Bored

I'm assuming you read the BP sidebar today and nothing in that or the article it references in the San Jose Mercury News say that the deal is "dead" just that with the current economy it's probably going to be delayed further. I personally don't care what happens with the Fremont deal anymore and don't care if they have to play in the Coliseum for another 20 years. What still pisses me off to this day is the city of Oakland and Alameda County bending over and spending $200 million over a decade ago to build the montrosity that is Mount Davis, ruining that stadium just so they could bring back the Raiders. If the Raiders never came back the A's would probably have a new stadium in Oakland by now.

I felt it would be like choosing a Sun Belt game so I left it off and plus there's a good slate of games this week. And if you just can't get enough message board football pick 'em action, shoot kkktookmybabyaway a PM as he has an open spot in his contest right now.

Duke had a scare today against Rhode Island, 82-79. As usual the second of the week of the season is when we start to see some meaningful games. Preseason NIT starts tomorrow with Boston College, Purdue, Oklahoma, and Arizona as the host schools. We could get our first Top 25 match-up of the year on Tuesday between Davidson and Oklahoma. Puerto Rico Tip Off begins Thursday which features two Top 25 teams in Memphis and USC but the tournament organizers have the brackets set up where they would meet in the semis. Good planning there. Xavier and Virginia Tech are the other teams of note. The Coaches vs. Cancer tournament wraps up on Friday where there is the possible Duke/UCLA final for what would be the first Top 10 match-up of the year. Full T.V. Schedule for Week of 11/17 - 11/23 ESPN's has their first game of the year tomorrow night with Purdue's opening round NIT game. If you are an unemployed, insomniac, college basketball fan then Tuesday is your day as ESPN will have games on almost all day long. ESPN Schedule MONDAY NIT First Round: Eastern Michigan at #11 Purdue, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 LATE MONDAY/TUESDAY Massachusetts at #13 Memphis, Midnight/9:00 PM, ESPN Fresno State at St. Mary's, 2:00 AM/11:00 PM, ESPN Idaho State at Hawaii, 4:00/1:00 AM, ESPN Penn at Drexel, 10:00/7:00 AM, ESPN Liberty at UNC-Asheville, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN Centenary at Baylor, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN Richmond at Syracuse, 6:00/3:00 PM, ESPN NIT Quarterfinal: Cornell/St. John's vs. Boston College/Loyola (MD), 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2 Kentucky at #1 North Carolina, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN NIT Quarterfinal: #20 Davidson/James Madison vs. #12 Oklahoma/Mississippi Valley State, 9:30/6:30 PM, ESPN2 NIT Quarterfinal: UAB/Santa Clara vs. Arizona/Florida Atlantic, 11:30/8:30 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY Puerto Rico First Round: Chattanooga vs. #13 Memphis, 4:30/1:30 PM, ESPN2 Coaches vs. Cancer Semifinal: #8 Duke vs. Southern Illinois, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Coaches vs. Cancer Semifinal: #4 UCLA vs. Michigan, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 FRIDAY Coaches vs. Cancer Consolation Game, 5:00/2:00 PM, ESPN2 Coaches vs. Cancer Finals, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 SUNDAY Puerto Rico Finals, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2

Really nothing to see here this week as we have just one (barely) Top 25 match-up where the Ol' Ball Coach returns The Swamp again. But sometimes it's weeks like these where really bizarre things can happen like maybe Alabama gets Croom'd at home and throws the BCS into chaos. And because I know you all were wondering about the ACC divisional races (or at least I was as the conference just fascinates me this year), here are your ACC divisional title scenarios aka The Clusterfuck to Tampa. Note there are other scenarios out there but I went with the path of least resistance for each team. Atlantic Divison Wake Forest 4-2 (at N.C. State, vs. Boston College) -Needs to win out and Maryland to lose once. Florida State 4-2 (vs. Boston College, at Maryland) -Needs to win out and Wake Forest to lose once. Maryland 3-2 (vs. North Carolina, vs. Florida State, at Boston College) -Controls own destiny, would own tiebreak over Wake Forest. Boston College 2-3 (at Florida State, at Wake Forest, vs. Maryland) -Controls own destiny. Coastal Division Virginia Tech 3-2 (at Miami, vs. Duke, vs. Virginia) -Controls own destiny. North Carolina 3-2 (at Maryland, vs. N.C. State, at Duke) -Needs to win out and Virginia Tech to lose once. Miami 3-2 (vs. Virginia Tech, at Georgia Tech, at N.C. State) -Needs to win out and North Carolina to lose once. Georgia Tech 4-3 (vs. Miami) -Needs to beat Miami, Virginia to lose once, and Virginia Tech & North Carolina to lose twice. Virginia 3-3 (vs. Clemson, at Virginia Tech) -Needs to win out, Miami to lose once, and North Carolina to lose twice. Network/Basic Cable Schedule TUESDAY #14 Ball State at Miami of Ohio, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Central Michigan at Northern Illinois, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY Virginia Tech at Miami, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN FRIDAY #22 Cincinnati at Louisville, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY Notre Dame vs. Navy, Noon/9:00 AM, CBS #11 Ohio State at Illinois, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN Northwestern at Michigan, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 Princeton at Yale, Noon/9:00 AM, Versus #3 Texas at Kansas, 12:30 PM/9:03 AM, FSN #25 South Carolina at #4 Florida, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS Minnesota at Wisconsin, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN #16 North Carolina at Maryland, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN* California at Oregon State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* #12 Missouri at Iowa State, 6:30/3:30 PM, FSN #6 USC at Stanford, 7:00/4:00 PM, Versus Mississippi State at #1 Alabama, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN Boston College at #19 Florida State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC* #13 Oklahoma State at Colorado, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC* Vanderbilt at Kentucky, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 UCLA at Washington, 10:15/7:15 PM, FSN Digital Cable/Satellite/GamePlan Schedule THURSDAY Buffalo at Akron, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPNU Wyoming at UNLV, 9:00/6:00 PM, CBSCS SATURDAY Indiana at #8 Penn State, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN* Purdue at Iowa, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN* Duke at Clemson, Noon/9:00 AM, Raycom*/GP Rutgers at South Florida, Noon/9:00 AM, GP #10 Georgia at Auburn, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, Raycom*/GP Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, GP New Mexico at Colorado State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, Mtn. Toledo at Western Michigan, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, GP McNeese State at Northwestern State, 3:00 PM/Noon, FCS Atlantic #24 Wake Forest at N.C. State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ESPNU #17 BYU at Air Force, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBSCS #9 Boise State at Idaho, 5:00/2:00 PM, GP New Mexico State at Fresno State, 5:00/2:00 PM, GP Connecticut at Syracuse, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPNU #23 Tulsa at Houston, 8:00/5:00 PM, CBSCS #7 Utah at San Diego State, 8:00/5:00 PM, Mtn. Troy at #20 LSU, 8:00/5:00 PM, GP All Other Division I-A Games WEDNESDAY Temple at Kent State, ESPN360 SATURDAY UL Monroe at Mississippi Utah State at Louisiana Tech East Carolina at Southern Miss UAB at Tulane Arizona at Oregon Nebraska at Kansas State UL Lafayette at Florida Atlantic Texas A&M at Baylor San Jose State at Nevada UCF at Marshall Washington State at Arizona State SMU at UTEP

Ball State is ranked dead last in strength of schedule and might only be the 3rd best team in the MAC once the season is done as they have yet to play Central and Western Michigan, who they play the next two weeks.

Did this the last couple of years so might as well keep doing. This is just a conference-by-conference breakdown (plus Notre Dame) of where everyone stands when it comes to making bowl games. I know last year you were all thinkg, "Hey they just aren't enough bowl games and I was outraged that 6-6 South Carolina didn't go to a bowl game last year." My friends, the NCAA and ESPN have listened to you and they added two more bowl games (Congressional and St. Petersburg Bowls) bringing the total number of bowl games to 34. That increases the odds even further this year that if you are 6-6 and play in a BCS conference, you will probably find a bowl bid some where. But for the sake of taking into account all possible scenarios I'm not going to consider all six win teams as locks just yet to make bowl games except in certain conferences which I'll get to. Note Navy has already accepted a bid to the Congressional Bowl. ACC Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Orange, Chick-Fil-A, Gator, Champs Sports, Music City, Meineke Car Care, Emerald, Humanitarian, Congressional Locks: Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina Bowl Eligible: Boston College, Maryland, Miami, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest Bubble Teams: Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, Virginia As usual the ACC is just one big entertaining, clusterfuck. Technically it is possible that all 12 teams will become bowl eligible as there just isn't a whole lot of difference in talent from 1 to 12 but the odds of that are very, very slim. The most important game among the bubble teams will be two weeks from now when Virginia hosts Clemson. Duke and N.C. State are both longshots. Notre Dame Bowl Tie-ins: Cotton, Gator, Sun I'm going to mention the Irish before the Big East since what happens to them directly effects the Big East bids. With their loss last night the Irish's were officially eliminated from BCS consideration but if they run the table they could still get into the Cotton Bowl (note this would take away a bid from the SEC) although they'd have to win at USC to do so. 7-5 is more realistic but that also means beating Navy this week which isn't a given and if they do end up 7-5 they probably get an invite to the Gator Bowl or at worst the Sun Bowl, which if either happens the Big East loses a bid. At 6-6 it then gets a bit dicey for them as they then would need to rely on an open bid and hope they don't get gobbled up by 7-5 teams who don't have a bid. By rule any bowl that has a bid that couldn't be filled by one of their conference affiliations, they must invite an available 7+ win team over a 6 win team. If this happens and Notre Dame gets shutout of a bowl at 6-6, expect that rule to change. Big East Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Gator/Sun, Meineke Car Care, International, Papajohns.com, St. Petersburg Locks: Cincinnati, Pittsburgh Bowl Eligible: Connecticut, South Florida, West Virginia Bubble Teams: Louisville, Rutgers Now that I've covered Notre Dame, it's very likely the Big East will have only five available bids instead of six so 7+ wins might be a must in this conference to go bowling. If everything goes to form, the Louisville/Rutgers game on 12/4 will be an elimination game for bowl eligibility. The Cardinals do have Cincinnati and West Virginia at home before then and its not out of the question they could spring an upset in one of those games. Big Ten Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Capital One, Outback, Alamo, Champs Sports, Insight, Motor City Locks: Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State Bowl Eligible: Iowa Bubble Teams: Illinois, Wisconsin As long as Ohio State avoids an upset in their final two games against Illinois and Michigan, they will give the conference a second team in a BCS bowl. Wisconsin has some bizarre scheduling this year as they finish the year against I-AA Cal Poly so you can put them down for win #6 there, if they don't do it this week against Minnesota. Illinois has much longer odds as they finish at home against Ohio State and then at Northwestern. Big XII Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Fiesta (two bids?), Cotton, Holiday, Gator/Sun, Alamo, Insight, Independence, Texas Locks: Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech Bowl Eligible: Kansas, Nebraska Bubble Teams: Colorado, Kansas State, Texas A&M Unless something truly shocking happens, this conference will send two teams into the BCS. That also means that it doesn't look they'll fill the Texas Bowl bid and possibly not the Independence Bowl bid either. Kansas State has the easier road of the three bubble teams as they have Nebraska and Iowa State at home but a loss in either eliminates them. Conference USA Bowl Tie-ins: Liberty, GMAC, Texas, Armed Forces, New Orleans, St. Petersburg Locks: Rice, Tulsa Bowl Eligible: East Carolina Bubble Teams: Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UTEP Outside chance that the conference won't fill the illustrious St. Petersburg Bowl bid as Marshall, Southern Miss, and UTEP all need two wins and they will all need to spring an upset to do so. Memphis is a near lock with only home dates against UCF and Tulane remaining. MAC Bowl Tie-ins: Motor City, GMAC, International Locks: None Bowl Eligible: BCS?, Ball State, Central Michigan, Western Michigan Bubble Teams: Akron, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Northern Illinois, Temple The MAC is kind of a poor man's Big XII this year because the three best teams in the conference all play in the same division, that being the West divison. Now you probably are wondering how the hell can I say Ball State isn't a lock? Yes they are undefeated and it is not impossible that they could sneak into the BCS if both Utah and Boise State lose. But the problem is, is that they still have to play CMU and WMU. If they were to lose both games and then say the East division champ were to upset the West division champ in the MAC title game then Ball State could find themselves without a MAC affiliated bowl game to go to, if both CMU and WMU were invited over them. The odds are strongly against this and they likely find an open bid somewhere but again have to take into account all possible scenarios, however unlikely. This is also why CMU and WMU are not locks either in case there is a huge upset in the title game. Mountain West Bowl Tie-ins: BCS?, Las Vegas, Poinsettia, Armed Forces, New Mexico Locks: Air Force, BYU, TCU, Utah Bubble Teams: Colorado State, UNLV, Wyoming As we all know, Utah will be going to a BCS Bowl (likely the Fiesta) if they finish undefeated which would give the conference five bids. UNLV and Wyoming will play an elimination game this week. The Rebels will be in great shape if they win as they finish the season against lowly San Diego State. Since all three bubble teams are 4-6, it is possible that the New Mexico Bowl will become an open bid if Utah does end up in the BCS. Pac-10 Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Rose (two bids?), Holiday, Sun, Emerald, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Poinsettia Locks: Arizona, California, Oregon, Oregon State, USC Bubble Teams: Arizona State, Stanford, UCLA The reason why all eligible teams are already locks in this conference is because UCLA and ASU play an elimination game on 11/28 thus there can be no more than seven eligible teams for the conference. There is an outside shot at the Pac-10 getting two teams in the BCS because if Oregon State wins out, they win the conference by tiebreak over USC and get the Rose Bowl bid. The odds are against this because the Beavers still have Cal, Arizona, and Oregon left to play but it's certainly not impossible. Also, STANFORD~ will beat Cal to become bowl eligible...or at least they better win. SEC Bowl Tie-ins: BCS/Sugar (two bids?), Capital One, Cotton, Outback, Chick-Fil-A, Music City, Liberty, Independence, Papajohns.com Locks: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina Bowl Eligible: Kentucky, LSU Bubble Teams: Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt Just like the Big XII, it would be a shocker if the SEC doesn't send two teams into the BCS so you can put them down for ten bids. Now they might not fill them all as Mississippi State for one will need pull off the upset of the year at Alabama this week just to stay alive and Auburn will have to upset Georgia or Alabama to become bowl eligible. Mississippi should pick up win #6 against UL Monroe this week. Sun Belt Bowl Tie-in: New Orleans Locks: None Bowl Eligible: Troy Bubble Teams: Arkansas State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, UL Lafayette, Middle Tennessee Barring something unforeseen, the conference title should come down to the ULL/Troy game on 11/22. The conference this year does now have contingency bids with the Congressional Bowl, Papajohns.com Bowl and the Independence Bowl where if those bids are not filled by the primary conference, a Sun Belt team will be taken although I think they have to be 7-5 or better but I could be wrong about that. WAC Bowl Tie-ins: BCS, Humanitarian, Hawaii, New Mexico Locks: Boise State Bowl Eligible: San Jose State Bubble Teams: Fresno State, Hawaii, Louisiana Tech, Nevada, New Mexico State Boise State will be huge BYU fans on 11/22 as they need Utah to lose that game to get into the BCS, otherwise they play another glorified home game against a 6-6 ACC team in the Humanitarian Bowl. Now the conference does have a contingency bid with the Poinsettia Bowl if the Pac-10 doesn't fill it and popular speculation is that they will invite the Broncos to play BYU. Not sure that is much of a consolation prize though. The rest of this conference is a complete mess and I'm not even going to attempt to figure out how it will shakeout.

It's happened many times because you have to remember there was a time when there wasn't 30+ bowl games. From 1984 to 1996 there was no more than 18 bowl games in a given year. It wasn't until the late 90's that we started to see this perpetual increase in the number of bowl games. Just last year though 8-4 Troy was snubbed due to the Sun Belt only having one bid as they lost their season finale to Florida Atlantic to lose the conference title.

BCS Rankings 1. Alabama 2. Texas Tech 3. Texas 4. Florida 5. Oklahoma 6. USC 7. Utah 8. Penn State 9. Boise State 10. Ohio State 11. Georgia 12. Oklahoma State 13. Missouri 14. BYU 15. Michigan State 16. TCU 17. Ball State 18. LSU 19. Cincinnati 20. Pittsburgh 21. Oregon State 22. North Carolina 23. Miami 24. Oregon 25. Maryland

Week 12 Deadlines Deadline #1: Thursday, November 13th, 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST -Lose out on Thursday game. Deadline #2: Friday, November 14th, 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST -Lose out on Friday game. Deadline #3: Saturday, November 15th, Noon EST/9:00 AM PST -Replacement picks, can't win by tiebreak. Week 12 Match-ups #4 Miami of Ohio* PM (Hawk 34, 8-3) vs. #7 Ball State* (Vampiro69, 7-4) - GAME OF THE WEEK #1 Nebraska* PM (Mecca, 9-2) vs. UTEP* (Angel Grace Blue, 4-7) #2 Arizona* (UZI Suicide, 9-2) vs. Boise State (Vitamin X, 3-8) #3 N.C. State (AboveAverage484, 8-3) vs. Fresno State* PM (Agent Bond34, 6-5) #5 Georgia Tech* (iggymcfly, 7-4) vs. Miami* (Spaceman Spiff, 6-5) #6 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff, 7-4) vs. Kent State (JHawk, 4-7) #8 Syracuse* (CanadianChris, 7-4) vs. Minnesota* PM (Vern Gagne, 7-4) #9 LSU (teke184, 7-4) vs. Kentucky* (Danville Wrestling, 7-4) #10 Tennessee* (Canadian Brandon, 8-3) vs. Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto, 7-4) Ohio State (Gert T, 7-4) vs. Illinois (The Rocket, 2-9) South Carolina* (Cuban Linx, 6-5) vs. Florida* PM (Urban Warfare, 5-6) Arizona State* (still fly, 7-4) vs. Washington State* PM (kkktookmybabyaway, 3-8) Indiana* (Agent of Oblivion, 6-5) vs. Rutgers* (the pinjockey, 4-7) Michigan* (MFer, 5-6) vs. San Diego State* (Next USC #55, 5-6) Stanford* (Bored, 5-6) vs. USC* (Cartman, 3-8) Boston College* (HarleyQuinn, 6-5) vs. Florida State* (909, 3-8) Buffalo (Carnival, 5-6) vs. Georgia* (Obi Chris Kenobi, 2-9) Notre Dame* (KingPK, 6-5) vs. Navy (MarvinisaLunatic, 4-7) UCLA* (phoenixrising, 5-6) vs. Washington* PM (Smues, 3-8) Texas* (Broward83, 4-7) vs. Tulsa* (Will Scarlet, 3-8) Week 12 Games to Make Picks For THURSDAY Virginia Tech at Miami FRIDAY Cincinnati at Louisville SATURDAY Notre Dame vs. Navy (in Baltimore) Northwestern at Michigan South Carolina at Florida Minnesota at Wisconsin North Carolina at Maryland California at Oregon State BYU at Air Force Texas A&M at Baylor Arizona at Oregon Boston College at Florida State Vanderbilt at Kentucky Tulsa at Houston Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the South Carolina/Florida game? Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Tulsa's David Johnson have against Houston?

I just saw that on Channel 2..any clue as to how many wins UH needs to get a bowl game, CV? If memory serves, they need one more. They beat up on Southern early in the season, so they've got 5 wins over 1A opponents, with games against UTEP and Rice left. The rule about I-AA wins not counting was thrown out a few years ago so they are bowl eligible. That's what happens when you have 34 bowl games, you can't risk not having enough eligible teams.

I tried and I was only partially successful in figuring out the conference championship game tiebreaks. I first want to thank the members of the Southeastern Seven for making life easy for me as you title game is already set. I did figure out all Big Eight scenarios but for the other three conferences, I'm personally rooting for the easy scenarios to play out next week. Unfortunately in the Pac-8 there were no easy scenarios beyond that UZI Suicide has clinched a spot. In case you were wondering, the basic steps for tiebreaks are as follows. 1. Head-to-Head 2. Overall Record 3. BCS Ranking Big Eight -If San Diego State beats Indiana next week, title game will be Syracuse vs. San Diego State -If Indiana beats San Diego State and both Syracuse and Minnesota win, title game will be Syracuse vs. Minnesota. -If Indiana beats San Diego State and Syracuse wins and Minnesota loses, title game will be Syracuse vs. Indiana -If Indiana beats San Diego State and Minnesota wins and Syracuse loses, title game will be between the two higher ranked teams between Indiana, Minnesota, and Syracuse. -If Indiana beats San Diego State and Syracuse and Minnesota both lose, title game will be Syracuse vs. Indiana. Big MAC -Nebraska has clinched a spot in title game. -If Ball State wins next week, title game will be Nebraska vs. Ball State -If Ball States loses….well there’s just too many damn scenarios to cover after that, sorry. Pac-8 -Arizona has clinched a spot in title game. -Big clusterfuck. Southeastern Seven -Kentucky and Florida have clinched spots in title game. Western Atlantic -If N.C. State beats Miami and Virginia beats Boston College, title game will be N.C. State vs. Virginia -If N.C. State beats Miami and Boston College beats Virginia, title game will be N.C. State vs. Boston College -If Miami beats N.C. State there will be four-way tie that involving N.C. State, Miami, the UVA/BC loser, and Georgia Tech for the second spot. Too many possible scenarios to cover. Now onto the bowl games. Since I can't completely rule out some of you 5-7 and 4-8 teams in the Big MAC and Pac-8 (and Porter controls his own destiny in the Big Eight) possibly ending up in your conference championship I'm not even going to bother with who is "Still Alive" for a bowl game and just focus on those who are eligible. Of course those of you at 6-6 can become bowl eligible with a win next week. Currently there are 17 eligible teams and 11 of those have locked up bowl bids. Again odds are we are going to end up with more than 18 bowl eligible teams so I will probably be adding a 10th bowl game but I'm going to hold off until next week when I'll know for certain if it is needed. Note I won't be adding an 11th bowl game. Locked Up Bids Alabama Arizona Ball State Georgia Tech Kentucky Miami of Ohio Nebraska N.C. State Syracuse Tennessee Virginia Bowl Eligible Arizona State Indiana LSU Minnesota Notre Dame Ohio State Just a reminder, here is the bowl line-up. Bored Bowl: BCS #1 vs. BCS #2 Sugar Cereal Bowl presented by Count Chocula: Pac-8 #1/BCS vs. Big Eight #1/BCS Don't Taze Me Bowl!: BCS vs. BCS Gamestop.com Early Reservation Bowl: SE7 #2 vs. Big Eight #2 Covers.com Degenerate Bowl: WAC #2 vs. Big MAC #2 KFC PETA Bowl: Pac-8 #2 vs. Big MAC #3 I Used To Fuck Guys Like You In Prison Football Classic: SE7 #3 vs. WAC #3 Main Loon Restaurant China Bowl: Big Eight #3 vs. Pac-8 #3 K-Mart Blue Light Special Bowl: At-large vs. At-large

Quick note, bowl updates and conference championship picture will be in a separate post. I honestly don't know if I'm going to figure out all the tiebreak scenarios for the conferences tonight but I'm going to give it a shot. Obviously the biggest result of the week was the stunning loss by UZI Suicide to a team using replacement picks but it was not lethal blow to his Bored Bowl chances. Vampiro69 scored a big win and even though he only moved up one spot overall, he actually picked up over 2 ranking points. Right now I'd say everyone in the Top 6 still can get to the Bored Bowl, obviously though some need more help than others. Mecca is once again alone as the top dog in overall record but the UZI Suicide loss actually ended up costing him #1 ranking. Bored Championship Series Rankings thru Week 12 1. N.C. State - AboveAverage484 2.4 2. Nebraska - Mecca 2.7 3. Arizona - UZI Suicide 3.15 4. Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 3.2 5. Georgia Tech - iggymcfly 3.8 6. Ball State - Vampiro 69 3.95 7. Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff 5.4 8. Syracuse - CanadianChris 6.1 9. Virginia - Edwin MacPhisto 6.75 10. Tennessee - Canadian Brandon 9.65 Other Receiving Votes: Indiana (Agent of Oblivion), Kentucky (Danville Wrestling), LSU (teke184), Ohio State (Gert T)

Week 12 Results #7 Ball State (Vampiro69) 10, #4 Miami of Ohio (Hawk 34) 8 #1 Nebraska (Mecca) 9, UTEP (Angel Grace Blue) 7 Boise State (Vitamin X/The Rocket*) 10, #2 Arizona (UZI Suicide) 8 #3 N.C. State (AboveAverage484) 9, Fresno State (Agent Bond34) 8 #5 Georgia Tech (iggymcfly) 8, Miami (Spaceman Spiff) 6 #6 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff) 8, Kent State (JHawk) 7 #8 Syracuse (CanadianChris) 9, Minnesota (Vern Gagne) 8 Kentucky (Danville Wrestling) 7, #9 LSU (teke184) 6 Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto) 9, #10 Tennessee (Candian Brandon) 8 Illinois (The Rocket) 10, Ohio State (Gert T) 9 Florida (Urban Warfare) 11, South Carolina (Cuban Linx) 8 Washington State (kkktookmybabyaway) 8, Arizona State (still fly) 6 Indiana (Agent of Oblivion) 9, Rutgers (the pinjockey) 8 Michigan (MFer) 9, San Diego State (Anti Hero) 7 USC (Cartman) 8, Stanford (Bored) 8; Cartman wins by tiebreak; How the hell did I go 1-6 in conference? Florida State (909) 7, Boston College (HarleyQuinn) 5 Georgia (Obi Chris Kenobi) 10, Buffalo (Carnival) 8 Notre Dame (KingPK) 8, Navy (MarvinisaLunatic) 6 Washington (Smues) 9, UCLA (phoenixrising) 9; Smues wins by tiebreak Tulsa (Will Scarlet) 7, Texas (Broward83) 7; Will wins by tiebreak Conference Standings Big Eight 1. Syracuse (5-2, 8-4) 1. Minnesota (5-2, 7-5) 3. Indiana (4-2, 7-5) 3. San Diego State (4-2, 5-7) 5. Ohio State (3-3, 7-5) 6. Michigan (2-4, 6-6) 6. Illinois (2-4, 3-9) 8. Rutgers (0-6, 4-8) Big MAC 1. Nebraska (5-1, 10-2) 2. Ball State (4-2, 8-4) 3. Miami of Ohio (3-3, 8-4) 3. Buffalo (3-3, 5-7) 3. Kent State (3-3, 4-8) 3. Tulsa (3-3, 4-8) 7. Texas (2-4, 4-8) 8. UTEP (1-5, 4-8) Pac-8 1. Arizona (5-1, 9-3) 2. Notre Dame (4-3, 7-5) 3. Arizona State (3-3, 7-5) 3. UCLA (3-3, 5-7) 3. USC (3-3, 4-8) 3. Washington (3-3, 4-8) 7. Stanford (1-6, 5-7) Washington State* (3-3, 4-8) Southeastern Seven 1. Kentucky (5-1, 8-4) 2. Florida (5-2, 6-6) 3. Alabama (3-3, 8-4) 3. Tennessee (3-3, 8-4) 3. LSU (3-3, 7-5) 3. South Carolina (3-3, 6-6) 7. Navy (2-4, 4-8) Georgia* (1-6, 3-9) Western Atlantic 1. N.C. State (4-2, 9-3) 1. Virgina (4-2, 8-4) 1. Boston College (4-2, 6-6) 4. Georgia Tech (4-3, 8-4) 5. Miami (3-3, 6-6) 6. Fresno State (2-4, 6-6) 6. Boise State (2-4, 4-8) 8. Florida State (2-5, 4-8)

Annnnnnnnnd Troy has blown the lead. 33-31 LSU with 4:50 left. Also tune over to ESPN2 right now to see history as Vanderbilt is about to be bowl eligible for the first time in 26 years.

Troy is now up 31-3 on LSU!!! They will never wear the bad luck purple jerseys ever again. The Tigers also are starting to become one of the biggest disappointments of the year as this will certainly drop them out of the Top 25, unless they pull off the miracle. Great moment in gambling at the end of the USC/STANFORD~ game as the Cardinal covered the 22.5 spread with a meaningless touchdown on the final play of the game.

Oregon is in danger of blowing a 31 point lead against Arizona. They were up 48-17 with under five minutes left in the 3rd quarter and it's now 48-45 with six minutes to go. USC goes up 31-17 now. Oh well, it'll be the much sweeter to beat Cal to become bowl eligible.

WTF: Troy 24, LSU 3 halfway thru the 2nd quarter. And for STANFORD~ those two big kick returns in the first half were killers as they really dominated the Trojans but only came away with a tie at the half and now it's coming back to haunt them.

I'm sure Rose Bowl officials are thrilled with the possibility of a rematch of that epic 45-14 battle between Penn State and Oregon State earlier this season.

The Clusterfuck to Tampa continues as North Carolina loses to Maryland. For those scoring at home, Virginia Tech controlled their own destiny in the Coastal division going into Thursday, then UNC controlled theirs going into today, and now it's Miami who controls their own destiny. They play at Georgia Tech next week.

The ironic thing about this Big XII South mess, is that Texas really needs Oklahoma to win their next two games. If Tech wins next week, they clinch the division. If Oklahoma wins next week but loses in Stillwater the following week, Tech again will win the division (assuming they beat Baylor). Texas' only realistic shot at getting into the Big XII title game is for the three-way tie to happen. Rough position to be in for a team that was one second away from still being #1 with an almost clear path to the MNC game.

Final deadline has passed, The Rocket's picks will be used for Boise State today.

Still nothing from VX or teke. Here are replacement pick assignments just in case. Boise State - The Rocket LSU - Gert T

Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff Miami Cincinnati Navy Michigan Florida Wisconsin North Carolina Oregon State BYU Baylor Oregon Florida State Kentucky Tulsa TB #1: 56 TB #2: 288

I would be remiss in not noting that Fautino del los Santos had Tommy John surgery in May so that trade didn't turn out that great for the A's. Gonzalez really wasn't ready for the Majors when they called him up.

Again, don't take partials. Gert doesn't get credit for this game. Vitamin X, JHawk, teke184, The Rocket, and Carnival are also late with their picks. AlwaysPissedOff picked Miami for tonight's game. Who You Should Root For #4 Miami of Ohio (Hawk 34, 8-3) vs. #7 Ball State (Vampiro69, 7-4) - GAME OF THE WEEK AZ: VaTech, Notre Dame, Michigan, FSU BS: Miami, Navy, Northwestern, BC Tiebreaks: 55/57, 300/278 #1 Nebraska (Mecca, 9-2) vs. UTEP (Angel Grace Blue, 4-7) NE: Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Baylor, Kentucky UTEP: Navy, Minnesota, A&M, Vandy Tiebreak: 47/46 #2 Arizona (UZI Suicide, 9-2) vs. Boise State (Vitamin X/The Rocket*, 3-8) UZI has a 1-0 lead. AZ: FSU, Kentucky, Tulsa BS: BC, Vandy, Housotn UZI wins if there is a tie. #3 N.C. State (AboveAverage484, 8-3) vs. Fresno State (Agent Bond34, 6-5) NCS: Miami, Michigan, Oregon St, Baylor, Kentucky FS: VaTech, Northwestern, Cal, A&M, Vandy #5 Georgia Tech (iggymcfly, 7-4) vs. Miami (Spaceman Spiff, 6-5) GT: Miami, Michigan, Wisconsin, Baylor UM: VaTech, Northwestern, Minnesota, A&M Tiebreaks: 58/62, 400/291 #6 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff, 7-4) vs. Kent State (JHawk, 4-7) AL: Miami, Navy, Florida, UNC, Oregon St, Baylor, FSU KS: No point for Thur., Notre Dame, South Carolina, Maryland, Cal, A&M, BC Tiebreak: 56/43 #8 Syracuse (CanadianChris, 7-4) vs. Minnesota (Vern Gagne, 7-4) SU: Miami, Oregon St, FSU MN: VaTech, Cal, BC #9 LSU (teke184, 7-4) vs. Kentucky (Danville Wrestling, 7-4) Danville as a 2-0 lead. LSU: Navy, Northwestern, Minnesota, Oregon St, Baylor, Arizona, BC KY: Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, Cal, A&M, Oregon, FSU #10 Tennessee (Canadian Brandon, 8-3) vs. Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto, 7-4) TN: Louisville, UNC, Oregon St, A&M, Vandy VA: Cincinnati, Maryland, Cal, Baylor, Kentucky Ohio State (Gert T, 7-4) vs. Illinois (The Rocket, 2-9) OS: Cincinnati, Michigan, Maryland, FSU, Kentucky IL: Louisville, Northwestern, UNC, BC, Houston South Carolina (Cuban Linx, 6-5) vs. Florida (Urban Warfare, 5-6) SC: Louisville, Kentucky, Tulsa FL: Cincinnati, Vandy, Houston Arizona State (still fly, 7-4) vs. Washington State (kkktookmybabyaway, 3-8) ASU: Louisville, South Carolina, Maryland, A&M, Oregon, FSU WS: Cincinnati, Florida, UNC, Baylor, Arizona, BC Tiebreaks: 30/72, 423/223 Indiana (Agent of Oblivion, 6-5) vs. Rutgers (the pinjockey, 4-7) IN: Northwestern, Arizona, Vandy RU: Michigan, Oregon, Kentucky Michigan (MFer, 5-6) vs. San Diego State (Next USC #55, 5-6) MI: Cincinnati, Baylor, Oregon, FSU SDS: Louisville, A&M, Arizona, BC Tiebreak: 58/77 Stanford (Bored, 5-6) vs. USC (Cartman, 3-8) SU: VaTech, Cincinnati, UNC, Oregon St, Baylor, Tulsa USC: Miami, Louisville, Maryland, Cal, A&M, Houston Tiebreaks: 48/60, 331/200 Boston College (HarleyQuinn, 6-5) vs. Florida State (909, 3-8) BC: VaTech, Navy, Northwestern, South Carolina, BC, Tulsa FSU: Miami, Notre Dame, Michigan, Florida, FSU, Houston Tiebreak #2: 215/200 Buffalo (Carnival, 5-6) vs. Georgia (Obi Chris Kenobi, 2-9) UB: Navy, Wisconsin, Cal, BYU, Baylor, FSU, Kentucky, Tulsa GA: Notre Dame, Minnesota, Oregon St, Air Force, A&M, BC, Vandy, Houston Tiebreak: 58/67 Notre Dame (KingPK, 6-5) vs. Navy (MarvinisaLunatic, 4-7) ND: VaTech, Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, UNC, Baylor, Oregon, BC Navy: Miami, Navy, Northwestern, Minnesota, Maryland, A&M, Arizona, FSU Tiebreak: 60/39 UCLA (phoenixrising, 5-6) vs. Washington (Smues, 3-8) UCLA: VaTech, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, UNC, Baylor, Tulsa WA: Miami, Navy, Minnesota, Maryland, A&M, Houston Tiebreak: 52/59 Texas (Broward83, 4-7) vs. Tulsa (Will Scarlet, 3-8) TX: Miami, Louisville, Michigan, Vandy Tulsa: VaTech, Cincinnati, Northwestern, Kentucky Tiebreaks: 76/68, 264/220