Week 9, 2010: Road games play some tricks, but Oregon's road win gives them a treat

Yes, as I eat some "fun size" Milk Duds (heaven in a box), I had to throw out a Halloween title to this week's blog entry. Makes me want to do a little Andy Rooney/Jerry Seinfeld: Why is it "fun size?" If it is regular sized, would that be "Xanadu Sized?"

The Milk Duds are cool, not only because of their chewiness (as a kid I liked to put a load of Milk Duds in my mouth and chew them like I was a big leaguer, e.g., Sparky Lyle), but I also liked the little box they came in.


I could find all kinds of uses for Milk Duds boxes when playing with little plastic men. The hero of all of my bedroom floor adventures was a little plastic quarterback, who was army man sized, but with a heart as big as a horse and bravery to match. Once he was in a serious predicament, and was placed in a box, and I used a Milk Duds box. One day, hero quarterback was gone, and I assumed I must have left him in the box, and I my Mom, unknowingly, threw out hero quarterback. Time passed, and my family went to visit one of my Dad's co-workers, who had a pile of progeny. I noticed in one of the bedrooms, that they had the exact same quarterback that I did. Years later I realized, the chances of them having the same little QB seem pretty small, I bet those kids stole hero quarterback when they visited our house! So don't think you got away with it, I know you kids kidnapped him!

Well, we knew this would be an interesting week in college football, particularly for the ten teams in last week's projected tournament. Two teams were heavily favored (TCU and BSU), one was a 9/10 point home favorite (Pitt), and one had a bye ('Bama), but the other six had road challenges. ESPN ended up calling it "Roadblock Saturday." The two road underdogs did lose (MSU and Mizzou), and the four others that were touchdown favorites on the road made it (Auburn, Oregon, Utah), with the exception of Florida State, who suffered a wild, wacky ending at NC State.

So the weeks go by, and guess what? The season started with Virginia Tech and Pitt as the ninth and tenth seeds, and they are back in those familiar spots. After losing to BSU, the Hokies were supplanted by Miami and then FSU as the ACC rep, but VTU is back.

And after weeks and weeks with Alabama playing Debby Boone at number one seed, for the fourth straight week, we have a brand new number one. Tell them about it Kasey, "Well, this week's new number one has a mascot that looks like, Donald Duck. And no, it is not Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots, it's (drumroll), the University of Oregon, whose mascot is, a Duck."

After Alabama fell to the Gamecocks, BSU, Okahoma, Auburn, and Oregon have all spent one week in the top spot.

And based on this week's projections, there are some things that would be too good to be true. Besides a chance for a Oregon-Wisconsin Rose Bowl, I have a first round game in Lambeau; how cool would that be?

With TCU and Utah playing this week, we know there are changes on their way. But for this week, onto the projections!!

"In college football, one day you're in, and the next day you're out." -Qadry Ismail

OUT- Michigan State, Missouri, Florida State
IN-Wisconsin, Nebraska, Virginia Tech

FIRST ROUND:

In Kansas City:#7 Nebraska (Big XII champ) vs #10 Pittsburgh (Big East champ)

In Green Bay:#8 Wisconsin (Big Ten champ) vs #9 Virginia Tech (ACC champ)


BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):

Rose: #1 Oregon (Pac-10 champ) vs Wisconsin/Virginia Tech winner

Fiesta: #4 Boise State (at-large) vs #5 Utah (at-large)

Sugar: #2 Auburn (SEC champ) vs the Nebraska/Pittsburgh winner

Orange: #3 Texas Christian (non-BCS conference automatic) vs #6 Alabama (at-large)

Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL

BCS Championship in Glendale AZ

Week by week seedings:

Week	5	6	7	8	9
Oregon	4	2	2	2	1
Auburn	8	8	4	1	2
TCU	5	3	5	4	3
Boise State	2	1	3	3	4
Utah	n/a	n/a	n/a	8	5
Alabama	1	n/a	8	7	6
Nebraska	n/a	6	n/a	n/a	7
Wisconsin	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
Virginia Tech	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	9
Pittsburgh	n/a	n/a	n/a	10	10
Michigan State	n/a	n/a	7	5	n/a
Missouri	n/a	n/a	n/a	6	n/a
Florida State	n/a	9	9	9	n/a
Oklahoma	3	4	1	n/a	n/a
LSU	7	7	6	n/a	n/a
West Virginia	10	10	10	n/a	n/a
Ohio State	6	5	n/a	n/a	n/a
Miami	9	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Florida	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Texas	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Week	Pre	1	2	3	4
Oregon	9	8	7	8	7
Auburn	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
TCU	6	5	8	7	4
Boise State	5	2	6	6	2
Utah	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Alabama	1	1	1	1	1
Nebraska	n/a	7	n/a	n/a	n/a
Wisconsin	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Virginia Tech	8	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Pittsburgh	10	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Michigan State	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Missouri	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Florida State	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Oklahoma	7	n/a	4	5	6
LSU	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
West Virginia	n/a	10	10	10	10
Ohio State	2	4	3	3	5
Miami	n/a	9	9	9	9
Florida	3	6	5	4	3
Texas	4	3	2	2	n/a

Week 8, 2010: Another One Week Wonder Falls From #1

When I flipped on the Saturday football coverage, and saw Michigan State down 17-0, I thought another unpredictable day of college football was upon us. The Spartans survived, but later, Oklahoma was out, LSU lost a battle of Tigers, and West Virginia lost at home. So we lost a team of Bayou Bengal Tigers, gained the same species from Mizzou, and the Utah Utes are now the third non-BCS conference team in the tourney. Of course, it is likely that TCU and Utah will play for a single birth, but this has been a crazy few weeks, so who knows.

I put Pitt back in by default as Big East rep. West Virginia still basically controls its own destiny, but there are no Big East teams in the BCS standings, so I had to go with the current standings topping Panthers by default, back for the first time since their opening loss to the Utes.

From nowhere, Missouri jumps into my tourney's sixth seed. And two weeks ago, Auburn was the eighth seed, and now, they top the charts.

I think that type thing is what makes college football's season so intriguing whether it is the current BCS system or my playoff, the impact of single losses. Is there another sport in which the top team can lose and perilously out of the playoff scenario. If the top college hoops team loses, they may lose a top tourney seed with an accompanying favorable geographic path to the Final Four, but they are not trying to play their way back in to the tournament.

And thanks to the people of the world for supporting my little blog! There was a big burst this morning where hits came from the countries listed below:

United Arab Emirates 14

Guadeloupe 10

United States 5

Iran 2

Russia 1

Of course, maybe there a some people from all over the world who just wanted to see a cast member of The Big Bang Theory wearing tight Nebraska apparel (people love that Leonard), as featured in the last post.

To the projected tourney!!

"In college football, one day you're in, and the next day you're out." -Frank Broyles

OUT- Oklahoma, Louisiana State, West Virginia
IN-Missouri, Utah, Pittsburgh

FIRST ROUND:

In Morgantown, WV:#7 Alabama (at-large) vs #10 Pittsburgh (Big East champ)

In Atlanta: #8 Utah (at-large) vs #9 Florida State (ACC champ)


BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):

Sugar: #1 Auburn (SEC champ) vs the Utah/Florida State winner

Orange: #4 Texas Christian (at-large) vs #5 Michigan State (Big Ten champ)

Rose: #2 Oregon (Pac-10 champ) vs Alabama/Pittsburgh winner

Fiesta: #3 Boise State (non-BCS conference automatic) vs #6 Missouri (Big XII Champ)


Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL

BCS Championship in Glendale AZ

Week by week seedings:

Week	5	6	7	8
Auburn	8	8	4	1
Oregon	4	2	2	2
Boise State	2	1	3	3
TCU	5	3	5	4
Michigan State	n/a	n/a	7	5
Missouri	n/a	n/a	n/a	6
Alabama	1	n/a	8	7
Utah	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
Florida State	n/a	9	9	9
Pitt	n/a	n/a	n/a	10
Oklahoma	3	4	1	n/a
LSU	7	7	6	n/a
West Virginia	10	10	10	n/a
Ohio State	6	5	n/a	n/a
Nebraska	n/a	6	n/a	n/a
Miami	9	n/a	n/a	n/a
Florida	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Texas	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Virginia Tech	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Week	Pre	1	2	3	4
Auburn	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Oregon	9	8	7	8	7
Boise State	5	2	6	6	2
TCU	6	5	8	7	4
Michigan State	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Missouri	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Alabama	1	1	1	1	1
Utah	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Florida State	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Pitt	10	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Oklahoma	7	n/a	4	5	6
LSU	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
West Virginia	n/a	10	10	10	10
Ohio State	2	4	3	3	5
Nebraska	n/a	7	n/a	n/a	n/a
Miami	n/a	9	9	9	9
Florida	3	6	5	4	3
Texas	4	3	2	2	n/a
Virginia Tech	8	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Week 7, 2010: Are we destined for a rematch in the desert?

Knock knock knock Penny knock knock knock Penny knock knock knock Penny. There is an elephant and a big headed Spartan knocking at your door to let you know you're Cornhuskers have been replaced in my college football tourney projections!



This was the week that two of teams that were suffering in the BCS standings, due to poorer computer rankings than the positions given to them by mere humans, were ousted out of the projections: Ohio State and Nebraska. The BCS Bowls will be rooting for them and their fan bases to get back in the hunt.

Will this season play out as one when every road game that a ranked team goes on is filled with hidden explosives, leading to a lack of undefeated teams as conference season's progress? Or will it return to the form of last season with five undefeated teams? So far, it certainly seems like the former, reminding me of 1984-1985, the year BYU was the only undefeated team and 9-1-1 Oklahoma went into the bowls ranked #2.

That season provided an interesting national championship opportunity that I have never read much about. BYU climbed to #1 in week 12, after Oklahoma beat then #1 Nebraska, 17-7. Washington had been #1 a few weeks before, but lost to USC. The Trojans finished 8-3 overall, but tied in the conference with UW with one loss, and the head to head victory gave SC the Rose Bowl birth rather than the 10-1 Huskies.

So BYU was tops and headed to the Holiday Bowl because of their conference's affiliation. There was a chance Auburn at 8-4 would play the Cougars. Auburn was the pre-season top team, but lost Bo Jackson for most of the year. However, Bo was back for the bowls. Auburn took a Liberty Bowl bid instead, and Bo won that game's MVP. So instead of playing a team like the resume built Auburn Tigers, BYU's Holiday Bowl foe was 6-5 Michigan. However, conceivably Washington could have taken that slot and played BYU for the national championship. They instead took an Orange Bowl game in which they beat Oklahoma, and a collected a bigger payout than the Holiday Bowl. But UW could have said, forget the cash, we want a ring, and provided a real test for themselves and BYU. They took the cash, nuf said.

Back in 84-85, I was still doing an eight team tourney. In the bowl quarterfinals, Oklahoma lost to Doug Flutie and Boston College, Washington easily handled South Carolina, Nebraska beat Ohio State with minimal difficulties, and BYU, in overtime, lost to Oklahoma State.

Turning to real life for a moment rather than my mythical tourney; so will this season's championship dessert in the desert be a Fiesta Bowl rematch as BCS conference teams undefeated dreams desert them? Because as all this conference upset lunacy unfolds, we've got Boise State and TCU (and maybe Utah) cruising along above it all. So how 'bout a Fiesta Bowl rematch of the Broncos and Horned Frogs in the title game? Or maybe turn back the clock a little further for a Oklahoma-BSU Fiesta Bowl rematch?

So far in this topsy-turvy world of collegiate football, I would think the most thankful man in America this Thanksgiving will be whoever was thinking about replacing Urban Meyer in Florida when the Urban cowboy resigned suddenly last year. Think of the weight of expectations on their shoulders if they would have lost three straight, two in Gainesville, if they were the new head coach on campus.

This week, I am thankful that ESPN has the rights to televise the BCS Bowls, because they have decided to fill their Sunday night schedule with a BCS show during which the latest BCS standings are released. Thank you ESPN!! And thanks to BCSguru.com, BCSevolution.com, and www.bcsknowhow.com for providing BCS standings and making my life easier during the weeks leading up to the official standings!

On to the projections! Except for losing the caravans of fans that Ohio State and Nebraska provide, this weeks projection would be too good to be true. Teams with natural conference affiliations for three of the four bowls, a potential Oregon-Michigan State in the Rose, and even though no ACC in the Orange Bowl, an SEC team will do very well. No way the final tourney ends up this perfectly. Avoiding an Oklahoma-FSU rematch is the only hiccup,

"In college football, one day you're in, and the next day you're out." -Pop Warner

OUT- Ohio State, Nebraska
IN-Alabama, Michigan State

FIRST ROUND:

In Detroit:#7 Michigan State (Big Ten champ) vs #10 West Virginia (Big East champ)

In Atlanta: #8 Alabama (at-large) vs #9 Florida State (ACC champ)


BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals):

Fiesta: #1 Oklahoma (Big XII champ) vs Alabama or the Michigan St/West Virginia winner

Sugar: #4 Auburn (SEC champ) vs #5 Texas Christian (at-large)

Rose: #2 Oregon (Pac-10 champ) vs Florida St or the Michigan St/West Virginia winner

Orange: #3 Boise State (non-BCS conference automatic) vs #6 Louisiana State (at-large)


Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL

BCS Championship in Glendale AZ

Week by week seedings:

Week	5	6	7
Oklahoma	3	4	1
Oregon	4	2	2
Boise St	2	1	3
Auburn	8	8	4
TCU	5	3	5
LSU	7	7	6
Michigan State	n/a	n/a	7
Alabama	1	n/a	8
Florida State	n/a	9	9
WVU	10	10	10
Ohio State	6	5	n/a
Nebraska	n/a	6	n/a
Miami	9	n/a	n/a
Florida	n/a	n/a	n/a
Texas	n/a	n/a	n/a
VTU	n/a	n/a	n/a
Pitt	n/a	n/a	n/a

Week	Pre	1	2	3	4
Oklahoma	7	n/a	4	5	6
Oregon	9	8	7	8	7
Boise St	5	2	6	6	2
Auburn	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
TCU	6	5	8	7	4
LSU	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
Michigan State	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Alabama	1	1	1	1	1
Florida State	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
WVU	n/a	10	10	10	10
Ohio State	2	4	3	3	5
Nebraska	n/a	7	n/a	n/a	n/a
Miami	n/a	9	9	9	9
Florida	3	6	5	4	3
Texas	4	3	2	2	n/a
VTU	8	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Pitt	10	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Week 6, 2010: New Book Makes the BCS Versus Tourney Talk Heat Up

With the publication of a new book entitled Death to the BCS which argues for a sixteen-team playoff according to those who had pre-publication copies, and discusses the downsides of the current system, the debate over college playoffs bubbled up to the surface yet again. The book's content led columnist Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star to agree with the book's conclusion that a playoff should replace the BCS.

And the "Comments" section of the web version of the article (which a friend of mine who hates Larry Bird always uses to get some digs in commenting about Pacer articles) provides an opportunity to see arguments, both pro and con about a college football tourney. I don't argue with anyone who loves the bowls (I love the bowls) or is concerned about academics (I love academics), and maybe my ten-team tourney that utilizes the current BCS bowls is like a horse designed by a committee rather than a parsimonious solution. But here are my responses to some of the readers' comments:

1) People love a warm weather holiday trip: I agree, that is why I utilize the BCS bowls as quarterfinals.

2) Comment, "Do you really think a team's fanbase would have the money and/or time to buy tickets for and travel to 3 bowl games in 3 straight weeks?": No, I don't think they do. That is why I have seeds seven to ten play first round games within driving range of one of the schools. The holiday trip to a BCS Bowl quarterfinal is where the bowls and the schools push their fans to spend their cash.

My semi-finals are held in a domed location in a double-header format, and these domes can spread the tourney to Big Ten country (such as Indy and Detroit) and Big XII land (Dallas and St. Louis). For one thing, I like the idea of allowing northern teams to play to their local fanbase. Since I started this fake tourney, the last time the semi-finals were in Indianapolis at the RCA Dome was 2002, the year of the Maurice Clarett Ohio State championship team. It was bitterly cold that weekend, but in my tourney, the semi-finals in downtown Indy featured a first game of USC against Oklahoma, and the second game of Ohio State versus Georgia. Sell-out? OSU fans buy half the tickets for regular season Indiana U. home games in Bloomington; I think the Buckeye fans would have stormed Indy. I think the vibe downtown, even in the bitterly cold, would be comparable to hoops Final Fours, but also very different and unique. Besides fans of the semi-finalists, I think a lot of football fans would buy up tickets months before, just to see the doubleheader spectacle.

Let's look at this week's projections (see WAY below) to see how ticket sales might be. This "if the season ended today" tourney has first round games that are an hour and a half drive from each school with the regional advantage. LSU-Florida State, would that sell out the SuperDome? Duh. In about 29 minutes. Now I am not as sure about West Virginia-Auburn in Pittsburgh, but I think Mountaineer fans and a few Auburn loyalists would leave few empty seats.

How about the BCS Bowl quarterfinals? The Orange Bowl would feature Boise State versus the WVU-Auburn winner. I think BSU-Auburn would sell out, BSU-WVU would not be as likely, but tickets would not go for $1 either, like the real Orange Bowl did two seasons ago. A Rose Bowl with Oregon and LSU would sell out; whereas, Oregon versus the Seminoles may not, although the FSU fans may travel better than usual with the chance to be in the "Granddaddy." Maybe Burt Reynolds would inspire the Noles fans to hit Hollywood. With TCU being a state away, and Nebraska fans being, well, Nebraska fans, the Sugar Bowl would be another New Orleans sell-out. A Fiesta Bowl with Oklahoma and Ohio State? Maybe 26 minutes before the ticketmaster website stopped dispensing surcharges. I'll put that line-up against whatever tickets the real BCS Bowls this year sell.

This year, my semi-finals are in Tropicana Field in Florida. Due to its low capacity and the fact that Alabama and Florida have been highly anticipated to be successful this year, I think all the tickets would have been sold months ago. Actually, in my scenario, the toughest ticket sell might be the national championship game back at the BCS locales. I think it would have to evolve to be a mini version of the Super Bowl, with tix going to corporate sponsors who will show up no matter who plays. Just like the Super Bowl, it may take years to get to that status, but it can become a unchallenged sell-out by name appeal only one day.

3) "Education has priority, and a longer season would encroach upon that": I agree it would lengthen the season, but why does it not matter that every other college football division plays out a tourney? Why is it ok for the Division I-AA (yes, I am slow to change when naming conventions get ridiculous) to play a TWENTY team tournament. Last year's winner was Villanova, not exactly a community college, but their players had to deal with a long season. When I was a student at Eastern Illinois, the Panthers went to the championship game of Division II (at the Zia Bowl in Albuquerque, which I attended), and to do so, they basically played every weekend from the start of the first semester to the Saturday before finals. I heard no complaints.

And it is a lot of games, but some of that was created by adding a twelfth game and conference championships. I would be willing to scale back to eleven games. Plus, those conference championship games seem to be the main thing stretching the dollars of fans. In many places, the conference geography is too widespread to be convenient (a recent ACC championship had a 26,000 attendance), and the Pac-12 will realize that realize that quickly, and the losing teams fans seem less likely to follow their team to their bowl.

My approach, and it is not perfect, is that teams lose a week of spring football for every week they play beyond the BCS Bowl Quarterfinals. At least I am trying to make some balance.

But I love college football, and respect what others love about it. For instance, I don't see a need for a sixteen team tourney, in which Alabama played Troy in the first round last season. Come on, Troy lost to Central Michigan in the GMAC Bowl. I would especially hate to see a player like a Heisman winner tear an ACL against Troy, but that is just me.

Last week, I used the BCS projections of my good friends at BCSevolution.com to set up the tourney rather than BCSguru.com (they were later and I was anxious). If I would have waited, my good friends at BCSguru actually had Arizona as the eighth seed rather than my use of Auburn. So the Wildcats loss would have provided me another "Auf wiedersehen," out of the tourney projections, but the way it was, we already had number one Alabama shocked out of the tourney projections, Miami fell out with FSU jumping in, and LSU saved themselves, again. Barely.

To the projections!!:

"In college football, one day you're in, and the next day you're out." -Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger

OUT-Alabama, Miami (FL)
IN-Nebraska, Florida State

FIRST ROUND:

In New Orleans:#7 Louisiana State (SEC Champ) vs #9 Florida State (ACC champ)

In Pittsburgh: #8 Auburn (at-large) vs #10 West Virginia (Big East champ)


BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals)

Orange: #1 Boise State (non-BCS conference automatic) vs Auburn/West Virginia winner

Fiesta: #4 Oklahoma (Big XII champ) vs #5 Ohio State (Big Ten champ)

Rose: #2 Oregon (Pac-10 champ) vs LSU/Florida State winner

Sugar: #3 Texas Christian (at-large) vs #6 Nebraska (at-large)

Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL

BCS Championship in Glendale AZ

	5	6
Boise St	2	1
Oregon	4	2
TCU	5	3
Oklahoma	3	4
Ohio State	6	5
Nebraska	n/a	6
LSU	7	7
Auburn	8	8
Florida State	n/a	9
WVU	10	10
Alabama	1	n/a
Miami	9	n/a
Florida	n/a	n/a
Texas	n/a	n/a
VTU	n/a	n/a
Pitt	n/a	n/a

	Pre	1	2	3	4
Boise St	5	2	6	6	2
Oregon	9	8	7	8	7
TCU	6	5	8	7	4
Oklahoma	7	n/a	4	5	6
Ohio State	2	4	3	3	5
Nebraska	n/a	7	n/a	n/a	n/a
LSU	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	8
Auburn	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Florida State	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
WVU	n/a	10	10	10	10
Alabama	1	1	1	1	1
Miami	n/a	9	9	9	9
Florida	3	6	5	4	3
Texas	4	3	2	2	n/a
VTU	8	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Pitt	10	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Week 5, 2010: Time For the First Semester Exams; Florida Fails But May Get a Make-Up Test

It seemed like a weekend of college football in which the top teams were figuratively taking their first hourly exam of the semester. All of the teams projected last week to be in my tournament passed the tests, with the exception of Florida, which failed, but with a good attitude and visits to the prof during office hours, can take a make-up exam in December.

Alabama took their test like the annoying student who gets up and hands in a perfect paper after twenty minutes, while you are sitting there still trying to understand the questions. Ohio State took their test like a student who gets sick during the exam and asks to use the bathroom, leaves for a while, but gets back in time to finish enough to pass. You're not sure if they hid some answers in the stall (kinda like in "The Godfather," but with answers instead of guns), but they at least sure looked sincerely ill. Oregon played like a student whose alarm didn't go off, and they ran into the classroom late, but were smart enough to get an A anyway. Boise State and TCU passed their tests like students placed in the beginner level course despite previously passing the advanced class because some administrator insisted they needed the prerequisite. Miami also passed their test, despite occasionally missing some easy questions, West Virginia had a note from the campus clinic doc that they needed to wait a week, and LSU filled in an answer at the last minute and passed with a lucky guess.

Oklahoma played like a student thrilled that the test seemed so easy, but began staring out the window, fantasizing about things, like my favorite Warner Brothers cartoon character Ralph Phillips (any wonder he is my favorite; after all, I have a blog about a college football tournament that goes on inside my head). Oklahoma finally snapped out of it and easily passed their test, too.



So I was watching the OSU-Illinois game on the Big Ten Network. Although I live squarely in Big Ten country, the commercials on the Big Ten Network seem particularly homespun, reminiscent of my decade living in east-central Illinois. I wonder with all the changes to the agricultural economy, whether Champaign-Urbana, Illinois still features a lot of TV ads for seed and for products that kill the stuff that bothers the seed. Anyway, I am watching Big Ten Network, and there is a cheesy commercial for an insurance company. As it ends, it names the sponsor, "Auto Owners Insurance Company." I was expecting "Farmers" or "Country Companies," but "Auto Owners" seemed too obvious with no subtlety to name an insurance company. It would be like if I shopped at "Food Eaters Market," tuned into the "TV Watchers Network," or utilized "Too Lazy to Get Off Your Butt Maid Service."

And do you have to be an "Auto Owner" to get insurance from them? Would a motorcycle or truck suffice?

Sometimes, web surfing becomes Kevin Bacon-esque. The Sunday paper had a story about a church that sends people to shout down and protest at funerals for servicemen. I guess all the bad things in the world are due to the US's gay rights, and the servicemen are part of that (?); yeah, I don't get it either. Anyway, to look for information, we did searches on the church; then the founders of the church; then learned the founders have law degrees from Washburn U.; then asked what is Washburn U.; then finding that Washburn of Topeka has the team name of the "Ichabods." Assuming that they had to have an oddly costumed mascot, that lead to further searches, including a find of this story of a BRAND NEW Ichabod.



So, I thought maybe the Ichabods were named for Ichabod Crane, maybe even inspiring a headless mascot (actually, that would be pretty cool). However Ichabod comes from the school's benefactor, Ichabod Washburn. Now, I live in a growing town that I think needs a college/university, and would like to champion the effort. But if it means someday, the teams will be the "Daves" and feature a mascot that is supposed to look like me, then, well, actually that would be a cool little legacy. But I want the person who set up the unveiling of the new Ichabod to be my marketing director; 150 people showed up to see the new Ichabod! But maybe it was just students passing by to register for class that were lured by the cupcakes, or smokers on a break. My wife had a co-worker who came back from a smoking break, and she said that while she was outside, a line of protesters grabbed her hand during a singing of "We Shall Overcome." My wife asked her what she did, and she responded that she swayed and sang along.

So congrats Washburn on your new Ichabod. It helped me forget you conferred law degrees to some lunatic fringe types. But does the new Ichabod really need furry hands with furry finger nails?

Now, let me and my inner Ralph Phillips posit on the latest tourney projections. Instead of our good friends at BCSguru.com, this week I will use projections from our good friends at BCSevolution.com. Their catchphrase is "Punctuating the Equilibrium!" and as a Gould/Eldredge fan, I kinda love it.

This week's projected tourney is particularly confusing because of my "no regular season rematch policy," and the SEC filling up the top and the eighth and ninth seeds. So if both LSU and Auburn win, then Alabama would play sixth seeded Ohio State. Let's just hope the real fake tourney is not this confusing.

But at least this week's tourney can be used as an example of a lot of my rules (aka, foibles):

A) LSU and West Virginia have already played a regular season game, so they could not meet in the first round as the seventh and tenth seeds. LSU gets Miami instead, and Auburn plays West Virginia

B) Again, to prevent regular season re-matches in the First Round and BCS Bowl quarterfinals, if LSU and Auburn both won their first round games, they could not play Alabama, who scheduled both during the regular season. Instead, the Tide would get sixth seed Ohio State, while Boise would get Auburn and third seed Oklahoma would play LSU. If either LSU and Auburn lost, their victor would play 'Bama, and if they both lost, the tournament would go on as if nothing was amiss.

C) As conference champs, both Miami and West Virginia would get regional advantage over the two at-large SEC teams. Regional advantage is that the team cannot play at home, and ideally not in their own metropolitan area, but play within driving distance from campus. For the Mountaineers, Pittsburgh is a short drive form Morgantown, WV, so is a perfect location to play at Heinz Field (although in the past their turf quality has been criticized that late in the season).

D) For Miami (FL), another rule comes into play this season: "No home state advantage in more than one tourney contest." Because the semis are inside Tropicana Field in St. Pete, none of the Florida teams can play a non-Florida team in the First Round or the Orange Bowl. So teams like Miami, and it applies to Florida State, Florida, and South Florida, will most likely be sent to Atlanta if they get the regional advantage.

So on with the projections! This week, the Gators leave the tourney, but they may be back, and another group of SEC Tigers, this time from Auburn, join the mix for the first time this season:

"In college football, one day you're in, and the next day you're out." -Frank Broyles

OUT-Florida
IN-Auburn

FIRST ROUND:

In Atlanta:#7 Louisiana State (at-large) vs #9 Miami (FL) (ACC champ)

In Pittsburgh: #8 Auburn (at-large) vs #10 West Virginia (Big East champ)


BCS BOWLS (Quarterfinals)

Sugar: #1 Alabama (SEC champ) vs Miami (FL) or West Virginia or Ohio State

Rose: #4 Oregon (Pac-10 champ) vs #5 Texas Christian (at-large)

Fiesta: #2 Boise State (non-BCS conference automatic) vs LSU or Auburn or Miami

Orange: #3 Oklahoma (Big XII champ) vs #6 Ohio State (Big Ten champ) or LSU

Semi-finals in St Petersburg FL

BCS Championship in Glendale AZ

Pre 1 2 3 4 5 Bama 1 1 1 1 1 1 Boise 5 2 6 6 2 2 Okla 7 n/a 4 5 6 3 Oregon 9 8 7 8 7 4 TCU 6 5 8 7 4 5 OSU 2 4 3 3 5 6 LSU n/a n/a n/a n/a 8 7 Auburn n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 8 Miami n/a 9 9 9 9 9 WVU n/a 10 10 10 10 10 Florida 3 6 5 4 3 n/a Texas 4 3 2 2 n/a n/a Neb n/a 7 n/a n/a n/a n/a VTU 8 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Pitt 10 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a