A Week's Worth

Here's my top-25 and some random thoughts all thrown together. Consider this your Monday Night QB and Tuesday Top-25 all-in-one. Enjoy:

The Top-25

1. Florida - An irresistible force
2. Alabama - An immovable object
The SECCG will be like Wolverine's claws versus Captain America's shield.

3. Texas - Gets the nod for already beating OU by 10 in the RRR
4. Oklahoma - Their offense is borderline unstoppable (see: 35 points in their only loss) and they have luck, which any team needs these days to win a BCS title. I just hope their luck doesn't take them all the way to Miami.

5. Penn State - They still get the nod over USC. It's the common opponent-Oregon State factor.
6. USC - Probably the best defense in the nation, but ND is horrible
I hope this Rose Bowl match-up will be interesting. I'd honestly like to see the Lions win and the B10 start to re-establish itself.

7. Utah - Yes, they're this high. They have a W over Oregon State. Plus they beat an impressive TCU squad and did everything they needed to go undefeated.

8. Ohio State - Will most likely get a BCS nod now that Oregon State's spot has opened up
9. Texas Tech - C'mon Baylor! You almost had them...
10. Boise State - They're 12-0, but against inferior opponents. But, for the most part, they've dispatched their WAC foes in true BCS fashion. They also beat Oregon, who just won the Civil War over Oregon State.

Depending on their opponents, I'd like to see Utah and Boise State win and spread some credibility to some of the mid-majors and re-affirm how important coaching is. All the talent in the world goes no where without leadership and these two BCS-buster squads have that in spades.

11. Cincinnati - 10-2 and played Oklahoma better than most of the Big-12 did. I really don't think the Big East is as awful as most passing fans want to dismiss them as being.
12. TCU - This D held Oklahoma's offense to a season low 35. That's the same as Texas'.
These two teams get the nod for being blown out the least by OU. That says a lot about Oklahoma's power.

Cincy gets a BSC bid, so I'll add them to my wish list along with Boise and Utah. For TCU, I just hope they get a decent bowl and don't get bored enough to lose.

13. Georgia Tech - The best team in the ACC will not be in the CG. Fear the triple option!
14. Oklahoma State - Still probably too high of a ranking.
15. Georgia - Will lose their bowl game, too, if they don't learn to tackle soon

16. Ole Miss - Nutt and Snead are rolling now. I hope they bring the Cotton back to SEC country.
17. Ball State - Nate Davis is a lot of fun to watch and the Birds are 12-0 heading into the MACCG. Good for David Letterman.
18. Oregon - Win the Civil War, get the PAC-10 #2 spot.
19. Boston College - Stable. Predictable. Disciplined.
20. Missouri - What will the post-Daniel era be like? Probably disappointing.

21. Pitt - Forced WVU out of the BCS for the second year in a row. Congrats, 'stache.

Big-10 RB Squad:
22. Michigan State - Javon Ringer
23. Iowa - Shon Greene

24. Oregon State - Who knew this team would mean so much to the top-10 rankings and BCS placements? Go ahead, look into it. Their performance affected more than you'd think.
25. Virginia Tech - Purely on clinching the div.

Well there it is. Next week is the end of the regular season and we'll see where everybody is going. I'll have my latest predictions up by Wednesday.

Odds and Ends:

** Will Georgia even get the Capital 1 Bowl? CocknFire over at Team Speed Kills wrote this:

"Bowl schedule: More muddled. Everything would have been much easier had Georgia and South Carolina just won -- but they didn't, so here where are. Let's assume both Florida and Alabama make the BCS, which seems like a safe bet at this point. My best guess would still put Georgia in the Capital One Bowl, but the Orlando postseason matchup could decide to take Ole Miss. For the moment, we'll say they choose the Dawgs. That would put Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl and probably keep South Carolina in the Outback (deserving or not). Now the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl can select Kentucky, LSU or Vanderbilt. This is where the chaos starts. Go with Vanderbilt, and you've got an angry LSU that gets kicked down to the Music City Bowl while Kentucky goes to the Liberty. Go with LSU in the Peach, and you've got an angry Music City Bowl forced to choose from a home team that won't sell hotel rooms (Vanderbilt) or a team that's been there, done that -- the last two years. Whoever gets left out in that scenario goes to the Liberty. But put Ole Miss in the Capital One Bowl and LSU in the Cotton Bowl, and then things get real interesting. Georgia and South Carolina are suddenly fighting for the Outback Bowl, with the loser hoping to go to the Peach and giving us the angry Music City Bowl. Welcome to parity. Where am I wrong?"

Very interesting. That Bowl Picture is hazy at best.

**TSK also discussed the melt down against the ACC yesterday. Do you realize that the Super-Duper SEC finished up 4-6 against the "inferior" ACC this season. Maybe we should all just shut the fuck up for one season. Even I get tired of hearing SEC 'fans' (i.e. people who don't really know WTF they're talking about) running their mouths against the ACC, or B10 or P10, or... whoever. Speed kills, we have it and we've blasted Ohio State two years straight. Well, Ohio State is not the entire country. Everybody plays 12 games and this isn't 2007 (Well, not everybody plays 12. Some play 13. But that's besides the point.). The Big-12 is right on par with us and the Big-10 is slowly coming back. The ACC beat us head-to-head and West Virginia (Big East) is 4-0 against us in the last 4 years. Yes, we will always have a speed advantage, but parity's a mofo and great coaches are taking jobs all over the nation. Speed and talent don't always equal victory.

** Supposedly, Weis' buyout is 12 million dollars. That's mucho casho and probably wouldn't have been raised had Weis not really motivated the boosters last night with Notre Dame's wonderful offensive output. Suddenly, I bet that number doesn't seem that high...

** Sportscasters, anchors, announcers, and commentators do not have it out for you or your team. What benefit is there in criticizing them? They're doing their job and whether you acknowledge or not, making your viwing experience better (except Pam Ward). Now, Lou Holtz deserved some flak for the Hitler thing, but outside that, he knows the game and his speech impediment isn't as bad people pretend it is.

And, next time you want to hate Lee Corso, remember this. It's an awesome story. Sometimes football really is bigger than you and your drunk, idiot friends.

** Oregon State isn't out of the Rose Bowl, yet. UCLA can still knock the Trojans off track next Saturday and put the Beavers right back in it.

** Burning BCS Questions:

Why not both Utah and Boise St?
Who - Texas or Oklahoma?
Does someone take Ohio State?

**Maybe Georgia needs a new kitchen staff because this recipe is tired and stale. Good point, Senator.

**With apologies to the moviegoer, I recommend you read this. It was written last week and taking into consideration that it's the Iron Bowl, it's pretty funny. Maybe I should do one for Tech next year.