Quick Picks

Off to do some winter sports poorly, so here are some teams I like for games to be played today and tomorrow. I like UCLA and Miami today and Idaho and Nebraska tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to weigh in on the rest from the road.

Coaching Crazies

Are the lunatics running the asylum? With reports out of Lubbock that Texas Tech has suspended head coach Mike Leach one game for his odd treatment of a concussed player--who it turns out is the son of Craig James!?!?!-on the heels of the continued saga of Florida coach Urban Meyer, it is clear that huge paychecks are no guarantee of the sanity of football coaches.
The Leach situation is turning ugly fast as the coach is undertaking a legal fight to return to the sideline for the upcoming Alamo Bowl, while Tech is investigating the matter. Leach and the university have come to odds before, mostly about money, and then at midseason this season Texas Tech was probably uncomfortable with Leach's odd tirade blaming his team's lack of focus after a loss to Texas A&M on his players' "fat, little girlfriends."
Meyer's retirement, then limited about-face, seemed to come out of nowhere. There is clearly a great deal of pressure attached to a program that was once desperate to win an SEC title and now expects to compete annually for national titles. But saying that you are quitting because of illness and a desire to spend more time with your family and then changing your tune soon after because your team had a spirited practice is beyond belief. What is the truth? This is nuts.
Forget the excitement on the field over the next few days, the real intrigue in college football is now centered on that wacky band of coaches. Who will be the next to put his foot in his mouth or into the backside of a player?

View From Bennett Avenue

The news from Gainesville regarding Urban Meyer's retirement yesterday was stunning. He had built an empire of sorts there and seemed to be ready to compete for SEC titles and national championships for years to come.

Now, he had been hospitalized after the recent SEC championship game, but that seemed to be a warning sign for him personally and it was not made out to be a big deal at the time. The college football world had more to focus on that week with the craziness at the end of the Big 12 title game and with the then upcoming Heisman vote. Meyer is a young man, with great ambitions as a football coach. If he was not going to pursue the Notre Dame job, which he had recently labelled his "dream job," then it seemed that he would be patrolling the sidelines at Florida for many more successful seasons.

Hopefully he is making this decision for all of the right reasons--that he does want to spend more time with his family and wants to do so for a long time and in better health. To be successful at college coaching is incredibly taxing and it would have been hard to imagine that Meyer could have remained so driven for another 20-30 years.

I must admit that as someone who respects Meyer as a coach but does not like some of his ways--the numerous player arrests, the fights with other coaches, the "poaching" of other teams' recruits, the current allegations of playing favorites among players, etc--I was looking forward to his coaching effort next season when he had to replace one of the most valuable players in college football history in Tim Tebow and break in a new D coordinator and coach a squad with a host of first-time starters. Next season would have been a great challenge to Meyer, but perhaps the thought of that was too much to take for someone who has grown used to double-digit wins each year.

The person who came to mind for me almost immediately when I heard the news about Meyer was Frank Leahy. They are both about the same age when they left a demanding coaching job and each had similar levels of success. Leahy won 107 games in 13 seasons at both Boston College and Notre Dame. Meyer has won 95 games in nine seasons at three stops. Leahy won four national titles; Meyer two, but he could have tied the Hall of Famer in a few years. Both coaches cited health reasons when departing, although Leahy would later say that he felt unwanted by a Notre Dame administration that then felt that football was getting too big. Leahy would never return to a college football sideline. Let's see what happens to the talented and driven Meyer.

By the way, I like Kentucky and the points tonight against Clemson.

Bowl Angst

Ahhhh, just my luck. I had hoped to pick Utah in tonight's Poinsettia Bowl but returned to my computer in the 2nd Q after a day with the family. So, of course, Utah looks great and I cannot take credit for it. Of course, now that I am mentioning my fondness for Utah, Cal will rally and I'll look bad again.
Meanwhile, if the score holds up then all five bowl games played to date this year will have featured the game's winner covering the spread. Four of the games have been won outright by dogs--if the Utes hold on--and the one favorite to win so far, Rutgers, covered in doing so. That's due to change soon, although I do like SMU, the underdog, tomorrow out in Hawaii. The spread is way too high and Nevada is missing a host of key players through either injury or suspension.

View From Bennett Avenue

What did I say to BYU LB Matt Bauman at the NFF breakfast earlier this month to inspire him to greatness last night? Bauman, who is pictured receiving his honor for academic prowess, helped lead the Cougars to the big win in Las Vegas by scoring the game's second TD on a 34y return of a fumble. He was also the team leader with nine tackles as BYU stopped the Beavers in their tracks. But what could I have said to him that helped him play so well? We discussed his balancing of school work, athletics and marriage. We talked about his mission, which was to Pennsylvania, and how that helped shape his life. BYU players seem a bit sensitive to the talk of how the maturity of their players due to their mission work is such an advantage on the football field and he mentioned that it takes a bit of time to get back into football shape and that the older layers are more likely to get injured. But I do not think that any of that discussion helped him yesterday. I did show some good moves in getting to the bar for a drink later that morning. He must have been watching.

Las Vegas Bowl

I had the great pleasure of meeting Matt Bauman, BYU (10-2) LB, recently at a National Football Foundation breakfast honoring both the incoming Hall of Fame class and top student-athletes like Bauman. A three-year starter, Matt has one more meaningful football game to play, the Las Vegas Bowl against Oregon State (8-4), before going to business school. He is waiting to hear from Stanford and Harvard.

I enjoyed speaking to Bauman, who is intelligent yet humble. He is proud of his team's success during his time there, although he is a bit disappointed with how the season played out. So even though this is the program's fifth straight visit to the Las Vegas Bowl, they are hungry to prove to the nation that they are a top team.

Despite his obvious talents, however, I, for the life of me, cannot imagine him capable of stopping Beavers RB Jacquizz Rodgers and the rest of the speedy Beavers. But Bauman and the Cougars D have confounded the experts before, as they did to open this season when shutting down the explosive Oklahoma O. But Oklahoma's offensive line was not ready for that one, and the Sooners' overall offense was not sharp in the first half of the season. The Beavers, meanwhile, are as fine-tuned at season's end as usual, scoring 31, 48, 42 and 33 pts in their final four games. QB Sean Canfield(284-406/3103y) had a fine regular season and played very well in the bitter Civil War loss to Oregon. Although the Beavers were down after that one, they enter tonight on a five-game postseason win streak and should be fine.

Of course, as much as BYU will struggle trying to stop the OSU O, the Beavers D will have a difficult time stopping sr QB Max Hall (pictured in last season's Las Vegas Bowl loss to Arizona) and the BYU O. Like Oregon State, the Cougars feature an experienced sr QB, in Hall (256-379/3368y), a 1,000y rusher in Harvey Unga (184/1016y) and a talented receiving target in TE Dennis Pitta (57/784y), who needs only two receptions to became the all-time leader in that category for TEs with 218 for his career. A balanced, dynamic offense is a main reason the Cougars have won 10 or more games for four straight seasons, joining Boise State, Ohio State and Texas as the only FBS teams to accomplish that feat.

The first bowl match-up of top 25 teams should be a barn-burner. Having praised the Pac 10 before, I will pick them to get win no. 1 in this postseason.

Pick: Oregon State 37 BYU 34.

New Orleans Bowl

With this game being played on an NFL Sunday, the few folks who would have cared may be footballed out by tonight's kickoff. The Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles are the big boys in this match-up with Middle Tennessee, having won 7 games against a tougher schedule. The Golden Eagles feature a sound defense and balanced offense, led by veteran RB Damion Fletcher and dynamic soph WR DeAndre Brown. The Golden Eagles scored 33 points per game this season. One factor that prevented Southern Miss from challenging for the Conference USA crown was the team's struggles away from home this season as they won only one game out of six played away from Hattiesburg.

Red hot Middle Tennessee, who enters the game riding a six-game win streak, is led by their defense which featured seven players who found themselves on the first or second team All Sun Belt team. DE Chris McCoy was co-defensive player of the year for his 20 tackles behind the line of scrimmage with seven sacks. McCoy was best against the bigger competition as he had a monster game in the team's win over Maryland (9 tackles, sack, FUM REC, blocked kick) and returned FUM 68y for TD against Clemson. On offense the Blue Raiders are led by QB Dwight Dasher (pictured), who passed for 2627y and 21 TDs and rushed for 953y and 9 TDs. He did throw 14 picks, however, and must keep the ball away from the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss is favored tonight and is 3-0 lifetime in this bowl game. they are the pick, but in a close one against a hungry Blue Raider team enjoying their best year to date in FBS play.

Pick: Southern Miss 34 Middle Tennessee 31

Bowl Preview

The bowl season kicks off today with two under the radar games, the New Mexico Bowl pitting Fresno State and Wyoming and the St. Petersburg Bowl that set up Rutgers and Central Florida. What follows is a quick preview of the games with predictions:

The New Mexico Bowl does have one known commodity in Fresno State (8-4), who is making its 10th post-season appearance in past 11 seasons. Coach Pat Hill's Bulldogs played in this bowl a season ago, losing to Colorado State 40-35. This season's squad is led by RB Ryan Mathews, who led the nation with 151.27y rushing per game. Mathews rushed for 234y of his 1,664y season total against Boise State and will have no problem with Wyoming's rush D. Look for a monster game from the junior and then his announcement that he will turn pro. As for Wyoming (6-6), they are rebuilding with youth under new coach Dave Christensen and surprisingly made a bowl game with a .500 record. The Cowboys did not beat a FBS team with a winning record this year and will not do so today. The focus today for Wyoming will be on lessons learned as they get the bowl experience any young team needs while Fresno makes off with an easy win.

Pick: Fresno State 35 Wyoming 13

The St. Petersburg Bowl will feature two teams from the Sunshine State battling it out under the lights at Tropicana Field. Yeah, I know Rutgers is from my home state of New Jersey, but with so many recruits from Florida, the Scarlet Knights should feel very comfortable making this trip. But I like the other knights in this one, the Knights of Central Florida who are happier to be in a bowl game and have enough defense to contain the Scarlet Knights. The DE tandem of Jarvis Geathers (11 sacks) and Bruce Miller (pictured), the Conference USA defensive player of the year who had 12 sacks, will put pressure on frosh QB Tom Savage of RU and the UCF rush D, ranked 4th in the nation, will handle the Rutgers middling run game. With standout WR Tim Brown (51/1,051y) sidelined with a bum ankle, Rutgers is further limited on offense. I look for Rutgers's three-game bowl win snapped on late FG.

Pick: UCF 24 Rutgers 21

Chris Henry

Like many of you, I found out that Chris Henry died yesterday through reports from ESPN. Henry, a gifted and talented wide receiver, was perhaps known more for getting into trouble than playing football. After redshirting as a freshman at West Virginia, Henry burst on the scene in his first year of play in 2003 by catching 41 passes for 1,006y. He was named Big East freshman of the year and made second team all conference.

Due to many off-field transgressions, Henry's career really peaked that magical first year. In year two he was tossed from the Rutgers game for multiple unsportsmanlike penalties and suspended for the Pittsburgh game. He finished that season with 52 catches for 872y and then turned pro. Once in the NFL the arrests really began to pile up. You name the misdeed and chances are Henry was accused of it. With the troubles of Pacman Jones, a teammate at West Virginia, also making news, the program in Morgantown was starting to feel the heat. Was then-coach Rich Rodriguez bringing in any type of athlete in a pursuit of wins? Rodriguez later claimed that both athletes, each who turned pro early, would not have been welcomed back at West Virginia for the 2005 season. While it is hard to believe that Rodriguez, coming off of a four-loss season in 2004, really would not have taken back two talented players, we do not have evidence to the contrary.

Many of the football people closest to Henry mentioned that his death was particularly tragic as he had finally matured and started to turn his life around. That seems to be the case and yes his death is indeed sad. But as I watched the ridiculous documentary on the rise of Miami football in the '80s yesterday, I could not help but think of Henry. The filmmaker could not stop fawning over players that were an embarrassment to college football (it only took the NCAA 25 years to finally begin cracking down on the on-field celebrations that the Hurricanes took for granted in their day) and allowed virtually any wrongdoing to be excused away by their troubled pasts and that the school was giving an opportunity to underprivileged kids. But that opportunity comes with responsibility to get an education and represent your school in the best way possible. Many of these players do stay out of trouble and remain focused on becoming proper student-athletes. But those who do not should not be coddled and their crimes should not be tolerated. Nor should they be celebrated in a film years later as members of some wonderful dynasty that greatly changed football.

There is no excuse for Henry's past bad behavior and the multiple chances he was given were harmful to his victims--especially those who were allegedly hurt by Henry years after he got away with his first crimes. We should feel sad that he has died, especially in light of the three kids he leaves behind, but let's also learn that slaps on the wrist, by both football teams and law enforcement, are in no way the proper treatment for athletes like Henry as much for him as the community at large. And please ESPN, no more films that celebrate childish and sometimes criminal behavior by athletes. I guess that is my Christmas wish.

Big East Troubles

It has not been the greatest month for the conference, despite six of eight teams earning bowl bids. The headline team, Cincinnati, came shockingly close to securing a spot in the BCS championship game before settling for third place overall and a trip to the Sugar Bowl, where they will face an angry Florida team. They will do so without head coach Brian Kelly, the winner of the Home Depot Coach of the Year award, who has departed for his next gig. Kelly is now saying that he is unsure if he would have taken the Notre Dame job if Texas had lost in the Big 12 title game and the Bearcats were playing for the national title. Kelly's abandonment of the Bearcats has not gone over well in the "Queen City," although residents there were slow to respond to the coach's work building the program as Cincinnati football tickets were always pretty easy to get. At least until this year's historic, undefeated run.

The coaching situation at Cincinnati may be better than that at South Florida, where head man Jim Leavitt's 13-year run in Tampa has hit a major road bump. Special teams player Joel Miller, through his father, accused the coach on December 3 of grabbing him by the throat and hitting him twice in the face during halftime of the Louisville game on November 21. The Millers have since softened their story a bit, but the school is investigating the incident. Leavitt coached with Mark Mangino, who resigned from his position as head coach at Kansas after allegations of being verbally abusive of players, at Kansas State under Bill Snyder.

Today we were reminded that if and when the Big Ten expands to 12 teams, Rutgers is one of the targeted programs. Adding the Scarlet Knights will allow the conference to stake a claim into metropolitan New York City, while adding a program that will be competitive yet not tip the balance of power in the conference. Rutgers has improved their facilities and produced wins while graduating players and not having kids get arrested. The Big East would not want to lose an improved Scarlet Knights program, especially in light of stated desires to invite two more teams to the conference even if the Knights stay. Programs like Memphis and East Carolina are already under consideration, but the conference fears losing its identity if it has to bring in three new teams on top of the three schools--Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida--that came on board five years ago.

Good news? Well Louisville is pretty happy to have Charlie Strong join them as their new head coach. Strong's ability to coach defense and recruit are assets strongly in need with the Cardinals.

Remember When

While every Army-Navy game has great meaning, the ones played during time of war have extra poignancy. With the recent announcement that the number of troops committed to Afghanistan will increase, yesterday's game became important viewing.

Perhaps the most meaningful game in series history occurred in 1963. The Cold War was raging and the United States was about to increase its presence in one particular hot spot-Vietnam. Then the nation was stunned to learn that President John Kennedy (pictured before 1962 Army-Navy game) was shot and killed in Dallas one morning in late November. The Army-Navy game was played two weeks and a day later, one week after it was originally scheduled. Here is our recap from The USA Today Encyclopedia of College Football:

Navy 21 Army 15 (Philadelphia): Game was originally cancelled due to presidential assassination, but widow, Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy, made special request that it be played. FB Pat Donnelly scored 3 TDs, last at end of 91y drive that gave Navy (9-1) 21-7 lead with less than 11 mins left and Tars appeared on their way to Cotton Bowl. But, unsung Army (7-3) QB Rollie Stichweh ignored his passing O and created all-infantry 52y TD march and added 2-pt run. Stichweh's TD run was shown by CBS as TV's 1^st-ever instant replay. Now back to live action: Stichweh immediately fell on K Dick Heydt's perfect on-side KO at Middies 49YL and Cadets were in business. After 5 meticulous runs and 11y pass to WB Don Parcells, Army used its last timeout with ball at 7YL and 1:38 left. After 2 runs to 4YL, and with 130,000 fans in uproar, ref called time to aid Army's signal-calling. Stichweh made mistake of re-huddling his team, while unaware clock was running. Cadets HB Ken Waldrop's plunge went to 2YL, but time expired with Stichweh hopelessly pleading for quiet so Army could run 4^th down play. No. 2 Navy won its 5^th in row over Army, but in barely surviving Middies might have left some of their zest for upcoming Cotton Bowl showdown with no. 1 Texas.

A Man Named Suh

How matters do change in a few days in college football.

As someone who feels the Heisman Trophy voters make a great selection about once every six years and a good selection about every other year, I was all set 10 days ago to rail on in great anger about the travesty that the nation's best player, Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, would in no way be considered for the award that singles out the best college football player in America.

All of a sudden, Suh nearly derailed Texas's trip to the BCS Championship Game all by himself, swatting aside double-team blockers as he has for two years and using Longhorns star quarterback Colt McCoy as a rag doll. The voters noticed.

Next, it was announced Suh actually would be invited as a Heisman finalist to the New York ceremony on Saturday evening. Apparently, voters made a difference by writing his name on a sufficient number of ballots.

Then, Heisman evaluators and predictors suggested that straw-polls might well have Suh showing the most first-place votes.

Then, Suh virtually swept the defensive awards on the ESPN show the other night.

Could a defensive tackle really shock the world and win the Heisman Trophy? Probably not. Too many numb-skull voters who don't truly understand the sport will continue to embrace the notion that no player could be the very best if they don't throw or carry the ball.

Wouldn't it be something if Suh could pull off the Heisman miracle? In my mind, he should win. Granted, Texas's McCoy has had a great year, but Suh seriously outplayed him on last week's national TV stage. Toby Gerhart of Stanford has been spectacular, but he was even less known at year's start than Suh. Mark Ingram of Alabama is plenty deserving as he is the best offensive player for the team currently at the top of the polls. Tim Tebow of Florida is probably the greatest four-year quarterback star in college history, but this season, a bit of juice seems to be missing. Two home run receiver threats from last year's Gators are missing, and his line failed to protect as well as in the last recent past. Tebow got hurt in mid-season, and simply wasn't quite the same.

Suh is the man! We'll see on Saturday night in what has suddenly evolved into one of the most fascinating Heisman Trophy presentations in history.

If he could win, Suh would be doing it for past lineman who should have prevailed: either Iowa tackle Alex Karras or Kentucky tackle Lou Michaels in 1957 and Pittsburgh linebacker Hugh Green in 1980.

This Week's Pick:

By the way, there is one game being played on Saturday. Navy is a 14-point favorite to win its eighth straight over rival Army. The Midshipmen likely will win. But, this Army team is much improved, especially on defense. Black Knight blocking for the option run attack is pretty pale, especially on outside pitchouts. But, the Army wants to turn the scales very badly. Since the Army Cadets want it more and their defense that will be ferocious, it tells me that Army +14 is solid. Pick: Army +14

--Bob Boyles

View From Bennett Avenue

Let me quickly weigh in on the Brian Kelly hire at Notre Dame since more than one of my readers mentioned a distaste for his not sticking around for the biggest bowl game in Cincinnati history.
Is it unfortunate? Yes. The Bearcats gave him their commitments and have practised and played hard all year. They have kept out of trouble, too. But a lesser coach would not have brought them to a potential no. 2 final ranking. And the pro contracts signed by some of these players may not have materialised.
Is it realistic to expect him to have stayed and either remained quiet about Notre Dame or been a coach of two different schools? Absolutely not. One of the best things Charlie Weis and his staff did was to attract talent, although the majority of the higher rated players played offense. His current class, which was still 7-8 guys short, could have collapsed without a coach in place ASAP. That is just the current situation, especially with the shark-like staffs currently working at USC, Florida and Tennessee, etc. Notre Dame waited for Weis five years ago and paid for it with the seniors who departed last year. Quick, name three.
There is too much money at stake for Kelly not to go immediately. Notre Dame football is a big business and when the school fails to see it that way--like hiring a high school coach--they pay for it. Since he is under increased pressure with the Irish, it is best that he begins working today. Plus, if he stuck it out for a month the rumors and questions would have been a distraction for his team. It is a sad day for Cincinnati football but all will be forgotten with a win over Florida.

College Football Performance Formula

2009 College Football Performance Formula
End of Regular Season: December 11

For most of the last month, TCU--now headed to the Fiesta Bowl--has held the no. 2 spot in our College Football Performance Formula, but when Alabama (previous no. 3 in the Formula) beat an undefeated team in Florida, the Crimson Tide jumped into the second spot in the Formula.

Texas, Alabama's opponent in the BCS Title Game, holds on to the Formula's top spot after its Big 12 title win over Nebraska. So, according to the College Football Performance Formula, the BCS got the match-up right.

If one goes strictly on the top 10 teams deserving slots in the five BCS bowls, then Virginia Tech at no. 9 and Penn State at no. 10 clearly were passed over. However, Georgia Tech (no. 12) won an automatic bid on the field by taking the Atlantic Coast Conference title from Clemson, while Iowa (no. 11) was tapped ahead of Penn State as the Big Ten's second BCS representative, primarily because of a head-to-head victory.

It is remarkable that the top eight teams will match up in BCS bowl games exactly as they performed in the formula.

Top 20 FBS schools in Performance Formula after games of December 5:

1. Texas 1.8187
2. Alabama 1.7894
3. TCU 1.7541
4. Boise State 1.7271
5. Florida 1.6785
6. Cincinnati 1.6678
7. Oregon 1.5781
8. Ohio State 1.5692
9. Virginia Tech 1.5300
10. Penn State 1.5113
11. Iowa 1.4727
12. Georgia Tech 1.4565
13. Louisiana State 1.4478
14. Pittsburgh 1.4280
15. Brigham Young 1.4232
16. Miami (Florida) 1.4025
17. Wisconsin 1.3783
18. Nebraska 1.3648
19. West Virginia 1.3644
20. Oklahoma State 1.3579

Bowl Bound

Yeah, I know. The bowl pairings were locked in a few days ago. But it is never too late to analyze the top match-ups nor complain about the total number of games on the docket this year and for the near future.

But let's first focus on the BCS title game, which will pit Alabama and Texas. With most everyone overrating what happened this past weekend, Alabama will be a decent favorite for the game. After all, Alabama looked very good in vanquishing Florida while Texas beat a solid-but-not-spectacular Nebraska squad by the slimmest of margins. But the Longhorns were bigger underdogs when they upset Southern California in January of 2006 and, overall, underdogs usually do well in this game. Another advantage for Texas is that defensive coordinator Will Muschamp knows Alabama coach Nich Saban very well from their days at LSU, although that, of course, cuts both ways. Another factor in the lack of love for Texas is that they do not have one signature win, in conference or out, this year. In 2005 they beat Ohio State on the road and faced a little bit better conference competition. We will continue to dissect this game as the weeks go by.

As far as the other BCS games, I would have preferred to see TCU and Cincinnati square off and have Boise take on Florida. Ohio State playing Oregon should be a nice game and since there is not much you can do with Georgia Tech and Iowa, it is better that they play in another Orange Bowl game that will draw little interest. From regular fans that is as I will happily watch the Hawkeyes and Yellow Jackets tangle. It sure beats watching regular television. The others? There are a few compelling match-ups, like LSU versus Penn State, Oregon State battling BYU, Stanford and Oklahoma meeting and Virginia Tech taking on Tennessee. But with too many games--34--there are naturally some bad match-ups as there are not 68 compelling teams in FBS football. I'll break down each and every game in the coming weeks.

An imperfect collection of bowls is no reason for a playoff system, however. What I would love is the elimination of the conference tie-in and the use of a panel, like they do in college basketball, to choose the pairings for each bowl. This panel would concentrate on producing exciting match-ups and delivering more fans and higher ratings to each bowl. This can be done and should be done. Eliminating 5-7 bowls would go a long way to improving the product presented to sports fans this time of year too.

Big 12 Title Game: Hit Something, Anything!

Texas quarterback Colt McCoy now admits he didn't know the rule about passes out of bounds, that is, the clock doesn't stop until a pass hits something, anything, in his case the grandstand railing at Cowboys Stadium. He thought, as many of us probably did, that all it took to stop the clock was to lob the ball over the line of scrimmage and wide of the sideline.

In last Saturday night's Big 12 Championship Game, McCoy surely was confused in the dying moments because it is easy to wonder what he was doing on the incomplete pass play that almost ended the game, cost Texas a trip to the national title game, and sent Nebraska to a BCS bowl game as conference champion. What now is this season's most famous single tick-of-the-clock was restored to the game clock, which allowed Hunter Lawrence to make a winning 46-yard field goal. The kick, which made the final score 13-12, truly got McCoy off the hook.

What was going on? McCoy, an engaging stand-up kid, needs to stand up now and admit he almost blew it, that he cut it too fine. That would be alright, Colt. Everything would be forgiven in Longhorn circles. You won. Instead, he's changing his story daily, no doubt hoping the questions will go away.

Let's review. Having just gone ahead 12-10 on Alex Henery's fourth field goal, Nebraska hurt itself by kicking off out-of-bounds. Texas had the ball, first down at its 40. McCoy hit receiver Jordan Shipley with a critical 19-yard pass to the Nebraska 41. Safety Larry Asante was called for a 15-yard penalty for a horse-collar tackle. (Texas fans can thank their old NFL pal Terrell Owens for that rule, by the way.) Texas quickly was at the Nebraska 26, first down.

Huskers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the best player on the field and maybe in the nation (Watch for my Heisman lineman rant here soon!), sacked McCoy for a two-yard loss. On second down from the 28, McCoy ran to the left and lost another yard. On third down, McCoy dropped back and drifted to his right rather aimlessly as the clock ticked past five-seconds-to-go. Finally, he lobbed a pop-up so far out-of-bounds it might have hit Holly Rowe or Erin Andrews, or at least put a lump on the back of the head of innkeeper Jerry Jones.

What was Texas and McCoy thinking? According to the official play-by-play report the Longhorns had one timeout left. Why didn't they run twice to get a shorter field goal, then call time-out? If McCoy knew, as he stated in the post-game interview, that Lawrence preferred to kick from the right hashmark, why did he run left on the previous play? When McCoy rolled out on his third down pass, was he trying to kill time or pass for a gain, or both, while getting to the right hashmark? We may never know, but in the end it didn't matter. Well, it did matter to "Husker Nation," which is smarting from a painful loss and smells a conspiracy.

Sunday's Omaha World-Herald didn't use a whole column worth of space but did pose the question: Is Texas the only member of the conference that would have gotten the replay review that (rightfully) restored the notorious single second?

This isn't the first conspiracy theory offered up in college football. Last year, when Texas lost out to Oklahoma—a team the Longhorns defeated—in the Big 12 South because of a technical tie-breaker, Sooner fans gloated because they beat out the conference "poster boy" that always seemed to get its way.

Whether we admit it or not, it is better business for the Big 12 when Texas makes the BCS Title Game instead of Iowa State. Down deep, Big Ten administrators would rather see Michigan make the Rose Bowl instead of Indiana. More money was spent in NASCAR in the 1980s and '90s when Dale Earnhardt won races instead of Sterling Marlin. It's the way it is. TV ratings go up when the Yankees are in the World Series and the Lakers in the NBA finals.

A few years back, I married into a Nebraska family and was pulling like crazy for the Huskers Saturday night. But I know for certain, as every Husker fan knows in their heart, the game wasn't really lost in the last second. Up 6-0 and having just blocked a punt at the Texas 37 in the second quarter, Nebraska's quarterback Zac Lee threw an end zone interception. With 13 minutes to play and the Huskers behind 10-6, Niles Paul raced a punt back 43 yards to the Longhorns 10, but the painfully weak offense had to settle for another field goal. If Paul could have eluded the last tackler, Nebraska would have been ahead 13-10. And as great as the defense played, the Black Shirts couldn't keep Texas pinned at its 1 after the next kickoff. Then there was the penalty for the kickoff out of bounds from Adi Kunalic, who otherwise was excellent on kickoffs all night. Oh, what might have been for Nebraska (9-4 in the regular season) this year, which lost three games—16-15 to Virginia Tech, 9-7 to Iowa State, and 13-12 to Texas—by a total of four points.

--Bob Boyles

Crazy

What a day! Toss in the great game Thursday night between Oregon and Oregon State and the final weekend of college football delivered. The highly-anticipated battle for the SEC championship turned into a rout while the battles for the Pac 10, Big East, ACC and Big 12 spots in the BCS bowls turned out to be very memorable. Where to begin? Why did Colt McCoy think there were 15 seconds left when he rolled right on the last play from scrimmage for Texas? How good is C.J. Spiller? Ndumakong Suh? Mardy Gilyard? Most of Alabama? As they just mentioned on ABC, a number of talented players produced brilliant last-game performances yet QBs Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy did not. McCoy would have joined Tebow in the tear-flowing department post-game if that last second was not put on the clock or if K Hunter Lawrence did not keep his winning FG try within the left upright.

Crazy.

Remember When

With the highly-anticipated Florida versus Alabama match-up today for the SEC Championship, we have made the easy decision to remember one of the finer meetings between these two programs with the SEC crown in the balance. The SEC Championship game was established in 1992 after the conference expanded to 12 teams with the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina. Alabama and Florida were the two best programs in the conference then, as now, and met in that first game, which was won by the Tide 28-21. Alabama then went on to win the national title by beating Miami in the Sugar Bowl and the current edition of the team looks to do the same this year. The two schools met again in 1993 and 1994 and Remember When looks back at the exciting 1994 game that pitted no. 3 Alabama and no. 6 Florida for SEC glory.

Florida 24 Alabama 22 (Atlanta): In nerve-wracking SEC title game, Florida (10-1-1) silenced lingering doubt about big game ability, and Alabama (11-1) saw national title shot evaporate. Crimson Tide opened scoring as QB Jay Barker (10-19/181y, TD, 2 INTs) passed 70y to WR Curtis Brown on perfectly-threaded arrow. But, Barker banged up his throwing shoulder as Gators took 17-10 H lead on 2 TDs by QB Danny Wuerffel. Bama K Michael Proctor made 47 and 48y FGs in 3^rd Q, and when LB Dwayne Rudd ran in 23y INT in 4^th Q, Tide led 22-17. Coach Gene Stallings was criticized for not trying 2-pt conv, but kicked instead for 23-17 edge. At this point, Gators dipped into coach Steve Spurrier's bag of tricks and came up with 20y lateral double-pass from Wuerffel to WR Chris Doering to WR Aubrey Hill, who carried to 2YL. Doering caught TD pass on next play, and K Judd Davis made winning kick with 5:29 to go.

Weekly Picks

Bob's Picks for Dec. 5, 2009: Point Spreads always are based on Danny Sheridan's Wednesday spreads in USA TODAY.

Bob's picks last week Against-the-Spread (ATS): 1-4, Season: 22-32

All 2009 Games

Last Week ATS: Favorites covered 17 (36.96%), failed to cover 29, 2 Pushes
Season ATS: Favorites covered 277 (47.84%), failed to cover 302

Farewell to Foge

In this season of coaches fading into oblivion, the college football world lost another coach yesterday. Serafino "Foge" Fazio died at 71 after a long bout with leukemia. It received microscopic attention in a modern sports world that cares more about what Tiger Woods did or didn't say, what he did or didn't do.

Foge Fazio inherited the coaching reins from Jackie Sherrill of the Pittsburgh Panthers in 1982, which as it happens, was the first of nine years I would live in Pittsburgh, America's most underrated great city. The good news for Foge was that the former Panthers center-linebacker (He played in Mike Ditka in 58-59.) and defensive coordinator took over a preseason no. 1 team with a star-studded cast of Dan Marino at quarterback, future NFLers Jimbo Covert, Jim Sweeney and Bill Fralic in the offensive line, and tackle Bill Maas, linebackers Michael Woods and Chris Doleman, and backs Tim Lewis, Troy Hill and Tom Flynn on the defense. The bad news was that Pitt won its first four games against ranked opponents but never by sufficiently large a score to please the local faithful.

Regrettably, Pitt lost three of its last five games that year and by 1985 had faded badly under Fazio's watch. Foge was fired and went to the NFL where he became a very good defensive coach on some good teams.

When public pressure in Pittsburgh was against Foge—as it now is against Tiger Woods, granted, on a far bigger scale for Tiger—did Foge clam up, rebuke the police, blame the media, skip a charity event? No, what Foge would do in those down years of 1984-85 was come out (mostly during the off-season) and drink a beer at one of the more upscale Friday night hangouts. He'd smile, shake hands, tell a story or two, and be on his way after no more than two mellow-tasting I.C. Lights.

Can you imagine Tiger Woods out in Orlando tomorrow night, shaking hands with his sports-minded critics and swapping stories over a cold one? No way! R.I.P. Foge.

Here are my picks for Thursday and Saturday, December 3 and 5:

My season of prognosticating is beginning to look like Foge Fazio's 3-7-1 record at Pitt in 1984. This week to honor my late, old acquaintance, I'm going with teams with the better defenses.

(Thursday) Oregon State (+10) at OREGON
Neither team is blessed with Pitt's 1982 defensive talent, but the Ducks, a better all-around team, also have a slightly better defense than the Beavers. The winner goes to the Rose Bowl, and Oregon simply is more talented. I'm not nuts about covering 10 points against Oregon State, a perennial good late-season team, but…. Pick: Oregon -10

(Saturday) Cincinnati (-1) at PITTSBURGH
Wouldn't it just be like Dave Wannstedt's unpredictable Panthers to lose to rival West Virginia last week and turn around to ruin the season and a BCS bid for undefeated Cincinnati? This is purely a hunch to honor ex-Panther Foge. Pick: Pittsburgh +1

(Saturday) Florida (-5.5) vs. Alabama at Atlanta
There is no better defense than Alabama's, and I just have a hunch on this one. Hey, nothing else is working for me this season. A couple of turnovers and one or two good passes in the red-zone by Tide quarterback Greg McElroy will be enough to nip a seemingly destined Florida team. Yes, I know Tim Tebow is way better than McElroy. Pick: Alabama +5.5

(Saturday) Texas (-14) vs. Nebraska at Arlington, Texas
I see no way Texas can be kept from a date in the national title game because without turnover help Nebraska's offense simply isn't good enough to score more than 7-10 points against the Longhorns. But, the Huskers defense is way better than most people realize. How would we be looking at this game, had Nebraska's offense pulled out two losses that should have been wins? Those are the 16-15 loss at Virginia Tech and the painful 9-7 loss to Iowa State brought about by four lost fumbles (!) inside the Iowa State five yard-line. Here's what we'd see: Nebraska at 11-1 getting about four-points as underdogs to undefeated Texas. Nebraska may not win, but can cover. Pick: Nebraska +14

Paul's Picks for Dec. 5, 2009: Point Spreads always are based on Danny Sheridan's Wednesday spreads in USA TODAY.

Paul's picks last week Against-the-Spread (ATS): 2-2, Season: 27-21

Loaded final weekend

This is it. Assuming 48-pt underdog New Mexico State fails to beat undefeated Boise State this weekend, the last chance we have for a major upset this season comes this Saturday night in Arlington as Nebraska hopes to derail the national title hopes of favored Texas. Yet despite the absence of stunners this season there has been plenty of excitement and this week should prove to be a fine cap on an excellent regular season.

Thanks to quirks in the schedule, tonight's Oregon-Oregon State Civil War game has a Rose Bowl berth riding on it and a conference title and BCS berth is at stake when Big East rivals Pittsburgh and Cincinnati meet this Saturday at noon. The ACC title will be decided Saturday night between Clemson and Georgia Tech, who played a tight game in September that Tech narrowly won. Both tomorrow night's MAC title game between Ohio and Central Michigan and Saturday's Conference USA battle pitting East Carolina and Houston offer top-notch QBs in CMU's Dan LeFevour and Houston's Case Keenum in addition to conference glory. Have room for more? Both the Big East and Pac 10 have some intriguing match-ups between programs jockeying for better bowl games.

The calendar may say December, but there is plenty of college football action this week.

Here are my picks for this week:

(Friday) Central Michigan (-13) vs. Ohio at Detroit

The Chippewas are targeting their third MAC title in four years and will not let the Ohio Bobcats stand in their way. CMU QB Dan LeFevour is the star of the conference and plays his best in the big ones—just ask the Michigan State secondary. Ohio does play solid defense and has a senior QB too in Theo Scott, but they cannot keep up with the firepower of CMU. Central Michigan won those previous two titles by 21 and 25 pts. With a win, coach Butch Jones will have two conference titles in his three years as the head man at CMU and is making a statement for a bigger job. Pick: Central Michigan -13.

(Saturday) West Virginia (+1.5) at RUTGERS
West Virginia has won 14 straight in this series. West Virginia is solid this year but not spectacular. If Rutgers will ever end this streak, they need to do so this year. Pick: Rutgers -1.5

(Saturday) Georgia Tech vs. Clemson at Tampa
Clemson left the field September 10 after losing 30-27 at Georgia Tech with a bad taste in their mouth. After a slow start, the Tigers dominated most of the second half before surrendering two late FGs. Both teams improved as the season went on, but the Tigers have a big advantage Saturday because they lost that game earlier in the season. Pick: Clemson even

(Saturday) Florida Atlantic (+2) at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
May be my last chance to predict a game featuring coach Howard Schnellenberger and who am I to pick against him? Pick: Florida Atlantic +2

War for the Roses

The Pac 10 could not have planned it any better with Oregon and Oregon State meeting in the 113th version of the Civil War on Thursday in prime time (without any other cfb competition) and the winner earning a Rose Bowl berth. For a conference without a championship game this contest will give the casual college football fan the opportunity to see a huge rivalry game with full BCS implications. Win the game and you go to the Rose Bowl. Any fan can follow that scenario.

For Oregon State the game marks a chance at redemption for last year's 65-38 loss. The Beavers also entered that game needing a win to go to the Rose Bowl. Instead they allowed 694y in getting creamed at home. Their reward for that failure? The Sun Bowl and New Year's in El Paso. Lesson learned. The Oregon State defense is saying the right things about that performance and how they will use it as motivation. Plus the OSU stop unit is ranked no. 1 in the conference in rush D, which is key in that the Ducks, with QB Jeremiah Masoli (1,865y passing, 619y rushing) and frosh RB LaMichael James (1,310y rushing) leading the way, are ranked no. 1 in rush O. Leading the Beavers on D is LB Keaton Kristick (80 tackles), one of only three returning starters from last year's unit. Another is DT Stephen Paea, who has been limited by a knee injury. His inside play is huge against the Ducks and their spread O.

On O, Oregon State is led by the three-headed monster that is the Rodgers brothers and QB Sean Canfield. RB Jacquizz Rodgers has rushed for 1,313y and 19 TDs and brother James has caught 77 passes for 865y and 8 TDs while continuing his terrific work as a returnman. Canfield really came into his own as senior, completing 70% of his passes for 2,797y and 19 TDs. He will need to stay sharp against an Oregon D that flies to the ball. The Ducks feature perhaps the best depth on D in the Pac 10 as they have had two games, versus Cal in September and Washington in October, that had 17 or more players record multiple tackles.

Oregon has not lost a conference home game in two years. That was to Oregon State, however, as the road team has won two straight in this hard-fought series. It should be a good one.

View From Bennett Avenue

A lot of the intrigue this time of the season centers on who will get BCS at large berths. Usually there are too many candidates and deserving teams, like an undefeated Boise State last year. In 2009 we have the big six undefeated clubs and then a bunch of question marks.

Who is in? Ohio State has secured a spot in the Rose Bowl, which is back to being a Big 10-Pac 10 battle. They will face the winner of Oregon-Oregon State, to be held Thursday night. The winner of the ACC championship game versus Clemson and Georgia Tech this Saturday gets a spot. The winner of Saturday's SEC title game,between Alabama and Florida, is also, of course, in. A de facto Big East championship game, between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh this Saturday, determines another BCS game spot. The Big 12 championship game, between Texas and Nebraska, will also produce a BCS team. TCU has wrapped up a spot as the highest ranked non-BCS-conference team, ahead of a Boise squad that has one more game but cannot catch the Horned Frogs.

There are four at large berths, including the one occupied by TCU. The SEC title game loser has secured one of the remaining three spots. The ACC and Pac 10 will not get a second team. The Big 10, despite all of the insults it endures, has two candidates in Iowa and Penn State. The Big 12 will only get an extra spot if Nebraska upsets Texas. The Big East will have a say for two teams if Pitt beats Cincinnati. And Boise sits and waits--assuming it manhandles a 3-9 New Mexico State team. The two remaining spots will go to Texas, if it loses Saturday, or a combination of Cincinnati, if they lose Saturday, Boise, a second Big 10 team, or a mystery team like Virginia Tech (to be considered they would have to finish in the top 14 of the final BCS poll) if the final selecting bowl is more concerned about selling tickets than fairness. Do not count LSU in the mix as a conference can only have two teams in BCS games and they are the clear no. 3 for the SEC.

The two programs sweating it out the most? Boise and Cincinnati. Boise has been down this road before and knows not to count on anything. Cincy? Being ranked in the top ten for most of the year does not count at this time of the year. The Bearcats do not have a tradition of selling tickets--until now--at their own tiny stadium. They do not have a tradition of annually shipping off tens of thousands of fans to bowls the way Penn State and Iowa do. They had better win Saturday afternoon.

A lesser bit of intrigue concerns the second Big 10 team selected should there be a spot available for them. While most fans would assume that Iowa would get the nod thanks to their win over Penn State and narrow loss to Ohio State, do not assume anything. In 2007 Missouri beat Kansas head-to-head and advanced to the Big 12 title game. They lost that game to Oklahoma but assumed that a BCS at large berth awaited, only to watch Kansas get selected.

So we have to wait for the games to play out to determine the guaranteed spots and then tune in on Sunday for the selection show to see who got screwed this season. And, of course, if Nebraska upsets Texas and the SEC title game is a classic, then watch for the final BCS poll. I bet the SEC runner-up finishes second ahead of the remaining undefeated teams.