Category Archive

You heard that Florida State will be without about half of their players in the Music City Bowl in Nashville and you may not care. But I was thinking about the organizers of the Music City Bowl. Were they told in their selection process that there was an investigation in progress which might result in significant numbers of players being suspended? Would or did the committee have the option to choose someone other than FSU if they had known?

A couple of the teams left out of bowls, Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina and especially Louisville,  might have been a better fits or bigger draws to play Kentucky. There may be an insignificant number of people who planned on going to see a top quality bowl game to matter, but those people have been handed a piece of coal for their Christmas stocking.

Ohio State should play in the BCS game. That should go without saying. The question is who will they play? The early word is LSU. This would be vindication for the all the sports writers who picked LSU to be the number one team before the season, that’s why it will probably happen. Sports writers are a notoriously smug lot.

Who should the Buckeyes play? Georgia was ranked #4 before this past weekend, but they never played LSU, didn’t win their conference and, in fact, lost badly to Tennessee which lost the conference championship game to LSU. I’m going to dismiss Virginia Tech, I wasn’t impressed by them in any of the games I saw. USC … I just don’t like Pete Carroll or USC. Nice cheerleaders though.

But Kansas only lost one game, that to Missouri by only eight points at a neutral site. I’m thinking that people wanted to jump off the Kansas bandwagon as fast as they got on, because Kansas was unranked before the season. Again, they didn’t fit the sports writers’ template. Oh, how I wish Kansas had played Oklahoma or Texas. A win there would cement my thinking, but they didn’t. Still, I think they deserve a spot in the championship game, as it is probably the last time we will ever see them there.

So Kansas should be there or possibly even Oklahoma, having beaten Missouri twice, but LSU will be there because it fits the template.

The stage is set for UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater’s rematch in the Division III playoffs on Saturday at noon in Whitewater. This time, I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t be there. That is the least of the Indians’ Eagles’ plan to reverse a 45-10 drubbing they took from the Warhawks earlier this year.

La Crosse hosts Bethel of Minnesota and Whitewater hosts St. Norbert in Division III football this weekend. This sets up a possible rematch between La Crosse and Whitewater if both teams win. Whitewater pummeled La Crosse in their earlier meeting, which I skipped to go to a wedding. I think my presence might make all the difference for the Indians Eagles.

Bethel beat the Johnnies of St. John (MN) this year, which is an upset. The Johnnies are a perennial contender. The St. Norbert Premonstratensians* Green Knights were pretty tough as well, though they will be a big underdog to Whitewater.

* They should be the St. Norbert Premonstratensian Cannons.

I was hoping they would have moved up a little more. Then again, I didn’t think they’d only have one loss at this point in the season when the season began. Hopefully, Stocco’s not hurt too badly. Guys in their 20s heal pretty fast. Not that I have anything against Donovan, it’s just hard to replace that senior leadership and experience.

I’m surprised that Penn State didn’t make more of an issue of the end of the first half. Once was clever, twice was unsportsmanlike conduct.

I’ve seen Louisville several times this year. I have to agree with Jason Whitlock who is quoted in the article. I don’t see a team in Louisville that a lot of teams, including Wisconsin, couldn’t beat.

P.S. My cat wouldn’t leave me alone this morning so I got to see the second half of the USC/Stanford game. USC ran up the score needlessly.

• You know, I was thinking the same thing. I watched the Gophers play this year, particularly their game against Penn State, and I thought their passing offense would cause the Badgers some trouble. “Even beat them, they could,” as Yoda would put it. That game showed me something about the Badgers. What a pleasure to watch their defense as opposed to the Packers. One or two losses for the season, which is the most likely scenario now, plunks them down in a pretty good bowl game. How about Notre Dame?
• It says something about Penn State as well. It says something about bringing a dome team out into the cold. It says something about Homecoming games. Turns out the Indiana game said something too. I wish everybody would be quiet.
• Yeah, yeah I see my Indians Eagles took a whuppin’ from the Warhawks. Hey, by the way, how come they get to be the Warhawks, but LaX can’t be the Indians?

Forget UW’s Homecoming game (the Gophers have a good chance to take the axe back) the big game this weekend will be in Whitewater. If this isn’t the WIAC game of the week on FSN someone should be shot in the kneecaps. Two nationally ranked NCAA teams battle in a pretty nice stadium … and I’ve got a wedding to go to.

Since I get invited to a lot more funerals than weddings these days and since the mother of bride and I have been friends for lots o’ years, I’m doing the wedding.

Azusa Pacific University had lost only two home football games in three years. Make it three as UW-L smothered the Avacados Cougars 27-10 on Saturday. Did you know that UW-L only plays three home games this year? Non-conference games are hard to schedule for WIAC teams for various reasons. This leads to yet a second two-week break for the Eagles before their October 7 meeting with UW-Platteville in La Crosse.

Of course the big news was NCAA Division III UW-La Crosse opening its season by pummeling NCAA Division I-AA South Dakota State at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium in Brookings. But I also noticed on tv that there was way too much standing around while the officials checked the replay.