Big Ten Woes....

So now the Big 10 is 12 - 13 vs the SEC in bowl games this decade. Not really a bad record but due to OSU losing two years in a row to Florida and LSU in the National Title game, the SEC is perceived as the much better conference. I want to dwelve into the Big 10's problems.

Unfortunately for Big 10 they play most of their Bowl Games on the road.
3 neutral bowl games
MSU vs BC in Orlando, Florida
Indiana vs Oklahoma in Phoenix, AZ
Wisconsin vs Tennessee in Tampa Bay, Florida
5 road bowl games
Purdue vs Central Michigan in Detroit, Michigan
Penn St vs Texas A&M in San Antonio, Texas
Michigan vs Florida in Orlando, Florida
Illinois vs USC in Pasadena, California
OSU vs LSU in New Orleans, Louisiana

Looking strictly at locations and not teams you would expect the Big 10 to have a losing bowl record. And please explain to me how the 9th place Big 10 team (MSU) ends up playing the second place ACC team in Boston College. That can not, should not, and would not be fair or even competitive, except for the fact that MSU should have won and was easily the better team on the field except for the 5 turnovers. Thus bringing me to my last point.

The Big 10 does not play games after mid November and then waits 5 to 7 weeks to play a bowl game, and this is what really pisses me off. The Big 10 teams always play like shit, or more specifically like they haven't played in almost 2 months. Take a guess at the plus/minus turnover ratio for the Big Ten teams in bowl games this year?

A. +4 B. even C. -6 D. - 13

Times up, D. -13. Minus 13, how the hell did they manage to win any games let alone go 3 - 5.

Here is my problem with the Big Ten teams, I am an admitted homer and love them and think they should play better than they do in the bowl games. They fucking take six weeks off and then play sloppy football, have trouble catching passes, too many penalties and are - 13 in the turnover department. That is no way to get er done.. -13 includes Indiana who was +2 and still managed to get rolled in the 'Sweet, Dude, We are in Fucking Phoenix for the Holidays instead of Bloomington' Bowl. As soon as the Hoosiers flight landed at the airport in Phoenix the entire team had a hard-on for the ASU honeys and sunshine. We can all imagine how hard it is to play a football game with no blood flow to the brain.

How does the Big Ten fix the problems? Tough questions, but playing and extra week or two later in the season would be a good start. I don't want to hear it about the weather either, the players and fans will be used to it and you could always utilize the domes in the area for late season games or Bowl Games. Minneapolis, Detroit, St. Louis, and Indianapolis all have domes and could be utilized for late season Big Ten Games or new Bowl Games and would still attract a full stadiums of fans. If the Big Ten plays later into the season maybe they would not be so rusty and turnover prone during bowl season. Add in the fact if even one or two new bowls being held indoors in the Big Ten Country instead of in SEC or Pac 10 country and we might, just might be able to change some opinions across the country.

Ohio St. vs. LSU

Well, as promised, here is my preview of tonight's BCS Championship game between LSU and Ohio St. When this game was first announced, it was assumed by a lot of people that LSU would win this game, with the line being as high as LSU -6 at some places. Lately though, the line has been coming down, and now people are starting to believe that Ohio St. can pull this out. Currently the line sits at LSU-4.

I have been going back and forth on this for a couple of weeks now. LSU, when i have watched them this year, quite frankly have not been that impressive. That said, their only two losses have both been in triple overtime, which means to me that they are very hard to beat. They do play in a better conference (at least this year), and the rigors of that conference has to have toughened them up and made them battle ready. And lastly, with the last month off, LSU will actually be healthy going into this game, especially Glenn Dorsey, their stud D-lineman.

On the other hand you have Ohio St. Playing in the weaker Big Ten, the Buckeyes largely rolled through the conference schedule, with one notable exception: losing at home to Illinois. That loss wasn't a good one, but the officiating was questionable at best (see article here) and it was against a spread option offense, something the Big Ten teams traditionally struggle against when run well. LSU does not employ a spread offense, nor does it have particularly mobile quarterbacks like Illinois does with Juice Williams.

Most people point to just last year, when Ohio St. was in the same position, playing for the National Championship against a 'fast' SEC team, that time Florida. Big Ten - SEC matchups are always billed as speed (SEC) vs. strength (Big Ten). I myself am a proponent that strength will always beat speed, because if you hit someone hard in the mouth repeatedly, you wear them down, thus negating their speed aspect. Going into this bowl season, since 2000 the Big Ten was 11-11 against the SEC in bowl games. Pretty even if you ask me. But because of last year's Championship game, in which Ohio St. got destroyed by Florida, the perception is that the SEC is much better than the Big Ten.

It is last year's game precisely though that i think gives a little extra edge to the Buckeyes. They were embarrassed in that game, falling behind early (despite scoring first) and never being competitive in that game. There are many players from that squad still on the team this year, and i think they have something to prove.

Let's take a look at one more aspect, the coaching. Coach Les Miles has been a brash, risk-taking coach this year, and it has largely worked out for him. While his decisions can sometimes be questioned, his desire to win and competitiveness cannot. In the Florida game he went for it on 4th down four different times. In the Auburn game, which i still cannot believe and is one of the greatest endings to a game i have ever seen, Coach Miles had his team throw a 22-yard touchdown pass on 3rd down with 8 seconds remaining and down by 1, needing only a field goal. It was caught with 1 second on the clock left, but he risked running out of time if it was not caught. Coach Miles has huge juevos. Huge.

Coach Tressel, while not quite the risk-taker Miles is, is a fantastic in-game coach and is great at preparing his team. This team got beat-down last year, and Coach Tressel has been using that as motivation for a month. He has put together a 10-minute videotape of 'experts' spouting off about the Buckeyes not having a chance against LSU, and has been showing it to his team for the last week. And he had a month to prepare and gameplan for LSU, which is what he does best.

The game, as most bowl games do, will come down to turnovers and execution. For some reason, i think Ohio St. can pull this out. I think they will be fired up, from all of Tressel's motivational techniques and from last year's Championship game. I think they will be flying around the field on defense hitting people, and i think on offense they take Beanie Wells and pound him up the middle over and over. I also think Tressel will throw in a trick play or two to keep things off balance. And though Les Miles will certainly have some things in store for his team, i think Ohio St. gets it done.

Ohio St. +4 over LSU
Go Big Ten

NFL Picks Review

4 games down, 7 to go. As stated before, I need to go 6-5 to break even, but i predicted that i would go 7-4 in the playoffs. After one week, i am 2-2. Special thanks to Jacksonville, who won but didn't cover by one point. Then again, the Chargers covered by only one point, so i can't complain too much. Lines for next week aren't out yet, so later in the week i will make my picks for the divisional round of the playoffs.

NFL Picks

Playoffs!

So as discussed before, i finished the regular season 45-37-6 after a trainwreck in week 17. I also predicted a record of 7-4 in the playoffs. Here we go:

Seattle -3.5 over Washington
I know Washington is playing great. I know Washington has the 'emotion' factor going because of the death of Sean Taylor. I also know they have Todd Collins at qb. And as good as he has been playing, he is a career back-up on the road. In the playoffs. In Seattle, where the Seahawks almost never lose.

Jacksonville -3 over Pittsburgh
I am going to regret this pick. Everyone loves the Jags. Everyone. See the red flag? When in doubt, go against the popular opinion. I am going to regret this pick...

Tampa Bay -3 over New York Giants
Eli struggles against good defenses that put pressure on the qb. Tampa Bay has a good defense that puts pressure on the qb. Eli is also on the road.

San Diego -10 over Tennessee
This line is pretty high, but i still like the Chargers. They are playing really well, and VY couldn't have played much worse this year. And he's on the road.

Iowa's Justin Johnson Goes Nuts

In the last 1:49 of Iowa's game against Indiana, Iowa' Justin Johnson goes off, hitting 6 treys, including a 40-foot bank shot.

NFL Picks Review: Final Regular Season Review

So, as predicted because of teams resting players, i had a HORRIFIC week picking the NFL in the final week of the regular season. IN fact, it was so bad (1-6), it was the worst week of the year for me. I knew i should have just stayed away from those game. Overall, in the regular season, i finished 45-37-6, for a winning percentage of .550. For you gamblers out there, you know that's the break-even point. So i broke even this year. Would have made some money if not for last week...

I will be picking every game of the playoffs coming up. With 11 games, in order to break-even i have to be correct on 6 picks. I think i can do one better than that, and go 7-4. Stay tuned to find out...

College Bowl Picks

Wow, what an ugly round of picks yet again. I am currently at 12-15 in the postseason. Not good. One more round of picks leading up to the National Championship game, which i will do a special column/pick for that game.

Oklahoma -8 over West Virginia
Did you know that bowl teams with a coaching situation in flux are currently 1-6? You remember me mentioning this in my first round of bowl picks? And the only team that won was Michigan, whose coach is retiring? Oh, and Oklahoma was in the Fiesta Bowl last year and lost to Boise St. Something tells me they don't make that mistake again...

Virginia Tech -4 over Kansas
Kansas played absolutely no one this year except for Missouri, and they lost that game by 8. The Hokies are battle tested, and should win fairly easily.

Rutgers -10 over Ball St.
When did crappy bowl games start getting on in the New Year? How is this a good thing?

Tulsa -4.5 over Bowling Green
Seriously, these two games are the lead-up to the National Championship game? How did this happen? Who approved this?