Week Four

STOP THE MADNESS … the Univ. of Texas got this conference wrecking ball rolling when it partnered with ESPN to form the Longhorn Network, designed to bring riches to Austin at the expense of its partners in the Big 12. This move didn’t sit well with the league’s other members, especially archrival Texas A&M, which immediately bolted for the best league in college football, the Southeastern Conference. While the move hasn’t been finalized, that leaves the “Big 12” with just nine schools – Colorado having already bolted to the former Pac-10, now Pac-12, and Nebraska joining the Big 10 (which actually has 12 schools). And now we hear that Oklahoma is being wooed by the Pac-12, causing Sooner head coach Bob Stoops to declare that potentially losing the long-standing Red River rivalry against Texas would be “no big deal.” Texas Christian, meanwhile, is already regretting its decision to join the Big East after Pittsburgh and Syracuse declared just this week that they both were bolting for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Now, I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense for a school from Fort Worth to be playing in the Big East. Then again, how sensible is it for Utah and Colorado to be affiliated with a conference that has always had “Pacific,” as in ocean, in its title? Put simply, Oklahoma has absolutely no business residing in a league that used to be known as the Pacific Coast Conference. I mean, I’m still getting used to the idea of letting Arizona and Arizona State join this hallowed collection of West Coast schools. Left out in all this discussion of potential “super conferences” are folks like you and me, who happen to like the longstanding rivalry games. We’d much rather see Cal play USC, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon and Washington than suddenly see the Golden Bears thrust into the “Southwestern Division” of a 16-team super conference and try to force unnatural rivalries with the likes of Oklahoma State and – who knows? – Baylor. Or Texas Tech. After admitting Nebraska and growing to 12 teams, the Big 10 awkwardly and embarrassingly named its resulting two divisions “Legends” and “Leaders,” and put Michigan and Ohio State in opposite divisions. Which is about as goofy as it gets. Rivalries mean an awful lot to us, the loyal fans, and in many cases they’re what keeps interest in the season alive after your cherished alma mater has started the season 0-3. Ah yes, Oregon State fans might say, we may be winless, but those hated Washington Huskies are coming to town Saturday afternoon, so we’d better get our tickets now.

FANS TURN THUMBS DOWN ON REALIGNMENT … most of us, it seems, don’t like change. And now, thanks to KRC Research, we know that fans in the Big 12 overwhelmingly don’t like change. Especially when it comes to football. In a study commissioned by Baylor University, KRC polled 1,500 college graduates within Big 12 states and reports that 76 percent are opposed to the concept of super conferences. Texas coach Mack Brown, apparently, was one of those polled. Said the longtime Longhorn coach: “As much as we talk about money, as much as we talk about college football, as much as we talk about realignment, as much as we talk about great games, playoffs and all that stuff, we better go back and make sure that we’re taking care of the players and that the players and the high school coaches are always considered in the equation.” Not to mention the fans, coach. Added Brown: “Because if not, we’re not going to have a game, and they’re the ones that are playing. And, for parents to travel all the way across the country is going to put a bigger burden on them. Right now, with the regional leagues, parents can go see their kids play, and that’s really important because these kids are working their guts out year-round for us to have a show on Saturday that everyone enjoys. College football’s as great as it’s ever been, but we better keep considering what’s in the best interest of the players or at some point they’re going to get so frustrated it won’t be fun for them.” Amen.

AND ONE MORE THING … for a minute let’s forget about USC and Alabama and LSU and Florida and Oklahoma and the handful of other schools that know they’ll always be competing for a conference championship, no matter how “super” the conference or how big the league … but when you drop down a rung – or two – to schools where competing for a conference championship comes around only once a generation, or longer, a super conference merely dooms them to perpetual mediocrity. Does anyone seriously think that Cal or Washington State or Oregon State or Arizona or Arizona State or UCLA will ever seriously compete for the championship in a 16-team “Super Pac-12” that includes Texas and Oklahoma and God knows how many other interlopers from halfway across the country? That’s not good for the fans or the players and it’s certainly not good for college football. Mack Brown seems to get that. It’s too bad that more of his coaching counterparts don’t.

HALL OF SHAME … apparently no one was seriously injured in Cal’s 63-12 dismantling of tiny Presbyterian, a weaker-than-your-little-sister FCS school with just 600 male students. Truth be known, the Bears could have scored on every single play against the Blue Hose, who, despite their nickname, actually showed up for the coin toss wearing white sox. It was the 75th win at Cal for Golden Bear head coach Jeff Tedford, making him the all-time winningest coach in Berkeley, but it had to be nothing short of embarrassing for Tedford to have the win come at the expense of such an unworthy foe. Glancing at the far-from-capacity crowd of 33,952 at AT&T Park, Tedford noted “It felt a little dead out there, to be honest with you.” One wonders why. Could it have been the fact that Presbyterian managed just three first downs in the entire game and rolled up a meager 48 yards of total offense, including yardage credited for running from the locker room to the playing field at the start of each half? (PC’s two touchdowns came from one defensive player, Justin Bethel, who ran back an interception for a touchdown and also blocked a punt and took it in for a score.) Now 3-0 and undaunted by its shameless victory, Cal has declared its intention to play an “independent” schedule in 2012 against a full slate of religious schools, including such powers as the Univ. of Mary, Texas Lutheran, Ohio Dominican, Maranatha Baptist, Incarnate Word, St. Anselm, Thomas More, St. Norbert, East Texas Baptist, Kentucky Christian, Presentation, Assumption and St. Scholastica. We’ll see how dead things seem after those games.

TAKE A HORNET TO LUNCH … when perpetually downtrodden I-AA also-ran Sacramento State stunned the college football world with a dramatic 29-28 overtime victory over Oregon State there was talk of the Hornets finally earning a BCS playoff bid and even playing for the national championship. In their excitement, long-suffering Sac State fans, drunk with victory, began snapping up Rose Bowl tickets. Certainly, at least, the elusive Big Sky Conference championship was finally within Sac State’s reach. As they proved in Corvallis, the Hornets were talented, poised and above all, confident. My what a difference two weeks can make. The Hornets followed their win in the Beaver State with a flatter-than-a-pancake 35-14 loss to a so-so Southern Utah team, then opened Big Sky play with a thud, falling to no-name Weber State, 49-17. Stating the obvious, Hornet coach Marshall Sperbeck said, “Obviously, we didn’t play as well as we could have.” You can say that again, coach. “Obviously, we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Sperbeck added. After the win over Oregon State, The Sacramento Bee reported a renewed buzz surrounding Sac State football, which makes sense given that both the hometown newspaper and the hometown college are named after stinging insects that buzz. The Hornet defense, which seemed so “in sync” at Oregon State, gave up a whopping 522 yards to the Weber Wildcats. Opposing offenses have been feasting so mightily on the Hornet defense the last two weeks that they’ve taking to calling the school Snack State.

HEAVEN SENT … those of us who just can’t get enough college football on our televisions were thrilled when Saturday night’s scheduled showdown between Tulsa and Oklahoma State – already scheduled for an unusually late 9:10 p.m. start in Tulsa – was delayed over three hours by a tornado warning. They finally kicked off at 12:16 a.m. Sunday, Tulsa time, and didn’t finish until 3:35 a.m. Lots of folks late for Mass in the Diocese of Tulsa on Sunday morning.

IT’S NOT NICE TO BRAG … despite UC Davis’ 0-2 record and San Diego’s 2-0 mark, the Above-Pictured Blogger wrote “Takes the Ags by 28” when issuing last week’s Fearless Forecast. The final: UC Davis 31, San Diego 3. Too bad this game wasn’t on the board in Boomtown.

FUZZY MATH … ESPN’s math-challenged crew on the BYU-Utah game reminded me that Brigham Young, down by 23 at the time, needed three touchdowns and “at least one two-point conversion” to draw even in the game. Last time I checked, three touchdowns, two PAT kicks and one two-point conversion would result in 22 points. I guess that’s why these guys are in the booth and not on the field.

SPEAKING OF MATH … no winners yet to the difficult question: What’s the maximum number of points a college football team can win by in overtime. My friend Curt gave it a futile stab, but failed. Close, but no cigar. The contest remains open.

TOP OF THE HEAP … 1) LSU, 2) Oklahoma, 3) Wisconsin, 4) Stanford, 5) Alabama, 6) Boise State, 7) Oklahoma State, 8) Texas A&M, 9) Florida State, 10) Florida, 11) Oregon, 12) Nebraska, 13) Arkansas, 14) Georgia Tech, 15) Baylor, 16) South Florida, 17) West Virginia, 18) USC, 19) Illinois, 20) TCU, 21) Texas, 22) South Carolina, 23) Virginia Tech, 24) Utah, 25) Clemson.

BOTTOM OF THE BARREL … 120) North Texas (0-3), 119) Catholic Schools (1-5), 118) Oregon State (0-2), 117) Arizona (1-2), 116) UCLA (1-2).

This week’s picks are as follows:

WASHINGTON over CAL … the Huskies will not be wearing Blue Hose. Washington by 7.

OREGON over ARIZONA … the Wildcats thought this might be the year they finally get over the hump and truly compete for the conference title. They’re learning very quickly that the hump is much larger than anticipated. The Ducks have way too many weapons to falter on the desert. Oregon by 24.

LSU over WEST VIRGINIA … the best defense in college football gets a severe road test and emerges unscathed. The Bayou Bengals are by no means loaded, but there is no more determined team in college football. LSU by 17.

OREGON STATE over UCLA … the loser of this one will not win another game and fans will be calling for the coach’s head. Come to think of it, even the winner of this one is not likely to win another game and fans will be calling for the coach’s head. Two teams caught in a downward spiral and very lucky to be meeting each other this early in the season. I mean, someone has to win, right? Beavers by one-half point.

BOISE STATE over TULSA … the Broncos keep rolling merrily along, hoping against hope that this is the year everyone ahead of them falters and they finally get a chance to play for the national championship. It’s awfully early to make this call, but only TCU (Nov. 12 in Boise) stands between Boise and a perfect regular season. Boise by 20.

ALABAMA over ARKANSAS … one day Alabama’s lack of offense may cost the Tide a victory, but as long as the defense holds up, they’ll score enough to beat the talented Hogs. Bama by 8.

OKLAHOMA STATE over TEXAS A&M … the Cowboys are rocking and rolling with the best team in school history. OSU by 3.

NOTRE DAME over PITTSBURGH … have the Irish finally found the winning formula? Nope, but the schedule is easing up a bit and Notre Dame has a chance to regain its bearings and put together a mild winning streak. Irish by 14.

MISSISSIPPI STATE over LOUISIANA TECH … I absolutely, positively, 100-percent guarantee that the Bulldogs will win this game. MSU by 30.

MICHIGAN over SAN DIEGO STATE … the Brady Bowl, as Wolverine coach Brady Hoke tries to explain to his old team why he’s now coaching his new team. Must be that winters in Ann Arbor are finer than winters in San Diego. Michigan by 12.

PENN STATE over EASTERN MICHIGAN … after routing Temple, 14-10, with late-game heroics, the Nittany Lions continue their march through the weak sisters of Division I. PSU by 22.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: USC over Arizona State … hey, I don’t make the point spreads, I just report them. And oddsmakers all over the country are calling this one for the Sun Devils. They’re wrong. (Upset record: 0-3). Trojans by 14.

ROUT OF THE WEEK: Nebraska over Wyoming … good for the Huskers for making the trip to Laramie – at elevation 7,220, the highest venue in major college football - to play in smallish (29,181-seat) War Memorial Stadium. Most “big-time” programs wouldn’t dream of such a concession. A big, big day for Cowboy fans. (Rout record: 3-0). Huskers by 40.

DON’T BET ON IT, BUT: Fresno State over Idaho … the Bulldogs came ever so close to losing to North Dakota last week and will have their hands full in the Kibbie Dome. This is not one of Pat Hill’s scarier teams. (Don’t bet record: 0-3). Bulldogs by 5.

FIVE EASY PICKS: Bet the rent on these, Martha. This week’s sure winners are TCU (over Portland State), Wisconsin (over South Dakota), South Florida (over Texas-El Paso), Houston (over Georgia State) and Oklahoma (over Missouri). (FEP record: 15-0).

AGGIES over HAWAII … this game starts so late, ESPN is listing it as a “Sunday, September 25” game. Which it is if your network has an East Coast bias. You know, when I first saw this game on the schedule, I said “no way.” A sure Hawaii win. Then, after I watched Hawaii embarrass Colorado and give Washington a run for its money, I was more certain than ever that the pass-happy Warriors simply had too many weapons for a game, but outmanned, Aggie defense. But late last Saturday night Hawaii barely showed up in Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium and laid a giant egg against formerly winless UNLV. Suddenly, the Warriors look very, very vulnerable. The Aggies, meanwhile, finally tasted victory after two lopsided road losses. Shades of Stanford in 2005. Take the Ags by 4.

OTHER GAMES: Florida State over Clemson, Georgia Tech over North Carolina, Miami (Fla.) over Kansas State, Michigan State over Central Michigan, SMU over Memphis, Iowa over Louisiana-Monroe, Georgia over Mississippi, Maryland over Temple, Boston College over Massachusetts, Air Force over Tennessee State, Virginia Tech over Marshall, Ohio State over Colorado, Illinois over Western Michigan, Northern Illinois over Cal Poly, Connecticut over Buffalo, South Carolina over Vanderbilt, Florida over Kentucky, Baylor over Rice, Auburn over Florida Atlantic, Minnesota over North Dakota State, Utah State over Colorado State, UNLV over Southern Utah, and Texas Tech over Nevada.

Last week: 40-9, season: 134-26, percentage: .838