bearcats.  Krenzel may not have always moved the ball well, but over the last two seasons, he didn’t cost us any games by giving up points.  If Zwick can figure out how to do that AND keep throwing for 200+ yds a game, look for us to be 10-0 when the Maize and Blue come to Columbus.

Go Buckeyes!

Major changes in College Football

The 2004 season brings yet another BCS formula and also instant reply to the Big Ten.  The BCS has been a comedy of errors as they tweak the formula nearly every year.  This year they have taken steps to simplify the process and have essentially handed things back to the pollsters as the formula will be 1/3 AP poll, 1/3 Coaches poll and 1/3 a computer average.  Since the AP and Coaches polls usually tend to mirror one another, don’t expect the computers to have much sway.  It would be nice if this renewed emphasis means the pollsters will take their jobs more seriously, but don’t bet on it.  Look for pre-season hype, “when” you lose, coaching assistants, blow out scores and high powered offenses to rule the rankings, while dominating defenses and ball control offenses get slighted, even though LSU last year and Ohio State in 2002 (not to mention NFL examples like the Patriots and Ravens) won national titles with bone crushing defense, not high octane offense.

The Big Ten has adopted instant reply, but there are no coaches challenges in this system.  Whether to review or not will be decided from the booth.  I predict there will be some good reversals, but at least one or two monster flubs where the booth “misses” an opportunity for review and some coach (JoePa) goes ballistic.

Ranking the BCS Conferences

How do I rank the conferences?  First, I look at how many top tier and second tier teams the conference has.  Top tier teams are legitimate top ten teams with a realistic chance of challenging for a title and second tier teams are top 25 teams or teams that could realistically challenge for a top 25 spot.  Looking at things from that perspective alone clearly separates the top four conferences from the bottom two.  Then, I look at relative strength of the top tier teams, how many second tier teams have a shot to challenge the big boys and overall conference depth.  Without further adieu.

6. The Big East:  No top tier teams and, realistically, only three teams that would have a chance of being middle of the pack in the other major conferences (West Virginia, Pitt and Boston College, with Syracuse, UConn and Rutgers being possible up and comers), with West Virginia probably the only one who might be able to manage a winning record in any other BCS conference other than the Pac-10.  It is possible that some non-BCS conferences might be better than the Big Least this year.  On the bright side, as a basketball conference, the Big East has no peers.  Conf. winner:  West Virginia.

5. The Pac-10:  USC is world class and deserves all the hype, but the conference falls off the talent cliff after the Trojans.  Out of Oregon, Oregon State, Washington St. and Cal, two will probably emerge as legitimate second tier schools, but that can’t measure up with the big four. Conf. winner: USC.

4. The Big 12:  The Big 12 has two top tier teams in Oklahoma and Texas, but they lost some luster last year when seemingly unbeatable Oklahoma got crushed by Kansas St. (who then got dominated by Ohio State) and then overwhelmed by LSU to end the season, while Texas, fresh off another spanking from Oklahoma, lost to unheralded Washington St. in its bowl game.  Oklahoma will have a chip on its shoulder this year and Texas always has tons of talent, so you still have to consider them top tier teams; however, Texas has to prove it can compete with Oklahoma, let alone beat them, before they can really be taken seriously.  Kansas St. is a legitimate second tier team that has threatened the last few years to crack into the top tier, but I think they take a step back this year.  Missouri and Nebraska are other squads that get press as second tier teams, and they may be, but I doubt either can be more than an edge of the top 25 team, at best.  The Big 12 has a couple other solid teams capable of pulling upsets and also some garbage pickers like Baylor and Iowa St.  A very good conference, but clearly a step behind the next three.  Oklahoma is a strong title contender.  Conf. winner: Oklahoma (over K. State in the championship game).

3. The ACC:  Now it gets hard and as the season shakes out these next three conferences could easily change positions.  The ACC is the media darling as the strongest conference in America, but I don’t see it.  Florida St. and Miami give the conference two legitimate top tier schools, but I don’t find either of these squads as scary as teams they have had the prior five years, especially Miami.  Florida St. is probably the better of the two, but Miami has had their number for years and FSU has the harder schedule.  Beyond the big two, the ACC is suddenly loaded with potential second tier schools, with Virginia Tech being imported and N.C. St., Maryland, Virginia and Clemson coming on in recent years.  However, I see Virginia Tech and N.C. St. taking a step back (out of the top 25) and I think Virginia and Clemson are overrated (though Maryland is probably underrated).  Georgia Tech, Wake Forest are solid teams that could pull upsets, while Duke and North Carolina are already looking forward to March Madness.  A solid conference and, if I am wrong on my reads, could be the best conference in America.  Conf. winner:  Miami.

2. The Big Ten:  With six teams ranked in both polls, the Big Ten leads all conferences.  Ohio State and Michigan give the Big Ten two top tier teams that could make title runs.  The Buckeyes have a young team (having had a record 14 players drafted last year) and should be lights out in 2005; however, with the addition of some super transfers and frosh, I believe Ohio State will have a top 5 defense again, while the previously anemic offense will be more explosive, which gives them a shot at running the table.  But if the Buckeyes offensive line and running backs do not improve from last year and if the new quarterback is shaky, they may fall from the top ten.  Michigan is loaded at wide receiver, O-Line and defense; however, they will be breaking in a new QB and RB.  If those spots work out, Michigan is a serious title threat ― except that you can count on their coaches to blow one or two games they should win.  Nevertheless, I have a feeling the Wolverines may show up in Columbus undefeated to tangle with the Buckeyes.  Iowa gives the Big Ten a second tier team that has been on the edge of being a top tier team the last couple years.  The Hawkeyes have questions again this year, but, they have had Michigan’s number of late and get the Buckeyes at home.  If things break right, Iowa could steal the Big Ten title from the Big Boys and/or have a top ten finish.  Minnesota is a recent addition to second tier status and they are looking to crack the top tier; however, I put them in the category of the Kansas States and Virginia Techs of recent years, they will win a bunch of games by gaudy scores, but they will lose to the top ten teams.  Nevertheless, a dark horse.  Wisconsin is another legitimate second tier team, that has disappointed the last few seasons, but could break out in a big way this year.  Purdue has been a solidly consistent Top 25 team, has the best quarterback in the Big Ten and took media darling Georgia to overtime in last year’s bowl game.  Flying under the radar with a favorable home schedule, they could make some noise this year.  The Big Ten also has three other teams that, while not second tier, have legitimate bowl aspirations in Penn State, Michigan State and Northwestern.  Finally, the dogs of the conference, Illinois and Indiana, round things out, though Illinois might have a chance to bounce back into a semi-respectable team.  All in all, there are no weeks off in the Big Ten, unless you are playing Indiana.  Conf. winner: Ohio State.

1. The SEC:  LSU has clearly emerged as a clear national power and title contender after last season and most pundits rate Georgia one as well.  I am not completely sold on the Bulldogs.  They have yet to prove that they can beat the top teams and their struggles with Florida are legendary, but they are still a legitimate pre-season top ten team, if over-hyped at #3.  Florida is also intriguing.  I, and many others, think they have slipped a little and are a top level second tier team, but not a legitimate national power (remember, they got drubbed by Iowa in their bowl game).  Others think they are a top tier team with outside title aspirations.  Much the same is true for Tennessee, though they are more solidly entrenched in second tier status.  After those four, things get a little more questionable in the SEC, though Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi all have the potential to be legitimate teams.  Look for two or three of those teams to be solid and at least one to be a major disappointment.  South Carolina is a team that could surprise and then Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State form the bottom tier of the conference, but none of those teams are true garbage feeders like the other conferences have.  I give the SEC the slight edge over the Big Ten because LSU clearly deserves its lofty pre-season ranking, even if Georgia may not, the rest of the conference depth is similar to the Big Ten and no one in the SEC is as bad as Indiana.  Conf. winner: LSU (over Georgia in the title game).

Most Overrated

1.  West Virginia:  The Mountaineers are ranked 10th or 11th in most preseason polls.  However, they would be significant underdogs to all other top ten teams and many of the teams ranked behind them.  They are a media darling solely because of a soft schedule and the fact that they are probably the best team in the Big East.  Look for them to be embarrassed if they make it to a BCS bowl as the Big East representative (not a guarantee, and that alone demonstrates they are overrated).

2.  Cal:  #13 AP, #15 Coaches.  They shocked USC last year and had a good season beating Virginia Tech by three in a 99 point bowl game.  Yet they are still Cal and this ranking is more the result of the Pac 10 being down than Cal being this good.  They might be an edge of the top 25 team, but no better.

3.  The ACC:  Another media darling.  They deserve to be in the discussion for best conference in America and could prove it over the course of the season, but they don’t deserve being labeled by many media outlets as the clearly #1 conference.

4.  Georgia:  A legitimate top 10 team with title aspirations if they can have a great season, but they have to show me a lot more before they deserve the # 3 ranking the AP gives them ― admittedly, however, after USC, LSU and Oklahoma, a tie for #4 between Georgia, FSU, Miami, Texas, Michigan and Ohio State would probably be about right.

Not getting enough respect

1.  The Big Ten:  Yet again, the Big Ten is being written off by the media as not as good as the SEC, the Big 12 and now the ACC, despite six teams in the top 25.  Hogwash. 

Orange Bowl Prediction

Oklahoma over USC in the Orange Bowl.  USC is a no brainer for the title game.  They have, by far, the easiest schedule of the top 9 teams, with Virginia Tech on neutral turf possibly being their toughest game (Cal at home and Oregon St. on the road being the other contenders).  In contrast, every other top 9 team plays one of the other top 9 teams.  If USC loses more than once, there should be an investigation and, by starting off at #1, they are well positioned to absorb one loss (unless the pollsters actually take into account their weak schedule…look for USC to top the human, but not computer, polls all season, which could create some fun debates). 

Oklahoma probably has the best chance to go undefeated of the other top 9 teams, with their toughest game being Texas, who they have absolutely owned in recent years.  I see USC going into the Orange Bowl as a big favorite after crushing teams all year and getting upset.

Teams to watch out for.  Michigan could just be nasty this year and they will want to get USC back for last year’s Rose Bowl.  Ohio State has a good shot at navigating its season until Michigan if things gel right and we have the Wolverines in Columbus.  If there are not two undefeated teams (and there usually are not), LSU will have a good claim for a spot if they navigate the SEC with one loss.  Also, Florida St. and Miami open the season against each other, so even the loser can be well positioned if they can run the table after that.  The only other teams to talk about are Georgia and West Virginia (simply b/c they play such a weak schedule).  I would be shocked if some other team plays for the title this year.

Opening weekend

The only significant game this weekend is USC vs. Virginia Tech.  I’d love to see Tech pull an upset, but look for USC to roll big.

Ohio State

For those of you still reading, it is time to talk about the Buckeyes.  Look for OSU to have the scariest linebacking core in America and a stacked secondary and a solid D-Line.  You can count on their defense being one of, if the best, in the country.  Offensively, there are many questions.  A young offensive line, a new quarterback, the underachieving Lydell Ross and solid but unspectacular wide receivers and tight ends.  Nevertheless, I expect the offense to surprise this year and be much more productive than the last two seasons.  I see Tressel loosening the reins, especially since he can’t rely on great punting this year. However, I also expect it to make more mistakes this year, something that has not happened the last two years.  Unfortunately, I think those mistakes will cost the Buckeyes in at least one game pre-Michigan this year.

Finally, remember the name Ted Ginn Jr.  He will start his splash this year and he is going to be special (as a DB, returner and part-time WR) before all is said and done.

In an article about Iraq’s stunning 4-2 victory over powerhouse Portugual in Olympic football (soccer), the columnist has this to say:

Across their homeland, they watched the game on television at home and at cafes. Even people at a Baghdad barbershop took time out of their late-night haircuts to celebrate the goals.

Against all odds Iraq pulls a monumental upset and “even” people getting late-haircuts stop what they are doing?!?  God knows what those crazy Iraqis will do if they medal.  Someone might interupt a dinner or something.

Of course, it is good to know Iraqi fans learned something from the British troops stationed in Iraq:

Portugal ended the match with 10 men after Boa Morte was ejected for rough play. As the Portuguese player left the field, he was showered with dozens of plastic bottles by Iraqi fans.