WEEK SEVEN
SWITCHING PARTNERS … turns out Texas Christian got divorced before it even got married … the Horned Frogs, flexing their muscles after last year’s impressive Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin, were all set to join the Big East before Syracuse and Pittsburgh bolted from that conference for the ACC … suddenly the Big 12 – now only 10 – came calling after the departures of Colorado, Nebraska and Texas A&M … and now TCU is back where it belongs, in a Midwest/Southwest conference with natural rivals like Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Baylor …
A HUMBOLDTING EXPERIENCE … nobody, not even the most diehard partisans in Arcata, expected Division II Humboldt State to come to UC Davis and embarrass the Aggies, who seemingly never lose to a team they are supposed to beat … in fact, playing up and playing well is UCD’s modus operandi … remember wins over Stanford, UOP, Nevada and others over the years? … the last time I remember the Aggies being 1-4, in 1981, they reeled over 17 straight wins behind quarterback Ken O’Brien to reach the 1982 Division II championship game in McAllen, Texas … we’ll see if they can duplicate that feat this time around …
WHAT’S THAT RING DOING ON YOUR FINGER, COACH? … when Texas-San Antonio brings its first-ever varsity football team to Davis for a Saturday afternoon battle with the Aggies, they’ll be led onto the field by head coach Larry Coker … yes, that would be the same Larry Coker who not so long ago (2001) earned a national championship as the head coach at Miami … this will be the second time Bob Biggs and the Aggies have faced such a winning coach this year … at Arizona State in the season opener they were up against Dennis Erickson, who has two national championships to his credit … yep, both at Miami …
O FOR FLORIDA … for the first time in recorded history, the state of Florida does not have a single team ranked in the top 25 … most of the rest of the college football world is not upset about this revolting development …
CROWDED AT THE TOP … it’s truly impossible to separate the top eight teams in the weekly rankings and things might not clear up anytime soon … a case can be made that each of the eight, at least at this point, is worthy of playing for the national championship … there’s a very real chance this year that five or six or seven teams could finhish undefeated and all will be lobbying for a spot in the title game … playoff? … not a chance … actually, there are 13 unbeatens at this point, an unusually high number as we near the midpoint of the season, but Houston, Illinois, Kansas State and Georgia Tech don’t figure to ever crack the top tier, no matter if they stay undefeated all year long …
RUNNING UP THE SCORE … in an attempt to leapfrog each other, the nation’s unbeatens keep running up the score, hoping to impress the voters … Boise wins 57-7, Oklahoma 55-17, Oklahoma State 70-28, Alabama 34-0, Stanford 48-7, Houston 56-3, LSU 41-11 and so on … as if anyone’s paying attention …
ARIZONA STOOPS TO NEW LOW … never mind that Mike Stoops took Arizona to bowl games the last three years with teams that finished 8-5, 8-5 and 7-6 … he lost to Oregon State, which is unforgivable in Tucson … and imagine how the meager Beavers must feel costing the other guy’s coach his job …
THE LONGEST YARD … believe it or not, Georgia faced a third-and-57 situation in its win over Tennessee last Saturday … the Bulldogs called a running play, gained one yard and punted … I remember as a kid listening to a 49ers game on the radio and I think it was the Baltimore Colts who faced a fourth-and-60, which sounded impossible … turns out it was …
TOP OF THE HEAP: 1) LSU, 2) Wisconsin, 3) Oklahoma, 4) Alabama, 5) Oklahoma State, 6) Stanford, 7) Boise State, 8) Oregon, 9) Clemson, 10) Arkansas, 11) West Virginia, 12) Michigan, 13) Illinois, 14) Kansas State, 15) Georgia Tech, 16) Virginia Tech, 17) Houston, 18) Baylor, 19) South Carolina, 20), Nebraska, 21) Arizona State, 22) Texas, 23) Michigan State, 24) Auburn, 25) Notre Dame.
BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: 120) Pentagon (Army, Navy, Air Force defenders gave up 157 points in 0-3 weekend), 119) New Mexico (0-5), 118) UAB (0-5), 117) Florida Atlantic (0-5), 116) Arizona (1-5), 115) UNLV (1-4), 114) Minnesota (1-5).
This week’s picks are as follows:
USC over CAL (Thursday night) … both teams remember last year’s rout by the Trojans. No reason to believe a different outcome is in the offing this time. Injuries on defense are hurting the Bears just as the Trojan offense is hitting its stride. A bad combination for Jeff Tedford as he tries to reach the upper echelons of the Pac-10. I mean Pac-12. Trojans by 14.
STANFORD over WASHINGTON STATE … the improving Cougars were the better team for most of four quarters at UCLA, but faded in the final minutes and are bitterly disappointed as they head into the meat of their schedule. Don’t expect Stanford to have pity. The Stanford folks are intelligent, and they know the Palouse can be dangerous this time of year. Stanford by 27.
OREGON over ARIZONA STATE … even without Heisman candidate LaMichael James, sidelined with an elbow injury, the Ducks simply have too many weapons for the rejuvenated Sun Devils. This one is being billed as a “statement game” for Arizona State. The statement will be “We’re not ready for prime time.” Oregon by 22.
BRIGHAM YOUNG over OREGON STATE … the Meager Beavers rose up and slapped down Arizona last week for their first win of the season and suddenly they’re talking Rose Bowl in Corvallis. C’mon, it was Arizona, which couldn’t win an intrasquad game at this point. This is not one of the great BYU teams of old, but the Cougars will have just enough to snap the Beavers’ one-game winning streak. Cougars by 7.
WASHINGTON over COLORADO … the Buffs are still trying to figure out why they thought the grass was greener in the Pac-12. Huskies by 22.
LSU over TENNESSEE … the best team in the land just keeps getting better. Bayou Bengals by 24.
ALABAMA over OLE MISS … the Tide keeps on rolling. Bama by 20.
OKLAHOMA STATE over TEXAS … I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the best team nobody’s talking about resides in Stillwater. The Cowboys take no prisoners. Cowboys by 10.
OHIO STATE over ILLINOIS … the bubble finally bursts for the Fighting Illini. Buckeyes by 1.
UTAH STATE over FRESNO STATE … my oh my how the mighty have fallen from their lofty perch. The Bulldogs don’t scare anyone anymore. Utah State by 6.
UPSET OF THE WEEK: Michigan over Michigan State … the Wolverines are undefeated and 11th ranked nationally. Michigan State is 4-1 and ranked 23rd. Michigan State is also favored in this game. Go figure. Wolverines by 11. (Upset record: 1-5).
ROUT OF THE WEEK: Wisconsin over Indiana … the Badgers put up 83 points on the Hoosiers last year. They won’t be as kind this time around. Badgers by 65. (Rout record: 6-0).
DON’T BET ON IT, BUT: Virginia Tech over Wake Forest … the Demon Deacons haven’t attracted this much attention since Brian’s Song. Hokies by 17. (Don’t bet record: 2-4).
FIVE EASY PICKS: This week’s sure-to-please winners are Boise State (over Colorado State), Nevada (over New Mexico), Clemson (over Maryland), Oklahoma (over Kansas) and Cincinnati (over Louisville). (FEP record: 29-1).
AGGIES over TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO … the Roadrunners will be a team to contend with a few years down the road. The Aggies, meanwhile, will take their wins where they can find them this year. Take the Ags by 7.
OTHER GAMES: South Carolina over Mississippi State, Texas A&M over Baylor, Toledo over Bowling Green, Penn State over Purdue, Utah over Pittsburgh, North Carolina over Miami (Fla.), Temple over Buffalo, Missouri over Iowa State, Florida State over Duke, Georgia Tech over Virginia, South Florida over Connecticut, Kansas State over Texas Tech, Auburn over Florida, Georgia over Vanderbilt, Tulsa over UAB, Hawaii over San Jose State, and Wyoming over UNLV.
Last week: 32-7, season: 224-53, percentage: .809.
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