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Posted on 11/02/2006 3:06:56 PM PST by MikefromOhio
Weekend Nine brought one of the “Big 3” down. USC went into Corvallis, Oregon with their BCS destiny in their hands. Had they won out, they were assured of playing for the mythical National Championship. Unfortunately for USC, the Oregon State Beavers had other ideas. After getting out to a 33-10 lead, Oregon St. survived a ferocious comeback attempt by John David Booty to hold on. The loss by USC opened the door for yet another unbeaten team to hold destiny in the palm of their hand. West Virginia takes the spotlight this weekend in the Thursday Night Showdown with Louisville.
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This game will easily be the toughest game that either team has experienced this year. West Virginia features a devastating running game headed by RB Steve Slaton. While you may not know the name now, as a sophomore, he still has time to make a name for himself in college. Louisville features a tough dependable Quarterback in Brian Brohm. 5 weeks after having surgery on a ligament in his throwing hand, Brohm is back guiding the Cardinal offense with the efficiency that was predicted early on this year. The winner of this game has the inside track to the BCS National Title game. The loser is still in the BCS hunt, but can’t afford another slip up.
Louisville is a good team, but West Virginia is the class of the Big East. Slaton and QB Pat White will show why their running game is one of the best in the nation. This won’t be a blowout, but I think that by the end of the game, everyone will know exactly who is the top dog in the Big East race.
(1) Ohio State (-24) at Illinois
Ohio State 45 – Illinois 6
Ball St. at (2) Michigan (-33.5)
Michigan 34 – Ball St. 3
Oklahoma St. at (4) Texas (-18)
Texas 38 – Oklahoma St. 27
Arkansas St. at (6) Auburn (-30)
Auburn 37 - Arkansas St. 3
(7) Florida (-17) at Vanderbilt
Florida 35 – Vandy 10
(13) LSU (-3.5) at (8) Tennessee 
LSU 21 – Tennessee 17
(9) USC (-28) at Stanford
USC 37 – Stanford 10
UCLA at (10) Cal (-17)
Cal 42 – UCLA 21
North Carolina at (11) Notre Dame (-24.5)
ND 38 – North Carolina 7
(12) Arkansas (-2.5) at South Carolina
Arkansas 24 – South Carolina 17
Fresno St. 21 at (14) Boise State 45 from Wednesday
(15) Rutgers BYE
(16) Boston College (-3.5) at (22) Wake Forest
BC 30 – Wake 24
Penn State at (17) Wisconsin (-7)
Wisconsin 25 – Penn State 22
(18) Oklahoma (-2) at (21) Texas A&M
Oklahoma 45 – Texas A&M 28
Maryland at (19) Clemson (-20)
Clemson 32 – Maryland 24
(20) Georgia Tech (-5) at N.C. State
Georgia Tech 38 – NC State 16
(23) Virginia Tech (-2.5) at Miami
VT 23 – Miami 17
(24) Oregon (-16.5) at Washington
Oregon 32 – Washington 28
Arizona at (25) Washington State (-16)
A&M is entering a tough stretch of their schedule. After putting away Baylor late, they enter a brutal stretch in the Big XII where they will face Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas in consecutive weeks.
Oklahoma 45 – Texas A&M 28
Memphis is one of the worst teams in D-1A this year. Southern Miss tends to play down to its competition, but I think they will win this game easily.
Southern Miss 38 – Memphis 13
Major conferences don’t usually play on Tuesday nights. That said Tuesday night games are great exposure for the MAC. Northern Illinois should be the favorite in this game. Can Garrett Wolfe look like the guy who was on pace for nearly 4000 yards on the ground? That’s the key here.
Northern Illinois 32 – Toledo 28
I'm wondering what your tagline means....
Actually-
Not being a frequent poster of comments, I just noticed that. That must have been from a response earlier in the season. Can't even remember.
I actually have alot of respect for the Big Ten.
However, I would like to see a conference championship in the big 10 and pac 10. Imagine if you played Michigan on the 18th, beat them, and then played them again the first week of December. Splitting the series 1-1. How would we decide the teams for the NC? I think all conferences should either have a championship game or none at all.
"Bring those pathetic defenses against the Big Ten or the SEC and you'll lose every game by 30.."
Such chest-thumping coming from a Big Ten honk. So, as usual, let's check out the facts and see where we are. Thus far, the horrible Big East with their incredibly lousy defenses and overrated talent have actually had the guts to play some of these gridiron giants from these powerful conferences you reference. So I guess I will find routs across the board by the SEC and Big Ten teams, Big East teams just run off the field by these conferences. Uh, yeah.
Louisville beat the SEC's Kentucky 59-28.
Connecticut beat the Big Ten's Indiana 14-7.
Rutgers and Syracuse both beat Illinois, (33-0 and 31-21 respectively) and Illinois has played nothing but close games in the Big Ten this year.
West Virginia pounded SEC's Mississippi State 42-14.
Cincinnati lost to the Big Ten's Ohio State 37-7.
Pittsburgh lost to the Big Ten's Michigan State 38-23.
Syracuse lost to the Big Ten's Iowa 20-13.
Now, if games and scores actually matter, where do you get the basis for your blanket condemnations of the Big East programs? Last year, big bad Georgia was supposed to overwhelm West Virginia in their bowl game and they were shocked at West Virginia's overall speed and athleticism. I am no supporter of the Big East conference, but it gets a little old hearing this same old bs time and time again when the games played show otherwise.
It's easy.
You beat the bottom feeders but when the big boys show up, you lose by 30....
BTW Cincy had Louisville on the ropes. That same Cincy team that ran for over 200 yards against that "vaunted" Louisville defense (cough cough) ran for -4 against Ohio State.
It's not comparable. There is seriously a chance that RUTGERS could be your conference champion. Seriously. That's a joke.
The Big East is leaps and bounds better this year than they were last year and they ARE better than the ACC. But as a conference they aren't on the same level as the other big 4 conferences, even the Big XII which is having a serious down year.
well first things first, Ohio State and Michigan would be in the same division.
The Big Ten won't screw with The Game too much.
But as it is, they won't ever have a conference championship game in the Big Ten. The only team they will accept to make it a 12 team conference is ND, and ND and the Big Ten don't really talk anymore except when they are playing each other.
Every conference is different and unique. I like it this way. Besides the Big Ten and the Pac 10 don't need the cash grabs that those conference games have become.
BTW the Pac 10 added a 9th conference game, so while they don't have a championship game, they are a round robin league now.
You could put the 2 in different divisions and still play your annual rivalry. That is what GA-Auburn do. We rotate the rest of the sec west.
I did forget that you only had 11 teams.
I still think it should be all or nothing with these conference championships.
Ok, so at least we cleared that up. If the very top teams in the SEC or Big Ten play against the lower Big East teams, then maybe you get a 30-point rout!! As though you couldn't make that statement across conferences.
well let's see here, WVA could've scheduled a tought OOC game, but they would rather play teams like Marshall, East Carolina, Eastern Washington and Mississippi State.
If Mississippi State is your best OOC win, that's pathetic. This schedule isn't any good in any era, so the scheduling them when they are good excuse doesn't work here.
Louisville, OTOH isn't helped by the fact that Miami have absolutely blown up as a team. They crushed Miami, like they should, but Miami has shown that it isn't a very good team either. But let's say that's their big OOC game. What if Miami doesn't make it to a New Year's Day bowl game? There's a very good chance they won't.....
IF my predictions hold, given the Louisville win, I still can't put them ahead of Texas in the human polls and I'll be surprised if they leap Florida in the BcS.
I'd love to see a playoff, but you have to admit watching that game yesterday reminded you more of a WAC game between Boise State and Hawaii instead of a conference that has a legit title contender.
We need a playoff, but it isn't there.
What do you know about Rutgers? I have not watched them, but have read they actually have a decent defense. Thursday night's game next week should be interesting.
They do seem to have a good defense.
I've seen 4 Rutgers games this year.
Each one they've shown a VERY strong running game and a shaky/mediocre passing game.
But they make it by playing good special teams and defense.
UCONN showed us last week that Rutgers can be beatable by making them one dimensional. The problem is that while UCONN held Rutgers running game down, they didn't have the offense themselves to take advantage.
It will be interesting to see if Ainge can play well. With him the Vols will likely do well, without him, it will get dicey.
The SEC continues to beat itself up, likely all the way through the championship game.
yeah that and the BC-Wake game....
I don't know.
Ainge hasn't exactly been a model of consistency lately. If his ankle is bad, it could be a very long day for Tennessee. They need balance on offense against LSU's defense.
If he's healthy, I still think LSU is the better team, but it will be a good game to see who actually wins.
Mike, as I said earlier, I'm no proponent of the Big East. But one thing you have to get past. Just because there is offense in a game doesn't make it a lesser game than a 10-7 slugfest. Some of these programs have really talented offensive players with innovative coaches and very sophisticated offenses. And to compete against them, the teams in their leagues are forced to play a 'bend but don't break' style of defense to keep from getting blown out. You give up yards, you give up points, but if you hold them down enough, and beat them by 10, 40-30 is just as much of a ten point win as 17-7.
I just haven't seen any consistent general evidence over the past 5+ years that any of the supposed tough defense conferences do any better in shutting these offensive conferences down when they play straight up.
One thing I need to know, though. Is Notre Dame any good? Because I need to know if it's a big deal if USC kicks their ass in a couple weeks. Because if Notre Dame isn't any good, then Michigan has played nobody this year, in which case I'm wondering why they are such a consensus and unquestioned #2. Secondly, if Notre Dame is actually good, then I'm wondering how the 8th best team in the 'defensively suspect' Pac-10 (UCLA) shut them down defensively at least as impressively as Michigan did.
Well I hope you're right, since LSU is going to win out and Auburn is going to lose to Alabama, then LSU will clobber Florida in the SEC Championship.
In anticipation of the Louisville Game
A for real earthquake 4.3 mb report in WVa
== PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT ==
Region: WEST VIRGINIA
Geographic coordinates: 37.200N, 81.920W
Magnitude: 4.3 Mb
Depth: 1 km
Universal Time (UTC): 2 Nov 2006 17:53:02
Time near the Epicenter: 2 Nov 2006 12:53:02
Local time in your area: 2 Nov 2006 17:53:02
Location with respect to nearby cities:
14 km (8 miles) NNW (335 degrees) of Raven, VA
15 km (10 miles) NW (319 degrees) of Richlands, VA
16 km (10 miles) E (101 degrees) of Vansant, VA
192 km (119 miles) NW (310 degrees) of Winston-Salem, NC
281 km (174 miles) NNW (338 degrees) of JAARS, NC
Bend but don't give up 50?
Was that the defense we saw last night?
Look if there was something to pull out of that game last night, is that it was Louisville's biggest ever win.
But face it, neither is on the level of the SEC top dogs, the Big Ten two, the Pac-10 2 and a half (depending on which Oregon shows up) or Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska in the Big XII.....that's just reality.
TV Listings with Announcers & DirecTV
Nov. 4 Sat. Penn State @ Wisconsin Noon ABC/GP (Ch. 211)
Brad Nessler/Bob Griese/Paul Maguire
Nov. 4 Sat. Missouri @ Nebraska Noon ABC/GP (Ch. 780)
Gary Thorne/Andrew Ware
Nov. 4 Sat. Maryland @ Clemson Noon ESPN2
Pam Ward/Mike Gottfried
Nov. 4 Sat. Ball State @ Michigan Noon ESPNU
Clay Matvick/TBA
Nov. 4 Sat. Baylor @ Texas Tech Noon FSN
Bill Land/Gary Reasons
Nov. 4 Sat. Virginia @ Florida State Noon LF/GP (Ch. 777)
Steve Martin/Doc Walker
Nov. 4 Sat. Northwestern @ Iowa Noon GP (Ch. 778)
Wayne Larrivee/Kelly Stouffer
Nov. 4 Sat. Florida @ Vanderbilt 12:30 p.m. LF/GP (Ch. 781)
Dave Neal/Dave Archer
Nov. 4 Sat. Mississippi State @ Alabama 12:30 p.m. LF/GP (Ch. 782)
Bill Rosinski/Dave Rowe
Nov. 4 Sat. North Carolina @ Notre Dame 2:30 p.m. NBC
Tom Hammond/Pat Haden
Nov. 4 Sat. TCU @ UNLV 3:00 p.m. Versus (OLN)
Nov. 4 Sat. Hawaii @ Utah State 3:00 p.m. GP (Ch. 777)
Nov. 4 Sat. LSU @ Tennnessee 3:30 p.m. CBS
Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson
Nov. 4 Sat. Ohio State @ Illinois 3:30 p.m. ESPN2
Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman
Nov. 4 Sat. Purdue @ Michigan State 3:30 p.m. ESPNU
Dave Armstrong/Mike Tomczak
Nov. 4 Sat. Kansas State @ Colorado 3:30 p.m. FSN
Joel Myers/Dave Lapham
Nov. 4 Sat. Washington @ Oregon 3:30 p.m. TBS
Chip Carey/Tom Ramsey
Nov. 4 Sat. Tulsa @ Houston 3:30 p.m. CSTV
Nov. 4 Sat. UL-Lafayette @ Troy 4:00 p.m. GP (Ch. 778)
NOv. 4 Sat. Nevada @ Idaho 5:00 p.m. GP (Ch. 779)
Nov. 4 Sat. Boston College @ Wake Forest 7:00 p.m. ESPN2
Ron Franklin/Ed Cunningham
Nov. 4 Sat. Georgia Tech @ NC State 7:00 p.m. ESPNU
Mike Adamle/Charles Arbuckle
Nov. 4 Sat. Southern California @ Stanford 7:00 p.m. FSN
Barry Tompkins/Petros Papadakis
Nov. 4 Sat. Oklahoma State @ Texas 7:00 p.m. TBS
Ron Thulin/Charles Davis
Nov. 4 Sat. Tulane @ Marshall 7:30 p.m. CSTV
Nov. 4 Sat. Arkansas @ South Carolina 7:45 p.m. ESPN
Mike Patrick/Todd Blackledge
Nov. 4 Sat. Virginia Tech @ Miami, Fla 8:00 p.m. ABC/GP (Ch. 781)
Mark Jones/David Norrie
Nov. 4 Sat. UCLA @ California 8:00 p.m. ABC/GP (Ch. 782)
Dan Fouts/Tim Brant
Nov. 4 Sat. Oklahoma @ Texas A&M 8:00 p.m. ABC/GP (Ch. 780)
Brent Musburger/Bob Davie/Kirk Herbstreit
Thanks for the list, Mike.
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