News and notes

This weekend represents the last full weekend of college football. From here on out we will be subject to a trimmer selection of football and then the championship and bowl games.

The big loser for this weekend is the Miami Hurricanes. Miami screwed the pooch at home against Georgia Tech. Wave bye-bye to the BCS now 'Canes, the Gator Bowl awaits you. Virginia Tech subsequently is the biggest potential winner should the Hokies win out against North Carolina next week and Florida State in the ACC Championship Game. Tech went from getting the shaft from the BCS to a solid spot now in their control.

How bad has it gotten in Knoxville? Vandy ended 22 years of frustration against the Volunteers and actually has me thinking that the Cats (UK) could end their drought against the Vols. Tennessee has fallen from #2 preseason and my pick for SEC champs to a 4-6 record. Lovely.

The Fiesta Bowl bid now comes down to the campaigning. Oregon is 10-1, having only lost to USC. Ohio State is 9-2 and their two losses are to Texas and Penn State. Ohio State, said here before, has the bigger fan base, the more glamourous TV potential, and the more clout. However, the Ducks cannot be ignored. Coach Mike Belotti of Oregon felt the pain of being on the wrong side of a popularity contest once when his once-defeated Ducks were denied a shot to play Miami for the 2001 National Championship. Instead, Belotti sat on the sidelines watching the Hurricanes destroy Nebraska. Could it happen again to the Ducks?

Here is my BCS guess:

Rose - USC vs. Texas
Fiesta - Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
Orange - Penn State vs. Virginia Tech
Sugar - LSU vs. West Virginia

I think the Orange Bowl will now take Penn State as their first choice and swing back through and pick up Virginia Tech later. Granted, they might have to take Tech as the rules are still not clear in my mind and have never been explained with any degree of ease by the BCS folks.

The travesty of the weekend was by ESPN 2. I had to watch the Duke Blue Devils destroy Davidson in a meaningless November basketball game instead of getting the Clemson-South Carolina football game. I mean, I am sure the Gamecocks and Tigers don't excite many not from South Carolina, but for the Dookie Network to put on that sham was horrible.

Next weekend is Turkey weekend and I see a ton of blowouts. A bunch of teams will be vying not to screw their pooches. Notre Dame needs one more win over Stanford for the BCS, Texas needs to make sure A&M remembers they aren't very good, and the battle of Florida and Florida State is reduced to see who can still make a New Year's Day bowl. Georgia - Georgia Tech could be the highlight with the Jackets win over Miami and the Bulldogs perhaps looking forward to the SEC Championship.

Otherwise we are about to close the football season. Hopefully in the coming days we will take a peek towards next year and see who will be where.