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Texas A&M Softball picked to win league for 3rd straight preseason poll
2008-01-18 20:46:00
Although Oklahoma was thisclose in the rankings, a preseason poll has the Texas A&M women’s softball team picked to win the Big 12 conference for the third straight year. And obviously with good reason–they are returning 8 starters from a team that was a dominating 46-14 and made its sixth straight NCAA appearance. Not too ...
More About: Poll , League , Softball , Straight

Whew! UCONN Lady Huskies outlast Syracuse
2008-01-18 04:27:00
Even though the crowd was boisterous at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, even though the Orange(wo)men had the UCONN Huskies number and were within 2 points in the final minute, the result was still the same for Connecticut. Going to 16-0 on the season, the Lady Huskies, who have only trailed the ENTIRE season a whole ...
More About: Women , College Basketball

Pittsburgh?s Dixon a front runner for Big East Coach of the Year
2008-01-18 01:34:00
Pitt has been solid for several years in basketball. With Ben Howland taking the team to the next level, when he left in 2004, the reigns were handed to a young Jamie Dixon . While some of the Pittsburgh faithful were a little leery of Dixon’s ability to keep the steam going, the coach held true ...
More About: East , Runner , Coach

Definition of classless: Rich Rodriguez
2008-01-17 20:46:00
Ok, coaches come and go. Players come and go. Their records are concrete evidence of how they performed. But, there is those little intangibles that set a coach apart. For one, look at Bobby Knight. The man has won more games than 99% of coaches will even dream of even being involved in much less ...
More About: Rich , Definition , Rodriguez

How will Virginia Tech respond in 2008?
2008-01-17 03:43:00
After the nation really got behind Virginia Tech in 2008 after a terrible school shooting tragedy, the team started off shaky in terms of consistency, and then hit their stride, riding way up in the national polls. However, reality hit them smack in the face as they were dominated by Kansas in the Orange Bowl. So ...

Clemson Super Soph Booker takes home ACC POW
2008-01-17 03:18:00
Trevor Booker exploded. There’s really nothing else to say.  Trevor Booker exploded.Even though Clemson finished the week at 1-1, Booker averaged 30 points a game, 8 boards and almost 4 blocked shots a game (that’s the most phenomenal number in my opinion).  In the double OT win over Florida St., Booker was a sizzling 10-12 ...
More About: Home , Super

Maryland first to 20 Ws in Women?s Basketball
2008-01-17 03:00:00
The ACC hasn’t always been a hotbed for women’s basketball. For the most part, women’s basketball has been ruled by the SEC or Big East for what seems like eons. However, the first one in the race to 20 wins is indeed from the ACC, and that honor belongs to Maryland , whose win over #10 ...
More About: Women , Basketball , College Basketball

USC Dodges Bullet with Carroll?or have they?
2008-01-16 03:25:00
Could you hear the chattering of teeth from out West last week? That reverberating sound was that of USC fans, who were anxiously awaiting if Football coach would “do the deed” and make the jump back to pro football as either coach of the Atlanta Falcons or of the Washington Redskins.    Hmmm..now let’s see…have players around me ...
More About: College Football , Bullet , Carroll

Cal Soph Ryan Anderson making name as sharpshooter
2008-01-16 00:32:00
While the California Golden Bears haven’t exactly gotten off to the starts that teams like UCLA, Washington St., and even Arizona St. have in the league, there is a player that the Bears have that many covet–and that’s sophomore Ryan Anderson , who coming into this week has shot over 52% from three-point land over his ...
More About: College Basketball

Washington State has a tough next few days…
2008-01-10 21:23:00
Wazzu continues their upward descent and have eclipsed the top 4 ranking in the country. I know I wrote a pretty harsh article about the Cougars a while back, but here they still are, plugging away, albeit some people have formed a similar opinion (yahoo’s preview of the Wash St-USC game notes that “After cruising through a mediocre non-conference schedule and defeating instate rival Washington 56-52 in its Pac-10 opener on Saturday, Washington State ’s (13-0, 1-0) schedule is getting considerably tougher.”) Now, I don’t want to disrespect Wash St. at all, but these next couple of days will ultimately prove with the ranking they have–is it live or is it Memorex? Is it the real deal or is it hype? Because from today until Saturday night, Wazzu plays USC with hyped up frosh O.J. Mayo (His parents had to have been hungry after childbirth) and then travels to Pauley Pavilion for a matchup against #5 UCLA. I think that, unfortunately, the Cougars won&rs...
More About: Tough , Washington State

Vanderbilt Basketball ranked #13 and other signs of the Apocalypse
2008-01-10 03:38:00
Alright, well maybe that was a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle melodramatic. But who would have thunk it? Vandy knocking on the door of the Top 10–in basketball? Really? At 15-0, the team has matched the school record for the best start in history. Their margin of victory average is in double digits. They have two players that are at or over 20 points a game. The problem is….that they’ve played cardboard cutouts of basketball players. Of those 15 wins, they haven’t had a “real” win over a big school yet; of the 15 games, 12 have been at home, and includes such powerhouse eeker wins over South Alabama and Lipscomb (ok, that wasn’t an eeker, I just like saying Lipscomb) . However, here they are apparently amongst the best teams in the country. The Commodores open the conference season for them tonight against South Carolina, and in the second half, the teams are tight, which is no surprise. Vandy has risen simply on the principle that they are in...
More About: Basketball , Signs , Apocalypse , Vanderbilt , Bask

Plus one BCS Format–Go for it!
2008-01-08 21:31:00
And the truth shall set you freeeeeeee!!!! BCS officials, finally bowing to the prospect that their little system will always have flaws and things that will be debated until kingdom come, have announced that they will seriously consider a “plus one” concept that basically will put a four team playoff into effect for the national title. New commish John Swofford is taking over the BCS “committee”, and he noted that this would be looked at very distinctly. This is awesome for so many reasons. Ok…Ok!!! I understand that no system is infallible, but come on–we’ve been clamoring for a playoff system forever, and now it’s going to happen. What’s that? You say Georgia and USC would have been left out in the cold this year and that ain’t right? And that Timmy fell down a well? Sorry about that little digression there…Anyways, yes, that is correct, under the format this year, Georgia and USC would have fallen out of content...

Let’s Get it on! LSU-Ohio State Preview
2008-01-07 20:39:00
Lllllletttttt’s get readddddddy to rrrrrumbbllllllllllllllllleeeeeeee! Like that hasn’t been used way too many times. Anyways, we’re here. The day has come. The national championship game is upon us. Yet, why do we feel like it’s not? Well, I am glad you asked! For one, when the BCS bowls were announced, a proverbial groan was heard across the entire nation when Ohio State and LSU were announced. First of all, LSU jumped from #7 to #2, despite Georgia being ranked #4 previously and…they didn’t lose. USC was hoping to be in there, but their ranking from previous kept them from going any higher. Oklahoma won the Big 12 championship, but evidently the system that would make Pythagoras scratch his head, it was not good enough. Ohio St., meanwhile, hadn’t played a game in over a month, and they just kept climbing, like some aneurysm trying to make its way to the brain. They finished at #1 due to other teams losing, and of course everyone remark...
More About: Preview , Ohio State

Tulsa and Bowling Green square off in GMAC Bowl–wait, where are you going
2008-01-06 17:54:00
The game before THE GAME. With NFL Playoffs and the national title game looming tomorrow night, we’ve got one more football game for those of you who haven’t gotten quite enough indigestion from all of the beer and thumbaches from pressing the remote buttons. It’s the GMAC Bowl where Tulsa and Bowling Green match offensive juggernauts for a battle to the finish for supremacy. Wait , where are you going? Hey–come back here! I know, I know, as much as we all would like to admit that Tulsa and Bowling Green are not the football hotbeds of…well, even the junior high circuit…this is still should be an exciting game of offensive firepower. The GMAC has historically been a game of scores that indicate more high blood pressure scores than football, and defense seems to be mainly optional. So, the question is, who scores the most? If you answered Wilt Chamberlain…well, you’re right, but that’s another time and place to discuss. Chamber...
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And then I saw their win…Now I’m a believer…
2008-01-04 16:33:00
I wrote a post not entirely too long ago questioning the hype around Kansas, citing that they were media darlings and didn’t have a solid resume to back up the ranking. Mmmm, that crow sure tastes good. A little gamey though. After Kansas beat Virginia Tech 24-21 in a game that actually was not as close as the score indicates, the Jayhawks not only used their offensive trickery, but they won the game with solid defense against a good Hokies offense. The first TD was an interception return, and with the total number of takeaways equaling 17 points, the Jayhawks may have not even needed their schoolyard antics on offense to win the game. Eric Mangini, the AP’s coach of the year, has certainly turned this program around, and even though they stumbled to Missouri, the Jayhawks proved once and for all that they certainly did deserve to be in the BCS. The only sad part of the game was that if Virginia Tech would have won, it would have been one of the more feel-good stories of...
More About: Then

No doubt: Mountaineers dominate Sooners
2008-01-03 17:12:00
Hey, I won’t lie, I thought Oklahoma, amidst all of their crying about not being able to play in the national title game, would pull a USC and basically play for the masses the way to show that they deserved to be there. With West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez bolting for greener pastures in what ...
More About: No Doubt , Doubt , Domin , Mountaineers

Does USC deserve to split National Title?
2008-01-03 00:19:00
      And for my next trick… The good folks over at Rivals.com have made an article discussing that there is a decent chance that the AP may indeed vault USC from #7 to a potential national title after its drubbing of Illinois 49-17 in the Rose Bowl. I’m sorry…but how does that make sense? First of all, if ...
More About: National , Title , Split , Serve

Carr gets redemption with huge Michigan win over Florida
2008-01-01 23:18:00
Florida was supposed to be one of the SEC’s big locks. With heralded Heisman winner Tim Tebow, a monster offense overall, and the stylings of Mr. January Urban Meyer, facing a team that had a lame-duck coach and had looked basically pitiful in its last effort against what was supposed to be its best game ...
More About: College Football , Florida , Michigan , Redemption , Carr

UCLA gets Neuheisel back
2007-12-31 03:25:00
Yey! I’m finally out of Baltimore!! After he lead the UCLA Bruins to a victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl, Rick Neuheisel was destined for a future in football somewhere. Well, the pro career didn’t quite pan out, so Neuheisel went to coach Colorado, where he did a great job in reviving the Buffalo program. He ...
More About: College Football , Back

Ouch! Pitt gets smoked by Flyers
2007-12-30 05:35:00
Dang! Here is number six Pitt , playing good basketball, including continuing their trend as a grinder team that plays staunch defense. Enter Dayton, the A-10 overachiever that has the guts, but did they have the glory? You betcha. Smoking the Panthers by 25 points–dang!–the Flyers won their 10th in a row and rode 31 points by Brian Roberts, ...
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College Football Bowl Games proving once again that spreads mean squat
2007-12-29 05:02:00
When many people looked at the games for the college bowl season, many games were met with either indifference or a big sigh. Basically, this was done because of the fact that the games seemed largely gapped in terms of talent levels and competition, whereby there seemed to be many David vs. Goliath matchups. However, as ...
More About: Games , College , Football , College Football , Spreads

Motor City Bowl Matchup: Purdue-Central Michigan Preview
2007-12-26 23:13:00
Purdue has always been known for its offensive prowess, especially under head coach Joe Tiller. Central Michigan boasts what the media calls the “poor man’s Tim Tebow” in Dan LeFevour, who has passed for more than 3000 yards and has run for more than 1000 yards. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to surmise that the ...
More About: Preview , Motor , City

Can Memphis go undefeated?
2007-12-24 22:54:00
Memphis has not been a team that anyone has taken lightly for several years. John Calipari’s reign as Conference USA’s bully has made the university formerly known as Memphis St. to the national scene and kept them in the top 10 for most of the past two seasons. This season, they started out very high ...
More About: Memphis , Undefeated

Papa Johns.com Bowl: Southern Miss-Cincinnati Preview
2007-12-22 19:17:00
Papa John’s. Better ingredients. Better Pizza. (Can we get better teams?)  This game looks on paper like it should be a pretty clear choice. For one, Cincinnati has the schedule and the ranking. They have the firepower and the street cred. But, on the other hand, there are five fingers. Just thought you’d like to know. Seriously, though, ...
More About: Preview , College Football , Papa , Miss , Southern

New Orleans Bowl Preview: Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic
2007-12-21 15:31:00
Florida Atlantic …hmmm…where have I heard that name before…oh wait—I haven’t. Many people haven’t either. Yet this game’s publicity is basically ranging around head coach Howard Schnellenberger, who lead the “U” of Miami and Louisville to national prominence back when Flock of Seagulls was still popular (or were they really ever popular? Anyways, I digress…). He ...
More About: New Orleans , Preview , Florida , Memphis

Utah wins the Christmas Flower Bowl
2007-12-21 15:17:00
Football. The game of men. Where mud flies, bones crack, and the meek dare not enter the field. The grunts, the growls, and the intimidation factor was extremely high at the…wait a second..the POINSETTIA Bowl? The essence of man??  What’s next, the Kotex Challenge? The Victoria’s Secret Bowl? Since when did we start playing in bowls named after ...
More About: Christmas , College Football , Utah , Flower , Wins

Delany backs Big 10 policy on Pamon
2007-12-20 16:59:00
Riding the wave of paranoia the Yahoo investigation on Stephen Pamon, Big 10 commish Jim Delany said in a statement that “Some of this latest information was available in public records while other details were based on anonymous sources and hearsay statements. The conference office intends to follow-up on the veracity and accuracy of the ...
More About: Policy

The Fix is in: Big 10 referee under scrutiny
2007-12-19 15:37:00
We all have sat with bated breath (not sure what that means, but it sounds icky) through all of the sports scandals of the year–the Mitchell Report for baseball, the Tim Donaghy betting scandal in the NBA, Kobe Bryant getting to shoot off his mouth and still is playing for the Lakers (Ok, maybe not ...
More About: College Football , Scrutiny , Referee

Miami back in Top 25?no, not football, silly bean
2007-12-18 16:00:00
Miami has always been one of those schools that has basically all of their eggs in one basket, where they are dominant in one sport, but lethargic or basically bottom feeders in others. For years, the “U” was basically a football powerhouse, the go-to team for dominance and dynasty. However, after scandals and coaching changes, ...
More About: Football , Miami , Bean , Back , Silly

Rodriguez to Michigan: Big 10 implications
2007-12-17 04:39:00
Na-na-nah-nah, na-na-na-naaaah, hey-hey-hey….goodbiiiiiiiiiyeeeR 30; Ok, so finally we can put the Les Miles thing to rest–Michigan finally has a new football coach. He goes by the name of Rich Rodriguez . Perhaps you have heard of him. If not, that’s ok…In case you don’t know, he built West Virginia into a Big East power, winning the conference championship ...
More About: Implications