Bored

After a day filled with close, exciting games I guess it's fitting the best match-up on paper has turned into a laugher. Clemson has a real shot to run the table into a BCS bowl.

Idaho scores a touchdown but can't convert the two point conversion, 28-26 Boise State with seven minutes to go. Looks like Wazzu will hang on for the first real upset of the day after a lot of close calls.

Ugh, Cal wins. Oh well that will just make Stanford's shocking upset in the Big Game for their first win of the year all the more sweeter. I wanna cry. Although I'm not liking the results this has been by far the best Saturday of the year.

OMG WASHINGTON HAIL MARY TIES THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously flip over to FSN right now to see the replay as it was a tipped ball. Incredible.

And UCLA blows it and probably hands Notre Dame a BCS bowl while also keeping their very slim BCS title hopes alive.

GO HUSKIES!!!! 17-13 UW, without Isiah Stanback, over Cal in the 4th. Also of note UCLA up 17-13 on Notre Dame, under five to go.

Annnnnnnd folks we have a new record, Michigan State wins 41-38. And the announcer calls it "one of the greatest comeabacks in Michigan State history." Uhhhhh...

Northwestern has blown a 38-3 lead and Michigan State just intercepted it in Northwestern territory. This would be a new record for greatest comeback in DI-A history eclipsing the Frank Reich led Maryland 31 point comeback over Miami in 1984.

Not that I can see it but Nebraska takes the lead with under five minutes to go.

Naaaah that already happened a few weeks ago. But looks like the Spartans might get back into this game.

Texans - 10 points Cincinnati N.Y. Jets Green Bay Jacksonville Buffalo Tampa Bay Pittsburgh Kansas City Cleveland Arizona Seattle Indianapolis Dallas

Oh I was wrong they aren't skipping the mid-day ABC games for us on the West Coast...they're skipping Texas/Nebraska. But hey we'll get to see Michigan destroy Iowa. Yippee.

Moving along, I'll use nogoodnick's picks for Oregon State this week. And if you're wondering since Oregon State would be on "probation" I won't rank them anymore although they would still be factored in the rankings. I'll use Loaded Glove's picks for Ohio State this week if Gert T doesn't show up.

1994 MNF Chiefs vs. Broncos, Joe Montana's game winning drive And well I wouldn't call this "classic" but here's what the Super Bowl Shuffle wrought...Dallas Cowboys Christmas '86: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Oh and btw...YADIER MOLINA!? Good lord the guy is one of the worst hitters in baseball and he's suddenly Clutchy McClutchy in the postseason.

I feel bad for the Mets. A team that dominates it's league like they did deserves to represent them in the World Series.

Okay someone shoot the guy playing the music in the stadium. It's Game fucking 7 in the 9th inning, you do not need constant backround music to help the atmosphere.

Closer list is the Top 30 in saves, of course saves are not factored in the rankings. Same statistics taken into account as middle relievers but I also include Win Shares for closers. 2004 Top 3 1. Brad Lidge 2. Joe Nathan 3. Eric Gagne 2005 Top 3 1. Mariano Rivera 2. Billy Wagner 3. Todd Jones 2006 Closer Rankings 1. Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox 2. B.J. Ryan, Blue Jays 3. Joe Nathan, Twins 4. J.J. Putz, Mariners 5. Francisco Rodriguez, Angels 6. Mariano Rivera, Yankees 7. Takashi Saito, Dodgers 8. Billy Wagner, Mets 9. Trevor Hoffman, Padres 10. Akinori Otsuka, Rangers 11. Huston Street, A's 12. Chris Ray, Orioles 13. Chad Cordero, Nationals 14. Mike Gonzalez, Pirates 15. Francisco Cordero, Rangers/Brewers 16. Brian Fuentes, Rockies 17. Bobby Jenks, White Sox 18. Tom Gordon, Phillies 19. Bob Wickman, Indians/Braves 20. Joe Borowski, Marlins 21. Todd Jones, Tigers 22. Jorge Julio, Mets/Diamondbacks 23. Jason Isringhausen, Cardinals 24. Brad Lidge, Astros 25. Ryan Dempster, Cubs 26. Armando Benitez, Giants 27. Jose Valverde, Diamondbacks 28. Eddie Guradado, Mariners/Reds 29. Ambriorix Burgos, Royals 30. Derrick Turnbow, Brewers

Princess Leena, Sex Machine Gun, Vampiro69 (I'll let them count), and Gert T are late with their picks. Since I had selected Kotz as replacement for UConn for the rest of the year insead I'll now use Ortonsault's picks for UConn. And yes I am aware of Leena possibly being gone for good. Week 8 PM'd Picks Georgia Tech - iggmcfly THURSDAY North Carolina at Virginia Utah at New Mexico SATURDAY Michigan State at Northwestern N.C. State at Maryland Texas at Nebraska Rutgers at Pittsburgh Wisconsin at Purdue South Carolina at Vanderbilt Kansas at Baylor Boston College at Florida State Texas Tech at Iowa State Oregon State at Arizona UTEP at Houston Georgia Tech at Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 50 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 220 San Diego State - The Last Samurai THURSDAY North Carolina at Virginia Utah at New Mexico SATURDAY Michigan State at Northwestern N.C. State at Maryland Texas at Nebraska Rutgers at Pittsburgh Wisconsin at Purdue South Carolina at Vanderbilt Kansas at Baylor Boston College at Florida State Texas Tech at Iowa State Oregon State at Arizona UTEP at Houston Georgia Tech at Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 56 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 247 Hawaii - Will Scarlet THURSDAY Virginia Utah SATURDAY Michigan State N.C. State Texas Rutgers Wisconsin Vanderbilt Baylor Boston College Texas Tech Arizona Houston Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 54 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 250 Auburn - Agent of Oblivion THURSDAY at Virginia Utah SATURDAY Michigan State N.C. State Texas Rutgers at Purdue at Vanderbilt at Baylor Boston College Texas Tech at Arizona UTEP at Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 47 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 201 LSU - teke184 THURSDAY North Carolina at Virginia Utah at New Mexico SATURDAY Michigan State at Northwestern N.C. State at Maryland Texas at Nebraska Rutgers at Pittsburgh Wisconsin at Purdue South Carolina at Vanderbilt Kansas at Baylor Boston College at Florida State Texas Tech at Iowa State Oregon State at Arizona UTEP at Houston Georgia Tech at Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 57 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 197 Oregon - nogoodnick THURSDAY Virginia Utah SATURDAY Northwestern N.C. State Texas Pittsburgh Wisconsin South Carolina Baylor Florida State Iowa State Oregon State Houston Georgia Tech Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 52 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 231 San Jose State - kkktookmybabyaway Virginia Utah Michigan State N.C. State Texas Rutgers Wisconsin South Carolina Kansas Florida State Iowa State Oregon State Houston Clemson 34 175 Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff Virginia Utah Michigan State Maryland Texas Pittsburgh Wisconsin South Carolina Kansas Boston College Texas Tech Oregon State Houston Clemson TB #1: 53 TB #2: 231 Virginia - Edwin MacPhisto THURSDAY Virginia Utah SATURDAY Michigan State Maryland Texas Pittsburgh Wisconsin South Carolina Baylor Florida State Texas Tech Oregon State Houston Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 44 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 200 Arizona State - Spicy McHaggis THURSDAY Virginia Utah SATURDAY Northwestern Maryland Nebraska Rutgers Wisconsin South Carolina Kansas Florida State Texas Tech Arizona Houston Georgia Tech Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 48 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 210 Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 North Carolina at Virginia Utah at New Mexico SATURDAY Michigan State at Northwestern N.C. State at Maryland Texas at Nebraska Rutgers at Pittsburgh Wisconsin at Purdue South Carolina at Vanderbilt Kansas at Baylor Boston College at Florida State Texas Tech at Iowa State Oregon State at Arizona UTEP at Houston Georgia Tech at Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 38 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 243 Texas A&M - Secret Agent THURSDAY North Carolina at Virginia Utah at New Mexico SATURDAY Michigan State at Northwestern N.C. State at Maryland Texas at Nebraska Rutgers at Pittsburgh Wisconsin at Purdue South Carolina at Vanderbilt Kansas at Baylor Boston College at Florida State Texas Tech at Iowa State Oregon State at Arizona UTEP at Houston Georgia Tech at Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 43 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 211 Temple - Ortonsault THURSDAY Virginia Utah SATURDAY Michigan State NC State Texas Rutgers Wisconsin Vanderbilt Baylor Boston College Texas Tech Oregon State Houston Clemson Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Georgia Tech/Clemson game? 50 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Texas' Colt McCoy have against Nebraska? 251

My Picks Virginia Utah Michigan State Maryland Nebraska Pittsburgh Wisconsin South Carolina Baylor Florida State Texas Tech Arizona Houston Clemson Tiebreaks: 51/197

What do you mean I was the only one watching that 6-0 Sun Belt thriller?

Now moving on to pitchers, starting with the middle men. Now the previous two years I took the top 60 in relief apperances, not counting closers, to put the list together. This time around though I took the top 60 in that most meaningless of stats, Holds. But as worthless as it is at least helps identify who managers trusted to use when their team had a lead since the majority of managers have a phobia when it comes to using their best relievers when they are trailing or tied. Now for middle relievers I will take into account these statistics: Component ERA (ERC), K/BB Ratio, WHIP, VORP, Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), and Pitching Runs Created (PRC). I don't use Win Shares when it comes to middle men because the majority of them don't get very many of them. I also don't use ERA+ for middle relievers or closers as I feel a relievers ERA can be very deceiving with the smaller sample size and the specialization of their use. 2004 Top 5 1. Tom Gordon 2. Francisco Rodriguez 3. B.J. Ryan 4. Akinori Otsuka 5. Juan Rincon 2005 Top 5 1. Justin Duchscherer 2. Scott Linebrink 3. Dan Wheeler 4. Al Reyes 5. Bob Howry 2006 Middle Reliever Rankings 1. Cla Meredith, Padres 2. Scot Shields, Angels 3. Dennys Reyes, Twins 4. Joel Zumaya, Tigers 5. Dan Wheeler, Astros 6. Rafael Soriano, Mariners 7. Scott Proctor, Yankees 8. Jonathan Broxton, Dodgers 9. Adam Wainwright, Cardinals 10. Bob Howry, Cubs 11. Justin Duchscherer, A's 12. Geoff Geary, Phillies 13. Aaron Heilman, Mets 14. Juan Rincon, Twins 15. Jon Rauch, Nationals 16. Scott Linebrink, Padres 17. Chad Qualls, Astros 18. Kiko Calero, A's 19. Trever Miller, Astros 20. Luis Vizcaino, Diamondbacks 21. Matt Capps, Pirates 22. Salomon Torres, Pirates 23. Braden Looper, Cardinals 24. Duaner Sanchez, Mets 25. Todd Coffey, Reds 26. Matt Thornton, White Sox 27. Alan Embree, Padres 28. Justin Speier, Blue Jays 29. Rheal Cormier, Phillies/Reds 30. Francisco Rodney, Tigers 31. Joel Peralta, Royals 32. Brandon Lyon, Diamondbacks 33. Scott Eyre, Cubs 34. Mike Stanton, Nationals/Giants 35. Joe Kennedy, A's 36. Kyle Farnsworth, Yankees 37. Elmer Dessens, Royals/Dodgers 38. Jose Mesa, Rockies 39. Scott Schoeneweis, Blue Jays/Reds 40. Taylor Tankersley, Marlins 41. Jose Capellan, Brewers 42. Keith Foulke, Red Sox 43. Damaso Marte, Pirates 44. George Sherrill, Mariners 45. Roberto Hernandez, Pirates/Mets 46. Danys Baez, Dodgers/Braves 47. LaTroy Hawkins, Orioles 48. Mike Timlin, Red Sox 49. Shawn Camp, Devil Rays 50. Manny Delcarmen, Red Sox 51. Mike Myers, Yankees 52. Steve Kline, Giants 53. Logan Kensing, Marlins 54. Brian Shouse, Rangers/Brewers 55. Matt Wise, Brewers 56. Arthur Rhodes, Phillies 57. Neal Cotts, White Sox 58. Randy Flores, Cardinals 59. Todd Williams, Orioles 60. Ray King, Rockies

Taking a two week break.

SilverPhoenix is dropping out of the contest. I'll assign Kotz as the replacement for UConn for the rest of the year.

Woo hoo, Sun Belt football on national television. Also for us on the west coast this is one of those two weeks out of the year where ABC screws us over by skipping the mid-day games and gives us a late WAC game. Network/Basic Cable Schedule WEDNESDAY Louisiana-Lafayette at Florida Atlantic, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY North Carolina at Virginia, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPN FRIDAY #5 West Virginia at Connecticut, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY #9 Texas at #17 Nebraska, Noon/9:00 AM, ABC* #21 Wisconsin at Purdue, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN Illinois at Penn State, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 UCLA at #8 Notre Dame, 2:30 PM/11:30 AM, NBC Alabama at #11 Tennessee, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS #23 Iowa at #3 Michigan, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* #20 Boston College at Florida State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* Washington at #10 California, 3:30/12:30 PM, FSN #16 Rutgers at Pittsburgh, 5:45/2:45 PM, ESPN2 San Jose State at Nevada, 7:00/4:00 PM, ABC* Colorado at #22 Oklahoma, 7:00/4:00 PM, FSN #19 Georgia Tech at #12 Clemson, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN Fresno State at #18 LSU, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN2 SUNDAY South Florida at Cincinnati, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN Other Cable/Gameplan Schedule THURSDAY Bowling Green at Central Michigan, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPNU SATURDAY Indiana at #1 Ohio State, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPNU N.C. State at Maryland, Noon/9:00 AM, LF/GP Michigan State at Northwestern, Noon/9:00 AM, GP Mississippi at #13 Arkansas, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, LF/GP Toledo at Eastern Michigan, 3:00 PM/Noon, GP TCU at Army, 3:30/12:30 PM, ESPNU North Dakota State at Minnesota, 3:30/12:30 PM, GP Colorado State at Wyoming, 4:00/1:00 PM, CSTV Southern Miss at Virginia Tech, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPNU Utah State at Louisiana Tech, 7:00/4:00 PM, GP North Texas at Arkansas State, 7:00/4:00 PM, GP #25 Tulsa at Memphis, 8:00/5:00 PM, CSTV All Other D-IA Games THURSDAY Utah at New Mexico SATURDAY #7 Louisville at Syracuse Mississippi State at Georgia Miami at Duke, ESPN360 Kansas State at #24 Missouri Buffalo at Ohio Western Michigan at Ball State Tulane at #4 Auburn Stanford at Arizona State SMU at East Carolina South Carolina at Vanderbilt UNLV at BYU Kansas at Baylor Temple at Northern Illinois Texas Tech at Iowa State Rice at Central Florida #14 Oregon at Washington State #15 Boise State at Idaho Miami of Ohio at Akron, ESPN360 Marshall at UAB Oregon State at Arizona UTEP at Houston Middle Tennessee at Louisiana-Monroe Texas A&M at Oklahoma State Air Force at San Diego State Hawaii at New Mexico State