Bored

As I mentioned last week in my bowls entry I wasn't going to be doing any projections as there is still way too many games left to make any solid projections that go beyond guess work. If you want to try to predict how the ACC will shake out the rest of the way, be my guest. But I need content and even though I hate the current state of the bowl system, I love looking at potential match-ups. So in this entry I'm going to do what I've done a few times in the past in the College Football threads and jumble together bowl projections from various sites to give you an idea of where your favorite or hated team might be playing a meaningless game in late December. I'll take projections from ESPN.com, CFN.com, CBS Sportsline, CollegeBCS.com, and SI.com and throw little comments that will provide little to no insight. December 19th - Poinsettia Bowl (Mountain West #3 vs. at-large) Utah/Air Force/Wyoming vs. Kansas/Northern Illinois/UCLA/Ohio Army had a conditional bid here but their incredibly slim bowl chances went up in smoke when they get blown by Air Force so it's anyones guess as to who gets the at-large bid but will likely go to a 6-6 BCS conference team or someone from the MAC. December 21st - Las Vegas Bowl (Mountain West #1 vs. Pac-10 #4) BYU vs. Oregon State/Washington State/Oregon I should have corrected bravesfan, or whatever his name is now, in the College Football thread as he was under the impression that the Hawaii is the Pac-10's #4 choice but it's actually their last one. In any event BYU will lock up the Mountain West this week with a win over Wyoming and the greatest a trip a Mormon can have, Las Vegas. I'd say most likely the loser of the Civil War ends up here as the opponent. December 22nd - New Orleans Bowl (Sun Belt #1 vs. Conference USA #5) Middle Tennesse/Troy vs. UTEP/SMU/Rice Obviously God caused Hurricane Katrina to prevent New Oreleans from being subjected to another Sun Belt bowl game but it's back this year. At least the Sun Belt will manage to end up with more than one winning team this year. MTSU hosts Troy on November 25th and that will decide the conference and I'm soooooo tempted to break my no Sun Belt games rule in my pick 'em contest for that game. UTEP was the popular choice here but I'm pulling for SMU as they have an outside shot at their first bowl game since the death penalty. December 23rd - Birmingham Bowl Bowl (Conference USA #3 vs. Big East #5/6) Southern Miss vs. South Florida/Pittsburgh Now raise your hand if you actually knew there was something called the Birmingham Bowl this year? The projections were unanimous for Southern Miss and only one picked Pittsburgh instead of USF. December 23rd - New Mexico Bowl (WAC #3 vs. Mountain West #4) Nevada/San Jose State vs. New Mexico Okay now raise your hand if you actually knew there was something called the New Mexico Bowl this year? See this is the problem with a lot of these little bowls as they can only hope to get a decent crowd if the home team becomes bowl eligible and then really is it even a bowl game at that point or just a glorified home game? New Mexico will have to sweat a little for a bowl eligiblity as they play BYU and TCU next but finish the season at home against awful San Diego State. Now the WAC projections are split down the middle which is odd because I'd think Nevada would definately take Boise State's spot in the MPC Computers Bowl but half of them think San Jose State will but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. December 23rd - Armed Forces Bowl (Mountain West #2 vs. Conference USA #4) TCU vs. Tulsa/UTEP/SMU/East Carolina This is actually not a new bowl but the bowl formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl and I know you are all appalled that such a historic bowl would go corporate, sort of. Oddly enough Navy and Army didn't have any sort of conditional bid here. TCU is the unanimous choice since it played on their homefield and have in the past rejected other invites just to stay home although this year they get their by default. Projections have no clue who goes from Conference USA here. December 24th - Hawaii Bowl (WAC #2 vs. Pac-10 #6) Hawaii vs. Arizona State/Washington State Again this week's big story was the shocking news that Hawaii accepted an invite to the Hawaii Bowl. All but one of the projections had ASU going here. December 26th - Motor City Bowl (MAC #1 vs. Big Ten #7) Central Michigan/Ohio/Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati/Iowa/Middle Tennessee CMU has emerged as this week's favorite to win the MAC but that conference has been impossible to figure out this year. Now with it almost a lock that Ohio State and Michigan will give the Big Ten BCS bids there's a very good chance the Big Ten won't fill their last bid and Cincinnati for geographic reasons, and because the Big East is losing a bid which I'll get to, was the popular choice. CollegeBCS.com was the one who picked MTSU and I don't know what they are thinking there. December 27th - Emerald Bowl (Pac-10 #5 vs. ACC #7) Washington State/Oregon/Arizona State vs. Florida State/Boston College/Maryland It's still incredibly stupid to have a bowl game in an area as indifferent towards college sports as the Bay Area but at least they have the Pac-10 on board now so Stanford will have a bowl game to go to if they ever become bowl eligible again this decade. FSU is the odds on favorite to go here and watching them travel across the country for a game they won't give a shit about will be fun. December 28th - Independence Bowl (Big XII #7 vs. SEC #8) Oklahoma State/Kansas State/Texas Tech vs. Alabama/Georgia/South Carolina/Kentucky The Big XII bowl picture is fairly unsettled so tough to guess here. One of the dissapointing 6-6 SEC teams will end up here. December 28th - Texas Bowl (Big East #3/#4 vs. Big XII #8) Rutgers vs. Kansas State/Oklahoma State This is technically a new bowl game but it was the replacement for the Houston Bowl that went belly up but is being played in...Houston. Confused? Anyways that is correct what you read, Rutgers even with probably a 10-2 record will end up in a nothing bowl game against 6-6 Big XII team. Basically no bowls wanted the Big East after the purge a couple of years ago, which in hindsight hasn't hurt the conference at all, and this is the result of it. December 28th - Holiday Bowl (Pac-10 #2 vs. Big XII #3) USC/California vs. Texas A&M/Missouri/Nebraska Holiday Bowl has really emerged as one of the biggest non-BCS bowls in recent years and it should be no different this year. But man fuck all these projections as only one has USC getting to the Rose Bowl which means most think Cal will win their match-up. USC likely killed their BCS at-large chances with the loss to Oregon State although there is a slim chance that they could get in if a lot of things break their way, one being Boise State failing to get into the BCS. Obviously if USC ends up here, Nebraksa wouldn't be the selection from the Big XII. December 29th - Music City Bowl (ACC #5 vs. SEC #6) Wake Forest/Virginia Tech/Boston College/Maryland/Miami vs. South Carolina/Kentucky/Alabama Again the ACC is impossible to figure out who is going where right now as Wake Forest was the only team that showed up on two of the projections although I'd say Miami is a longshot here. December 29th - Sun Bowl (Pac-10 #3 vs. Big XII #5/Big East #2) Oregon/Oregon State/Washington State vs. Missouri/West Virginia Yup the complete lack of wanting the Big East strikes again. The Gator Bowl has a deal this year where they can pick a Big XII team over the second place Big East team. Big XII fans travel very well so don't be shocked if an 11-1 Big East team gets passed over and sent to El Paso, especially if the Gator Bowl has a shot at getting Nebraska who's fans can almost sell out bowl games on their own. The Civil War winner likely goes here from the Pac-10. December 29th - Liberty Bowl (Conference USA #1 vs. SEC #7) Houston/Tulsa vs. Kentucky/Alabama Houston's mild upset of Tulsa this week makes them the run away favorite now to win Conference USA. December 29th - Champs Sports Bowl (ACC #4 vs. Big Ten #5) Boston College/Virginia Tech/Maryland/Florida State vs. Iowa/Minnesota No bowl game that gets BCS conference teams every year produces more lackluster games than the Champs Sports Bowl and this year should be no different. CFN.com is the one that picked Minnesota so obviously Vern has been bribing them. December 29th - Insight Bowl (Big XII #6 vs. Big Ten #6) Texas Tech/Oklahoma State vs. Indiana/Wyoming/Central Michigan/Utah Again because both Ohio State and Michigan are going to be the BCS and because the Big Ten is incredibly mediocre once you get past the top three teams, this bid might not be filled by their conference. Texas Tech was the almost unanimous pick here for the Big XII. I'm still trying to figure out why the Insight parted ways with the Pac-10 when it's natural fit for the Arizona schools. That's enough for tonight, cover the rest tommorrow.

Strangely enough TBS is already done for the year with their schedule.

Network/Basic Cable Schedule TUESDAY UAB at SMU, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2 WEDNESDAY Fresno State at #14 Boise State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY #3 West Virginia at #5 Louisville, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN FRIDAY Air Force at Army, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY Penn State at #16 Wisconsin, Noon/9:00 AM, ABC* Missouri at Nebraska, Noon/9:00 AM, ABC* Maryland at #19 Clemson, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 Baylor at Texas Tech, Noon/9:00 AM, FSN North Carolina at #9 Notre Dame, 2:30 PM/11:30 AM, NBC TCU at UNLV, 3:00 PM/Noon, Versus #17 LSU at #11 Tennessee, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS #1 Ohio State at Illinois, 3:30/12:30 PM, ESPN2 Washington at #22 Oregon, 3:30/12:30 PM, TBS Kansas State at Colorado, 3:30/12:30 PM, FSN #15 Boston College at #24 Wake Forest, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Oklahoma State at #7 Texas, 7:00/4:00 PM, TBS #8 USC at Stanford, 7:00/4:00 PM, FSN #13 Arkansas at South Carolina, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN #18 Oklahoma at #21 Texas A&M, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC* UCLA at #10 California, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC* #25 Virginia Tech at Miami, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC* SUNDAY Southern Miss at Memphis, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN Other Cable/Gameplan Schedule SATURDAY Ball State at #2 Michigan, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPNU Virginia at Florida State, Noon/9:00 AM, LF/GP Pittsburgh at South Florida, Noon/9:00 AM, GP Northwestern at Iowa, Noon/9:00 AM, GP #4 Florida at Vanderbilt, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, LF/GP Mississippi State at Alabama, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, LF/GP Hawaii at Utah State, 3:00 PM/Noon, GP Purdue at Michigan State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ESPNU Tulsa at Houston, 4:00/1:00 PM, CSTV Louisiana-Lafayette at Troy, 4:00/1:00 PM, GP #20 Georgia Tech at N.C. State, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPNU Tulane at Marshall, 8:00/5:00 PM, CSTV All Other D-IA Games SATURDAY Indiana at Minnesota, ESPN360 Georgia at Kentucky Navy at Duke Central Michigan at Temple Bowling Green at Akron Kent State Buffalo Ohio at Eastern Michigan Kansas at Iowa State Northwestern State at Mississippi Arkansas State at #6 Auburn Florida Atlantic at Middle Tennessee Miami of Ohio at Western Michigan San Diego State at Wyoming East Carolina at Central Florida Arizona State at Oregon State Arizona at #23 Washington State Nevada at Idaho BYU at Colorado State Louisiana Tech at North Texas San Jose State at New Mexico State Rice at UTEP

No idea at this point although won't be the Fremont A's as no one outside the Bay Area has ever heard of Fremont. My guess is it will be the California or Bay Area A's.

Local report states that next week the A's will officially announce plans for a new stadium in Fremont which is about 20 minutes from Oakland. Link

Rangers hire Ron Washington as their new manager. Those A's fans who have been convinced that Washington will be the best manager ever are on their way to Billy Beane's house right now to suicide bomb him. I on other hand am just glad he's getting a chance although I wish it wasn't in the same division in case he does turn out to be a good manager.

Note it's a three deadline week with a Thursday and Friday game. "Probation" team assignments for this week: Oregon State - Urban Warfare Connecticut - teke184 Michigan - Vampiro69 Maryland - Spicy McHaggis Week 10 Deadlines Deadline #1: Thursday, November 2nd, 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST -Lose out on Thursday game Deadline #2: Friday, November 3rd, 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST -Lose out on Friday Game Deadline #3: Saturday, November 4th, Noon EST/9:00 AM PST -Replacement picks, can't win by tiebreak Week 10 Match-ups #1 Oregon (nogoodnick, 8-1) vs. Notre Dame* (Lando Griffin, 5-4) - GAME OF THE WEEK #2 Virginia* (Edwin MacPhisto, 8-1) vs. Florida State* (Kingofthe909, 1-8) #3 Miami* (Spaceman Spiff, 5-4) vs. Boise State* PM (bravesfan, 2-7) #4 Syracuse* (CanadianChris, 7-2) vs. Texas* (UTBroward, 3-6) #5 Georgia Tech* (iggymcfly, 7-2) vs. Michigan* (Vampiro69*, 7-2) #6 South Carolina* (Cuban Linx, 6-3) vs. Florida International (Vitamin X, 2-7) #7 Minnesota* (Vern Gagne, 6-3) vs. Miami of Ohio* PM (Hawk 34, 3-6) #8 Stanford* (Bored, 5-4) vs. USC* (Cartman, 4-5) #9 Hawaii* (Will Scarlet, 4-5) vs. Maryland* PM (Spicy McHaggis*, 5-4) #10 Kentucky* (Danville Wrestling, 6-3) vs. Alabama* PM (AlwaysPissedOff, 2-7) Oregon State* PM (Urban Warfare*, 6-3) vs. Arizona State* PM (Spicy McHaggis, 5-4) Connecticut* PM (teke184*, 4-5) vs. Kansas State* (Loaded Glove, 4-5) Florida* PM (Urban Warfare, 5-4) vs. San Jose State* PM (kkktookmybabaway, 5-4) UCLA* PM (phoenxirising, 8-1) vs. San Diego State* (The Last Samurai, 4-5) Auburn* PM (Agent of Oblivion, 4-5) vs. Penn State (IK Cool Jew, 2-7) Temple* PM (Ortonsault, 3-6) vs. Ohio State* (Gert T, 2-7) LSU* PM (teke184, 5-4) vs. Tennessee* (Sex Machine Gun, 4-5) Kent State* (JHawk, 6-3) vs. Buffalo* (Carnival, 2-7) Rutgers* (the pinjockey, 3-6) vs. UTEP* (Angel Grace Blue, 4-5) Oklahoma* (Vampiro69, 5-4) vs. Texas A&M* PM (Secret Agent, 3-6) Week 10 Games to Make Picks For THURSDAY West Virginia at Louisville FRIDAY Air Force at Army SATURDAY Indiana at Minnesota Penn State at Wisconsin Baylor at Texas Tech Missouri at Nebraska Kansas at Iowa State Tulsa at Houston LSU at Tennessee Arizona State at Oregon State Boston College at Wake Forest Arkansas at South Carolina Oklahoma at Texas A&M Virginia Tech at Miami Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the LSU/Tennessee game? Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Arkansas' Darren McFadden have against South Carolina?

Another note on Boise State is if the season ended today they would get an automatic bid by having a higher ranking than the ACC champ.

Louisville was already liked by the computer rankings so it's pretty much a lock they'll hop Florida in the BCS. FOX has the late games today so it'll still be a few hours before they are released.

The mysterious Harris poll, which still no one pays attention to, did vote Louisville #3 by six points over Texas. Poll

Guarentee it will be the loser of the game. The Rose Bowl always wants a Pac-10/Big Ten match-up when it's possible. Annnnd we have CONTROVERSY~! The Coaches did NOT vote Louisville ahead of Texas, although there is only a 15 point difference. Poll

Oregon State goes to Hawaii the last week of the season so we know it won't be them. My guess is it will probably end up being Wazzu.

Yes and three-way ties go like this: 1. Head to Head 2. Overall Record 3. BCS Ranking When next week is finished I'll go over the tiebreak scenerios going into the final week. In case anyone is wondering with the new format this year for the conference championships taking place over two weeks I will have a total 20 games to pick from over the two weeks, 12-14 games Thanksgiving week and 6-8 games Championship week. Of course I won't pick which games for Championship week until after Thanksgiving week which should create some interesting picking strategy in cases where someone is two or three points down.

LSU's game winning touchdown against Tennessee didn't just end one of the best games of the year, it had a major impact in the contest. That touchdown swung the tiebreak win to Spaceman Spiff in his match up and with another strong showing this week that keeps him firmly #1 in correct picks and he grabs the top spot again to create CONTROVERSY~. Edwin MacPhisto gets subbed for the #1 spot but has a strong grip on the #2 spot and note these two play each other the final week of the regular season. nogoodnick suffered a back breaking loss this week dropping him all the way to #6. The "probation" teams are still causing problems with the bottom half of the rankings and this week phoenixrising finally gets in the Top 10, after losing, and the bad luck player of the contest had some good luck this week and Ortonsault is back in the Top 10 despite a 4-6 record. Bored Championship Series Rankings thru Week 10 1. Miami - Spaceman Spiff 4.35 2. Virginia - Edwin MacPhisto 5.6 3. Georgia Tech - iggymcfly 6.85 4. Syracuse - CanadianChris 7.4 5. South Carolina - Cuban Linx 7.85 6. Oregon - nogoodnick 8.2 7. Hawaii - Will Scarlet 9.2 8. Minnesota - Vern Gagne 12.3 9. UCLA - phoenixrising 14.6 10. Temple - Ortonsault 14.65 Other Receiving Votes: LSU (teke184), Miami of Ohio (Hawk 34), Notre Dame (Lando Griffin), Stanford (Bored) Now I did say last week I was going to look at potential bowl match-ups but things are too fucked up right now to get any real grasp of what the bowls might look like even with only two weeks left in the regular season. So instead here's a reminder of what the bowls are: Pepsi Blue Bored Bowl: BCS #1 vs. BCS #2 Traditional Bowl presented by the Yellow Submarine: Pac-8 #1/BCS vs. Big MAC #1/BCS TheSWF.com Dust Bowl: BCS vs. BCS Williams Games SinisTar Bowl: SE7 #2 vs. Big MAC #2 Out Magazine Bowl: WAC #2 vs. Big 8 #2 KFC PETA Bowl: Pac-8 #2 vs. Big 8 #3 Meow Mix Pussy Bowl: SE7 #3 vs. WAC #3 Ex-Lax Toilet Bowl: Big MAC #3 vs. Pac-8 #3 FireJoeMorgan.com Bowl: At-large vs. At-large And here's a look at who's bowl eligible. Remember 7 wins guarentees you a bowl, 6 makes you bowl eligible. 14 teams are bowl eligible so far with 6 teams locking up a bid. 15 other teams still have a shot at becoming bowl eligible. Locked Up a Bid Virginia Georgia Tech Oregon UCLA Syracuse South Carolina Bowl Eligible Miami Minnesota LSU Notre Dame Kentucky Arizona State Kent State San Jose State kkktookmybabyaway is the Cinderella story of this contest or just goes to show you it's best to know nothing about the teams your picking.

Week 10 Results Notre Dame (Lando Griffin) 8, #1 Oregon (nogoodnick) 7 #2 Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto) 10, Florida State (Kingofthe909) 6 #3 Miami (Spaceman Spiff) 10, Boise State (bravesfan) 10; Spiff wins by tiebreak Texas (UTBroward) 10, #4 Syracuse (CanadianChris) 9 #5 Georgia Tech (iggymcfly) 8, Michigan (Vampiro69*) 7 #6 South Carolina (Cuban Linx) 9, Florida International (Vtiamin X) 9; CL wins by tiebreak Miami of Ohio (Hawk 34) 8, #7 Minnesota (Vern Gagne) 8; Hawk wins by tiebreak USC (Cartman) 9, #8 Stanford (Bored) 7 #9 Hawaii (Will Scarlet) 11, Maryland (Spicy McHaggis*) 10 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff) 8, #10 Kentucky (Danville Wrestling) 5 Arizona State (Spicy McHaggis) 10, Oregon State (Urban Warfare*) 7 Connecticut (teke184*) 9, Kansas State (Loaded Glove) 8 San Jose State (kkktookmybabyaway) 10, Florida (Urban Warfare) 7 San Diego State (The Last Samurai) 11, UCLA (phoenixrising) 8 Penn State (IK Cool Jew/Vitamin X*) 8, Auburn (Agent of Oblivion) 7 Temple (Ortonsault) 9, Ohio State (Gert T) 6 LSU (teke184) 9, Tennessee (Sex Machine Gun) 5 Buffalo (Carnival) 10, Kent State (JHawk) 6 Rutgers (the pinjockey) 10, UTEP (Angel Grace Blue) 8 Texas A&M (Secret Agent) 8, Oklahoma (Vampiro69) 7 Conference Standings * - not eligible for conference title/bowl games Southeastern Seven 1. Kentucky (4-1, 6-4) 2. South Carolina (4-2, 7-3) 3. LSU (3-2, 6-4) 3. Auburn (3-2, 4-6) 3. Alabama (3-2, 3-7) 6. Florida (3-3, 5-5) 7. Tennessee (1-4, 4-6) 8. FIU (0-5, 2-8) Western Atlantic 1. Virginia (5-1, 9-1) 2. Georgia Tech (4-1, 8-2) 3. San Jose State (3-2, 6-4) 3. Miami (3-2, 6-4) 3. Hawaii (3-2, 5-5) 6. Boise State (1-4, 2-8) 7. Florida State (1-6, 1-9) Maryland* (2-4, 5-5) Big MAC 1. Temple (4-2, 4-6) 2. Miami of Ohio (3-2, 4-6) 3. Kent State (4-3, 6-4) 4. Minnesota (3-3, 6-4) 5. Buffalo (2-3, 3-7) 5. Ohio State (2-3, 2-8) 7. Penn State (1-4, 3-7) Michigan* (4-1, 7-3) Pac-8 1. Oregon (4-1, 8-2) 1. USC (4-1, 5-5) 3. UCLA (3-2, 8-2) 3. Notre Dame (3-2, 6-4) 5. Arizona State (2-3, 6-4) 5. San Diego State (2-3, 5-5) 7. Stanford (1-4, 5-5) 5. Oregon State* (1-4, 6-4) Big 8 1. Oklahoma (3-2, 5-5) 1. Texas (3-2, 4-6) 1. Syracuse (3-2, 7-3) 4. UTEP (2-3, 4-6) 4. Kansas State (2-3, 4-6) 4. Texas A&M (2-3, 4-6) 4. Rutgers (2-3, 4-6) 3. Connecticut* (3-2, 5-5)

Shocking news....Hawaii has accepted an invite to the Hawaii Bowl. I can't believe they wouldn't wait to see if San Jose State became bowl eligible.

Illinois is making it kind of interesting against Ohio State but need to recover the onside kick to have a shot.

Even with the baseball season over I'm always looking for an excuse to do a redo and resident Astros fan vivalaultra gave me one while lamenting over the end of Jeff Bagwell's career in Houston: Well god dammit I have to solve this quandry! Jeff Bagwell finished second in the 1999 N.L. MVP voting but he wasn't even close to winning it. Chipper Jones had the best year of his career hitting .319 with 45 homeruns while helping the Braves to a league best 103 wins and would receive 29 of the 32 first place votes. The tightest competition was for the second place spot as Bagwell finished with only seven points more than the 3rd place Matt Williams. Bagwell had better numbers than Williams almost across the board (including 30 stolen bases which is a ton for a first baseman) except in one category. Guess which one? If you said RBI then you know your baseball writer voting tendencies very well. Williams actually received two first place votes to Bagwell's one I suppose because he was a "gritty veteran" who was the "heart and soul" of the Diamondbacks who shocked the baseball world with a 100 win season in just their 2nd year of exsistence. After those three no other player received any real consideration for the award with Greg Vaughn leading the pack but he was a dubious choice for 4th. Of note in 1999 was also the McGwire/Sosa Homerun Chase II but like most blockbuster sequels it was just more of the same and kind of took away from the memories of the original. Actual Results 1) Chipper Jones 2) Jeff Bagwell 3) Matt Williams 4) Greg Vaughn 5) Mark McGwire 6) Robin Ventura 7) Mike Piazza 8) Edgardo Alfonzo 9) Sammy Sosa 10) Larry Walker 11) Vladimir Guerrero 12) Craig Biggio 13) Jay Bell 14) Sean Casey 15) Randy Johnson 16) Billy Wagner 17) Carl Everett 18) Luis Gonzalez 19t) Brian Giles 19t) Brain Jordan 21) Mike Hampton 22) Barry Larkin 23) Bobby Abreu 24t) Barry Bonds 24t) Matt Mantei 26t) Jeff Kent 26t) Kevin Millwood 28) Trevor Hoffman #10 .379/.458/.710, 140 RC, 162 OPS+, .334 EQA, 68.1 VORP, 24 Win Shares #9 .294/.386/.457, 111 RC, 118 OPS+, .286 EQA, 48.3 VORP, 31 Win Shares #8 .335/.446/.549, 134 RC, 149 OPS+, .326 EQA, 64.3 VORP, 26 Win Shares #7 .301/.379/.529, 118 RC, 132 OPS+, .300 EQA, 53.4 VORP, 30 Win Shares #6 150 ERA+, 1.75 K/BB, 1.29 WHIP, 76.2 VORP, 26 Win Shares #5 .315/.418/.614, 135 RC, 157 OPS+, .328 EQA, 74.6 VORP, 27 Win Shares #4 .278/.424/.697, 154 RC, 178 OPS+, .344 EQA, 81.2 VORP, 30 Win Shares #3 178 ERA+, 5.20 K/BB, 1.02 WHIP, 99.3 VORP, 26 Win Shares #2 .304/.454/.591, 149 RC, 169 OPS+, .341 EQA, 84.9 VORP, 37 Win Shares #1 .319/.441/.633, 159 RC, 175 OPS+, .344 EQA, 104.3 VORP, 32 Win Shares Bobby Abreu a gamer? HA! So I agreed with the writers here even though Win Shares overwhelming loved Bagwell. I feel real good about the Top 5 but after that I could have gone about 20 different directions with 6 thru 10. Along those five I also could easily put Luis Gonzalez, Edgardo Alfonzo, Sammy Sosa, Andruw Jones (who didn't receive a single vote), and Vladimir Guerrero in the Top 10 as well.

Hell they have a better shot at 7 wins than Georgia or Alabama now. Crazy.

Mississippi State wins their first SEC road game in six years. Mike Shula's days in Alabama are probably over.

Wow Clemson in two weeks has gone from potentially going to the Orange Bowl to potentially going to the Car Care Bowl.

Turnover on downs but Michigan is gonna lose some 2nd place votes.

Ball State has moved to the Michigan 35. Game is on ESPNews and ESPNU. Now inside the 10!

Ball State has pulled within 8 of Michigan, 34-26. Indiana has probably killed their bowl chances by getting slaughtered by Minnesota. Northwestern looks like they are going to upset Iowa.

I'll use Vitamin X's picks as replacements for Penn State.