Week Eight

BCS (BOB CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES) RANKINGS: Yes, the first BCS poll of the year is out, using equal parts Harris Interactive Poll, USA Today Coaches Poll and computer rankings, the last of which is completely worthless … for example, Oklahoma State is sixth in both the Harris and Coaches polls, but rated first by the computer, which apparently likes big, big scores … Wisconsin, which just might be the best team in America, is fourth in both human polls but an inexplicable 11^th in the computer ranking … Badger coach Brett Bielema plans to have a talk with the computer this week to find out what it doesn’t like about beer and brats and power football … all of this would be just plain silliness if not for the fact that the top two teams to emerge from this mess at the end of the year will get to play for the national championship … Oklahoma, meanwhile – NOT Oklahoma State – is picked first by the coaches and fourth by the computer, which would leave the Sooners out in the cold come Selection Saturday in December … and then we have Kansas State, a Cinderella story to be sure, even if the Wildcats are easily the worst 6-0 team in the country … K-State is 16^th in the Coaches Poll, but No. 7 in the computer ranking, which makes about as much sense as naming a city in the middle of Kansas “Manhattan” … who knows, maybe the computer will take a liking to 0-6 New Mexico one day soon and rank the Lobos number one … makes about as much sense as the current system …

THINNING A BUMPER CROP … well, those 13 unbeatens entering last weekend were trimmed to 10, but that’s still 8 more than will be picked for the BCS championship game January 9 in New Orleans … Alabama and LSU meet Nov. 4 in what is already being billed as the Game of the Century – only 11 seasons in this century so far, so that may be accurate – and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State conclude the regular season against each other on Dec. 3 … Stanford appears to have clear sailing before hosting one-loss Oregon Nov. 12, while it doesn’t appear anyone is going to threaten Wisconsin in any way, shape or form … same for Boise State, which will be favored by at least three touchdowns in every game the rest of the way … yes, including TCU next month … Clemson, Kansas State and Houston don’t figure to be in the discussion even if they win out … fair? … hardly … then again, if you put Houston in the SEC, would you expect the Cougars to even win half of their games? … I rest my case …

THROWING IN THE TOWEL … so, Oregon led Arizona State 41-27 with eight minutes left in Eugene … the Sun Devils faced a makeable fourth-and-2 at their own 38 yard line … with the game hanging in the balance, Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson was clearly faced with a difficult decision … should he run or should he pass? … turns out he did neither … nope, the man punted … well actually his punter punted, but you get the point … Oregon said “thank you very much,” ran four minutes off the clock before punting back to the Sun Devils and the game was essentially over … final: 41-27 … then again, since Oregon was a 14-and-a-half-point favorite, the Sun Devils did cover the spread, which should make some folks happy back in Tempe …

SPEAKING OF POINT SPREADS … South Carolina, a three-point favorite over Mississippi State, scored late to take a 14-10 lead over the Bulldogs … but then came a

critical decision … faced with a fourth down inside their own 10 yard line, but with only 4 seconds left on the clock, the Gamecocks didn’t want to risk a punt that could be blocked or returned for a touchdown … so they snapped the ball, ran backward into the end zone to use up the four seconds, then stepped neatly out of the end zone to end the game with a safety … final score: 14-12 … yes, that means Mississippi State covered the spread …

CHRIS PETERSEN WATCH … folks in Tucson are actually spreading the rumor that Boise State coach Chris Petersen, who perpetually has his team in the top 5 and is the winningest active coach in America, is a leading candidate to replace the fired Mike Stoops at the Univ. of Arizona … hey, Petersen is not that stupid … he is, after all, a UC Davis graduate … as such, he knows you don’t trade wild success for the humdrum of mediocrity …

TOP OF THE HEAP: 1) LSU, 2) Alabama, 3) Wisconsin, 4) Oklahoma, 5) Oklahoma State, 6) Boise State, 7) Stanford, 8) Clemson, 9) Oregon, 10) Virginia Tech, 11) South Carolina, 12) Nebraska, 13) Michigan State, 14) Kansas State, 15) West Virginia, 16) Texas A&M, 17) Houston, 18) Michigan, 19) Penn State, 20) Auburn, 21) Illinois, 22) Georgia, 23) Washington, 24) Notre Dame, 25) Georgia Tech …

BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: 120) New Mexico 0-6, 119-117) Pac-12 bottom feeders Colorado, Arizona, Oregon State 3-16, 116) Florida Atlantic 0-6, 115) Alabama Not Tuscaloosa (Birmingham) 0-6, 114) UNLV 1-5, 113) Idaho 1-6, 112) Boston College 1-5, 111) Indiana 1-6 …

This week’s picks are as follows:

STANFORD over WASHINGTON … my goodness, everyone talks about Andrew Luck, but they really should be talking about the Stanford defense. Luck is a star, to be sure, and he may well win the Heisman Trophy, but there are few defenses in the country as dominating as Stanford’s. If the other guys can’t score, they can’t beat you. Stanford, 42-7.

UTAH over CAL … unless the Bears come up with some consistency at quarterback, they won’t be able to solve a stout Utah defense in what should be a low-scoring affair. Utes, 13-10.

OREGON over COLORADO … your Heisman Trophy candidate running back is out with a dislocated elbow, your magical quarterback just left the game with a leg injury and you’re behind in the second half to powerful Arizona State. So you bring on a freshman quarterback and a couple of other talented subs and proceed to take over the game. That’s Oregon. Ducks, 60-0.

LSU over AUBURN … a national-champion-to-be routs last year’s national champion. LSU, 35-17.

ALABAMA over TENNESSEE … pity the poor Volunteers, facing LSU and Alabama on back to back weekends. Who made this schedule? Bama, 44-13.

OKLAHOMA over TEXAS TECH … yet another rout in Norman. Sooners, 56-14.

WISCONSIN over MICHIGAN STATE … if anyone’s going to challenge the Badgers this year, it may be that talented bunch in East Lansing. Badgers, 38-28.

BOISE STATE over AIR FORCE … the Broncos will dominate the skies in this one. New conference, same old story. Boise, 51-16.

KANSAS STATE over KANSAS … this one’s for all the sunflowers. And yes, Dorothy will skydive into the stadium with the game ball and Toto will conduct the coin toss. Wildcats, 31-24.

UPSET OF THE WEEK: Oregon State over Washington State … the Beavers may be down and deflated, but they’re not about to lose to the Cougars two years in a row. Beavers, 30-27.  (Upset record: 1-6).

ROUT OF THE WEEK: Texas A&M over Iowa State … one last feast on Big 12 fodder before A&M heads off for the daunting SEC treadmill. Aggies, 40-14. (Rout record: 7-0).

DON’T BET ON IT, BUT: Notre Dame over USC … there was a time when this was annually one of the biggest games in the country. Now it’s just another game as USC waits to get off probation and Notre Dame dreams of future glory based on past success. Irish, 17-14.  (Don’t bet record: 3-4).

FIVE EASY PICKS: This week’s locks are Nebraska (over Minnesota), Arkansas (over Ole Miss), TCU (over New Mexico), Virginia Tech (over Boston College) and Brigham Young (over Idaho State). (FEP record: 34-1).

AGGIES OVER SOUTH DAKOTA … the Coyotes may be wily, but the Aggies have finally found a way to win. Watch out the rest of the way. Take the Ags by 13.

OTHER GAMES: West Virginia over Syracuse, Oklahoma State over Missouri, Clemson over North Carolina, Illinois over Purdue, Kentucky over Jacksonville State, Northern Illinois over Buffalo, Iowa over Indiana, Wake Forest over Duke, Miami (Fla.) over Georgia Tech, Florida State over Maryland, Houston over Marshall, Penn State over Northwestern, Tulsa over Rice, Toledo over Miami (Ohio), Hawaii over New Mexico State, and Nevada over Fresno State.

Last week: 28-6, season: 252-59, percentage: .810.