Antitriskaidekaphobia

No, it's not the stuff that makes you sleepy on Thanksgiving- the post title has a different meaning for the week.

And so, it ends... not with a whimper, but with a bang. For the last week of our group, you couldn't have asked for more firepower. We had so much stuff blowing up, you'd think it was an episode of MacGruber. Let's start in Columbus.

Yup, the Buckeyes pounded the "JV Team in Funny Helmets", as Michael called them. I agree with Spielman- it's really a pity they had to go and screw up a great rivalry. By the time they play again, it will be over two thousand, one hundred days since Michigan has beaten Ohio State. If their program doesn't improve, I'm going to be a diabetic. Even though there was a new fella on the other sideline, there were some familiar sights:

2006
2007
2008

So much goodness in one game... Here's what I'll leave you with, as one of our videos of the weak:

Don't really feel like hurdling, huh big fella? Well, it could be worse. Final score: 42 to 7.

Although, that was only the halftime score for the Oklahoma and Texas Tech game. Sweet Odin's raven... that's a lot of points, and it wasn't the Mad Scientist who dialed them up. It was an impressive win, although I'm not sure what to do with it in the bigger picture (see below). Final score, 65 to 21

But that wasn't even the biggest point output of the week: West Texas A&M (remember them?) scored 68... and lost. Abilene Christian put 93 points on the board... three more than their basketball team did in a loss that evening. Let's see, if ACU scored 93 on the team that scored 75 on APU... carry the five... nope, not pretty.

Speaking of "not pretty"- the Crapple Cup. Wow. 0 and everything UWillingham against 1-everything WSU. I'd like to say that Ty pulled it off, but the fact of the matter is that his secondary gave up on him. I'll bet he's sad that he left Ntre Ame...

Or is he? The amazing Offensive Genius that is Charlie Weiss has been very public about calling the plays for the last couple of games. The result against Syracuse and their lame duck coach? Fail. At home. Let's be honest, Irish fans (both of you)- you are not elite. You were, then the University decided that academics are more important than football. That's a great thing. Really- it's the reason I chose the college football program and my alma mater. It's also the reason why Urban Meyer went to Florida instead of South Bend. But please stop telling us you're on the same level as U$C, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio State. Compare yourself to Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt. Heck, this year you can even compare yourself to MACh1gAAn. We'll even help you point and laugh.

In other news- it was great to watch football on Thursday- not only did Miami lose, but they did so to an option team. Purdue won the old oaken bucket, State Penn sealed their ticket to the BCS (two Big T1e1n championships in four years? Wow- I wonder what that's like), Arkansas dropped the ball again while their former coach beat the living stew out of LSU. Wonder if Arkansas' team parents are still happy about their sons' experience? Cal beat Stanford in "The Big Game", the Frogs beat Air Force (seriously unpatriotic, Doug), and Oregon State continued it's journey to Pasadena. Northwestern won the Battle for Illinois, Tennessee reminded Vandy who owns the state (or at least the swanky formal wear) while the Holy War went to the Utes.

Small schools- Hobart upped Lycoming in a snowy playoff game. Ah, snow. How I miss you.

Well, since Joe's not coaching in the post season, it only makes sense that he ends with a huge perfect week!!

The surprising thing is that Nate's suffering from the triskaidekaphobia, obviously. Why else would he have flaked the last week?? Dan and Nolan's Dad round out the top of the charts.

Carrie and Jake must be reading the same website for their previews, and Steve and Michael are also sharing notes.

That brings us to the end, and we have a consolidated title!!! Congrats to Franklin Dan, who finished 114th in the nation. Great work, making us all look good (or bad, as it were).
You'll notice a new column, which shows the points you got right against the total you were elligible for. The folks in green are compared as if they didn't miss a week- not much change overall, really. Steve-o and I tied, so the tiebreaker must be the picks (arbitrary? Nope, I won the picks):

We had a huge logjam at the 10 spot, especially if Paula doesn't miss a week. I guess the Bowls Contest will have to settle it.

House awards: Terry wins for Salem, Chuck wins for Duarte, and I'm going to give the nod to Jake for Malibu (since he won the points and you tied in picks). Since I have no idea who's Aaron and who's Amanda, I'll just point out that A Terpening did very well for themselves.

So, let's talk Bowl Chaos Syndrome, shall we? I still am hoping for a catastrophe where toOSU wins out, Mizzou beats OU, FSU beats Florida, and Florida beats Alabama. That would leave either a U$C and Texas championship (neither one winning their conference outright), or would send State Penn to the MNC game and tOSU to the Rose. As it is now, tOSU is on the outside of this thing.

And why is that? Well, because it's about money and every conference wants theirs. That's why the ACC and Big lEast get an automatic bid even though their champion may have 4 losses. It's also why the Pac-10 will more than likely be sending a 3 loss Oregon State team; this isn't about championships or "best teams", it's about revenue.

Very realistically, these folks will be playing on January 1 and then watching the big money games: Undefeated Boise State, undefeated Ball State, one loss Texas Tech, and two loss Ohio State (the two losses coming to BCS teams- again, they don't lose to people they are supposed to beat).

As for the Big 12 South- Wow. I still think that Texas' win head to head puts them a bit above OU because OU beating TTU needs a bit of perspective. First, they run variations of the same offense (for good reason), so it's not like OU needed a lot of extra preparation. Although, second, they got it with a week off. Third, it was in Norman. So, for now, head to head carries the day. If OU wins the Bedlam game, that might change. I do think, though, that if Missouri would do the honorable thing and back out of the Championship Game that OU would beat Texas at this point. But remember, anyone on any day- makes "champion" a little less significant, huh?

What game do I want to see? Florida and Oklahoma. And, as much as I hate to say it, I think Florida wins their second championship in three seasons. They have the athletes to play man to man coverage, and the defensive front to get pressure. I also think that their offense is quirky enough to create problems for Oklahoma's preparation, and I'm think Bob's record in BCS games as of late may also mean something.

Remember, once this all shakes out, we'll look at the teams as if there was a "Chuck Style" playoff.

Before that, though, there are two weeks of great games: Nebraska/Colorado, the Iron Bowl (Beat SABAN!), U$C and Ntre Ame, Texas and the Ghost of aTm, The Egg Bowl in Mississippi, Georgia and GaTech, FSU and UF, TBPU hositing the Sooners, Texas Tech and Baylor, Carolina and Duke, Kentucky and Tennessee, Spurrier and Clemson in the "Biggest Dissappointment Bowl", KU and MU's Border war, toOSU and UO's Civil War... and that's just this week.

Next up, U$C and Slick Rick's Bruins, Army and Navy, the Big 12 and SEC Championships... All great reasons to not go shopping and stay at home eating leftover turkey (if anyone has leftovers next weekend, don't eat them. Seriously, just let it go)

But, if it's Turkey Day that means our small school game is the Frisco Bell matchup between Kirkwood and Webster's Grove in the suburban St. Louis area. In this, the 101st meeting, sees the WG Statesmen coming in after a 5-4 season that closed with two losses. Kirkwood's Pioneers enter at 6-5, after a loss in the second round of the playoffs. Here's information from the centennial meeting, including an article in the New York Times.

We'll be back in a couple of weeks with the Bowls Challenge.

Gobble gobble.