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This week, in my looking at the propechies of Christ's coming, I am at Psalms 2. Specifically, vv 4-9:
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break[a] them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
Okay, the big thing I want to look at here is the term "Begotten". When I was a wee lad in Catholic school (for which I forever praise God for putting me there), The explanation of begotten was a little bit difficult, because we could recite in the Apostle's Creed, "begotten, not made, one in being with the Father". Hence it became tied up in a concept of being BEYOND born or created. A magical, mystical genesis, if you will. So then we read Psalm 2 and became all confused. If begotten meant this magical, mystical, always been sort of thing, then what did Psalm 2:7 mean?
So look up the concordance version of "begotten". It simply means born, creating an offspring. Nothing magical or mystical. So just what is going on? Well let's backtrack by going forward. The first chapter of John's Gospel explains that Jesus is the Incarnate Word of God. Always in existance, always part and parcel of who and what God is. But then, an evolution was made- "and the Word became flesh." How is this so? Look to Luke 1:35, where the angel describes to Mary that flesh and God are going to combine in her womb; "Therefore, also, that the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God".
Confusing? Then cast off human perception and follow me. Who we know as Jesus Christ is and was an always-existant facet of God. But at a point in time, this essence took on flesh, becoming both God and man. Thus, God tells Him, "(Now) You are my Son- this day, I have begotten You." So now, not only is Christ a part of and wholly God, but also has become as flesh the Son of God.
So the way we were taught begotten wasn't exactly on-beam; but it was probably about as close as you could get it to first-through-eighth-graders. Come to think of it, it's not much easier now. But guess what? We're dealing with a being that is beyond our concepts of time and space, who wove both atoms and galaxies out of the same cloth. Scientists reject God for this very reason, saying they need "proof" of His existance, and yet to have that proof would remove God from the very concept of "God". IOW, some things aren't meant to be understood in this life. But God gives us enough understanding with which to have faith. Not to mention , He gave us that understanding in a form that could serve both as a propechy when He gave it 3,000 years ago, and as in instruction 2,000 years after He accomplished it!
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Now for the "+" in our story. First off, be sure to click on that "Chris' Cap Collection " link to see the prizes I got at the 37th annual "Turkey Trot" beer collectables show yesterday. I assure you, the posts on CCC aren't just dry figures and pictures, but I fill in actual interesting stories, both about the caps and the people who made the beer, as well as how I got them. (And if that still seems boring, then just humor me!)
Next, a look at the FCS playoffs. I didn't get a "thromp" of JMU over Eastern KY, but I did get a win. I said ODU shouldn't (actually, I said "shopuldn't", but since Blogger's spell-check likes to excise whole paragraphs for no apparent reason, that's the way it goes) have any problem with Norfolk St., and they didn't. I said Central Ark. should beat TennTech, and they did; and I thought I was going to mess up giving Stony Brook the edge over Albany. But the Seawolves stormed back from 28-10 down to win 31-28 to make me a perfect 4-0 in round one. So let me try round 2.
Stony Brook gets #1 seed Sam Houston State. Now, I'm not convinced how much that 11-0 record means in SHS's conference, but I'm pretty sure it means more than what it would in SB's Big South, so Sam I am. Montana State meets UNH, and I would've had no problem going with State- until they lost their rivalry game to Montana so badly. I, with severe reservations, will take... UNH. Next up is Northern Iowa vs Wofford, and neither of these teams were just lighting the world on fire at season's end. But since I went with them all year, I'll take Wofford for the upset in Iowa. Montana will be hosting Central Ark., and I will take the home team here. Then it's Georgia Southern against ODU. Actually, you have Southern Conf. vs CAA the next two stops, because the next bracket is Appalachian State vs Maine. I'm pretty confident that the two conferences will split thes games; not so confident on which wins which. Let's say GaSo and Maine advance. That brings us to Towson and Lehigh. Cautiously, he looks around the room and says, "Lehigh". Which brings us to next week's final game, JMU and North Dakota State. I've said all along that JMU had no business getting this spot, and NDST was the #1 team for a while, and they're playing in the great plains. Give me JMU.
Showing posts with label FCS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FCS. Show all posts
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
FCS playoffs
2011 Bracket
We have the 2001 FCS bracket here. I actually managed to correctly pick 26 of the 33 games I called last week. I also hit 15 of 20 playoff teams. Stony Brook beat Liberty fair and square to take that spot. Tennessee Tech gets the auto bid from the Ohio Valley conference; somehow, Eastern Kentucky still got a bid, despite the fact that they lost to the only playoff team they played, which was Tennessee Tech. Delaware's wins against Towson and ODU were deemed not as impressive as JMU's seven to six lead in Division I wins, despite the fact that JMU lost to ODU, UNH, and Maine- in fact, the only winning team they beat all year was Liberty. Illinois State's loss yesterday to Northern Iowa knocked them out of the mix, and Indiana State fell apart at the end. Furman blew their tire last week against Elon, even though they fought a valiant battle against the Florida Gators yesterday.
So other than Delaware, who got screwed? Because someone always gets "screwed" in choices like these. Other than the JMU/Delaware debate, the one dubious spot is Eastern Kentucky. I Think San Diego had a legit claim as Pioneer champs at 9-2; North Dakota loses out because of 3 wins against cupcakes out of DI; for Bethune-Cookman, either the loss to S. Carolina St. or to N. Carolina A&T could be forgiven, but not both. Duquesne and Georgetown are far outside thoughts. Harvard wasn't screwed by the selection committee but by the Ivy League, who refuse to allow their teams to play postseason; probably you could put Jackson State into this category as well. So, IMHO Delaware should be in JMU's spot and San Diego in EKY's, but over all a good bracket.
Instead of picking the whole thiong in one shot, like I did last year (with disastrous results), I'm going to pick this year one week at a time. Despite the struggles in the top heavy CAA, I see no reason why "we're not worthy" JMU can't thromp fellow "WNW" Eastern KY. ODU shopuldn't have a lot of problems with Norfolk State; When you consider the quality of their 3 losses (2 FBS teams and #1 seed Sam Houston), I think Central Arkansas should beat TennTech; And the real toss up, I have to give Stony Brook and all those points they score the edge over Albany.
We have the 2001 FCS bracket here. I actually managed to correctly pick 26 of the 33 games I called last week. I also hit 15 of 20 playoff teams. Stony Brook beat Liberty fair and square to take that spot. Tennessee Tech gets the auto bid from the Ohio Valley conference; somehow, Eastern Kentucky still got a bid, despite the fact that they lost to the only playoff team they played, which was Tennessee Tech. Delaware's wins against Towson and ODU were deemed not as impressive as JMU's seven to six lead in Division I wins, despite the fact that JMU lost to ODU, UNH, and Maine- in fact, the only winning team they beat all year was Liberty. Illinois State's loss yesterday to Northern Iowa knocked them out of the mix, and Indiana State fell apart at the end. Furman blew their tire last week against Elon, even though they fought a valiant battle against the Florida Gators yesterday.
So other than Delaware, who got screwed? Because someone always gets "screwed" in choices like these. Other than the JMU/Delaware debate, the one dubious spot is Eastern Kentucky. I Think San Diego had a legit claim as Pioneer champs at 9-2; North Dakota loses out because of 3 wins against cupcakes out of DI; for Bethune-Cookman, either the loss to S. Carolina St. or to N. Carolina A&T could be forgiven, but not both. Duquesne and Georgetown are far outside thoughts. Harvard wasn't screwed by the selection committee but by the Ivy League, who refuse to allow their teams to play postseason; probably you could put Jackson State into this category as well. So, IMHO Delaware should be in JMU's spot and San Diego in EKY's, but over all a good bracket.
Instead of picking the whole thiong in one shot, like I did last year (with disastrous results), I'm going to pick this year one week at a time. Despite the struggles in the top heavy CAA, I see no reason why "we're not worthy" JMU can't thromp fellow "WNW" Eastern KY. ODU shopuldn't have a lot of problems with Norfolk State; When you consider the quality of their 3 losses (2 FBS teams and #1 seed Sam Houston), I think Central Arkansas should beat TennTech; And the real toss up, I have to give Stony Brook and all those points they score the edge over Albany.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
FCS stuff
I'm going to pat myself on the back and say that my deriding of the coaches poll last time had a positive result- the only votes that went to non-winning teams this week went to my William AND Mary (4-5, 16 votes) and Chattanooga (5-5, 1 vote). We are getting near the end of the season, and it will soon be time to look at the playoff bracket. Right now, the only team to have clinched a spot in the dance is Sam Houston State (9-0), who has clinched the automatic bid from the Southland Conference. There are 12 conferences that get automatic bids- however, the Ivy League plays a straight ten-game schedule and declines them. The Great West, Pioneer, and SWAC do not get auto bids; the SWAC traditionally plays later in the season and declines invitations (not surprisingly, since they're 0-19 in the tourney) and the Pioneer gets short shrift at invite time since they are one of three leagues (the Ivy and Patriot are the others) that do not offer football scholarships. The Northeast Conference used to be that way, but got an auto bid once it started scholarship football. And, as I learned today, the rules require 7 wins against FCS/FBS teams to make the playoffs, a requirement the schools are trying to get the NCAA to "soften", especially with the prospect of a 24-team tourney on the horizon.
Given the proximity to the playoffs, I decided to look ahead and figure out this week's top 25 based on how I think they will finish.I believe that North Dakota State and Sam Houston will win out and finish 11-0, 1st and 3rd respectively. Montana State will beat Montana for the Big Sky title yet again to end up 10-1 and 2nd. I expect Lehigh will avoid the upset against Georgetown to win the Patriot at 10-1 and place 4th; Georgia Southern will win the one they can (against Wofford for the Southern title) and lose the one they can't (the season ender against Alabama) to finish 9-2 and 5th. Wofford will recover to knock off Chattanooga and finish 8-3 and 6th; Old Dominion will cap off an amazing season by beating W&M at their place to finish 9-2 and 7th. Towson will sweep UNH and URI to go 9-2 and 8th; Appalachian St. will also take their last two to finish 8-3 and 9th; and Montana's loss will slip them to 8-3 and 10th.
New Hampshire comes back from the loss at Towson to win at home against Maine, ending up 8-3 and 11th. Maine, having split their last two (beating UMass this weekend) to go 8-3 and 12th. Northern Iowa will split two tough games, winning over S. Utah and losing to Illinois St. to finish 8-3 and 13th; Liberty, in the game I'm most unsure of, will top Stony Brook for the Big South championship and end at 8-3 and 14th. I have Harvard doing the difficult task of sweeping Penn and Yale to go 9-1, winning the Ivy because they handed Brown their only loss. That puts them at 15th; Brown will take out Dartmouth and Columbia to also finish 9-1 and 19th.
Delaware gets the easy end of their schedule at the end, beating Richmond and Villanova to finish 7-4 and 16th; Drake will top Dayton this weekend to win the Pioneer at 9-2 and place 17th. Illinois St.'s win over Northern Iowa puts them 8-3 and 18th; I bring Bethune-Cookman back after wins against Savannah St. and (more importantly) Florida A&M to go 8-3 and 20th. Former top ten team Jacksonville St. gets 2 easy wins to limp back in at 7-4 and 21; Indiana St. also wins a pair to go 7-4 and 22nd. I've got North Dakota winning a tough road game at UC-Davis this week and topping rival South Dakota next to go 8-3 and 23rd; San Diego will top my boys of Jacksonville to end up 9-2 and 24th; and Central Arkansas (or Cark, as I call'em) will top Texas State to go 8-3 and 25th.
With those picks, that means I've given auto bid picks for Montana St., Liberty, Towson, Norfolk St. (who beats out slow-starters Bethune-Cookman), North Dakota St., Albany (by virtue of their earlier win over Duquesne), Eastern Kentucky, Lehigh, GaSo, and Sam Houston. I would guess that UNH, Maine, and ODU from the Colonial, Northern Iowa and Illinois St. from the MVC, Wofford and App State from the Southern are pretty much invite locks. That leaves me three more to go. If it were my call, it would be Drake, San Diego, and Indiana St.; knowing the prejudices of the bid committee, let's say Delaware, Furman (who's beat both App State and Wofford), and the Sycamores. Tune in in a couple of weeks to see how well I did.
Given the proximity to the playoffs, I decided to look ahead and figure out this week's top 25 based on how I think they will finish.I believe that North Dakota State and Sam Houston will win out and finish 11-0, 1st and 3rd respectively. Montana State will beat Montana for the Big Sky title yet again to end up 10-1 and 2nd. I expect Lehigh will avoid the upset against Georgetown to win the Patriot at 10-1 and place 4th; Georgia Southern will win the one they can (against Wofford for the Southern title) and lose the one they can't (the season ender against Alabama) to finish 9-2 and 5th. Wofford will recover to knock off Chattanooga and finish 8-3 and 6th; Old Dominion will cap off an amazing season by beating W&M at their place to finish 9-2 and 7th. Towson will sweep UNH and URI to go 9-2 and 8th; Appalachian St. will also take their last two to finish 8-3 and 9th; and Montana's loss will slip them to 8-3 and 10th.
New Hampshire comes back from the loss at Towson to win at home against Maine, ending up 8-3 and 11th. Maine, having split their last two (beating UMass this weekend) to go 8-3 and 12th. Northern Iowa will split two tough games, winning over S. Utah and losing to Illinois St. to finish 8-3 and 13th; Liberty, in the game I'm most unsure of, will top Stony Brook for the Big South championship and end at 8-3 and 14th. I have Harvard doing the difficult task of sweeping Penn and Yale to go 9-1, winning the Ivy because they handed Brown their only loss. That puts them at 15th; Brown will take out Dartmouth and Columbia to also finish 9-1 and 19th.
Delaware gets the easy end of their schedule at the end, beating Richmond and Villanova to finish 7-4 and 16th; Drake will top Dayton this weekend to win the Pioneer at 9-2 and place 17th. Illinois St.'s win over Northern Iowa puts them 8-3 and 18th; I bring Bethune-Cookman back after wins against Savannah St. and (more importantly) Florida A&M to go 8-3 and 20th. Former top ten team Jacksonville St. gets 2 easy wins to limp back in at 7-4 and 21; Indiana St. also wins a pair to go 7-4 and 22nd. I've got North Dakota winning a tough road game at UC-Davis this week and topping rival South Dakota next to go 8-3 and 23rd; San Diego will top my boys of Jacksonville to end up 9-2 and 24th; and Central Arkansas (or Cark, as I call'em) will top Texas State to go 8-3 and 25th.
With those picks, that means I've given auto bid picks for Montana St., Liberty, Towson, Norfolk St. (who beats out slow-starters Bethune-Cookman), North Dakota St., Albany (by virtue of their earlier win over Duquesne), Eastern Kentucky, Lehigh, GaSo, and Sam Houston. I would guess that UNH, Maine, and ODU from the Colonial, Northern Iowa and Illinois St. from the MVC, Wofford and App State from the Southern are pretty much invite locks. That leaves me three more to go. If it were my call, it would be Drake, San Diego, and Indiana St.; knowing the prejudices of the bid committee, let's say Delaware, Furman (who's beat both App State and Wofford), and the Sycamores. Tune in in a couple of weeks to see how well I did.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
FCS, KHL, M-o-u-s-e
And now, back to something I've been (mercifully) lazy about, my updates on the FCS (minor-league college football) and the KHL (Russian major league hockey). Last week, I must admit, I laid off my FCS stuff because many of the teams I rank did horribly. Fortunately, they were by-and-large the same ones that the coaches ranked, so I really didn't do THAT bad. The coaches, however, sometimes I wonder if they pay ANY attention to anyone else's scores before voting. For example, I counted 24 teams that as of this morning have winning records but not even a single vote on the coaches poll. This includes 5 teams that are at least 3 games over .500- Dayton (6-3), Georgetown (7-2), Alabama A&M (6-2), Duquesne (7-2), and Drake (7-2), which makes for a combined 33-11. Now I give you that many of these are from weaker conferences and I don't even rank them. However, compare it to the 8 sub-.500 teams that DO get votes (such as Missouri State, who got enough votes to rank 30th while sporting a 1-8 record) and are a combined 22-44. Missouri State has been clubbed by every halfway decent team that's come their way- including losing to big boys Arkansas and Oregon by a combined 107-14, and lovely competitive games against #2 Northern Iowa (42-7), #26 Illinois State (38-13), and #3 North Dakota State (51-21), leaving them outscored on the season 157-353. For this tremendous record of success they got 23 votes in last week's poll. If I were an AD, I'd want to know if I employed one of those 23 coaches that think 1-8 is rewardable success.
Anyhow, here's my rankings this week- and it shifts quite a bit after former #1 Georgia Southern fell to former #11 App State 24-17, and former #6 North Dakota St. beat former #2 Northern Iowa 27-19. NDAKST goes to #1 with their big-boy-less 8-0 record. Montana St. (8-1) pulls into 2nd with a 54-13 win over Idaho St. Wofford rebounds in to 3rd (6-2), after pasting slumping Elon 48-28. GaSo drops to #4 (still 7-1 ain't bad), and Lehigh (who I got to watch against Colgate yesterday) keeps their 7-1 record in 5th for a second week. Sam Houston St. (8-0) won a conference game 66-0 over Lamar and rises to 6th; App State's victory brings them fro 11 to 7. NIU falls all the way to #8 at 6-2, while Montana at 7-2 holds at 9 after a 45-10 rout of Weber St. Rounding out the top ten is the Black Bears of Maine, who go to 7-1 after pasting Villanova 41-25 (2 years from a national championship, the Wildcats are now 1-8).
Old Dominion (7-2) won a hard fought 23-20 game against then-#8 JMU (5-3) and rise to 11th, while James Madison drops to 18. New Hampshire... well, they did win, 31-24, over doormat Rhode Island to go to 6-2 and move up one spot to 12th. Jacksonville St. (5-3) has seen the wheels fall off of late, and fall another 3 this week to 13th after losing to Tennessee Tech (which the coaches actually had at 17th, and stubbornly I have yet to rank) 21-14. A battle royal between then-#12 Towson and then-#17 Delaware ended in a 35-30 win for Delaware; therefore, the Blue Hens (5-4) rise to 14th while Towson (6-2) slips to 15th. I had to nudge Liberty (6-3) down a notch to 16th when it took them 2 OTs to top Presbyterian 27-20. Harvard ( 7-1) continues to do the Ivy League proud after whopping Dartmouth (sorry, KC) 41-10, and they move up to #17.
William AND Mary (4-4) had a week off together and slip to 19th, just behind JMU. The next five spots did well enough to stay right where they are (and thus keep Tenn Tech and Dayton off my chart)- #20 Jacksonville (6-2), #21 Stony Brook (5-3), #22 Illinois State (6-3), #23 Indiana St. (5-3, and like W&M and J'ville, took the week off), and #24 UMass (5-3). I did have one spot for a newcomer, and with reservations I gave it to Jackson State (7-1) at #25.
This week, we have a handful of ranked games: NDAKST tries to keep its new #1 ranking against #23 Indiana St.; #10 Maine vs #15 Towson; #12 UNH vs #18 JMU. Others facing tough contests are GaSo vs surprisingly 4-4 Citadel; Lehigh has conference rival Holy Cross; App State has to follow up their big win against Furman; NIU tries to recover against resurgent Youngstown St.; J-Ville State tries to stop their slide against Eastern Kentucky; Jacksonville faces Drake in an all-or-nothing for the Pioneer League lead; and Jackson State faces rival Grambling.
Montana St. gets its turn with Weber St. this week; Wofford gets cupcake Western Carolina; Sam Houston gets SE Louisiana; Montana moves on to cupcake Western Oregon; ODU faces struggling Richmond; Liberty may have a little trouble with VMI; Harvard gets Ivy doormat Columbia; W&M, who's been making everyone look good this season, plays URI; Stony Brook gets Charleston Southern, Illinois St. gets state rival Western; UMass gets to clobber 'Nova; and Delaware gets to watch it all on TV.
Very briefly on the KHL, the teams are beginning to spread out just a bit. In the west, SKA has taken the lead with a 10-2-4 record (for simplicity's sake I just combine all the various OT results into one third column). They and Dinamos Minsk and Moscow make up the top pack; Lev and Vityaz (who actually had a 2-0-1 record this week) make up the bottom rung, and the remaining teams range in a 6 point span in the middle. Over in the East, Amur (13-5-2) continues to surprise, pulling out to a 6-point lead over Traktor. Ak Bars and Avangard trail the first group; everybody else is caught in a 3-point spread... Except my poor Avtomobilst, who at 3-12-2 trail the next guy (Barys Astana this week) by a full dozen points. Ah, well.
Anyhow, here's my rankings this week- and it shifts quite a bit after former #1 Georgia Southern fell to former #11 App State 24-17, and former #6 North Dakota St. beat former #2 Northern Iowa 27-19. NDAKST goes to #1 with their big-boy-less 8-0 record. Montana St. (8-1) pulls into 2nd with a 54-13 win over Idaho St. Wofford rebounds in to 3rd (6-2), after pasting slumping Elon 48-28. GaSo drops to #4 (still 7-1 ain't bad), and Lehigh (who I got to watch against Colgate yesterday) keeps their 7-1 record in 5th for a second week. Sam Houston St. (8-0) won a conference game 66-0 over Lamar and rises to 6th; App State's victory brings them fro 11 to 7. NIU falls all the way to #8 at 6-2, while Montana at 7-2 holds at 9 after a 45-10 rout of Weber St. Rounding out the top ten is the Black Bears of Maine, who go to 7-1 after pasting Villanova 41-25 (2 years from a national championship, the Wildcats are now 1-8).
Old Dominion (7-2) won a hard fought 23-20 game against then-#8 JMU (5-3) and rise to 11th, while James Madison drops to 18. New Hampshire... well, they did win, 31-24, over doormat Rhode Island to go to 6-2 and move up one spot to 12th. Jacksonville St. (5-3) has seen the wheels fall off of late, and fall another 3 this week to 13th after losing to Tennessee Tech (which the coaches actually had at 17th, and stubbornly I have yet to rank) 21-14. A battle royal between then-#12 Towson and then-#17 Delaware ended in a 35-30 win for Delaware; therefore, the Blue Hens (5-4) rise to 14th while Towson (6-2) slips to 15th. I had to nudge Liberty (6-3) down a notch to 16th when it took them 2 OTs to top Presbyterian 27-20. Harvard ( 7-1) continues to do the Ivy League proud after whopping Dartmouth (sorry, KC) 41-10, and they move up to #17.
William AND Mary (4-4) had a week off together and slip to 19th, just behind JMU. The next five spots did well enough to stay right where they are (and thus keep Tenn Tech and Dayton off my chart)- #20 Jacksonville (6-2), #21 Stony Brook (5-3), #22 Illinois State (6-3), #23 Indiana St. (5-3, and like W&M and J'ville, took the week off), and #24 UMass (5-3). I did have one spot for a newcomer, and with reservations I gave it to Jackson State (7-1) at #25.
This week, we have a handful of ranked games: NDAKST tries to keep its new #1 ranking against #23 Indiana St.; #10 Maine vs #15 Towson; #12 UNH vs #18 JMU. Others facing tough contests are GaSo vs surprisingly 4-4 Citadel; Lehigh has conference rival Holy Cross; App State has to follow up their big win against Furman; NIU tries to recover against resurgent Youngstown St.; J-Ville State tries to stop their slide against Eastern Kentucky; Jacksonville faces Drake in an all-or-nothing for the Pioneer League lead; and Jackson State faces rival Grambling.
Montana St. gets its turn with Weber St. this week; Wofford gets cupcake Western Carolina; Sam Houston gets SE Louisiana; Montana moves on to cupcake Western Oregon; ODU faces struggling Richmond; Liberty may have a little trouble with VMI; Harvard gets Ivy doormat Columbia; W&M, who's been making everyone look good this season, plays URI; Stony Brook gets Charleston Southern, Illinois St. gets state rival Western; UMass gets to clobber 'Nova; and Delaware gets to watch it all on TV.
Very briefly on the KHL, the teams are beginning to spread out just a bit. In the west, SKA has taken the lead with a 10-2-4 record (for simplicity's sake I just combine all the various OT results into one third column). They and Dinamos Minsk and Moscow make up the top pack; Lev and Vityaz (who actually had a 2-0-1 record this week) make up the bottom rung, and the remaining teams range in a 6 point span in the middle. Over in the East, Amur (13-5-2) continues to surprise, pulling out to a 6-point lead over Traktor. Ak Bars and Avangard trail the first group; everybody else is caught in a 3-point spread... Except my poor Avtomobilst, who at 3-12-2 trail the next guy (Barys Astana this week) by a full dozen points. Ah, well.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday sports stuff
Okay, praise and worship the Lord? Check. Clean up last night's mess? Check. (AKA the second round of the beer tasting. Lesson: if you grew up with lager, amber beers aren't significantly different from dark beers.) Take walk? Rain shortened, but check. Good, now let me do my FCS and KHL stuff.
First off, let me begin by explaining why I do a FCS football ranking. (FCS is the second tier of College football.) This week, I had ranked 6 teams in my top 25 that the official coaches poll did not. These teams went 5-1 with an average victory margin of 10.3 Saturday. On the other hand there were 6 teams that the coaches ranked and I did not. One of them, Richmond, was off this weekend. The remaining 5 went 1-4 with an average loss margin of 24.8. Hooray for me!
I still have Georgia Southern at my #1 spot, as do the coaches. In fact, the one thing that the coaches and I differ on in the top 4 is in our choices of 2 and 3, with the coaches putting Northern Iowa at 2 and I put Wofford in the runner up. We agreed on Montana State 4th. All won by at least 17 this weekend, with the only real competition being faced was Northern's 31-14 win over a South Dakota State team that "also received votes" from the coaches.
My top seven remained the same, with Lehigh #5, followed by Jacksonville St., and North Dakota St. But I am at last giving up on Appalachian St. being as good as last year. After a 49-42 win over a Citadel team that all the good teams- even punchless William AND Mary- beat easily, I dropped them out of the top 10 to 11th. Also falling from the top ten was New Hampshire. A team that both I (9th) and the coaches (6th) apparently overrated, they got clubbed by that same "punchless" W&M team 24-10 and fall to 14th. Taking advantage were: James Madison, which moves up 2 to 8th after blowing out woebegone Villanova 34-10 (which, being a "punchless" W&M fan I enjoyed thoroughly); Sam Houston St., who beat a halfway decent Nichols St. team 47-7 to take 9th; and Montana, whom I hate to move up because everytime I do, bad things happen to them. Nevertheless, they came back to beat tough Portland St. 30-24 and slide into 10th.
Norfolk St. moves up into 12th, and with last week's #16 Towson topping last week's #14 Old Dominion 39-35, Towson moves up to 13, while ODU falls to 18. Liberty was 17th on mine and "also receiving votes" on the coaches last week; they played Coastal Carolina, who was ignored for good reason by me and ranked 20th on the coaches poll. Result? Liberty 63, CC 27. Liberty moves up to 15th on my list, while CC sinks into obscurity. Indiana St.'s mighty Sycamores roll over Western Illinois 46-24 and move up to 19th. Oh, and Delaware, much higher ranked by the coaches last week (8) than me (13) got drubbed 21-10 by UMass a team I had at 21 (and still do) and they had "also receiving votes." I suspect that this week the coaches might have the Blue Hens a little closer to the 17th I dropped them to than last time.
Maine, after a tough win over JMU last week, struggled to beat CAA doormat Rhode Island 27-21 and slip to 20th; #22 San Diego, #23 South Carolina State, and #24 North Dakota (which last week I rechristened North Bakota for whatever reason- probably the same reason that once every Saturday Northern Iowa becomes Northern Ireland) were victims of the numbers game and held their positions despite impressive wins. And finally, little Elon lost its brief grip on the last spot on my poll after getting schwacked by Samford 43-31. Taking their place is Jacksonville, who shellacked Morehead St. 50-14 to get back to 5-2.
Next week features two top 25 games- #13 Towson against hopefully resurgent #16 W&M, and #14 UNH looking for redemption against Hen-slaying #21 UMass. #6 J-ville St. has a big boy game against Kentucky; Sam Houston faces McNeese St., one of those teams that they ranked (17) and I didn't and got beat; Maine faces the well-rested Richmond Spiders; and Lehigh and JMU take the week off.
Moving on to the KHL update.Dinamo Moscow and SKA continue to dominate the west, despite Dinamo getting blanked Friday by Canadian goalie Michael Garnett and his Traktor team 2-0.Moscow started the week with a 6-5 win over Magnitogorsk in which they trailed most of the game and score twice in the last 5 1/2 minutes to win. That was enough for the Magnitogorsk team- favorites in the East but struggling at 5-7- and Coach Alexander Garkov got the axe. SKA kept pace with wins over Red Army 4-2 and Salavat Yulaev 4-2 (despite being outshot 39-24) to go to 7-1-2 and tied with Moscow (8-5-1) for the top with 26 points. Dinamo Minsk had the only other winning record in the west at 6-3-4 after a 5-2 win over Barys Astana. The third Dinamo, Riga, has started to recover from a horrible start with a 4-2 win over Poprad and a 2-0 blanking of my still-struggling team from Ekaterinburg. They still lead only Vityaz (who got a rare point with a shootout win over Severstal
In the East, the battle is between Traktor (who won twice this week, also topping Ak Bars 2-1) and Amur, who posted a 6-1 rout of Spartak and a 5-2 win at Vityaz. Not far back is Avangard, who had just a shootout win over Torpedo to their credit this week. Dropping back was Ak Bars, who also lost surprisingly to Poprad 4-1. More surprisingly is the continued schnide that Salavat is on. In addition to the previously mentioned loss to SKA, they also fell to Sibir ( on Vladmir Taraseko's hat trick) 6-3, and to Metallurg Novkutnesk 1-0. Sibir is working its way up, though, with Tarasenko striking for a goal and two assists in a 3-1 win over Severstal. The woes slightly abated for Salavat today, though; in one of the games already complete when I began this, they had at least gotten a point in a 3-2 OT loss to Red Army. Ekaterinburg split this week, with a 1-0 win over Neftekhimik behind Evgeny Lobanov's 28 saves which puts them at 3-9 for the season.
So the actual standings coming into this morning's games had Moscow and SKA both at the top of the West with 26, followed by Minsk at 24, Torpedo at 20, Spartak and Atlant at 19, Severstal and Red Army at 18, Poprad at 15, Riga at 14, and Vityaz thugging along at their usual clip with 8. In the East, it was Traktor at 28, Amur at 26, Avangard at23, Ak Bars at 22, Salavat 19, Sibir 18, Yugra and Novokutnesk at 17, Magnitogorsk and Neftekhimik at 15, Barys at 13, and Ekaterinburg at 9.
Looking over at the scoreboard one more time, there's still just the four games finished- Salavat's OT loss to Red Army; Amur won again, 4-3 against Severstal; Novokutensk took out Vityaz 6-3; and Sibir lost to Avangard in a shootout. And among the four games going on, Ekaterinburg is down 4-1 to SKA in the third. Whatcha gonna do?
First off, let me begin by explaining why I do a FCS football ranking. (FCS is the second tier of College football.) This week, I had ranked 6 teams in my top 25 that the official coaches poll did not. These teams went 5-1 with an average victory margin of 10.3 Saturday. On the other hand there were 6 teams that the coaches ranked and I did not. One of them, Richmond, was off this weekend. The remaining 5 went 1-4 with an average loss margin of 24.8. Hooray for me!
I still have Georgia Southern at my #1 spot, as do the coaches. In fact, the one thing that the coaches and I differ on in the top 4 is in our choices of 2 and 3, with the coaches putting Northern Iowa at 2 and I put Wofford in the runner up. We agreed on Montana State 4th. All won by at least 17 this weekend, with the only real competition being faced was Northern's 31-14 win over a South Dakota State team that "also received votes" from the coaches.
My top seven remained the same, with Lehigh #5, followed by Jacksonville St., and North Dakota St. But I am at last giving up on Appalachian St. being as good as last year. After a 49-42 win over a Citadel team that all the good teams- even punchless William AND Mary- beat easily, I dropped them out of the top 10 to 11th. Also falling from the top ten was New Hampshire. A team that both I (9th) and the coaches (6th) apparently overrated, they got clubbed by that same "punchless" W&M team 24-10 and fall to 14th. Taking advantage were: James Madison, which moves up 2 to 8th after blowing out woebegone Villanova 34-10 (which, being a "punchless" W&M fan I enjoyed thoroughly); Sam Houston St., who beat a halfway decent Nichols St. team 47-7 to take 9th; and Montana, whom I hate to move up because everytime I do, bad things happen to them. Nevertheless, they came back to beat tough Portland St. 30-24 and slide into 10th.
Norfolk St. moves up into 12th, and with last week's #16 Towson topping last week's #14 Old Dominion 39-35, Towson moves up to 13, while ODU falls to 18. Liberty was 17th on mine and "also receiving votes" on the coaches last week; they played Coastal Carolina, who was ignored for good reason by me and ranked 20th on the coaches poll. Result? Liberty 63, CC 27. Liberty moves up to 15th on my list, while CC sinks into obscurity. Indiana St.'s mighty Sycamores roll over Western Illinois 46-24 and move up to 19th. Oh, and Delaware, much higher ranked by the coaches last week (8) than me (13) got drubbed 21-10 by UMass a team I had at 21 (and still do) and they had "also receiving votes." I suspect that this week the coaches might have the Blue Hens a little closer to the 17th I dropped them to than last time.
Maine, after a tough win over JMU last week, struggled to beat CAA doormat Rhode Island 27-21 and slip to 20th; #22 San Diego, #23 South Carolina State, and #24 North Dakota (which last week I rechristened North Bakota for whatever reason- probably the same reason that once every Saturday Northern Iowa becomes Northern Ireland) were victims of the numbers game and held their positions despite impressive wins. And finally, little Elon lost its brief grip on the last spot on my poll after getting schwacked by Samford 43-31. Taking their place is Jacksonville, who shellacked Morehead St. 50-14 to get back to 5-2.
Next week features two top 25 games- #13 Towson against hopefully resurgent #16 W&M, and #14 UNH looking for redemption against Hen-slaying #21 UMass. #6 J-ville St. has a big boy game against Kentucky; Sam Houston faces McNeese St., one of those teams that they ranked (17) and I didn't and got beat; Maine faces the well-rested Richmond Spiders; and Lehigh and JMU take the week off.
Moving on to the KHL update.Dinamo Moscow and SKA continue to dominate the west, despite Dinamo getting blanked Friday by Canadian goalie Michael Garnett and his Traktor team 2-0.Moscow started the week with a 6-5 win over Magnitogorsk in which they trailed most of the game and score twice in the last 5 1/2 minutes to win. That was enough for the Magnitogorsk team- favorites in the East but struggling at 5-7- and Coach Alexander Garkov got the axe. SKA kept pace with wins over Red Army 4-2 and Salavat Yulaev 4-2 (despite being outshot 39-24) to go to 7-1-2 and tied with Moscow (8-5-1) for the top with 26 points. Dinamo Minsk had the only other winning record in the west at 6-3-4 after a 5-2 win over Barys Astana. The third Dinamo, Riga, has started to recover from a horrible start with a 4-2 win over Poprad and a 2-0 blanking of my still-struggling team from Ekaterinburg. They still lead only Vityaz (who got a rare point with a shootout win over Severstal
In the East, the battle is between Traktor (who won twice this week, also topping Ak Bars 2-1) and Amur, who posted a 6-1 rout of Spartak and a 5-2 win at Vityaz. Not far back is Avangard, who had just a shootout win over Torpedo to their credit this week. Dropping back was Ak Bars, who also lost surprisingly to Poprad 4-1. More surprisingly is the continued schnide that Salavat is on. In addition to the previously mentioned loss to SKA, they also fell to Sibir ( on Vladmir Taraseko's hat trick) 6-3, and to Metallurg Novkutnesk 1-0. Sibir is working its way up, though, with Tarasenko striking for a goal and two assists in a 3-1 win over Severstal. The woes slightly abated for Salavat today, though; in one of the games already complete when I began this, they had at least gotten a point in a 3-2 OT loss to Red Army. Ekaterinburg split this week, with a 1-0 win over Neftekhimik behind Evgeny Lobanov's 28 saves which puts them at 3-9 for the season.
So the actual standings coming into this morning's games had Moscow and SKA both at the top of the West with 26, followed by Minsk at 24, Torpedo at 20, Spartak and Atlant at 19, Severstal and Red Army at 18, Poprad at 15, Riga at 14, and Vityaz thugging along at their usual clip with 8. In the East, it was Traktor at 28, Amur at 26, Avangard at23, Ak Bars at 22, Salavat 19, Sibir 18, Yugra and Novokutnesk at 17, Magnitogorsk and Neftekhimik at 15, Barys at 13, and Ekaterinburg at 9.
Looking over at the scoreboard one more time, there's still just the four games finished- Salavat's OT loss to Red Army; Amur won again, 4-3 against Severstal; Novokutensk took out Vityaz 6-3; and Sibir lost to Avangard in a shootout. And among the four games going on, Ekaterinburg is down 4-1 to SKA in the third. Whatcha gonna do?
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
NHFFL week #3 and FCS week #4
Howdy, sports fans! Let's get started with the NHFFL results this week, in which our three undefeated teams dwindled to two, and the Purple division went 5-1 against the Gold. No 70+ point performances this week, but we did manage a pair of 50's. The Rangers stayed undefeated with a 54-30 win over winless Buzz. Another big Tom Brady day and a 15 point performance by Run DMC made most of the damage. The B2s routed the Beagles 53-32, and Eli Manning's 15 and Wes Welker's 12 led their way as the only Gold team to win the years' first cross-division week. Just missing were the Aguas, who blew out the Ducks 47-29.A close match until the late games, the Aguas got 15 from Mike Wallace and Tim Hightower in the late two games.
The KCAs got on the win column with a 43-29 win over the Clock BBQs, nearly doubling their season's point total.Switching to 2nd Kicker Jason Hanson (15 points) and 2 TDs from Ryan Mathews carried the weight in the father-son matchup that was close throughout the early Sunday games. The Angels ended the Elks undefeated run 30-21, with Pittsburgh's D breaking open a one-point game Sunday Night. And in Newbie bowl #1, the Greenwoods topped the Chops 24-21, with a Ben Rothlesburger-led Porkchop rally falling just short. Here are the week three standings:
Next week we go back to divisional play, with #1 Rangers facing the Beagles, #2 Aguas against the Greenwoods in Newbie bowl #2, #3 Elks playing the Ducks, and KCAs/Angels, B2s/Chops, and Clock BBQs/Buzz.
In the FCS, my top 3 hold positions, with easy wins for #1 GA Southern (52-20 over Western Carolina) and #2 Wofford (38-23 over Samford), and #3 App State pulling out a close one against #12 Chattanooga 14-12. GA SO gets a tough test against Elon next week, and is one of 7 teams who I matched places with this week's coaches poll ( the others being #3 App St, #4 Montana St, #8 James Madison, #10 William AND Mary - tied for tenth- #18 Sam Houston St, and #25 Sacremento St -also tied for the spot). Wofford, 2 for me and tied for 6 on the coaches, faces off against #3 App St this weekend. Montana St , fresh off a 36-21 pasting of defending champ (and current 0-4) Eastern Washington, play #25 Sacremento State, who squeak back in after embarrassing Montana 48-27. Jacksonville State moves up to #5 after topping Eastern Illinois 28-21. They get less love from the poll (13) and look to move up against a tough Murray St team.
New Hampshire takes my 6 spot (poll #9) after their exciting 35-31 win over then #7 Richmond. They get a cupcake game against Holy Cross this week; while Richmond ( 9 on mine and T-10 poll) get # 8 JMU, so a lot of things are going to get shook out this weekend! If you read last night's post, you know what JMU did to W&M Saturday (which is more than I could say at the time), so W&M drop to 10 and get archrival -and struggling- Villanova, who just got their first win this weekend... I don't like where this is headed!
Lehigh holds at 11 (14 poll) after downing then #15 Liberty 27-24. They play Yale this weekend, the only undefeated Ivy League team, so we'll see if there's any point in following the Ivy League Saturday. Chattanooga holds at 12, 17 coaches, and plays a much easier game against the Citadel this weekend. North Dakota St (13/16) moved up after winning their Big Boy Game over Minnesota 37-24 and come back to conference play next time against Illinois St. I really wanted to move Delaware up a little farther after a 27-17 win over then #22 ODU, they'll have a better shot Saturday against conference foe Maine. Montana's loss dropped them to 15/16; they'll try to recover against Idaho St.
South Carolina St enjoyed a 69-0 bashing of cupcake over Delaware St (this year's Valparaiso) and face Norfolk St next. Southern Illinois (who they like better than me at 17/12) limped past 0-4 Missouri St 20-18 and get state rival Western next weekend. Sam Houston blew a big lead in the fourth quarter but won their BBG, 48-45 OT vs New Mexico; they get Texas San Antonio next.Holding at 19 is UMass after losing their BBG to Boston College 45-17; They'll take on the also-holding #22 ODU. UMass is 20 on the coaches poll and ODU is back to "also receiving votes" along with my #20 Towson, #23 Liberty, and #24 Bethune-Cookman(who is technically in the "not receiving votes" category).
Towson joins the fun after brushing their teeth with Colgate 42-17, but have a BBG against the Terps of Maryland this week. Indiana St (21/23) edges up after edging Youngstown St 37-35 and get South Dakota St next time. Liberty tries to get back off the schnide against cupcake Kentucky Wesleyan; B-C took out a tough Hampton team 35-31 last Thursday and will likely take a whupping against BBG Miami FL.
The KCAs got on the win column with a 43-29 win over the Clock BBQs, nearly doubling their season's point total.Switching to 2nd Kicker Jason Hanson (15 points) and 2 TDs from Ryan Mathews carried the weight in the father-son matchup that was close throughout the early Sunday games. The Angels ended the Elks undefeated run 30-21, with Pittsburgh's D breaking open a one-point game Sunday Night. And in Newbie bowl #1, the Greenwoods topped the Chops 24-21, with a Ben Rothlesburger-led Porkchop rally falling just short. Here are the week three standings:
Next week we go back to divisional play, with #1 Rangers facing the Beagles, #2 Aguas against the Greenwoods in Newbie bowl #2, #3 Elks playing the Ducks, and KCAs/Angels, B2s/Chops, and Clock BBQs/Buzz.
In the FCS, my top 3 hold positions, with easy wins for #1 GA Southern (52-20 over Western Carolina) and #2 Wofford (38-23 over Samford), and #3 App State pulling out a close one against #12 Chattanooga 14-12. GA SO gets a tough test against Elon next week, and is one of 7 teams who I matched places with this week's coaches poll ( the others being #3 App St, #4 Montana St, #8 James Madison, #10 William AND Mary - tied for tenth- #18 Sam Houston St, and #25 Sacremento St -also tied for the spot). Wofford, 2 for me and tied for 6 on the coaches, faces off against #3 App St this weekend. Montana St , fresh off a 36-21 pasting of defending champ (and current 0-4) Eastern Washington, play #25 Sacremento State, who squeak back in after embarrassing Montana 48-27. Jacksonville State moves up to #5 after topping Eastern Illinois 28-21. They get less love from the poll (13) and look to move up against a tough Murray St team.
New Hampshire takes my 6 spot (poll #9) after their exciting 35-31 win over then #7 Richmond. They get a cupcake game against Holy Cross this week; while Richmond ( 9 on mine and T-10 poll) get # 8 JMU, so a lot of things are going to get shook out this weekend! If you read last night's post, you know what JMU did to W&M Saturday (which is more than I could say at the time), so W&M drop to 10 and get archrival -and struggling- Villanova, who just got their first win this weekend... I don't like where this is headed!
Lehigh holds at 11 (14 poll) after downing then #15 Liberty 27-24. They play Yale this weekend, the only undefeated Ivy League team, so we'll see if there's any point in following the Ivy League Saturday. Chattanooga holds at 12, 17 coaches, and plays a much easier game against the Citadel this weekend. North Dakota St (13/16) moved up after winning their Big Boy Game over Minnesota 37-24 and come back to conference play next time against Illinois St. I really wanted to move Delaware up a little farther after a 27-17 win over then #22 ODU, they'll have a better shot Saturday against conference foe Maine. Montana's loss dropped them to 15/16; they'll try to recover against Idaho St.
South Carolina St enjoyed a 69-0 bashing of cupcake over Delaware St (this year's Valparaiso) and face Norfolk St next. Southern Illinois (who they like better than me at 17/12) limped past 0-4 Missouri St 20-18 and get state rival Western next weekend. Sam Houston blew a big lead in the fourth quarter but won their BBG, 48-45 OT vs New Mexico; they get Texas San Antonio next.Holding at 19 is UMass after losing their BBG to Boston College 45-17; They'll take on the also-holding #22 ODU. UMass is 20 on the coaches poll and ODU is back to "also receiving votes" along with my #20 Towson, #23 Liberty, and #24 Bethune-Cookman(who is technically in the "not receiving votes" category).
Towson joins the fun after brushing their teeth with Colgate 42-17, but have a BBG against the Terps of Maryland this week. Indiana St (21/23) edges up after edging Youngstown St 37-35 and get South Dakota St next time. Liberty tries to get back off the schnide against cupcake Kentucky Wesleyan; B-C took out a tough Hampton team 35-31 last Thursday and will likely take a whupping against BBG Miami FL.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
tonight i get fcs stuff done on time...
Which means hot off the presses. My new rankings are done, and sadly the three teams that stood 0-2, and I made excuses for them- good ones I thought- went out and got beat today, and thus will be out. That starts with former #1 and defending champ Eastern Washington who lost to Montana 17-14. A decent loss to a good team, sealed when QB Bo Levi Mitchell threw a pick with 40 ticks left, his second of the game. Then we have Villanova, who has been so good for so long, I couldn't make myself believe they were really that bad- until they lost to Monmouth 20-9. They had just pulled back to a 4 point game with a safety and the ball, but went 3-and-out inside the 2 minute mark. They punted, and with 1:12 left Monmouth sealed it with a 44-yd run. The third was Stony Brook, who seemingly survived their first two losses in Big Boy Games, only to blow a 17-7 lead in the 3rd quarter against Ivy Leaguer Brown to lose 21-20.
So Georgia Southern and Wofford, who watched the games on TV, stayed 1 and 2. App State stayed at 3 after pounding hapless Savannah St. 41-6. Here comes my controversial call, though: I leapfrogged Montana to #4 after the win over EWU; held Montana State to 5th despite a 43-7 win - because it was against cupcake Minot State-; and dropped William AND Mary to #6 despite their win, 13-10 over Division II #23 New Haven- because, ranked or not, a cupcake is a cupcake, and I'm still wondering if W&M has any offense once they play the powerhouses of the CAA.
Richmond dumped VMI 34-19 to go to 3-0 and take my 7th spot. I moved Jacksonville State up one to #8 despite another lackluster performance, 37-21 over Georgia St. Moving into the top ten are 2 of the other bye weekers- New Hampshire in 9th and Northern Iowa in 10th. Lehigh moved up to 11th after a 34-22 win over Princeton; Chattanooga to 12 after beating tough Eastern Kentucky 21-14. JMU, 16th going in, played then #11 Liberty; James Madison got a FG with :02 left to win 27-24. JMU moves up to 13, while Liberty drops to 15th. Rocketing up to take #14 is Delaware, who beat cupcake rival Delaware State 45-0.
Two more layabouts this week, North Dakota State and Southern Illinois, move up to 16 and 17 respectively. I held South Carolina State at 18 despite losing their BBG to Indiana 38-21. After watching UMass take out a tough URI team 36-27, I relented and ranked them at 19. SF Austin drops to 20 after getting beat in their BBG by #19 Baylor 48-0 in a game ended by lightning after three quarters. Western Carolina spent what might be their last week in the top 25 at 21; ODU moves up to 22 with a tough Hampton team 45-42. Coming in for the first time at 23 is Sam Houston State, who played an "also getting votes" Central Arkansas team and flattening them 31-10. Bethune Cookman was the last of the day-off teams and hold at 24; Indiana St. takes the last available decision after winning their BBG over (allegedly) FBS team Western Kentucky 44-16.
When I shut down the scoreboard, South Dakota, who everyone loved after their win over EWU, had won, but against cupcake NW Oklahoma State, 48-10; Sacremento State, who started out so promisingly with that win over Oregon State, was getting pasted by a conference foe; and for all those Ivy Leaguers that thought Penn was going to repeat, they were abbreviated by Lafayette 37-12. And thus, all missed their chance to enter my rankings.
Next week, nobody is off. We have 3 more big boy games- #16 N. Dakota State vs Minnesota; #19 UMass against neighborhood rival Boston College; and #23 Sam Houston faces a New Mexico team that got schmeared by Texas Tech today. One team gets a cupcake- #18 S. Carolina St. gets their turn with Delaware St. Battles among the ranked teams include #21 Western Carolina vs #1 Georgia Southern; #12 Chattanooga draws #3 App State; #6 Wm. & Mary better wake up that offense NOW, because #13 JMU is coming to town; #7 Richmond and #9 UNH duke it out; #14 Delaware and #22 ODU face off; and #15 Liberty goes from ranked JMU to #11 Lehigh. Other matches include Wofford getting off easy against Samford; Montana gets reeling Sacremento St.; Montana St. has their turn with newly-unranked EWU; J'ville St. gets Eastern Illinois, while Northern Iowa gets Western Illinois; Southern Illinois chimes in against Missouri St.; SFA gets state rival Texas St.; Indiana St. goes up against conference rival Youngstown St.; and B-C gets a Thursday game with Hampton.
So Georgia Southern and Wofford, who watched the games on TV, stayed 1 and 2. App State stayed at 3 after pounding hapless Savannah St. 41-6. Here comes my controversial call, though: I leapfrogged Montana to #4 after the win over EWU; held Montana State to 5th despite a 43-7 win - because it was against cupcake Minot State-; and dropped William AND Mary to #6 despite their win, 13-10 over Division II #23 New Haven- because, ranked or not, a cupcake is a cupcake, and I'm still wondering if W&M has any offense once they play the powerhouses of the CAA.
Richmond dumped VMI 34-19 to go to 3-0 and take my 7th spot. I moved Jacksonville State up one to #8 despite another lackluster performance, 37-21 over Georgia St. Moving into the top ten are 2 of the other bye weekers- New Hampshire in 9th and Northern Iowa in 10th. Lehigh moved up to 11th after a 34-22 win over Princeton; Chattanooga to 12 after beating tough Eastern Kentucky 21-14. JMU, 16th going in, played then #11 Liberty; James Madison got a FG with :02 left to win 27-24. JMU moves up to 13, while Liberty drops to 15th. Rocketing up to take #14 is Delaware, who beat cupcake rival Delaware State 45-0.
Two more layabouts this week, North Dakota State and Southern Illinois, move up to 16 and 17 respectively. I held South Carolina State at 18 despite losing their BBG to Indiana 38-21. After watching UMass take out a tough URI team 36-27, I relented and ranked them at 19. SF Austin drops to 20 after getting beat in their BBG by #19 Baylor 48-0 in a game ended by lightning after three quarters. Western Carolina spent what might be their last week in the top 25 at 21; ODU moves up to 22 with a tough Hampton team 45-42. Coming in for the first time at 23 is Sam Houston State, who played an "also getting votes" Central Arkansas team and flattening them 31-10. Bethune Cookman was the last of the day-off teams and hold at 24; Indiana St. takes the last available decision after winning their BBG over (allegedly) FBS team Western Kentucky 44-16.
When I shut down the scoreboard, South Dakota, who everyone loved after their win over EWU, had won, but against cupcake NW Oklahoma State, 48-10; Sacremento State, who started out so promisingly with that win over Oregon State, was getting pasted by a conference foe; and for all those Ivy Leaguers that thought Penn was going to repeat, they were abbreviated by Lafayette 37-12. And thus, all missed their chance to enter my rankings.
Next week, nobody is off. We have 3 more big boy games- #16 N. Dakota State vs Minnesota; #19 UMass against neighborhood rival Boston College; and #23 Sam Houston faces a New Mexico team that got schmeared by Texas Tech today. One team gets a cupcake- #18 S. Carolina St. gets their turn with Delaware St. Battles among the ranked teams include #21 Western Carolina vs #1 Georgia Southern; #12 Chattanooga draws #3 App State; #6 Wm. & Mary better wake up that offense NOW, because #13 JMU is coming to town; #7 Richmond and #9 UNH duke it out; #14 Delaware and #22 ODU face off; and #15 Liberty goes from ranked JMU to #11 Lehigh. Other matches include Wofford getting off easy against Samford; Montana gets reeling Sacremento St.; Montana St. has their turn with newly-unranked EWU; J'ville St. gets Eastern Illinois, while Northern Iowa gets Western Illinois; Southern Illinois chimes in against Missouri St.; SFA gets state rival Texas St.; Indiana St. goes up against conference rival Youngstown St.; and B-C gets a Thursday game with Hampton.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Sports stuff
Starting with my FCS report. Georgia Southern remained #1 (on my and the coaches' poll) after winning a creampuff game against Tusculum 62-21, and Wofford stayed at #2 (#8 coaches) after giving big boy Clemson all they wanted in a 35-27 loss. Appalachian St. rebounded after their kicking by VA Tech, routing conference foe N. Carolina A&T 58-6 to move into third in both polls, while William AND Mary climbed to 4th (5th) after topping VMI 24-7. The two Montanas each move up a pair on mine; Montana St. (4) to #5, riding a 3 TD second quarter to rout UC-Davis 38-14, while Montana (11) moved to 6th with a tough 37-23 win over Cal Poly. Eastern Washington drops to 7th (10) with their shocking 30-17 drubbing by South Dakota, 2-0 after being a doormat all last year. Richmond moves to 8 (9) after a lackluster 21-7 win over Wagner; Jacksonville St., who struggled in week 1, lost in week two to then #24 Chattanooga 38-17 to fall to #9 (16). Rounding out my top ten is New Hampshire (12), who defeated a team that I had regrettably not ranked- Lehigh- 48-41 in OT.
The rest of my top twenty-five includes #11 Liberty (20), #12 Northern Iowa (2, are you kidding?), #13 Villanova (in the also getting votes section),#14 Chattanooga (17),#15 Lehigh (19),#16 James Madison (14), #17 SF Austin (13), #18 South Carolina State (21), #19 North Dakota State (6, c'mon man!) #20 S. Illinois (15), #21 Delaware(7, but they burned us all last year), #22 Stony Brook, 0-2 but losses in two big boy games, losing in OT to UTEP week one and 35-7 to Buffalo last week), #23 Western Carolina (who won a rout against cupcake Mars Hill after a 42 point loss to big boy Georgia tech), #24 Bethune-Cookman (also getting votes after a 26-18 loss to South Carolina State), and #25 Old Dominion ( ignored despite outscoring FCS rivals 81-31 in two games). In place of the five of mine they didn't like, the coaches had Central Arkansas (18), McNeese St. (22) South Dakota (23, and they were still giving them votes at 1-4 last year) Sacramento State (24, who got blown out by Southern Utah 35-14) and UMass (25 and no longer eligible for anything since they move to FBS next year). I can see Central Arkansas, but all McNeese has on its ledger is a 42-21 loss to bbg Kansas and week two off.
This week, 7 of my teams (GA Southern, Wofford, UNH, Northern Iowa, N. Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Western Carolina, and Bethune Cookman) get a week off. The lone BBG belongs to SF Austin (Baylor- ouch!). Ranked matchups include #6 Montana vs #7 Eastern Washington ( a FAR bigger game for EWU after last week), and #11 Liberty vs #16 JMU. Two teams get cupcake games (W&M vs New Haven and Montana St. vs Minot State). That leaves us with: App St. vs Savannah State (who are 0-2 and already have 100 points against); Richmond against VMI (who W&M had no problem with), Jacksonville State vs Georgia State (who got pasted by ODU last week) and boy don't THEY need a win; Villanova gets Monmouth (everyone's favorite whupping boy, and they REALLY need to whup someone, anyone, at 0-2); Chattanooga gets Eastern Kentucky (who followed up an impressive 3-point loss to Kansas State with a disappointing 4 point win over Missouri State); Lehigh gets Princeton (who, like the rest of the Ivy League, opens this week); OOPS! South Carolina St. also has a BBG- against IU! Delaware gets cross state rival Delaware State (who is a deceptive 2-0- they only topped VMI by 3, and had to score 22 in the 4th quarter to edge cupcake Shaw); Stony Brook finally picks on someone their own size, Ivy Leaguer Brown; And ODU draws Hampton (who is a solid but not spectacular 2-0).
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I also thought I might do an every week or two report on the KHL, in honor of the fallen of Lokomotiv. The season opened this week, and Torpedo Nizhny-Novgorod is off to a 3-0 start, with a pair of 3-0 shutouts surrounding a 4-1 win over Spartak. They lead the Western conference by 3 points over Dinamo Minsk, whose only loss was one of those same 3-0 shutouts. Last years' conference champ are among 5 teams with one win, theirs a 3-1 victory over Neftekhimik. The "Moscow trio" are 2-3 combined thus far, with Dinamo and Red Army both 1-1. In the east, the season opening Lokomotiv Cup went to Salavat Yulaev, who rallied from early down 3-0 to win 5-3 over Atlant. They followed that up with a 5-4 win over traditional rival Ak Bars to be one of two teams with 2 wins. The other is season favorite Metallurg Magnitogorsk, who has topped first year team Lev Poprad 4-2 and Traktor Chelyabinsk 5-1. Poprad, who started in the Czech Republic and moved to Slovakia when the Czech Hockey Federation would not clear them to play in the KHL, is the first and only team from outside the old Soviet Union (and one of 4 outside of Russia proper). They also dropped one to second year team Yugra 3-1 to open their first campaign at 0-2. There has already been two games that went to OT shootouts: the first night, Traktor topped Metallurg Novokutznetsk 3-2, and this morning our time, Avangard Omsk topped Kazakhstan's Barys Astana 5-4.
Of course, the team I always feel sorry for is Amur Khabarovsk, way out on the Pacific coast. It is farther from their to the next closest team (I think Magnitogorsk or Omsk) than it is fro that city to Poprad in fricking Slovakia! Thus they get a lot of doubleheaders over two nights. The first was against Sibir Novosibirsk, with the far-easters losing the first 5-2 and winning the second 5-3. The league has thought about getting rid of them because of travel costs, but they outdraw the rest of the league at home consistently. But I think until Loko gets back next year, my team will be Automobilsk Yekaterinburg- the city where the Bolsheviks celebrated their newfound rule by slaughtering the Romanov family. AY opened with a 3-2 loss to Metallurg Novokutznetsk, and followed with a 3-1 win this AM over Neftekhimik, and thus are not only looking up at East leaders Salavat and Magnitogorsk, but also Omsk with 5 points and and Novokutznetsk and Barys with 4.
The rest of my top twenty-five includes #11 Liberty (20), #12 Northern Iowa (2, are you kidding?), #13 Villanova (in the also getting votes section),#14 Chattanooga (17),#15 Lehigh (19),#16 James Madison (14), #17 SF Austin (13), #18 South Carolina State (21), #19 North Dakota State (6, c'mon man!) #20 S. Illinois (15), #21 Delaware(7, but they burned us all last year), #22 Stony Brook, 0-2 but losses in two big boy games, losing in OT to UTEP week one and 35-7 to Buffalo last week), #23 Western Carolina (who won a rout against cupcake Mars Hill after a 42 point loss to big boy Georgia tech), #24 Bethune-Cookman (also getting votes after a 26-18 loss to South Carolina State), and #25 Old Dominion ( ignored despite outscoring FCS rivals 81-31 in two games). In place of the five of mine they didn't like, the coaches had Central Arkansas (18), McNeese St. (22) South Dakota (23, and they were still giving them votes at 1-4 last year) Sacramento State (24, who got blown out by Southern Utah 35-14) and UMass (25 and no longer eligible for anything since they move to FBS next year). I can see Central Arkansas, but all McNeese has on its ledger is a 42-21 loss to bbg Kansas and week two off.
This week, 7 of my teams (GA Southern, Wofford, UNH, Northern Iowa, N. Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Western Carolina, and Bethune Cookman) get a week off. The lone BBG belongs to SF Austin (Baylor- ouch!). Ranked matchups include #6 Montana vs #7 Eastern Washington ( a FAR bigger game for EWU after last week), and #11 Liberty vs #16 JMU. Two teams get cupcake games (W&M vs New Haven and Montana St. vs Minot State). That leaves us with: App St. vs Savannah State (who are 0-2 and already have 100 points against); Richmond against VMI (who W&M had no problem with), Jacksonville State vs Georgia State (who got pasted by ODU last week) and boy don't THEY need a win; Villanova gets Monmouth (everyone's favorite whupping boy, and they REALLY need to whup someone, anyone, at 0-2); Chattanooga gets Eastern Kentucky (who followed up an impressive 3-point loss to Kansas State with a disappointing 4 point win over Missouri State); Lehigh gets Princeton (who, like the rest of the Ivy League, opens this week); OOPS! South Carolina St. also has a BBG- against IU! Delaware gets cross state rival Delaware State (who is a deceptive 2-0- they only topped VMI by 3, and had to score 22 in the 4th quarter to edge cupcake Shaw); Stony Brook finally picks on someone their own size, Ivy Leaguer Brown; And ODU draws Hampton (who is a solid but not spectacular 2-0).
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I also thought I might do an every week or two report on the KHL, in honor of the fallen of Lokomotiv. The season opened this week, and Torpedo Nizhny-Novgorod is off to a 3-0 start, with a pair of 3-0 shutouts surrounding a 4-1 win over Spartak. They lead the Western conference by 3 points over Dinamo Minsk, whose only loss was one of those same 3-0 shutouts. Last years' conference champ are among 5 teams with one win, theirs a 3-1 victory over Neftekhimik. The "Moscow trio" are 2-3 combined thus far, with Dinamo and Red Army both 1-1. In the east, the season opening Lokomotiv Cup went to Salavat Yulaev, who rallied from early down 3-0 to win 5-3 over Atlant. They followed that up with a 5-4 win over traditional rival Ak Bars to be one of two teams with 2 wins. The other is season favorite Metallurg Magnitogorsk, who has topped first year team Lev Poprad 4-2 and Traktor Chelyabinsk 5-1. Poprad, who started in the Czech Republic and moved to Slovakia when the Czech Hockey Federation would not clear them to play in the KHL, is the first and only team from outside the old Soviet Union (and one of 4 outside of Russia proper). They also dropped one to second year team Yugra 3-1 to open their first campaign at 0-2. There has already been two games that went to OT shootouts: the first night, Traktor topped Metallurg Novokutznetsk 3-2, and this morning our time, Avangard Omsk topped Kazakhstan's Barys Astana 5-4.
Of course, the team I always feel sorry for is Amur Khabarovsk, way out on the Pacific coast. It is farther from their to the next closest team (I think Magnitogorsk or Omsk) than it is fro that city to Poprad in fricking Slovakia! Thus they get a lot of doubleheaders over two nights. The first was against Sibir Novosibirsk, with the far-easters losing the first 5-2 and winning the second 5-3. The league has thought about getting rid of them because of travel costs, but they outdraw the rest of the league at home consistently. But I think until Loko gets back next year, my team will be Automobilsk Yekaterinburg- the city where the Bolsheviks celebrated their newfound rule by slaughtering the Romanov family. AY opened with a 3-2 loss to Metallurg Novokutznetsk, and followed with a 3-1 win this AM over Neftekhimik, and thus are not only looking up at East leaders Salavat and Magnitogorsk, but also Omsk with 5 points and and Novokutznetsk and Barys with 4.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Better late... the FCS stuff
Games are already underway this week, and here I am just now talking about last week! So let's look at what happened. Two teams in the whole FCS won a big boy game last week- unranked (by me) Sacramento State, who tipped Oregon State (currently getting whupped by Wisconsin) 29-28 OT; and Richmond beat Duke 23-21- the third straight such win by the Spiders. Two others came close- Eastern Washington, who outgained Washington 2 to 1 but lost 30-27; and Northern Iowa, who gave up a TD with 40 seconds left to lose to Iowa State 20-19. Everyone else either beat FCS or lower opposition or got killed by a big boy, exception being #19 Southern Illinois smacking #18 SE Missouri State 38-10. That said, let's look at this week's rankings and schedule.
Sacramento State gets part of a tie for 25 with The Citadel, who dealt Jacksonville (last week's 25) a devastating 31-9 loss. SacSt plays KC's old friends from Southern Utah, while the Citadel goes against Furman. Chattanooga holds at 24 after their 40-7 loss to Nebraska, and they have a big game against this week's #5, Jacksonville State. Bethune-Cookman blew out an obviously incompetent Prairie View A&M team 62-14 on national TV Labor day and stay at 23, and face another big matchup with #19 South Carolina State, who'll be toasting IU in two weeks. Western Carolina slips a spot to 22 after a 63-21 loss to Georgia Tech, and get cupcake Mars Hill this week.I moved SE MO St to 21, down 3, and they get a week off.
20 and holding is North Dakota St., who whipped Lafayette 42-6 last week and face another probably easy game against St. Francis PA this week. 18 (I already mentioned #19 twice! Pay attention!) is Stony Brook, who also did good against their big boy, losing in OT to UTEP 31-24. Delaware slides 2 to 17 after a disappointing 40-17 loss to Navy, but get a cupcake this week with West Chester. Southern Illinois moves up to 16, and they've got their big boy game at Ole Miss today.
15 is Stephen F. Austin, who won a cupcake against McMurray 82-6 and will be going up against #13 Northern Iowa today. UNI moved up one after their close call. 14 is James Madison, who slips to a spot I'm more comfortable with after a 42-10 loss to North Carolina, and draw Central Connecticut St. today . 12 remains in the hands of Liberty, who did alright in a 43-21 loss to NC State and face Robert Morris today. 11 belongs to New Hampshire, who slip out of the top ten after a lackluster 58-22 loss to a Toledo team that might just be a little better than they seem, only 6 down to Ohio State at the half today. They get Lehigh today, who the coaches rank but I have not thus far; as I type, UNH leads 24-20 at the half.
Top ten starts off with those Richmond Spiders, who won their big boy game and now face Wagner. #9 goes to Villanova, who I was somewhat surprised to see lose to Temple that bad (42-7). They get a CAA matchup against Towson today. Montana holds at 8 with a 42-16 loss to Tennessee and Cal Poly (who waits just outside the countdown) awaiting. In state rival Montana State leapfrogs them to 7 after a better than expected 27-10 loss to PAC-12 rookie Utah. they get UC Davis tonight in what is a de facto conference game. My William AND Mary Tribe let me down against Virginia 40-3 and sag to 6th. They try to do better against VMI this week.
#5 Jacksonville State got a big 24-23 scare from Tennessee-Martin last week, and as I said get #24 Chattanooga this week. I dropped Appalachian State to 4 from #1 after a humiliating 66-13 performance against big boy VA Tech; they get North Carolina A&T today. 3 is Eastern Washington; the defending champs play South Dakota today. Wofford moves into the #2 spot after a surprisingly tough 35-28 comeback win over Presbyterian, and get their big boy game tonight against Clemson. And this week's #1 is Georgia Southern, who won their opener 31-17 over Samford and get a cupcake against Tusculum.
One more thing I noticed as I was getting my scores around for today was that traditional FCS doormat Campbell was playing someone called The Apprentice School. TAS is a shipbuilders school without a degree program (degrees conferred through another local university) run by the Norfolk VA shipyards, and they play in NCAA DIII despite not being an NCAA member. Nor much competition against an FCS level team; Campbell leads 48-0 with 3 minutes and change to go in the first half.
Sacramento State gets part of a tie for 25 with The Citadel, who dealt Jacksonville (last week's 25) a devastating 31-9 loss. SacSt plays KC's old friends from Southern Utah, while the Citadel goes against Furman. Chattanooga holds at 24 after their 40-7 loss to Nebraska, and they have a big game against this week's #5, Jacksonville State. Bethune-Cookman blew out an obviously incompetent Prairie View A&M team 62-14 on national TV Labor day and stay at 23, and face another big matchup with #19 South Carolina State, who'll be toasting IU in two weeks. Western Carolina slips a spot to 22 after a 63-21 loss to Georgia Tech, and get cupcake Mars Hill this week.I moved SE MO St to 21, down 3, and they get a week off.
20 and holding is North Dakota St., who whipped Lafayette 42-6 last week and face another probably easy game against St. Francis PA this week. 18 (I already mentioned #19 twice! Pay attention!) is Stony Brook, who also did good against their big boy, losing in OT to UTEP 31-24. Delaware slides 2 to 17 after a disappointing 40-17 loss to Navy, but get a cupcake this week with West Chester. Southern Illinois moves up to 16, and they've got their big boy game at Ole Miss today.
15 is Stephen F. Austin, who won a cupcake against McMurray 82-6 and will be going up against #13 Northern Iowa today. UNI moved up one after their close call. 14 is James Madison, who slips to a spot I'm more comfortable with after a 42-10 loss to North Carolina, and draw Central Connecticut St. today . 12 remains in the hands of Liberty, who did alright in a 43-21 loss to NC State and face Robert Morris today. 11 belongs to New Hampshire, who slip out of the top ten after a lackluster 58-22 loss to a Toledo team that might just be a little better than they seem, only 6 down to Ohio State at the half today. They get Lehigh today, who the coaches rank but I have not thus far; as I type, UNH leads 24-20 at the half.
Top ten starts off with those Richmond Spiders, who won their big boy game and now face Wagner. #9 goes to Villanova, who I was somewhat surprised to see lose to Temple that bad (42-7). They get a CAA matchup against Towson today. Montana holds at 8 with a 42-16 loss to Tennessee and Cal Poly (who waits just outside the countdown) awaiting. In state rival Montana State leapfrogs them to 7 after a better than expected 27-10 loss to PAC-12 rookie Utah. they get UC Davis tonight in what is a de facto conference game. My William AND Mary Tribe let me down against Virginia 40-3 and sag to 6th. They try to do better against VMI this week.
#5 Jacksonville State got a big 24-23 scare from Tennessee-Martin last week, and as I said get #24 Chattanooga this week. I dropped Appalachian State to 4 from #1 after a humiliating 66-13 performance against big boy VA Tech; they get North Carolina A&T today. 3 is Eastern Washington; the defending champs play South Dakota today. Wofford moves into the #2 spot after a surprisingly tough 35-28 comeback win over Presbyterian, and get their big boy game tonight against Clemson. And this week's #1 is Georgia Southern, who won their opener 31-17 over Samford and get a cupcake against Tusculum.
One more thing I noticed as I was getting my scores around for today was that traditional FCS doormat Campbell was playing someone called The Apprentice School. TAS is a shipbuilders school without a degree program (degrees conferred through another local university) run by the Norfolk VA shipyards, and they play in NCAA DIII despite not being an NCAA member. Nor much competition against an FCS level team; Campbell leads 48-0 with 3 minutes and change to go in the first half.
Friday, September 2, 2011
FCS- again???
Before I move on to the topic, I'm trying to put together a picture post with Scrappy. We've done so many scenic type posts, you'd think we live in paradise. This post I'm working on will feature the more mundane parts of walking with Scrappy. However, I'm having some technical difficulties (i.e. it's too damn hot for the boy to do his usual stuff). Maybe by Monday I'll have it down.
Anywho, Its time for football, and last night the FCS season (college's equivalent of triple-A) started. Longtimers know that last year, the coaches' FCS poll pissed me off to no end because they tended to rank teams by rep and not results. So I started my own rankings. It encouraged me to watch the smaller schools, i.e. those a little more committed to the student/athletes and a little less to the almighty dollar. (UMass, playing its last year in FCS before moving onto the "big boys" of the MAC excepted.) Results were mixed; Eastern Washington, whom I buried at 13th, won the championship. I set up my preseason poll last week and just haven't gotten around to posting it until now.
I watched one FCS game last night- Illinois St. vs Eastern Illinois. An entertaining if not particularly well-played game by 2 teams that stand little chance of making my list anytime soon. It featured two safeties (if you don't know what a safety is, imagine it as one team getting two points because the opponent did something stupid). One of those stupid things was a handoff that the back never took and the QB had to land on it in his own end zone (and was subsequently landed on); the other was the other QB having a snap go over his head and through the back of the end zone. Ill St. took the lead when the Eastern QB lost a snap and a big ol' lineman scooped it up and ran it in untouched. This pissed off said QB, and he led Eastern on 2 quick TD drives to win the game.
Anyway, let me divulge my opening attempt at ranking the teams. 25 is Jacksonville, who finished #5 on mine, unranked on the coaches poll because they think the conference they play in is bush league. 24 is Chattanooga, who have the unenviable task of opening with Nebraska tomorrow. 23 is Bethune-Cookman, an "African American" school who went undefeated last year and ranked in my top 5, then getting humiliated in the opening round of the playoffs. 22 is Stony Brook, another squad that gets little love from the coaches because of the tiny conference they play in. 21 is Western Carolina who opened with their "big boy" game (where they play an FBS- AKA the big schools- team. Most FCS teams have one big boy game a year.) against Georgia Tech, who rolled 63-21. Of this first group, the coaches ranked Chattanooga 23 and B-C tied for 24th.
20 is North Dakota State, who finished at 21 last year. 18 and 19 open with each other Saturday- last year's #14 SE Missouri St. and Southern Illinois. 17 is South Carolina State, who opened with a 21-6 loss to "big boy" Central Michigan. At 16 is Texas' Stephen F. Austin, who were the "big boy" for hapless McMurray U. whom they whupped 82-6. Out of this set, the coaches had ND State at 11, Southern Illinois 17, SC State at 21, and SFA at 14.
15 is Delaware, who had a turn at #1 on both polls before finishing 4th on mine. They start out with their big boy game at Navy. 14 is Northern Iowa, who open with state rival Iowa State. 13 is the Richmond Spiders, and if anyone has a chance to win a big boy game, they have as good as any against Duke. 12 is another former top dog on my poll, Liberty, who got hosed out of the playoffs by point differential last year. 11 was last year's biggest disappointment, James Madison- and it may not start out any better this year, opening at North Carolina. this group had the coaches putting Delaware 5, N. Iowa 7, Richmond 19, Liberty 18, and JMU 16.
The top 10 opens with New Hampshire, who gave me a big black eye in losing their big boy game last night, 58-22 to Toledo. 9 is Montana State, who put up the only decent battle against a BBG, losing 27-10 to Utah State. 8 is Montana who for a second year open with Tennessee. My team's arch-rival, #7 Villanova, got pounded in their BBG against Temple (!) 42-7. So sad to see that! 6 is Jacksonville State, who squeaked out a disappointing 24-23 win over Tennessee-Martin. This group the coaches put UNH at 10, Montana State at 6, Montana at 12, Nova at 13, and J-State at 9.
I have defending champs Eastern Washington and their gaudy red turf at 5. 4 is my boys, William AND Mary (no typo, that's the way I and my son say it), ready to upset Virginia tomorrow. 3 is Wofford, who will play big boy to Presbyterian tomorrow. 2 is Georgia Southern, who open at Southern Conference Samford. And our consensus #1, once again, is Appalachian State. The coaches had the defending champs #1 (of course), W&M 4th, Wofford 8, GASO at 3, and App State at 2.
Anywho, Its time for football, and last night the FCS season (college's equivalent of triple-A) started. Longtimers know that last year, the coaches' FCS poll pissed me off to no end because they tended to rank teams by rep and not results. So I started my own rankings. It encouraged me to watch the smaller schools, i.e. those a little more committed to the student/athletes and a little less to the almighty dollar. (UMass, playing its last year in FCS before moving onto the "big boys" of the MAC excepted.) Results were mixed; Eastern Washington, whom I buried at 13th, won the championship. I set up my preseason poll last week and just haven't gotten around to posting it until now.
I watched one FCS game last night- Illinois St. vs Eastern Illinois. An entertaining if not particularly well-played game by 2 teams that stand little chance of making my list anytime soon. It featured two safeties (if you don't know what a safety is, imagine it as one team getting two points because the opponent did something stupid). One of those stupid things was a handoff that the back never took and the QB had to land on it in his own end zone (and was subsequently landed on); the other was the other QB having a snap go over his head and through the back of the end zone. Ill St. took the lead when the Eastern QB lost a snap and a big ol' lineman scooped it up and ran it in untouched. This pissed off said QB, and he led Eastern on 2 quick TD drives to win the game.
Anyway, let me divulge my opening attempt at ranking the teams. 25 is Jacksonville, who finished #5 on mine, unranked on the coaches poll because they think the conference they play in is bush league. 24 is Chattanooga, who have the unenviable task of opening with Nebraska tomorrow. 23 is Bethune-Cookman, an "African American" school who went undefeated last year and ranked in my top 5, then getting humiliated in the opening round of the playoffs. 22 is Stony Brook, another squad that gets little love from the coaches because of the tiny conference they play in. 21 is Western Carolina who opened with their "big boy" game (where they play an FBS- AKA the big schools- team. Most FCS teams have one big boy game a year.) against Georgia Tech, who rolled 63-21. Of this first group, the coaches ranked Chattanooga 23 and B-C tied for 24th.
20 is North Dakota State, who finished at 21 last year. 18 and 19 open with each other Saturday- last year's #14 SE Missouri St. and Southern Illinois. 17 is South Carolina State, who opened with a 21-6 loss to "big boy" Central Michigan. At 16 is Texas' Stephen F. Austin, who were the "big boy" for hapless McMurray U. whom they whupped 82-6. Out of this set, the coaches had ND State at 11, Southern Illinois 17, SC State at 21, and SFA at 14.
15 is Delaware, who had a turn at #1 on both polls before finishing 4th on mine. They start out with their big boy game at Navy. 14 is Northern Iowa, who open with state rival Iowa State. 13 is the Richmond Spiders, and if anyone has a chance to win a big boy game, they have as good as any against Duke. 12 is another former top dog on my poll, Liberty, who got hosed out of the playoffs by point differential last year. 11 was last year's biggest disappointment, James Madison- and it may not start out any better this year, opening at North Carolina. this group had the coaches putting Delaware 5, N. Iowa 7, Richmond 19, Liberty 18, and JMU 16.
The top 10 opens with New Hampshire, who gave me a big black eye in losing their big boy game last night, 58-22 to Toledo. 9 is Montana State, who put up the only decent battle against a BBG, losing 27-10 to Utah State. 8 is Montana who for a second year open with Tennessee. My team's arch-rival, #7 Villanova, got pounded in their BBG against Temple (!) 42-7. So sad to see that! 6 is Jacksonville State, who squeaked out a disappointing 24-23 win over Tennessee-Martin. This group the coaches put UNH at 10, Montana State at 6, Montana at 12, Nova at 13, and J-State at 9.
I have defending champs Eastern Washington and their gaudy red turf at 5. 4 is my boys, William AND Mary (no typo, that's the way I and my son say it), ready to upset Virginia tomorrow. 3 is Wofford, who will play big boy to Presbyterian tomorrow. 2 is Georgia Southern, who open at Southern Conference Samford. And our consensus #1, once again, is Appalachian State. The coaches had the defending champs #1 (of course), W&M 4th, Wofford 8, GASO at 3, and App State at 2.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
And now, Super Bowl XIV
I mentioned last week that the last time the Fiery Beagles and the KCAs met in the playoffs, the KCAs won 73-28 en route to their first Super Bowl title back in 2004. When Ahmad Bradshaw scampered 48 yards through the vagabond Vikings' mail-in defense, it added the last six points to an 80-34 KCAs victory. Michael Turner opened up the lead with his 3 tds after Pierre Garcon kicked things off with 2 scores Thursday, and Malcolm Floyd-from-Phillip Rivers also struck twice, and Desean Jackson anted up a 91-yarder. The 9-5 KCAs, just as they did in 2004, go on to face a team playing in its first Super Bowl. Back then it was the Elks and the best Super Bowl yet played, a 31-30 KCAs victory. This year, it will be the Ragin' Rhinos, who advance with a 35-12 triumph over the T-Cubs. The Rhinos, who have now beaten 2 of the three division winner in the playoffs, took a lead they never relinquished Thursday on 2 scores by unlikely candidate Bo Scaife ( Who KC only picked for Shenan's team because I think the name sounds like some skin disease and he knew it would annoy me) while the 4-time champions got goose eggs from all RBs, all WRs, and both QBs. The only game that the two contenders played this year was a 30-21 preseason win by the KCAs.
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In the FCS playoffs this weekend, Villanova proved, at least to me, that they are done screwing around (as they did much of the season); and they proved it to #1 Appalachian State as well, routing them 42-24 in a game where the Wildcats held the App State QB down from the 230+ rushing yards he had against Western Illinois to under 30. 'Nova will face Eastern Washington. The #5 seed scored first in OT and got an interception to end the game in a 38-31 victory over North Dakota State. #3 seed Delaware also moves on after their 16-3 win over UNH last Friday; they play upset minded Georgia Southern. GaSo knocked off Wofford's Terriers 23-20; they've won three playoff games this year (the only team to pull that off thus far) by a total score of 94-51, including knocking out the #2 seed the last week.
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In the FCS playoffs this weekend, Villanova proved, at least to me, that they are done screwing around (as they did much of the season); and they proved it to #1 Appalachian State as well, routing them 42-24 in a game where the Wildcats held the App State QB down from the 230+ rushing yards he had against Western Illinois to under 30. 'Nova will face Eastern Washington. The #5 seed scored first in OT and got an interception to end the game in a 38-31 victory over North Dakota State. #3 seed Delaware also moves on after their 16-3 win over UNH last Friday; they play upset minded Georgia Southern. GaSo knocked off Wofford's Terriers 23-20; they've won three playoff games this year (the only team to pull that off thus far) by a total score of 94-51, including knocking out the #2 seed the last week.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
A little news and meaningless sports (or is it...)
First off, my opinion on Wiki-leaks and Julian Ass ange. If you have to blackmail the entire world just to keep your website open, you obviously are thought of as a blazing moron outside of your immediate circle and the scumbags like the guy "from a major bank" and the scuzz soldier (who'll hopefully spend the next 35 years or so rotting in a military brig for treason )who leak you your stuff. You'd think one of them might have leaked you a manual on how to have consensual sex where both parties consent. So, Mr. Ass ange, I say to you, go ahead! Release your "insurance files"! Not only will any blood spilled be on your uncaring head, and those of your dip$#it elite, but it will cement your legacy as the biggest unimportant a$$wipe in the history of mankind.
Rant #1 done, moving on. I was just looking at the college bowl situation, which was denuded of all suspense by yesterday's wins by Auburn and Oregon. Among the things that caught my eye was that of 35 (yes, 35) bowl games, I saw 7 that I did not recognize. The Military Bowl- which used to be the Eagle Bank Bowl, apparently. The Texas Bowl, which has been played in Houston since 2006, I guess below my personal radar. The Pinstripe Bowl, which is new this year and (not surprisingly) being played in Yankee Stadium, that bastion of football legend. The new Ticket City Bowl, which takes over the old Cotton Bowl site this year since the "Cotton Bowl Classic" moved to Jerry Jones' palace in Arlington. Their matchup is Texas Tech and Northwestern so I wonder if "Ticket City" isn't going to be a better after-the-game name for it. The Godaddy.com Bowl (which isn't a lingerie game featuring Danika Patrick) in Mobile, AL is the former GMAC Bowl, which of course dropped its sponsorship when it became the current Ally Bank. The BBVA Compass Bowl, just down I-65 in Birmingham, used to be the Pappajohns.com bowl before the sponsorship was taken over by BBVA, a Spanish bank whose America subsidiary, Compass, is in Birmingham. And finally the Kraft Fight-Hunger Bowl is the former Emerald Bowl set in the home of fruits and nuts, San Francisco. Also, I note that 35 bowls means 70 teams, out of the 120 in FBS. CBSSports top 70, updated this a.m., includes one losing team (Oregon State), who no doubt gets replaced in the bowl line up by the one team with a winning record that was not in the top 70, #82 Troy. Okay guys, no more bowls, we've got everybody.
On the FCS side of things, I got to watch most of the App State-Western Illinois game. To give you a brief idea, the App State QB at halftime had not thrown a pass but had 177 yards rushing and 2 tds. Final 42-14. App State goes on to play Villanova, who spotted SF Austin a 21-7 1st quarter lead and then outscored them 47-3 the rest of the way. Eastern Washington schnocked SE Missouri State 37-17, and move on to play North Dakota State, whose lead RB scored three times in the last 5 minutes and change, 28 4th quarter points total, to deflate Big Sky champ Montana State 42-17. Delaware gave Lehigh that expected beating (42-20) and move on to play CAA rival New Hampshire. They pasted Bethune-Cookman (who in 2 season ending losses, one of which I watched, looked more like Buffoon-Cookman) 45-14. The final second round bracket is headed by Wofford, who won the day's only close game, 17-14 against Jacksonville State. They draw Georgia Southern next week, after GaSo routed both William AND Mary 31-15. The triple option attack wore down the W&M defense, who gave up over 425 yards on the ground, while the offense was busy scoring no tds.
Finally, I'd like to announce the players on the NHFFL all-star teams. This years game will be a new thing to our league- a three-way game between the Purple, Gold, and Scarlet Divisions. The Purple will feature KCAs Phillip Rivers at qb, Michael Turner and Jahvid Best at RB, Desean Jackson at wr, kicker Rob Bironas, and the Arizona D; Ranger RB Darren McFadden; Beagle RB Maurice Jones-Drew; and SVAs wrs Antonio Gates, Roddy White, and Andre Johnson. The Gold will bring out Clock BBQs qb Drew Brees, rb Matt Forte, and k Sebastian Janikowski; T-Cubs rb Rashard Mendenhall, and wrs Dwayne Bowe, Greg Jennings, and Mike Wallace; B2s rbs Adrian Peterson, Peyton Hillis and NY Giants D; and Elks wr Hakeem Nicks. The Scarlet division has Ducks qb Aaron Rodgers, rb BenJarvis Green-Ellis, wrs Calvin Johnson and Braylon Edwards; Rhinos rb Arian Foster; Angels rb Chris Johnson and k David Akers; and Buzzers rb Knowshon Moreno, wrs Terrell Owens and Jeremy Macklin, and Green Bay D. Akers won the league's scoring championship with 104 points, followed by Janikowski with 99, Dan Carpenter of the Rhinos at 96, Nick Folk of the Elks at 90, Rodgers and Bowe at 87, Bironas and the Ducks' Neil Rackers at 85, Beagle reservist Adam Vinitieri at 84, and Rivers at 83. Foster was the highest rb at 81, tied for 11th.
Rant #1 done, moving on. I was just looking at the college bowl situation, which was denuded of all suspense by yesterday's wins by Auburn and Oregon. Among the things that caught my eye was that of 35 (yes, 35) bowl games, I saw 7 that I did not recognize. The Military Bowl- which used to be the Eagle Bank Bowl, apparently. The Texas Bowl, which has been played in Houston since 2006, I guess below my personal radar. The Pinstripe Bowl, which is new this year and (not surprisingly) being played in Yankee Stadium, that bastion of football legend. The new Ticket City Bowl, which takes over the old Cotton Bowl site this year since the "Cotton Bowl Classic" moved to Jerry Jones' palace in Arlington. Their matchup is Texas Tech and Northwestern so I wonder if "Ticket City" isn't going to be a better after-the-game name for it. The Godaddy.com Bowl (which isn't a lingerie game featuring Danika Patrick) in Mobile, AL is the former GMAC Bowl, which of course dropped its sponsorship when it became the current Ally Bank. The BBVA Compass Bowl, just down I-65 in Birmingham, used to be the Pappajohns.com bowl before the sponsorship was taken over by BBVA, a Spanish bank whose America subsidiary, Compass, is in Birmingham. And finally the Kraft Fight-Hunger Bowl is the former Emerald Bowl set in the home of fruits and nuts, San Francisco. Also, I note that 35 bowls means 70 teams, out of the 120 in FBS. CBSSports top 70, updated this a.m., includes one losing team (Oregon State), who no doubt gets replaced in the bowl line up by the one team with a winning record that was not in the top 70, #82 Troy. Okay guys, no more bowls, we've got everybody.
On the FCS side of things, I got to watch most of the App State-Western Illinois game. To give you a brief idea, the App State QB at halftime had not thrown a pass but had 177 yards rushing and 2 tds. Final 42-14. App State goes on to play Villanova, who spotted SF Austin a 21-7 1st quarter lead and then outscored them 47-3 the rest of the way. Eastern Washington schnocked SE Missouri State 37-17, and move on to play North Dakota State, whose lead RB scored three times in the last 5 minutes and change, 28 4th quarter points total, to deflate Big Sky champ Montana State 42-17. Delaware gave Lehigh that expected beating (42-20) and move on to play CAA rival New Hampshire. They pasted Bethune-Cookman (who in 2 season ending losses, one of which I watched, looked more like Buffoon-Cookman) 45-14. The final second round bracket is headed by Wofford, who won the day's only close game, 17-14 against Jacksonville State. They draw Georgia Southern next week, after GaSo routed both William AND Mary 31-15. The triple option attack wore down the W&M defense, who gave up over 425 yards on the ground, while the offense was busy scoring no tds.
Finally, I'd like to announce the players on the NHFFL all-star teams. This years game will be a new thing to our league- a three-way game between the Purple, Gold, and Scarlet Divisions. The Purple will feature KCAs Phillip Rivers at qb, Michael Turner and Jahvid Best at RB, Desean Jackson at wr, kicker Rob Bironas, and the Arizona D; Ranger RB Darren McFadden; Beagle RB Maurice Jones-Drew; and SVAs wrs Antonio Gates, Roddy White, and Andre Johnson. The Gold will bring out Clock BBQs qb Drew Brees, rb Matt Forte, and k Sebastian Janikowski; T-Cubs rb Rashard Mendenhall, and wrs Dwayne Bowe, Greg Jennings, and Mike Wallace; B2s rbs Adrian Peterson, Peyton Hillis and NY Giants D; and Elks wr Hakeem Nicks. The Scarlet division has Ducks qb Aaron Rodgers, rb BenJarvis Green-Ellis, wrs Calvin Johnson and Braylon Edwards; Rhinos rb Arian Foster; Angels rb Chris Johnson and k David Akers; and Buzzers rb Knowshon Moreno, wrs Terrell Owens and Jeremy Macklin, and Green Bay D. Akers won the league's scoring championship with 104 points, followed by Janikowski with 99, Dan Carpenter of the Rhinos at 96, Nick Folk of the Elks at 90, Rodgers and Bowe at 87, Bironas and the Ducks' Neil Rackers at 85, Beagle reservist Adam Vinitieri at 84, and Rivers at 83. Foster was the highest rb at 81, tied for 11th.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
NHFFL last week, FCS playoffs, and the Johnson/Finnegan bout
The season finale of the NHFFL concluded last night, and it will be the T-Cubs and the Fiery Beagles getting a week off while the other playoff teams fight for the privilege to challenge them. The T-Cubs ripped the Clock BBQs 56-22 behind 4 td passes by Jay Cutler- no lie- and 3 scores by Dwayne Bowe. The Beagles punch their ticket with a 40-33 win over the Angels, their 6th straight, while the KCAs were falling to Buzz 38-10. The Beagles got 27 of their 40 on Thanksgiving Day ( 15 from Tom Brady and 12 from Chris Ivory). The win and KCAs loss gives them the Purple Div. championship and the #2 seed. Buzz wins his division and takes the #3 seed with their win, highlighted again by Turkey points- 2 tds from Wes Welker. The KCAs get the #5 seed and will play the #4 Clock BBQs. The Rhinos solidified their #6 seed with a 29-28 win over fellow Shenanite SVA. Once again kicker Dan Carpenter was the big star for the Rhinos with 16 points. In non-playoff crucial matches, the State Ducks pass the Angels for third in the Scarlet division with a 51-21 win over the Rangers. Brandon Lloyd and BenJarvis Green-Ellis each got 2 tds for the Ducks; the Rangers lose their last 5 to finish 3-9. And finally, it was the B2s taking third in the Gold div. with a 57-19 rout of the Elks. The Elks lost Clinton Portis yet again for this game and finish 5-0 when he played and 0-7 when he didn't. Portis' total contribution to Elk scoring for the year? 12 points. Go figure. Peyton Hillis yet again led the B2s' charge with 3 tds.
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| PURPLE | W | L | PF | PA | RP |
| Fiery Beagles | 8 | .4 | 401 | 423 | 570-7th |
| KCAs | 7 | 5 | 485 | 414 | 759-3rd |
| SVA | 5 | 7 | 428 | 431 | 482-9th |
| Rangers | 3 | 9 | 335 | 503 | 178-12th |
| GOLD | |||||
| T-Cubs | 9 | 3 | 524 | 384 | 887-1st |
| CBBQs | 7 | 5 | 465 | 427 | 629-4th |
| B2s | 5 | 7 | 450 | 478 | 505-8th |
| Elks | 5 | 7 | 466 | 496 | 460-10th |
| SCARLET | |||||
| Buzz Lightyears | 7 | 5 | 493 | 431 | 693-3rd |
| Ragin'Rhinos | 7 | 5 | 458 | 452 | 576-6th |
| State Ducks | 5 | 7 | 499 | 465 | 605-5th |
| Arden's Angels | 4 | 8 | 419 | 574 | 185-11th |
Monday, November 22, 2010
Football odds and ends
Just looking over the new coaches poll FCS rankings vis-a-vis the playoff bracket, and it is clear that the selection committee pays about as much attention to the poll as I did. The new #1 team, Eastern Washington, got the #5 seed; #2 SF Austin did not get one of the five seeds (though they did get a first round bye); #3 App State got the #1 seed; #4 William AND Mary got the #2 seed; #5 Delaware got the #3 seed; #6 Wofford got a first round bye but no seed; and it was #7 Montana State who grabbed that last remaining seed, the #4.
Considering that Ivy League champ Penn, ranked #13, doesn't accept playoff bids, that means that if the selection committee went by the poll, that the top 21 teams minus Penn would get in. But since they don't, #15 Liberty (who cheesed themselves getting beat by CC two weeks ago), #17 Montana (who cheesed themselves in the Great Divide game loss to Montana State), and #19 Jacksonville and #25 Dayton (who got cheesed because the elitist contingent of the selection committee thinks that a Pioneer League which contained FCS's leading offense is inferior to the Patriot League whose champ lost to the two other playoff teams it played 66-10) get to watch on TV. The other two ranked teams that don't go are #23 Grambling (whose conference plays their own championship game- and besides, are a combined 1-18 over the years in the playoffs) , and the amazingly still-ranked Cal Poly. Mind you, this is a team who had the meltdown against rival UC-Davis two weeks ago, and did not play this week, and WENT UP 3 SPOTS, from 23 to 20! There is obviously a sizable contingent of west coast writers involved in the poll who are ABUSING THEIR OFFICE AND SHOULD BE EXPELLED. This is the main reason I got involved in this in the first place.
Joining the list in these teams' place are Western Illinois (#24), Robert Morris (#28, and an auto qualifier from yet another league that is so obviously superior to the Pioneer League), #22 Georgia Southern, and Big South AQ Coastal Carolina who DID NOT GET A SINGLE VOTE! (nor should they have; at least there is some common sense among the voters.
In the meantime, I'm watching Monday Night Football, and this week's NHFFL report will have a record amount of scoring- with things not over yet, we have TWO (2) teams that have 70+ points and another TWO (2) teams that have 60+ points! We are currently at a league average for the week of 44 points even, and I would assume that is a new league record. Not to mention that we have 3 teams getting beat with 41 points or more.
And finally, congrats to Ziggy Wulf, Minnesota Vikings co-owner, who finally had wisdom fall like manna from heaven upon him and fired coach Brad Childress. I would have fired him when he started making major personnel moves behind my back, but I suppose some people have a higher tolerance for insubordination than others.
Considering that Ivy League champ Penn, ranked #13, doesn't accept playoff bids, that means that if the selection committee went by the poll, that the top 21 teams minus Penn would get in. But since they don't, #15 Liberty (who cheesed themselves getting beat by CC two weeks ago), #17 Montana (who cheesed themselves in the Great Divide game loss to Montana State), and #19 Jacksonville and #25 Dayton (who got cheesed because the elitist contingent of the selection committee thinks that a Pioneer League which contained FCS's leading offense is inferior to the Patriot League whose champ lost to the two other playoff teams it played 66-10) get to watch on TV. The other two ranked teams that don't go are #23 Grambling (whose conference plays their own championship game- and besides, are a combined 1-18 over the years in the playoffs) , and the amazingly still-ranked Cal Poly. Mind you, this is a team who had the meltdown against rival UC-Davis two weeks ago, and did not play this week, and WENT UP 3 SPOTS, from 23 to 20! There is obviously a sizable contingent of west coast writers involved in the poll who are ABUSING THEIR OFFICE AND SHOULD BE EXPELLED. This is the main reason I got involved in this in the first place.
Joining the list in these teams' place are Western Illinois (#24), Robert Morris (#28, and an auto qualifier from yet another league that is so obviously superior to the Pioneer League), #22 Georgia Southern, and Big South AQ Coastal Carolina who DID NOT GET A SINGLE VOTE! (nor should they have; at least there is some common sense among the voters.
In the meantime, I'm watching Monday Night Football, and this week's NHFFL report will have a record amount of scoring- with things not over yet, we have TWO (2) teams that have 70+ points and another TWO (2) teams that have 60+ points! We are currently at a league average for the week of 44 points even, and I would assume that is a new league record. Not to mention that we have 3 teams getting beat with 41 points or more.
And finally, congrats to Ziggy Wulf, Minnesota Vikings co-owner, who finally had wisdom fall like manna from heaven upon him and fired coach Brad Childress. I would have fired him when he started making major personnel moves behind my back, but I suppose some people have a higher tolerance for insubordination than others.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Chris' FCS page
I wanted to wait until the tourney bracket was released this morning to do my FCS page this week, and am glad I did. I would have put Jacksonville State (which, by the way, is from Jacksonville, Alabama) at #1, but then they blew a 24-7 lead with under 12 minutes left, giving up 3 80+ yd TD drives in a total of 6:26 to lose to Tennessee Tech 35-24 and almost make me look foolish(er) two weeks running. Instead of just doing my rankings, I'm going to go over the bracket, and weave my rankings and thoughts in.
Four games are featured in the opening round next Saturday. The Contestants:
Western Illinois(7-4)- they rolled Northern Iowa (who already clinched a playoff spot) 30-14 yesterday to get here; they end up15th on my rankings. They lost their big boy game to Purdue by a respectable 31-21 score, and are 2-0 against playoff teams, having also beat North Dakota State 28-16.
Coastal Carolina(6-5) will be their opponent, and they snuck in the hardest way. The Big South bid was between Stony Brook (5-0 in the conference going in), Liberty (my # 9, 4-1) and CC (4-1). With Stony Brook and Liberty playing each other and CC playing sucky Charleston Southern, a three way tie loomed. This would go down to the 4th tie breaker- points allowed in conference games. And here it was Stony Brook (68), Coastal Carolina (103), and Liberty (110). All Stony seemingly had to do is keep Liberty under 39, and hope Charleston So. could manage a couple of field goals. But Liberty won 54-28, and CC won 70-3, and the tiebreaker and the playoff spot went to CC. CC's big boy game was a 31-0 loss to West Virginia, and a 43-26 loss to Georgia Southern was their only match against a playoff team. They had lost to Stony Brook and got whacked by Richmond 41-19- the same Richmond team that William AND Mary beat 41-3 to close out the year. Quite obviously, I never did rank CC.
Robert Morris (8-2) was the automatic qualifier out of another weak Conference (the Northeast); I had them ranked 15th. They are one of 5 playoff teams that did not have a big boy game; they are the only one to play no other playoff teams, although they upset Liberty and lost fairly big to Dayton (10-1, 11th), whose conference (the Pioneer League) got boned by the selection committee.
They face off against North Dakota State (7-4, 21st), whom I thought had no chance of getting in after their season ending 3-0 loss to Missouri State. One thing in their favor was that they are one of only 2 playoff teams to win their big boy game, 6-3 over hapless Kansas. However, they've lost both games against playoff teams (16-9 against Northern Iowa and 28-16 against Western Ill.)
Lehigh (9-2, 24th) is the AQ from another league that doesn't really rate one, the Patriot League. In addition to not having a big boy game, they lost to fellow playoff squads New Hampshire and Villanova by a combined 66-10. They get to meet Northern Iowa (7-4, 19th), who went 1-2 against playoff teams ( the loss to Western Ill., plus the win over North Dakota State and a loss to Stephen F. Austin 22-20). Northern's big boy game was a 27-0 loss to Iowa State.
The final first round tilt features South Carolina State (9-2, 12th) against Georgia Southern (7-4, not currently ranked). SC State lost its BBG to Georgia Tech 41-10, and its only playoff opponent was a 14-0 loss to conference rival Bethune-Cookman. GaSo lost its BBG 13-7 to Navy (which is a darn side better than Notre Dame did) and was 2-1 against playoff teams, winning against Coastal Carolina (43-26) and Appalachian State (21-14) and losing to Wofford (33-31).
The Western Ill./CC winner draws Appalachian State (9-2, #1), the tourney's top seed. The Mountaineers got abbreviated by Florida in their BBG (48-10) yesterday, and split their playoff matchups, losing to GaSo but beating Wofford 43-13. That winner faces the winner of Villanova (7-4, 16th) and Stephen F. Austin (9-2, 10th). 'Nova lost their BBG to MAC powerhouse Temple 31-24; they have played a tourney-highest 4 playoff teams, beating Lehigh and Delaware (yesterday, 28-21 in OT, to get in), and losing to William AND Mary (31-24) and New Hampshire (28-21). SF Austin lost their big boy game to Texas A&M (who by the way, beat #7 Nebraska last night) 48-7, but if not for that collapse for the ages against Texas State a few weeks back, they would have never lost again. Their only playoff team was a 22-20 win over Northern Iowa.
The 5-seed is Eastern Washington (9-2, 13th), and they play SE Missouri State (9-2, 14th) in their second round game. I've always ranked Eastern lower because of the weakness of their schedule, which outside of their BBG ( a 49-24 loss to Nevada and Colin Kapernick) featured only (fellow playoff team) Montana State (who blasted them 30-7) and Montana (who they beat). SEMO, as they're known, lost both their BBG (27-10 to Ball State) and their one playoff team (29-27 to Jacksonville State), although they did manage to rout the same Tennessee Tech team that flattened J-ville State yesterday.
Montana State (9-2, 8th) is the 4-seed and will play the winner of Robert Morris/ ND State. State got nipped in their BBG by Washington State (23-22), and beat rival Montana (7-4, 22nd) to get in, as well as their pasting of Eastern Washington, but like their state rival, got clocked by Northern Arizona 34-7.
Delaware (9-2, 4th) would have been the 1-seed and my number one had they not lost to Villanova yesterday. However, they skipped the BBG and lost to both William AND Mary (17-16) and 'Nova to go 0-2 against playoff competition. They draw the Lehigh/ Northern Iowa winner.
Bethune-Cookman (10-1, 6th) lost their undefeated season yesterday in the Florida Classic to Florida A&M 38-27, but still got the AQ bid. Their conference is problematic; their only playoff match was the 14-0 win over SC State, and they had no BBG. They play New Hampshire (7-4, 2oth) who went 2-1 against playoff teams (the wins against Lehigh and 'Nova and a 13-3 loss to William AND Mary) and had a decent BBG, a 38-16 loss to Pitt. In addition, they had a midseason stretch where they swept Richmond, JMU, and UMass by a combined 84-27, essentially putting all three of them out of the playoffs.
Wofford (9-2, 2nd) faces Jacksonville State (9-2, 7th) in their second round game. Their Terriers split their playoff games, both against conference rivals ( the loss to App State and the win over GaSo), and had no BBG. J-ville State, in addition to the aforementioned meltdown last night, won both their only playoff match (against conference rival SEMO) and their BBG (49-48 in OT against Ole Miss).
Finally, we have the #2 seed, William AND Mary (8-3, 3rd). They played a great BBG against North Carolina which they only lost in the 4th quarter 21-17, and they swept their 3 playoff matches over 'Nova, UNH, and Delaware. They draw the GaSo/SC State winner.
Teams I ranked that don't get a tourney invite include #5 Jacksonville (10-1, 5th) #9 Liberty, #11 Dayton, #17 Penn (whose league doesn't accept invites), #22 Montana, #23 Old Dominion, and #25 UMass (who I thought would get an invite, along with either Jacksonville or Dayton).
My first round picks: Western Illinois will clock CC; I'll give a slight nod to ND State over Robert Morris; Northern Iowa will prove that Lehigh has no business at the table; and GaSo will beat SC Stae in a shootout.
My second round picks: App State cruises over Western; SFA over 'Nova; SEMO upsets Eastern Washington; Montana State blasts ND State; Northern Iowa upsets Delaware; UNH over Bethune-Cookman; J-State over Wofford; W&M over GaSo.
My third round picks: SFA stuns App State; Montana State rolls SEMO; UNH edges Northern Iowa; W&M routs J-State.
My semis picks: SFA over Montana State in a classic shootout; W&M over UNH- again.
Championship: William & Mary in a tight, low scoring game which isn't SFA's forte.
Four games are featured in the opening round next Saturday. The Contestants:
Western Illinois(7-4)- they rolled Northern Iowa (who already clinched a playoff spot) 30-14 yesterday to get here; they end up15th on my rankings. They lost their big boy game to Purdue by a respectable 31-21 score, and are 2-0 against playoff teams, having also beat North Dakota State 28-16.
Coastal Carolina(6-5) will be their opponent, and they snuck in the hardest way. The Big South bid was between Stony Brook (5-0 in the conference going in), Liberty (my # 9, 4-1) and CC (4-1). With Stony Brook and Liberty playing each other and CC playing sucky Charleston Southern, a three way tie loomed. This would go down to the 4th tie breaker- points allowed in conference games. And here it was Stony Brook (68), Coastal Carolina (103), and Liberty (110). All Stony seemingly had to do is keep Liberty under 39, and hope Charleston So. could manage a couple of field goals. But Liberty won 54-28, and CC won 70-3, and the tiebreaker and the playoff spot went to CC. CC's big boy game was a 31-0 loss to West Virginia, and a 43-26 loss to Georgia Southern was their only match against a playoff team. They had lost to Stony Brook and got whacked by Richmond 41-19- the same Richmond team that William AND Mary beat 41-3 to close out the year. Quite obviously, I never did rank CC.
Robert Morris (8-2) was the automatic qualifier out of another weak Conference (the Northeast); I had them ranked 15th. They are one of 5 playoff teams that did not have a big boy game; they are the only one to play no other playoff teams, although they upset Liberty and lost fairly big to Dayton (10-1, 11th), whose conference (the Pioneer League) got boned by the selection committee.
They face off against North Dakota State (7-4, 21st), whom I thought had no chance of getting in after their season ending 3-0 loss to Missouri State. One thing in their favor was that they are one of only 2 playoff teams to win their big boy game, 6-3 over hapless Kansas. However, they've lost both games against playoff teams (16-9 against Northern Iowa and 28-16 against Western Ill.)
Lehigh (9-2, 24th) is the AQ from another league that doesn't really rate one, the Patriot League. In addition to not having a big boy game, they lost to fellow playoff squads New Hampshire and Villanova by a combined 66-10. They get to meet Northern Iowa (7-4, 19th), who went 1-2 against playoff teams ( the loss to Western Ill., plus the win over North Dakota State and a loss to Stephen F. Austin 22-20). Northern's big boy game was a 27-0 loss to Iowa State.
The final first round tilt features South Carolina State (9-2, 12th) against Georgia Southern (7-4, not currently ranked). SC State lost its BBG to Georgia Tech 41-10, and its only playoff opponent was a 14-0 loss to conference rival Bethune-Cookman. GaSo lost its BBG 13-7 to Navy (which is a darn side better than Notre Dame did) and was 2-1 against playoff teams, winning against Coastal Carolina (43-26) and Appalachian State (21-14) and losing to Wofford (33-31).
The Western Ill./CC winner draws Appalachian State (9-2, #1), the tourney's top seed. The Mountaineers got abbreviated by Florida in their BBG (48-10) yesterday, and split their playoff matchups, losing to GaSo but beating Wofford 43-13. That winner faces the winner of Villanova (7-4, 16th) and Stephen F. Austin (9-2, 10th). 'Nova lost their BBG to MAC powerhouse Temple 31-24; they have played a tourney-highest 4 playoff teams, beating Lehigh and Delaware (yesterday, 28-21 in OT, to get in), and losing to William AND Mary (31-24) and New Hampshire (28-21). SF Austin lost their big boy game to Texas A&M (who by the way, beat #7 Nebraska last night) 48-7, but if not for that collapse for the ages against Texas State a few weeks back, they would have never lost again. Their only playoff team was a 22-20 win over Northern Iowa.
The 5-seed is Eastern Washington (9-2, 13th), and they play SE Missouri State (9-2, 14th) in their second round game. I've always ranked Eastern lower because of the weakness of their schedule, which outside of their BBG ( a 49-24 loss to Nevada and Colin Kapernick) featured only (fellow playoff team) Montana State (who blasted them 30-7) and Montana (who they beat). SEMO, as they're known, lost both their BBG (27-10 to Ball State) and their one playoff team (29-27 to Jacksonville State), although they did manage to rout the same Tennessee Tech team that flattened J-ville State yesterday.
Montana State (9-2, 8th) is the 4-seed and will play the winner of Robert Morris/ ND State. State got nipped in their BBG by Washington State (23-22), and beat rival Montana (7-4, 22nd) to get in, as well as their pasting of Eastern Washington, but like their state rival, got clocked by Northern Arizona 34-7.
Delaware (9-2, 4th) would have been the 1-seed and my number one had they not lost to Villanova yesterday. However, they skipped the BBG and lost to both William AND Mary (17-16) and 'Nova to go 0-2 against playoff competition. They draw the Lehigh/ Northern Iowa winner.
Bethune-Cookman (10-1, 6th) lost their undefeated season yesterday in the Florida Classic to Florida A&M 38-27, but still got the AQ bid. Their conference is problematic; their only playoff match was the 14-0 win over SC State, and they had no BBG. They play New Hampshire (7-4, 2oth) who went 2-1 against playoff teams (the wins against Lehigh and 'Nova and a 13-3 loss to William AND Mary) and had a decent BBG, a 38-16 loss to Pitt. In addition, they had a midseason stretch where they swept Richmond, JMU, and UMass by a combined 84-27, essentially putting all three of them out of the playoffs.
Wofford (9-2, 2nd) faces Jacksonville State (9-2, 7th) in their second round game. Their Terriers split their playoff games, both against conference rivals ( the loss to App State and the win over GaSo), and had no BBG. J-ville State, in addition to the aforementioned meltdown last night, won both their only playoff match (against conference rival SEMO) and their BBG (49-48 in OT against Ole Miss).
Finally, we have the #2 seed, William AND Mary (8-3, 3rd). They played a great BBG against North Carolina which they only lost in the 4th quarter 21-17, and they swept their 3 playoff matches over 'Nova, UNH, and Delaware. They draw the GaSo/SC State winner.
Teams I ranked that don't get a tourney invite include #5 Jacksonville (10-1, 5th) #9 Liberty, #11 Dayton, #17 Penn (whose league doesn't accept invites), #22 Montana, #23 Old Dominion, and #25 UMass (who I thought would get an invite, along with either Jacksonville or Dayton).
My first round picks: Western Illinois will clock CC; I'll give a slight nod to ND State over Robert Morris; Northern Iowa will prove that Lehigh has no business at the table; and GaSo will beat SC Stae in a shootout.
My second round picks: App State cruises over Western; SFA over 'Nova; SEMO upsets Eastern Washington; Montana State blasts ND State; Northern Iowa upsets Delaware; UNH over Bethune-Cookman; J-State over Wofford; W&M over GaSo.
My third round picks: SFA stuns App State; Montana State rolls SEMO; UNH edges Northern Iowa; W&M routs J-State.
My semis picks: SFA over Montana State in a classic shootout; W&M over UNH- again.
Championship: William & Mary in a tight, low scoring game which isn't SFA's forte.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
FCS and hockey stuff
I'm a bit early tonight, but I'm going to have faith that Cal Poly, who leads UC-Davis 21-3 just starting the third in the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe, will hang on and win. If I'm wrong it will be no surprise today;my #'s 2,4,6,9,11,13,14,19,22,and 23 (the coaches' 4,11,2,21,25,8,9,13,and 22) went down to defeat today. What a mess!
I move Old Dominion (7-3) into my count at 25 after their 45-28 romp over VMI; they replace Richmond after a lackluster 15-6 win over URI. Sorry, Spiders! The aforementioned Cal Poly team, who are shooting for 7-3 (their lead is now 21-6. uh-oh...) come in at 24; they replace Grambling who lost Thursday night to conference rival Texas Southern 41-34. Also new is #23 Bryant (7-3), who beat last week's #11 Robert Morris (8-2) 27-21. The Colonials move down to 15th with the loss.
Montana (7-3) is allowed back in the house at #22 after topping North Dakota 27-17. The Grizzlies take the spot of Central Arkansas, who got beat by Sam Houston State 20-13. The first holdover is #21 New Hampshire (6-4), who upset former #13 Villanova (6-4) 31-24. This second straight loss by the Wildcats drop them to 18th in this week's poll. Taking the big dive from 9 to 20th is Western Illinois (6-4) after a 20-10 loss to state rival Southern Illinois.
Moving up 2 to 19th is Ivy League leader Penn(8-1), who tromped Harvard 34-14. 17th is Eastern Washington (8-2) who stopped Southern Utah 31-24. I move Northern Iowa (7-3) up to 16th with their 38-14 romp of Missouri State. Usually I drop teams that lose (duh) but how do you drop last week's #14 SE Missouri State (9-2) after a 29-27 loss to last week's #8 Jacksonville State (9-1)? I didn't; SE MO ST stays at 14, while J-ville St. climbs back to 4th after the rasher of top-rank losses. North Dakota State (7-3) beat media darling South Dakota State 31-24 ( a common score this week) to rise 3 to 13th.
South Carolina State (8-2) scoots up 5 to #12 after a 32-10 win against Morgan State. Dayton (10-1) sneaks up one notch to 11th despite a 2OT struggle to beat Marist 41-34. Stephen F. Austin (8-2) returns to the top ten , up 5 after routing SE Louisiana 51-14. Liberty (7-3) drops from 4 to 9 with a 45-31 embarrassment to Coastal Carolina. Things were so messed up in the top ten that I had to move Montana State (8-2) up two to #8 despite their being idle this week.
William and Mary (7-3) drop a notch to 7th with a 30-24 loss to former somnambulist James Madison. This week, #s 2 and three faced off; Appalachian State (9-1) didn't blink, whupping Wofford (8-2) 43-13. App State moves up one to runner-up, while the Terriers drop to 6th. Like Montana State, I reluctantly move Jacksonville (10-1) up to 5th after they barely survive Campbell by a score of (you guessed it) 31-24. The lone undefeated, Bethune-Cookman (10-0) goes to 3rd after a 35-20 win over Howard. And Finally, Delaware (9-1) slapped UMass (also known as last week's #19) 45-27 to retain the top spot this week.
The lead for Cal Poly is down to 21-15 with 12 minutes left... uh-oh...
Next week is about it; in fact, Jacksonville, Dayton, SE Missouri State, Robert Morris, and, once they finish blowing their lead tonight, Cal Poly are already done(In fact, J-ville and Dayton end up tied at 8-0 at the top of the Pioneer Conference.. Liberty faces a battle with Stony Brook in order to claim the Big South title, and thanks to their Coastal Carolina loss, even that may not do it. #8 Montana State and #22 Montana battle it out for the Great Divide Trophy; #1 Delaware faces #18 Villanova; #16 N. Iowa plays #20 Western Illinois. Bethune-Cookman faces a stiff challenge to end their hopefully undefeated season- 7-3 Florida A&M- in the Florida Classic. William and Mary faces rival Richmond for the Capital Cup; Penn plays Cornell for the Trustee Cup; and Appalachian State plays its big boy game after having clinched the Southern Conference title yet again- they get to play the Florida Gators in the Swamp, right after Florida lost in the swamp tonight against South Carolina and the ol' Ball Coach. This... might not be pretty.
Guess what? with 35 seconds left, UC-Davis leads Cal Poly 22-21. If they lose, I'm replacing them with Richmond.
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The quick look at European hockey this time starts in the UK's EIHL, where Belfast continues to lead, but that 7 point cushion is down to 1 over Nottingham, and last season's regular schedule winner Coventry, along with Sheffield and Cardiff, are all within 9 points.
Ligue Magnus is a slow moving ordeal; Angers, Rouen, and Strassbourg are all at 13 points after just 6-7 games.
Kloten's big lead in Swiss National League A is down to 4 over surging HC Davos; Zug has dropped back, and last year's champ SC Bern is 4th, 11 out.
Valpusteria widened it's lead to 8 points in Italy's Serie A.
In Norway's GET-Ligaen, the Spartans of Sarpsborg have widened their lead to 6 over defending champ Valerenga, while Stavenger fades a bit to 9 behind.
SonderjyskE continues to roll the field in the Danish AL-Bank Ligaen, 14 points up on Herning.
In Germany's DEL, Hanover's Scorps maintain their lead, although Manheim has slid and the Tomas Sabo team has moved into second.
KAC Klagenfurt has blown out to an 8-point cushion over Red Bull Salzburg in Austria's Erste-Bank Liga. VSV, who was just 2 behind last month when we checked, has faded into the pack.
Sweden's Elitserien continues headed by HF Lulea, by 7 over new runner-up Skelleftea AIK.
JYP Jyvaskyla has widened its lead in the Finnish S-M Liga, from 4 over HIFK a month ago, to 5 over Assat and 9 over HIFK.
The Czech Extraliga shows that HC Mountfield has crumbled, its 1 point lead changed now to 5th place, 8 points behind HC Ocelari Trinec, with last year's winner Vitkovice Steel 3 behind Trinec in second.
In the Slovak Extraliga, Kosice pushed its lead to 6 over Banska Bystrica; KHL wannabe Poprad has moved in to third, albeit a distant 17 points out. I should point out that most of these leagues, unlike the Komets and the NHL, give three points for a win, with 2 for OT wins and 1 for OT losses.
In the Russian KHL, UHC Moscow Dynamo continues to lead the west, although Severstal Cherepovets has faded; Lokomotiv has moved into second, 6 behind, and SKA St. Pete has recovered from a slow start to trail by 8 in third. Likewise, Avangard Omsk has faded in its pursuit of leader (and league best) Metallurg Magnitogorsk, leaving former 7th place Sibir Novosibrsk to drive into second, 6 back and tied with perennial power Ak Bars Kazan.
In the Asia League, Oji's Eagles have passed Anyang Halla into first by 1; Tohoku joins the Korean squad in second. The horrible China Dragon seems not to have played in the interim; I was unable to find out if they folded or something, but with an 0-8-1 record and being outscored 13-67 in 9 games (roughly 7-1 per game), it would hardly be surprising. (Actually, with a seven team league spread out over most of East Asia, it's the result of just a horribly unbalanced schedule.)
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And, as I figured would happen the moment I tried to rank Cal Poly, they lose to rival UC-Davis 22-21. Kinda they way it was a couple a years ago when I did an FBS top 25 and tried to rank Notre Dame. So put Richmond (6-4) into 24th and get'em ready to lose to the Tribe.
I move Old Dominion (7-3) into my count at 25 after their 45-28 romp over VMI; they replace Richmond after a lackluster 15-6 win over URI. Sorry, Spiders! The aforementioned Cal Poly team, who are shooting for 7-3 (their lead is now 21-6. uh-oh...) come in at 24; they replace Grambling who lost Thursday night to conference rival Texas Southern 41-34. Also new is #23 Bryant (7-3), who beat last week's #11 Robert Morris (8-2) 27-21. The Colonials move down to 15th with the loss.
Montana (7-3) is allowed back in the house at #22 after topping North Dakota 27-17. The Grizzlies take the spot of Central Arkansas, who got beat by Sam Houston State 20-13. The first holdover is #21 New Hampshire (6-4), who upset former #13 Villanova (6-4) 31-24. This second straight loss by the Wildcats drop them to 18th in this week's poll. Taking the big dive from 9 to 20th is Western Illinois (6-4) after a 20-10 loss to state rival Southern Illinois.
Moving up 2 to 19th is Ivy League leader Penn(8-1), who tromped Harvard 34-14. 17th is Eastern Washington (8-2) who stopped Southern Utah 31-24. I move Northern Iowa (7-3) up to 16th with their 38-14 romp of Missouri State. Usually I drop teams that lose (duh) but how do you drop last week's #14 SE Missouri State (9-2) after a 29-27 loss to last week's #8 Jacksonville State (9-1)? I didn't; SE MO ST stays at 14, while J-ville St. climbs back to 4th after the rasher of top-rank losses. North Dakota State (7-3) beat media darling South Dakota State 31-24 ( a common score this week) to rise 3 to 13th.
South Carolina State (8-2) scoots up 5 to #12 after a 32-10 win against Morgan State. Dayton (10-1) sneaks up one notch to 11th despite a 2OT struggle to beat Marist 41-34. Stephen F. Austin (8-2) returns to the top ten , up 5 after routing SE Louisiana 51-14. Liberty (7-3) drops from 4 to 9 with a 45-31 embarrassment to Coastal Carolina. Things were so messed up in the top ten that I had to move Montana State (8-2) up two to #8 despite their being idle this week.
William and Mary (7-3) drop a notch to 7th with a 30-24 loss to former somnambulist James Madison. This week, #s 2 and three faced off; Appalachian State (9-1) didn't blink, whupping Wofford (8-2) 43-13. App State moves up one to runner-up, while the Terriers drop to 6th. Like Montana State, I reluctantly move Jacksonville (10-1) up to 5th after they barely survive Campbell by a score of (you guessed it) 31-24. The lone undefeated, Bethune-Cookman (10-0) goes to 3rd after a 35-20 win over Howard. And Finally, Delaware (9-1) slapped UMass (also known as last week's #19) 45-27 to retain the top spot this week.
The lead for Cal Poly is down to 21-15 with 12 minutes left... uh-oh...
Next week is about it; in fact, Jacksonville, Dayton, SE Missouri State, Robert Morris, and, once they finish blowing their lead tonight, Cal Poly are already done(In fact, J-ville and Dayton end up tied at 8-0 at the top of the Pioneer Conference.. Liberty faces a battle with Stony Brook in order to claim the Big South title, and thanks to their Coastal Carolina loss, even that may not do it. #8 Montana State and #22 Montana battle it out for the Great Divide Trophy; #1 Delaware faces #18 Villanova; #16 N. Iowa plays #20 Western Illinois. Bethune-Cookman faces a stiff challenge to end their hopefully undefeated season- 7-3 Florida A&M- in the Florida Classic. William and Mary faces rival Richmond for the Capital Cup; Penn plays Cornell for the Trustee Cup; and Appalachian State plays its big boy game after having clinched the Southern Conference title yet again- they get to play the Florida Gators in the Swamp, right after Florida lost in the swamp tonight against South Carolina and the ol' Ball Coach. This... might not be pretty.
Guess what? with 35 seconds left, UC-Davis leads Cal Poly 22-21. If they lose, I'm replacing them with Richmond.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The quick look at European hockey this time starts in the UK's EIHL, where Belfast continues to lead, but that 7 point cushion is down to 1 over Nottingham, and last season's regular schedule winner Coventry, along with Sheffield and Cardiff, are all within 9 points.
Ligue Magnus is a slow moving ordeal; Angers, Rouen, and Strassbourg are all at 13 points after just 6-7 games.
Kloten's big lead in Swiss National League A is down to 4 over surging HC Davos; Zug has dropped back, and last year's champ SC Bern is 4th, 11 out.
Valpusteria widened it's lead to 8 points in Italy's Serie A.
In Norway's GET-Ligaen, the Spartans of Sarpsborg have widened their lead to 6 over defending champ Valerenga, while Stavenger fades a bit to 9 behind.
SonderjyskE continues to roll the field in the Danish AL-Bank Ligaen, 14 points up on Herning.
In Germany's DEL, Hanover's Scorps maintain their lead, although Manheim has slid and the Tomas Sabo team has moved into second.
KAC Klagenfurt has blown out to an 8-point cushion over Red Bull Salzburg in Austria's Erste-Bank Liga. VSV, who was just 2 behind last month when we checked, has faded into the pack.
Sweden's Elitserien continues headed by HF Lulea, by 7 over new runner-up Skelleftea AIK.
JYP Jyvaskyla has widened its lead in the Finnish S-M Liga, from 4 over HIFK a month ago, to 5 over Assat and 9 over HIFK.
The Czech Extraliga shows that HC Mountfield has crumbled, its 1 point lead changed now to 5th place, 8 points behind HC Ocelari Trinec, with last year's winner Vitkovice Steel 3 behind Trinec in second.
In the Slovak Extraliga, Kosice pushed its lead to 6 over Banska Bystrica; KHL wannabe Poprad has moved in to third, albeit a distant 17 points out. I should point out that most of these leagues, unlike the Komets and the NHL, give three points for a win, with 2 for OT wins and 1 for OT losses.
In the Russian KHL, UHC Moscow Dynamo continues to lead the west, although Severstal Cherepovets has faded; Lokomotiv has moved into second, 6 behind, and SKA St. Pete has recovered from a slow start to trail by 8 in third. Likewise, Avangard Omsk has faded in its pursuit of leader (and league best) Metallurg Magnitogorsk, leaving former 7th place Sibir Novosibrsk to drive into second, 6 back and tied with perennial power Ak Bars Kazan.
In the Asia League, Oji's Eagles have passed Anyang Halla into first by 1; Tohoku joins the Korean squad in second. The horrible China Dragon seems not to have played in the interim; I was unable to find out if they folded or something, but with an 0-8-1 record and being outscored 13-67 in 9 games (roughly 7-1 per game), it would hardly be surprising. (Actually, with a seven team league spread out over most of East Asia, it's the result of just a horribly unbalanced schedule.)
---------------------------------------------------------------
And, as I figured would happen the moment I tried to rank Cal Poly, they lose to rival UC-Davis 22-21. Kinda they way it was a couple a years ago when I did an FBS top 25 and tried to rank Notre Dame. So put Richmond (6-4) into 24th and get'em ready to lose to the Tribe.
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