College Football Week 13

This last week of the college football regular season is often called rivalry week, that means Ohio State-Michigan, Iowa-Nebraska, Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Florida State, Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, and many other hatred filled rivalries. Yesterday was great for me because my Iowa Hawkeyes went on the road and handled hated rival Nebraska 28-20. Personally I haven’t liked Nebraska ever since they joined the Big 10, every Husker fan I have ever been around has been very obnoxious. Either that or they bring up the three national championships they won back in the 90’s and relate that to present day. For example, before the game, most Husker fans were saying that they would beat the Hawkeyes, and they weren’t worried at all, they said Iowa would be exposed. After the game most of the Husker fans were calling for the firing of Mike Riley and blaming the refs. They still refused to accept the fact that Iowa is a good football team that beat them fair and square. The problem with the Huskers is that they expect to be competing for a Big 10 or National Championship, but that is just unrealistic. Especially with a first year coach in Mike Riley, so attention to all Husker fans: It’s not the 90’s anymore, don’t expect championships every single year.

Anyways enough ranting for me, Nebraska fans irritate me, outside of that there are some very good games this week with big implications. Last night TCU (10-2) took down Baylor 28-21 in 2OT, it wasn’t ideal conditions either, it was absolutely pouring most of the game and two of the best offenses in the country could barely move the ball. That means that Baylor (9-2) is definitely out of the college football playoff, so the Big 12 playoff hopes depend on the state of Oklahoma. Today Oklahoma (10-1) takes on Oklahoma State (10-1) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and it should be a great game. However I think Oklahoma is probably the best team in the Big 12, prediction: Oklahoma 34 OK State 30. The other Big games this week are Florida-Florida State, and Notre Dame-Stanford.  I would like to say that Florida State will easily handle Florida based on the fact that Florida had to go to overtime, but just seems to obvious, prediction Florida State 28 Florida 27. Then #6 Notre Dame takes on #9 Stanford, some people will say that Stanford can still get into the college football playoff, but I don’t think with two losses and not that many signature wins that they could get in. However I think this game is Notre Dame’s only chance to get into the playoffs, if they win convincingly I think they should be in, after all their only loss is to #1 Clemson, by 2, on the road.

My top four right now would be 1.Clemson 2.Alabama 3.Oklahoma 4.Michigan State

College Football Week 12

Week 12 of the College Football season has many intriguing match-ups, and has the potential to be the best week of the entire year. The whole year I have been knowing that once it is November there will be more ranked match-ups, but that is especially true in the Big 12. Last week we saw Oklahoma defeat Baylor and the week before we saw Oklahoma State take down TCU. This week features #6 Oklahoma State hosting #10 Baylor. I think this could be a potential upset, I think a lot of people have written off Baylor as out of the playoff, which may be true, but that doesn't mean they can't shake things up in the Big 12. At first, the Oklahoma State win over TCU looked good, but I think that TCU was fairly overrated and they played horrendous defense that game. I believe that Oklahoma and Baylor are the two best teams in the Big 12, Oklahoma would be my pick now to win the Big 12 and advance into the playoff. Prediction Baylor 41 Oklahoma State 38. Of course the other big match-up in the Big 12 is Oklahoma vs TCU, I'm guessing this one won't be that close at all, two stars for TCU in QB Trevone Boykin and WR Josh Doctson could be out this game. Prediction Oklahoma 48 TCU 28. 

There should be three good games this week in the Big 10, starting with #12 Michigan traveling to Penn State, then moving to #20 Northwestern on the road against #25 Wisconsin, and finishing with the big game #3 Ohio State taking on #9 Michigan State. Penn State is a team that has been very inconsistent, they lost at home to Temple on, then struggled with Army, and lost by 28 to Ohio State.  But the Nittany Lions also easily beat Indiana, who gave Ohio State, Iowa, and Michigan all they could handle, and they also blanked Illinois 39-0. Still I think Michigan wins, prediction Michigan 28 Penn State 20. Northwestern also takes on Wisconsin, but I just believe that Wisconsin's defense is one of the best out there. I think the Badgers will get it done at home and go on to be 10-2, Prediction Wisconsin 21 Northwestern 17. And finally Ohio State travels to Michigan State, a game that many people thought would be the best of the year in the Big 10. But Ohio State should come out very prepared and Michigan State's star quarterback Connor Cook had a shoulder injury. He probably will play, but his throwing could be severely affected, Prediction: Ohio State 35 Michigan State 20.

Start of College Basketball

The 2015-2016 College Basketball season has arrived, and as of right now there are virtually no premier games, however soon there will be many interesting non-conference games. There have already been some interesting non-conference match-ups. The biggest of those being a couple days ago when #2 Kentucky took on #5 Duke and later on that night #4 Kansas faced #13 Michigan State. Also that night #3 Maryland played a tricky game against Georgetown, and #8 Oklahoma traveled Memphis. Kentucky looked like the better team pretty much the whole game, winning 74-63 and it seems like Duke has some things to figure out. The Wildcats and Blue Devils were even in terms of rebounding, but the Wildcats were able to force more turnovers and just shoot better overall. Then in the second game of the double header, Michigan State took down Kansas 79-73 behind a strong second half effort. Denzel Valentine took over late and hit multiple tough threes to help his team win. I think that Michigan State will be very good, because they have a way of surprising everyone and making a run even when no one thinks they can. Like last year when they finished the regular season at 21-10, then advanced to the Big Ten 10 Championship game but lost to Wisconsin, then they advanced all the way to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual champion Duke.

Then Maryland took down Georgetown but didn't exactly win convincingly, 75-71. I think that Maryland can be a very good team, but they might need to work on their chemistry. They have two Division 1 transfers coming into their starting lineup, Rasheed Sulaimon from Duke, and Robert Carter from Georgia Tech.  But Maryland should be really good and will contend for the Big 10 Title. That game was part of the Gavitt Tip-Off Games, which pits the Big 10 versus the Big East, right now my favorite team, Iowa, is dominating Marquette 48-21 at half time. Iowa is definitely doing a lot right, Mike Gesell is passing the ball very well, Anthony Clemons is playing very well defensively and the whole team is shooting it well. But at the same time Marquette is just playing awfully, they've had a number of open three's but so far are just 2-19 from deep. They also have been turning it over frequently, racking up 12 already in the first half, and they aren't playing well defensively either.

The next set of games to watch will be the Big 10-ACC Challenge which has match-ups such as #1 North Carolina versus #3 Maryland, #6 Virginia versus Ohio State, #5 Duke versus #14 Indiana, and Louisville versus #13 Michigan State. This will start at the beginning of December.

Week 11 Results

I was basically spot on with my predictions for some of the top Week 11 games, except for the fact that the Alabama-Mississippi State game was not nearly as close as I thought it would be. Alabama dominated 31-6 and I hate to say it because I really don't like Alabama, but they look like the best team in the nation right now. The Crimson Tide are rolling right now, and it's likely that their star running back Derrick Henry will end up winning the Heisman. Henry not only won the individual match-up with his fellow Heisman hopeful Leonard Fournette, but his team also dismantled LSU 30-16. Which means Henry should have a leg up on Fournette, so far Derrick Henry has accumulated nearly 1,500 yards and almost 20 rushing touchdowns.

I almost picked the Oklahoma-Baylor exactly correct, I said 44-35 Oklahoma wins, the Sooners ended up winning 44-34. It is unfortunate for Baylor because for the past couple of years they have sort of been disrespected because of their easy schedule and it just so happens that the first big game they play they end up losing by 10. Baylor also lost their starting quarterback Seth Russell to a neck injury, the backup quarterback happened to be a true freshman and had just one game under his belt to prepare for Oklahoma. For Oklahoma they are probably really upset that they lost that game against Texas earlier in the year, because if they hadn't they would likely be a college football playoff favorite. But there is still a lot of hope for the Sooners and they could still easily make the playoff. It won't be easy for Oklahoma, they still have to play TCU and at Oklahoma State, but if they win out they have a good shot of getting in. 

One of the biggest upsets of the week was Arkansas basically blowing out LSU 31-14 on the road, as LSU lost their second game in a row. Arkansas has now won two consecutive road games against ranked teams and has sort of turned around their season around since losing three straight early on. 

In the Pac-12 there were three upsets, one had major playoff implications. #7 Stanford was upset 38-36 by Oregon on their home turf which basically ended their playoff hopes with 2 losses on the season now. That left Utah as the Pac-12's only hope at a playoff contender and then Utah ended up losing shortly after Stanford did. This means the Pac-12 has no team with less than two losses which basically means that there will not be a Pac-12 team in the college football playoff. The third upset was #19 UCLA losing 31-27 to Washington State, who is now 7-3 and 5-2 in the Pac-12. 

Week 11 Predictions

There aren't too many must watch games this week, but there are some games worthy of your attention. A couple teams in the ACC should be on upset watch this week, #23 North Carolina takes on Miami, and #16 Florida State takes on North Carolina State. I don't see any upsets taking place though, I think North Carolina is out to prove themselves and have been disrespected in the rankings so far. Everyone wants to say that Stanford is like Ohio State in that they lost in week 1 but have made the climb up the rankings since then, but so has North Carolina. It's probably a long shot, but the Tar Heels are 8-1 and have won versus Duke, at Pittsburgh, and versus Illinois. I definitely think this team could shake things up, they will likely meet Clemson in the ACC Title game and could shock a lot of people. I think Florida State is a better team than people think and Dalvin Cook will rush for well over 100 yards. Predictions: North Carolina-38 Miami-17 and Florida State 31-NC State 23.

Alabama is coming off a dominant performance and will look to get another quality win versus Mississippi State. Alabama has had some inconsistent performances so far, dominating against Wisconsin, Georgia, and LSU, but losing at home to Ole Miss, and struggling with Tennessee and Arkansas. If they come out and play inconsistently again they might trip, it's tempting to pick the upset here, but I think Alabama is in championship mode. Prediction: Alabama 24 Miss State 20.

The biggest game of the week is definitely #12 Oklahoma at #6 Baylor, mainly because the Big 12 (and especially Baylor needs to prove themselves). Baylor has played an extremely soft schedule because their schedule is backloaded, so that isn't to say their entire schedule is soft. But Oklahoma has  looked pretty good since they somehow lost to Texas. Prediction: Oklahoma 44 Baylor 35.

College Football Week 10

We figured out where a lot of teams stand on Saturday, three main teams come to mind  in a negative way, TCU, LSU, and Michigan State. TCU had struggled earlier in the year so it's not all that surprising they got beat, but I didn't expect to see them be beaten by 20.  Especially given that Oklahoma State has struggled just as much if not more with teams that are worse than them. But if you watch the highlights you can easily see why TCU lost, they were terrible on defense and Trevone Boykin who was a possible Heisman candidate, threw four interceptions. TCU actually had the ball for over ten more minutes than the Cowboys and gain about 200 more yards of total offense and 20 more first downs than Oklahoma State but turnovers and big plays hurt TCU. LSU was completely manhandled in what was one of the biggest games of the year and one of the most surprising outcomes. Alabama beat LSU in almost every statistic and it wasn't even close. Alabama deserves the most credit for stopping Heisman candidate Leonard Fournette, limiting him to 31 yards on 19 carries. But to be clear it wasn't all Fournette's fault, in fact it's hard to blame him at all. The holes were just non-existent, and it doesn't matter how good a running back is, if he doesn't have at least a little hole, he can't do anything. I would say this performance likely puts LSU out of the playoff simply because they were badly embarrassed on national television in their biggest game of the season.

Michigan State lost on a call that everyone other than Nebraska fans knows was complete crap. You can watch the play here and see that the Nebraska receiver stepped out on his own. In college football a receiver cannot step out of bounds on their own and then come back in to the field of play and be the first to touch the ball. If the player is pushed out than that rule is ignored, but the Michigan State player was simply putting his hand out to keep track with the receiver, something that is completely legal is a common occurrence in football. Nevertheless Michigan State got away with a very wild ending in a game they should of lost to Michigan so I don't exactly feel sorry for them. They probably should've won that game, but they couldn't put away Nebraska and that is what happens.

There were three other minor upsets last week, Navy beat #13 Memphis, Arkansas beat #18 Ole Miss in overtime, and Auburn beat #19 Texas A&M.

Looking Ahead to CFB Week 10

The past two weeks have been fairly unexciting in terms of marquee match-ups but once we enter November, every week is exciting and important. First I'll start with the game most important to me, as Iowa travels to Indiana. This could be a very tricky game for Iowa, as Indiana has a lot of offensive fire power and have already caused trouble for the other two top ten teams in the conference. Plus Indiana is coming of a bye and need to win two of their final four to become bowl eligible, Iowa will need to be completely focused and limit mistakes to come out with a win. In the ACC, Duke takes on North Carolina in an important game for the ACC Coastal Division race, I think North Carolina will keep on rolling, prediction North Carolina 23 Duke 21. Pittsburgh looks to avoid losing two straight when they take on Notre Dame, fortunately for Pitt this game doesn't have an impact on their chances to win the ACC Coastal, although they need a couple of breaks for that to happen. Prediction Notre Dame 38 Pitt 17. In the ACC Atlantic Division the game that pretty much decides that division is between Florida State and Clemson. The Tigers have their eyes set on a playoff birth and this may be the toughest game remaining on their schedule. I predict Clemson will come out to play on their home field and take care of Florida State 34-26.

In the Big 12 Oklahoma State takes on TCU, this game is very important because both teams are undefeated both in conference and overall. I would be surprised if the two teams don't combine for over 1,000 yards combined, little defense will be played. I have said before that I think the Big 12 will implode and once again end up outside of the playoff and I think that will begin this Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Prediction Oklahoma State 48 TCU 45. Then in the biggest match-up this week LSU travels to Alabama, this is one of the most important games for deciding the SEC West and who gets into the playoff. I think Leonard Fournette has a big game and LSU gets it done 20-14.

NBA Season Begins

It's been nearly a week since the NBA season has begun, and the teams haven't even played five games yet, but there are still some things to talk about in the NBA. On Tuesday the NBA season opened up with one of the better rivalry games the NBA currently has, Lebron vs the Bulls. Ever since about 2010 or 2011 Lebron has given the Bulls fits whether it be with the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Miami heat. Last year the Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs by the Cavs, they held a 2-1 series lead before Lebron hit a game winning jumper from the corner that basically won the series. The Cavs won the next 2 games after that  and it seemed like that Lebron game winner just changed the entire season. So this was an important game for the Bulls, and with under 10 seconds in the game Lebron drove into the lane to tie the game, he was emphatically denied by Pau Gasol. Then with 3.6 seconds left the Cavs attempted an inbound pass that was tipped and stolen by Chicago's Jimmy Butler. As a Bulls fan it's always nice to see Chicago beat Lebron, but this likely doesn't mean anything long term. Kevin Love returned for the Cavs and looked good, and the Cavs still don't have Kyrie Irving who will make them much better, so the Cavs team that played that night has a high ceiling when it comes to how good they can be.

Another good thing to see so far has been the return of Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder. In their first game of the season Kevin Durant put up 22 points on 6/19 shooting and 0 assists, so not a great game for him, but it was his first of the season. The other superstar on the team, Russell Westbrook, put up 33 points and 10 assists, and helped the Thunder outlast the Spurs. Then in the second game the superstar duo combined for 91 points, 23 rebounds, and 10 assists as the Thunder beat the Magic 139-136 in 2 overtimes. This is why so many people love to watch the Thunder, Kevin Durant is the sharpshooter that can score in anyway he wants to, Russell Westbrook is the triple double producing machine, who is probably the most athletic person in the league pound for pound, see here. The Thunder certainly have enough scoring between Russell and Kevin but I feel like their bench and other starting positions need to improve for them to win a championship. This is something that they can accomplish as the year goes on, maybe during the all star break. Meanwhile watching these two play is something that everyone should watch because they do something special on almost every night.

College Football Week 9

The college football week started on Thursday where North Carolina impressively took down Pittsburgh 26-19. The Tar Heels are now 7-1 and will likely be ranked, their defense seems to be much improved from previous North Carolina teams, they rank 42nd nationally  in total defense. Despite being relatively even in total yards, Pitt having more first downs, and Pitt holding the ball for 11 more minutes than UNC, the Tar Heels got a victory that wasn't as close as the score makes it seem. Oklahoma State and Iowa, the two college football playoff dark horses both remained undefeated, along with  undefeated contenders TCU and Clemson. Oklahoma State beat Texas Tech 70-53 by outscoring Texas Tech 42-15 in the second half. There wasn't that much defense played, both teams accounted for over 600 yards, but this is nothing new for the Big 12. Iowa won 31-15 versus a bad Maryland team, and didn't look overly impressive doing it. As a fan who knows Iowa football, the biggest problem Maryland presented is something Iowa has struggled with over the years, a quarterback who can run the ball. On multiple occasions Maryland quarterback Perry Hills darted through holes on his way to 10 or 15 yard rushes, or simply outran Iowa linebackers on the edge. All of Maryland's points came in the fourth quarter when they finally figured out that they should just run it with their quarterback. Really if Maryland didn't turn the ball over they might have won the game, Iowa definitely has some things to figure out going down the stretch.

In the game of the week, Notre Dame vs Temple, I think Temple proved they are good to many people including me. I sarcastically picked Notre Dame to win 70-0, I didn't actually think Notre Dame would win by that much by I figured they would win handily. The Irish did win, 24-20, and they won in the final minutes on a pass from Deshone Kizer to Will Fuller. Temple might be the best non power five team in the nation, and they can still get into a good bowl game. Between beating Penn State by 17, and barely losing to Notre Dame, Temple has convinced me they are good.

Later on in the night Miami took on Duke in a game that likely didn't matter to many people until the final play. Miami beat Duke 30-27 on a crazy final play that featured eight laterals (backwards toss) and multiple questionable calls. Watch at around the 36 second mark in the video and you will see that the ball carrier appears to be down, and this picture pretty much proves that. There were also multiple questionable no calls for block in the back, at the 50 second mark #22 for Miami obviously had a block in the back. There were a couple others where they appeared to be sort of on the side, which is technically legal. Also at about the 1:05 mark you can see a 12th player, who was on the sideline, run onto the field with his helmet off as the play is still going on. That isn't exactly a penalty worthy of losing a game over, but with all the other missed calls, Duke should've won this game. It seems like every week now, I'm talking about some crazy special teams play to win the game, but that's just college football.