A couple of shifts in the poll this week and still no love for Texas Tech. If they beat Texas this weekend, they’ll make a dramatic entrance to the Ocho next week.

If the season ended today, this would be the first round Ocho playoff matchups:

# 8 Utah @ # 1 Texas
# 7 USC @ # 2 Penn State
# 6 Oklahoma State @ # 3 Alabama
# 5 Florida @ # 4 Oklahoma

Tell me you wouldn’t be salivating over those potential matchups. Two SEC -v- Big XII games. USC Penn State (which will probably see anyways). The non-BCS team getting the “play-in game” against # 1 Texas. This is how college football needs to be. You suck Commissioners.

You’re welcome.

College football tour guy, episode 9. Dateline: Columbus (unfortunately).

Enjoy.

Ohio State from Dan Rubenstein on Vimeo

Well, sort of. The 57 MTV channels on cable are still dedicated to wasting our time with shows featuring Snoop, Tila Tequila and every other former reality show loser. But the good folks at MTV have finally realized that some people still want to see music videos. Thus they bring us MTV Music, a website dedicated to bringing you every video in the MTV vault. From the latest from Britney to the very first video ever broadcast on the network. And apparently everything in between. Be sure to check out the Most Viewed and Top Rated. I’m not sure what’s going on but I guess Rick Astley still has a lot of fans out there.

Here’s a sample:

Enjoy.

In addition to proposing a redistribution of wealth of epic proportions, apparently Barack Obama wants to control the media as well. Forget a socialist utopia, how about a communist utopia.

If you happen to tune your television at 8pm tonight to NBC, CBS, Fox, MSNBC (shocking), Univision, BET, or something called TV One, you’ll have the pleasure of watching a 30-minute infomercial from Barack Obama. Obama will no doubt wow the gushy left/alleged independents with various flavors of prose, cleverly veiled attacks, and promises of shortening the school year and putting a jukebox in the cafeteria (works in high school government elections). Unless he is selling Shamwows or a Ronco product at the end, I won’t be participating in the “march to history”. I am hoping though that they’ve change his tag line to “Change…you can’t easily quantify or empirically support”

This is political debauchery of grotesque proportions. Infomercials aren’t new of course, Ross Perot used them extensively in his bid for the White House in 1992. But Perot was an unknown; Obama already has the entire mainstream media in his pocket and all of Hollywood stumping for him. Even Secretary-of-States-for-hire (I’m looking at you Colin Powell) are rockin’ the vote.

No, this is a display of the type of arrogance possessed by the Democrats today, an almost god-like attitude that they can make it rain, and will if they think it’s best for the country. It’s just the start of course, once Obama is elected and the Dems have an even greater stranglehold on Congress, who knows where the Socialist machine will take us. I’m just hopeful when Obama and his caucus inform me of what job I can have and what house I can live in, it’s satisfactory to me and my family. Praise be to Barack. The left can’t all get the credit- George Bush has to accept his share. He went into the White House a folksy conservative Republican and is leaving a shamed socially conservative Democrat

On news that total political ad spending nationwide will surpass $2 billion dollars this year, and news that Obama will break George Bush’s former spending mark of $188 million, I have to ask the question- how many more of you need evidence that our government is out of control and not enough of them are truly interested in making meaningful change (ie. putting most of them out of a job). And what hope is there of real change with political spending as far out of control as it is. How could a third party even establish themselves without the billions of dollars in the bank that the Republicans and Democrats have?

And how about the continued double standard that apparently is perfectly fine with most voters. If it were McCain that changed his mind about campaign spending and was blitzing television like Barack is, there would be shrieks of the Republicans trying to buy the election.

Also can you imagine if a Republican couple hung an effigy of Barack Obama on the front of their house like a gay West Hollywood couple did of Sarah Palin?

AP photo - Ric Francis

I can’t think of a more disgusting image that I’ve seen recently. At least ultra left-winger Keith Olbermann spoke about the effigy saying “This is not the spirit of Halloween, sir. It is the spirit of violence.” And that’s the last place I would have thought to look for some rationality. But thanks Keith, and try to control yourself tonight while declaring the Obama infomercial a ripping success.

You’re welcome.

I mean really. If she can do this by herself with a friggin keyboard, who needs a whole band? Kansas, Rush, who’s next on her list to destroy? (editor’s note: I would suggest John Tesh, Kenny G, and the Backstreet Boys. We could all do without them).

According to her YouTube profile she’s a 6th grader into Hannah Montana, Pirates of the Caribbean and High School Musical. Kill me now please.

You’re welcome.

It’s refreshing when an NFL coach shows real leadership and isn’t afraid to call out prima donna athletes. Thus was the case when interim 49ers Head Coach Mike Singletary singled out TE Vernon Davis for being such a prima donna. And he did so in his first game as interim head coach. Davis is in the second year of a five-year, $23 million contract.

Singletary went a step further and sent Davis to the locker room while the game was still going on. Afterward, in his press conference Singletary said:

“I believe this: I would rather play with 10 people and get penalized all the way until we’ve got to do something else. Rather than play with 11 when I know that right now that person is not sold out to be a part of this team. It is more about them than it is about the team.

Cannot play with them. Cannot win with them. Cannot coach with them. Can’t do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win.”

I now have an official man crush on Mike Singletary. Wouldn’t the NFL and the world be a whole lot better place with more people who took that attitude? Sure would. 20-25% of the NFL is filled with people like Vernon Davis and it would be great if they all were sent to the showers permanently.

Incidentally, we can also do without sideline reporters who don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, like this young lady who asked Singletary if he got a call from Bill Walsh. That would be a neat trick since Bill Walsh is deceased. Everybody’s entitled to a bad day every once in awhile, just a shame when you have one that’s televised.

With the losses sustained by both LSU and Ohio State, the BCS picture thinned out in the middle but remained crowded at the top. Here are your questions and answers from week 9:

1.) Regarding Texas Tech -v- Kansas, I questioned TT’s manhood a bit, instructed you to take the over, and suggested Texas Tech would lose. Score me 1 for 3 on that one- the over/under was 67 and the combined point total was 84. You’re welcome if you laid your kids’ college fund down on that bet (I expect 7%). I’m still not a believer in Texas Tech but I must give their defense credit for holding a decent (albeit one-dimensional (75th in rushing) offense in check. Turnovers played a big part in the game- with Texas Tech having a + 4 advantage. Let’s not get too carried away though with a win over Kansas. Keep in mind KU was ranked 23rd and is the very first ranked team Texas Tech has played this year.

Gut check time this coming weekend when # 1 Texas comes in to Lubbock. I still think Texas Tech is going to lose their next three games, but job well done against an opponent with a pulse.

2.) I nearly nailed Oklahoma -v- Kansas State. The line for OU-KSU was 18 but I said the Sooners would win by 30+. Final score Oklahoma- 58, Kansas State- 35. That’s a 23-point margin in case you went to an SEC school so not 30+ but definitely beating the spread. The Sooners have a fascinating stretch run with Nebraska at home this Saturday, road trip to Texas A&M then an off-week before finishing up with Texas Tech at home and Oklahoma State on the road. Looks like the Big XII is going to continue to be a lot fun to watch the next few weeks.

3.) No sense in lingering over my awesomeness in picking a Florida blowout over Kentucky.

Despite my prediction, I was still stunned at the dominance Florida produced following an off-week against a team that they could have easily coasted by. Next up is the big one with Georgia this Saturday- the same Georgia team mind you that beat Florida last year and kicked ‘em in the nuts with their full-team touchdown celebration. Here’s the video in case you need a refresher:

You better believe that moment has been stewing in Sensei Urban Meyer’s psyche for an entire year. He and the Kobra Kai Gators will be ready for Georgia and they will sweep the leg- no mercy on the Bulldogs (skip forward to 1:42 of the clip).

After Florida beats Georgia this weekend, they’ll take over 1st place in the SEC East and finish with Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Citadel, and Florida State. Following wins in those games, they’ll move on to beat Alabama in the SEC championship game and then likely take Penn State’s spot in the national championship (assuming Texas wins out). Like it or not, the Gators are not going away this year.

4.) I highlighted the differences in quarterbacks between Georgia and LSU as the biggest key to the game. On LSU’s 1st offensive play from scrimmage, QB Jarrett Lee threw an interception which was returned for a touchdown by Georgia. Lee followed it up with two more interceptions in LSU’s 52-38 loss. Neither defense played very well in a game that featured nearly 1,000 yards of offense, but Georgia did enough to get the win and keep their title hopes alive leading up to Florida this weekend. LSU still has Alabama on the schedule, but even if they win out, they need Alabama to lose another conference game to make the SEC Championship. They won’t so expect Alabama to play (lose to) Florida.

5.) Which defense has more of a right to be pissed off- Ohio State or Tennessee? The Volunteer defense has played with heart this year, despite zero support from the offense. How little support? Try 18.4 points per game which is good (bad) for 107th in the country. That’s the sole reason why Tennessee is 3-5 this year and barring a miracle, they won’t be bowling for the second time in four years. Also consider since the national championship in 1998, the Volunteers are 3-5 in the bowl games they’ve made it to. All of that spells the likely end for Phil Fulmer so go ahead and get your resumes in: http://www.utsports.com/. Wouldn’t it be ironic too for Fulmer to be fired on the 10-year anniversary of his national championship. You wanna bet too that the day that happens, Spurrier calls him up to ask for a tee time?

6.) As I predicted, Michigan State did beat Michigan. No matter how bad Ohio State fans feel, at least they’re not Michigan who’s 2-6 with all four games remaining on their schedule as conceivable losses. If you keeping score at home, and I know you are, Michigan currently holds the record for most consecutive bowl appearances (33) and the longest current streak of non-losing seasons (40). Both of those records are getting rich-rolled (trademarked) this year. If you also assume they’re going to finish 2-10 (gasp), you have to go back to Bump Elliott in 1968 when the last time a Michigan team played so badly (2-7 final record). It’s not all RichRod’s fault of course, saying the cupboards are bare in Ann Arbor is a gross understatement. Still, Rodriguez has managed to undo 20 years of Bo Schembechler’s hard work in one season- way to go.

7.) Arizona did stay close with USC losing 17-10. The ‘Zona defense played admirably holding USC to only 17 points but like Tennessee and Ohio State, got zero support from the offense. Arizona totalled 188 yards on 61 offensive possessions, or a little over 3 yards per play. Nice.

8.) That crazy Juice Williams. Just when I highlight that he had only thrown one interception in the last three games, he comes up with three interceptions against Wisconsin. Score that as me getting Jacquizzed by Juice. And now that I’ve typed that, pornographic advertisements probably will start showing up on this site- thank you Google Adsense. In all seriousness- how about the Big Ten “powers” this year- Michigan is 2-6 and both Wisconsin and Illinois are 4-4. Damn.

9.) As I predicted, Texas beat Oklahoma State but it was much closer than Vegas thought it would be (4 points instead of 12). Oklahoma State had Texas on the ropes at several points but either because of mistakes or lack of execution just couldn’t get it done. The Cowboys availed themselves to be a very quality football team and will be a challenge for whomever they play in their bowl game.

10.) One play. It’s not fair for the kid (Terrelle Pryor), but it all came down to one play. About 11 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, OSU up 6-3, Penn State had just missed a game-tying field goal, and Ohio State was finally starting to establish some continuity in the running game. Full-blown run out the clock Tressel-ball. 3rd and 1 and a QB sneak was called. Pryor saw the Penn State defense rushing the line of scrimmage like Democrats to the voting booth and decided to kick outside. The ball gets knocked loose, Penn State recovers. One 15-yard pass interference call and a couple lunges forward and backup QB Pat Devlin is the hero.

I certainly didn’t expect Tressel-ball to break out what with Penn State coming averaging many dozens of points per game. The problem with that plan is that it’s far too dangerous to play Tressel-ball with a freshman at Quarterback. Not that Todd Boeckman necessarily would have done any better, it’s just not realistic or fair to ask a freshman to play a mistake-free game against a defense as good as Penn State. And that’s the strategic mistake that the Ohio State coaching staff made that cost the team the game, a shot at a third Big Ten title in a row, and perhaps a chance at playing in the national championship (again).

Further breakdowns to come on this game, but needless to say, I was wrong in picking Ohio State to win.

You’re welcome.

The BCS can take a deep breath. Ohio State is not going to be in the Championship game this year. They weren’t really in danger of making it anyways, but Penn State finally put the Buckeyes out of their misery. Minus two on turnovers and conservative offensive playcalling did the Buckeyes in. Penn State moves on to their last three games which they’ll win and end up playing Texas or an SEC team in the National Championship. For Ohio State, perhaps a trip to the Rose Bowl or with a loss at Illinois, probably to the Citrus Bowl.

More to come on Sunday.

The stakes are getting bigger and there’s also reliable statistical data so we’re adding match up stats for most of the key weekend games.

1.) Can Texas Tech keep hope alive against Kansas? This game is a mirror exercise- Texas Tech has the best pass offense in the country; Kansas isn’t far behind. Texas Tech nearly has the worst pass defense in the country; Kansas isn’t much ahead. The over and under on this game is 67 and I say take the over. If I had any money left in my 401k, I’d sink it in the over. I’m not saying Texas Tech isn’t any good, I’m just saying they’ve beaten nobody. And I think the ride ends for the Red Raiders.

2.) How much is Oklahoma going to beat Kansas State by- 20 or 30? The line is 18 but I’m going with 30+. The Sooners only beat Kansas by 24 last week but Kansas has a better defense than KSU. Plus, Oklahoma has an inferiority complex and too many other Big XII teams have been getting attention.

3.) Will Kentucky make it interesting @ Florida? In a word- no. Kentucky at full strength could have made for a very good game, but no running back and multiple losses on defense have left the Wildcats a shell of their former cat-ness.

4.) Who will be left standing between Georgia and LSU? One of them will have two losses which (barring insanity) leaves them out of the national title picture. Both teams are coming off underwhelming wins, and neither looks to be what most people expected of them. The game is at LSU so that’s an obvious advantage for the Tigers, but not enough of one.

Georgia simply has too great an advantage at Quarterback for me to pick LSU. I’ve been hard on Georgia QB Matthew Stafford frequently in the past, and though he’s still prone to throw too many interceptions, he’s far better than the options at LSU. Plus, the play-action with Knowshon Moreno will be enough to keep that ferocious LSU pass rush off-balance.

There are rare occasions when teams play two quarterbacks because they complement each other and provide match up problems for the opposition. The other scenario is that a coach plays two quarterbacks hoping that the sum of their parts will equal one decent quarterback (it doesn’t, I checked the math). LSU suffers from the latter, and I’m going to stop there because that’s the nicest thing I can say about Jarrett Lee and Andrew Hatch.

It would have been interesting to see what this LSU could have done with Ryan Perriloux at Quarterback. He should have been kicked off the team prior to the National Championship game though so at least Les Miles got a ring for his troubles.

5.) Has Tennessee quite on Phil Fulmer? Alabama has been playing with fire this year and they travel to Knoxville to play a Tennessee team that has been battered and bruised this year. Tennessee has a very solid defense but their offense has been surprisingly anemic, including a pretty poor running game. RB Arian Foster has yet to really get on track, and that’s after nearly 1,200 yards last season. It’s mostly because the Volunteers have been playing catch up so often this year, but they must keep the game close so they can keep running the football. I also think Alabama QB John Parker Wilson is due for a bad game. He’s thrown double digit interceptions each of the last two years but only has three this year. Most of that success is because Julio Jones is a freak and can catch anything within two zip codes of him. Nonetheless, I expect Wilson to struggle a bit today and for the Volunteers to sack up and win.

6.) Can Michigan State finally beat their big brother Michigan? If ever there was a year, this is the year. Michigan is 2-5. Michigan State is 6-2 but is coming off an emotional crushing at Ohio State last week. Michigan State is favored by 4 so it’s not an upset, but I like the Spartans to finally get a win (six straight losses) in Ann Arbor.

7.) Will Arizona stay with USC? USC knows they have to win with style in their remaining games, but they’ve got a tricky road game against a good (albeit unranked) Wildcat team. I’ll be pulling for Arizona to pull off the upset and put a bullet in the Pac-10 once and for all, but I don’t think USC is going to get Jacquizzed again.

8.) Will Wisconsin salvage their disaster of a season when Illinois comes calling today? Not bloody likely. Wisconsin is one-dimensional on offense which is why they’re 0-4 in conference play. Illinois QB Juice Williams is showing his mid-season form, only throwing one interception in the last three games. Illinois is below average against the run but Wisconsin is going to need some plays in the passing game in order to win.

9.) Can Oklahoma State upset Texas? They can but they won’t. Oklahoma State is a quality team but save for the 5-point win over Missouri, they haven’t beaten anybody. Texas looks to be on a mission, and that mission includes beating the Cowboys at home this afternoon.

10.) Who’s going to be left standing in the Big Ten? Penn State has been the most consistent and dominant team this year. The grain of salt that that fact has to be taken with is that Penn State has played the 100th ranked schedule (according to Sagarin). Darryll Clark hasn’t really been challenged this year, only getting sacked six times and throwing two interceptions. PSU hasn’t played a defense anywhere near the caliber of Ohio State so they will definitely be challenged tonight.

Here’s a statistical nugget for you- PSU’s Derrick Williams gets all the press as the dangerous punt return man in this match up but did you know, Derrick Williams ranks 35th nationally behind Ohio State’s Ray Small at 17th for punt returns (14 yards per return for Small compared with 10.3 per return for Williams). So when analysts and TV types are hyping Williams today, know that statistically, Small is a better returner.

The stakes are high- if Penn State wins they’re coasting into the National Championship game. Also relevant is that I suspect Penn State is playing for their legendary coach JoePa and what could (likely will be?) his final season as head coach.

If Ohio State loses, the hopes for a third straight conference title are over. Not only that, but the last thread of their national reputation is on the line. With high consecutive high profile losses against Florida, LSU, and USC, this is likely the last opportunity for Ohio State to prove not only that they are nationally relevant, but that they should be. Ohio State has been good the last two weeks but too inconsistent this season for me to have any level of comfort about the outcome.

The bottom line for this game, as has been the case for the Buckeyes all season, is that turnovers will determine the outcome. Ohio State is # 1 in the country in turnovers gained and # 4 in turnover margin. Penn State has turned the ball over only 8 times; Ohio State only 9. If Ohio State can get the turnovers, they win. It’s as simple as that.

Ohio State has obviously not played well in litmus test games in recent history, but I think they’re going to put it together tonight and beat Penn State in a very close game, possibly even in overtime.

You’re welcome.

SI Tour Guy, episode 8. Enjoy.

Texas from Dan Rubenstein on Vimeo.

Palin on SNL. This is worth watching if you haven’t seen it yet.

Enjoy.

Here’s the Ocho for this week. Several games this weekend could shake things up for next weeks’ edition. If the season were to end today, here’s your first round Ocho match ups:

# 8 Florida @ # 1 Texas
# 7 Utah @ # 2 Penn State
# 6 Oklahoma State @ # 3 Alabama
# 5 USC @ # 4 Oklahoma

You’re welcome.

We’ve all been there, watching our favorite team and seeing what, in our view, was a blatant pass interference call. But the ref doesn’t see it or at least doesn’t agree with our beer-addled brains. Well, give these BC fans credit for taking matters into their own hands. Didn’t work but definitely an “A” for effort!

Along the path of premature speculation (which is never a good idea) and with the first BCS poll out, it’s time to take an early look at who’s got what left and who’s likely to be in the BCS championship at the end of the season. This isn’t an effort to predict the exact final order, rather an attempt to look at remaining schedules and current positions.

As the cliché goes, Texas and Alabama are in the driver seat (Alabama is on Texas’ lap) for the championship. Should both win out, they’re in, it’s that simple. Simple except that both of them aren’t going to win out, and neither might. Stepping aside from this point, let’s take a look at who’s got the easiest remaining schedule.

# 5 USC. The Trojans don’t have a ranked team left and the combined record of their remaining opponents is 20-20 (good for vision, bad for ‘puters). No non-conference championship game also makes it an easy road.

The PAC-10 has been a colossal disappointment this year and that could very well cost USC a chance at the BCS Championship (still be alive for the AP title). USC is currently 10th in the computers and that stands to get worse, not better. For the Trojans to make it to the title game, they need 3 of the 4 teams ahead of them to lose, and probably all four just to be safe. It’s highly possible that should # 6 Georgia win out (they won’t), they’ll jump USC. They also need Ohio State to win out. If the Buckeyes lose to Penn State this weekend and/or Illinois down the road, the Trojans sole “quality win” evaporates into thin air. They could conceivably be 15th or lower in the computer polls by the end of the season. Still, USC will win their remaining games so expect them to be in the discussion at the end of the season.

# 3 Penn State. PSU has the second easiest path on three fronts- first, they’ve only got four games left vs. five or six for other teams. Second, the only real test they have left is the night road game at Ohio State this weekend. Third, and like USC, no conference championship game to contend with.

A road game at Iowa plus finishing at home with Indiana and Michigan State should be easy wins (based on past performance anyways). The Nits are 7th in the computers so they’re not going to jump Texas or Alabama. So in order for them to reach the title game, they’re going to need either Texas or Alabama to lose and probably will need Oklahoma with another loss to keep from getting jumped by them.

After USC and Penn State, the schedules are markedly more difficult.

Third easiest path has to go to…(gulp)…# 9 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are going to have to overcome a huge bias in the media in order to make it to the title game, which isn’t likely to happen. Consider that the toughest game left on the schedule for Ohio State is Penn State at home this week. After that, they’ve got an improved Northwestern team and a declining Illinois team, both on the road, before finishing at home with abysmal Michigan.

The good news for the Buckeyes is that the computers love them- 5th overall. The bad news is because of the aforementioned media bias, the Buckeyes aren’t getting in ahead of a one-loss Texas, Oklahoma, or a two-loss Alabama, Georgia, or Florida.

Next in line has to be # 2 Alabama. A road game at # 13 LSU stands alone in a list of final competitors that have a combined record of 18-16. The Crimson Tide will also have to beat either Georgia or Florida in the SEC Championship game. Florida has some questions and ‘Bama’s already beaten Georgia handily, so that game should be too scary. The risk for Alabama is they’re a very young team and it’s quite likely they’ll have a letdown at some point, perhaps even this week @ Tennessee where Phil Fulmer is fighting for his job. Plus Alabama’s DT Terrence Cody will be out with an ankle injury.

# 10 Florida has a slate full of teams with winning records, with the exception of 3-4 Citadel. Road games at Georgia and Florida State, plus either Alabama or LSU in the SEC Championship game should they be fortunate enough to get there.

# 4 Oklahoma has a pretty easy path with their toughest games (Texas Tech, @ Oklahoma State) at the end of the schedule. By then Texas Tech should be a shell of what they are now and Oklahoma State will likely have a loss already to Texas. The problem that OU has is that they need Texas to lose two conference games in order to get to the Big XII championship game, plus they need to beat Oklahoma State. They’ve certainly got the team to do it, but hard to imagine Texas losing and letting them in.

# 13 LSU also is looking pretty good. Sure they’ve got Georgia and Alabama on the schedule still, but both of those games are at home. Besides those two, Tulane, Troy, Mississippi, and Arkansas also remain (12-14 combined record). Assuming the Tigers run that schedule down, they’ll have Georgia or Florida in the SEC Championship game.

In terms of getting back to the BCS Championship game, LSU’s got an uphill battle. Their computer ranking of 19th will definitely improve if they can beat Georgia, ‘Bama, and Georgia/Florida, but I don’t think they’re getting the kind of quarterback play they need to get it done.

# 7 Georgia has a road trip to LSU, a home date with Florida, home with rival Georgia Tech at the end of the season, plus either Alabama or LSU in the SEC title game should they get that far. With the Bulldogs’ recent performance, it’s hard to believe they’ll get that far.

# 1 Texas has undefeated Oklahoma State at home this weekend followed by road games at Texas Tech and Kansas, sprinkled with Baylor and Texas A&M at home. After that they’ll have to beat either Kansas (again) or Missouri (again) in the Big XII Championship game. The Longhorns have certainly shown that if any team is going undefeated this season, it’s them. Still, it’s going to be tough.

# 6 Oklahoma State has the toughest path with #1 Texas this week on the road, plus a road game at Texas Tech and the finale at home against Oklahoma. If they survive that, they’ll have to get through either Kansas or Missouri in the Big XII title game. Pretty big long shot given the Cowboys’ defense.

You’re welcome.

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Courtesy of SNL

Brace yourself for a fall. A mighty, precipitous fall. The Texas Tech Red Raiders are the darling of the polls- 6th in the coaches’ poll and 7th in the Harris Poll. Undefeated, flashy on offense, part of the Big XII lovefest 2008 taking place in the national media, surly head coach…what’s not to love?

Peel back the sheets a little though and the Red Raider pajamas don’t look good. First and most glaring is the body of work- sure they’re undefeated, but over two I-AA teams and a bunch of unranked weaklings. The D-I opponents have a combined 15-21 record and Texas Tech’s schedule is ranked 103rd by Sagarin, 85th strictly ranked by opponents’ win-loss record.

The statistical look-see bears similar results. Number one in pass offense sounds great, but Texas Tech is 68th in rush offense so hardly a balanced attack. Worse yet, they’re a horrific 103rd in pass defense. That doesn’t bode well for any future stretch, but is particularly bad when three of the top 13 passing offenses are still on the schedule (Oklahoma- 3rd, Kansas- 6th, Texas- 13th). The Red Raiders are also 50% on field goals and 104th in net punting.

And speaking of future opponents, the remaining schedule includes # 23 Kansas, # 1 Texas, # 6 Oklahoma State, and # 4 Oklahoma. If that’s not enough, they’ve also got an improving Baylor team in the last game of the season.

So in case you’re not so good at math…lack of decent previous opposition + questionable defense and special teams + brutal remaining schedule = the DOW on a bad day.

The absolute best case for Texas Tech is they go 3-2 in the final stretch to finish 10-2. More likely is 2-3 with a final record of 9-3 which means another vacancy in the top ten and a weakening of the “Big XII is best” argument. Obviously the worst case is 0-5 with a final record of 7-5 which certainly is within the realm of reasonable probability.

Any way it shakes out, expect Texas Tech to fall quickly and provide more shake up in the BCS top 10.

You’re welcome.

The first edition of the BCS came out Sunday evening with little discrepancy about the top two, but plenty of crap after that.

Discrepancies start as early as # 3 Penn State who is 3rd in both human polls but 7th in the computers. It’s safe to assume that this discrepancy will be fully resolved after this weekend when Penn State travels to Ohio State.

USC is surprisingly low in the computers, with an average of 10th vs. their human ranking of 4th/5th. Particularly in the polls that don’t factor margin of victory and factor conference strength (or lack thereof), USC is not as impressive as voters think they are. This is definitely something to watch considering what little competition USC has remaining should three teams end the season with one loss.

Oklahoma State is not getting human love in the eyes of the computers. The Cowboys are 3rd in the computers but 8th in both human polls. Even more interesting, Oklahoma State is the highest ranked Big XII team in the computers after Texas, but the humans have the Cowboys behind both Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

On the flip side of that Big XII paradox is Texas Tech who is 6th/7th by the humans, but 11th in the computers.

Not surprisingly, Ohio State is getting some “accrued negative bias” after the last two years. Their computer average is 5th yet both human polls have them at 10th for a BCS “average” of 9th overall. Reiterating the Penn State comment above, it’s safe to say this will be sorted out after this coming weekend.

On the flip side of that bias is the Florida Gators who are getting plenty of love from SEC loving voters. U of F is 6th in Harris, 7th in USA Today but a stunning 12th in the computers. That begs for an analysis of how good Florida really is based on their body of work and not their reputation.

Also getting a healthy SEC bump is LSU. Les Miles’ crew is 11th in both human polls but a staggering 19th in the computer polls. Again- under no circumstances should there be that wide of a spread between the two.

Finally, South Florida is also getting a surprising bump in the polls. The Bulls are 14th in both human polls but 23rd in the computer polls. Funny enough too, South Florida is one spot ahead of a team they lost to at home (Pittsburgh) just two weeks ago).

You’re welcome.

As Mark O. pointed out to me, I stand corrected on the whole head-banging cello thing. Here’s a group of three cellists covering “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Add in leather pants, pasty white skin, and a fog machine for good measure.

Thanks to Uncle Morty for spotting these. First up is an 11-year old playing the Pirates of Caribbean theme on a guitar:

Second is “The Final Countdown” performed on what’s listed as a KazzKeylele (their spelling, not mine). Probably should be more accurately called a “you’renotgettinglayedanytimesoon-le”. Love the creativity and effort though.

Finally, and speaking of Final Countdown, here’s two phrases that don’t quite fit together- head-banging and cello:

You’re welcome.

Dateline: Columbia, Missouri

Missouri from Dan Rubenstein on Vimeo.

Some tips to help navigate the financial markets, courtesy of Jon Stewart.

…and then we’ll spring the trap!

Heading into the homestretch for both presidential campaigns, here’s an homage to the campaignin’ from JibJab.

You’re welcome.

The folks at Google have resurrected their oldest available search index from January 2001 in honor of their own 10th anniversary. It’s pretty cool to look back and see what was and wasn’t relevant on the internet back then. They’ve even hooked up with the Wayback internet archive to allow you to view the actual web pages from your searches.

Try “Bowl Championship Series” and you’ll find rankings from 12/3/00 showing Oklahoma at #1. Not too different there!

Enter “Anna Nicole Smith” and she’s still alive!

Search for “Britney Spears’ and all you get is news about her new album dropping on November 6, 2001.

And for the totally morbid…try “9/11″. Nothing about the WTC. Almost makes you wish you really could go back…

Ahhhhh…the ingenuity of youth!