Thomas The Train: The 2012 Pick Six Champion

Entries are rolling in for this year's Pick Six game. But before we kick off the season, a moment to discuss last year's winner.

Each year the winner gets a small prize. Usually I get a photo with the winner and their prize. But since last year's winner is in eastern Ohio, I didn't have a chance to take a picture of the winner, "Thomas the Train." And I couldn't really call him, because he is only 1 year old.

I did take a photo of the first place prize (and the bonus for the runner-up, courtesy of 2011 champ Sidney:)

I finally connected with "Super Why" and "Cat in the Hat", the parental units of young "Thomas." They agreed to coordinate an interview. I am grateful for this, because I'm learning that interpreting the proto-language of a 1-year-old isn't easy. His mom explained: "We answered with his favorite words because he didnt want to pay attention when we asked him  :). We provided our translation of what we think he would say."

TMMPF.com: How did you make your picks as an eight month old?
Thomas the Train: "Dino"
Translation: "As with everything, I trusted my parents. Their help with my picks ended up being the best of both of them, just like me. Besides, how can you go wrong with Ohio State?"

TMMPF.com: What was your reaction when you heard you won the Pick Six game?
Thomas the Train:  "yay!"
Translation: " I was shocked, at a year old I had never won anything before! But seriously, Ohio State went 12-0. I had a pretty good idea."

TMMPF.com: As a former champion, what's your advice to people as they make their picks?   Thomas the Train: "it's hot"
Translation: "Don't overthink it...I may have trusted my parents last year but this year I am going to leave it up to chance. We'll see if I can repeat!"

Thanks to "Super Why" and "Cat In the Hat" (by the way, I totally get those references now ... I've seen my fair share of PBS Kids) for their help in securing access to our winner. 

Finally, here's a picture of the champ with his prize. Just think, people: in four months, this could be you. 

"Thomas the Train," 2012 Pick Six Champion.

Oh How Sweet It Is...

GO BOBCATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P6 2011: Final Standings

A week ago tonight, Alabama defeated Louisiana State to win college football's national championship. Due to extenuating circumstances (ie, work was nuts, I needed to write the Best Of, and we're about to have a kid), I'm only getting to posting the final update now. (The top two finishers were informed Tuesday morning, as soon as I ran the numbers after the final AP poll was posted.) We've reached the end of four months of clever names and silly pictures; let's see how it all finished up.

Biggest movers: Generally, not a lot happens between the end of the regular season and the ranking after the bowl games. It takes a major collapse to fall very far, like losing 70-33 to the champion of the weakest of the six major conferences. Of course, no Pick Sixer had Clemson, so that drop didn't affect the game. Among involved teams, West Virginia (+6) was the beneficiary of that Clemson beatdown, and Oklahoma moved up 3 after beating Iowa (as they should have, Iowa did not belong in that game, thanks a lot Pennsylvania State for screwing up the Big Ten's bowl lineup). Nosedivers: Virginia Tech, -4 after losing to the luckiest Michigan team in decades; Kansas State, -4 after losing the Cotton Bowl to a very good Arkansas squad, and a couple of red-clad -3s (Nebraska and Stanford).

Biggest gainer: Even though I just said most teams didn't move very much, three players managed to finangle a 10-point jump off those gainers: "QBKatt" and "Takin' that Pick 6 to the House!" (the only two players with identical picksets) plus "A Burfict Ten."

And now, your winner:

"Sidney" entered the final poll with a five-point lead on "HORRIBLE Dog." Both had Stanford and Southern Cal, so it really came down to the Big Ten vs. SEC Showdowns in Groups C and D: South Carolina or Wisconsin, and Outback Bowl combatants Michigan State vs. Georgia. Unfortunately for the dog, her two lost and Sidney's two won, allowing the lead to widen to eight points.

Congratulations to Sidney, winner of the 2008 Volunteer license plate, officially issued by the Tennessee Department of Revenue. Here's what this year's version looks like. And congrats to HORRIBLE Dog, winner of the Tennessee Volunteers coozie, which she no doubt will urinate on. The top scoring kitty is "The Boonster," ninth overall, which is a great comeback story after he didn't do so well last year (dead last). The top scoring child is "The Bobcat," seventh overall, who visited us this summer and loved meeting our (at the time only) kitty and who also jams a mean blues harp.

Quigley gets ready to say goodbye to the prize he won last year, and has no use for.

As always, you can check out the standings here. I color coded the sheet so you can see how your teams did in the bowl. Green is a win, red a loss, and black means that either they didn't make a bowl or they are on NCAA probation for providing impermissible benefits to star running back Reggie Bush. If you want to see how your team did over the season, just click the other tab called "Points."

I just want to say thank you to all the babies, children, cats, adults, and yes, even the dogs who played the game this year. It was a lot of fun to talk with you through the season. I hope you heed the call when the email goes out in August to pick six more teams.

Ladies and Gentleman...

As if I wasn't excited enough about visiting Athens next weekend, check out the halftime dance from Saturday:



The best 110 dance ever? Discuss...

P6 2011: Interruptus

Hello Pick Sixers. It's been a long weekend in Ohio, filled with football and pirates, and a late arrival back home to our furry, attention-starved friends. I'll have an update posted for you later tonight.

The short version: good if you have Clemson or Florida, not so good for Texas A&M, West Virginia and especially (sigh) Florida State.  See you soon.

Talkin' Ohio Football With Matt From Hustle Belt

Welcome to a record third-straight MAC-related post on TMMPF.com. To mark the occasion, I brought in someone who actually knows what he's talking about when it comes to MAC football: Matt Sussman from the pre-eminent MAC-centric blog, Hustle Belt. Matt was gracious enough to answer a few questions about Ohio's season and be the first non-fake guest for a Q-and-A.


MPF004: Every conference opponent has a first- or second-year coach (exception being Dave Clawson, 3rd year at Bowling Green). How much of an advantage does that give a veteran coach like Solich?

Matt Sussman: Yeah, the conference has been beleaguered by bigger schools with fatter paychecks. Having continuity at the head coach position is an advantage when recruiting. I don't think Solich will be hired away any time soon, but the other coaches will likely be fired or climbing the coaching ladder in two years. In terms of an edge during the season, I don't know how much of a difference it makes.

MPF: Although, I'd like to think there are in-game advantages. Solich knows his players better, and he's seen the other team's players before. He shouldn't get flustered by late-game situations (a la Les Miles) and he in theory knows the officials. Those are the things I think would make a difference on gameday.

MS: There may be some advantage, but even these new coaches have been around college football before, and big games too. Consider that Steve Addazio [former Florida offensive coordinator] and Dave Clawson [former OC at Tennessee and now the most-tenured sweatervest wearer in the Buckeye State] have been in the SEC. Darrell Hazell [Kent] and Dave Doeren [Northern] coached at OSU. Don Treadwell [Not Cheating Miami] called plays at Michigan State. They've all seen a lot and been in close games. Solich as well has Big XII and even BCS experience. You're right that he's recruited all his players, and maybe there's something to the fact that he can coach to that. But that seems more like an off-the-field advantage, where the difference is made in recruiting, practice and conditioning. Is Solich a great in-game tactician? I don't know about that; maybe that's the real question here.

MPF: Phil Bates. I've seen the man throw in person and on TV. Even at home I wasn't sure if the ball was going to hit me. Given his speed (good) and arm (not good), he seemed perfect for a position change to slot receiver, but early reports from camp have him still at QB. If he's going to stay at QB he has to throw a lot better or no defense will respect the pass. Do you like Bates, or the kid Tettleton, or Door #3 (aka reshirt freshman Snyder) for the QB position?

MS: If I were a coach, I'd always put in Mickey Tettleton's son. But that's why I'm not coaching. I have the same concerns about Bates being a full-time starter. I think he's still going to be a direct snap guy, but with another year of experience he may take on a bigger load. I'd bet they split the time between him and Tettleton.

(Note: since this conversation, Tettleton was announced as the starter. I followed up for Matt's thoughts on this quasi-breaking news....)

MS: I think that Tettleton might be their greatest weakness on offense ... obviously he's a third-year player so maybe he has enough experience. I haven't seen him play so he could be great, but first-year starters tend to make a few mental mistakes when the game speeds up. Then again, Austin Boucher [The Other Miami] won a MAC Championship last year.

Phil Bates' 2010 stat line. "This is our concern, Dude."

MPF: Phil Steele likes Ohio to win the division, but almost more for reasons of schedule than talent. In my experience, when the best thing you can say about a team is who they DON'T play, it's not a good sign. How do you see this year's Bobcats handling this schedule? Is it tailor-made, or are they going to stub their toe against the bottom feeders?

MS: It's a trendy pick because we know very little about these teams, and all we have is their skill set on paper and the skill sets/rankings of all the other teams, and yes, in theory, Ohio has a schedule where they can run the table. But if you look at the MAC media poll, another byproduct of soft science ... we really don't know what kind of team they're going to be. They could be great, or they could be average. But we know they have what looks to be an easy schedule. Perhaps Buffalo or Akron or CMU is actually going to be formidable, and suddenly the schedule isn't such a string of cupcakes.

MPF: Sticking with the schedule for the moment, what is your game of the year? Bonus points for picking something besides Temple on ESPN2.

MS: Ha. Well, last year they got their revenge on Temple by knocking them out of the MAC East race, but the following week they had a devastating loss to Kent State. So you might see the Bobcats try to come out and cream them. And the Miami game, always.

MPF: What do you see as the greatest strength and greatest weakness of this year's squad? Feel free to answer in terms of a player (RT Flading or MLB Keller) or position group (linebackers) or intangible (coaching, schedule, Rufus's badass-ness).

MS: The offensive line is definitely their advantage, and even if that's all they had going for them, it's a hell of a starting point. Especially since one of their drawbacks is being the only team to have lost their starting quarterback. So likely the learning curve for the new QB will be mitigated by an experienced blocking line.

I'm from Iowa. Templeton Rye is from Iowa. I like Templeton. I am going to accidentally call this kid 'Templeton' at least as often as I call him Tettleton.

MPF: Ohio's special teams are beyond good and dare I say, BCS-conference caliber, with Keller and Hershey and I assume Lavon Brazill returning kicks. Given Ohio's propensity for close games, especially in 2009, do you see special teams as a difference-maker in Ws and Ls this year?

MS: That all does depend on if Brazill can return to his 2009 form. We know Hershey and Keller should be solid, but they'll also need smart play from their blockers.

MPF: Frank Solich's Ohio teams have a history of getting to, but not winning, the big game. See: 2006 conference championship and bowl, 2009 conference championship and bowl, 2010 vs. Kent with the East title on the line. Is this the year they finally win a meaningful game, ie a conference championship or bowl? (The Pitt upset was cool, but not meaningful in a postseason sense.)

MS: It's very possible. I think they can reach the MAC Championship, but to go as far to say they'd beat Toledo or NIU or even WMU is going to be tough. Looking on the other side, people say Cubit is due at WMU, and that's actually a championship game I'd love to see, because then something absolutely would have to give.

MPF: If you could ask Frank Solich one question, what would it be? If you
were both at a Court Street bar, would it be a different question?

MS: If it were Courtside, it would be "what are you doing here?" And given the fact that I rarely get out, if I did happen to run into him, I'm pretty much stupefied that he was at the same place I was.

I miss Boo Jackson's senior leadership at the quarterback position. And I miss his hair.

MPF: Now that Boo Jackson has moved on, who has your favorite nickname and hairdo in the MAC?

MS: If one Boo is good, then two is better. BG's cornerback/kick returner Jerry "Boo Boo" Gates takes the title. As for the hair, always look for the Pacific Islanders. And Akron has one with an amazing mane, and the name couldn't be any more perfect than defensive tackle Phil Tonga.

He's got good hair, but he's no Franshaw.

MPF: Have you ever used the word "Mac-tastic" in a sentence?

MS: I prefer MAC-ceptional.

---

Thanks, Matt. Be sure to check out his blog at hustlebelt.com. Ohio opens the season on Sept. 3 at New Mexico State on something called AggieVision. Good luck Bobcats!

What To Make Of These Bobcats?

I've been watching Ohio football pretty much since TM entered the picture in a serious way. I remember sitting in Finley Dunne's one sunny September in 2005 because it was the only place the Ohio game (vs. Northwestern) was on TV. Later we were present for the re-match.

In all that time, the Bobcats have occasionally surprised but generally been a disappointment. Numerous winnable games have gone by the books. I'm 0-3 seeing them in person, and each time they had a lead or were in a winnable position late.

Last year was no exception: with the East title and a return trip to the conference championship on the line, all they had to do was beat 4-7 Kent State. So on the Friday after Thanksgiving they turned in an awful performance, losing 28-6 and setting up a lethargic performance in the Whatever Bowl I Don't Even Remember Or Care Sponsored By Company You've Never Heard Of.

But this year, I am filled with excitement and optimism, and not just cause right now is football's spring training. This might be the year Ohio gets over the hump and wins a meaningful postseason game.

As Phil Steele points out, a lot of the reason is the schedule. Now, I've always been cautious when the best thing you can say about a team is "look at who they DON'T play." But look at this:

Steele Rankings

Team	Ranking
N. Mexico St.	109
Gard.-Webb	I-AA
Marshall	97
@Rutgers	66
Kent St.	105
@Buff	118
Ball St.	113
@Akron	120
Temple	91
@CM	102
@BG	115
Fake Miami	100

Ohio is 90. Using the Steele ranking, only Rutgers is a sure loss, Marshall and Temple (maybe CMU) are tossups, and the rest ought to be wins. On paper, that's 9 wins and probably the East title. And who they miss is key: Toledo (77), W. Michigan (73) and Northern Illinois (78).

But the Steele method is based on predicted strength. It doesn't tell us anything about the teams that actually played last year. That's why I started How Are You Going To Get Better, which posits that to improve you must beat someone this year who you lost to last year.

In the non-conference, Ohio's HAYGTGB shows wins over I-AA Wofford and Sun Belt Louisiana-Lafeyette. Losses were to Marshall and Ohio State. This year, the "easy" win can be retained by beating I-AA Gardner-Webb. But the marquee game is at Rutgers, and while Rutgers is down, they are still a Big East team. Marshall stays on the schedule, which means they have to either flip Marshall or win at New Mexico State. Winning on the road in week 1, especially so far from home, generally is not easy. (Although on the other hand, the Aggies were near the bottom of all defensive categories last year, so maybe it's not that hard.)

In the MAC, there's isn't much room for improvement. Ohio went 6-2 in conference as part of a 7-game winning streak midseason. The losses were to Kent (inexplicable) and Toledo (also not very reasonable).

Ohio: 2010 vs. 2011

2010 Opp.	Result	2011 Opp.	Result
Wofford	Win	N. Mexico St.	?
Toledo	Loss	Gard.-Webb	?
@tOSU	Loss*	Marshall	?
@Marshall	Loss	@Rutgers	?
@E.Mich.	Win	Kent St.	?
BG	Win	@Buff	?
Akron	Win	Ball St.	?
@Fake Miami	Win	@Akron	?
La.Lafeyette	Win	Temple	?
Buffalo	Win	@CM	?
@Temple	Win	@BG	?
@Kent	Loss	Fake Miami	?

* -- victory vacated by The Ohio State

I hope the Bobcats can find some revenge against Kent State. Toledo falls off, replaced by Central Michigan which does not have Dan LeFever or Brian Kelly so this is looking good. EMU also drops off, replaced by Ball State, which should be a win. All that means Ohio will need to keep last season's wins against their East foes to improve on last year.

And how does that improvement happen? To be honest, even against weak competition, I'm not sure. There's a new QB, either a guy who can't hit the broadside of a barn (do they have barns in southeast Ohio?) or a guy who didn't play a down last year. The top returning rusher is said wild-armed quarterback. The D-line has zero starters returning.

I'm hopeful, but cautious. Stop by later this week to see what a real expert thinks.

GOT MY STEELE

It's that time of the Steele* when we break out the siren...

WOOOOOOOOOO!

...and utter those three magical words: "in hand, motherfuckers."

Official "in hand, motherfucker" photo taken Saturday, June 4, 2011, after I stopped hyperventilating.

I've been digesting the 2011 College Football Preview as best I can, considering yesterday was full of yardwork and a nice dinner out. (No, I did not bring the Steele to the restaurant.) As you know it is JAMPACKED WITH INFORMATION but here are some initial observations:

• He likes Alabama and Oklahoma in the title game.
• He had Ohio State at No. 15 knowing about the 5-game suspensions, but not about the car dealership and Tressel's resignation.
• Ohio U. is at Number 34! This is an insanely high number, and a huge inflation from their "pure" ranking (ignoring schedule) of No. 90. Why such a bump? Because Phil ranks their schedule as dead last in all of America. He likes them to win the MAC East.
• Notre Dame makes a strong showing in the unit rankings: #20 QB, #38 RB, #6 WR, #11 OL. And then get ready for this: #15 DL, #5 LB, #8 DB, #19 Special Teams.
• In fact, Phil is fully conflicted about the Irish: he admits ND under-achieves his prediction every year, but Brian Kelly over-achieves every year. This year he goes in for the Irish again, putting them at No. 6.
• Iowa, after losing a ton of senior talent, lands at third in the Western division behind Nebraska and Michigan State (#42 nationally).
• Whether you are glass half-full or glass half-lose-to-ISU about Iowa, turn to page 299. In two separate articles, he lists the Hawks as likely to improve on last year's bad fortune (3 net close losses), as those tend to even out over the years. But he also notes that Iowa's bend-but-don't-break defense gave up a lot of yards without giving up points, and that tends to even out to the other direction as well.

Quigley loves the Steele too. Wait, is that how he won last year??

Reading through Steele also piques your interest about all that knowledge he's crammed in there. For example, while perusing the MAC, I pieced together this marvelous trivia question: Who is the most recent MAC Coach of the Year still in his job? (Hint: 11 teams have a first-, second- or third-year coach.)

Even more crazy trivia question: who holds the record (since they started keeping track in 1965) for most MAC Coach of the Year awards? Keep in mind, the MAC is known as the "Cradle of Coaches" for sending luminaries to the Big Ten and other prominent Midwestern universities.

That's most of what I've got on first glance, without going all geeky on you** about the Newcomers section moving and the confusion of those western conferences. Leave your trivia guesses in the comments section. Pick 6 is only about 10 weeks away!


* Freudian slip. I really did type that, and found it too hilariously true to correct.
** 99% of readers to MPF004: "Too late."

C'mon Hawkeyes

Channel your inner Rufus!

What a Weird Football Saturday

This accidentaly got posted down below ... re-posting to the top. Pick Six update is at the end of this post. --Ed.

I'm glad I spent this one on the couch, in front of two TVs, because so much stuff happened I didn't believe it til I listed it all out (see below).

But first, a little MAC-tasticness. (Yeah I just made up that word.) The Ohio Bobcats played a nationally televised game last Thursday night. OK, it was ESPNU, but still, pretty good for the MAC. As much as I rip on the Alleged World Wide Leader for sucking at the one thing--sports--they are supposed to be good at, I will give credit where due. And ESPNU rolled out this fall a new set of school-specific graphics, playing off the channel's standard block "U."

You can see examples in the first few seconds of the sizzle reel from the agency (called National) that created the logos. Of course, the examples I've seen on air are the heavyweights with well-known characteristics: Alabama, Notre Dame, Southern Cal, Georgia, Penn State. So how surprising was it to see...



...during the game. This version doesn't have sound, but the Ohio "U" even snarled a bit upon spinning!

Okay, trying to recap Saturday's action. Well:

• The No. 6 team lost by 40 points. At home. I would be amazed if that has happened ever, maybe in any sport, much less football.
• These college football teams were bowl eligible at the start of action Saturday: Central Florida, Maryland (went 2-10 last year), Syracuse (no bowl since 2004), Baylor, Hawaii, San Diego State (4-8 last year, no bowl since 1998). And from the MAC: Temple, Toledo, Northern Illinois and Ohio (had six before the Thursday win).
• And these schools were not bowl eligible at the start of the day: Texas, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee. (Italics means they got the sixth win on Saturday.)
• Michigan beat Illinois 67-65 in three overtimes. Each team scored as many points in the first half (31) as Iowa and Illinois did combined, in their entire game. This game hit the over ... in the first half. This game had more points than the last time they played in basketball. The two teams had 1,237 yards of offense. That's 0.7 of a mile.

Other weirdness:

• Mississippi State is fifth (second from last) in the SEC West, but if they were in the East, they'd be in first.
• Speaking of the Bulldogs and the SEC: Alabama plays MSU this weekend and is only ranked six spots higher. Alabama, everyone's preseason No. 1, the team prematurely coronated as a shoo-in to get back to the championship game, is barely higher than a team that before two weeks ago was last ranked in 2001.
• The "other" MSU, Sparty, jumped six spots for beating a team without a coach.
• The Big East has zero teams ranked. The Almost Competent Conference (ACC) has one. Compare that to those two conferences I can never tell apart, the Western Mountain WACky Whatever, which have four between them (Boise, Nevada, TCU, Utah).
• Let's end on this pinnacle of WTF-ality. (You damn right I just made up another word.) Colorado jumped out to a nice big lead over Kansas. It was 14-3 after one, 35-10 at the half, and 38-17 at the end of the third quarter. I was feeling pretty good about my pick of Colorado to win by 8.5 points. A Buffs TD made it 45-17, then Kansas scored 35 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for the 52-45 win. That about summarizes my picks lately, and not suprisingly, Dan Hawkins was fired.

Okay, I know I need to update the Pick Six, especially with so many people benefitting from LSU and the Mad Hatter taking down Bama. I'm watching Northern Illinois destroy Toledo and wondering how either Temple or Ohio could take these guys in the conference championship game, and then realizing how much I've learned about MAC football in the last few years.

....okay okay, the spreadsheet is updated. Analysis later, if I can bear it (hint: find my name way down on the list, and draw your own conclusions).

Pick Six, Week Seven: A Crack in the Armor

This was a full weekend, but not of college football. So here's an update heavy on the Pick Sixing impact, and light on the national analysis.

And let me just add a clarification: I might have made it sound last week that Ohio does not have technology. That is not true. Ohio has running water, landline telephones and cable TV. They even got the Internets in the Great Internet Boom of the 1990s. I just was at an obligation in a specific place without TV or radio.

Sorry, Ohio.

Big droppers: Lots of Husker fans were hurt by Nebraska laying an egg against Texas. Other teams to bite it, and take the accompanying hit: Ohio State an unreasonable -10, South Carolina -9, Arkansas -9, Florida -4 and out of the poll.

Big winners: Wisconsin, obviously, for toppling #1 Ohio State. Way to go for the six of you. Also, three of the four new entrants to this week's poll are Pick Sixers who started the season ranked. And the fourth, would you believe it, is a Pick Sixth from a dog. A dog picked Mississippi State, because, I assume, they are the Bulldogs. A team picked LAST in the SEC West by Phil Steele. Not that I'm bitter. (On a totally unrelated note, thanks for nothing UConn.)

Enough jibber jabber, is that cat still winning? As you're painfully aware, a housecat has been leading the game almost from the beginning. It's enough to make any person or panda ask "what the fuck."


However, the answer to the all-important question is:


No! I don't have a picture of entrant "Larry Sparks," at least not with his permission (yet). Back in the late 1990s, Larry and I walked on the playing field of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. I'd love to tell you we were starting players on the team, but in reality we were just visiting town and discovered to our luck that the stadium was unlocked. Not sure where those pictures are today, but just envision Larry on the 50-yard line, cause he's your leader at the halfway point.

He rode the success of Wisky and Utah (his Pick Sixth, now ranked 9th) to jump 17 points and into first place. Meanwhile, the cat paid for the South Carolina and Arkansas losses, dropping 14 points and into second. Your "top dog" is still Piece of Cheese, and probably will be all year, so no more canine updates unless warranted.

And just in case he never sees first place this season, here is a pic of last week's human leader:

Finley. There, you finally made my blog. Now send a pic of Mitzu please.

Okay, one piece of analysis. Coming into the Iowa-Michigan game, the make-or-break matchup seemed to be Iowa's stiff defense (ranked fourth nationally) against Michigan's runaway train offense (ranked third nationally). Iowa was allowing 242.2 yards per game; Meech gaining 533.7 per game.

Their grammar sucks like their defense.

By contrast, Iowa's offense gained 426.4ypg, good for 33rd nationally, and the sieve masquerading as a Big Ten defense allowed 450.7 per game, 112th best in the nation. Against Big Ten-caliber offenses, the sieve gave up 535 (Notre Dame), 568 (Indiana) and 536 yards (Little Brother, aka Mitten State). So you knew Iowa would get their yards. But would Michigan get theirs?

Spelling sucks too.

Short answer: yes. Follow those links today and you'll see the Mitten actually jumped up to third against that vaunted Hawkeye defense. After facing the Denard Robinson (and Tate Forcier) Experience, Iowa's D dropped to 13th. So what does all that mean? When a poorly coached team makes numerous mental and physical mistakes, statistics don't mean spit.

1000 Words: Ohio vs. Georgetown

There are many things to say about 14-seed Ohio's win over 3-seed Georgetown. But in the spirit of 1000 Words, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Ohio dominated this game from beginning to end. This was not a nail biter or a buzzer beater. It was not expected, to be sure, but this was no fluke. To paraphrase the president*, "We came here to kick some Hoya butt!!"

Up next: Oh yeah. You knew this rematch might happen.


* look closely at his nametag.

Week 5 Review/Week 6 Preview

Week 5 Review: Happy and Dry

Location: Blue recliner. (For the first half of ND game: Sarah's place, checking in on her kitteh.)

Games watched, at least partially: La. Tech-Hawaii (kinda), Colorado-West Virginia, Pitt-Louisville, Iowa-Arkansas State, Mitten State-Mitten (during commercials), ND-Washington, LSU-Georgia (during commercials), Miami-Oklahoma, Ohio State-Indiana (kinda), Auburn-Tennessee, USC-Cal (on the Internet), Idaho-Colorado State (barely, thru droopy eyes).

Iowa: I might be the only person in America to have picked Arkansas State to cover the spread. Definitely among my pick 'em group and the fans at BHGP. I just sensed that we are not a team to come out with a killer instinct and roll up a 42-0 type win. If Iowa did get up big, Ferentz would put in the reserves, keeping the score close.

But it never got there. After building a 14-0 lead, Arkansas State decided to run the UNI "How to Beat Iowa" playbook step-by-step, coming within an onside kick of a massive upset. I do think Iowa is deserving of its national ranking; I just think this team plays up or down to its competition, and needs a solid four-quarter effort against a surprisingly strong Michigan team to prove that fact. But there's no shining this shit of a game: they played well enough to get the win and not much else.


Notre Dame: Keep that Dr. Guffs canister handy: Notre Dame went down to the wire in its fourth straight game, a game that shouldn't have been this close. Instant replay karma took away a Washington TD, giving the Irish another chance to match this performance and keep it a one-score game. All I can say is, 4-1 sounds a lot better than 3-2 in the bye week. Southern Cal comes to town after the bye for the annual beatdown. Do you think there's a fifth straight close game coming?

Pick Six: Another decent week for MPF. Three wins and two byes. UCLA lost, pushing them further away from the Top 25, but I'll take five of six at this point. For TM, Cal out and Oregon up was basically a swap. Quigley has the biggest disappointment (Ole Miss) but also the biggest gainer (LSU). After a relatively quiet week, the standings are: MPF 58, Quigley 57, TM 55.

Polls: Some things in life have a way of self-correcting. Last week I was a little miffed to see who was ranked above 4-0 Iowa: Cincy, TCU, Houston? Frickin' Boise State? Could you honestly say their profile was better than Iowa, who just beat a Top 5 team on the road? This week I'm a little calmer: Houston is gone, and Miami has (grudgingly) earned their slot above the Hawkeyes. I don't know if Virginia Tech is the best one-loss team in the country--I'd give it to USC frankly--but at least Cincy has a chance to fall at South Florida this week, and as quality teams play quality opponents, hopefully midmajor distractions like Boise will fall to where they belong (oblivion or the sidestage at the very least).

So to review: Iowa, Notre Dame and Ohio all won. TM's Turtles won. Hell, even Drake and William and Mary won. Michigan lost. This week earns the:


This week's statistic of note: Scoring Defense. This will make Iowa fans happy (we're tenth in the nation, going up against No. 55) but Irish fans looking ahead to next week quite nervous (SC at third, 8.6 points per game).

Week 6 Preview: Westbound, for a Change

Notre Dame: has a bye. Getting ready for Southern Cal on Oct. 17.

Iowa: This weekend we're going back to Iowa, for a visit to the parents in the hometown. I'll be reading up on Michigan this week, trying to figure out if Iowa is the team to stop superfrosh Tate Forcier (Notre Dame wasn't, Michigan State was for a while, but not really) and if our offense can get in synch enough to score 20 or more against that blah Wolverine "D".

I want to see this again. I want to taste his tears. I want his quarterback broken into so many pieces, Quigley tries to bat at random body parts on the TV screen.

Pick Six: Now that we're into conference season, the Pick Six games get exciting, and there's more of a chance of our teams facing each other. For example, Florida vs. LSU should be a great game to watch, but it also pits TM against her kitty. If my Bruins can quack up Oregon (TM), will that get UCLA into the rankings?

Elsewhere: Nebraska (also a P6 team) plays at Missouri in the dreaded Thursday ESPN game, where the home team is something like 72-1 over the past 10 years*. I know Kelly is worried; I think the bread talk is just a cover for her nervousness about HLSE**. Bama/Ole Miss should be fun to watch; I see Saban pulling it out close. Ohio is favored at Akron. Woo Bobcats!

When else am I gonna have the chance to post a pic of a MAC kangaroo?

---

* Made up stat. Close enough.
** Husker Low Self Esteem, second-best acronym of the season thus far.

Knoxville Wins Again

As you may have noticed, we here at TMMPF have officially switched from baseball mode to college football mode.*

In fact, the 2009 TMMPF Football Tour kicked off two weeks ago with a sunny Saturday afternoon at Notre Dame Stadium and continued last weekend with a rainy Saturday night in Knoxville, Tennessee. Why Knoxville, you ask? The fighting Bobcats of Ohio University vs. the wobbly University of Tennessee Volunteers, of course. **

The view from our seats at Neyland Stadium.

I’m sure MPF will write a more detailed recap of the game, but as a proud alumna of Ohio’s first university I feel it necessary to give you some of my thoughts regarding our weekend in east Tennessee.

About the football:
After spending four years in Athens, I can promise you that I honestly did not believe we had a chance to even be competitive against the Vols. Part of being a Bobcat is being pessimistic about our football team – it’s something they teach at freshman orientation.

So imagine my surprise when we not only completed 1 pass but 30! Also, conspicuously missing from our playbook in Knoxville was the ever popular fumble play. In fact our quarterback (MAC East Offensive Player of the Week, Theo Scott) was so good the Volunteer fans wanted to trade for him. Seriously!

Proof that we were winning (for just a little while at least)...

But enough with the jokes (only that last one really wasn’t a joke, if you don’t know anything about Tennessee football then read up on QB Jonathon Crompton and you will understand why they want to trade).

In all seriousness, before traveling to Knoxville we were told that Vol fans are friendly and knowledgeable. We were not misinformed. I cannot say enough about the hospitality of all Tennessee fans I met this past weekend. It was a good time and a good game. And, as is our custom (see 2008), Ohio came oh so close to the colossal upset... I guess there is always next year.

About the band:
In the interest of full disclosure, I am not only an alumna of Ohio University but also of the Ohio University Marching 110.

Upon convincing MPF to make the 9-hour drive to Knoxville (10-hours if you count the time change) I sprang on him the real reason I wanted to go to this particular game: too see the Marching 110 on the road.***

Just in case the Vol fans didn't know where we are from...

So we went to Neyland Stadium and, unsurprisingly, the 110 kicked ass. Even a real rock star said so. The fans at Neyland were really into it and I have it on good authority that they generally don’t stand up and cheer for just anyone.

About the town:
I think the coolest part about our trip to Knoxville was, well, Knoxville.

To quote Mr. Miller "it’s a middle man’s city in an almost town". Only, clever as the line is, I’m not sure I entirely believe him (sorry Scott).

For one thing, an "almost" town wouldn’t have a place as cool as this. I wish we had had time to check out Yee-Haw sometime other than on game day. It was too wet (did I mention the rain in Knoxville?) to buy anything worth buying on Saturday.

Secondly, Knoxville has history which makes it automatically interesting.

Did you know Knoxville hosted the World's Fair in 1982?
Did you even know there was a World's Fair in 1982?

Thirdly, Knoxville has lots of places where you can have a good time, which makes it automatically fun. We ate here on Friday night and it was delicious (I recommend the fish tacos).

In many ways, Knoxville reminded me of Athens, which is probably why I liked it so much. Between the brick sidewalks, the colonial style buildings, the University within walking distance of bars and restaurants, the hills and the rain (becuase, you know, it always rains in Athens) Knoxville sort of felt like it could be my home away from home...

Way to go Knoxville, you win again!

*Shout out to Milton Bradley, Alfonso Soriano and rest of the Cubs for making this year’s transition quick and easy.

**Per the Ohio athletic department, the Bobcats should always be referred to as “Ohio”. The full name “Ohio University” may be used when referring to the opposing school also by its full name. The athletic department respectfully asks that Ohio is NOT referred to OU, Ohio U, The Ohio University or Harvard on the Hocking at any time.

***Obviously it would be easier to just go to Athens for homecoming in October but I’m already busy that weekend because of this and this.

Week 2 Review/Week 3 Preview

Week 2 Review: Hate Week Satisfaction Down 50%

Location: Steve's place for ND-Mich; my couch for everything else.

Games watched, at least partially: Georgia Tech-Clemson; Colorado-Toledo; Iowa-ISU; ND-Michigan; Ohio State-USC; snippets of UCLA-Tennessee.

Iowa: The first half was nerve-wracking, and I felt like we were in for a repeat of Week 1: Iowa's first half drives ended INT, punt, punt, TD, INT, punt, TD (short field off INT), end of half. Yeesh. But the second half: TD, TD, punt, TD, run out the clock/victory formation. (That drive chart is wrong, by the way. Worldwide Leader My Ass.)

I'm not sure this ever gets old.

And if you thought LOLcats were funny, you will crack up at LOLclones. (courtesy BHGP of course)

Interesting stat of the day: Iowa's leading interceptor (Tyler Sash) had more INT return yards than ISU's leading rusher (M. Hamilton) had rush yards.

Annual photo (hopefully) of Hawkeyes defeating Cyclones and claiming the ugly, unnecessary trophy. (AP photo by Charlie Neibergall)

Notre Dame: A lot of people wanted to ask me about the end of the ND game. I don't remember the end of the game too well, because there was drinking and shouting, and that combination tends to fuzzy-up my short-term memory. (It's also why I don't have the FaceSpace or the Tweeter thing or any last names on this blog, so that I can continue to say unprofessional things like that in quasi-anonymity.)

I'll say this. I'm not as pessimistic as Dylan at BGS and I'm not as upbeat as Joshua Vowles of Subway Domer. But I'm leaning towards Dylan. Over the winter, when asked about Weis, I said that he's finally learning that being a college head coach is different from being an NFL offensive coordinator. But it took him FOUR FULL YEARS to figure that out. Now it seems maybe he still hasn't learned, based on the playcalling at the end of the game.

And the fact remains that Weis still has not beaten a team he shouldn't have beaten. There have been plenty of maddening, unexpected losses, but he still can't point to a season-defining or career-defining or upset victory. Michigan appears to have gotten a lot better in just one offseason. Wow. But I'll reserve judgment til they go on the road.

Speaking of Subway Domer, he gets the award for best description of the outcome: "The loss to Michigan (is) sitting there like a festering wound on our ass cheeks."

Pick Six: Everyone has announced their picks. The first two weeks were good for MPF and Kitty, who slowly ticked up on the strength of BYU (me) and Nebraska (both). Tina hit a rough patch with the Oregon Ducks losing out of the gate and the Irish temporarily out of the Top 25. My only loss this week was Ohio State, but they only slipped three spots. Quigley went 6-for-6 and Tina lost with ND and OSU. Her Pick Sixth, Central Mitten, did pull a MAC Attack on Mitten State. (Frequent commenter and Friend of the Blog 83F is allegedly playing too but teams are unknown.) Scores: MPF 77, Quigley 77, TM 58.

National Roundup: Starting with my Pick Sixth: Losing a QB is bad of course, but this appears weather-able. (Eat it Skilling ... I just made up a weather-related word before you could think of it.) The next two opponents are awful K-State and bye. UCLA has a good looking (albeit true) freshman named Richard Brehaut who could step in and manage a game or two until Prince gets healthy.

Yes it's early ... but Gene Chizik has a better record than Iowa State.

Congrats to the Ty-less Huskies, who picked up their first win since Nov. 17, 2007. For context: I'd just moved back to Chicago six weeks earlier.

Back on Opening Day I wrote: "I have never believed in Okie State … I think they are the Kansas of the Big 12 South (ie, totally a mirage)." Thanks Cowpokes for living up to your reputation by losing to unranked and unheralded Houston.

Finally, I'm no fan of Western Kentucky. Their mascot is a scary blob and they denied my alma mater their first and probably only chance at an NCAA basketball tournament win in my lifetime. But I gotta give them credit for this video, particularly the :47 mark. (Thanks to Matt Hinton for finding.)



Week 3 Preview: Cheer, Cheer for Old Notre Dame

This Saturday we'll be in the stands for the first of our two ND games. Both teams are coming off tough losses, and I think this is one of those gut-check moments where we'll see what the Irish are made of. The opponent, well ...


I guess getting rid of John L. Smith isn't a fool-proof plan for mental collapses. And speaking of mental collapse, it's time for the annual listening of Mike Valenti's Total Fucking Meltdown (the MVTFM for insiders). Crank the volume (not at work) and check it out.

Seeing ND live means I'll miss Iowa's most exciting September matchup, vs. Arizona. Whenever you see two non-rival, geographically distant programs play each other, you should wonder what the connection is that brings them together. In this case, it's obvious: their coach is ex-Hawkeye Mike Stoops. In fact the whole family is Hawkeye.

Arizona hasn't appeared too impressive yet, but they do have the No. 2 rusher in the country, Herb Grisgby. Generally we do a good job of shutting down the run, but this year's version needs to prove they can stop top-tier talent like in the King and Kroul years.

Nationally, it appears to be a good Saturday to be away from the TV, since there is only one matchup of nationally ranked teams. And while it's Nebraska-Virginia Tech, it doesn't strike me as a barnburner. (Sorry Kelly.)

Elsewhere: Ohio hosts California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, a school that really needs a shortened name, and an asskicking in the making so obvious that Vegas refuses to publish a line. (Just kidding, they do that with all I-A vs. I-AA matchups.) Meanwhile, Tennessee is favored to get slaughtered by Florida, meaning that if all holds, 2-1 Ohio would visit 1-2 UT next week. Woo!

Even if your team lost last week, you gotta Stay Positive.

Predicting Won-Loss Records (The Easy Way)

Picking a team's final record in summertime, much less right before the season starts, is tricky business. But there are shortcuts.

One proxy for Won-Loss expectations could be the team's ranking in the Steele preseason poll, which takes into account talent, schedule, and is intended to predict how teams will finish the year (as opposed to a normative model, which is purely statistical, according to Rivalry, Esq.--who breaks out grad school terminology on a blog, anyway??!) . Of course, this won't work perfectly, especially for the teams at the top (it's unrealistic to expect Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, USC and LSU to all go undefeated or 11-1). But broadly speaking, you should be expected to beat the teams ranked lower, and lose to teams ranked higher. Assume the vagaries of injuries and upsets balance each other out, and you have an expected W-L record.

In 2008, Steele ranked Iowa #34. Three opponents were ranked higher (PSU #10, Wisky #21, Pitt #25) and nine lower (Northwestern the closest at #49) for an expected 9-3. The reality was 8-4, with "upsets" (in the Steele preseason sense, not necessarily the literal gameday sense) of Wisky and PSU, a mild upset (they were in the ballpark, rankwise) by NWU and shocking losses to MSU and Illinois (sorry Sarah, that shit should NOT have happened). Given how close all those losses were (4 by 12 points total), 9-3 was a good guess.

Please recover from your stroke. Please don't pick Iowa if Gameday comes to town.

Now look at ND. Steele put them at #19, coming off a 3-9 year (ballsy). Only USC was ranked higher and an expected/definite loss, for an expected 10-1 record. Unfortunately, mild upsets by Pitt (#25) and UNC (#38) plus shocks by MSU, BC and Syracuse dropped them to 6-6. Iowa did about as well as Steele thought; ND drastically under-performed but had the potential to match the prediction.

Not from 2008. Don't care. Awesome picture. Want to see more of this in '09.

How does this look back help us put 2009 in focus? Steele is high on both my teams, with the Hawks at #20 and the Irish at #7. Iowa would be expected to lose to Penn St. (#5) and A State University in Ohio (#10), but four other opponents lurk in the Top 50: Mich State (#29), Wisky (#38), Arizona (#40) and Meechigan (#48). Plus, those four highest-ranked conference teams are all on the road for us. So a "raw" record of 10-2 might be expected in theory, but four conference road losses and a possible ILTCMTS* means 7-5 isn't unreasonable either.

Notre Dame, near the top of the pack, doesn't have much breathing room. Southern Cal is still above them (#3), and only four teams could reasonably cause trouble: Pitt #23, Mich St. #29, Nevada #35, Meechigan #48. That's a 10-1 record, particularly considering we get Nevada (our home opener) and Michigan (probably breaking in a true freshman QB) early, Pitt loses stud RB McCoy, and we get USC at home. The giant question, though: Is Phil over-ranking the Irish?

Finally, a quick look at my favorite MAC team: Frank Solich is three games under .500 (23-26) at Ohio, and I think it would be great for him to get back to even. That means an 8-5 season (7-5 with bowl win, or more likely 8-4 with a bowl loss) would do it.

How does he get there? Using the schedule proxy system, Ohio at #74 is looking at almost-certain wins against Northern Illinois (#96), Buffalo (101), Kent State (106), Ball State (108), Bowling Green (111), North Texas (116), (Fake) Miami (117), and Cal Poly SLO (I-AA school). That's eight right there. Put aside for a moment the fact that Solich has averaged just under six wins a year in his Athens tenure ... we're being lazy, remember? (And if you're asking yourself, wait, both of last year's division champions are ranked in triple digits? ... yes, yes, they are. Welcome to the MAC.)

Temple (#86) and Akron (87) are in the ballpark, and UConn at #73 is a dead heat where you have to give an edge to the home team, particularly early in the year and with a senior quarterback returning.

One of two dudes is going to be the senior quarterback I refer to. While Theo Scott (being played here by wide receiver #7 LaVon Brazill) is probably more talented, how do you root against #8 Boo Jackson? And that hair! (photo credit: TM)

Only Tennessee (40) is a near-certain loss ... but no less an authority on Volunteer football than Scott Miller said they won't be very good at all this year. His direct quote: "We will lose a LOT this season." An early lead by a motivated Bobcat squad could take the fans out of the game, much like the the Ohio State game in 2008. So even with a TCLTCTS** or two thrown in there, the schedule looks favorable for another winning Bobcat season.

If you want to play this game with another ranking list, wait a few weeks for the New York Times list to be complete, and look up your own team. Or of course, buy yourself a copy of Steele.

* Inexplicable Loss That Causes Me to Throw Shit

** Tantalizingly Close Loss That Causes TM to Swear

GOT MY STEELE

WOOOOOOOOOO!

Thanks to the lovely TM (who stopped by the Clark/Diversey Borders today) it is, to quote Orson Swindle, "in hand, motherfuckers," two days before the official onsale date.

I've always loved this photo. Spencer's caption is: "Phil Steele’s College Football 2006 Preview, shortly after floating into Orson’s hand from on high."

It's even the Midwest regional cover, with Clausen, Pryor and a Michigan running back.

Here's the quick overview: ND at #7, and #9 in the Power Poll. Iowa at #20, and #16 in the Power Poll. So Steele thinks ND will end the season slightly better than their talent would predict, based on an easy slate, and Iowa will be hurt by their four tough road games (PSU, OSU, Wisky, MSU). He's got Penn St. first in the conference, then OSU and Illinois (WTF?!?!) tied at second, then Iowa.

And, because I haven't used the "MAC Attack" tag in a while: Phil likes the Bobcats to win the MAC East, saying they were "much better than (their) final '08 record and this season will fly under the radar" as his No. 2 Most Improved Team.

Full report Tuesday.

Phil gives his own magazine a thumbs up.

Headin' Home

We are heading out later today, going to Northwest Ohio (her home, my home-in-law) for a long weekend. Gets me thinking about home, and a couple quotes for you:

"Everybody here comes from somewhere that they would just as soon forget."

and

"There's nothing wrong with where I come from, sometimes it's meant to be just that."

First person to correctly identify the author and original publication for both quotes wins a prize*.


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Week 10 Review/Week 11 Preview

Week 10 Review: Iowa @ Illinois and Notre Dame vs. Pitt

Let me say this: these two teams should not play at the same time. Too difficult to try to follow both. And even though ND/Pitt had a one hour head start, the NBC commercial-fest and four overtimes put the two games in nailbiter mode at pretty much the same time. Aaargh.

Sadly, the results were the same on both sides: inability to make the big play when it counted. Both quarterbacks showed their youth and inexperience. Iowa's offense line was particularly porous in the second half; the Irish couldn't score a TD from the 25-yard line four frickin' times.

So now both remain at five wins, a victory away from bowl eligibility (a guaranteed trip somewhere for the Irish, a Detroit punishment or shutout for the Hawks) and facing foes from the East on Saturday.

I'm just sitting back, waiting for Cat Lassie to rescue the season.


In addition to being an Iowa/Irish fan, it also sucked in Week 10 to be a fat, crappy coach. The school can call it "resigning" ... I'll call it what it really is: being fired.

Leading the charge was Fat Phil Fulmer of Tennessee and his amazing sweaty/lactating nipples.

Phil had a great run at UT, but he was getting run over by the new breed of SEC coaches (Meyer, Saban, Miles, even Richt).

We all know about the MAC's inferiority complex, and to stay competitive with the big conferences, Toledo fired Tom Amstutz.

Toledo has only two wins this season, one over Michigan. Bowl-ineligible MEECHIGAN! Since when is beating Michigan not enough to save your job? What kind of a world are we living in? What's next, a black guy for president?

And though he's not technically fat, Ron Prince is bad.


I think many people saw his firing coming a mile away, like "introductory press conference" away. As the offensive coordinator at Virginia, his offenses were never particularly good. And in the last three games, K-State has given up something like 500 points.*

Anyway, he should have been fired on the spot the day he let this happen:



Good grief, is this now the pre-eminent fat coach in football?
Even Charlie can't break through walls and shout "YEEEAAHHHH!!!" like Mangino.

Pick Six: ah geez, do I have to still do this? OK, fine:

• Auburn lost.
• Texas lost.
• South Florida lost. (I think I've lost faith in Leavitt as a coach. Perhaps more on this in a future post.)
• Ball State continues to climb up the rankings.

The damn cat went 4-for-4 with two byes, including Illinois over Iowa and Cincy over USF, two losses that hurt like his back claws ripping into the fleshy side of my left hand.** TM is sitting on her lead, playing the four corners offense and waiting for the clock to run out.

The obligatory scores:


And a quick national recap: WF? WTF?!? Wake Forest went to overtime--OVERTIME--to beat Duke. Granted Duke is a little better this year, but we're talking about a team that was nationally ranked to begin the season couldn't put away the smart kids in regulation. Sigh. And check out Southern Cal's scoring defense the past few weeks. Holy crap I am not looking forward to Nov. 29.

And, briefly, The Huskers: Ouch. Maybe we'll see Herbie next week. But not today.

Week 11 Preview: Put Up or Shut Up

Iowa will face 11 guys in white uniforms on Saturday. But they'll also be facing this:



Goddamn, I've seen that video three times since it first aired, and I get chills every time.

The Hawks have been sporadic this year and need a signature win if they want to go anywhere in December. I wonder who's going to show up: the fierce, determined team that crushed Wisconsin and Indiana, or the fuzzy, unfocused guys who sleepwalked through the Illinois game. Stanzi doesn't have to be the Manzi, but he has to be mistake free-zi at the very least. If the defense can shut down the "Spread HD" like Ohio State did (at home like Iowa will be) and keep it close, maybe we can keep it close enough to have a break go our way.

But there are two sides to every story (you like how I worked in "The Story" there?), and the flip side is Penn State on a mission to win every single game of 2008. Living in Nebraska, I saw how the Huskers put every fiber of their being into winning a national championship when their legendary coach announced his retirement in 1997. I can't root against Iowa of course, but watch that video again. How do you root against that?

Notre Dame needs to shake out of the lethargy that has gripped the middle third of the season. Throwing away the lead at Chapel Hill, a bye week, a scrimmage against Washington and the third-quarter hibernation/overtime impotency against Pitt: all point to a hump to get over. And we're gonna do it against these classless clowns:


Boston College is, in many ways, the opposite of Notre Dame. They have won 12 or so bowl games in a row, whereas ND has lost 10 or so in a row. That is proof that ND is a far, far better program.

(If you don't care about bowls, skip this:) Here's the reason. Bowls are not about matching up equal teams. Bowls are not about conference supremacy or bragging rights. They are about two things: travelling fan base and television revenue. Because ND is a national draw, they get promoted up into higher-tier bowls than their on-field performance would merit. Bowl organizers know this makes the actual game a potential mismatch with a talent disparity. But the fans who will attend the game and the thousands watching at home more than make up for that risk. BC, on the other hand, has the opposite effect. No one gives a crap about BC, fans or TV executives, so they get "demoted" to lower-tier bowls, where they face less-talented teams.

BC has won 5 in a row (I think) against ND. It's time for that "little brother rising up" crap to stop. Much like Iowa, it would be the first notable victory of the year, against a once-ranked team.

Both games should be fun to watch. Go Hawks! Go Irish!

---

* -- Estimate.
** -- If you ever wonder where writers get their gift for descriptive language ... sometimes it comes straight from real life experiences.