Bored

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAL LOSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GREATEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stanford is going fuck them up in the Big Game. Just ignore me right now.

Florida hangs on and prevents the BCS picture from getting even more fucked up.

STANFORD WINS A GAME!!!!!

U of A ties up Cal 17-17 early in the 4th. Stanford up 17-3 in the 4th against Washington. Must...contain...excitement. EDIT: PICK SIX BY U OF A, 24-17!!!!!

And Kotz is such a huge Clemson fan too... Fun Fact: Today marks the first time since 1992 that a Notre Dame game was not televised on a network or ESPN.

Wow, Georgia is annihilating Auburn right now 24-0 and it's not even halftime.

Vitamin X failed to submit picks so I'll use Gert T's as replacments for FIU.

Umm, knowing your hard earned money helped a billionaire fulfill his dream of having more luxury boxes?

Texans - 14 points Tennessee Indianapolis N.Y. Giants Atlanta Minnesota Jacksonville Miami Pittsburgh New England Cincinnati Detroit Philadelphia Denver Arizona Seattle Carolina

You know we are one step closer to a Rutgers/Wake Forest Orange Bowl. Now there's something you'd never think you'd see. Speaking of Wake Forest, ESABCPN is sticking most of the country with the Texas/Kansas State thriller in the primetime slot.

Louisville has possibly gone all the way from the BCS Title Game to the Texas Bowl with tonight's loss. Poor guys.

This is going to be a penalty....or not. Rutgers is in the national picture. Really take a moment to let that sink in.

HE HOOKED IT...offsides Louisville!!! Unbelievable.

There's too many teams in front of them to jump to the Top 5.

Now in field goal range. They might tear down the whole stadium if they win it here.

J.D. Drew is so irrationally hated by the common fan because of the way he came into baseball but the guy is a damn good player. Although I would agree it's a risk to give up $11 million/year but a team that loses out in the Alfonso Soriano bidding war may throw big money at him.

PM'd Picks USC - Cartman THURSDAY Louisville FRIDAY Central Michigan SATURDAY Michigan State Illinois Iowa Tennessee Colorado Connecticut Maryland Texas A&M Washington State Oregon State Wake Forest USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Tennessee/Arkansas game? 48 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oregon's Dennis Dixon have against USC? 153 Arizona State - Spicy McHaggis THURSDAY Rutgers FRIDAY Central Michigan SATURDAY Michigan State Purdue Wisconsin Arkansas Iowa State Pittsburgh Maryland Nebraska Washington State UCLA Wake Forest USC 48/220 UCLA - phoenixrising THURSDAY Louisville FRIDAY Western Michigan SATURDAY Michigan State Purdue Wisconsin Tennessee Iowa State Pittsburgh Miami Texas A&M Arizona State UCLA Florida State USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Tennessee/Arkansas game? 52 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oregon's Dennis Dixon have against USC? 200 Georgia Tech - iggymcfly THURSDAY Louisville at Rutgers FRIDAY Western Michigan at Central Michigan SATURDAY Minnesota at Michigan State Purdue at Illinois Wisconsin at Iowa Tennessee at Arkansas Iowa State at Colorado Pittsburgh at Connecticut Miami at Maryland Nebraska at Texas A&M Washington State at Arizona State Oregon State at UCLA Wake Forest at Florida State Oregon at USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Tennessee/Arkansas game? 40 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oregon's Dennis Dixon have against USC? 204 San Jose State - kkktookmybabaway Louisville Central Michigan Michigan State Purdue Wisconsin Arkansas Iowa State Pittsburgh Maryland Nebraska Washington State Oregon State Wake Forest USC #1 49 #2 199 Temple - Ortonsault THURSDAY Louisville FRIDAY Central Michigan SATURDAY Michigan State Illinois Wisconsin Arkansas Colorado Pittsburgh Miami Texas A&M Washington State Oregon State Florida State USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Tennessee/Arkansas game? 47 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oregon's Dennis Dixon have against USC? 310 LSU - teke184 THURSDAY Louisville at Rutgers FRIDAY Western Michigan at Central Michigan SATURDAY Minnesota at Michigan State Purdue at Illinois Wisconsin at Iowa Tennessee at Arkansas Iowa State at Colorado Pittsburgh at Connecticut Miami at Maryland Nebraska at Texas A&M Washington State at Arizona State Oregon State at UCLA Wake Forest at Florida State Oregon at USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Tennessee/Arkansas game? 49 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oregon's Dennis Dixon have against USC? 175 Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 THURSDAY Louisville at Rutgers FRIDAY Western Michigan at Central Michigan SATURDAY Minnesota at Michigan State Purdue at Illinois Wisconsin at Iowa Tennessee at Arkansas Iowa State at Colorado Pittsburgh at Connecticut Miami at Maryland Nebraska at Texas A&M Washington State at Arizona State Oregon State at UCLA Wake Forest at Florida State Oregon at USC Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the Tennessee/Arkansas game? 49 Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oregon's Dennis Dixon have against USC? 108 Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff Louisville Western Michigan Minnesota Purdue Wisconsin Arkansas Colorado Pittsburgh Maryland Nebraska Washington State Oregon State Wake Forest USC TB #1: 47 TB #2: 236

This has a been a crazy first quarter.

nogoodnick, bravesfan, Loaded Glove, Lando Griffin, and Vitamin X are late with their picks. Since I had both bravesfan and Loaded Glove as "probation" team replacments I'll instead use Danville Wrestling for Oregon State and Kotz for Michigan.

This had been an idle threat before by the 49ers' ownership in the past but now it appears it will happen. Of course in the NFL a team playing outside the city it represents is hardly unheard of. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AnRf...p&type=lgns

My Picks Louisville Central Michigan Minnesota Purdue Wisconsin Arkansas Colorado Pittsburgh Maryland Texas A&M Washington State Oregon State Florida State USC 49/200

Yes I did.

December 30th - Meineke Car Care Bowl (Big East #3/Navy vs. ACC #6) Navy vs. Clemson/Boston College/Miami The mean 'ol Naval academy is stealing the Big East's bid here due to a conditional bid they had with this unfortunately named bowl. Clemson is likely to end up here after having what appeared to be promising Orange Bowl hopes just a couple of weeks ago. December 30th - Alamo Bowl (Big XII #4 vs. Big Ten #4) Texas A&M/Missouri/Nebraska vs. Purdue Purdue will end up here by default and A&M is obviously favored here, if the Holiday Bowl doesn't grab them. Nebraska would probably be passed on if their available since they played here last season. December 30th - Chick-fil-A Bowl (ACC #2 vs. SEC #5) Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech/Maryland/Boston College vs. Georgia/Alabama/South Carolina And just another reason why people have a hard time taking bowl game seriously. Chick-fil-A just wasn't satisfied with being the sponsor of the Peach Bowl so they bought out the name. I'd never even heard of Chick-fil-A when they first sponsored the bowl. The assumption right now by the projections is that the SEC will get two teams in the BCS thus leaving this game with a 7-5 team at best from the SEC. Although none of them picked them, when you look at the remaining schedule there is a distinct possibility Kentucky ends up here as they could go 7-5 while the other three all finish 6-6 and thus would have to be passed over. If Georgia Tech loses the ACC title game they'll end up here which obviously would eliminate Georgia from consideration. December 31st - MPC Computers Bowl (WAC #1 vs. ACC #8) Nevada/San Jose State vs. Miami/Florida State/Wake Forest Larry Coker's last stand will likely be freezing his ass off in Boise. Like I said in the prior entry I'd be surprised if Nevada isn't Boise State's replacement here. Of course though perennial doormat San Jose State playing perennial national power Miami on blue turf would be delicious is so many ways. Jaunary 1st - Gator Bowl (Big East #2/Big XII #5 vs. ACC #3) West Virginia/Nebraska vs. Wake Forest/Clemson/Maryland The Gator Bowl has become the ugly stepchild of the January 1st bowls and has been passed over the Peach and Holiday Bowl on the bowl totem poll in recent years. As mentioned before if Nebarska is available they will pass on an 11-1/10-2 Big East team to do so. A lot will depend on who ends up in the Holiday Bowl from the Pac-10 as if it's Cal is there then they will probably grab Nebraska but if it's USC they'll have to pass on them. January 1st - Outback Bowl (Big Ten #3 vs. SEC #4) Penn State vs. Tennessee/LSU/Arkansas Although the Gator Bowl is the ugly stepchild of January 1st, this game has always felt like an unecessary January 1st game to me. It's starts way too early for us on the West Coast (8:00 AM after New Year's Eve? Fuck that) and the 3rd or 4th best team from the Big Ten playing the 4th or 5th best team from the SEC isn't all that exciting to me especially when there is a much bigger Big Ten/SEC match-up later in the day. It will be especially unexciting this year as an unranked Penn State team will be here by default barring something bizarre happening in the Big Ten in the last couple of weeks. January 1st - Cotton Bowl (Big XII #2 vs. SEC #3) Oklahoma vs. LSU/Arkansas/Auburn/Tennessee I always kind of hope that the Cotton Bowl will one day regain it's status as the 2nd biggest bowl game but that will never happen. Oklahoma is almost a lock here at this point unless Texas gets upset in the Big XII title game and there is always a preference to take a team from the SEC West division so not sure what CFN is thinking with Tennessee. January 1st - Capital One Bowl (SEC #2 vs. Big Ten #2) Wisconsin vs. Tennessee/Florida/Arkansas There's 99.99999999% chance the Badgers end up here. As for the SEC a lot will depend on what happens in the SEC title game. January 1st - Rose Bowl (Pac-10 #1/BCS vs. Big Ten #1/BCS) California/USC vs. Michigan Aww the Grand Daddy of them all back where should always be played, on January 1st. Won't get the Big Ten champ but at least we will get a Pac-10/Big Ten match-up. Of course if Cal beats USC I will not be watching this game until Michigan has a substantial lead in the game. And as you can see no one is picking them to beat Ohio State. January 1st - Fiesta Bowl (Big XII #1/BCS vs. BCS) Texas/Notre Dame vs. Boise State This appears to be the easiest bowl to predict at this point. Texas wins the Big XII and Boise State wins out, they'll be playing each other. Now you see Notre Dame and well that's because Ivan Maisel thinks Texas will end up in the BCS Title Game which is too scary to think of right now. Although I think they'll get crushed at least Boise will get to prove themselves against an elite team unlike Utah a few years ago who were stuck playing a Pittsburgh team that had no business being there in a year that turned everyone on the Big East. Jaunary 2nd - Orange Bowl (ACC #1/BCS vs. BCS) Georgia Tech/Wake Forest vs. Auburn/LSU/Louisville I'm sooooooooo rooting for Wake Forest and Rutgers to win their conferences and play here as it might cause the Apocalypse. Obviously the popular choice seems to be the 2nd SEC team getting here. January 3rd - Sugar Bowl (SEC #1/BCS vs. BCS) Florida/Arkansas/Auburn vs. Notre Dame/Louisville Convential wisdom is the Sugar Bowl will gobble up Notre Dame as they are ahead of the Orange and Fiesta on the BCS pecking order this year. January 6th - International Bowl (MAC #3 vs. Big East #4/#5) Ohio/Western Michigan/Kent State vs. Pittsburgh/South Florida Exhibit A why when a bowl is played is overrated. It seems unlikely USF would be picked here to travel all the way to Toronto. January 7th - GMAC Bowl (Conference USA #2 vs. MAC #2) East Carolina/Tulsa/Houston vs. Ohio/Western Michigan/Central Michigan/Northern Illinois And Exhibit B as nothing bowl game GMAC decided to get cute and schedule themselves the day before the BCS title game. January 8th - BCS Championship Game (BCS #1 vs. BCS #2) Ohio State vs. Louisville/Florida/Texas Playing two bowl games at the same site a week apart is lame and January 8th is looooooong time to wait for the title game. Words can not describe how I don't want to see a Ohio State/Texas rematch although the elitist in me would prefer to see Florida than Louisville, not to say I don't think Louisville wouldn't be more deserving if they finish undefeated.

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.