Wednesday, November 14, 2007

SPLOG Wednesday

Offseason Baseball
There's a decent chance the Cards are going to part ways with Scott Rolen, as there is a rift between he and Tony La Russa. The Birds could have a whole new left side of the infield next season.

NCAAF
First, I want to say how happy I am that Illinois beat Ohio State last week. That was the game of the year for me. Even though I didn't pick it here, I did pick it in my Yahoo! Pick'em League. The Illini should be even better next year.

New BCS (toughest remaining game)
1 LSU (In the SEC Championship, probably against Georgia)
2 Oregon (@ UCLA on 11/24)
3 Kansas (They play Mizzou on 11/24, if they win, they'll likely play Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship)
4 Oklahoma (Kansas or Mizzou in the Big 12 Championship)
5 Missouri (They play Kansas on 11/24, if they win, they'll likely play Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship)
6 West Virginia (@ Cincinnati 11/17)

Other teams of note
12 Florida
19 Illinois
20 Tennessee

My Take
LSU goes down to Georgia in the SEC title game. The name to "know"? Knowshon Moreno. Heisman caliber in a couple years.
Oregon wins out.
Mizzou beats Kansas.
Oklahoma beats Mizzou.
WVU wins out.
Oregon and Oklahoma in the National Championship.

Tim "Heisman" Tebow season stats
Comp. 176
Att. 255
Comp. % 67.8
Passing TDs 23
INTs 5
Yds passing 2532
Yds rushing 718
Rush TDs 19

Predictions (5-5 last week, 20-20 overall)
NCAAF
(1) Clemson over Boston College
*These teams are playing for the lead in the Atlantic Division of the ACC. BC has dropped 2 straight and Clemson is on a roll. BC continues their downward trend.
(2) West Virginia over Cincinnati
*This is a big game for WV. First of all, however remotely, they're still in the run for the BCS Championship, so winning is necessary. Secondly, a win over Cincinnati this week, and a win over UConn next week, and they'll win the Big East. WV has the motivation and the talent. If only they hadn't lost to South Florida, they'd be undefeated and likely playing in the title game.
(3) Nevada over Hawaii
*Hawaii will fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Colt Brennan got a concussion last week, so it's iffy as to how with it he'll be. He has one fewer day to recover, since this is a Friday night game. Nevada scored 67 against Boise St. in a loss, so they can put up the points. They also run the ball, so they are a better balanced team than Hawaii. The Wolfpack win in a shootout.
(4) Ohio State over Michigan
*One of the biggest rivalry games in college football. I wouldn't have picked Michigan to beat Wisconsin last week had I known the health of Henne and Hart. The Buckeyes will look to get back in the W column this week.
NFL
(5) St. Louis over San Francisco
*I am a Rams fan. I'll admit, at this point in the season, with no playoff hopes, I was hoping they'd lose all their remaining games to get the top pick in the draft. With their injuries and underperforming so far, they've looked horrible. That being said, the 49ers turned in the worst team performance I'd seen all year. They may be making a play for worst team in the league. The Rams start a winning streak.
(6) Houston over New Orleans
*I just can't figure out the Saints. Big win over Jacksonville 2 weeks ago, then a loss to the Rams last week, raising them from the ranks of the winless. Houston's coming off a bye, will probably get Andre Johnson back. They'll top the Saints.
(7) Cleveland over Baltimore
*The Ravens are horrible offensively. The Browns are great offensively, and adequate defensively, and take care of business, in this game of big division rivals.
(8) Seattle over Chicago
*Two mediocre NFC teams, who people thought would be contenders. Both teams have their problems, but the Bears have more than the Seahawks.
(9) Jacksonville over San Diego
*What a bipolar team, those Chargers. They give up a record breaking single game rushing total 2 weeks ago, then beat the Colts last week, albeit in ugly fashion. Jacksonville controls the clock, and plays solid D, and knocks off the Chargers.
(10) NY Giants over Detroit
*I had the G-men beating the Cowboys last week. Didn't quite come to fruition. I do think the Giants are the third best team in the NFC (behind the Cowboys and Packers) and will knock off a solid Lions team.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's sad to hear about Rolen. I remember when he first came to the Cards from the Phillies. It won't be the same without him in St. Louis.

What did you think about Kentucky getting beat by Gardner Webb? Has March Madness already starting in November? This should be a really interesting college bb season.

As far as tough games remaining, Oregon has a tough game this Thursday against Arizona. Thursday night games have been big against #2 teams (South Florida lost, BC nearly lost). If they get past that game and UCLA, they should beat Oregon St.

I don't think Georgia will play in the SEC Championship game, mainly cause I don't think UT is going to lose to either Kentucky or Vanderbilt. Fulmer's job is riding on those games and because of that, I think they'll get to the Championship game.

And props to your Magic, I watched some of the game last night against the Sonics. They look solid, though I was disappointed to hear that Tony Battie is out for the year (I liked him from his days in Boston).

stephen said...

Yeah, I would like to keep him around. His defense is still top rate, even though his bat is not the same. This may just be a passing rumor, but there has been word of a rift between the 2 for a while, so I think there's probably some validity to it.

Kentucky and USC have had surprisingly slow starts. It will definitely be an intriguing year. I'm still going with Memphis, and Derrick Rose as POY.

Arizona will be a test for Oregon, but don't they play similar styles? I think they'll take care of business.

Tennessee could well win out and play LSU in the SEC title game. I think Kentucky will give Tennessee a pretty tough game @ Lexington.

I'm excited the Magic are finally doing well. They've had some good years, and some poor years, so it's nice to see them on an upswing.

Anonymous said...

Oregon runs more of a option style offense with Dixon and Stewart. Arizona is more of an air it out kind of team (I was at the game when Arizona played UW and saw their offense in person). The game is in Tucson which can also play into the toughness of the game as well.

As far as USC goes, I'm not necessarily buying into the OJ Mayo hype just yet. They need to get out of their slump now cause when they get in conference they'll have a hard time dealing with it later