9-28-11 Post Game Wrap Up Week 4

Outcome of My Picks With a Few Comments
 8-9

INDIANA   VS   NORTH TEXAS   :-(

ARIZONA STATE   VS   USC  :-(

TEXAS A&M   VS   OKLAHOMA STATE :-(

VIRGINIA   VS   SO MISSISSIPPI  :-(

OREGON STATE   VS   UCLA :-(

FRESNO STATE   VS   IDAHO  :-(

FLORIDA STATE   VS   CLEMSON  :-)

NOTRE DAME   VS   PITTSBURGH  :-)

GEORGIA TECH   VS   NORTH CAROLINA  :-)

LSU   VS   WEST VIRGINIA :-)

WASHINGTON   VS   CALIFORNIA :-)

ARMY   VS   BALL STATE  :-(

MIAMI OH   VS   BOWLING GREEN :-(

RUTGERS   VS   OHIO  :-)

SYRACUSE   VS   TOLEDO :-)

*****SPREAD GAMES*****

ALABAMA(-11.5)   VS   ARKANSAS  :-(

GEORGIA(-9.5)   VS   MISSISSIPPI  :-)

*****NOT IN LAST WEEK'S POOL*****

OHIO STATE   VS  COLORADO  :-) :-)

This was definitely not the result I was hoping for from my NCAA picks, but once again my NFL picks saved me and I had the best score for pro picks. As a result, I moved up to #2 out of 55 people. I can't tell how I specifically stack up in each category because the wonderful couple who run the pool are technologically stuck in 1985 and do everything manually, so until they upgrade to an Apple IIc Plus or better this is how it is. The NCAA is definitely more complex than the NFL since they have 120 Division I-A football teams alone. Due to the sheer number of teams it's difficult to know all of them well enough to make solid picks, then when you start matching up teams from different conferences who have never played each other it becomes even more challenging. The NFL has 32 teams that only play outside of their conference in preseason (doesn't count) or in the Super Bowl, so it's a lot less data to crunch...at least that's my excuse.

USC got killed by Arizona State. It happened to be the end of an 11-game losing streak for Arizona State in the match up...just in time for me to pick USC. Running back Cameron Marshall also happened to happily bounce back from a sprained ankle the week before and proceeded to run 141 yards and got 3 TDs. In my post on 9/23 I compared USC's QB Something Barkley with Arizona State's QB Brock Osweiler and concluded that Barkley had the edge due to experience and other factors. I had read that Barkley's last performance in Sun Devil Stadium had been pretty poor, but he was a freshman then so I couldn't hold that against him....but it seems I should have, he thew an interception in the second quarter, fumbled early in the fourth quarter, then threw a second interception that Arizona State returned for a TD. USC never led but the turnovers in the fourth quarter cost them any chance at a comeback.

Fresno State soundly beat Idaho 48 to 24. Apparently having two of three safeties and two starting offensive lineman out didn't hurt Fresno State one bit. My not being familiar with the WAC really showed in this pick!

#21 Clemson beat #11 Florida State by 5 points in a good game. Clemson jumped to #13 in the AP Poll and Florida State dropped to...well, I can't find them. It was Clemson's fourth game this year with 455 yards or more and the second consecutive game with 300 yards passing. The stats are quite interesting, Florida State had 365 yards and averaged 6.9 yards per play while Clemson had 455 and averaged 5.3 yards per play. But Florida had 124 yards in penalties which really hurt them. Glad I picked Clemson!

Notre Dame barely edged Pittsburgh, I don't know why it was so close but at this point I'm just glad for the outcome.

Thanks to Morgantown, WV making couch burning a third-degree felony, Lee Corso's couch is resting easy after being threatened by WVU fans when Corso picked LSU on ESPN's College Game Day show. I don't know how many couches suffered a fiery fate after the WVU loss, but there was a map pyromanic Mountaineer fans could refer to that showed enforcement free areas, so there had to be a few unfortunate victims. The T-shirt amensty program reported 160 West F***n' Virginia T-shirts were exchanged for officially licensed T-shirts. (ESPN inadvertently showed one such T-shirt on national TV in the 9/10 game against Marshall.) Part of me wonders if the person who made the offending T-shirts didn't just take his/her stock to the WVU Fan Shop for the exchange and will now sell the nicer tees for a higher price. (Yes, I sit around and think such evil thoughts.) At any rate, Corso courageously picked LSU and so did I.

I didn't go with my gut on Ball State vs. Army and totally screwed up. Ball State beat Army 48 to 21. Ball State QB Keith Wenning had his best game ever and Army couldn't freaking make a completion. Never mind Army was favored by 4. I guess I was right...Ball State is the better team, but the injuries made me doubt them like I doubted Fresno State. Sigh.

Miami (OH)  vs  Bowling Green: This is one of those games that frustrate me. How can Miami (OH) go from almost beating Minnesota then turn around and lose to Bowling Green? I know little about the MAC so that doesn't help, but please people...I need a little consistency here.

Ohio performed admirably against Rutgers but couldn't quite pull it off. I'm okay with that because I picked Rutgers.

Syracuse edged out Toledo by almost 3 points (see Bad Call of the Week). Toledo showed discipline by keeping penalties to only 4, which is pretty good considering they went into the game being the third most penalized team in the country. 

Ohio State Segment
I'm still very concerned, which may sound odd after a 37 to 17 win, but QB Braxton Miller only completed 5 of 13 passes. That got him 2 TDs but that won't do against teams like Nebraska, certainly not Wisconsin, and probably not Michigan who has a huge chip on their shoulders and want to beat the crap out of Ohio State. A friend who hosts our tailgate went wandering around before the game and brought us back fresh Buffalo fans. They said they had stayed at the same hotel as the Colorado team and when they saw the team they couldn't believe how small they were. It seems they're not of the same caliber as the other teams OSU will meet this season. All of this makes me think it will be a very long season. Also, the Colorado fans told me a little trivia about their mascot, Ralphie. Ralphie must be a female because the males are too mean (much like human males) and she also has to be an orphan so she will relate more to humans than fellow buffalo. Ted Turner donated the current Ralphie since he owns more buffalo than anyone in the world (and half of Montana). He doesn't have any affiliation with Colorado but heard about the need and donated one. 

BTW, I think going out and inviting the opposing fans to your home game tailgate is what it's all about so kudos to Karen for doing that. I don't believe in booing other teams (I'll boo my own team before I'll boo an opposing team...someday I'll write out my Booing Code of Conduct) if the opposing team wasn't there none of this fun would be possible, so why be mean to their fans? 

Me with Buffaloes

Oh, and how many Buckeyes does it take to back in a very nice tailgate trailer? About 5. It took awhile for all these people to get the trailer for our tailgate into place, but they finally did it!

Bad Call of the Week (AKA: The Emperor Has No Clothes)
Blatantly bad calls are made by officials on a regular basis, but it's their strange penchant of persisting in unreality despite replay technology that makes me think they're a secret cult out to get us all. 

Syracuse scored a TD then attempted to kick for the extra point that missed and went left of the goal post...except the officials on the field called it good and so did the replay officials! The video can be found here. It may seem unclear in the embedded video but on a 55" HDTV it was not so you may want to try watching the video in full-screen mode. I can understand Toledo's frustration with such an obviously bad call, but their AD requested that the win by Syracuse be vacated and awarded to Toledo...even though it wasn't a one-point game. I think this is as baffling as the refs sticking to a bad call.

Fashion Segment
With so many new, throwback, and limited edition uniforms in college football these days it deserves its own section. This section will also include commentary on fashion statements made by anyone involved in college football: coaches, officials, fans, and announcers. No one is safe. In some instances links must be used instead of images due to copyright restrictions.

There weren't any new or interesting uniforms unveiled this week so here's a nice picture of the Ohio State Marching Band. (TBDBITL) No matter how bad the football team is, the band will ALWAYS be good!

TBDBITL

 
 The End