Bored

Woah...I bet that pisses off the MAC and Miami of Ohio too as a match-up of them and TCU would have received a decent amout of hype as like I suggested it could be built as the "Non-BCS Championship Game". I know they are saying it has to do with school but I'm not buying it. I think maybe the Ft. Worth Bowl contacted TCU to come there as obviously it would be more geographically friendly for them. Guessing Louisville moves into the GMAC Bowl now.

I think Ohio State will get taken in the BCS over any SEC team especially if Miami wins the Big East as it would appear the BCS would love to match-up those two again. Tennessee isn't going to jump Ohio State unless they win the SEC title game and it wouldn't matter then since Tennessee would be in automatically. Really at this point I'd be surprised if Ohio St. isn't in a BCS game as they travel well, have a high ranking, and don't play another game this year so they can't hurt themselves.

Only bowl news today is Wisconsin accepted an invite to the Music City Bowl. I'll edit the everyone elses bowl projections in my post from yesterday to reflect it.

Houston - 24 pts. Green Bay Dallas - LOCK Chicago Houston N.Y. Giants Pittsburgh St. Louis Indianapolis Philadelphia Baltimore Washington Seattle Oakland Kansas City Tampa Bay Tennessee

Velocity Funaki vs. Nunzio Sean O'Haire vs. Jobber Orlando Jordan vs. Kanyon Spanky & Paul London vs. Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli Smackdown Chris Benoit vs. Matt Morgan Jamie Noble vs. Akio Shannon Moore vs. Nathan Jones Eddie Guerrero vs. Charlie Haas John Cena vs. A-Train 20 Man Battle Royal for #1 Contendership - Basham Brothers, World's Greates Tag Team, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Myseterio, Ultimo Dragon, Bradshaw, Orlando Jordan, Kanyon, Scotty 2 Hotty, Rikishi, Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, Big Show, Chuck Palumbo, Johnny Stamboli, Rhyno, and two others. Realized there is a mild spoiler with two of the other competitors winning earlier matches to be in the battle royal.

I try to avoid posting "news" topics but I felt this would create an interesting thread:

The A's-Padres deal from last week finally went through today as they had to work out contract details with Kotsay and make sure his back was okay. First post by someone on the A's message board I visit after the trade became official: "I am not a happy camper." Here we go again. Hope Beane is wearing a bullet-proof vest today.

The guy wanted to see Torrie wrestle? Now THAT is funny.

Bowl invites yesterday/today: -Clemson to the Peach Bowl -N.C. State to the Tangerine Bowl -Miami of Ohio to the GMAC Bowl -Wisconsin to the Music City Bowl Here's the updated projections now after today's invites. Bored's Bowl Projections OR Everyone elses Version 4.2 December 16 New Orleans: North Texas vs. Memphis/Houston December 18 GMAC: TCU vs. Miami (OH) December 22 Tangerine: N.C. State vs. Missouri/Kansas/Texas Tech December 23 Fort Worth: Houston/Louisville/South Florida vs. Kansas/Syracuse/Tulsa/Connecticut December 24 Las Vegas: New Mexico vs. Oregon State/Washington/California December 25 Hawaii: Louisville/Memphis vs. Hawaii December 26 Motor City: Bowling Green vs. Northwestern Insight: West Virginia/Virginia Tech/Pittsburgh/Miami vs. California/Oregon State December 27 Continental Tire: Virginia Tech/Boston College/Pittsburgh vs. Georgia Tech/Virginia December 29 Alamo: Michigan State/Minnesota vs. Nebraska/Oklahoma State/Kansas State December 30 Houston: Texas Tech/Colorado vs. Connecticut/Houston/Syracuse/Boston College/Navy/Northern Illinois Holiday: Washington State vs. Kansas State/Nebraska/Oklahoma State Silicon Valley: Fresno State vs. UCLA/Washington/California December 31 Music City: Auburn/Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Independence: Missouri/Kansas/Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas/Auburn Liberty: Southern Miss vs. Utah Sun: Oregon vs. Minnesota/Michigan State San Francisco: Colorado State vs. Boston College/Syracuse/West Virginia/Virginia Tech January 1 Outback: Iowa vs. Tennessee/Georgia/Florida Gator: West Virginia/Pittsburgh/Miami vs. Maryland Capital One: Purdue vs. Florida/Tennessee/Georgia/LSU Rose: Michigan vs. LSU/Texas/Georgia/USC Orange: Miami, Florida State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh January 2 Cotton: Oklahoma State/Kansas State vs. Mississippi/Georgia Peach: Clemson vs. Missisippi/Florida/Tennessee Fiesta: Texas, Florida State, Ohio State, LSU, Pittsburgh January 3 Humanitarian: Boise State vs. Georgia Tech/Virginia January 4 Sugar: Oklahoma vs. USC/LSU

Woo hoo from 1-4 to 6-5 and now being tied for the final AFC wild card spot. Only fair since I'm second in points in the whole league next to the juggernaut that is Gert T's Jets. Don't mess with the Texans.

Here is YOUR college football national television schedule for this week. As always all times are Pacific, ABC regional games are marked with an asterisk, and rankings are the BCS rankings. Tuesday North Texas at New Mexico State, 4:00 PM, ESPN2 Thursday #18 Mississippi at Mississippi State, 4:30 PM, ESPN Friday Louisville at Cincinnati, 8:00 AM, ESPN2 #23 Nebraska at Colorado, 9:00 AM, ABC #24 Arkansas at #3 LSU, 11:30 AM, CBS Arizona at Arizona State, 12:00 PM, FSN #6 Texas at Texas A&M, 12:30 PM, ABC Saturday Toledo at #20 Bowling Green, 9:00 AM, ESPN #7 Georgia at Georgia Tech, 10:00 AM, ABC* Virginia Tech at Virginia, 10:00 AM, ABC* Iowa State at Missouri, 10:00 AM, ABC* #9 Florida State at #11 Florida, 12:30 PM, CBS Maryland at Wake Forest, 12:30 PM, ESPN Alabama at Hawaii, 4:45 PM, ESPN #10 Miami at #25 Pittsburgh, 5:00 PM, ABC* Notre Dame at Stanford, 5:00 PM, ABC*

Actually the MAC champ doesn't automatcially go to either the Motor City or GMAC Bowl although I'm fairly sure typically the Motor City Bowl gets the MAC champ in past years. The reason why all the projections have Bowling Green going the Motory City Bowl and Miami of Ohio to the GMAC Bowl is because I'm guessing the word is out the MAC wants Miami of Ohio to play TCU so it can be hyped as "The Non-BCS Championship Game". In fact I'm almost certain the GMAC Bowl will be marketed that way if Miami of Ohio does indeed win the MAC title game and probably will since they'll be playing it at home.

Bored's Bowl Projections OR Everyone Elses Version 4.0 The usual disclaimer: I jumble together espn.com's four seperate bowl projections, si.com, collegefootballnews.com, and collegebcs.com's projections just to give you an idea of who may or may not be going to each bowl game. Again since any number of match-ups could end up happening in the Orange and Fiesta Bowl I just list everyone being picked there. Teams listed in bold have locked up/accepted the bid to that bowl game. December 16 New Orleans: North Texas vs. Memphis/Houston December 18 GMAC: TCU vs. Miami (OH) December 22 Tangerine: N.C. State/Virginia/Georgia Tech vs. Missouri/Kansas/Texas Tech December 23 Fort Worth: Houston/Louisville/South Florida vs. Kansas/Syracuse/Tulsa/Connecticut December 24 Las Vegas: New Mexico vs. Oregon State/Washington/California December 25 Hawaii: Louisville/Memphis vs. Hawaii December 26 Motor City: Bowling Green vs. Northwestern Insight: West Virginia/Virginia Tech/Pittsburgh/Miami vs. California/Oregon State December 27 Continental Tire: Virginia Tech/Boston College/Pittsburgh vs. Clemson/Georgia Tech/Virginia/N.C. State December 29 Alamo: Michigan State/Minnesota vs. Nebraska/Oklahoma State/Kansas State December 30 Houston: Texas Tech/Colorado vs. Connecticut/Houston/Syracuse/Boston College/Navy/Northern Illinois Holiday: Washington State vs. Kansas State/Nebraska/Oklahoma State Silicon Valley: Fresno State vs. UCLA/Washington/California December 31 Music City: Auburn/Arkansas vs. Wisconsin/Michigan State Independence: Missouri/Kansas/Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas/Auburn Liberty: Southern Miss vs. Utah Sun: Oregon vs. Minnesota/Michigan State/Wisconsin San Francisco: Colorado State vs. Boston College/Syracuse/West Virginia/Virginia Tech January 1 Outback: Iowa vs. Tennessee/Georgia/Florida Gator: West Virginia/Pittsburgh/Miami vs. Maryland Capital One: Purdue vs. Florida/Tennessee/Georgia/LSU Rose: Michigan vs. LSU/Texas/Georgia/USC Orange: Miami, Florida State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh January 2 Cotton: Oklahoma State/Kansas State vs. Mississippi/Georgia Peach: Clemson/N.C. State vs. Missisippi/Florida/Tennessee Fiesta: Texas, Florida State, Ohio State, LSU, Pittsburgh January 3 Humanitarian: Boise State vs. Georgia Tech/Virginia January 4 Sugar: Oklahoma vs. USC/LSU

Its actually the Sagarin rankings that has Miami of Ohio #4 and Michigan's Sagarin ranking of #5 is thrown out for being its lowest in the computer rankings. LSU is #3 in the Sagarin rankings so I doubt it would have made a difference and LSU deserves to be ahead of Michigan anyways. Random Bowl News -Maryland accepted the invite to the Gator Bowl. -Utah wapped up the Liberty Bowl berth this past week by winning the Mountain West and set in place the rest of the MW bowls with New Mexico going to the Las Vegas Bowl and Colorado State to the San Francisco Bowl. -Finally in the shocker of all shockers...Hawaii has accepted to the invite to the Hawaii Bowl. Didn't see it coming.

New BCS Top 25 from collegebcs.com 1. Oklahoma 1.90 2. USC 6.89 3. LSU 9.04 4. Michigan 10.25 5. Ohio State 14.57 6. Texas 14.98 7. Georgia 15.06 8. Tennessee 17.97 9. Florida State 21.76 10. Miami 22.19 11. Florida 23.83 12. Iowa 28.57 13. Miami of Ohio 28.71 14. Purdue 31.98 15. Washington State 36.35 16. Kansas State 36.94 17. TCU 37.65 18. Mississippi 43.92 19. Boise State 44.49 20. Bowling Green 46.75 21. Oklahoma State 48.12 22. Utah 48.66 23. Nebraska 50.93 24. Arkansas 51.95 25. Pittsburgh 53.39

Division II Chaminade upset Villanova in the Maui Invitational today. Its their first win in their tournament in 11 years. For the youngin's out there Chaminade is infamous for pulling off probably the greatest upset in college basketball history back in 1982 when they knocked off #1 Virginia led by Ralph Sampson. If your too young to even know who Ralph Sampson was then this probably means nothing to you.

I have to assume the Brewers get a prospect or two coming their way or they are in more financial trouble than was originally thought to do a deal like this. Not that I really care about Bud Selig's team being in financial ruin but Fossum is not near the level of a Schilling or Sexson. I'm still hoping the Yankees get Schilling because they'll trade Nick Johnson to get him which they will regret.

Well they never joined in the Bowl Coalition or Bowl Alliance because of tradition. The BCS would never have been created and couldn't have existed if the Rose Bowl hadn't finally given in and allowed the Big Ten and Pac-10 to participate in a chance to play in a so-called national championship game. In fact ABC put pressure on the Big Ten to join the BCS along with former SEC commisioner Roy Kramer who was the one who came up with the idea of the BCS. Here is a qutoe from interview Kramer did in 1999: Gee you think it would take two and a half years of convincing if it weren't for tradition? They were pissed off with the Orange Bowl last year when they stole Iowa away and prevented a traditional Pac-10/Big Ten match-up. Its no coincidence that last year was the first Rose Bowl to not sell out in nearly 60 years. It wasn't necessarily the fault of the Oklahoma fans as they sold out their 35,000 seats allotment and so did Washington State but the regular fan who goes the Rose Bowl every year wasn't buying tickets last year. Expect the same this year with Texas or the SEC champ. Here is quote from Rose Bowl CEO Mitch Dorger earlier this year on being in the BCS: Trust me there will be an interesting subplot to the renewal of the BCS contract in a couple of years will be if the Rose Bowl decides to opt out of it. I think when the new contract comes up the Rose Bowl will demand that they always get a Pac-10/Big Ten match-up and not be a host to a BCS title game. It could probably be done if they add a 5th bowl to the BCS. I'd nominate the Cotton Bowl since it used to be a big game and has a lot tradition which is it what its all about.

Whatever...the game is California and the Rose Bowl stadium is the home of a Pac-10 team in UCLA. The Rose Bowl cares more about tradition than anything which is why they were holding out for Washington State before they blew it.

Actually I won so I'm 6-5.

Yes because Ohio State is likely, at the moment, the 2nd at-large team with Texas. If the Fiesta Bowl takes Texas with its pick, the Rose Bowl will then take the SEC champ, and the Orange Bowl then will take Miami. The BCS would then make the Fiesta take Florida State because they don't want them playing Miami again and then Ohio State would fall into the lap of the Orange Bowl. I think they would do this so ABC could hype it as "Miami vs. Ohio State II" or just "The Rematch". I think the BCS will lean on the Fiesta to take Texas and not Ohio State so they can do this although the Fiesta might want Texas more anyways.

If Miami wins the Big East they are a virtual lock for the Orange Bowl. Obviously for geographical reasons and their fans don't travel well so the Fiesta and Rose Bowl's won't want anything to do with them. By proxy Florida State would be a lock for the Fiesta Bowl in that scenerio (or maybe the Rose *shudder*) as the BCS won't want a match-up between two teams that played during the year. Now if Miami loses next week then you can pretty guarentee Florida State will be in the Orange Bowl. The Orange Bowl has to take either the Big East or ACC champ. If Miami wins the Big East, if the Fiesta Bowl selects Texas first, and will just say LSU wins the SEC here is the likely scenerio: Sugar: Oklahoma vs. USC Rose: Michigan vs. LSU Fiesta: Texas vs. Florida State Orange: Miami vs. Ohio State If the Fiesta Bowl selects Ohio State first here is how it will look...just leaving out the Sugar since it wouldn't be effect: Rose: Michigan vs. Texas Fiesta: Ohio State vs. Florida State Orange: Miami vs. LSU

If Tennessee loses to Kentucky, Florida goes to the title game. If Georgia loses to Georgia Tech, Tennessee goes to the title game as they'll end up with a higher BCS ranking. If both Georgia and Tennessee both win, Georgia goes to the title game since they will have a higher BCS ranking.

Already mentioned this but West Virginia's chances of getting the Big East's BCS berth are slim and none. Even if Pittsburgh wins next week, thus giving West Viriginia a share of the title with Pitt, the BCS berth will go to Pittsburgh because they will likley be more than five spots ahead of West Virginia in the BCS rankings, even though West Virginia beat Pittsburgh. Yes its a stupid rule and thus West Virginia will get screwed out of BCS berth.

New AP Top 25 1. Oklahoma 2. USC 3. LSU 4. Michigan 5. Georgia 6. Texas 7. Tennessee 8. Ohio State 9. Florida State 10. Miami 11. Florida 12. Purdue 13. Iowa 14. Kansas State 15. Miami (OH) 16. Washington State 17. Mississippi 18. Boise State 19. TCU 20. Pittsburgh 21. Virginia Tech 22. Bowling Green 23. Oklahoma State 24. West Virginia 25. Nebraska Other Receiving Votes 26. Arkansas 27. Minnesota 28. Maryland 29. Utah 30. Southern Miss 31. Michigan State 32. Northern Illinois 33. Clemson 34. Connecticut 35t. Oregon 35t. Wisconsin 37. Memphis