Ah, cometh October! And come with it, a month of football past to base actual analysis on, rather than the pontification of talking heads based solely on opinion and severely slanted breakdowns on how everyone thinks teams will perform.
Well, based on my completely arbitrary opinion, I will now make some bold predictions for the rest of the season:
If Sparty wins in Ann Arbor this weekend, they will finish the season undefeated
And if my aunt had nuts, she'd be my uncle.
But if Michigan State manages to do what no one else has been able to thus far this year -- stop "Shoelaces" Denard Robinson (not to be confused with our very own "Shoeless") and the Michigan offense -- then its a very real possibility that the Big Eleven will have two undefeated representatives in the BCS this year. And when a boost they'll have seeing their ailing head coach on the sidlines for the first time since their emotional OT victory over Notre Dame. A win over Meeshigan and The Fightin' Dantonis avoid Ohio State on their way to the BCS. They still have two tough-looking road match-ups at Iowa and Penn State, but these two games look much less daunting than they did 4 or 5 weeks ago.
But I beg you Sparty, lose those god-awful shoulder-stripe uniforms/
The Oregon Ducks will NOT run the table
Teams with great defenses and mediocre offenses have the ability to overcome an offensive miscue or two and have the D stand up and minimize the damage. Teams with great offenses and mediocre defenses just hope they can out-score their opponents into submission. Well, if history has taught us anything, its that every great offense is going to have an off night. The Oregon Ducks are not immune to this dynamic.
There will be a game where things don't go so well. A helmet on the ball as LaMichael James cuts through traffic and its one fumble recovered in Oregon territory. A Darron Thomas pass slightly too high into the awaiting arms of a defender and its six points the other way. When your offense inevitably has its off-night, and you spot your opponents too many points that your offense is able to out-score, and BAM... recipe for an upset. It almost happened against Stanford, spotting the Cardinal a 21-3 lead, but The Fighting Harbaugh's were putrid in the final 45 minutes.
Just wait Duckies... its coming.
The "mid-majors" will finish with TWO undefeated teams, but it may not be who you think
Yes yes, we have all heard by now about how good Boise State and TCU are, but neither of these teams will be bowling in the BCS come January. That's because two more teams from their respective conferences are going to end their unbeaten runs.
Lets address the more straightforward Boise State first. On November 26th, Boise State will travel to Reno to face the fearsome pistola of the Nevada Wolfpack. Chris Ault will have his men ready, and they are more than angry after years of playing in the Potato Boys' shadows. The Broncos' defection from the WAC will provide the last bit of motivation to finally push Nevada past their rival (in what may be the shocker of the year) to finish 2010 unbeaten.
The second of these undefeated squads will be the team who I feel is the best of the mid-majors this year, the Utah Utes. On October 23rd, TCU faces an inspired -- but under-manned -- Air Force squad at home, winning by 2 TDs, and deflating the Force.
The following week, in what is shaping up to be one of the best games of the year, that same Air Force squad will host the Utes in the trap game of the century. Look for this to be an exciting, back-and-forth battle with the Utes escaping Colorado Springs with a hard-earned victory over a Falcons squad that has had too much emotions for an 8-day span. TCU will be facing the MWC's resident Debbie Downers, UNLV, in a total snoozer.
All this sets up a HUGE match-up of unbeatens in Salt Lake City, with Utah, the best mid-major coming out ahead, and throwing everything we thought we knew about the mid-majors into a state of total chaos.
The Big XII is better than advertised...
...but no one is going undefeated here. Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Missouri are left standing, and they all look like train wrecks waiting to happen. Oklahoma has been far too inconsistent to lead me to trust them, and Nebraska and Mizzou play a de facto eliminator on October 30th -- if Mizzou can stay out of their own way even that long. (For the record, I'm taking Nebraska to fall from the ranks of the unbeatens a week prior at the Pokes before pasting Mizzou in Lincoln). Eh... maybe they aren't that good...
The Mountaineers will find a way to break our hearts again
Call it a hunch... based on almost 30 years of bad memories.
- Grey Bush
No comments:
Post a Comment