Well, that was fun, wasn't it?

What an amazing game... Back and forth, ups and downs, a halftime lead evaporated, game comes down to the wire... Incredible.

What? No, I wasn't talking about that. I'm still jacked by the St. Ambrose loss to the Morningside Mustangs in overtime. Seriously, who could have felt the winds of change blowing??

Certainly not Wake Forest, whose Cinderella season went up in smoke against a determined Virginia Tech team. Who's hokie now?

And Rutgers obviously didn't see the unexpected coming either, as their role of BCS spoiler stopped at the hands of the Bearcats from Cincinnati. Speaking of hands, it was sad to see coach Greg Schiano making the "chopping wood" signal to his team to the point where his hand should have been broken. Coach, at some point you stop chopping and look for the path back home. I'm guessing that the sign on that path says "30-11". Thanks for playing the BCS game- we do have lovely parting gifts.

And the "Fluffing Zooks" of Illinois didn't see the train in purple that hit them as well. Ron, it's going to be hard to recruit in Chicago if you can't even beat Northwestern. Just be thankful that they still have academic standards that won't admit a lot of potential athletes who you can pounce on.

And now- the AFLAC trivia question not sponsored by AFLAC: What legendary coach was the subject of this quote this weekend from one of his players?

"it isn't the same with Coach not on the sidelines, but we know he is with us in spirit and he is up there watching over us"

Back to the games of the week- If you don't believe by now that Notre Dame hates America, look no further than the fact that their starters were still in the game during the fourth quarter of their 41-9 beatdown of Army. It was also nice to see #3 Florida schedule a team with no wins against a 1-A team for such a close game. At least Arkansas couldn't choose their opponent; it's not their fault that MSU is terrible. Same goes for the Volunteers- Sorry, Vandy. Kentucky also chose to whoop up on a lesser squadron, solidifying their role as Bowl cannon fodder for some real team.

Just so you know, I'm not going to go into detail with my thoughts on THE Game... If you're interested, stay tuned to this channel over the next couple of days. Given that a record 21.7 million folks watched it you saw what I did. I will say, though, that any criticism of tOSU's past problems went out the window with Adrian Arrington's 90 yards and one touchdown performance. I will say, though, that it was an awesome audition for his potential next team.

Making life easier, one day at a time: Rumor of the week is Spurrier going to coach Miami. See, that way all the loathing can be focused, for your convienience. Steve Spurrier- thinking of you.

Well, the Crapple Cup was the only thing that kept Todd from going perfect in one of the most difficult weeks of they year. Of course, the rest of us missed it too, so that puts Todd at the top of this week's picks.
Again, in a really difficult week, our top teams did really well. But it also seems as if we were inspired by last week's Ghidorah reference- we had a three headed monster of non-participation. You've got to wonder if some of these folks have just thrown in the towel, as it were. We do know that this is not the case for Emily, who merely flaked it. I guess California will do that to you. Please note the change of her team name... Congrats to Auburn for their fifth consecutive Iron Bowl victory.

And, for those of you new to our little program, I know that I was the only person to pick against Ohio State. I always pick against tOSU in the Michigan game... well, not always. But, it works- In the Tressel era, the beloved Buckeyes are undefeated against the team up north when the following things happen:

1. I pick aganst them, but have them winning in the "score" section
2. A Houston watches the game with a Strawn (Michael missed the 2003 game. In 2004 Michael watched with Scott. This year, I included Caleb and Tara Houston just to be safe)
   
3. I avoid wearing blue shirts during the week
4. My Buckeye necklace is also 3-0 against "them"

So, how did our points come out? Interesting things happening up top:
Dan's failure to have faith in his UWillingham Huskies cost him this week, but may not have made a difference in the long run. Be sure to email him at dcommon@spu.edu to ask him where he was during the OSU/Michigan game.

AFLAC not sponsored by AFLAC Answer: Joe Paterno. The quote is from Paul Posluzny, referring to Joe Pa's coaching from the booth due to his injury. Seriously. Bet I can guess who you thought it was...

With one week to go (maybe- last week they added an extra week), the race is really up in the air. In fact, we have a new leader after this week:
Dan and Michelle leap Michael due to the incorrect Cal/USC pick by our Cowboy friend. I will go ahead an concede the points race for our apartment to my wife, as Jake has done earlier. Maybe that's why Emily didn't pick this week... she DID say that he was supposed to remind her... I smell shenanigans.

Fun Ohio Fact- OSU 42, Michigan 39. Ohio pick 4 lotto for Saturday evening: 4239.

Huge battle for #2 overall spot- Like we've been saying, this will come down to the final weekend of picks!

Speaking of #2 (no, not like that), the BCS still has Michigan as #2, and a number of people are talking about a rematch on January 8. While there's still a lot of time, and a USC win this weekend almost assures their berth in Glendale (Columbus West), I will say that I don't think a rematch is a good idea. I agree with a lot of what MotS&G has to say about this, but I would add this- it would trivialize THE game. Ohio State/Michigan is special because it's once a year- two states, two teams, two fanbases pointing to one game. A rematch would take away a part of wht makes this the greatest rivalry in sports.

Plus, I can think of 42 million reasons why this won't happen.

Thanksgiving week battles: With our league coming down to the wire, there will be a lot of great stuff to keep us busy. Here are the important matchups:

• Boston College at Miami. Echoes of a great game...
• Texas A&M at Texas
• LSU at Arkansas
• Colorado at Nebraska
• North Carolina at Duke (the "Is it basketball season yet?" game)
  
• Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
• Kentucky at Tennessee ("Rocky Top" game- writers of UT's fight song were from Kentucky)
• Florida at Florida State
• Notre Dame at USC

Of course, the greatest small schools game is the annual Frisco Bell game between Webster's Grove and Kirkwood in the St. Louis suburbs. This is such an instrumental part of thanksgiving lore, it's been covered by both the New York Times and the Miami Herald.

Other important battles:

• Turkey Fryer at Michael's father in law's place
  
• Biscuits versus Dressing at Joe's house
  
• Steve versus the "afternoon walk rather than watching football on Thanksgiving" matchup
• Seconds and Thirds of pumpkin pie against Chuck's cholesterol
• Scott's son's first Thanksgiving versus clean clothing
• Everyone versus the NFL Network
• Friday morning: Shopping or Black Friday?
  

Gobble gobble, everyone!! Happy Thanksgiving...