May 6, 2009

Northwestern Examiner: Northwestern could benefit from Big Ten expansion

There was a time when I though the game had passed Joe Paterno by. I was wrong.

Say what you will about the often gruff coach – he’s old, he can’t relate to kids, the game has passed him by – but he is usually correct. And by the way, like me, you would be wrong on all three counts.

Never one to hold his tongue, Paterno said last week that he would like to see the Big Ten expand to 12 teams, enabling the also-ran conference to create a championship game and play later into the season. The wizened one said he thought that the extra team and game would allow the Big Ten to stay in the minds of the media (read voters) later and possibly get the conference more shots at the National Title.

It is a tough sell, not only because commissioner Jim Delaney has already turned it down, but because the last leagues to try and make waves through expansion haven’t yet shown that it works.

Yet, when Paterno talks, we should listen. After all he was the first to conceive of an East Coast football conference – it became the Big East, but ironically without Penn State.

Plus, with Penn State the relative newcomer to the Big Ten, Paterno can almost speak from an outsider’s point of view. It is not like the Nittany Lions have a strong tie to the Rose Bowl like the rest of the league seems to have.

No, Penn State and JoePa are just the right messengers to push change onto the league that seems perpetually stuck in the 1950s (Now talk about irony!).

Read the rest of this story at Examiner.com.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:14 PM | Comments (0)

January 7, 2009

Jagodzinski out at Boston College

In what is a evolving story, Jeff Jagodzinski has indeed been let go from his head coaching position at Boston College.

The announcement was made at a press conference held by Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo. Jagodzinski's status had been up in the air since he was reportedly threatened with termination if he interviewed with the NFL's New York Jets.

Jagodzinski met with the Jets on Tuesday which led to his firing today.

According to ESPN's Wendi Nix, defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani is expected to be named the interim head coach.

That would be an interesting move because Spaziani has also been involved in coaching rumors and could lead to an even bigger void at the top of the Golden Eagle staff.

Jagodzinski was 20-8 in two season as head coach, including two ACC Atlantic Division titles and a bowl win against Michigan State in last season's Citrus Bowl.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 6, 2009

About Last Night: Fiesta Bowl Edition

And who says that bowl games don't mean anything to the participants?

Just when you thought that maybe Ohio State could shed that losing feeling, Colt McCoy comes and stomps on their heart. For the Buckeyes, there can be no more brutal way to lose.

Think about it. They just got shellacked against Florida two years ago. Last year, LSU toyed with them, letting the Buckeyes run out to a 10 point lead before just stomping on them.

And then there was last night. Ohio State seems to have the victory at hand. Just stop Texas and the Fiesta Bowl is yours.

But then there is the reach for a first down on 4th and 3. And then a total commitment to stopping the short passing game that left Quan Cosby with no chasers after breaking through the linebackers.

Yep, Ohio State has now been totally humiliated for the third straight season.

Maybe they should be thankful for 2005's Fiesta Bowl when they drew Notre Dame. Playing Notre Dame in a bowl game is like a gift from heaven. You can't possibly be humiliated, unless I guess you are Hawaii.

Continue reading "About Last Night: Fiesta Bowl Edition"

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August 29, 2008

Tailgate Preview - Week 1

The college football season kicks off this week with a snorer of a slate. Nothing like padding your resume with wins over Chattanooga, Georgia Southern and Tennessee-Martin (That means you Oklahoma, Georgia and South Florida).

I am not expecting any Appalachian State-type upsets this season during the first week, not even from Appalachian State. LSU might not have its defensive core from last season, but they are no 2007-version Michigan (or 2008-version Michigan either).

A departure from the norm this week then with a little wider focus, not just previews of the Big XII and the ACC.

So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the games that actually mean something this weekend:

Illinois vs. Missouri (-9) in St. Louis – Missouri is coming off a high last season, and Chase Daniel is a likely strong contender for the Heisman. Illinois might have a strong defense, but they have lost Rashard Mendenhall and the Juice (Williams) might end up getting squeezed with the loss of his backfield-mate. Illinois head coach Ron Zook should be a little scared. The Tigers are one of the strongest teams in the country on both sides of the ball.

Look for Missouri to cover in the Border War.

Continue reading "Tailgate Preview - Week 1"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:02 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2008

2008 ACC Preview

It is quite a change to cover the ACC in addition to the Big XII this season. For starters, the ACC has nowhere near the depth of the Big XII. It has never become the super-conference in football that it hoped it would be when it added Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College.

While Virginia Tech and Boston College have been competitive, Miami has been a flop since coming over. And this season, it looks like both the Hokies and BC will be taking a step backwards, leaving the door open for new participants in the ACC championship game.

Without further ado, the ACC

Atlantic Division

1. Clemson
Coach: Tommy Bowden
2007: 9-4 (5-3), Lost Chick-Fil-A Bowl
Head of the Class – There is little to criticize about James Davis and CJ Spiller, except last year’s performance. While Clemson was favored to win last season’s Atlantic Division, they ended up blowing the conference lead and letting Boston College slip into the title game. The pair are still the best pair of backs in the conference, and among the best pairs in the NCAA. Look for them both to step up this season.

Underachievers – While it is tempting to pick Bowden as the biggest underachiever, grasping defeat from the jaws of victory over and over again, I think the offensive line is a big question mark. Almost the entire group will be new starters and while talented, the lack of a solid group up front was what held back the head of the class last season.

Academic Suspension – This is Clemson, so you have to be wary of picking them to finish in first place. This year, I also worry about a brewing quarterback controversy. The only reason this didn’t become a major issue last year was that freshman Willy Korn got injured and took a medical red shirt. This year, he is back to challenge Cullen Harper and it will be interesting to watch how Bowden handles a full year of competition.

Continue reading "2008 ACC Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2008

2008 Big XII Preview

It is time to get back into the swing of things at MRISports.com, and that means a return to what you all come here for: A chance to rip on my predictions.

Once again as part of the Tailgate at Blogcritics, I will be previewing the Big XII conference each week, and this year, I will also be tackling the ACC.

To start though, the old standby: The Big XII

Big XII South

1. Oklahoma Coach: Bob Stoops 2007: 11-3 (7-2), Lost Fiesta Bowl Head of the Class – What is there not to like about the Sooners? There was no off-season drama. Sam Bradford looks like the real deal, and again they have one of the most punishing offensive lines in the country. Plus, their schedule shapes up well skipping Missouri and with all of the toughest games at home.

Underachievers – Since Adrian Peterson was injured and then left early for the NFL, it is has been running back by committee in Norman. Now that Bradford is a known commodity, the running game is going to have to back him to a greater extent. Not a problem with the line the Sooners have but it is always a little tricky when there is not a featured back game after game.

Academic Suspension – It is always a good sign when the worst thing someone can say about you is that you are starting a freshman kicker. Jimmy Stevens should be taking over the reins of the kicking job, and we know how many games often come down to important kicks. With Oklahoma’s offense, this shouldn’t be an issue, but it is something to watch.

Continue reading "2008 Big XII Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:34 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2007

College Football Notebook

There is still a little over a week to go until the bowl games, but I thought I would run through a couple of the top stories in the college football world.

• Tim Tebow Wins the Heisman: I thought this was going to be the case. It would not have been such if Dennis Dixon had not gotten hurt, or Darren McFadden hadn't disappeared for an entire month. However, it came to pass and Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the award.

  I will say it now. He will not win again next year.

  This is mainly because he had the perfect confluence of events in order to get the award this season. Not only was there not a front running team with a single main contributor, but Florida was without a featured running back, leaving Tebow to rack up numbers unlike we have seen in the scoring column.

  Next year, Florida should be good again, but Tebow should go back to having numbers in the mortal range. I would look for numbers similar to what Dixon had done, or would have been projected to do with a full season.

  There will also be some strong competition from a true running back on a contending team next season. Should Texas contend, Jamaal Charles will be a major part of that, however, it might be situation like Pat White and Steve Slaton, if both are healthy and contributing, with Colt McCoy potentially bouncing back from a poor season (I might go out there and say that McCoy will not bounce back. I think those concussions and other injuries have really shook him to the point where he can't produce anymore at the college level.) Pat White should also still be around and contending (he has to stay healthy!). And of course, Chase Daniel, will again be among the contenders after he had such a run near the end of this season. Beating Oklahoma will be a huge necessity for him to win though.

  So with the number of good to great players going into next year, and the expected fall off of Tebow, you will not get an Archie Griffin-experience next year. Although, with the way this season went, you never know what to expect next year.

• Paul Johnson to Georgia Tech: If there is one team that can win Johnson's triple option offense, it is Georgia Tech. I think they are perfectly set up for it, with the number of strong backs they get to the school. Plus, they have never really been a great passing offense with Chan Gailey, despite all the attempts with Reggie Ball and Calvin Johnson. In the ACC, a league with less speed than an SEC, or Big XII on defense, I see success, and a chance to return Georgia Tech to the success they should be having.

  I know the ACC likes to think of itself has a big time conference. That was why they added Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Miami into the league. Before those three got there, the league was Florida State, maybe 2 teams a year that were OK, and then everyone else. Those two "OK" teams rotated every year, but were mainly North Carolina State, Clemson, Georgia Tech, or Virginia. Every blue moon a team like a North Carolina or Maryland could jump up and win at that top level, but there was little consistency outside of Florida State every year. Therefore it should be no surprise that two of the top teams they brought (bought?) from the Big East are now the powerhouses in the league.

  With a situation like that, there is no reason that Paul Johnson can't take Georgia Tech to a 9-3 record every season, and some years, a 10-2 record, with his offensive style. The ACC is not as competitive overall nor does it have the stopping power defenses.

Continue reading "College Football Notebook"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:50 PM | Comments (0)

December 6, 2007

Two Rants: Dennis and Journalism

There is no action taking place on the field, but there are two things that I couldn't let pass in the last few days.

The first of those has to do with the Heisman finalists which were announced last night. Four players are going to be invited to New York for the ceremony, a step up from the farcical three that have been invited in the last few seasons. Colt Brennan, Chase Daniel, Darren McFadden, and Tim Tebow will be making the trip this season.

I have to give the voters the benefit of the doubt for the most part. If you go by performance alone, there is a wide variety of choices this season. You could go with the best two way player in Tebow, you could go with the most skillful running back, or you could go with the two quarterbacks who did a lot to improve the status of their teams. A voter could even have put together a ballot that had Sam Bradford, Kevin Smith, and Todd Reesing, and they would have had enough of an argument to defend it.

Continue reading "Two Rants: Dennis and Journalism"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2007

Big XII - Championship Preview

Dennis Franchione is out, as expected. Mike Sherman will be taking his place.

Bill Callahan is gone, as expected. Shocking is that he could have kept his job had he just finished above .500. That wasn’t out of the question at the time Tom Osborne was hired. Callahan just couldn’t make it happen.

Guy Morriss has been replaced at Baylor by Art Briles, not Mike Singletary as expected. I have to say I am disappointed. I bet Singletary’s eyes would have put some fire into the Bear players.

I have not been replaced by Jack the Monkey. A 3-2 final week kept me somewhat respectable this season at 12-22-1.

Continue reading "Big XII - Championship Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2007

National Firing Day? ESPN Would Love It

Columnist John Bridges is a little shocked how quickly some of the college coaching hires have been done. It took less than 24 hours for Houston Nutt to move from Arkansas to Mississippi.

It took only a single interview with Mike Sherman (who the AD previously didn't even know) for Sherman to take over the Aggies. The best part is that Sherman will be the 3rd highest paid employee of the State of Texas, just behind Mack Brown and the still vacant position of University President at the school he is going to be coaching at. President search time, over a year. College football coach, less than a day.

Technically, according to Bridges, this should have taken at least 10 days by law since it is a state paid position. But the AD was able to get an exemption because of an emergency. The emergency was possibly losing recruits which Dennis Franchione had already lured to the school.

Seems to me that the ex-coach of the team did more to ruin the recruiting class than a vacancy at the top for 10 days. And it also seems that the guidance of one of the ten biggest universities in America would be a little more of an emergency. Are you telling me that over the course of a year you can't find an educator qualified for the job in a year's time, yet you can be certain about Mike Sherman who has never been a college head coach?

Bridges suggests that the NCAA goes to a National Firing Day, much like National Signing Day, where coaches can be hired and fired all within 24 hours. Of course, it would be televised on ESPN. At least then we could get rid of the charade that some amount of due diligence has been done on these coaching hires.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2007

Got a Beef With Your Opponent? Call the Rice Marching Band

Rice might be one of the worst football teams on the field, but their band has to be in the top ten. The marching band is known for putting together half time shows which poke fun at their opponents.

Case in point, this halftime show when Rice played against Texas, making fun of the legal troubles of some of the players, and the lax punishment by Mack Brown. (Side note: I had a feeling at the beginning of the season that all these distractions from the legal issues would harm Texas. I just didn't see at the end of the season how they could lose to A&M. At the beginning of the season, you bet. But after Franchione all but destroyed that team, no way.)

Apparently their show when they faced Tulsa ruffled a few feathers. See, the Tulsa coach, Todd Graham, was the head coach at Rice for a single season. That would be just before he bolted without warning to Tulsa, leaving fans and Rice in the lurch.

Well, the Rice band put together a fun little show lambasting the coach through the circles of hell, calling it Todd Graham's Inferno.

Tulsa didn't take too kindly to the humor, nor the coach being called a "d-----bag" prior to the final part of the piece.

A formal complaint has been filed with the Conference USA office. Don't you wish other conferences had so little to worry about that this is what they filed complaints over? Maybe Tulsa should worry more about how they are going to beat Central Florida for the Conference USA title, than a band for a team that barely won anything this season.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:20 PM | Comments (0)

Dr. Robert Cade, Dead at Age 80

You can watch sports all your life, but no symbol will stand for the world of sport more than Gatorade. The presence of large orange coolers on the sideline, the little green squirt bottles, the inumerable little green cups. Drinking Gatorade, or dunking it on the head coach after a win (or an almost win in Rich Brooks' case) has become a part of sport culture that will surely not change anytime soon.

The creator of the symbol of sport is dead at age 80.

Dr. Robert Cade, a man with a passion for science and studebakers, was the creator of what would become a multi-million dollar franchise. While his relationship with the University of Florida was strained over the years, mostly because of the invention of the drink, Cade was a professor at the university and continued teaching and experimenting until just a few months ago.

Here's to Dr. Cade, a true legend of sport.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2007

Big XII - Week 13 Preview

Looking back on the season, if you would have told me that neither of the participants in the Big XII championship would be decided until the last week of the season, I would have thought you were crazy.

Then again, if you have been following my picks this season, I might have to say the same thing (9-20-1). Like Guy Morriss, I definitely took my lumps this season.

So, how does the championship picture shake out? In the North, the winner of the Kansas – Missouri game will go to the championship. Simple, yes? The South, not so much.

If Oklahoma and Texas both win Saturday, then Oklahoma will be the South division champion. If only one of the two teams wins, then that team represents the division.

The big mess happens if both teams manage to lose, dropping them into a three-way tie with Oklahoma State. That means having to go to the massive Big XII tiebreaker procedure. And with that, it takes until the fifth criteria before a winner is determined.

That criteria: The team with the best ranking in the BCS standings will go to the championship. It could be late on Sunday before anyone knows who is playing on December 1.

At least we won’t be choosing out of a hat, like my picks this week.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 13 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 9, 2007

Big XII - Week 11 Preview

“Ben, since Steve the Monkey went 2-0-1 last week, do you have any reason to believe you might be asked back next season?”

“I’m going to let the powers that be make those decisions.”

“Are you thinking of resigning? You did pick Nebraska to win the Big XII North.”

“That term resignation is not in our vocabulary.”

“Come on, Ben, a buyout is in the works, isn’t it? They can get the monkey a lot cheaper than you.”

“I am not going to get into the rumor game with you guys. Can we just talk about the games?”

Kansas (-6) at Oklahoma State - Kansas’s season has been an anomaly – wins on the road, undefeated, national championship talk. Oklahoma State has something to prove after blowing last week’s game against Texas late. Total points in this game might hit triple digits. Kansas wins, but Oklahoma State keeps it close.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 11 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

The MRI Says...11/9/07

Pat White almost fumbled himself out of Heisman contention last night. Ball control problems always seem to plague the West Virginia Mountaineers and last night was no exception. Add in the multiple penalties they received when about to get Louisville off the field and you had a recipe for disaster.

However, after Louisville tied the game late, West Virginia was able to drive and put themselves in position to win the game with a late touchdown. Pat White still deserves a lot of the credit for the win. He moved the ball more with his legs than his arms, but he still was the leader on the field.

While you can't fault him for one of the fumbles (he took a massive hit that they replayed just so that the sound could be heard. He left the field with what looked like a minor concussion.), he still needs to hold onto the ball a little better during his runs. Of the great running quarterbacks, this somewhat reminds me of Michael Vick, who would hold the ball out for all to swipe at. White might not have the speed that Vick had in college, and therefore he gets hit a lot more often. Holding that ball might make the difference between a win and a loss for West Virginia.

And so with the win last night, and one later in the BYU game, the MRI goes 2-0. That brings the week's record so far to 3-1. A nice start. Can we hold on? Looks from the games tonight that we might have a repeat of last night.

Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan - Another mediocre MAC game. What is the point? Bowling Green rolled over Akron last week in this spot. Eastern Michigan is nowhere near as good as Akron. The MRI likes BGSU.
MRI Says: Bowling Green Confidence Factor: 70.77%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...11/9/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

November 8, 2007

The MRI Says...11/8/07

Akron wasn't nice enough to play along and let Ohio win last night. Ohio was shooting to still have a chance at 7-5 overall which would have put them in line for a number of at-large bowl openings. Remember, there is a new-ish rule which requires bowls who can not fill their automatic bowl bids to take 7-5 teams before 6-6 teams.

Of course, now they need to win their last game to just get to 6-6 which won't guarantee them of anything past their final regular season game. It almost guarantees that they won't be bowling at all since there will likely be an excess of teams from the Big XII who could fill in the bowls. Let's be honest. More people would go see Kansas State at 6-6 than Ohio.

Two games tonight, and both are important.

TCU at BYU - BYU could have been in for a special season, if it only weren't for UCLA and Tulsa. Heck, they would have been respected more than Hawaii with the schedule they played. So, this season becomes an "if only". I mentioned in my AP vote this week that BYU was one of the teams I considered for the #25 spot on my ballot. I wanted to wait however until this game. I wanted to see if BYU could beat the team which was picked to win the conference, and do it with that team at full strength. It also doesn't help that BYU has only had 5 days since their last game. This will be a test for sure. The MRI likes the Cougars, but they fall into one of those strange bands in the history of the MRI with a dip in the confidence factor. Maybe that is appropriate with everything that BYU will be going against tonight.
MRI Says: BYU Confidence Factor: 68.31%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...11/8/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:30 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2007

The MRI Says...11/7/07

Hey, there was a football game last night. As I worked to put together this year's basketball MRI, which is expanded to 340 teams by the way, I totally missed the fact that the MAC decided to start their week long drive to get some television time.

And luckily I noticed the game on television a bit later. Central Michigan and Western Michigan were matched up very evenly. Central Michigan, with a win, could clinch the West Division of the MAC. With that as a background, you could imagine the game would be close, and after three quarters, the score was 10-7 in favor of the Chippewas.

It did not stay that way.

The teams exploded for 48 points in the final quarter, including multiple scores from both teams in the last five minutes. The winning touchdown was scored by Dan LeFevour, the same Dan LeFevour who was selected last year as the Heisman-like performance twice as a freshman. It took him two tries and two replayed plays before his quarterback sneak touchdown was put on the board with 18 seconds left.

Western Michigan's attempt to duplicate the Trinity 15-lateral play didn't come through on their drive, although they did give it a great shot.

I will throw Dan LeFevour's name into the hat for the Non-BCS auto qualifier, who should be considered for the Heisman award next year, as a junior quarterback. While he won't get a serious look, maybe until his senior year, he should at least be tracked with the big boys who stay around until next season.

Another MAC game this Wednesday. Let's see what the MRI says.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...11/7/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:50 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2007

Kirk Bohls Ponders A&M's Next Coach

With all the rumors about a Dennis Franchione buyout in the mill now, it is time to look ahead to who will be patrolling the sidelines next season. A school like A&M probably wouldn't have any issues filling their head coaching position, but this year will not be normal.

There are potential openings at Michigan, LSU (Les Miles to Michigan), Arkansas, and Nebraska (almost definitely) to contend with. And that doesn't count any more openings which might trickle open as the dominoes fall (Tommy Tuberville seems to be at the top of everyone's list).

So with that all going, Kirk Bohls of the Austin American Statesman thought it would be worthwhile to make some recommendations on who should be at least called in to interview for the A&M opening.

His list, on which I am guessing at his order of interest:

Tommy Tuberville (although a $6 million price tag might be a little steep after the buyout)
Steve Spurrier
Butch Davis
Chris Petersen (Boise State HC)
Will Muschamp (Auburn DC, Will anyone be able to understand him in Texas?)
Mike Sherman (Texas OC)
Dan Mullen (Florida OC)
Charlie Strong (Florida Asst. Head Coach, Co-Defensive Coordinator)

I would guess that given A&M ability to NOT move the ball this season, most people would like to see some semblance of offense come to College Station. I only rate Muschamp as #5 because if you can steal a defense that has been at the top of the game for the last four years at least in my recent memory, I think you have something. This is the defense that has shut down Florida the last two seasons. No one else can say that.

Bohls does have a do not disturb sign on a couple of names:

Jeff Tedford (Apparently collapsing teams are not welcome in Aggie-land. Go figure.)
Gary Kubiak (Houston Texas HC)
Bo Pelini

Pelini on the DND list shocks me. When any coaching vacancy even is hinted at, Pelini's name is usually at the top of the list for candidates. With the LSU job potentially going to open, or with Nebraska needing that high profile defensive mind, perhaps it is right for A&M to steer clear. The price tag will be big. And if Bohls is correct, and Pelini would slack on the recruiting, well, maybe you don't want him around, especially not in Texas where you have a wealth of talent to choose from. You don't want kids getting scared off by a gruff coach.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2007

The MRI Says...11/2/07

Normally the MRI Says article doesn't come with graphics but this one was too good to pass up. Last night, when I said it would come down to a field goal, I meant it. Meant it in the way that I meant Georgia Tech only scored a field goal, losing 27-3. When your quarterbacks combine for 5 interceptions, that is not a recipe for victory, at least not normally. And so the MRI lost.

What America got was probably one of the bigger laughs of the night. A few of Virginia Tech's jerseys were stolen prior to the game, so as you can see, a few players had to play in borrowed jerseys from Georgia Tech. They blacked out the names and the Russell logo (the Hokies are a Nike squad), and wrote their names on the back. At least they were wearing road whites. This would have looked really ridiculous if the quarterbacks (since both had their jerseys taken) were in Georgia Tech Yellow. It would have been like practice jerseys.

My favorite part of all this was that the players tried to draw the Nike swoosh logo on the jerseys. And they did, but got it backwards. Oops. Five bucks says that they did it while looking in a mirror.

So with the opening loss for the week, the computer has three games to try and redeem itself with. Let's see where those lead. Oh no, not the MAC!

Temple at Ohio - How 'bout them Owls? They have won three straight and in the very blah MAC, they are right in the race in the East Division. Could you imagine how deflating this must be for the MAC? This was a Temple team that was consistently batted around by the Big East and forced them out. This was a Temple team that had won all of three games in the three years, including one year where they were winless. Now they join the MAC and have three wins, all in conference. Ouch. Tonight is another game they may be able to take in the MAC which would be a big score for Temple and their coach Al Golden.
MRI Says: Ohio Confidence Factor: 68.16%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...11/2/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

Big XII - Week 10 Preview

In their pursuit to be the most mediocre conference in America, the Big XII keeps proving that beyond Oklahoma, maybe Missouri, and Kansas of all teams, they have nothing to offer us as a real team. While 9 teams may likely get into bowl games, don’t count on a stellar performance from the “other” six, which only makes my record picking games in this conference apropos.

0-fer last week means that I am 6-15 on the year. A monkey could do better.

In fact, this week, Steve the Monkey is going to pick the games.

Texas A&M (+21) at Oklahoma - My favorite quote this week was from Michael Bennett, Martellus “Not a Crook” Bennett’s brother, after Texas A&M again managed almost zero offense, this time against Kansas.

"I'm not impressed,'' said Texas A&M defensive end Michael Bennett, who went as far as to say the Aggies would beat the Jayhawks in the Big 12 championship game.

Maybe he missed how hard that will be, after losing last week and this week facing Oklahoma’s run defense. Dennis Franchione will likely avoid running the ball again which is not a winning strategy for the Aggies. Steve the Monkey says, “EEEEEK!!” He is going with Oklahoma to cover.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 10 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2007

The MRI Says...11/1/07

Last week was able to get the MRI back on track. The computer was one of the top experts last week, and it got off to a very good start earlier in the week with a perfect record as we entered the weekend.

I am excited for this week as I think the computer has a lot of really good match-ups so that it can lead the standings again (and beat down those stupid other computers who "pick" early in the season. I don't understand how you could even think your predictions are anything more than name based at that point.)

This week starts the same way as last week, with Virginia Tech on Thursday night. I think they must sign their own contract with ESPN during the off-season to make sure that they play at least 4 games in prime time every year. Let's see if the MRI thinks they will collapse in the final three minutes again.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...11/1/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

QBs Hobbling

Given some of the hits I have seen this season, I am surprised more quarterbacks haven't been knocked out for the year. It seems that the injuries and the brain damage from all the hits is really taking its toll this week.

We saw last week what a difference at quarterback can make for Virginia Tech. Without their new speedy signal caller, held out because of an ankle injury that they didn't want to risk in the rain, Tech wasn't able to quite get enough ahead to stop Boston College.

Lost in the past week was Sam Keller, at Nebraska, which just adds to Bill Callahan's woes. Now he has Joe Ganz to lead the team. Yes, "Who?!" is exactly what I said.

Kyle Wright is injured in Miami (not that it matters much this year), and Xavier Lee is suspended for Florida State.

Also lost, Ryan Perrilloux at LSU, which should cause a little rejoicing in Alabama. Perrilloux wasn't lost to injury though, unless a brain fart is an injury, and it should be considered one. Seriously, I think big time college programs should hire a group like the secret service to just keep tabs on their star players.

Unfortunately for us, injuries might affect the outcome of Oregon and Arizona State this weekend. Rudy Carpenter practiced this week, but he still has an injured thumb. It would be a shame if it affected his throws this weekend. Of course, Dennis Erickson will probably just pound the ball about 100 times like he did last week if the passing game isn't working.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

In Case You Missed It...

The first coach fired this year was not Bill Callahan despite his AD hinting strongly in a television interview that a new coaching staff was on the way.

The first coach fired was not Dennis Franchione who seems to have tried everything to get fired from giving out trade secrets, to refusing to run bowling ball Jorvorskie Lane on every play.

No, the first coach fired was Phill Bennett at SMU. You really have to feel for a guy who took over a dreadful program like he did. He did manage to get back to 5-6 two years ago, and 6-6 last season, although that didn't lead to any bowl appearances for the Mustangs. Apparently slipping backwards to 1-7 was a little much for the school to take.

Bennett will coach out the rest of the season, although the only thing he may have to look forward to in that is the game with Rice on November 10. It may be his 18th and last win at SMU, and the only game that the Mustangs will be favored in the rest of the season.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2007

How Over Rated is Hawaii?

I admit it. I have Hawaii in my top 25. According to most bloggers out there, this is a sin.

Why? Because even according to the MRI, Hawaii has the worst strength of schedule in the nation.

That's right, they are 120 out of 120. If I ranked Division 1-AA teams, they would probably be even worse. Even Western Kentucky, who I am including in the rankings this year, and who has played 4 non-1-A teams already, has a better schedule strength.

Still, my computer seems to think they have done well enough against that schedule to be the 12th best team in the country. It shouldn't be surprising. They have blown out most of the teams that they have played. Remember, this is tempered by the cap I put on margin of victory, but they have been doing about as well as they could against the teams they have played.

But really, how bad is the schedule? To judge, I pulled out one of the tricks I use for judging how well a basketball team does against their schedule to make the tournament. Basically it is a way of saying "Well, anyone could win 20 games with a schedule like that". Except there has only been 8 games so far this season.

Continue reading "How Over Rated is Hawaii?"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2007

A Cautionary Tale About Top Ranked Recruiting Classes

With all the talk about Notre Dame's highly ranked recruiting classes, and the lack luster results, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at another program which had pretty high marks (and expectations).

The culprit? Nebraska, now home to the lamest lame duck coach on the board.

I think the most telling paragraphs are these:

"Take a look at the 2005 class, which Rivals.com ranked fifth nationally. They would be juniors or third-year sophomores today, but of the 30 recruits only nine became starters. Nine transferred, five are backups, four are part-time starters, two were academic casualties and one stuck with track and field.

Chris Brooks, a top-15 national receiver out of St. Louis, has caught one pass. Defensive end David Harvey of La Plata, Md., hasn't played a down yet. This means either Callahan missed on many recruits, or he has done a lousy job developing them."

It isn't just getting the kids in the door which is important. It is then teaching them the game so that they develop into the stars that they were expected to be out of high school. So far, I haven't seen the commitment to developing the younger players at Notre Dame by Charlie Weis (edit: Apparently, I am not the only one who sees this lack of talent development. Jonathan Chait at Slate calls Weis a fraud) . Maybe he should start studying the situation in Nebraska.

This article originally appeared on the FanIQ Blog.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

The MRI Says...10/26/07

Last night showed us that miracles can happen. Boston College's dreams of a National Championship stayed alive with a comeback win against Virginia Tech.

For three quarters, the rain soaked the Eagles' chances and Matt Ryan. When the rains finally let up, the country got to see why Ryan is being considered for the Heisman trophy. Or, they would have had the World Series not been going on.

Ryan made an amazing pass on the run to Andre Callender in the back of the end zone, over two Hokie defenders to grab the go ahead score with 11 seconds remaining. It was the type of pass, as the commentators said, that NFL scouts drool over. It was the sort of pass that wins you trophies, especially ones with a famous pose.

So, maybe Boston College is for real. Maybe some of the #2 over rated talk will stop. It certainly was not the outcome I expected last night (although all of Virginia Tech's losses on Thursday night have come against BC). But it was the outcome that the MRI predicted, albeit with a very tiny margin of confidence.

The MRI also predicted correctly the other game of the night, and got some help from Air Force's 5 turnovers. And with that good start to the week, time to look at what the MRI says about tonight's game.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/26/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)

Big XII - Week 9 Preview

I sort of feel Like Dennis Franchione at this point. With the picks I have been making, I should totally lose my “job”. But I won one game, my “Pink Slip Bowl”, to save me from another shut out last week. With a 1-2 week, I “improve” to 6-12. No more quotes. Let’s go to my ridiculous picks in week 9.

Kansas (-2.5) at Texas A&M - Martellus Bennett is not a bank robber. He resists the several offers he has to fill that job. But he is a crook at heart. Bennett steals a touchdown against Kansas and A&M makes Franchione the most successful coach who is going to get fired at the end of this season. Can you believe that the Aggies will be a half game ahead in the Big XII South if they win and Franchione is still an endangered species in College Station? A&M pulls the upset and ends this Kansas craziness.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 9 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2007

The MRI Says...10/25/07

I don't know why ESPN couldn't pull some strings and move tonight's Boston College - Virginia Tech game to Friday night, the off day in the World Series. Instead, it will largely be ignored by fans in Boston, and the "nation" who might be inclined to normally tune in.

So much for Matt Ryan and the rest of the Eagles getting any respect should they pull out the win tonight. Maybe there will be hope that the first hour of tonight's football game will end up as such a blow-out one way or the other so that fans around the country don't feel too bad turning the game off for the World Series.

Air Force at New Mexico - This is a huge game in the Mountain West conference, not that anyone would know it. If Air Force wins the game, they will move to 6-1 in conference with the only defeat coming to BYU. BYU has yet to run the gauntlet of the conference, and therefore has multiple chances to screw it up. Air Force only has one more chance to lose if they win tonight. That would look good for the service academy to take a big step here.

New Mexico has a few more games to go in the conference, but they can make a big statement here. They can show how tough their rushing defense is. It is always a strong test to defend a team that will grind it out over and over again over the course of the game, but that is where New Mexico's strength is. Look for New Mexico to take the Falcons to task here.
MRI Says: New Mexico Confidence Factor: 77.60%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/25/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2007

Limas Sweed Is A Threat

Last season, Limas Sweed had 8 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown during the very close game in Lincoln between Texas and Nebraska (in the snow).

Apparently this has Bill Callahan concerned.

It is too bad that Sweed is done as a Longhorn after undergoing wrist surgery almost a month ago.

I can't wait to see the look on Callahan's face when the "new look" Longhorns take the field on Saturday.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Martellus Bennett Is Not A Crook

Texas A&M's Martellus Bennett is thinking of heading to the NFL after this season, although Mel Kiper only has him as the second best junior tight end in the country.

And apparently, some people have been pushing Bennett towards the draft. But according to Bennett, he doesn't listen to those people.

Lucky for him, he doesn't listen to some others either. As Bennett said:

"People tell me I should go rob a bank with them, but I don't do it."

OK, who has these conversations? When do people come up to you in a college environment and talk about going to rob a bank? And has there been a rash of bank robberies lately in College Station? I think you know where you can begin the questioning now if there was. Mr. Bennett might know something.

At least Bennett is saying "No" to them. Roger Goodell would probably not approve of a convicted bank robber in the league.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:40 PM | Comments (0)

Endow a Song Girl!

TMQ, in an awfully long article, which could rival something I write, alerted me to this little piece on the USC website:

"A long-range dream would be to endow each of the twelve (12) Song Girl positions in a similar manner as the endowed football positions"

So, you can endow a cheerleader? Really? How much does this cost? Only $1900!

Now, it is just me, but I thought endowing someone took a lot more money than that. And these girls don't look like they need that much help in that area.

Oh wait, this is that other type of endowment. Oh well. At least it gave a reason to post the picture.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2007

NYT has the perspective

The New York Times might be the old grey lady of journalism, but maybe they have the right perspective on the new look college football world.

Harvey Araton makes the case for Notre Dame giving up its long standing tradition of holding out as an independent and becoming part of the Big East for football.

Why? The Big East, while getting strong play, is still looked upon as weak since losing Miami, Boston College, and Virginia Tech. Apparently it is lost on the rest of the nation that the Big East also made the decision (the right one) to shed an over-matched Temple team in the big reshuffle that occurred. That means that there is no longer a cream puff on the conference schedule (despite what you may think of Syracuse. Just ask Louisville about that one.)

Now, as it is trying to regain prominence, the Big East needs more tradition and some bigger, more well known names to rebuild as a football powerhouse. Meanwhile, Notre Dame needs something to tie its season to, other than its name, in the BCS world, especially if the spiraling downfall doesn't ever reverse into a recovery.

Good argument. Too bad Notre Dame will never go for it.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:20 PM | Comments (0)

The MRI Says...10/19/07

I am going to wait a little while to address the South Florida loss last night. I do think it was important in the grand scheme of things, but I still only had South Florida at #5 and I (not the MRI) actually picked Rutgers to win last night on FanIQ.

While there has been a lot of moaning about how South Florida didn't deserve its ranking, I don't think I can agree. They had two very good wins, and even this loss should be considered one of quality. Or have we forgotten that Rutgers can actually play ball.

Another bad start to the week from the MRI, going 0-2 last night, when it probably should have one at least one of the games last night. Tonight, I would imagine might be a little more of the same. Let's start with the easy one featuring the school for my next degree.

Northwestern at Eastern Michigan - Northwestern continues what has been the tragedy of Big Ten scheduling this season as they travel to Eastern Michigan. I think we saw that Northwestern can play this year given their games against Michigan and Michigan State, at least well enough to play against a MAC school. Their 4-3 record says as much. Wait, one of those losses was against Duke. Er, uh. OK, so Northwestern is going to have their hands full on the road with Eastern Michigan.

Wait, Eastern Michigan is #115 in the MRI. Even Notre Dame is better than that! #115 is down in Marshall territory, and only 5 away from being Florida International.

Apparently no rational analysis can work here. The MRI likes Northwestern, even if they did lose to Duke. Last time I checked, Northwestern was still in the Big Ten, and that means, you shouldn't lose to directional Michigan.
MRI Says: Northwestern Confidence Factor: 70.49%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/19/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

Big XII - Week 8 Preview

Maybe I should start a chant: "1 – and - 2, 1 - and – 2!" I actually won a game last week, thanks to Missouri and 10.5 points. I really loved that little extra half point. It allowed me to stay at a stellar 33.3% winning percentage on the season. Total record: 5-10. What better way to celebrate than more predictions sure to blow up in my face.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 8 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2007

Injury Update

It appears a certain pick which I will be making tomorrow in my Big XII preview just got a little safer, at least if this past week's game was anything to go on.

The Kansas City Star is reporting that Missouri running back Tony Temple will likely miss this Saturday's game against Texas Tech.

Given the struggles that Missouri had this past Saturday when Temple was out against Oklahoma, this may be a good sign for the Red Raiders.

And it will be a good sign for my upset pick. Lord knows I can use all the help I can get in that area.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

Weis Has Too Much Pride

Greek tragedies always had one thing in common. The hero had a little too much hubris. Yes, hubris. That was one of those words you were supposed to learn back in high school freshman English class. In case you missed it, it meant pride. The hubris would eventually bring the hero down, much like Kevin Spacey did to Brad Pitt in "Se7en" as he persecuted those guilty of the seven deadly sins. You see, pride is one of those too.

Maybe Charlie Weis should visit the local Blockbuster in South Bend. It appears he might be next on Spacey's list of targets. Weis has just sunk to new lows in his quest to "re-establish" the Notre Dame brand.

As if being openly mocked on Saturday Night Live wasn't enough for the coach and his team, he lost his third player to transfer this week. Not only the third player, but the third player that Weis personally recruited.

Now, I don't know what it is like to be a player for Notre Dame, but something tells me this is a life long ambition. I knew kids in grade school who wanted to give their all for the Irish on Saturdays. It isn't something that comes to you one day as you are looking at all the pretty letterhead on your offer letters. This is something that starts early in life. It is not something that you change your mind on.

So to lose the third player you brought to the school, to play under the great Charlie Weis (at least that is what everyone says about you right? It has to be true then), has to be a little bit of a slap in the face. But apparently Weis doesn't care much that he is losing players to other schools.

"Usually the guys that transfer got beaten out," Weis said. "That's why they leave. If you're telling me that John Carlson is transferring tomorrow, I'm going to start worrying. But I really can't worry too much about guys that leave that aren't starting. I've got to worry about the guys that are playing."

Really Charlie, is that so? Funny that, as Brian Hamilton, the writer of that post, points out, the latest player to transfer, Matt Carufel, had started the last three games for the Irish.

Continue reading "Weis Has Too Much Pride"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

The MRI Says...10/18/07

It seems funny that I do so badly during the early week games, and then the weekend comes and I do well. Granted most of the games earlier the week recently have been in the range which only have about a 50-50 chance of being correct. But that seems to be no excuse.

Maybe I shouldn't be so upset about this, but readers out there (all 7 of you) must wonder if I am making this stuff up. I swear I am not, but it has to seem to seem that way.

The good news is that we finally have some games that mean something early in the week. Maybe the most important game is happening Thursday night as BCS #2 South Florida takes on last year's upstart, Rutgers.

But first, the appetizer for the evening:

Utah at TCU - TCU was supposed to be the darling child this year, busting into the BCS and making waves in the way that Utah had in the past, or that Boise State had done last year. Well, we know now that this won't happen. Three losses have taken care of that, and the one chance they had to make a real statement has already gone by the wayside. This game is really for positioning in the Mountain West standings more than anything at this point. All that will determine is which minor bowl one of these teams might qualify for. TCU probably has more talent than Utah, but Utah has the more memorable wins this season (UCLA and Louisville). Still, playing at TCU should give the Horned Frogs the edge in this one.
MRI Says: TCU Confidence Factor: 70.88%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/18/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

Your Next Undefeated to Fall? Arizona State

It won't happen this week, but just watch on October 27th. Arizona State will start to lose.

Why?

Leading rusher Ryan Torain is out for the season with a toe injury. Normally this is something that you could pass off with the backup coming in to fill in admirably, especially when they have split time.

However, this is also when you have to wonder if the backup has what it takes to carry the full load.

There is that, and well, they are playing Cal.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2007

Call The Wolf

In Pulp Fiction, The Wolf helped people get out of messes. You called him, he sped over in his fancy car, he cleaned things up, he goes out for pancakes.

Harvey Perlman, the Chancellor of Nebraska, has called in The Wolf, in the person of Tom Osborne.

Two damaging losses will force your hand like that. In two weeks time, the Nebraska football program has gone from contender for the conference championship, to an also ran, whose biggest goal will now be just reaching a bowl game. Even that looks in jeopardy given that Nebraska's defense hasn't been able to stop anyone yet this season. Unfortunately for them, they already played Iowa State.

Leave aside for a moment that this basically tells basketball coach Doc Sadler that he is an afterthought. Basketball has always been an afterthought at Nebraska, even when their team seemed just on the edge of breaking through.

Instead, focus on Bill Callahan. Bill, the hourglass has flipped and your sand is running out fast. You might find yourself wearing an UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs t-shirt soon. First because Osborne is going to dress you down and hose you off. Second, because once you are fired at the end of the season, that may be the only place you can find a job.

You were safe while buddy Steve Pederson was in the driver's seat. He inexplicably fired Frank Solich, Tom Osborne's handpicked successor, when Solich had failed to win at least nine games only once in his six years. And he brought you in, someone with no ties to the program, to lead it. Well, now we see that leadership in action. Outscored 86-20 in the last two weeks, it seems you have hit rock bottom, nevermind that you have had no shot at competing with the top programs in the country, getting walloped by USC the past two years.

The Wolf will come in, get out the cleaning supplies, and start working on getting all the bits of Pederson's brain out of the back seat of the car. Yes, the Wolf is going to call for Bill Callahan's head. It won't be his first move, but you can be sure it is on the list.

After that, he might get some pancakes.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2007

The MRI Says...10/12/07

Apparently Florida State is not back.

You have to wonder about how much longer Bobby Bowden can continue to coach at the school when he can't motivate his players to take revenge on a team that embarrassed them last season. Previous incarnations of Florida State would have had no trouble with the Demon Deacons. This version had a very different result.

Recruiting looks to be down at the school. Motivation on the field looks to be down. Even the ability to take a game and close opponents out is gone. This team hasn't been the same since their National Championship win over Virginia Tech, almost 8 years ago.

Maybe Florida State should look to go back to being an all girls school. It seems that is how they have been playing lately.

Friday night brings us a yawner to go up against two MLB LCS games. Watch Hawaii continue to roll tonight.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/12/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

Big XII - Week 7 Preview

Last week’s pathetic 0-4 performance sent bookies across the country into a tizzy. Apologies go to all those with broken legs now. Rest assured you aren’t the only ones. Here’s a tip: Start betting against me.

With my sad 4-8 record, you would think I would take some sure things, but no.

Texas A&M (-9) at Texas Tech - Red Raider fans may not be able to get their “Vick ‘Em” t-shirts, but I am sure they will find ways to taunt the Aggie team. The Aggies haven’t won a game in Lubbock since 1993, which should be cause enough for concern. That didn’t stop Aggie running back Jorvorskie Lane from guaranteeing a win on Saturday. He then followed that up with his best Mike Gundy, proclaiming, “I’m a man!” when asked if his prediction would go over well with coach Dennis Franchione. I am going to look for Lane to man up on Saturday and keep A&M close, at least closer than the 9 point spread.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 7 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2007

A&M Throws Franchione Under the Bus

You may remember last week's story that Dennis Franchione, the coach of Texas A&M, was selling a newsletter to boosters willing to pay $1200 for inside information.

Well, apparently the administration didn't take too kindly to that.

The school reported Franchione to the NCAA today for possible violations of three areas.

I would say this is the first step in firing Franchione at the end of the season. Can't say that I blame them for adding additional fodder to their case against keeping him around. As if his record at the school, against Texas, and in bowl games wasn't enough.

Link to The Official Report, shows that not only boosters, but also Franchione's wife and daughter received copies.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

The MRI Says...10/11/07

The MRI would like to thank head coach Dave Wannstedt for totally blowing last night's game and the MRI's pick.

With the ball on the two yard line on third down, needing only a field goal, in the second overtime, Wanny chose to pass the ball twice, going for the win. Pittsburgh had only ran for 227 yards to that point in the game, and definitely could have pulled 2 yards in two plays if he really wanted to go for the win.

Instead, they put the ball in the hands of a freshman quarterback.

Thanks Dave, thanks. The MRI thinks you really deserve to have your name enthroned in the great coaching realm for that brilliance. /sarcasm

Tonight's game is big for the ACC, assuming anyone actually pays attention to that conference these days.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/11/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2007

Stay Classy Tech Fans

Who knew that Michael Vick could cause issues at a school he didn't even attend?

An entrepreneurial student at Texas Tech was using the latest Vick dog fighting scandal to cheer on his football team. T-shirts saying "Vick 'Em" on the front and a picture of a #7-wearing football player on the back with a dog in a noose were being sold on Tech's Lubbock campus this week. The dog is meant to represent Reveille, the mascot of the Texas A&M Aggies who Tech plays this weekend.

Tech officials have shut down the operation, although 300 of the shirts were sold. No word on if students wearing the shirts will be allowed in the stadium.

When asked about the shirts, the student had said that he was going to donate half of the proceeds to charity "because we knew there would be a controversy about the shirts, you know, animal rights, stuff like that."

Stay classy, Texas Tech.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 6:10 PM | Comments (0)

The MRI Says...10/10/07

I guess we saw last week what happens when I open my mouth and say what a good week the MRI had on picking games. Last week, we had more upsets than we can shake a stick at.

The losses dropped the MRI back into human territory, although I should point out that the MRI did better than most of the other computer rankings which are tracked by the dutiful guys at FanIQ.com.

So, let's start the week on a good note, with what we hope will be a win. Today's game is a renewal of an older rivalry which, for some reason, hasn't been played since 1989.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/10/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2007

The MRI Says...10/6/07

It's time once again to look at what the MRI says about its Top 25 teams. Remember that these are the MRI's Top 25, not those voted on by the sports writers, the coaches, or celebrities.

Last week's results were encouraging because, with all of the actual top 25 upsets, the MRI was still able to pull off about 75% of the wins. Let's hope that trend continues through the rest of the season.

Central Michigan at #25 Ball State - Ok, I don't know how Ball State got into the Top 25, but they are so we have to look at this game. The Chippewas might not be able to beat anyone outside of the division but Dan LeFevour is still a great quarterback and their 2-0 mark in the MAC is a huge start to the season. If Ball State wants to stay with Central Michigan, they need to win here. Having the Chippewas in Muncie is a good start to that.
MRI Says: Ball State Confidence Factor: 95.55%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/6/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 5, 2007

Big XII - Week 6 Preview

Two major upsets last week have the Big XII South in disarray. Colorado made a huge fourth quarter comeback with a last second field goal to take down Oklahoma. That shocking win might have cost the conference its best shot at a National Title participant but it was able to give this preview a win in at least one game last week, leaving us 4-4 for the season.

Kansas (+3) at Kansas State - Kansas State scored a major win against Texas, beating the Longhorns for the second year in a row. Last year’s victory led to a major let down against Kansas the next week. It seems unlikely for a repeat of that despite Kansas’s huge offensive output in their first four games. I am going with Kansas State to win and cover.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 6 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:00 PM | Comments (0)

The MRI Says...10/5/07

Spurrier did it again. He has never lost to Kentucky, no matter where he has coached. And last night was more of the same with the great Spurrier defense beating out the Kentucky offense. Two turnovers returned for touchdowns by Eric Norwood proved to be a huge difference in this one. And so the MRI takes another loss, although this one was supposed to be close (only 53% chance of Kentucky winning that one).

Thursday's big game leads directly into Friday's contest. While not a king maker, this one is important for at least one of the teams. Louisville needs to win this game to help right the ship for the Big East stretch run. They follow this with six straight games in the conference. Coming from an 0-1 record, they almost need to win out. That's a tough call when they can't stop anyone's offense, and West Virginia, South Florida, and Rutgers are still on the slate.

Side note in tonight's game is that this is a big one for Brian Brohm to stay on the Heisman radar. He needs to show he can light up a lesser opponent again.

Let's see what the MRI says about tonight:

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/5/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2007

The MRI Says...10/4/07

I am as shocked as everyone else. There was no way I thought that Rice would be able to pull that game out last night. Neither did most of the fans or the experts who weighed in on FanIQ. (Note: The MRI is considered an expert on that site.

But the Owls managed to win what is now their seventh straight conference game, which is just amazing considering how bad that Rice has been against everyone else. Southern Mississippi's fourth quarter comeback came up a little short, but you have to give credit to Rice who pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year so far.

One very important game on Thursday night has Kentucky traveling to a very dangerous South Carolina. Let's see what the MRI says:

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/4/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2007

The MRI Says...10/3/07

Memphis put together an emotional win last night to get the MRI off to a good start again this week. Playing with a heavy heart and a second string quarterback, the Tigers held off the still winless Marshall to move to 2-3 on the season.

The win puts the MRI at exactly 75% correct on the season so far. One game to look at for Wednesday night. Let's see what the MRI Says about Rice and Southern Mississippi.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/3/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2007

The MRI Says...10/2/07

Even with all of the upsets over the weekend, the MRI still held strong with a 75% performance in its first week, way above the all-time average. That can either be a good sign for the coming season, or it could mean that there is a big drop coming in the weeks ahead.

Let's hope for the former.

Tuesday night brings the first week of the terrible scheduling in Division 1. In order to get more television time for some of the smaller conferences, we start getting games on every single day of the week, which is just a ridiculous trend for college football to fall into, and happens every season. Not only does it make scheduling a mess across the country, it also isn't truly fair to the teams which end up playing the off weeks.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...10/2/07"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2007

The MRI Says...9/29/2007

Each Saturday, the MRI will look at its currently ranked teams and let you know which ones should be on upset alert this coming weekend. Note that all rankings are those of the MRI, not the mainstream press, the coaches, or the pack of voters that Harris employs. All FBS schools will always be favored over FCS school. That means the MRI would not be picking Appalachian State to beat Michigan, Duke, or Temple.

A tough loss for the MRI last night takes away the perfect season. Oh well, a man...er,computer can dream.

#25 Indiana at Iowa - Indiana has been a pleasant surprise this season, mostly because a lot of people feared that the death of coach Terry Hoeppner. In addition, a loss to Illinois is finally something that you should not be ashamed about. Iowa however has not been a pleasant surprise. They lost to struggling Iowa State a week after the Cyclones lost to Northern Iowa. Kellen Lewis's skills will certainly be on display this weekend, but the MRI sees this one going to the home team
MRI Says: Iowa Confidence Factor: 52.79%

Continue reading "The MRI Says...9/29/2007"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2007

The MRI Says...9/28/2007

Oh how sweet it is. It took a massive comeback by Arkansas State but the MRI began the year 2-0. Considering it doesn't pick games at the beginning of the season when most teams are beating up on the Little Sisters of Poor (though not as badly as in basketball), starting out 2-0 is quite a feat.

Of course, tonight has the ability to mar that perfect beginning. A nailbiter takes the spotlight on Friday night.

Continue reading "The MRI Says...9/28/2007"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

Big XII - Week 5 Preview

Lost in Mike Gundy’s tirade was one by Mike Leach in the other media room. His led to Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator “stepping down”. Needless to say, Texas Tech likely won’t have the same issues with Northwestern State this week. But last week they did, and so I enter this week 3-3.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 5 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2007

The MRI Says...

Week 5 starting means that the MRI can begin its predictions.

Thursday night brings us two games on the gridiron. The MRI weighs in

Memphis at Arkansas State - The trouble with Memphis's football team is that it isn't their basketball team. Arkansas State was able to hang with Texas and they didn't look terrible against Tennessee. This is a make-up game from a rain out earlier this year. Memphis didn't have a chance to win then, and still none now.
MRI Says: Arkansas State Confidence Factor: 66.24%

Continue reading "The MRI Says..."

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2007

Time to Let It Go

The last few days, watching the drama that is the Mike Gundy - Jenni Carlson debate, have shown us that people can be, well, ... mean.

Was Jenni Carlson's article the best piece of journalism out there? No. Did she probably make it too personal and use too much innuendo to make her point? Yes.

However, does that make it right for her to be dressed down in front of her colleagues by another professional, someone who counts on the press and media to cover and make himself known? No.

As I said in the post, Gundy makes a solid point about the media maybe being too harsh on some athletes in the college ranks. By some, I mean the ones that are not in trouble off the field, the ones that follow the rules, and presumably, the ones that go to class. As Gundy said, you can write bad things about the ones that get in trouble, because, even being kids, they brought that on themselves.

Continue reading "Time to Let It Go"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2007

Carlson Responds

Jenni Carlson chose to respond yesterday on Oklahoma television, and also in the paper this morning.

You can read her rebuttal here.

While I think she could have been stronger sticking by her story and potentially give out the sources who gave her the information, I think she does make a point. If Mike Gundy has such an issue with the story, or its timing, then he should be forthcoming with the facts, such as why a quarterback change was made even though Bobby Reid was supposed to be "the guy".

Sure Gundy can be upset that his player was criticized for his off the field behavior, behavior which may not have been bad. However, Gundy can't just complain without stating precisely what the truth is if something is inaccurate.

Of course, maybe Gundy should worry about his 13-15 record, and bring the fire he showed in his press conference to the field, especially with his conference season now in full swing.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2007

Mike Gundy's Explosion Raises Questions

I didn't get the pick in my weekly Big XII preview correct this week. Luckily, my job (and my cash) don't depend on that. However, four jobs were affected in a big way by the fallout from the game this weekend.

In case you missed it, Texas Tech decided not to play defense against Oklahoma State. The week before, Oklahoma State had trouble scoring against Troy. They had no such problem on Saturday, winning 49-45.

However, after the game, OSU coach Mike Gundy chose to go off on Daily Oklahoman reporter Jenni Carlson, instead of using his time to discuss the game. He ranted and raved... oh heck, you can just watch for yourself.

Continue reading "Mike Gundy's Explosion Raises Questions"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 PM | Comments (1)

September 21, 2007

Big XII - Week 4 Preview

Let’s start with a quick look back at last week. Week 3’s prediction came true bringing me to 3-2 on the season. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that there is a lot of the Big XII that I can’t even begin to understand.

Iowa State managed to do the unthinkable last week, beating a much better Iowa team. This was a Cyclone team that lost to 1-AA Northern Iowa the week before.

Strong props should go out to Gene Chizik for performing that miracle this early in his time in Ames. Too bad the Cyclones will return to their losing ways this week.

Thursday night continued the trend of mind benders.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 4 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:00 PM | Comments (0)

Tarnish On Golden Helmets Get Bigger

The Season Preview chapter in the Notre Dame media guide is titled "Weis, Fighting Irish Set to Build
On Notre Dame Football Tradition". Unfortunately, the Irish have done little to uphold the tradition of their school this season.

Things haven't been pretty in South Bend. The Irish are 0-3, they haven't scored a touchdown on offense yet, and there are strong rumors that Charlie Weis is losing the team.

One of the biggest reasons for the last item is the handling of the departure of Demetrius Jones from the school. Jones started Notre Dame's opener against Georgia Tech but didn't last the first half.

He later "shocked" coaches by not showing up for the bus to Michigan, although Jones claims that he had informed the program that he would be leaving. Jones enrolled at Northern Illinois over last weekend with the announcement coming just before Notre Dame took the field against Michigan.

Continue reading "Tarnish On Golden Helmets Get Bigger"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2007

Book 'Em Horns

At least that is what the message boards over at the Austin American-Statesman were saying today about the sad sage that continues in Austin.

Another Longhorn player, James Henry, was arrested today, and subsequently suspended indefinitely from the team by Mack Brown.

Even better, Henry has taken the arrests to a new low. He was arrested for threatening the victims of the robberies committed by two other Longhorn players. Of course, he led cops right to him, because he was recorded on the phone with the two other players while they were in custody. Apparently no one told Henry that unless he was a lawyer, all of those conversations are taped. Henry told the other players that he would get back at the people who turned them in and teach them a lesson.

Before the cops caught him, he had already assaulted one of the players which he is lucky wasn't worse than it could be. According to the report, Henry kicked the man in the head several times, and punched him repeatedly. For Henry's sake, he better hope there is no long term damage to the victim from his act.

Still, another sad chapter in what is becoming a weekly occurrence in Austin.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2007

Big XII - Week 3 Preview

If I hadn’t made a third prediction on my site last week, my record against the spread would have been pretty pathetic at this point. Apparently believing in TCU and Miami last week was the wrong thing to do (although Fresno State did me right).

This week though, there is no doubt in my mind about the featured game in the Big XII. Nebraska is in trouble as they take on National Championship game favorite, USC.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 3 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2007

Oklahoma Hopes Run High

Since Oklahoma has absolutely dismantled their first two opponents, hopes are running high in Norman.

The Daily Oklahoman has an article today speaking to how Sooner fans are starting to talk about Championship #8.

However, no matter how good Oklahoma has looked in their first two games, they still are yet to play a conference opponent, and that means the Red River game against Texas is still a major hurdle in their way.

The article actually tabs one of my favorite computer rankings experts, Richard Billingsley, for his thoughts on OU's chances. He basically echoes what I said at the beginning of the season in my Big XII preview.

The Big XII is not necessarily strong enough to send a team to the National Championship right now. Some of that is their own doing, and some of that is just the way the league is structured without a lot of power in the North. I also thought that Oklahoma would lose a game along the way (Darn, you Miami!), and that would end any hopes right there.

Anyway, here is Billingsley's take on the strength of the Big 12:

"It's way too early to tell, for sure,” said Richard Billingsley, who operates one of the computer rankings factored into the BCS standings. "Against a one-loss SEC or Pac-10 team, they would be comparable. Being undefeated carries a lot of weight in the Coaches/Harris polls, as we saw last year with Rutgers.

"But against an undefeated SEC or Pac-10 team, it would depend on whether the Big 12 can keep it together and have several good teams on into November. Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech or OSU, and at least one team from the North to be a quality opponent in the championship game; maybe a one-loss Nebraska or Kansas State or Missouri, or an undefeated Kansas.

"If the Big 12 falls apart with no other superior teams (top 15), it hurts OU's chances.”

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

Texas Cloud Continues

Injuries, Arrests, More Injuries, More Arrests.

It seems like a continuing chain of events in Austin, TX, these days.

The Bevo Blog is reporting yet another entry to the line of bad news surrounding the Texas football program.

Backup safety Tyrell Gatewood was arrested early Thursday morning on a misdemeanor drug charge.

No details as of yet, but it really makes you wonder what is going on in Austin. So far this season, they have more bad news around their program than Miami. Either Randy Shannon is doing a spectacular job keeping his kids in line, or Mack Brown is asleep at the wheel.

Update: Gatewood has been suspended from the team indefinitely by coach Brown, the third such suspension this year for the Longhorns.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2007

12th Man Profile

The 12th Man is one of the greatest traditions in college football with a real story, not just a legend that some people think might have happened.

During Saturday's very exciting 3 OT win for the Aggies, Texas A&M's 12th Man got a little more action than normal when injuries forced him into the game at fullback. He even caught a pass.

The Austin Statesman does him up right. Meet Nick LaMantia.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 8, 2007

Week 2 - Late Afternoon Edition

And everyone in the country thought that Michigan had learned its lesson last week. It appears that they may need some extra tutoring in order to get that lesson to stick. Another loss that just is inexplicable for the Wolverines.

Mike Hart Should Have Fumbled (Oregon 39 - Michigan 7)

That would have made the embarrassment complete for Michigan. Let's count now the stack of bad things that have piled up for Big Blue:

• Bo Dies.
• They lose all hope of the National Championship losing to Ohio State.
• Michigan gets blown out by USC in the Rose Bowl.
• Ohio State gets blown out, showing that maybe Michigan was even that much worse.
• They lose at home to Appalachian State.
• They paid $400K for that honor.
• They are the first team since the AP poll went to 25 teams to drop from #5 to unranked
• They lose at home again to Oregon.

Continue reading "Week 2 - Late Afternoon Edition"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:30 PM | Comments (0)

Week 2 - Early Edition

Guess I was a little incorrect on Miami hanging close with Oklahoma. There is no doubt now that Oklahoma is on a mission this season. If the North Texas blowout didn't get you on board, the dismantling of Miami's defense should.

Did Oklahoma dodge a bullet? (Oklahoma 51 - Miami 13)

Oklahoma's early dominance of this one almost fell apart. A long snap over the head of the punter, with five minutes left in the first quarter, was covered up at the Oklahoma 7. Miami was only able to turn that into a field goal. The momentum to that point was all Oklahoma and could have been the big turning point to Miami, but instead the OU defense kept it in their favor.

Maybe we under-estimated the win over the terrible North Texas team. I thought that Miami's secondary wouldn't even come into play because the defensive line would make Bradford have to stay short all day long. Boy was I wrong. Oklahoma just beat Miami on every pass. The speed of Miami teams of old was not present today.

Continue reading "Week 2 - Early Edition"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

AP Clarifies Nothing

Earlier this week, thanks to Appalachian State's win over Michigan, the AP clarified its rule around voting in the Top 25 poll. They will now allow votes for Division 1-AA teams in the poll, after some voters expressed that they would have liked to vote for the Mountaineers. However all this does is muddy the waters.

How does anyone expect to be able to consider a Division 1-AA team for the poll, even one like Appalachian State who can pull off the biggest upset in history? This week the boys from Boone, NC, take on Lenoir-Ryhne, a Division II school. Even with having to schedule 12 games in a season now, no Division 1-A school faces a D-II school, although maybe Duke should consider it.

Continue reading "AP Clarifies Nothing"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

September 7, 2007

Big XII - Week 2 Preview

Week Two in the college football schedule appears on paper to be shaping up quite well for the Big XII. Every team but Colorado is the favorite in their game. That should mean that things should be simple this week, right? Not so fast. As Appalachian State proved last week, anything can happen. Look for these three games to define the week for the Big XII:

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 2 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2007

Big XII - Week 1 Preview

The premier game in the Big XII this week figures to be Oklahoma State traveling between the hedges to face Georgia. By my count, Oklahoma State will be in the middle of the pack in the North. How they fare against a team projected to be among the tops of the SEC will say much about the total strength of the Big XII conference.

Oklahoma State’s linebackers, including two Butkus pre-season watch players, Chris Collins and Patrick Lavine, will be put to the test against the Georgia offense. The Bulldogs return starting quarterback Matt Stafford and tailback Thomas Brown returns from injury to the starting role. With a short passing game behind an experienced offensive line, they will test the speed of the linebackers to get outside fast and stop them.

Continue reading "Big XII - Week 1 Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2007

2007-8 Big XII Preview

Last season was a down year for the Big XII. They were not represented in the National Title game for the first time after three straight appearances, they didn’t place a team in the top ten in the final poll, and they were just 3-5 in bowl games.

This year appears to be more of the same. While there may be a few teams at the top of the league which may challenge for the National crown, the performance of the rest of the league, plus the dearth of scheduling, will likely come back and hurt the league. Despite two teams in the top of the pre-season rankings, the league champion will likely be headed back to the Fiesta Bowl and not the National Championship game.

How will they stack up this season? Let’s take a look. All records are projected based on predicting the full schedule for all 12 teams in the league.

Continue reading "2007-8 Big XII Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2007

Donna Shalala Goes To Washington

Since I travel, I don't get to see the news the day it is run. Most of this then ends up becoming "olds" for me. So imagine my surprise when I spent an hour at the airport catching up on my news from the previous week only to come across this lovely piece from Tuesday.

Apparently, Donna Shalala will be co-chairing President Bush's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors.

Yes, that is right. It is the same Donna Shalala who couldn't enforce a policy retroactive to punish her Miami players for participation in last year's terrible brawl.

Shalala does have a great background for this having served in President Clinton's cabinet while he was in office, but given her recent history, I think Bush probably should have thought better about this (and this is no matter what political affiliation you have).

This is the woman who didn't see fit to throw a player off the team for stomping on an opponent who was lying defenseless on the ground. This is the woman who let a player who swung a helmet with the intent to harm another come back to the team. And now, Shalala will be spending time on this instead of watching over her University which seems to have a number of problems of its own.

I guess the good news is that she can bring her own goon squad should any of the military officials choose to mess with her.

This article originally appeared on FanIQ.com

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2007

Top 10 On the Field Moments

I guess it is appropriate that my football articles fall under the title of "On The Field", as today I am going to reveal what I thought were the top 10 moments on the field.

An "On the Field" moment is one that was truly something to watch. It doesn't need to be a good thing, as you will see, but it is something that changed the college football landscape this season. That means the game, or moment, fit one of three categories for me:

1. The game was crucial to the BCS. I am not just talking about "this team won, so it moved up in the rankings". I am talking about those games that truly decided the BCS. And no, the SEC championship is not on the list.
2. The game redefined what we thought about a team, a league, or a very important player. There weren't too many games like this over the course of the season, but there were enough.
3. The game's result had major off the field ramifications. Maybe a coach gets fired, maybe a team suspends people, maybe an entire system is put under the microscope. You get the idea.

I looked back over the entire list of games this year to pick these out, and I had to make two cuts because after just the first week, I had 10 games that were big because they either made a strong announcement about a team or raised some serious doubts.

So with that, let's go to the list.

Continue reading "Top 10 On the Field Moments"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

January 2, 2007

The Effects Of Monday Night

The nation is agog with visions of blue turf today. Those who watched the instant classic Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma witnessed a game of the likes that we probably won't see again for a long time. And this game had nothing to do with the National Championship.

Or did it?

Today, there has been a great deal written on why this was the game that was going to change everything. How this was the game that will finally force the end of the BCS. How this was the game that will create the playoff.

Some have gone so far to say that this may be the most important college football game in history, although I would contend that it has tough competition from the very first game, the first game after the college football broadcast decision, and if Michael Weinreb has his way, the 1987 Fiesta Bowl

Why do I feel that this isn't the end for the current system and the BCS? Oh, let me count the ways.

Continue reading "The Effects Of Monday Night"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

December 4, 2006

Grading The Experts - Harris Poll

From the Editor: With sports guru and FanIQ blog editor, Critical Fanatic on vacation in Paris, I was called in to assist. That might be why it has been a little light around here lately. This article originally appeared on the FanIQ blog. This article is part of a recurring series on the 'Q'.

You have probably seen a lot about the Harris Poll already. The 113 voters are supposed to be statistically representative of the Division 1-A college football landscape, and should eliminate bias, blah, blah, blah. As we talked about when the names were first announced, it seemed difficult to understand the process of selecting these members, including Boomer Esiason, who last time I checked paid more attention to the NFL (His ballot wasn't so bad.).

You can see the full list of voters and links to their votes on the official Harris Football Poll website. Here though are some of the highlights as only FanIQ can bring them to you.

Sammy Winder (Former Denver Bronco, Southern Mississippi)

8. West Virginia
9. Cal
15. Oklahoma
17. Wisconsin

Cal at #9? Maybe before they played USC. I think Cal continues to show us they can not win the big games, which makes it interesting that Jeff Tedford is being rumored as a candidate at Alabama.

Grade: C-, because I am grading on a curve here.

Ed Podolak (Former KC Chiefs player, Iowa), who apparently was only watching the SEC and Big XII championship games on Saturday.

6. Louisville
9. Rutgers
19. West Virginia

Grade: C, remember, this is on a curve.

Bert Emanuel (Former NFL Player, Rice)

4. Boise State
25. Rice

Rice? Really Bert? Homer.

Grade: B-

And now, those who deserves some failing grades:

Continue reading "Grading The Experts - Harris Poll"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)

Grading The Experts - Coaches Poll

From the Editor: With sports guru and FanIQ blog editor, Critical Fanatic on vacation in Paris, I was called in to assist. That might be why it has been a little light around here lately. This article originally appeared on the FanIQ blog. This article is part of a recurring series on the 'Q'.

Guess who Lloyd Carr thought was the #2 team in the country? Yep, that's right. Michigan.

Guess you can't blame him. Urban Meyer doesn't vote, so he had to hope the other 61 coaches would see things his way.

Looking at the board, 50,000 feet up: 18 coaches liked Michigan at #2, 44 liked Florida. Guess they went with Meyer.

All the coaches had their votes released as per the agreement for the last week of the regular season. Let's see who really was watching this season, and who needs a little extra coaching.

Howard Schnellenberger (F) - Florida Atlantic - He liked Florida. But he apparently didn't watch a lot of football on Saturday, or the rest of the season for that matter.

#5 USC
#7 Boise State
#8 Notre Dame
#10 Rutgers
#13 West Virginia
#15 LSU
#18 Oklahoma

Grade: F

John L Smith (M) - Michigan State - Can we still say that? He smacked himself hard enough to agree with Howard about Notre Dame. He was a Michigan supporter.
#4 Wisconsin
#7 USC
#8 Notre Dame
#9 Oklahoma

Grade: C-

Continue reading "Grading The Experts - Coaches Poll"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 6:50 PM | Comments (0)

Grading The Experts - AP Poll

From the Editor: With sports guru and FanIQ blog editor, Critical Fanatic on vacation in Paris, I was called in to assist. That might be why it has been a little light around here lately. This article originally appeared on the FanIQ blog. This article is part of a recurring series on the 'Q'.

It's that time again... Time to grade your favorite experts and their votes in the numerous polls. Even better? This week, we should be getting all the votes released in the AP, Coaches, and Harris Polls. (Editor's Note: Here is a fun little deal. We are going to label the voters with (F) or (M) based on the higher team in their poll.)

Coaches Poll: Jim Tressel (I)

First, I want to say that I think what Jim Tressel did - not casting his vote in the Coaches Poll - was a good move. With the actual votes being released in the final tally, you don't want to look biased one way or another, especially when the drama around #2 is so large. I think he might still have cast his vote had USC won. There was little doubt that USC was going to be #2 if they had beaten the Bruins. But that didn't happen and Tressel showed class in not directly involving himself in the controversy. It is a shame that this might cost him his vote in the poll.

Grade: A+

AP: Susan Miller Degnan (F) - Miami Herald

You can't fault her for voting Florida #2. She has to go to work everyday and sell papers, and it doesn't pay to upset your readers. But...
7. Auburn
8. USC
9. Notre Dame
10. Boise State
11. Oklahoma

Did I miss something? Didn't Oklahoma just win the Big XII? 21-7? I know they have two losses, but ranking them below Auburn, ND, and Boise State is a little out of whack, especially when the Sooners finished 7th when all the votes were counted.

Grade: D

AP: David Jones (F) - Florida Today

Something in the water in Florida.
6. USC
7. Louisville
8. West Virginia
9. Boise State
10. Auburn
11. Oklahoma

At least he realized that the Sooners were better than Notre Dame.

Grade: C-

Continue reading "Grading The Experts - AP Poll"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 6:15 PM | Comments (0)

December 3, 2006

Big XII Recap - Championship Game

Let’s say that this Big XII Championship had a little less drama associated with it than it has recently. It might be the renewal of an old rivalry in Nebraska and Oklahoma, but this game didn’t have the stakes of the last few contests.

Go back.

2003 – Oklahoma was the leader all season and lost(!) the game yet still went to the BCS championship game. And then they lost to LSU, causing the only split champion under the BCS system.

2004 – Oklahoma again had to put their unblemished record on the line for a chance at the BCS title game. A win got them a chance to be blown out by USC.

2005 – Texas had to roll through this game on their way to the National Title.

So, far be it for this game to attract a lot of attention when the National Title isn’t on the line. All that was at risk was the “Boise State Challenge Cup”. The winner’s greatest victory was getting a chance to play the upstart Broncos in the Fiesta Bowl in January. Well, that and a great deal of cash.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Championship Game"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 1, 2006

Conference USA Championship Game Preview

Conference USA is a conference in search of an identity. When it was created, it was supposed to be the big basketball conference. It had names that rang of tradition in hoops, like DePaul, Cincinnati, Saint Louis, and Louisville.

Now, all four of those schools play somewhere else.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that this is the next great football conference. Just look at last year’s title game between Central Florida and Tulsa. Where was Central Florida the year before? At the bottom of the nation in terms of win and strength, that’s where. But George O’Leary did wonders there. Tulsa just beat out Mike Price and UTEP for the berth in the title game. Price brought that program back from nothing. And Tulsa is a name we hear over and over again as one of the top programs not in a BCS conference.

Continue reading "Conference USA Championship Game Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2006

2006 MAC Championship Game Preview

Thursday night, the MAC championship will take place in Detroit. However, it doesn’t have the same air to it that it once did.

In the past, the two participating teams were the only teams from the conference who would earn bowl bids. This game would decide where those would be, with the winner returning to Detroit for the Motor City Bowl, and the loser headed south for the GMAC bowl.

This year, both participants, Central Michigan and Ohio, have already accepted their bids, to the two bowls already mentioned, and two other MAC programs are also on their way to sunny destinations like San Diego, and … Toronto?

Well, at least San Diego is sunny. Toronto might be under a foot of snow by the time that Western Michigan heads there to play a yet unnamed opponent.

This game used to feature junior and senior quarterbacks, who were going on to play in the NFL when they graduated. This was their highlight film. Forget what happened at the combine – The MAC championship game was where their placement in the draft was going to be settled. Current NFL quarterbacks that have come through this game include Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich, Ben Roethlisberger, and Bruce Gradkowski.

This year, no such show will be put on for the scouts. Central Michigan features a young freshman quarterback, and Ohio is lead by a strong running attack.

So, yes, Thursday night will have a different flavor than we are used to in the MAC championship game.

Continue reading "2006 MAC Championship Game Preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2006

My Token Nice Column about Notre Dame

Let's be honest. Anyone who knows me knows I have no love for Notre Dame. They are (these days) consistently overrated. Their fans are (often, not always) overly enthusiastic. Expectations of a National Championship are (most often) over reaching.

I think Pete Fiutak at Fox Sports put it best:

"This just in to anyone paying attention: Notre Dame was overrated to start the season, it's overrated going into the BCS, it was overrated last year. This is a team that got by over the last two seasons on a near-miss in a classic loss to USC. In other words, it's Cal.

Michigan whacked the Irish 47-21 in South Bend. Fine, so the Irish beat Georgia Tech, who'll probably win the ACC title, but the next best win this year was against, um, uh, Navy? UCLA? Remember that it took a miracle meltdown to beat the Bruins as well as Michigan State. This team has no secondary, no pass protection, and got by on bombing away and hoping for the best. "

Ok, so, while I am not a big Notre Dame fan, there is something I am going to say that may shock you.

Notre Dame deserves to play in a BCS bowl game.

There, I said it. If you read a few days ago, you know I have them still projected to the Rose Bowl, although others are now saying that Saturday's loss was too great to still get there. They are thinking the Irish might be passed over for LSU or Louisville and slip to the Sugar Bowl. Either way, they will be going.

Here are five reasons why Notre Dame deserves to go.

Continue reading "My Token Nice Column about Notre Dame"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:15 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2006

Coaching Carousel On High

With most teams finally finishing their seasons, coaches around the country have started to fall.

Today's casualties:

Alabama released Mike Shula of his duties. You will remember that Shula was hired over Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom, another Alabama alum. Croom and the Bulldogs beat Alabama this season, for the program's first signature win.

"I am deeply disappointed to be fired as the Head Football Coach at the University of Alabama. From my very first day on this job, I had a single mission: To return the Crimson Tide to its place among the elite programs in college football. Although I maintain that we were moving steadily in that direction, I regret sincerely that I will not be given the opportunity to finish the job I was hired to do." - Mike Shula on his firing

Usually doing the job at Alabama involves beating Mississippi State, and also beating Auburn, something that Shula failed to do in his four years. Athletics Director Mal Moore seemed to indicate there was no list of candidates at this point, but indicated the program was looking for a proven winner.

Sources indicate that Butch Davis coveted the Alabama job, but has already been hired at North Carolina, and was announced as the head coach officially today. The MRI likes Bobby Petrino for this opening, should he be willing to part with Louisville. He has ties to the SEC and has proven he can win with the Cardinals.

Continue reading "Coaching Carousel On High"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:15 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 13

Oklahoma sat at home Friday, stuffed with turkey, and became the biggest Texas A&M fans out there. By three in the afternoon, they knew that their game Saturday would be for the Big XII South title.

Texas A&M pulled the upset over the #11 Texas Longhorns, 12-7. The Aggies were able to control the clock by consistently running the ball, gaining over 240 yards against what had been a stout rushing defense. Coming into the game, Texas was only surrendering 43 yards per game on the ground.

Quarterback Stephen McGee, who only managed 58 yards passing, was the leading rusher for the Aggies. He also scored the go ahead touchdown with an eight yard run that came with only 2:30 remaining in the game.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 13"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:10 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2006

Miami Bowling, Coker Walking

According to reports out of South Florida this morning, Larry Coker will officially be let go at a press conference later this morning.

The Miami Hurricanes beat Boston College last night to finish the season 6-6, and become bowl eligibile.

In a season marred by on and off the field incidents, Miami might have acted like the Hurricanes of old, except in one aspect -- winning games.

Now, they will be looking for a new head coach. Early rumors pointed towards South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, but the Ol' Ball Coach said that he will not be looking to leave South Carolina. With former coach Butch Davis already taking the head coaching job at North Carolina, the search will be wide open.

Coker, who began his career at Miami with 24 straight wins, had the 5th highest winning percentage among Division I-A coaches since 2001 when he took over the Hurricanes.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 12

While conference races across the country were decided this weekend, there is still some drama remaining in the Big XII. Oklahoma defeated Baylor 36-10 to keep their hopes for a Big XII South division title alive.

The Sooners had five turnovers on the day, two leading to scores by Baylor, but they were able to overcome mistakes to get the easy win. Sophomore Malcolm Kelly had his second straight great receiving week, catching five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. Chris Brown, who had two touchdowns against Texas Tech a week ago, ran for 169 yards and a touchdown of his own in the victory.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 12"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:30 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2006

Place Your Bets

Sports isn't sports without a little friendly wager on the side.

Faced with tradition, I am putting some money where my mouth is. Talking with a friend in Seattle, we have gone in on a little bet.

Being as I liked Michigan to win the Big Ten at the beginning of the year, and I picked this game for Michigan way back at the beginning of the year, I am choosing men in Maize and Blue.

My friend will be going with Ohio State, seeing as she has no idea how I could root for a team like Michigan.

On the line?

If Michigan wins, I will receive two pounds on non-Starbucks coffee.

If Ohio State wins, she will receive a 1-gallon tin of caramel and cheese corn from Garrett's Popcorn in Chicago.

I believe I will be enjoying a fresh cup of joe fresh from Seattle soon. Enjoy the game Saturday.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

Ohio State and Michigan - The First of Two?

Bo and Woody, Jim and Lloyd. The names change but the game remains one of the top draws in college football.

If you haven't heard the talk about #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan this week, you must have no electricity and not get the paper. No matter what happens on Saturday, the winner will be playing for the National Championship in Arizona. That is a given.

But what about the loser? Does the team that loses still deserve to be considered the second best team in the country and get a shot at the winner again, in the championship game?

Continue reading "Ohio State and Michigan - The First of Two?"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:30 PM | Comments (2)

Bo Schembechler Dies at Age 77

While the nation prepares to watch the big football game this weekend, the game has lost one of its greatest personalities. Bo Schembechler has passed away at age 77, from an apparent heart attack.

During his time at Michigan as the head coach, Schembechler won 194 games. His teams won or shared 13 Big Ten titles and went to play in 10 Rose Bowls.

In a combined 26 years of coaching, both at Miami (Ohio) and Michigan, Schembechler never had a losing season.

As tributes roll across the airwaves today, it seems only appropriate that the most fitting tribute, an Ohio State-Michigan game, is set to play tomorrow. I think it is safe to say that Bo and Woody Hayes will be sitting together in college football heaven tomorrow, watching, and coaching from above.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2006

History Might Just Be On Ohio State's Side

Andrew Jackson has been dead for 161 years, but I am guessing if he were alive he would have a pick in Saturday's football game. And my bet is that he would be going with Ohio State.

Why Ohio State? Well, it turns out that the history of the rivalry between the states of Ohio and Michigan can be traced back to before there was even a State of Michigan.

Between 1835 and 1836, the State of Ohio and the Michigan Territory battled over the small strip of land that covers the border between the two, known as the Toledo strip.

Continue reading "History Might Just Be On Ohio State's Side"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:45 PM | Comments (1)

November 14, 2006

Wanted: Offensive Coordinator, Must Like Extreme Pressure

Normally, an offensive coordinator resigning from a struggling football team wouldn't be news.

But this isn't a normal football team, or a normal situation.

Florida State's offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden resigned on Tuesday during the school's normally scheduled press conference. The resignation becomes effective at the end of the season.

Continue reading "Wanted: Offensive Coordinator, Must Like Extreme Pressure"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 11

With the number of games winding down, the tickets to the Big XII Championship Game will be handed out with a simple formula. Win and you’re in. That is all that Nebraska and Texas needed to do after setting themselves up with big victories last week.

Nebraska was able to do just that, albeit with a little drama mixed in. The Cornhuskers had been up 21-7 and looked on their way to an easy victory over Texas A&M. However, the Aggies were able to run off 20 straight points and looked to have control of the game after intercepting a Zac Taylor pass with less than three minutes remaining. But a field goal attempt by A&M that would have sealed the win was blocked by Nebraska giving them the ball back with a little under two minutes left.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 11"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2006

Fallout From The Rutgers Win

Piscataway, New Jersey, celebrate. This might be the last time you get to this season. I hate to break it to you, but chances are you aren't going to a BCS game.

I know, this doesn't seem correct right now, knowing that you are still awash in the adrenaline from last night. But given your standing in the last BCS rankings (13) and how much you trailed the other Big East teams, it is likely you will be left out.

I know you are crying, "We can still win the Big East!" Yes, you might. I thought you would lose last night, which would have ended that chance. But my computer gave you a chance since you were playing at home. A 46% chance to be exact (Anyone else channeling Lloyd Christmas here: "So you're sayin' there's a chance!). And you lived up to the 46% and won.

Continue reading "Fallout From The Rutgers Win"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 6:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 10

Nebraska and Texas set themselves up nicely with only two weeks remaining in the regular season. Before this week, they needed to win out and they would be guaranteed a spot in the Championship game. After wins this weekend, both teams can slip a little and still get that ticket for the December 2nd game.

In their victory, Texas did what Nebraska couldn’t last week - beat Oklahoma State. The freshman Colt McCoy was again brilliant, tossing for 346 yards and three touchdowns. McCoy now has 27 touchdown passes this season, passing Vince Young for the single season record for touchdown passes at Texas.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 10"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:00 AM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2006

Big Ten Spotlight

Two quick thoughts:

1. The Flint Journal reports that John L Smith will be let go from his job in the next 40 minutes. A press conference has been called and sources think that defensive coordinator Chris Smeland will take over as the coach. At least this will stop the coaching abuse, both from fans, and himself that Smith took. Michigan State can still make a bowl appearance with two more victories.
2. George Solomon, the ESPN Ombudsman reports that:

   Some viewers are still upset the football game between top-ranked Ohio State and Indiana this month was on ESPNU rather than ESPN or ESPN2.

   Yes, those fans were upset that they didn't get to see Ohio State actually give up three points. They thought that game was a little more sporting at 44-3, than the national broadcast that was given to the Buckeyes win over Minnesota, 44-0. Come on, people. Don't we have better things to worry about than having missed another blowout by Ohio State? Now, if the Ohio State - Michigan game is slated to be on ESPNU, then you can complain.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 9

Recently, every season in the Big XII North takes the same turn just about now. The teams leading all season seem to falter. The race tightens up, and until the final week of the season, we have no idea who will be representing the division in the Championship game.

So why should this season be any different?

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 9"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:00 PM | Comments (2)

October 24, 2006

Richard Billingsley Has Had Enough

Do you know who Richard Billingsley is? You should.

Why? Because for the past 8-plus years, you have blasted him and a number of men like him.

They are the ones who developed the computer formulas used in the BCS. And Billingsley is, for one, tired of it.

In an open letter to not only the fans of the sport, but also to ABC and FOX, the college football expert reacts to the very harsh criticism which has been laid against him in the past week, corresponding with the release of the first BCS rankings.

Being one of those out there in the world with a computer ranking system for football (There are at least 75 others that you can see here), I have to say I agree with him.

Continue reading "Richard Billingsley Has Had Enough"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 8

What is the recipe for an instant classic? Start with numbing cold, add two teams in the top 20, and sprinkle in a little wind, rain, and snow. Top it off with a walk-on kicker who had never attempted a field goal in his career, and you have genius. That was just what the 22-20 Texas victory over Nebraska was on Saturday afternoon – Genius.

The two teams who lead their respective divisions in the Big XII conference gave a great preview of what could be the championship game in Kansas City, on December 2nd. A game which featured crushing defense from both sides looked all along like the last team to make a big play would win it.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 8"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2006

More Suspensions Handed Down

Before the update, kudos to Bill Curry, a man whose opinion many should listen to and respect. Curry has been in the college football business a long time. He prevails with a cool head at a time when many, myself included, have written very harsh articles on the action in Saturday's game. If you haven't read his thoughts on the brawl, it should be a must read for all interested in college football, and maintaining the integrity of the game.

With that said, a few of my thoughts have come to pass in the wake of the brawl. First, Lamar Thomas was fired by the television station late Monday for his comments during the brawl. As stated before, Thomas's comments during and after the brawl will be removed from the video when the game is re-shown later this week.

Continue reading "More Suspensions Handed Down"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2006

A Tough Reflection on the Miami - FIU Brawl

I am disgusted. Seriously disgusted. I have spent the last two days reviewing film of the Miami-Florida International brawl. Then I went back and looked at more recent incidents that went this far, most notably the Clemson-South Carolina fight. This is by far the worst incident I have ever seen on a football field. And not only that, the incident taken as a whole totally makes me shudder. I am not even going to link to a video of it, because I don't think anyone needs to view it again, not even as a teaching tool, because it isn't. It is a sad look at what one of the most winning programs in football has become.

I realize what follows here may seem like a knee-jerk reaction to the event, but let me reassure you that this is not. I refrained from commenting soon after it happened because I knew there were be too much emotion in my writing. And honestly, there is still no way to keep it out because of what occurred. So, while, as a writer, I attempt to be impartial, in this case, there is nothing which can be held back because of how out of control this was.

While coaches are getting yelled at for not having more control of the players, I think one thing is certain. The coaches in this case tried to get out on the field and stop the benches from clearing. There was little they could do to stop over-adrenalized football players in full battle gear though. They were run over in many cases, and I think they did what they could to try and stop it from getting worse than it was. However, that is where my praise for the coaches stops.

The coaches do deserve some blame, especially on the Miami side. In the incidents that have occurred prior to this one, was there ever a penalty for the "ringleaders" or any of the major parties involved? No. Those players have been indoctrinated into a football culture where it is OK to act disrespectful on the field, where it is OK to escalate incidents that occur, and where it is OK to generally act ridiculous on national television. And this carried over after the incident. While FIU's sideline seemed to calm down, Miami's coaches allowed the players to hold there helmets in the air, and jump up and down chanting, as if they had won something. They were beating up on a football team which has barely been in Division 1 that long, both on the field and off, and this was something to be proud of? The coaches should have stepped in and stopped that shameful display.

Continue reading "A Tough Reflection on the Miami - FIU Brawl"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 6:00 PM | Comments (1)

October 15, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 7

It is unfortunate, but this weekend may have seen the end of the college career of one of the top running backs ever to lace them up on Saturday afternoon. Adrian Peterson broke his collar bone falling into the end zone on a 53 yard touchdown run that sealed a victory for Oklahoma over Iowa State, 34-9. It was a bittersweet ending to a day when Peterson’s father got to see his son play in person for the first time in 9 years.

Until the injury, Peterson was adding to his Heisman credentials, gaining 183 yards on the ground, 45 more receiving, and scoring two touchdowns, though all chances at the award are now gone. He may be back in time to play in a bowl game, should Oklahoma qualify, though all experts believe he will be best served by concentrating on the jump to the NFL. If Peterson does not play another snap for the Sooners, he will finish 150 yards short of the all-time rushing record at Oklahoma, held by Billy Sims.

The loss of Peterson though does not bode well for the Sooners. They will be forced to bring on Allen Patrick, a junior who has only 18 carries this season, to take most of the load.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 7"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2006

MRI Midseason Awards

With the seventh week of the season beginning Thursday night, it is officially the midway point of the season for most teams. On Tuesday, College Football News published their mid-season picks in a few categories, with contributions by several of their writers. Never one to be outdone, the MRI is all set to chime in with our award winners.

They say the greatest form of flattery is imitation, so I will emulate Richard Cirminiello and give you not only my pick for the award, but also my two runner-ups in each category. With that said, let's go to the envelopes and see who will take home the hardware.

Continue reading "MRI Midseason Awards"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2006

Raising My Hand

ESPN's Power 16 asks an interesting question about Arkansas:

I believe I did, ESPN. And yes, I took flack for it at the time, and doubted myself. I doubted myself so badly that I didn't pick Arkansas to win the game this weekend. Guess I should have stuck with my first impression.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:40 PM | Comments (0)

October 8, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 6

To say that the Red River Shootout is an important game is an understatement. Since 1999, when Bob Stoops arrived in Norman, the winner of this game has represented the South division of the Big XII in the conference championship game every year, save one. Based on that history, Texas may want to start booking a trip to Kansas City for December 2nd.

Turnovers would turn out to be key in the game. The Sooners lost the ball 5 times, including one credited to Adrian Peterson, who hadn't lost a fumble since last season. Despite Peterson being the only one to generate any offense on the day for Oklahoma (213 all-purpose yards, 1 touchdown), he couldn't overcome three fumbles and two interceptions.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 6"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:35 PM | Comments (0)

October 7, 2006

Don't Get Me Started

Um, I think you know what I think about this...

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:57 PM | Comments (0)

Scoreboard Follies

On a day that has plenty of stories, I think that ESPN is trying a little too hard to make one out of Missouri and Texas Tech:

First of all, Missouri is the ranked team here, and Texas Tech is not. So if Missouri wins, is it really an upset? I know that Texas Tech has the favoritism of Vegas on their side, but when the ranked team wins, there is no upset.

Second, is it right to be putting the upset watch up in the 2nd quarter?

I think we have a lot of football left to play ESPN.

That said, Missouri is a great story this year. Anyone not watching Chase Daniel and the Tigers has been missing out.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2006

Move Over TCU, Hello Boise State

John Beck didn't just win a big game for BYU and get a mention as my Heisman-like performance this week. He also ended what looked like a sure thing at the beginning of the season. I am talking about TCU's chances to break into the BCS crowd and become only the second team from a non-automatic qualifier school to do so.

We should know better when it comes to TCU. They have teased us before by rolling through a season with an almost perfect record. Back in 2003, the Horned Frogs began the season 10-0 before losing to Southern Mississippi in a big game. This year, they did their part in stopping the hype a bit earlier.

Continue reading "Move Over TCU, Hello Boise State"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2006

Ummm, Why?

Well, it seems that someone at ESPN.com doesn't like Chris Leak. While the Florida Gators are undefeated and Chris Leak is one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy award, even on ESPN's site, they post the following web poll question today:

The big question is why? And who are the people watching and voting in the poll that they honestly think that Tim Tebow should be installed as the signal caller? 14% of the voters in Florida even think this way. I can semi-understand the voters in Louisiana voting for Tebow because LSU plays Florida this weekend. However, the rest of the country thinking this way boggles my mind.

Of course, now watch LSU's defense destroy Leak in the pocket when he has trouble scrambling away.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 1, 2006

Big XII Recap - Week 5

Missouri’s season so far has been a surprise, going 4-0 and leading the nation in team defense. They may have given up 373 yards against Colorado, but they kept that 0 in the loss column, beating the Buffaloes, 28-13. Sophomore quarterback Chase Daniel was solid once again, throwing for 251 yards and four touchdown passes. Daniel also threw two interceptions, but his offensive power was enough to lead the Tigers to victory.

While the win may seem like another against a so-so team, Colorado was actually ranked in the top ten in defense entering the game, despite their winless record. Missouri was still able to gain over 350 yards on the Buffs, proving that the early part of their season was no fluke. Missouri begins the season 5-0 for the first time since 1981, a year that finished with the Tigers winning the Tangerine Bowl. Missouri will be hoping that their bowl game this time is going to be a bit more high profile, and five wins to begin the season is a great start to guaranteeing just that.

Continue reading "Big XII Recap - Week 5"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2006

Oklahoma - Oregon Officially Jumps the Shark

The term "Jump the Shark", for those of you not already familiar with it, normally refers to when a television show or idea has reached the end of its useful life. It refers to an episode of "Happy Days" when the Fonz decided to jump a shark on water skis. After that episode, most fans of the show decided that Happy Days was all downhill from there. And so, the phrase was created and has stuck ever since.

Now, jumping the shark is not normally applied to sports, although I think a few fans might argue that college football officially jumped the shark when the three letters B-C-S were introduced. I think the controversy in the game between Oklahoma and Oregon has actually gone far enough to officially have jumped the shark.

Why? Because Bob Knight decided he needed to weigh in with his two cents.

Continue reading "Oklahoma - Oregon Officially Jumps the Shark"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:30 PM | Comments (2)

September 16, 2006

Music 101

Tom Hammond apparently didn't study Music Appreciation when he was in school at Kentucky. He has spent the entire game since it happened claiming that Michigan's Mario Manningham ran into a tuba player on the sidelines.

Tom...

This is a Clarinet. This is a Tuba.

Manningham ran into a girl carrying the former, not the latter, when he scored his third touchdown of the game against Notre Dame. I know you are upset about the Irish losing, but come on man. Do those instruments look at all alike?

If you want a great video of someone running into a brass instrument player, here you go. By the way Tom, I believe he hits a Trombone here. Maybe you can call it as him hitting someone with a drum.:

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:05 PM | Comments (0)

Fumble!!!

You think turnovers aren't important in who wins a game? Here is the turnover ratio for the teams that lost their games on Thursday and Friday night.

• Tennessee Tech: -4. Lost to Middle Tennessee State, 44-0
• Maryland: -4. Lost to West Virginia, 45-24
• Kansas: -5. Lost to Toledo in 2OT, 37-31

Kansas's loss is even worse, since one of their turnovers actually came during the overtimes, and stopped an almost certain score.

Next time your team doesn't hold onto the football, you know what is to blame for your loss.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

SEC Notebook

In the midst of all the great games over the weekend, the SEC is beginning its conference season in full force. With Auburn - LSU and Florida - Tennessee matching up today, the top spot in both conference divisions will be on the line. The losers of each of those games have a tough road to the SEC championship and the BCS bowls.

A couple of thoughts on the SEC before this weekend of seriously intense games kick off:

Continue reading "SEC Notebook"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2006

Why Did This Take So Long?

The whole story about Reggie Bush and his family taking money bothers me. I don't doubt the research of the Yahoo! writers who have broke the story. I am sure they have their sources and they have the documentation trail to back it up.

And let's be honest here. None of the alleged extra funding affected Bush's performance on the field, or the performance of the USC team. They still would have been the dominant team that they were and I would still have given the Heisman trophy to Bush last season.

However, what does bother me is the method in which this story is being released, and how it has been so slow to evolve over the past five months.

Continue reading "Why Did This Take So Long?"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2006

Playing David

Smaller football teams don't always get their due and that is probably an understatement. That said, I am guessing that most college football fans, outside of possibly Northwestern fans, don't know who Ricky Santos is. I don't blame them. He has played one game this season, against the Wildcats. Oh, and he plays for Division 1-AA New Hampshire.

I can guarantee that a few people across the country, including those same Northwestern fans, took notice of Santos last Saturday. Santos led the New Hampshire Wildcats to a win over their bigger Wildcat brethren 34-17.

Santos threw for 206 yards, ran for 34 more, and was involved in all 5 of the team's touchdowns in the win, throwing two and running in the other three. Santos's performance made even the MRI take notice, almost placing him as the "Heisman-like Performance" in the Heisman Watch for Week two. However, since Santos can't officially win the award, I didn't select him, but I thought his performance warranted at least a little discussion.

Continue reading "Playing David"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

Notre Dame Bias?

It isn't like ESPN needs more advertising for their site. However, I just wanted to point out the results of their "Most Exciting Saturday Game" poll that they are currently running on their website. The results are very telling about what people think about their football.

Auburn and LSU dominant the SEC region, with only Tennessee and Florida like their contest which should be big in the SEC East and telling about Tennessee. Miami and Louisville is only important in the state of Kentucky and the West Virginia fans want to know about the upstart Cardinals. And Nebraska and their Big 12 opponents are the only ones concerned about their game with USC, other than those on the West Coast.

So it seems like other than in areas which are directly affected by four of the games, the rest of the country just wants to see Notre Dame. I guess it helps that they are playing Michigan...

But wow, is the country polarized in their picks.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:55 PM | Comments (1)

September 5, 2006

Goal #1: Establish the Run

Here's a thought for you. Unless you go to a pass happy school like Hawaii or Texas Tech, one of the goals of almost every coach in football is to establish the run. Some schools, like Navy, take this to the extreme. Navy finished their game Saturday with only 6 passing attempts for 6 yards. However, they ran the ball 70 times in their triple option attack totalling 403 yards. You could say that they accomplished Goal #1.

That being said, Monday night might have set the course of football game planning back about 150 years. Charlie Jones (pictured) was the leading rusher in the Miami - Florida State game, gaining 27 yards on the ground, including the only touchdown for the Hurricanes. However, based on the way that college football rushing statistics are calculated the box score for the game had the following totals:

Florida State: 1 yard on 25 attempts
Miami: 2 yards on 26 attempts

If you are slow at math, that is a grand total of three yards rushing for the game - not exactly what I would call blowing up the record books. For comparison, the other 115 Division 1-A schools that played this weekend averaged a little over 150 yards rushing. The twenty-nine Division 1-AA schools that played top division teams even averaged 71 yards on the ground, and 26 of those schools lost, most by double digit totals.

Granted, Florida State and Miami are supposed to have two of the top rushing defenses, and the weather was less than spectacular in Miami on Monday night. Miami was also missing their leading rusher from last season, Tyrone Moss, who was suspended for the contest.

Still, three total yards is far from something you would expect for two teams that both have National Title aspirations and are ranked in the Top 15 in the country. Things should improve with each team's next game. Florida State takes on Troy while Miami draws Division 1-AA Florida A&M.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 4, 2006

Mustain Era Begins at Arkansas

It didn't take long for Mitch Mustain's Saturday night performance to translate into a change in the depth chart at Arkansas. Head Coach Houston Nutt announced at his press conference on Sunday that Mustain will be given the starting quarterback job against Utah State on Saturday. Former starting quarterback Robert Johnson will move to wide receiver for the contest.

"We are asking [Johnson] to go to wide receiver right now. He’s accepted that with class and we are going to go with Mitch right now (at quarterback). We are going to get him ready," said Nutt during the press conference.

Mustain entered the game to a chorus of cheers by the fans on Saturday against USC. Even the smallest gain in yardage kept re-energizing the crowd. When Mustain ran in a touchdown on his first series, the largest crowd ever for a game at Arkansas was jumping up and down, despite the very lopsided score against them.

Nutt seems to indicate that the scoring drive played a large part in the decision to make the change at signal caller. "He gets in the game and can execute and take us down the field. I just feel like, at this time, you have to give him a shot.”

Nutt didn't comment during the press conference about the lack of communication between Johnson and Mustain on the sideline. He did repeatedly state that Johnson took the decision showing a lot of class. One has to wonder if we will see more work between the two with Johnson being added into what is already a strong receiving core featuring Marcus Monk and Damian Williams.

Nutt is making the change for the game against Utah State, a team which was blasted in their first game against Wyoming, 38-7. Right now, the switch doesn't look like a big risk. If Mustain can gain even more confidence in this game, even against the weak opponent, it could translate to big things for the Razorbacks in the SEC.

Obviously, there was a lot to work on following the loss to USC, but coach Nutt remained optimistic.

"We have a good football team. There is a lot of difference between this year and last year if you watch the film. The score doesn’t really indicate it but it was much closer then that."

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:45 PM | Comments (2)

September 1, 2006

Thoughts from Opening Night

Opening night has come and gone, and while most of the games were of no consequence for the National Title race, there was still a little to be learned from the first night of the season.

• Of the bottom four teams in the MRI last year, two managed to start the season with a win. Of course, it helps when two of those teams play. Yes, Buffalo and Temple had a thrilling contest last night which ended with a touchdown run by Buffalo's James Starks in overtime. The final score, was 9-3, which is a sign that the season is going to be very long for both these teams who couldn't even manage to score against each other. The other win was by New Mexico State over a 1-AA team. Kent State was not as lucky, drawing Minnesota in their first game and turning the ball over 6 times in their 44-0 loss.

Continue reading "Thoughts from Opening Night"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

Conference Title Predictions

With the opening kick-off of Boston College and Central Michigan last night, the college football season has officially begun. With that, it is time for me to weigh in with my picks for the season.

Last year, I wasn't quite correct about the National Title game, although I still claim that a certain Katrina had something to do with that. The two teams I wanted to play still did, only it was in the Peach Bowl, and the game wasn't as great as I thought it would be. All fans across the country were still treated to an awesome final game between Texas and USC. While Mack Brown got to hoist the trophy last season, this year will most likely not lead to a repeat after having lost his star quarterback, Vince Young.

We should have a new champion come January, and I am going on the record with my picks for who should be in the running for the ADT Trophy at the end of the season.

Continue reading "Conference Title Predictions"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2006

There's A Lot of Booty In Southern California

Forgive me for saying so, but fans of USC shouldn't get too excited about this video of their new quarterback John David Booty:

Why?

Here are three reasons:

Continue reading "There's A Lot of Booty In Southern California"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2006

SEC West Preview: Hog Wild

While predicting the East isn’t going to ruffle a lot of feathers, the West could cause a little bit of contention. The SEC West should be hotly contested by the top 4 teams and really any prediction could have you in a winning position come the end of the season. Most of the big names have gone with one of the two Tigers, either Auburn or LSU. Seems like a safe pick, but let’s take a closer look at the SEC West.

Continue reading "SEC West Preview: Hog Wild"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2006

SEC East Preview: Chasing Gators

For those who are competing with me over at FanIQ know that their site just began their own blog. There are a number of great contributors to the blog, and I was asked to preview the SEC for them. Immediately a sense of fear crept in. This might actually put me in the position to be though of as one of the hated "experts" that FanIQ likes to compete against. So should I be considered the expert? I contend that the answer is no. If I have learned anything in my attempts to cover college football each season, there is no expert on the SEC, especially in recent history.

Look back a few years, and you see Auburn ranked highly going into the season, only to tank their first two games and spend the rest of the season mired in mediocrity. Then, the next season, when no one had any expectations for the Tigers, they run off an undefeated season. Florida was highly regarded with Ron Zook at the helm because of his ability to recruit. Unfortunately, the ability to recruit didn't turn into the ability to win games. Last season, everyone was high on Tennessee returning to their top form. Quarterback issues and a string of losses caused them to miss going to a bowl.

So, it is with great trepidation that I attempt to preview the SEC for you in a year where not only the National Championship race is wide open, but so is the SEC. I put forward these predictions with the caveat that I am sure another player will either get suspended or hurt in practice to totally change everything. It is just the way things work.

Continue reading "SEC East Preview: Chasing Gators"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2006

People Go to College to LEARN?!?

Wednesday marked the first release of the NCAA's newest attempt to keep an eye on their athlete's education. The Academic Progress Rate, or APR, is based on a formula which gives a school credit for having athletes who maintain their grades and also do not transfer or drop out of school. The NCAA then measures this performance against their standards and will begin assessing penalties for schools who do not make the grade.

Continue reading "People Go to College to LEARN?!?"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (2)

February 27, 2006

Vince Young, Testing Giant

Vince Young knows a lot about scoring on the football field. Just ask the USC Trojans about that. What Vince Young may or may not know a lot about appears to be scores on the kind of test you take sitting behind a desk.

Various sources are reporting that Young may have scored a 6 on the infamous Wonderlic test. While there may have been a scoring error on the first exam that he took, reports are that his second attempt only registered 10 points better at a 16.

Continue reading "Vince Young, Testing Giant"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:25 PM | Comments (2)

February 8, 2006

Erickson Return Appears Imminent

Dennis Erickson has turned football programs around at the college level before. This time, the job may be tougher than ever.

ESPN.com and several Idaho area papers are reporting that Erickson is expected to be named the coach of the Idaho Vandals at a late afternoon press conference. The most recent coach of the Vandals, Nick Holt quit on Monday. In his two years as head coach, Idaho consistently was one of the worst teams in Division I-A, compiling a 5-18 record over the period. Holt moves on to USC where he will take a job as Pete Carroll's defensive coordinator.

Now Erickson returns to a school where he has coached before and with some success, albeit at a lower level.

Continue reading "Erickson Return Appears Imminent"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 2:30 PM | Comments (1)

January 5, 2006

The World Beats the MRI

Well, at least Dennis Dodd did. You have to give him credit for picking 18 of the 28 bowl games correctly. The MRI and the Harmon Forecast finished second with 16-12 records. Not shabby, but one game off of last year's total when we correctly picked 17 of the bowl games. Finishing last, the Schwab and myself. We finished with a respectable 14-14 mark. The MRI did correctly predict this year's champion, though it took all of 59 minutes and 41 seconds for Texas to finally be up for good.

Congrats to Mr. Dodd. You have beaten the king. I hope that next year you can repeat your challenge and that the MRI will show you what a fluke bowl season you had (Kansas?!?, LSU?!?, Wisconsin?!?).

Maybe I have found my new nemesis...

Continue reading "The World Beats the MRI"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2005

Thoughts on the 2005 Alamo Bowl and 2005 Emerald Bowl preview

I don't know how much there is to say after last night's amazing finish in the Alamo Bowl. Watching as Michigan almost pulled off the win in the final seconds while the stadium announcer and even ESPN were announcing the game being over was quite a sight. Michigan has lost more than four games in a season for the first time since the mid-80s and it remains to be seen what the fate of Lloyd Carr will be. I can state that many alumni were calling for his departure last night as I watched the game surrounded by maize and blue. You have to wonder about the motivation of the players. Chad Henne and Jason Avant both turned the ball over late in the game when you should be counting on your stars to provide solid leadership. In addition, Michigan needs to figure out how to stop teams on defense down the field or we won't be seeing them playing in January any time soon.

Nebraska meanwhile is proving that it is getting better. Yes, the move to the West Coast offense by Bill Callahan may not have been the most popular decision in Lincoln, but he is starting to fill the holes on the team with players who can come through for him. Transfer Zac Taylor showed us that there are very good players available across the country, even at the JUCO levels. Senior Cory Ross left his college career on a high note. With the young players that Callahan has at his disposal, there is no reason to think that next year, Nebraska will improve even more to win eight or nine games in the regular season. They still have to compete with the very good Big XII South, but the North is just waiting for them to return.

Continue reading "Thoughts on the 2005 Alamo Bowl and 2005 Emerald Bowl preview"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 1:00 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2005

The MRI vs. The World

Looking across the vast landscape of the internet, it seems that I have scared away my opponents from last year. Mr. Stewart Mandel, who tied with the MRI system last season, apparently was too shocked that a computer could do just as well as he could. He did not post picks this season. My nemesis, Trev Alberts, was let go from ESPN earlier this season in a quietly swept under the rug firing kind of way. As a result, he will not be submitting picks this season either.

But have no fear, ESPN has replaced Mr. Alberts's picks with those of The Schwab. As a result, this year the MRI will be taking on the Schwab and two other contestants. The first contestant is a writer for CBS Sportsline.com, Dennis Dodd. The second is another computer formula, believe it or not. Each week, the Harmon Forecast attempts to pick the exact score of each football game. The winners of each bowl as predicted by the Harmon Forecast are listed here.

As with last season, I have updated this chart as the bowls have moved along and will continue to do so to the finish.

Continue reading "The MRI vs. The World"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2005

What's In A Color?

When I was younger and would go to another school for basketball games, it was common for us to be assigned to the women's locker room. Most high schools didn't have a visitor's locker room so no one thought anything of the more feminine decor. Of course, this is not the case at the college level and, apparently, Iowa's choice of color for their visiting team's locker room is causing some issues.

Continue reading "What's In A Color?"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (1)

September 26, 2005

The Heisman, One Month In

With a month gone in the college football season, everyone is suddenly going on about their current picks for the Heisman trophy. The usual suspects are all there -- Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Vince Young. After that, it gets a little muddy.

Continue reading "The Heisman, One Month In"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2005

NCAA Priorities Need Fixing

One month ago, the NCAA issued a rule that Native American mascots and nicknames will no longer be allowed at any NCAA sanctioned playoff or tournament. Earlier this week, the ban was extended to include college football bowl games. While the bowl games are not official NCAA tournaments, they are sanctioned by the NCAA. The BCS worried that it did not have the authority to ban the mascots and therefore appealed to the NCAA to make the decision for them. The NCAA graciously extended the ban.

Continue reading "NCAA Priorities Need Fixing"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2005

A Year Later, A Game in Review

It was a cooler October afternoon last year. Late October in Atlanta is never cold like it is in the Midwest. And at the same time, Thursday nights in the Midwest are never like it was that night. Virginia Tech, the #22 team in the country was in town to play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and I had tickets.

Continue reading "A Year Later, A Game in Review"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2005

Pittsburgh, Is It Any Wonder?

Pittsburgh's offense doesn't look like it used to. Last year, they lit it up behind the arm of Tyler Palko, including a win over Notre Dame. They entered this season with high hopes after a BCS berth last year and the hiring of alum Dave Wannstedt as head coach. And then, the unthinkable happened. They were immediately destroyed by the same Notre Dame team which they handled last year and then lost to Ohio, of all teams. But, if you look closer, is it any wonder that the Pittsburgh offense is struggling?

Continue reading "Pittsburgh, Is It Any Wonder?"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 9, 2005

The Game of the Century, Again

Didn't it seem like we were just here? I seem to recall that last January, there was this really hyped up game. There were two seemingly unbeatable teams. Two teams that, when they met, were going to give us the greatest game of college football ever. It was going to be the game which would rival the old Michigan State-Notre Dame game which was previously labelled the Game of the Century. Instead, we got USC rolling over Oklahoma, to the point where I was tempted to turn it off. I didn't but by the time the second half rolled around, I was just waiting to see if either Jason White or Bob Stoops would cry first.

Instead of USC and Oklahoma, this time we get Ohio State and Texas.

Continue reading "The Game of the Century, Again"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

Cyclones Visited by Cyclone

As if one National tragedy isn't enough, the Chicago Tribune's Tom Skilling has reported that a tornado hit the Iowa State campus, site of Saturday's game pitting state rivals Iowa and Iowa State.

A freak tornado with winds clocked at 83 m.p.h. swept onto the Iowa State University campus Thursday afternoon, injuring seven. The twister, embedded within a larger area of straight-line thunderstorm winds, reached the Ames-based campus, 35 miles north of Des Moines, at 12:31 p.m. and was on the ground nearly half a mile. Its maximum damage path was 30 yards, according to the National Weather Service.

Hopefully all seven of those injured will be alright.

As for Saturday's game, there is no truth to the rumor that Iowa State is looking to use the tornado as an extra defensive back to stop Drew Tate's passing attack.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 7:46 PM

September 8, 2005

The Sad Departure of Trev Alberts

It is a sad day at the MRI headquarters. We have lost one of our biggest nemeses who has continually provided me with so much to rant and rave about over the two years I have been running the MRI for football and writing on the sport. No, no one has died. Instead, today I found out that Trev Alberts is no longer working for ESPN.

Continue reading "The Sad Departure of Trev Alberts"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:30 PM

Not To Say I Told You So...

Ok, I told you this would happen. I just didn't expect to see it starting up this soon.

Dennis Erickson, fired by the San Francisco 49ers at the end of last season, says that he would come back into coaching at the college level "if it was the right situation." Grammar issues aside, this is a windfall for some needy college program out there.

FanBlogs has an interesting look at the potential spots for Mr. Erickson when the itch finally becomes so unbearable he just has to scratch it.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

September 6, 2005

Seminoles Stumble to Victory

In a series which has been often decided by missed field goals, it seems only appropriate that special teams would be the biggest story of the latest installment of Miami and Florida State. Two missed field goals and a botched snap on a third attempt did in a Miami team which seemed at times like they were determined to end their six game dominance over their in-state rivals. Florida State converted on only one of their attempts, but it was enough in their 10-7 victory over the Hurricanes.

Continue reading "Seminoles Stumble to Victory"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 2, 2005

What Have We Learned

With the first two days of the college football season completed, the real question is what have we learned from the games which have been played. Sure, USC, and the rest of the pack that is closely following them have not played, but what we have glimpsed in the first few games can give us an idea of the future of this season and beyond. And from what I have seen, this season will not be like last year in many ways.

Continue reading "What Have We Learned"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2005

The Rose Bowl, Sponsored by the Weather Channel

For the second year in a row, Mother Nature seems determined to wash college football off the face of the map. This year, however, Southern Mississippi's postponed game will most likely not determine who plays in a BCS game as it did last year. Instead, another team from a Gulf coast state may be affected.

Continue reading "The Rose Bowl, Sponsored by the Weather Channel"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2005

Preseason Tune-Up

Thursday night, the bands will play their fight songs again. The players will rush onto the field to the cheers of thousands and begin a battle which will be settled months later on a cold January night. Well, maybe not so cold, since the Rose Bowl is played in Pasadena, but you get the idea. For the past month or more, the teams have been readying themselves and preparing for the first skirmishes of the young season. As they prepare and attempt to make amends for the evils of last season, it falls to On The Field to look back at its predictions made at the end of last season.

Continue reading "Preseason Tune-Up"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:00 PM | Comments (2)

April 3, 2005

One Small Step for Texas

A state representative from Texas has proposed legislation which would forbid Texas state universities from participating in any post-season football that is not part of a play-off. The legislation has an interesting twist.

Continue reading "One Small Step for Texas"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 5, 2005

Bowl Final Commentary

Well, no one expected that. When you looked at the two teams going into last night's game, it looked fairly even. This despite the strange nagging feeling I got as I wrote the preview yesterday. I kept feeling like there was too much talent on USC for Oklahoma to win. Yet, something in me still said Oklahoma had a chance and a very good one of winning. When the game was played, a different team showed up. It was a flashback to last year for Oklahoma. All of a sudden, they forgot how to play. The only thing that stank more on the field last night than the play of Oklahoma was the pitiful Half Time show which got booed off the field.

Continue reading "Bowl Final Commentary"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:03 PM | Comments (3)

January 4, 2005

How the MRI beat Trev Alberts

Ok, so there is still one game left and it will be a great one. If the MRI gets it right, it will finish with a 17-11 record. It will also happen to tie two sports writers because they have picked Oklahoma in the final game. Both Stewart Mandel, who I have praised all season, and Trev Alberts, who annoyed me quite a bit this season, posted their picks online at the start of the bowl season. I have been tracking their picks along with the MRI and my other bowl picks that I did on ESPN. Here is the latest result.

Continue reading "How the MRI beat Trev Alberts"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2004

Bowl Roundup So Far

The MRI took its first loss last night in the *Insert Sponsor Here* Las Vegas Bowl when Wyoming beat UCLA by scoring a touchdown with one minute remaining in the game. The MRI can not be faulted as everything went Wyoming's way in the second half to give them the win.

Continue reading "Bowl Roundup So Far"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2004

Champs Sports (Tangerine) Bowl

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets kept the MRI on the winning side with their victory over Syracuse in the Champs Sports (Tangerine) Bowl. This is a scary proposition for the MRI since these were two of the lower confidence games, leading me to believe that I am going to be hit with some big time losses later in the 28 games.

Continue reading "Champs Sports (Tangerine) Bowl"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:18 PM | Comments (0)

Can't Spell BCS Without AP

On Tuesday, the AP decided to no longer provide their poll to the BCS as part of the rankings. As a result, the BCS came out today and released a statement proclaiming that they will be looking at changes to the system based on this news. They will be looking at possibly adding a selection committee, ala the NCAA basketball tournament, to determine bowl matchups. This may be the end of the "dreaded" formula as we know it.

Continue reading "Can't Spell BCS Without AP"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:13 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2004

New Orleans Bowl

Just when I thought I couldn't be more upset at ESPN broadcasters, the New Orleans Bowl happened. It is bad enough that the bowl even takes place. Writing up the preview and prediction last week, I didn't have very much good to say about either team. The bowl is pretty much a dress rehearsal for the Sugar Bowl in January, and exists so that the SunBelt conference actually gets an automatic bowl tie-in. The trophy the winning team brings home is a bronze replica of the Dome. "Men, you fought your heart out today. Please take this replica of our fine playing facility home with you." There is inspiration.

Continue reading "New Orleans Bowl"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:09 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2004

Heisman Presentation

Sitting here watching the presentation is definitely a surreal experience. First, it is strange to no longer watch them broadcast from the Downtown Athletic Club, where they haven't been since 2001. That place held all the tradition of the award right down to the original name. Second, if you compare the numbers of all 5 candidates to previous winners, they all surpass the guys who walked away with the trophy. Choosing between these guys would be something more than I could comprehend, but yet, writers and previous winners across the nation have had to do just that.

Continue reading "Heisman Presentation"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 5:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 8, 2004

The Bowl Championship Playoff

Playoffs. The word brings back memories of Jim Mora's famous outburst when questioned about his Indianapolis Colt's chances of winning in the playoffs. His high pitched nasally voice screaming "Playoffs?" is one of my favorite sports sound bites of all time.

Continue reading "The Bowl Championship Playoff"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:58 PM | Comments (0)

December 6, 2004

Regular Season Ends

Whew! Are we all glad that is over? With the end of the Michigan State-Hawaii game on Saturday night, the regular season ended. Sure, we had controversy this year. The BCS made everyone upset again, though I choose to defend it and suggest that we keep it unchanged for a few seasons. There are a number of people out there clamoring for a playoff or a plus one system which would give a more palatable champion for them. I agree that the playoff is the only way to go, but it won't happen before the next BCS contract expires. Until then, let's keep the system the same. Don't change anything (except maybe when the human polls start to be released) for once, and let's evaluate the whole thing in a few years.

Continue reading "Regular Season Ends"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:51 PM | Comments (0)

December 2, 2004

Defending the MRI #1

In what I am sure will become a popular segment on MRISports.com, a friend of mine recommended that I begin to respond to some of the emails that I receive that question the MRI. Typical emails range from "How is [INSERT TEAM HERE] not ranked in the Top 25?" to "You seriously need a life." The life emails, I can't do much about, but the others, I can definitely respond to.

Continue reading "Defending the MRI #1"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 4:41 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2004

Pressure

Pressure. Pressure has the ability to make you better or to fail miserably. This week's games were no exception to that. A number of teams needed wins in order to make their bowl game more meaningful and a few were able to deal with the pressure and come through with the win they needed.

Continue reading "Pressure"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:56 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2004

Defending the BCS

This article may come as a shock to a lot of people, but I am going to stand up and defend the BCS. Don't take that as selling out to the ads which I am sure are gracing the side of this article. I am still a big proponent of using the BCS standings at the end of the season to run a playoff of 16 teams. The playoff would utilize the bowl games to keep both the tradition of the bowls and increase the chance of finally crowning a champion that includes all teams and is decided on the field. Still, without the playoff, the BCS should be applauded.

Continue reading "Defending the BCS"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2004

Rivalries

Utah players and fans will be putting out a few more bowls of chips and salsa on Thursday when they get together for Thanksgiving. And then at the meal, they will be giving Thanks for being #6. #6, as it turns out for the Utes is a good place to be as that will guarantee them a trip to one of the four big bowls.

Continue reading "Rivalries"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:52 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2004

And Then There Were Five...

Wisconsin went to East Lansing with hopes still clinging for a shot at the National Championship. They left East Lansing Saturday night, without that hope, and possibly without a birth in a BCS bowl. Michigan State dominated the Badgers, making the much heralded Wisconsin Defense look like Swiss cheese. Wisconsin gave up 551 yards, 430 of which were gained on the ground.

Continue reading "And Then There Were Five..."

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:48 PM | Comments (2)

November 12, 2004

State of the Game, Part 1

Tuesday night was Round 9 of Dream Job on ESPN. The assignment for each of the potential anchors was to put together a two minute piece assessing the state of college football. To go along with the piece they developed, they each got to interview Kirk Herbstreit. In the end, only one of the three contestants truly assessed the total state of the game in the eyes of the judges. The other two each focused on too narrow a topic and shot themselves in the foot.

Continue reading "State of the Game, Part 1"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2004

Scary Week at the Top

There is an old saying that says that in order to win a Championship, you need to have a scare game. We all saw the Boston Red Sox have a few of them in this year's playoffs. USC, Oklahoma, Texas, and Cal all had one on Saturday. Everyone of those four teams trailed at one point in the game, many late, and yet managed to pull out the victory to keep hopes for a championship alive. The most disappointed team on Saturday was the Auburn Tigers, who sat out the week and saw time and time again, a chance to move up in the BCS rankings slip away.

Continue reading "Scary Week at the Top"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 3, 2004

Remember Two Things

With the close, but dull, rain soaked game between UAB and South Florida not giving me much to write about, I wanted to bring up two things from the past.

Continue reading "Remember Two Things"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2004

Weekly Thoughts

What Mother Nature failed to do a month ago, Georgia, North Carolina, and Maryland, managed to do on Saturday, wiping the state of Florida off the map. Miami, Florida State, and Florida, all lost on Saturday, marking the first time in 26 years this occurred. While that is a testament to the strength of these three programs over that time, it also shows how big a disappoint this was for all fans of the Sunshine State in their quest for a National Champion.

Continue reading "Weekly Thoughts"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:36 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2004

Gad Zook-s!

Ron Zook has four days left to prepare to play the Georgia Bulldogs. He also might need to spend some of that time looking for a new job.

Continue reading "Gad Zook-s!"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:33 PM | Comments (0)

BCS Standings for Week 2 are released

Week 2 of the BCS was released on Monday and looked more like what everyone expected out of Week 1. Oklahoma moved up to #2 overall in the standings, passing by a Miami team who now is ranked #1 in most of the computer polls after their win against North Carolina State on Saturday.

Continue reading "BCS Standings for Week 2 are released"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)

Mr. Mandel Pleases Again

Now, this is what you call in depth reporting. These stories don't just fall in your lap... though in this case, they do start there.

Continue reading "Mr. Mandel Pleases Again"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2004

More thoughts from the week

The BCS rankings will be released for the second week tomorrow at noon. Most predictions are that they will look exactly the same as they did last week. I myself believe that after the crushing that USC put on Washington, they will actually increase their lead, which is hard to do, because they were less than .01 from a perfect score last week. For the other spots, it will most likely get closer with Miami, Oklahoma, and Auburn all probably getting as close as close can be, and leaving no room for error.

Continue reading "More thoughts from the week"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2004

Mmmmm, Sandwiches

Actual quote during the halftime show on ABC in reference to the amount of time that Wisconsin quarterback, John Stocco, had in the pocket.

"Stocco back there eating sandwiches." - Aaron Taylor

Huh? Never heard that one before. Must be something they only say at Notre Dame, where Taylor went to school. If this was a comment on Dream Job for a spot at being a SportsCenter anchor, I can guarantee that Al Jaffe would be putting Taylor on the cut list.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:23 PM | Comments (0)

Florida defeated by Mississippi State

Things can't get much worse for the Florida Gators. As if all the off the field issues weren't enough for the team, their performance on the field late in games has left something to be desired.

Continue reading "Florida defeated by Mississippi State"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)

"A Spattering of Northwestern Fans"

The comment was just made in the Northwestern-Wisconsin game after a shot of Northwestern fans were shown celebrating a touchdown by the Wildcats that

"A spattering of Northwestern fans have made the trip [to Wisconsin]"

Well, yes, because that is all that exist in the entire country, a spattering. Though, I do think that they probably have gained a lot more fans over the past few weeks with their wins over Ohio State and Minnesota. It doesn't look like they can pull the same magic this week against Wisconsin right now, with only 13:30 left in the fourth quarter. However, they have just scored two touchdowns in the last 5 minutes, and they have just stopped another drive by Wisconsin.

Stay tuned.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2004

SI's Stewart Mandel gets some props

Everyone should go read this article, but you really only have to look at 3 things on the page.

Continue reading "SI's Stewart Mandel gets some props"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:11 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2004

Week 6 Thoughts

This was an interesting week in college football. There were a number of big games, most notably, Texas-Oklahoma, USC-Cal, and Georgia-Tennessee. There were a number of games which looked lopsided on paper and then ended up being very close victories for some teams. All of this served to shuffle the MRI around a lot and throw a new team on top of the pack. Even teams that lost this week moved ahead of the team that beat them, most notably, Cal, after their strong game against USC, proving that they could hang around in the second half and still give themselves a chance to win.

Continue reading "Week 6 Thoughts"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2004

Notre Dame vs. Navy...

Could this game actually mean something this year? Navy has just beaten Vanderbilt and besides a tough game against another of the military institutions, Air Force, next week, they may have a chance to go undefeated this season. The crucial game will be October 16th against Notre Dame, who is currently trashing Washington and has a chance to move to 3-1. When was the last time this game meant something for Navy, let alone both teams?

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

Spoke a little too soon

I was struggling with my internet connection last night and finally gave up. Just as I was shutting down, Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky took a play out of the BYU play book and tossed a long touchdown pass to T.J. Acree along the right side of the field to put the Broncos up by 1. The two point conversion failed on a nice sack by the BYU defense.

Continue reading "Spoke a little too soon"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2004

This is what Miami needs: John Beck

In the BYU-Boise State game, the BYU Cougars are giving the Broncos all they can handle. The Cougars quarterback has confidence in his passing game and is taking it to the Boise State defense deep.

Continue reading "This is what Miami needs: John Beck"

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 9:00 PM | Comments (0)

Apparently the coach wasn't happy either

Brock Berlin better shape up this week:

"I'm very disappointed in the passing game," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "We didn't get much at all. We've got to get back and work on it."

We'll have to see how he improves in their next game. He is their best option at quarterback which doesn't make a replacement anytime soon seem likely.

Can't wait to see if Chris Rix still has his issues tomorrow. His job is definitely on the line.

Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2004

Game Thoughts - Miami at Houston

Halftime and a little after:
Berlin has yet to impress me. On the last drive of the half for Miami, Berlin made a nice pass for about 15 yards to get a first down. However, he failed to follow it up. He tried to force two passes on the next two plays to WR Ryan Moore. The play after that, he fails to avoid the rush and gets sacked and fumbles the ball. The turnover led to a Houston touchdown, the first of the year given up by the offense. As I tried to log on, Miami had the ball again. But, Berlin struggled again. After a 15 yard run (Why did Houston squib kick the second half kick off?), Miami had a short run on 1st down. On the next play Berlin failed to avoid the rush again and was sacked. His 3rd down pass was another force up the middle and again a bad choice.

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Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)

Maybe I was a Little too Harsh to Boston College

Ok, so last week, I called Boston College a lame duck in the Big East, which they are, and said that they do not have a chance at winning anything, anytime soon in the ACC. What I failed to think of at the time was that BC is still playing in the Big East, a conference that this year is its own lame duck. With the loss of Miami and Virginia Tech, the Big East is left with few teams that are true national title contenders, and therefore, there is a chance that we may be scratching our heads in January when a team you wouldn't expect is playing in one of the Big 4 BCS games.

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Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Hurricanes

In a little less than an hour, the Miami Hurricanes flip the coin on their 3rd game of the season, and will most likely roll all over Houston. It is seemingly appropriate that after the last few weeks of weather, Miami currently sits atop the MRI in the current rankings (still not enough data to be posted in full).

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Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2004

Thoughts from Week 2

Sunday afternoon, the MRI numbers populated through my spreadsheet for the first time this season. The system needs all of the teams to have played at least one game before it can give a rating. Of course, I don't publish it right now. If I did, I would never hear the end of it. Especially when you see who is listed at #2 in the rankings right now (HINT: It is a West Coast School that has a tree for a mascot). As I have learned with college basketball, you need a little bit of time to pass during the season before the numbers make sense, time for the averages to work out any anomalies and blockbuster games against Division 1-AA teams. For basketball, this has always been the weekend after Thanksgiving. For football, last year, I used week 6 as the benchmark. That still leaves about 10 weeks before the conference championships and bowl games begin. So, you will have to wait a little longer before I send out the rankings.

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Posted by Benjamin Miraski at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)