Bored

NBC has to be happy with the Florida State loss as that likely kills their BCS chances and knocks them into a big ratings Gator Bowl against Notre Dame. The Gator Bowl is the only bowl game NBC has and since the Big East is so terrible this year it's likely Notre Dame will be chosen over any Big East team for their #2 slot.

Additional match-ups decided by Ohio/Kent State and Florida/Georgia: Arizona State (Spicy McHaggis) def. Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff); Spicy holds tiebreak Georgia (A_MikeSC) def. Florida (Agent Bond34) Three games left tonight and four match-ups to be decided.

Okay maybe not so fast, Michigan recovers an onside kick and Braylon Edwards makes a crazy touchdown catch and Michigan pulls within 7 with 6:12 to go.

Looks like Michigan State is going to solve a big headache for the Big Ten and upset Michigan. Florida State pulls within three of Maryland with under eight minutes to go.

Bunch of games just ended so here are the match-ups decided so far today: Bowling Green (iggymcfly) def. Tennessee (Kotzenjunge) by forfeit #9 Oregon (nogoodnick) def. #1 Virignia (Edwin MacPhisto) Boise State (Vern Gagne/*dead team*) def. #10 Hawaii (Will Scarlet) #2 Minnesota (Vern Gagne) def. Auburn (Agent of Oblivion) Rutgers (the pinjockey) def. #5 West Virginia (Loaded Glove); pinjockey holds tiebreak Kent State (JHawk) def. #6 Notre Dame (Lando Griffin) #8 Syracuse (Canadian Chris) def. Oklahoma (Damaramu); Chris holds tiebreak Maryland (MarvinisaLunatic) def. Florida State (2GOLD) Boston College (HarleyQuinn) def. Miami (Spaceman Spiff) Michigan State (Dangerous A) def. Michigan (Mad Dog); A holds tiebreak

If you search through a couple of the early season TWiCF threads we went over Baylor's placement in the Big XII. Indiana upsets Minnesota 30-21. Michigan and Florida State are both losing at halftime. Score updates for the many non-t.v. games in the pick 'em contest this week: Syracuse 42, Connecticut 30 Final Central Michigan 24, Western Michigan 21 Final OT Iowa State 13, Kansas 7 Final Mississippi State 22, Kentucky 7 Final Wyoming 29, Air Force 6 4th New Mexico 23, Colorado State 14 4th Cincinnati 21, TCU 10 4th East Carolina 24, Army 14 4th Middle Tennessee State 21, Utah State 0 Final Kent State 28, Ohio 10 Half

I thought he had to go to work.... Anyways score updates for the many non-t.v. games in the pick 'em contest this week: Syracuse 42, Connecticut 30 Final Central Michigan 24, Western Michigan 21 Final OT Iowa State 13, Kansas 7 Final Mississippi State 15, Kentucky 7 4th Wyoming 19, Air Force 6 3rd New Mexico 16, Colorado State 7 3rd Cincinnati 21, TCU 7 3rd Army 14, East Carolina 10 3rd Middle Tennessee State 21, Utah State 0 3rd Kent State 21, Ohio 10 2nd

Oh shit I completely forgot. Well now I'm going to put my division lead in jeopardy unless I get the fluke win.

Yup this thread was perfectly fine for a couple of games but it degenerated into the usual crap. There really needs to be a OaO Red Sox/Yankees Offseason Thread.

Purdue's season has fallen apart as they lose their third straight, this time to Northwestern 13-10. Kyle Orton was apparantly benched late in the game. Nebraska now emerges as the favorite in the pathetic Big XII North as they are up 24-3 late against Missouri.

Hey you wanna create a OaO thread for the remainder of this game? I only didn't create one because you said you wouldn't be here.

A's Free Agents: Jermaine Dye - they had a mutual option of $14 million on him and no shock at all they didn't pick it up. With Nick Swisher waiting in the wings there's little chance the A's would bring him back. I expect him to end up with the Giants. Damian Miller - I think the A's were really happy with him last year and would like to bring him back. But they have to rest him more early in the season as he just hit a wall the last two months of the season. I expect him to be back. Chris Hammond - Had an okay year as a two to three inning guy. No real idea if the A's will bring him back. Jim Mecir, Mark McLemore - both retiring. Arb Eligible Erubial Durazo - there is little doubt in my mind Beane will try to ink him to a long term deal. He was the A's best offensive player over the entire season last year. He hasn't provided the power they expected when they traded for him but he is a very good hitter. On a related note I think they will trade Scott Hatteberg and have Dan Johnson take over first. Octavio Dotel - not expecting a long term deal here, or necesarrily wanting one, but I think he'll be back unless Beane has another idea at closer. After the Arthur Rhodes debacle I think Beane will be less likely to take a chance at closer and just bring Dotel back on a one-year deal. Chad Bradford - really struggled this year and has become a ROOGY. Macha and A's fans were deathly afraid to see him against lefties the last two years. He'll be cheap so he might be back unless they think he's declined too much to be useful anymore. I think Eric Byrnes might be arb eligible but don't officially know if that's true. Possible contract extension Tim Hudson - This is really the A's #1 priority this offseason as he's a free agent after next year. With the struggles of Zito and now the huge questions about Mark Mulder after his collapse at the end of the season Hudson seems to be the one of the TAFKA Big Three that the A's will make a real effort to keep. Problem is of course, as always, is ownership. Steve Schott might use not making the playoffs as a reason to be even cheaper than normal as he lost out on a chance to gouge his fans on ALDS tickets and get his precious postseason revenue. Really it all is in his hands if Beane can sign Hudson to a long term deal unless Hudson makes some outrageous demands. I think $12-13 million a year is likely.

I'm going out on a huge limb here and saying Stanford will lose in the 2nd round of the tournament. Although this year it wouldn't be necessarily be a choke as they obviously won't match their 30-2 record of last year.

It's looking like you will. Kotz hasn't posted on the board for 10 days.

Wow, complete 4th quarter collapse by Georgia Tech. Terrible call though on the interception return for the touchdown. That being said Reggie Ball wasn't showing anything to indicate he would have been able to lead them down the field to tie the game if a touchback had been called. After losing P.J. Daniels you had a feeling they wouldn't be able to hang on to the lead.

Week 9 Match-up Breakdowns #1 Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto, 6-2) vs. #9 Oregon (nogoodnick, 5-3) - GAME OF THE WEEK UVA: Georgia Tech, Missouri, Western Michigan, Wyoming, Tulsa OR: Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Central Michigan, Air Force, Rice Tiebreak Answers: 86/75, 115/80 #2 Minnesota (Vern Gagne, 4-4) vs. Auburn (Agent of Oblivion, 5-3) Min: Virginia Tech, Kansas, Colorado State, Cincinnati, MTS, Wyoming, Tulsa Aub: Georgia Tech, Iowa State, New Mexico, TCU, Utah State, Air Force, Rice Tiebreak Answers: 75/38, 87/134 #3 Washington State (bravesfan, 4-4) vs. USC (Cartman, 4-4) Wazzu: N.C. State, New Mexico, Cincinnati, Wyoming, Rice, Ohio, Texas Tech, Oregon State USC: Clemson, Colorado State, TCU, Air Force, Tulsa, Kent State, Kansas State, Arizona Tiebreak Answers: 75/41, 76/124 #4 Ohio State (Gert T, 5-3) vs. Penn State (therealworldschampion, 2-6) OSU: Clemson, Syracuse, Colorado State, East Carolina, Air Force, Kansas State, Arizona PS: N.C. State, Connecticut, New Mexico, Army, Wyoming, Texas Tech, Oregon State Tiebreak Answers: 72/69, 145/97 #5 West Virginia (Loaded Glove, 4-4) vs. Rutgers (the pinjockey, 2-6) WV: Kansas, East Carolina, Air Force, Ohio Rut: Iowa State, Army, Wyoming, Kent State Tiebreak Answers: 50/60, 111/80 #6 Notre Dame (Lando Griffin, 7-1) vs. Kent State (JHawk, 3-5) ND: N.C. State, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Army, Utah State, Air Force, Ohio, Texas Tech, Oregon State KS: Clemson, Western Michigan, New Mexico, East Carolina, MTS, Wyoming, Kent State, Kansas State, Arizona Tiebreak Answers: 67/52, 95/94 #7 UCLA (phoenixrising, 4-4) vs. Stanford (Bored, 7-1) UCLA: Virginia Tech, Western Michigan, Connecticut, New Mexico, TCU, Utah State, Kent State, Texas Tech Stan: Georgia Tech, Central Michigan, Syracuse, Colorado State, Cincinnati, MTS, Ohio, Kansas State Tiebreak Answers: 73/69, 110/106 #8 Syracuse (Canadian Chris, 6-2) vs. Oklahoma (Damaramu, 3-5) SU: Clemson, Colorado State, Cincinnati, Wyoming, Ohio, Texas Tech OK: N.C. State, New Mexico, TCU, Air Force, Kent State, Kansas State Tiebreak Answers: 57/52, 85/146 #10 Hawaii (Will Scarlet, 3-5) vs. Boise State (Vern Gagne/*dead team*, 2-6) HI: N.C. State, Connecticut, Rice BS: Clemson, Syracuse, Tulsa Tiebreak Answers: 45/75, 100/87 LSU (teke184, 6-2) vs. Texas (Flyboy, 4-4) LSU: Nebraska, Connecticut, Kansas, Texas Tech Tex: Missouri, Syracuse, Iowa State, Kansas State Tiebreak Answers: 75/65, 70/99 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff, 4-4) vs. Arizona State (Spicy McHaggis, 2-6) Ala: Colorado State, Florida, Arizona ASU: No point for VT/GT game, New Mexico, Georgia, Oregon State Tiebreak Answers: 46/62, 73/NA Maryland (MarvinisaLunatic, 5-3) vs. Florida State (2GOLD, 3-5) MD: Purdue, Nebraska, Syracuse, Iowa State, Mississippi State, New Mexico, TCU, Wyoming, Ohio, Arizona FSU: Northwestern, Missouri, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Colorado State, Cincinnati, Air Force, Kent State, Oregon State Tiebreak Answers: 44/48, 100/112 Florida (Agent Bond34, 2-6) vs. Georgia (A_MikeSC, 7-1) UF: Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Central Michigan, Air Force, Florida, Ohio UGA: Oklahoma, Missouri, Western Michigan, Wyoming, Georgia, Kent State Tiebreak Answers: 64/70, 72/100 Miami (Spaceman Spiff, 3-5) vs. Boston College (HarleyQuinn, 3-5) Mia: Boise State, N.C. State, Missouri, Iowa State, Colorado State, East Carolina, TCU, Air Force BC: Hawaii, Clemson, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Army, Cincinnati, Wyoming Tiebreak Answers: 49/40, 115/96 Michigan (Mad Dog, 2-6) vs. Michigan State (Dangerous A, 3-5) Mich: Oklahoma State, N.C. State, Kansas, Army, MTS, Wyoming, Rice, Oregon State MS: Oklahoma, Clemson, Iowa State, East Carolina, Utah State, Air Force, Tulsa, Arizona Tiebreak Answers: 54/74, 91/95 Tennessee (Kotzenjunge, 2-6) vs. Bowling Green (iggymcfly, 6-2)

You're all a bunch of pussies! I thought it was time to turn up the difficulty of this but maybe I'll ligten it a little next week since so many of you have complained. Anyone actually like all these low level games being throw in? I do want to have at least one game from every conference each week on the pick 'em schedule, yes even the Sun Belt. Spicy McHaggis and Kotzenjunge are both late with their picks. Here are the PM'd picks: LSU (teke184) THURSDAY Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech FRIDAY Hawaii at Boise State SATURDAY Oklahoma at Oklahoma State N.C. State at Clemson Purdue at Northwestern Missouri at Nebraska Western Michigan at Central Michigan Connecticut at Syracuse Kansas at Iowa State Kentucky at Mississippi State New Mexico at Colorado State Army at East Carolina TCU at Cincinnati Utah State at Middle Tennessee State Air Force at Wyoming Rice at Tulsa Florida vs. Georgia Ohio at Kent State Texas Tech at Kansas State Oregon State at Arizona Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Hawaii/Boise State game? 75 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Georgia Tech's P.J. Daniels have against Virginia Tech? 70 Hawaii (Will Scarlet) THURSDAY Virginia Tech FRIDAY Boise State SATURDAY Oklahoma N.C. State Purdue Nebraska Central Michigan Connecticut Kansas Mississippi State Colorado State Army Cincinnati Middle Tennessee State Wyoming Rice Georgia Ohio Kansas State Oregon State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Hawaii/Boise State game? 45 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Georgia Tech's P.J. Daniels have against Virginia Tech? 100 Minnesota/Boise State (Vern Gagne) THURSDAY Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech FRIDAY Hawaii at Boise State SATURDAY Oklahoma at Oklahoma State N.C. State at Clemson Purdue at Northwestern Missouri at Nebraska Western Michigan at Central Michigan Connecticut at Syracuse Kansas at Iowa State Kentucky at Mississippi State New Mexico at Colorado State Army at East Carolina TCU at Cincinnati Utah State at Middle Tennessee State Air Force at Wyoming Rice at Tulsa Florida vs. Georgia Ohio at Kent State Texas Tech at Kansas State Oregon State at Arizona Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Hawaii/Boise State game?75 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Georgia Tech's P.J. Daniels have against Virginia Tech? 87 Syracuse (CanadianChris) THURSDAY Virginia Tech FRIDAY Boise State SATURDAY Oklahoma Clemson Purdue Missouri Central Michigan Connecticut Kansas Mississippi State Colorado State Army Cincinnati Middle Tennessee State Wyoming Tulsa Georgia Ohio Texas Tech Oregon State TB1: 57 TB2: 85 Washington State (bravesfan) THURSDAY Virginia Tech FRIDAY Boise State (I despise this pick, but I can’t see Hawaii getting the upset on the smurf turf.) SATURDAY Oklahoma N.C. State Purdue Nebraska Central Michigan Connecticut Kansas Mississippi State New Mexico Army Cincinnati Middle Tennessee State Wyoming Rice Georgia Ohio Texas Tech Oregon State Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Hawaii/Boise State game? 75 Tiebreak #2: How many rushing yards will Georgia Tech's P.J. Daniels have against Virginia Tech? 76 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff) Virginia Tech Boise State Oklahoma North Carolina State Purdue Missouri Central Michigan UConn Iowa State Mississippi State Colorado State Army TCU Utah State Air Force Tulsa Florida Ohio Texas Tech Arizona TB #1: 46 TB #2: 73

If the game was in Tempe it'd be on there but with the game in Berkley I didn't think many would bite on the upset. Lots of people coming in late this week it appears. I probably won't post the PM'd picks until tonight.

National television schedule. ABC has the annoying three time slot doubleheader this week. West coast gest the late Wazzu/USC game and the rest of the country is split between the two early games. I'm trying to figure out how ABC ended up with Oregon/Washington instead of ASU/Cal. THURSDAY #22 Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN FRIDAY Hawaii at #13 Boise State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY #2 Oklahoma at #19 Oklahoma State, Noon/9:00 AM, ABC* Penn State at Ohio State, Noon/9:00 AM, ABC* #21 Purdue at Northwestern, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN N.C. State at Clemson, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2 Missouri at Nebraska, Noon/9:00 AM, FSN Florida vs. #9 Georgia, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS #5 Florida State at Maryland, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* #10 Texas at Colorado, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* Michigan State at #12 Michigan, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC* Washington at Oregon, 3:30/12:30 PM ABC* Stanford at UCLA, 3:30/12:30 PM, FSN #1 USC at Washington State, 7:00/4:00 PM, ABC* #3 Miami at North Carolina, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2 Texas Tech at Kansas State, 7:00/4:00 PM, FSN #4 Auburn at Mississippi, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN #15 Arizona State at #8 California, 10:00/7:00 PM, TBS

My picks Georgia Tech Boise State Oklahoma N.C. State Purdue Nebraska Central Michigan Syracuse Kansas Mississippi State Colorado State Army Cincinnati Middle Tennessee State Wyoming Tulsa Georgia Ohio Kansas State Oregon State Tiebreak Answers: 69/106

Oh please Al we all know it was the INTAGIBLES~ of Orlando Cabrera that won it for them. I'm sure someone will find some moment in the playoffs where the Red Sox played "small ball" and give all the credit to that. Anyways I'd like to challenge White Sox fans to start martyring themselves like Red Sox fans have for the last 80+ years. Hell they have an obvious "curse" from the 1919 Black Sox and they already had gone one year longer than the Red Sox since winning a world title.

Yup, there's going to be a OaO thread for Oklahoma/Oklahoma State.

Okay finally the starting pitchers. The list has the top 120 pitchers in games started. I used eight statiscial components: Component ERA (ERC), K/BB Ratio, WHIP, ERA+, Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), Fielding Independing Pitching (FIP), Runs Saved Above Average (RAA), and Win Shares. For the top spot you easily argue for Santana over Johnson but I'll just go with the results. Starting Pitchers 1. Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks 2. Johan Santana, Twins 3. Ben Sheets, Brewers 4. Curt Schilling, Red Sox 5. Jason Schmidt, Giants 6. Roger Clemens, Astros 7. Jake Peavy, Padres 8. Carl Pavano, Marlins 9. Brad Radke, Twins 10. Oliver Perez, Pirates 11. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs 12. Roy Oswalt, Astros 13. Pedro Martinez, Red Sox 14. Freddy Garcia, Mariners/White Sox 15. Odalis Perez, Dodgers 16. Chris Carpenter, Cardinals 17. Tim Hudson, A's 18. Livan Hernandez, Expos 19. Jaret Wright, Braves 20. David Wells, Padres 21. Mark Buehrle, White Sox 22. Kelvim Escobar, Angels 23. Jake Westbrook, Indians 24. Brad Penny, Marlins/Dodgers 25. Doug Davis, Brewers 26. Rodrigo Lopez, Orioles 27. A.J. Burnett, Marlins 28. Matt Clement, Cubs 29. Greg Maddux, Cubs 30. Josh Beckett, Marlins 31. Bronson Arroyo, Red Sox 32. Kerry Wood, Cubs 33. Rich Harden, A's 34. John Thomson, Braves 35. Zach Greinke, Royals 36. Tom Glavine, Mets 37. Jeff Weaver, Dodgers 38. Ted Lilly, Blue Jays 39. Jon Lieber, Yankees 40. Kevin Brown, Yankees 41. C.C. Sabathia, Indians 42. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays 43. Mark Prior, Cubs 44. Al Leiter, Mets 45. Joe Kennedy, Rockies 46. Ryan Drese, Rangers 47. Mike Mussina, Yankees 48. Woody Williams, Cardinals 49. Jose Lima, Dodgers 50. Kris Benson, Pirates/Mets 51. Dontrelle Willis, Marlins 52. Jason Marquis, Cardinals 53. Carlos Silva, Twins 54. Brett Tomko, Giants 55. Mark Mulder, A's 56. John Lackey, Angels 57. Jeremy Bonderman, Tigers 58. Mike Maroth, Tigers 59. Barry Zito, A's 60. Randy Wolf, Phillies 61. Javier Vazquez, Yankees 62. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks 63. Jarrod Washburn, Angels 64. Brian Lawrence, Padres 65. Adam Eaton, Padres 66. Joel Pineiro, Mariners 67. Jerome Williams, Giants 68. Kenny Rogers, Rangers 69. Steve Trachsel, Mets 70. Russ Ortiz, Braves 71. Paul Wilson, Reds 72. Jeff Suppan, Cardinals 73. Mike Hampton, Braves 74. Matt Morris, Cardinals 75. Jon Garland, White Sox 76. Bartolo Colon, Angels 77. Vincente Padilla, Phillies 78. Nate Robertson, Tigers 79. Eric Milton, Phillies 80. Kevin Millwood, Phillies 81. Mark Hendrickson, Devil Rays 82. Cory Lidle, Reds/Phillies 83. Kip Wells, Pirates 84. Miguel Batista, Blue Jays 85. Jason Johnson, Tigers 86. Victor Zambrano, Devil Rays/Mets 87. Tim Wakefield, Red Sox 88. Josh Fogg, Pirates 89. Erik Bedard, Orioles 90. Aaron Harang, Reds 91. Mark Redman, A's 92. Dewon Brazelton, Devil Rays 93. Gil Meche, Mariners 94. Josh Towers, Blue Jays 95. Victor Santos, Brewers 96. Ryan Franklin, Mariners 97. Daniel Cabrera, Orioles 98. Jason Jennings, Rockies 99. Sidney Ponson, Orioles 100. Kazuisha Ishii, Dodgers 101. Kirk Rueter, Giants 102. Cliff Lee, Indians 103. Jimmy Gobble, Royals 104. Jamie Moyer, Mariners 105. Jose Acevedo, Reds 106. Derek Lowe, Red Sox 107. Jose Contreras, Yankees/White Sox 108. Brett Myers, Phillies 109. Shawn Estes, Rockies 110. Scott Elarton, Rockies/Indians 111. Kyle Lohse, Twins 112. Wes Obermueller, Brewers 113. Darrell May, Royals 114. Jae Seo, Mets 115. Aaron Sele, Angels 116. Esteban Loaiza, White Sox/Yankees 117. Ismael Valdez, Padres/Marlins 118. Casey Fossum, Diamondbacks 119. Ryan Vogelsong, Pirates 120. Brian Anderson, Royals

Just letting everyone know when it comes to the Saturday games this is going to be the way it is the rest of the year. It's time to really find out who knows their college football. Tennessee/South Carolina just missed the cut but most everyone would have picked Tennessee anyways.