The Ocho gets a minor facelift this week, much less verbal surgery than in past weeks. I had a tough time coming up with an eighth team this week after South Florida’s loss- which is further evidence to me that this is a mediocre year for college football (aka “parity”).

Before I get to the poll this week, I want to address a beef I’ve got with the AP voters. I have a lot of beefs actually, but one in particular simply cannot go unrecognized. I understand that for many people Virginia Tech is a sentimental favorite this year, but are any of the voters actually watching them play?

The Hokies are 6-2 which on the surface is top 15 material (this year). The two losses deserve a little shame- a blowout loss to LSU and the “come from ahead” loss to BC last week. The wins are utterly worthless- victories over East Carolina, Ohio University, William (& Mary), North Carolina, Clemson, and Duke. The statistics are shield your eyes ugly- the defense is pretty good but that Hokie offense is unwatchable- 65th in scoring, 96th in rushing, and 102nd in passing. That’s approaching Notre Dame territory.

Va Tech started the season at # 9 in the AP poll, dropped to # 18 with the 2nd week loss to LSU, and slowly rose up to # 8 last week. Following the loss to Boston College, Virginia Tech dropped only three spots to # 11 in the AP poll (also good for # 11 in the BCS). So I ask again- is anybody actually watching any football games this year or are people just sending in their ballots based on what they see on Sportscenter? Consider the teams currently ranked below Virginia Tech and tell me if the Hokies could beat any of them- Hawaii, USC, Texas, Michigan, Uconn, Alabama, Florida, Auburn… My answer is probably no. Maybe Uconn. I’m not even sure VT even belongs in the top 25 anymore, let alone # 11.

Wow, I feel better after getting that off my chest. Thanks.

Who’s Up?
Arizona State- I moved them up (swapped with BC) after their win over Cal. The real Cal Bears are different from the “conceptual Bears” that people envisioned at the beginning of the season. Still, Cal’s a good team and that was a pretty good win. The Sun Devils are a solid team getting balance on both sides of the ball. I think ASU is going to lose at Oregon this week, but I still like ‘em.

Kansas- With South Florida’s loss, Kansas makes their first appearance in the Ocho. Their strength of schedule is still a complete joke (Sagarin # 101), but they are a solid team on offense and defense, and well-coached.

Who’s Down?
South Florida- Back-to-back road losses puts South Florida out of the Ocho. Sorry Bulls. You’ve got to beat Connecticut if you want to stay on my radar.

Boston College- I moved BC down one spot, despite their win Thursday night over Virginia Tech. Why? They can’t run the football and their pass defense is horrible. The run game was painfully bad last week getting only 32 yards against Virginia Tech. Nationally, their rushing offense is ranked at # 85. How bad is their pass defense? Nationally, ranked # 100. Some of their biggest trouble signs came against the # 41 ranked passing offense (NC State, gave up 351 yards), the # 85 passing offense (Army, gave up 215 yards), and the # 91 ranked passing offense (Wake Forest, gave up 366 yards passing). I don’t care if the Eagles are undefeated and # 2 in the BCS, on a neutral field against more balance teams, they will lose. Scoreboard.

Who’s on High Alert?
Ohio State- The Buckeyes passed their first “High Alert” test last week in State College. This week, they get part one of a two part series titled “Big Ten Pre-season National Championship Contenders”. Wisconsin was pre-season top 10 and many peoples pick for a sleeper NC contender. They’ve looked lackluster for most of the season, including losses to Illinois and Penn State, and their defense has disappointed frequently. Both the offense and defense have gotten back on track the last two weeks and the Badgers have enough talent to pull of the win. They won’t. I’m just saying they can.

LSU- LSU travels to Alabama for the first installment of the Saban Bowl. Alabama is coming off a 41-17 loss to Tennessee and has been horribly inconsistent all season long. They’re pretty good at nearly everything (39th scoring offense, 33rd scoring defense), but not really great at anything. A potential area of concern is their # 60 pass defense- a healthy Early Doucet might be too much for Alabama to handle, that is if Matt Flynn can get him the ball. The game’s in Tuscaloosa which should help. LSU is dealing with the suspension of backup QB Ryan Perriloux and probably a few other related internal distractions. Alabama gets the coaching advantage. All of this adds up to a possible upset. I think Alabama is going to need a few breaks to win the game but it could be very close.

Oregon- The game of the week is in the Pac-10 where Arizona State comes to Eugene on Saturday. The winner leaves the stadium in control of the conference. I think Oregon is going to win but it should be one hell of a game.

Boston College- Not really. I’m just messing with you. BC plays Florida State this weekend. In this decade, the Seminoles stink. The ‘noles should be able to get some pressure on Matt Ryan though which could make things interesting.

Here’s the Ocho for November 1:
1.) Ohio State
2.) LSU
3.) Oregon
4.) Arizona State
5.) Boston College
6.) West Virginia
7.) Oklahoma
8.) Kansas

If the season ended today, these would be your first round tournament pairings:
# 8 Kansas at # 1 Ohio State
# 7 Oklahoma at # 2 LSU
# 6 West Virginia at # 3 Oregon
# 5 Boston college at # 4 Arizona State

I’m not sure whether to laugh, do jazzercise, or write a letter to the India Bureau of Cultural Arts blasting them for the worst song ever written. I keep waiting for a melody, a chorus, anything harmonic in any way shape or form…but it never comes. Either way, a quality “Thriller” rip-off makes for a happy halloween. You’re welcome.

There is a common myth being perpetuated in college football this year, and over the last few years for that matter. The myth is so pervasive and widely accepted that it’s rarely challenged and often used as the basis of many “team a” vs. “team b” arguments. In fact, this myth is usually used as a prepositional phrase to start an argumentative sentence, as if talking about the sky being blue or water being wet or Alec being the most talented Baldwin.

The myth states that there is a wide talent and speed gap between the SEC and the rest of college football. I’ve stated it here before that I agree with the notion that the SEC has the highest number of good (not great) teams of any conference this year. But a blanket talent and speed advantage- that’s another thing altogether. Rather than use single game outcomes to test the myth, I decided to approach it more analytically. If there is such a talent and speed gap in the SEC, surely that would translate into the NFL. So that’s where I looked and here’s what I found.

If you guessed that the SEC has more players on active NFL rosters, you’d be correct. But do the numbers indicate a gross advantage in either talent or speed?

Not at all.

14.1% of NFL players did their college time in the SEC. Not far behind the SEC is the ACC with 13.5% of NFL players. Third is the Big Ten with 12.9% followed by the Pac-10 at 10.8% and the Big 12 at 10%. To sum it up:

14.1% SEC
13.5% ACC
12.9% Big Ten
10.8% Pac-10
10% Big XII

If you remove the older players in the league and only look at players with 0-5 years of experience, that should show evidence of SEC speed translating into the NFL, right? Wrong.

13.7% SEC
13.5% ACC
12.6% Big Ten
10.3% Pac-10
9.7% Big XII

To put the above numbers in perspective, the .2% difference between the SEC and the ACC equals roughly 3 players total. Put another way, only three teams in the league would have one additional player of SEC heritage, all others would have equal numbers of SEC and ACC-folk. You have to work your way down to the Pac-10 before there is on average one more SEC player per NFL team vs. the Pac-10. So if there really is a significant difference in speed and talent in the SEC, it isn’t translating into the NFL. At least not in the numbers.

So the next time you hear someone throw around the SEC being filled with superior talent and speed, don’t let the comment go unchallenged. Because it just isn’t true.

You’re welcome.

Karma (noun) - The cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.

There were many pleasing moments in college football this weekend, but none more so than watching the pain in Urban Meyer’s face as the Gators dropped three out of their last four games, this time to one of the bitches from their own stable of hoes. Let’s listen in to the pre-game locker room speech:

Urb: Fear does not exist in this dojo, does it?
Gators: NO, SENSEI!
Urb: Pain does not exist in this dojo, does it?
Gators: NO, SENSEI!
Urb: Defeat does not exist in this dojo, does it?
Gators: NO, SENSEI!

Despite a secondary that is remarkably bad (ranked 87th nationally) and a quarterback that continues to take a beating at the urging of the Sensei, the Gators lost Saturday to Georgia because of Karma. Plain and simple- Karma. Years of bad Karma had been built up from the ol’ ball coach delivering classless moments as the former Gator Coach. Then, Urban Meyer tipped the scales with his “icing the kicker like an a-hole” move he pulled against Auburn earlier this season.

And now, it’s coming back to get ya’. How’s that taste, Urban? I don’t normally endorse unsportsmanlike behavior or hoolaganism, but in the case of Mark Richt encouraging his entire team to storm the field upon their first touchdown, I strongly support it. Again- it’s Karma coming right back at you Urb.

It was also Karma that helped a bad quarterback in Matthew Stafford go 11-18 for 217 yards and three touchdowns against the Gators. Stafford is having a much better year than last year but is still only completing about 56% of his passes. And it was Karma that helped propel Georgia Freshman Running Back Knowshon Moreno to drop 188 yards on 33 carries, his best game of the season.

All of that adds up to three losses and a disappointing follow up season for the 2006 National Champions. If the Karma continues, there could be one more loss on the horizon with Vanderbilt this week, at South Carolina next week, or Florida State in the finale. One can hope anyways.

You’re welcome.

Finally, a weekend where # 1 & # 2 survive to have their character defamed for another week! Here’s everything you need to know and all the questions you need to ask after week 8 of the greatest sport on the planet.

** You can question the quality of the Big Ten this year. You can question the quality of Ohio State’s schedule. No one with a clean conscience can any longer question the quality of the football team that is Ohio State. The Buckeyes completely dominated an outstanding defensive team in Penn State including:
- 453 yards total on offense
- 12-16 on 3rd down conversions
- Oho State didn’t punt the ball once the entire game
- 38 to 22 minute time of possession advantage
The Ohio State offense won the game with surprising balance getting 200 yards rushing and 253 yards passing. Todd Boeckman was surgically precise hitting on 19/26 (73%) passing for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Ohio State also won the turnover margin (+1) which is what I told you they had to do to win the game.

It wasn’t all roses for the Buckeyes, particularly on the defensive side in stopping the run. Ohio State gave up 139 yards on 23 attempts, many of them coming right up the middle for big gains. Penn State did it with a pair of average running backs and were susceptible several times to draw plays. They’ll need to shore that up for the stretch run if they want to win the National Championship. The Buckeyes also looked incomplete on special teams, with outstanding kicking but little to no return yardage on kickoffs and the touchdown late that they gave to Penn State on a kickoff.

Say what you want about the Big Ten and Ohio State’s non-conference slate, the Buckeyes have now won three night games on the road, and by an average score of 31-12. Ohio State beat Washington on the road at night before it was cool to beat Washington (now everybody’s doing it). Ohio State also took care of a 7-2 Purdue team at night at Purdue. I can’t recall a team playing three night road games in one season, let alone winning all three.

** Oregon may get shut out of the National Championship but they belong if they get there. The Ducks got a landmark victory over a drowning USC team at home. Though they were outgained by the Trojans, Oregon won the turnover margin +1 and held a pretty good rushing offense to 3.1 yards per carry. With good balance on offense and a solid defense, the Ducks would provide a solid test for anyone in the top 10. Unfortunately for them, one loss might keep them out of the NC.

** Arizona State held Cal scoreless in the second half to win 31-20 at home to take a firm grasp on the PAC-10 race. ASU has their biggest test on the schedule next week at Oregon at night. I don’t think they’re going to win that game but they certainly have the rush defense to at least slow down the Ducks. Meanwhile, Cal is reeling losing three in a row and losing offensive identity by the week. Arizona State held Cal running back Justin Forsett to 62 yards on 17 carries and Nate Longshore never seemed to get on track for Cal going 18-36 with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. If you say you have any idea what’s going to happen when Cal plays USC in two weeks, you’re lying. Both these teams are borderline schizophrenic right now.

** If you live in the eastern time zone and didn’t feel like staying up until 3:30 in the morning, you missed Hawaii beating the tar out of another inferior opponent, 4-5 New Mexico State. You might want to get some extra sleep this week so you can stay up for Hawaii vs. Fresno State this Saturday or vs. Boise State in two weeks. If Hawaii wins both of those, then I’ll feel compelled to care about them. Otherwise, not so much.

** West Virginia is the class of the Big East and a legitimate BCS bowl contender. The yardage between WVU and Rutgers was pretty even, with neither team throwing the ball very well and West Virginia getting the rushing edge with 254 yards on 47 carries. The Mountaineers did a serviceable job slowing down Ray Rice, holding him to 142 yards on 30 carries (that’s pretty good considering how good Ray Rice is). The score was not close at 31-3, partly on the backs of two Rutgers turnovers. West Virginia has a pretty good path to a BCS bowl with Louisville, Cincinnati, Uconn, and Pitt left on the schedule, all of which they should be favored in…

** Which brings me to Uconn…The Huskies are a nice story but they’re going to lose against Rutgers this coming weekend and then again at West Virginia at the end of the season. I give them credit for outlasting a good South Florida team this weekend 22-15 with the margin of victory being a pick 6 off SF Quarterback Matt Grothe (one of two interceptions for Grothe). The ride has I’m sure been exhilarating for the Uconn fan base and will no doubt help in recruiting, so all is not lost.

** The SEC is the most difficult conference in college football this year…but let’s not get carried away. The SEC is filled with a lot of good teams and maybe one great team- not a lot of great teams as most people would have you believe. The SEC East is littered with good teams (no great ones) with Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt all capable of beating one another at any given moment. This evidenced by Georgia’s domination of Florida this weekend and an embarrassing loss by Kentucky at the hands of a previously 4-4 Mississippi State team, 31-14. The SEC West is a little clearer with LSU being the only possible great team among the lot and Auburn and Alabama falling under the “good but not great” category. The truth is, the only team in the SEC that is balanced on both sides of the football with no visible weaknesses is LSU; everybody else is beatable. Bottom line: the SEC is not what everyone is making it out to be. LSU is though.

** Newsflash: Mobile Quarterbacks take a beating. Tim Tebow’s shoulder is getting purpler by the week and West Virginia’s Pat White has struggled to stay healthy all season long. Quarterbacks that are dual-threats, while they sell a lot of tickets and create a lot of excitement, carry with them a much higher risk of injury than your standard drop-back passer variety. Is it all worth it? We’ll come back to that at the end of the year and see if Tebow and White finish the season on the field or on the bench (with an ice pack or two).

** Get used to Kansas. They’ve got one road game left (at 5-3 Oklahoma State) plus 4-5 Nebraska, and 1-8 Iowa State before their first and only test of the season at home to a 7-1 Missouri team. Assuming they beat Missouri, they’ll be whisked off to Dallas to get blown out by Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship Game (brought to you by Dr. Pepper). If Missouri beats Kansas then I’m not sure what happens since they’ll both have one conference loss. I’m guessing the tie-breaker is the head-to-head result, or a whittling contest, I’m not exactly current on my Big XII regs. Either way, Oklahoma is headed to the BCS.

** Speaking of Oklahoma, they looked dominating once again this week. What’s that? Oh, I’m being told that they had a bye week this Saturday. No matter, I’m sure they’ll get credit for blowing out some hapless opponent. To paint a picture of how pathetic Oklahoma’s schedule has been this year, their Sagarin strength of schedule rating actually improved two spots with the bye week. So no opponent is actually more compelling competition than who they’ve actually played. And still for some reason, the Oklahoma love fest by the media and studio analysts continues. Lee Corso has the Sooners # 3 on his ballot. Nice.

You’re welcome.

The weather forecast with a touch of crazy. We present to you, Accuweather.com’s best of the best plus the October bloopers real. Enjoy.

The College Football Tour Guy, week 8. Enjoy.

Even great quarterbacks have bad games. For 56 minutes Heisman hopeful Matt Ryan was outplayed by his counterpart on the other sideline, Sean Glennon. Glennon’s not even the best quarterback on his team so not a ringing endorsement for Ryan, who many people say is the best overall pro quarterback prospect. Ryan’s numbers through three quarters were downright horrendous-
1st Quarter- 4-10 for 28 yards
2nd Quarter- 5-11 for 26 yards
3rd Quarter- 5-11 for 47 yards

Through those 56 minutes he had thrown 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Virginia Tech was getting heavy pressure on Ryan the entire game by only rushing four and dropping seven, but their luck ran out in the last four minutes with Matt Ryan scrambling away from linemen to throw two TD’s. On the game-winning touchdown Va Tech dropped 8 into coverage and yet Ryan still found an open receiver.

When the dust settled, Matt Ryan had gone 11-18 for 184 yards in the 4th quarter, including the game-winning touchdown. In a year when there is no clear Heisman frontrunner, Ryan deserves an invitation to New York. He needs to do a lot more to prove he deserves to win though.

And despite how journalists (tv or otherwise) try to paint BC’s win as warm and fuzzy, there are still big questions about a team that’s # 2 in the BCS. It’s a bad sign that VT got heavy pressure with only four rushers, especially if BC plays a better pass defense team down the road (Va Tech had the 40th ranked pass defense coming in). Also concerning that an abysmal Virginia Tech offense put up 116 yards rushing against what was supposed to be the # 1 rush defense. Finally, BC has to be able to rush the ball better if they want to win the national championship. 32 yards on 18 carries isn’t going to get it done against better teams.

Matt Ryan gets points for a gutsy comeback but Boston College needs to do more if they want to stay undefeated.

Another week of upheaval in the world of college football means another shakeup in the Ocho.

Who’s Up?
Boston College- I still have questions about BC (pass defense & punt returns) but I moved them up three spots this week based on how others have played ahead of them. Many people are picking Virginia Tech in the upset tonight- I’m not one of them. Lane Stadium, the defense, and special teams will only get Va Tech so far. The aforementioned should keep the game close but that VT offense is horrendous- ranking 101st in passing and 90th in rushing against only the 54th most challenging schedule. BC’s biggest weakness (pass defense) is clearly not going to be tested by a team that can’t pass the ball and has mega questions at quarterback (back to Sean Glennon). Sean Glennon is the poor man’s Kyle Wright- and that ain’t good. BC’s running game is weak (72nd nationally) and BC will definitely not be able to run the ball consistently against Va Tech. We are going to find out what kind of Heisman candidate BC Quarterback Matt Ryan is because he is going to have to win this game. Virginia Tech is currently a 3-point favorite. This game might be even closer than that.

West Virginia- West Virginia moves into the Ocho with the exit of Kentucky and South Carolina. West Virginia gets their second biggest test of the season this week at Rutgers (already lost at South Florida).

Arizona State- ASU also moves into the Ocho in a big way with the exit of UC and SC. The Sun Devils have Cal, Oregon, UCLA, and USC in the next four weeks. Cal will be a good test this week to tell us whether or not ASU is for real.

Oregon- Oregon moved up two spots this week due to South Florida’s loss and the underwhelming body of work that Oklahoma continues to skate by with. Oregon is in the unbelievably unfamiliar position of being a 3-point favorite at home to USC on Saturday; we’ll see how they handle that. The Ducks have some questions on defense and USC clearly has the talent to exploit that. Whether or not USC plays to their ability is a whole ‘nother question. I like Oregon to win in a shoot out.

Who’s Down?
Oklahoma- As stated here previously, Oklahoma is getting a complete pass on strength of schedule with theirs being 12 spots weaker than Ohio State’s. Everyone is ready to anoint the Sooners as the National Championship opponent against LSU should Ohio State lose. I have no idea why. Scoring offense and defense look good but that loss to Colorado is looking worse and worse every week (Colorado is currently 4-4, losing the last two in a row to Kansas State and Kansas). Plus the 17-7 win over a 1-7 Iowa State team was ugly last week. U-G-L-Y ugly. Plus- Oklahoma has a Freshman quarterback in Sam Bradford who is going to struggle, maybe as soon as Texas A&M this weekend. I’m way down on the Sooners.

South Florida- Down three spots after the loss last week. The Bulls are still a quality team just not top three anymore.

Who’s on High Alert?
Ohio State- Much is being made of PSU and the white out Saturday night. The white out will be a factor in that Ohio State is still a very young team dominated by Sophomores and Juniors. The offensive line has some veterans which will help when they can’t hear the metal on their knee braces clinking but the crowd will make a difference. The biggest weakness on the Buckeyes this year has been offensive turnovers and lack of takeaways from the defense. The Buckeyes must win turnover margin to win this game.

BC- For the aforementioned reasons.

Oregon- Because USC being an underdog might just be enough to motivate them to play to their potential.

West Virginia- Because it’s the fall which means wood-chopping time.

Arizona State- Because Cal’s due for a win.

Here’s the Ocho for October 25th:
1.) Ohio State (Saturday at Penn State)
2.) LSU (bye)
3.) Oregon (USC Saturday)
4.) Boston College (Tonight at Virginia Tech)
5.) Arizona State (Cal Saturday)
6.) South Florida (Saturday at Uconn)
7.) West Virginia (Saturday at Rutgers)
8.) Oklahoma (bye)

If the season ended today, here would be your first round Ocho matchups:
#8 Oklahoma at #1 Ohio State
#7 West Virginia at #2 LSU
#6 South Florida at #3 Oregon
#5 Arizona State at #4 Boston College

We’ve got a couple of quick links for you this morning to help get ready for the college football weekend.

First, Penn State has a problem with poo, and I’m not talking about Anthony Morelli’s passing under pressure. The Centre Daily Times has reported “The handful of comfort stations in the parking lots are, quite literally, full and overflowing with human waste creating untold potential health and safety problems for PSU football patrons and, ultimately, the general public.” Apparently folks from State College are more fanciful than people where I live- I had no idea Port-o-Potties are really called “comfort stations”. If that’s the case, what’s a chili dog, a “dis-comforter”? Discuss amongst yourselves.

The article pointed out that the State College Health Department estimated that 100,000 people over a 10-hour period would require 957 portable toilets. The university said that there are 378 portable toilets around the stadium with plans to have 100 more available this weekend for the Ohio State game. Draw from that whatever conclusions you wish about Ohio State. Either way, that’s a shortage of 479 “comfort stations”. I don’t usually side with governmental estimates, but when it comes to poo, I’m going with the Health Department.

Second link for you today is Rizzo Sports Weekly blog of the “Toughest Places to Play a Night Game in College Football”. #1 is LSU’s Tiger Stadium, # 2 Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, # 3 Rutgers’ Stadium, # 4 Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium, # 5 Camp Randall at Wisconsin. Lucky for college football fans, Lane Stadium will be featured tonight and Beaver Stadium Saturday night. Enjoy.

I’ve seen a lot of videos showing c-store clerks fighting back, but never one with an axe. Until now. Very medieval. It would have been filled with even more awesomeness if she would have also pulled out a mace, a cross bow, or a catapult. Now that’s a Saturday Night Live skit worth watching. Enjoy.

Mark O. has received several e-mails in response to his most recent NFL and Fantasy Football post. To protect the innocent, I’ve provided my artistic interpretation of the original response letters, as well as change the names of the authors. Mark has provided his rebuttals below. Enjoy.

Dear Mark O.,

You’re smoking some of the high quality New Jersey herb is you think Rutgers is going to win the Big East. West Virginia is going to beat them down like Rutgers has stolen memorabilia and West Virginia is O.J.

Sincerely,
Mike from Annapolis

Rebuttal:
Mike from Annapolis says I’m nuts to predict Rutgers as Big East Champs. Well Mike, I am nuts that’s for sure, but lets look at the Big East situation. If Rutgers can beat West Virginia this Saturday then all they need to do is win out to take the title. That means winning @ UConn, home for Pitt and @ Louisville. Army’s thrown in there for good measure but really, how tough will that be? Greg Schiano obviously paid attention to how South Florida shut down the vaunted Mountaineers offensive duo of White and Slaton, and the Knights defense is probably the only other in the conference that has the speed to match up with them like SFla did. Schiano is saying he’ll likely use more underclassmen (like true freshmen Alex Silvestro) on D this week to continually rotate fresh legs into the game. As for UConn, Pitt and Louisville…nothing personal but the only game that worries me is the Louisville game because I don’t know if the scoreboard at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium goes high enough for the points that will be scored.

Dear Mark O.,

Javorskie Lane is too fat and too slow to be a feature back in the NFL. Forget about Larry Czonka and Earl Campbell, think Ron Dayne without all the college awards, and with a pissed off Jim Fassel.

Sincerely,
Gary, from Edison, NJ

Rebuttal:
Regarding Javorskie Lane, let me say this to Gary from Edison, NJ… The days of the “feature back” are ending. More and more teams are seeing the value in the running back by committee approach. Really now, it makes sense. There are few guys out there anymore who can carry the ball 25+ times per game for 16 games and still have anything left for the post-season. Finding two complimentary backs to split the carries and be situational guys is smart. Then, when the playoffs roll around your offense still has some firepower left. If you can get that one guy who can run between the 20’s, both with speed to the corners and acceleration between the tackles, and then another guy to pound it in the red zone or on 4th and short, you’ve got what it takes to have a great running game. Look at Maroney and Morris at NE, Peterson and Taylor in MN, or Jacobs and Ward for the Giants. And guys like Michael Turner for the ‘Bolts, Brian Leonard in St Louis, or Kenny Watson in Cincinnati are making cases for more playing time every week, if for nothing else than to keep their #1’s healthy. Javorskie isn’t going to be an every down back in the NFL but he can certainly help a one-dimensional running team like the Ravens, Bills, 49ers or Lions with some red zone power. Personally, I think he belongs in Arizona, but that’s just me.

Speaking of running back by committee, most fantasy drafts this year probably looked like this…

1. LaDainian Tomlinson
2. Stephen Jackson
3. Larry Johnson
4. Shaun Alexander

Then…Gore, Addai, Parker, Rudi J, Westbrook, maybe Travis Henry or Chad Johnson and then Peyton or Carson. But, with the explosion of passing TD’s and the expansion of the multi-back scheme, next year will probably look like this…

1. Brady (duh!)
2. Peyton
3. LT
4. Romo
5. Addai
6. Moss
7. Carson
Then…LJ, TO and Rookie of the Year Adrian Peterson. Just wait, you’ll see.

I want to tell you about a special place. A place where paid journalists can make sweeping generalizations with little or no factual support. A place where logic and reason aren’t welcome but close-mindedness ignorance are welcome neighbors. That place my friends is Idiot Country. The newest resident in Idiot Country is Foxsports.com senior writer Don Borst.

Among many gems in Don Borst’s article today are the following: “…as things stand, it sure looks like we’re destined to watch a repeat of last season’s BCS championship game- top-ranked Ohio State getting blown out by a much more complete team.” “…put them (Ohio State) in New Orleans on Jan. 7 against a second-ranked team like LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, or USC, and we’d have another ugly tilt along the lines of last year’s 41-14 drubbing of the Buckeyes by Florida.” “…OSU’s four remaining opponents currently are 23-9, but those records are just as hopelessly padded by the soft non-league schedules Big Ten teams played this year.”

That’s more generalities than I thought could fit into three articles, let alone one. Unfortunately, without a playoff in D-I, we’re going to continue to be subjected to unsubstantiated reckless commentary from the likes of Don Borst and many others. And as angry as his comments make me, and as easy as it would be to quickly use reason to shoot holes in most of his arguments, I’m not going to provide him the courtesy of such a response.

Let’s take a few steps back and look at what we know and we don’t know after 8 weeks of college football. Let’s also keep in mind that we don’t really know how good opponents are until we’re at the end of the season and we have the ability to look retrospectively at the entire body of work. All the games have not been played yet, and when they have, the schedules will have somewhat evened themselves out:

Ohio State (8-0)- Strength of schedule is low (Sagarin # 71) but they’ve performed admirably against that schedule with a 26-point average margin of victory and no major statistical weaknesses to be exploited by future opponents (turnover margin is still a concern though- 60th in the country). By win-loss record, Ohio State’s remaining schedule is the 4th most difficult in the country. We’ll find out how good Ohio State is.

Boston College (7-0)- Strength of schedule is going to get much tougher for the Eagles as well. Their previous opponents have a 21-30 record while their future opponents have a record of 21-12. Why get worked up now about BC being # 2? We’ll find out how good they are. Statistically, BC’s 105th ranked pass defense is a potential weakness.

LSU (7-1)- Brutally tough schedule to this point (Sagarin S.O.S. at # 10). It turns out that LSU’s schedule has been front-loaded and they’ve done well only losing once in triple-overtime on the road. Their future schedule is easier than Ohio State’s previous schedule has been. The combined record of LSU’s future opponents is 11-16 which makes for the 89th most difficult remaining schedule (not counting the SEC Championship). We’ll find out if LSU can stay disciplined and win the games they’re supposed to down the stretch like Ohio State and Boston College have to this point.

Arizona State (7-0)- Strength of schedule is low (Sagarin # 60). They’ve performed admirably as well with a 5-2 record against the spread, a 23-point average margin of victory, and no glaring statistical weaknesses. The meat of the schedule is still to come with remaining opponents combined record at 23-12 (good for 17th most difficult). We will find out how good Arizona State is.

Oregon (6-1)- Current strength of schedule is above average (Sagarin # 26). The remaining schedule is going to be a little tougher with remaining opponents holding a combined 22-12 record (good for 20th most difficult). Pass defense is potentially a concern, currently ranked at # 89.

Oklahoma (7-1) Oklahoma is being given a complete pass on their current strength of schedule. By Sagarin ratings, OU’s strength of schedule is 3rd worst in the BCS top 15 at # 83. They have a loss on the record, a 4-4 against the spread, yet are # 4 in both major polls and # 14 in the computer average. We don’t really know how good Oklahoma is and yet Don Borst is certain that OU would blow out Ohio State. Not really sure how he came to that conclusion other than likelihood that he’s a moron. The schedule gets tougher for OU with future opponents’ combined record of 16-12 (good for 42nd toughest remaining schedule). Depending on how the Sooners play down the stretch, I’m not sure we’ll know how good they really are.

West Virginia (6-1)- Current S.O.S. is average at # 56. Future schedule gets a little tougher at # 38 (combined opponent record of 19-13). Passing offense is an alarming 103rd in the country, which means that if you can shut down the running of Slaton and White, you can beat the Mountaineers. We’ll find out how good West Virginia is.

Virginia Tech (6-1)- Current S.O.S. is average at # 54. Future schedule gets much tougher at # 6 (combined opponent record of 26-10). The offense is a mess at Virginia Tech- 101st ranked pass offense and 90th ranked rush offense. We’ll find out how good Virginia Tech is.

Kansas (7-0)- Current S.O.S is nearly the easiest in D-I, ranked # 117. They’ve performed as expected against that slate with no statistical weaknesses and 6-0 against the spread (all with a grain of salt based on that S.O.S.). The future schedule gets much tougher for them with future opponents’ combined record of 19-16, good for 48th toughest schedule. I’m not sure we’ll find out how good Kansas is.

South Florida (6-1)- Current S.O.S. has been very difficult, 8th toughest according to Sagarin. South Florida has come through that stretch with one loss and a few statistical areas of concern. The schedule gets markedly easier with remaining opponents at 17-17 (good for 59th toughest remaining schedule).

You’re welcome.

Apparently the 20 million+ viewers watching Dancing with the Stars each week isn’t enough for ABC. First they brought on Heather Mills to dance with one leg. Now Marie Osmond is passing out on stage while being critiqued by Simon Cowell errrr Len Goodman. What’s next, bringing Al & Tipper Gore out on stage for a lil’ dirty dancing? Please no.

So my buddy RedRenee is the college football expert. I can’t even begin to compete with his analysis or the Ocho. However, since I live in New Jersey and went to school at Texas A&M I’ll just say two things on the college game…. First…Go Rutgers! Soon to be the Big East champs and in a BCS bowl this year. And second…Who wants to draft Javorskie Lane next year (think Larry Czonka and Earl Campbell all rolled into one)!?!?

Ok, now onto the NFL football and Fantasy! It’s minutes before kickoff of the Indy/Jacksonville game so the weekend isn’t even officially over but I have a few thoughts for you NFL fans and Fantasy geeks.

1. Tom Brady is on pace to throw 62 touchdown passes this year. Yes, I said sixty-f-ing-two! Makes Manning’s 49 in 2004 and Marino’s 48 in 1984 sound pretty lame, huh?

2. Ronnie Brown is done and the Fins are looking at 0-16…no really, find me a game they can win. They’re 0-7 for the first time in team history and have a team record 10-game losing streak going. Their best chances are two games against the Bills (11/11 and 12/9) and maybe the Eagles (11/18). The rest of their schedule is @ Pittsburgh, the Jet, the Raves, @ New England (yeah, right) and Cincinnati. Can you say “And now, with the first pick in the 2008 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins select…”.

3. If you think Rob Bironas is the answer to your fantasy season, think again. Yes, 26 points by a kicker is an NFL record and probably won a few fantasy games as a bye week replacement. But the real Rob Bironas has never scored more than 8 points in standard scoring leagues and is ranked 21st among all kickers. Stick with your other guy.

4. Back to the Patriots for a second…Randy Moss has 10 touchdowns through 7 games. That works out to 22.86 for the year at his current pace. Jerry Rice holds the league record for receiving touchdowns at 22 in 1987. Stay tuned.

5. Did all you Rudi Johnson owners pick up Kenny Watson? 31 rushes for 130 yards and 3 TDs? Shame on you if you didn’t!

6. The Redskins had 160 yards of total O and almost 10 minutes less possession time than Arizona and still won. Ouch Cards fans.

7. Adrian Peterson (MIN) is averaging 6.2 yards per carry and almost 112 yards per game. You can start engraving the Rookie of the Year trophy now.

8. Jon Kitna has been sacked 28 times this year. That’s 5 more time than Donovan McNabb and Joey Harrington and 10 more than Marc Bulger and Damon Huard. Go ahead Detroit, draft another wide receiver #1 next year, I dare you.

OK, my wife went to bed, I can watch the rest of the game now.

Another breathtaking weekend of college football. I’m not even sure where to start so I’ll start at the top and work my way down:

** If you only looked at the final score between Ohio State and Michigan State, and didn’t see the game, you’d think Ohio State escaped with a close win over an evenly matched opponent. You’d be half-wrong. Ohio State did escape with a close win over an evenly matched opponent, but that opponent Saturday was themselves. Ohio State completely dominated a 5-2 Michigan State team at home, holding a potent Spartan offense to 185 total yards and 3 points, including holding the nation’s (formerly) # 7 rusher Javon Ringer to 49 yards on 18 carries. Ohio State held Javon Ringer so far below his average that he went from # 7 on the rushing list to # 13.

Also impressive was that Ohio State rushed for 220 net yards against a team that was only giving up about 100 yards per game coming in.

It almost came unwound during 60 consecutive seconds at the end of the third corner when Ohio State Quarterback Todd Boeckman threw a pick 6 to Otis Wiley and then on the very next play, an Ohio State lineman missed a block which resulted in a sack and fumble for Ohio State and a 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Sir Darean Adams.

Everybody in America needs to put the outcome of last year’s National Championship game behind them. This year’s Ohio State team is a different group of kids, and make no mistakes about it- that defense is special. Also know that turnovers are becoming a problem for Ohio State. Of the top 10 BCS teams, Ohio State has the worst turnover margin at +0. Here’s the BCS top 10 and their current turnover margin:

OSU +0
BC +11
LSU +11
ASU +6
Oregon +5
Oklahoma +4
WVU +7
Va Tech +3
Kansas +10
S. Fl. +10

If Ohio State is going to make a return trip to the National Championship this year, they must correct the turnovers. Losing the turnover margin at Penn State or at Michigan will translate into losses.

** Boston College didn’t play Saturday but moved up to # 2 with South Florida’s loss on Thursday. BC has a Thursday night matchup this week at Virginia Tech which should be their first stiff test (and probably only). Lucky for the Eagles, their weakness (pass defense # 105), is also Virginia Tech’s weakness (pass offense, # 101).

** Les Miles is one crazy bitch. His play-call gambling is getting a lot of credit while LSU is winning, but eventually that gambling is going to cost them a game somewhere. It almost did against Auburn this weekend:

Miles gave further proof of his intellectual prowess in the post-game interview with Holly Rowe:

Holly: Tell us about that last call, coach.

Les: (looking like he’s trying to solve long division in his head) Which call?

Holly: (looking as if she’s shocked Miles is able to feed himself) The touchdown call to win the game. Tell us a little about that.

Holly: Weren’t you worried about the clock?

Les: (cognition providing verbal momentum as if it were a snowball made of stupid rolling down a snowy hill) We didn’t use our last time out, we could have called time out after that. Absolutely not. We felt like with 18 seconds, 16 seconds on the clock we were in great shape.

I can’t find the video anywhere but here’s a funny recap of the interview courtesy of www.edsbs.com

** As I foreshadowed in the Ocho on Thursday, South Florida’s field goal percentage (58%) was a problem Thursday night in Piscataway against Rutgers. South Florida Kicker Delbert Alvarado went 2-4 Thursday night including one that was blocked in the 3-point loss for the Bulls. Also a problem for South Florida was Rutgers Running Back Ray Rice. Rice put up 181 yards on 39 carries. Despite the win, Rutgers Quarterback Mike Teal was below average throwing for 179 yards on 11/29 passing (completion). Teal missed open receivers on several occasions which kept the game as close it was.

** I have questioned LSU Quarterback Matt Flynn’s ability to take a team on his shoulder and win the game. He answered that question resoundingly on Saturday against Auburn. Flynn was 22/34 (65%) for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win over a pretty decent Auburn pass defense. The win wasn’t all roses for LSU- specifically on defense. I know, I know- how dare I question LSU’s defense? Consider this- Auburn put up 24 points and 296 yards against the LSU D. Auburn came into the game as the 98th ranked offense (by YPG) averaging 335 yards per game. Including the game this weekend, Auburn is ranked # 58 in rushing offense, # 106 in pass offense, and # 70 in scoring offense. That’s not the kind of dominating defense we expect from LSU, but you won’t hear that mentioned from anyone on television…

** South Carolina’s Steven Baldwin offense (no talent, living on a name) finally caught up with them Saturday in a 17-6 loss to a 4-3 Vanderbilt team at home. Nice job coach. This game is the biggest indication to me that the SEC is getting too much credit for “quality of conference”. Vanderbilt and South Carolina are two average teams and neither of them should have been # 6 coming into the game (I’m looking at you Spurrier). I had South Carolina at # 8 in the Ocho and needless to say, they be making a hasty exit this week.

** USC may be slightly underachieving but at least they’re still good for a supreme Notre Dame ass-kicking. The Notre Dame offense continued to amaze with their lack of any playmakers whatsoever with 117 yards passing and 48 yards rushing. 80,795 people were on hand to witness the beating.

** Who has the most difficult strength of schedule in the country? I would have said Notre Dame as their 1-7 record is due in part to playing some very good teams. I was wrong, Notre Dame is # 2 S.O.S. According to Sagarin, the Washington Huskies have the # 1 S.O.S. Fortunately for Tyrone Willingham, the Seattle press are bit more rational than the press and alumni in South Bend that ran him out of town.

Pouty looks are on sale in Seattle.

** Oklahoma is getting a complete pass in the polls this week. Oklahoma remained at # 4 in both the AP and USA Today polls, despite a 17-7 win against a hapless Iowa State team. How hapless? Iowa State came into the game with a 1-6 record and an average margin of defeat of 20 points. Any team in the Big Ten gets dropped for 10-point win over a 1-6 team.

** Oregon’s offense is sick. Second in the nation in scoring and second in total offense. Their behind Texas Tech in both categories but Oregon has put up those numbers against the # 26 S.O.S. vs. # 111 for Texas Tech. I can’t wait to see USC at Oregon this weekend.

You’re welcome.

I was out of town this weekend so the college recap is a little behind schedule. In the meantime, enjoy this story:

It turns out Florida State fans still have a sense of humor. After a 4-3 start, a 4-10 record in the last 14 league games for Florida State, and their loss to Miami 37-29, a couple Florida State fans snuck a “For Sale” sign onto the lawn of Head Coach Bobby Bowden overnight.

It would be even funnier if it weren’t at the same time clear that Bobby Bowden is undoing everything that he’s built at Florida State by coaching a few more years than he should have. Time to hand the keys to the team over to somebody else Coach. I’d wait to sell the house though, the housing market’s pretty tough right now.

Here’s to the end of the work week and another fantastic weekend of football. And God Bless America.

I told you last week in the Ocho that LSU was beatable, I just wasn’t sure if anyone could do it this year. As you know by now, it turns out I was half right on that.

I also told you that I wasn’t on the Cal bandwagon and I would be watching them very closely against Oregon State. I did, and I saw them lose to Oregon State in dramatic fashion.

The Ocho looks a lot different than it did last week, mostly thanks to the LSU and Cal losses plus some uninspiring wins by a few other teams and some additional statistical insight. After spending hours doing statistical analysis on the current BCS top 15, I can assure you that the upsets are not over this season. The frequency will slow down but large upsets are still on the horizon, starting perhaps as early as Thursday night when South Florida travels to Rutgers.

Why Ocho? Because we want to see an 8-team playoff at the end of the season and we firmly believe in the “Field of Dreams” theory- if we write it, it will happen.

1.) Ohio State (7-0): The knock nationally against Ohio State is that their strength of schedule thus far is weak. The Sagarin strength of schedule ranking of # 72 supports this. Of the BCS top 15, only three other teams have a lower Sagarin strength of schedule- Boston College (# 79), USC (# 87), and Kansas (# 126 (includes D-IAA teams as well)). The win on the road over Purdue at night counts as a quality win but most of the rest of the schedule has been good for bringing along a young team, and not much else.

There will be no doubt about how good this Ohio State team is by the end of the season- all five of Ohio State’s remaining opponents currently have a 5-2 record. Consider also a third night road game (against Penn State) and the finale on the road against Michigan; should Ohio State finish the season undefeated, they belong in the title game. Statistically, there are very few weaknesses in this Ohio State team- # 24 scoring offense, # 1 scoring defense, strong special teams (86% on field goals, # 13 in net punting, and # 45 in punt returns). The defense is amazing in that not only are they # 1 in scoring and yards per game, but they’re equally stiff against the run and pass (# 2 in both categories). The only places of possible concern are passing offense (# 69), turnover margin (ranked 56th), and kickoff returns (ranked 110th). Actually, the kickoff returns aren’t too much of a problem since the opposing team doesn’t do much of that. Ohio State is holding their opponents to an average of 6.6 points per game.

Ohio State held the # 6 ranked rusher (Eugene Jarvis) last week 60 yards under his average (84 vs. 142). Michigan State comes in this week with the # 7 rusher in Javon Ringer. Also remaining on the schedule is the # 13 rusher (Rashard Mendenhall) and of course the nation’s leading rusher, Mike Hart. That rushing D is definitely going to be tested.

2.) LSU (6-1): I know, I know- they lost. I get it. But if you look at the statistics behind the numbers, it’s hard not to put LSU in the top two or three. For starters, they have the # 13th ranked strength of schedule. Put any of the teams in the top 10 this year through their schedule and I think the best any of them would be would be is 6-1, just like LSU. And upon further review, Kentucky is a better team than I thought so no crime in losing on the road in triple overtime to ‘em. Still, there are some areas of concern for LSU- they’re currently ranked 2nd in the nation in turnover margin. If they can keep that up, great. In critical games, that can go the other way quickly so something to watch out for, especially in the SEC championship game.

Also surprising is the “one-dimension-ness” on Offense and some red flags on special teams. LSU is 10th in rushing offense but 88th in passing offense. Auburn is 28th in rushing defense so it will be very interesting to see if Auburn can load the box and force LSU Quarterback Matt Flynn to win the game through the air this weekend. Special teams are a weakness for LSU- 69% on field goals, 108th in punt returns, 51st in net punting. Not good.

If you’re a gambler (I’m not), there are only three teams in the BCS top 15 that have a losing record against the spread- LSU (3-4), Virginia Tech (2-4), and USC (2-4). Just throwing that out there.

3.) South Florida (6-0): I moved the Bulls up from # 8 last week based on the statistics and how they’ve played on the field which simply can’t be ignored. South Florida is performing at a high level vs. the # 31 strength of schedule, including wins over two top 30 Sagarin teams (Auburn, West Virginia). Defense is excellent at # 11 (scoring) and Offense is similarly good at # 27, though a little imbalanced with passing offense ranked at # 73 and rushing offense at # 35. Rutgers is # 5 against the run and # 45 against the pass so the game Thursday night between these two could be a defensive battle with the outcome bending toward field position and special teams, which leads me to….

South Florida’s special teams are a concern. 58% on field goals, 64th in punt returns, and 55th in net punting. That could spell trouble in Piscataway or against Cincinnati on November 3rd.

4.) Oklahoma (6-1): I flip-flopped Oklahoma and Oregon this week mostly because Oregon has a harder remaining schedule and I want to look smart. Statistically, Oklahoma and Oregon are nearly identical- the only noticable difference is that Oregon has a much tougher strength of schedule and Oklahoma has a better rush defense.

A road game at high octane Texas Tech is all that is standing in the way of Oklahoma cruising into the Big 12 Championship game 11-1.

5.) Oregon (5-1): Oregon lost their # 2 receiver (Cameron Colvin) and # 2 running back (Jeremiah Johnson) last week which will definitely hurt them down the stretch with USC and Arizona State still on the schedule. I’d normally mention that UCLA is also remaining on the schedule, but UCLA lost to Notre Dame so they’re demoted to I-AA as far as I’m concerned.

6.) Kentucky (6-1): Kentucky is making their debut in the Ocho, and for good reason. A landmark win over LSU last week and a solid statistical body of work have earned them a spot at # 6. Scoring offense is excellent at # 7 but scoring defense is second worst among top 15 BCS teams at # 64. What’s really bringing down the defensive ranking is a 99th ranking in rushing defense. Florida comes into Lexington this week with a better passing offense than LSU and a comparable rushing game. Kentucky will also have to deal with the emotional drain from last week. If Kentucky pulls off another huge win this week and beats Florida, I’m moving them up, but they still have dates at Georgia and home to Tennessee to get past.

7.) Boston College (7-0): I want to buy into the Eagles, I just can’t. I did move them into the Ocho after being an AYO (all you others) last week. Boston College is getting it done with a solid offense (# 30 in scoring), excellent turnover margin (4th nationally), and a one-sided defense (19th in scoring but 105th against the pass). Fortunately for Boston College, the Virginia Tech team that they’re playing on the road next Thursday is a horrible passing offense (# 100 nationally). Punt returns are also a problem for BC at 106th nationally. The ACC is a horrible conference this year.

8.) South Carolina (6-1): I downgraded South Carolina this week on account of their 6-point win on the road at North Carolina last Saturday. I know the Gamecocks beat Kentucky, but that game was played at home and was dominated by Kentucky with the exception of four turnovers which ultimately led to the SC win. South Carolina is surprisingly average on offense (59th in scoring, 66th in passing, 86th in rushing), and one-dimensional on defense (3rd in pass defense, 90th in rushing defense). That rush defense is going to be a big problem when the # 20 rush offense in Florida comes to town on November 10th and an even bigger problem the week prior to that at Arkansas, the nation’s # 3 rushing offense. I think they’re going to lose at least one of those games, maybe both.

If the season ended today, your first round Ocho matchups would be:
# 8 South Carolina at # 1 Ohio State
# 7 Boston College at # 2 LSU
# 6 Kentucky at # 3 South Florida
# 5 Oregon at # 4 Oklahoma

That would be some good football.

You’re welcome.

Finally a candidate we can all get behind.