Next week the only poll that matters comes out. This week some good games. Thurs Va.Tech at Pitt ...VaTech and new coach Justin Fuente doing very well, they are in control of their destiny in the ACC Coastal by virtue of their win over UNC. Pitt also only a 1 loss team. It's at Pitt. Pat Narduzzi knows defense so it could be a low scoring game. CAL at USC... both teams with 2 losses and can't take another loss. USC seems to have righted the ship since they changed QB's and CAL has been scoring a lot of points all year with Davis Webb and the Bear-raid offense but they've given up 44 and 49 points in their last 2 games vs the Oregon Schools. I'd have to say USC will get the win. Friday Navy at South Fla. Since their loss at USAFA, the Middies have been on a roll, taking out Houston and Memphis and really totally control their destiny in the AAC West they'd have to lose 3 games to let Houton or Memphis back in. South Fla is having a good season, and lead the East but lost last week to Temple. So they need to win this game. The Navy QB who nobody has heard of actually looked pretty good vs Houston and seemed to have a nice touch on his passes when he threw them. Sat WVU at OK.State ...every game in the B12 from here on out is a big game. WVU is on the edge of the playoff talk, but a win at Stillwater won't be easy, Gundy always has a good offense. If they are a real contender they have to keep winning till the Baylor game...then that's for all the marbles. Mich at MSU ...before the season this looked like a big game, but the Spartans are staggering through the season. Michigan has had the short hand in this series for awhile now, I'm sure they are ready to reassert them selves as the "Big Brother" . It's going to be a big win for Michigan. Penn State at Purde....new giant killer vs rudderless program (no HC). Nit's probably get another win here. Fla vs Georgia...the Worlds Largest Outdoor Cocktail party...although that's no longer it's name as it's politically incorrect. Fla has dominated this series for a long time, probably will continue some more. Neither team is exactly rolling but I like the Gators if for no other reason than it's Kirby Smarts first Fla/Ga game. Baylor at Texas. I'm more than a little shocked that Baylor is only a 3 point favorite. Texas team that has to be mentally worn out with the losses, the outside turmoil over their coach and while Baylor has an interim coach in Jim Grobe, they still have a lot of the Art Briles talent on offense and Briles son still calling the plays. I think Baylor covers that 3 points by quite a bit. Miami at Notre Dame...2 teams going the wrong direction. Both have NFL style QB's who the pros reportedly like because of size and arm strength. I give the Irish a slight edge since they had the week off and are at home. But won't be surprised if they lose either. Washington at Utah ...now this might be the game of the week and a preview of the Pac12 Championship game. Washington needs the win to stay relevant in the playoff talks. Utah only has 1 loss but really haven't been anywhere near as impressive as the Huskies. Northwestern at Ohio State....I expect the Buckeyes to rebound with gusto and the Wildcats will catch the full force of Urban Meyer's team getting back on the track. Neb at Wisc... The #2 game of the week. Huskers undefeated but haven't played the schedule that Wisc has played. Road game, I think the Badgers get it done. Apologies to AJ! Auburn at Ole Miss...Well Ole Miss is finally out of the top 25, and Auburn is on the rise, they are a running machine right now. Too much for Ole Miss. Vols at So.Car ...Vols had the week off to regroup and should hammer the Gamecocks who aren't very good. Clemson at FSU ...Big game #3, Tigers are undefeated but they have struggled in more than a few games. FSU has that stunning loss to Louisville, and the loss to UNC so they are out of the running in the ACC Atlantic but still dangerous. Francois the FSU QB was the early leader in the freshman QB for the Heisman category but hasn't been heard of since the Louisville game, now it's Jalen Hurts! I see this game as very close, with Clemson and Deshaun Watson pulling it out. Washington State at Oregon State....Beavers played Utah close but got beat handily by UW. Wazzu needs to keep winning to set up the Apple Cup as the winner take all for the Pac12 North.
So it's not just Mike Leach who thinks ASU steals other teams signals. I do have to say that stealing signals is a time honored tradition in baseball, so why not football? If you get caught you get caught but you don't go to jail. It's considered poor sportsmanship, but then some say if you aren't cheating you aren't trying hard enough. Except if you are the Patriots!
The question isn't whether ASU steals signals. It is a matter of record that they do. Several coaches have publically stated as such, including Todd Graham. It is not against the rules to do so, although count me among them that think it's poor sportsmanship to assign a guy (or more) to decoding the opponent's signals. Mike Leach was not fined for pointing this out two years running. The question is, however, the method with which ASU steals the signals. Leach is the only one publicly stating ASU uses video or audio equipment to do it, which absolutely IS against the rules. Other "anonymous sources" have also stated this, but weren't Mike Leach enough to do so in a public forum on video. THIS is what the P12 fined Mike Leach for.
Our 1 - 2 punch at tailback is down to a half punch. Hurd is not 100% and Kamara is out. Take South Carolina and the 13 points. Bet the farm!
Terry I'm outraged that you left out the Battle of the Agriculture schools! New Mexico Aggies vs Texas Aggies. It should be entertaining for me... but not such a great game. Va.Tech at Pitt ... Pitt looked like a decent team at the start of the year, but it doesn't look like they've progressed. I think Va Tech has. Turkeys get the win. CAL at USC... I smell a whoopin... and it's gonna be the bears with their short tails between their legs. Navy at South Fla. Did you say "lost to Temple"?? Um... wow. Gonna have to take the Middies in this one. WVU at OK.State ... Who's a man? Guess we'll find out. I haven't been much of a believer in WVU, but surely they are better than a Gundy mid pack team even in Stoolwater... Mich at MSU It's a rivalry game, and that should mean something, but I think the Spartans are a little undermanned for this contest. They'll be the Spankins after this one. Penn State at Purdue... Penn St is average at best. That won't save Purdue. Sorry Stu. Fla vs Georgia... My brain says this is UF all the way, but weird things happen when everyone is drunk! ;-) Baylor at Texas. It looks like Charlie's farewell tour continues... on his own field. Miami at Notre Dame... I can see reasons for both to win, and for both to lose. I flipped a coin and it landed on edge. Not touching it! Washington at Utah Washington still hasn't played anyone. I'm not sure Utah is "anyone" either, so this may or may not be a contest. I feel I can safely say the Utes won't run for 300 yards tho! Northwestern at Ohio State.... Can you say "Barometer game"??? I think OSU will come out and kick butt. Now the pressure is off, and they can play loose. If they don't... it would seem to mean bad things are coming. Neb at Wisc... Sorry AJ, but I think the Huskers are smoke and mirrors this year. Score 30 on Wiscy and I'll have a plate of crow. Auburn at Ole Miss... Ole Miss is in a world of trouble here. They can't stop the run, and what does Auburn do? Yep... no need for me to spell it out... Vols at So.Car Don't worry Tom, your boys have enough in the tank to handle Coach Bum's "offense". Barnett will welcome that kid QB to the league, and things will be alright in Knoxville. Clemson at FSU ... Gonna go with my heart here. I despise FSU... and I had a GREAT trip to Clemson a few years back when we played them in Death Valley (the other one). Hope Dabo kills Jimbo. Sounds like a clown fight! Washington State at Oregon State.... Kesley's Cougs keep on track for the Armaggedon against their hated in state cousins. You know... ones who sleep with their sisters... :twisted:
Scott, I believe Tennessee will win... but I think the line is too high. If I were placing a bet in Vegas, I would take the points.
Bye week for Bama. 8) I get to sit back and relax this Saturday. I will watch the UF/UGA game because my son-in-law is a Georgia fan and we usually text throughout the game. Mich/MSU looks like Mich should roll. Miami/ND I'm not sure. This one seems like a toss-up. Auburn/Ole Miss. Auburn just tore Arkansas up last week and Ole Miss hasn't looked very sharp lately. I think Auburn wins but if Chad Kelley gets hot, who knows. West Va. certainly is on a roll but are they for real? Ok State is not a bad team. Clemson should handle FSU, but there is a lot of talent in Tallahassee. Oh yeah and Hurts should not be in the Heisman discussion. He is very good but right now that's all he is. Very good. I think I will have a leisurely conversation with Senor Corona this Saturday. 8)
The Vols can't be doggin it here or anywhere else for that matter. I'm countin on em to go get their Neegan beatin in Atlanta from the Tide instead of watching UF suffer that consequence. 8)
the best way to beat sign swipers is to keep it so incredibly simple that no one would ever guess. If I ever found someone who was good at stealing signs (quick side note: I assigned our bullpen pitchers to study signs until they broke the code and to study for 'tells' on pitchers), I would do the following: Put together 3 guys all giving signs very obviously right in front and in the corner closest to the catcher. Then have 2 guys standing in the dugout at all times. One of them was the 'hot' guy. The hot guy would lean against a pole for offspeed, lean with a hand for curveball/slider or stand straight up for fast ball. His hand was in the pocket for inside, outside the pocket for outside. (We never called anything down the middle). Coaches spent hours studying us trying to figure out our signs. One coach would video our games (Joe Marcos), but kept the camera on the dugout. It really didn't matter. We had dozens and dozens of sign systems that were all so simple that I could change them with a trip to the mound, or a wave to the catcher. My dad was even more cut throat then that. He didn't care if anyone knew the signs. He believed that if his kids did what they were suppose to do, it wouldn't matter. It should be noted that for all the winning and destruction that my teams unleashed, the one team we always had trouble with was my father's teams who were nowhere near as talented as we were. People just out think themselves sometimes.
Coaches salaries in the news....Jim Harbaugh is the highest paid coach, and it's not even close. Somebody needs to explain to me the 2M loan for life insurance though. Also I'm pretty surprised to not see Nick Saban in the top 10 on this list. http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/17892134/michigan-wolverines-coach-jim-harbaugh-salary-tops-list-college-football-coaches
VT @ Pitt One team will essentially be dumped from the Coastal race, being down two games with three to go (at a tie up top, currently, with UNC). VT has better wins (UNC, Miami) than Pitt (PSU early and GT) so I look for VT FTW. Cal @ USC P12N #3 vs. P12S #3. North is 6-5 against the South. Cal is 1-1 against the P12S, including a win against depleted Utah. USC is 0-1 against the North, losing to a struggling Stanford team, but has reeled off three straight wins against ASU, CU, and UA. Cal is two games back of the North leaders with five to go. USC is one game back of a three-way tie with Utah (lost to UU) and CU (beat CU). Cal lost to OrSU and has exhibited a B12-type defense to date. I expect (ugh!) USC to take down Cal. Navy @ USF Navy is one game up in the West with the Tulsa game yet to come. USF is in a 3-way tie with Temple (lost) and UCF (yet to play). With two big division wins in the last three weeks (ECU was postponed) Navy is tough to stop, only losing to AF. USF only has losses to FSU and Temple, which was last week. It's in Florida, and I would normally think USF, but I'll go with the upset to continue Navy's dream. WV @ OkSU Undefeated WV continues to surprise. The win against Mizzou at the beginning of the year doesn't stand out anymore. The win against BYU is something three other teams have matched. They continue to knock down teams, but the teams they're playing aren't generally very good. On the other side of the field, that comment applies to OkSU as well, with losses to BYU and CMU (which was really a win, but shouldn't have even been close). I don't know that anyone in the country really cares what happens in the B12 at this point. It really appears, though, that WV has the only defense in their conference, so I'll toss a coin and go with them. UM @ MSU Not even close, Harbaugh shows less compassion than he normally does in providing payback. PSU @ PU PSU gets their second win in a row if they can prevent their ridiculous "healing" from getting in the way. UF vs. UGA UF is vulnerable based on their loss to Tenn and win over Vandy the following week. Although, a close win over Vandy is better than a loss to Vandy, and Tenn, and Ole Miss. Kirby's fourth conference loss ends all mathematical hope for the division. BU @ tu Another big 12 game. :/ I know all the experts are taking Baylor, but it didn't look to me like Charlie's players have quit on him. tu has had a few bad losses to average teams (@ Cal 43-50, @ OkSU 31-49, vs. OU 40-45, and @ KSU 21-24) and BU has nothing but wins (NW St., SMU, Rice, OkSU, ISU, KU) but I'm not buying that BU is all that, either. I'm going against the grain and going with the Longhorns here. tu doesn't have a defense, but who in the B12 does (other than WV so far)? BU isn't scoring 50, 60, 70 points this year, and except for @ KSU (who I found out continues to lead the all-time series thanks to Doc T) texas has a decent offense as well. Again, shocker, but I expect tu to upset BU. Miami @ ND Miami still looks like a pretty good team, even in losses to FSU, UNC, and VT (the only big loss). UNC and VT lead the Coastal, and FSU, though down, doesn't suck. ND has been inexplicably bad on offense, losing to Stanford, NCSU, Duke, MSU, and tu, none of whom are sniffing the top of their divisions. ND needs to win two of Miami, Navy, Army, VT and USC to get bowl-eligible. I don't see it happening. I also don't see Miami losing their fourth in a row. Going with Miami here. uw @ UU As others have said, this could preview the P12 championship. In the South, a loss wouldn't knock UU out because they have a win over USC and the game against CU to close out the season. In the North, a loss wouldn't knock uw out because they have the Apple Cup to try to achieve the tie-break with Wazzu. Everyone is picking uw in this one based on how they've looked. However, everything they've done has been against a total of two teams in Massey's T60 (Stan #23, UO #54, UA #75, OrSU #81, RU #98, Idaho #125, Portland St. #191) and all their opponents have a record of 18-33. Utah has a loss, and they're quite banged up. However, their schedule has been against tougher competition. With a healthy UU I'd take the upset. As it is, I'm still leaning toward a UU win though I worry my hatred of purple may be providing some bias as well. NW @ OSU I look for OSU to receive the message and wake back up. NU @ Wisc NU is 7-0 against Fresno, Wyoming, UO, NW, Ill, IU, PU. Wisc is 5-2 against LSU, Akron, GA St., MSU, UM, OSU, and Iowa. Wisc definitely has the better losses, and their defense looks legit to me. NU hasn't played anyone of consequence but looked good doing it (for the most part). For now, I'm choosing to not be a believer and go with Wisc's defense. I wouldn't mind being wrong on this one. Auburn @ Miss This could get ugly. Ole Miss has lost enough to drop out of the "others receiving votes" category. Auburn has played four ranked teams, winning two. Ole Miss has played four ranked teams, and lost them all. Auburn is #5. Tenn @ SCAR SCAR is a bad SEC team (one of five or six). I can't believe they're not ranked. Tenn gets bowl-eligible in a not-come-from-behind win. Clemson @ FSU FSU is at home. Clemson is pretty darn good. I've taken enough upsets to make myself look like an idiot, so I might as well go with FSU in this one, though I would rather they lose. Wazzu at OrSU WSU is looking for their sixth-straight win to become bowl eligible for the second straight year (and third out of four) for the first time since 2002 (lost RB to OU) and 2003 (won Holiday over texas). This would also put them, at worst, in a tie for first place in the P12 at 5-0. OrSU is 2-5. With a loss, the Beavers would have to win out to have a chance at bowl eligibility. This shouldn't be a game and with a few Cougars banged up, may provide an opportunity to get some of those guys some rest. This isn't a must-win game since, they still have a game to give at this point, but this is one of those games that good teams must win if they want to take care of business.
Also..awesome follow up on the week Kes some real research in your post. I'm going to Vegas with that!
Hey, it's clearly just a reflection of all of the conference and National Championships he has won :roll: