Archive for January, 2010
If you’re looking for BYU Cougars tickets, go to http://www.stubhub.com/byu-football-tickets/.
The Mountain West is often overlooked in college football, but this year they’ve delivered some great games and a few excellent teams. In week six the best three games are Air Force-Navy, BYU-Utah State and Utah-Oregon State. However, we think you’d be better off getting BYU Cougars tickets if you had to choose only one. Because the Utah game is on Thursday, the BYU game is on Friday, and the Air Force game is Saturday, you don’t have to decide if you don’t want to. But if you can only get tickets for one game, make sure they’re BYU Cougars football tickets.
1.BYU-Utah State: Not only is this a rivalry game out in Utah, but it’s also a chance for the Cougars to deliver yet another decisive reason to the BCS that they deserve to get into the top five. Right now the Cougars are 4-0 with a No. 8 ranking, ranked No. 11 in the nation in total offense. It would be a miracle if the Aggies made a game of it, but even still counting them out at home is not an option.
2.Utah: Oregon: Fresh off their win over then-No. 1 USC, the Oregon State Beavers will take on No. 15 Utah, an undefeated team that’s been getting a lot of buzz lately. The Utes and the Beavers are a very, very close second here. We gave BYU-Utah State the edge because they’re traditional rivals. Will Oregon State have another upset in them? Or was last week a fluke. We’ll find out on the national stage for a Thursday night game.
3.Navy-Air Force: An Armed Forces rivalry. Both teams with winning records. http://Accuscore.com says that the Falcons have the edge in this one, 60-40, but my gut says that Navy’s not going to give up easily. This will come down to the fourth quarter, but I see the superior air game of (you guessed it) Air Force prevailing in the end.
4.UNLV-Colorado State: UNLV is 3-2 and Colorado State is 2-2, which makes this game more compelling than the last two on the list. On paper this looks like a very even matchup, with not a lot separating either team. We give the edge to Colorado State because they’re at home and they managed to hold Houston, the nation’s No. 1 team in total offense, to just 25 points (and beat them) two weeks ago.
5.Wyoming-New Mexico: New Mexico has a chance to rack up some points against Wyoming, as the Cowboys are coming off two straight losses where they’ve given up more than 40 points. Should be a high scoring affair with New Mexico coming out on top.
6.TCU-San Diego State: TCU looks much better on paper, but don’t let the records fool you. San Diego State, even at 1-3, can do a lot of damage through the air. This is the game that’s most likely to be a blowout, but that’s only bad for fans of the Aztecs. If you’re getting TCU tickets, then this might be the game of the week for you.
Sports betting, particularly football betting, has become significantly more sophisticated over the past decade with players mining years of research in an effort to gain an edge on Nevada and online sportsbooks. These so-called technical handicappers use trends, or prior team tendencies, to try to predict future results:
THURSDAY, AUG. 30
Miami (OH) at Ball State: The visitor is 6-2 against the spread (ATS) in this series since 1995.
Buffalo at Rutgers: Rutgers is 8-2 ATS at home in its last 10 games versus non-conference opponents.
LSU at Mississippi State: LSU is 9-1 ATS last 10 versus Mississippi State and 7-0 ATS its last seven in Starkville.
Kent State at Iowa State: Iowa State is 7-1-1 ATS versus Mid-America Conference opponents.
UNLV at Utah State: UNLV is just 6-14 ATS in September games since 2001 but Utah State is 10-19 ATS as an underdog the last three seasons.
Utah at Oregon State: Utah is 11-1 ATS as a road underdog off more than three points its last dozen games in that situation. Oregon State is 4-8 ATS in Corvallis openers since 1996.
Tulsa at ULM: Tulsa is 8-21 ATS on grass fields like the one the Golden Hurricane will play on at the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
FRIDAY, AUG. 31
Navy at Temple: Temple has covered three of its last four games against Navy but the Midshipmen are 9-3 as road favorites the past four years.
Washington at Syracuse: Washington is 3-14-1 ATS versus non-conference opponents. Syracuse is 18-2-2 ATS its last 22 games at home versus non-conference foes. Statistically, this is the strongest game of the opening week.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 1
Western Michigan at West Virginia: West Virginia is just 6-12-1 ATS as a sports betting home favorite the last four years.
East Carolina at Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech has covered four straight games against East Carolina and is 7-2 ATS in home openers since 1997.
Marshall at Miami (FL): Marshall is 5-10 as a road underdog the past three seasons.
Alabama-Birmingham at Michigan State: Michigan State is 5-13 ATS the last seven seasons as a double-digit home favorite.
Connecticut at Duke: UConn has won its first lined game of the season five consecutive years while Duke is 1-11 ATS at home versus non-conference opponents.
Washington State at Wisconsin: Washington State is 8-2 ATS on the road versus non-conference opponents.
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame: Georgia Tech has covered three straight against Notre Dame and is 10-6 ATS overall as a road underdog the past four seasons.
Missouri at Illinois: Missouri has covered five of its last six games against Illinois.
UCLA at Stanford: The home team is 6-1-1 ATS the last eight games in this series.
Wake Forest at Boston College: Wake Forest has covered four straight games versus Boston College.
Baylor at TCU: TCU is 10-3 ATS in its last 13 home openers.
Central Michigan at Kansas: Central Michigan is 1-7 as a non-conference sports betting road underdog of 24 or fewer points.
Colorado State vs. Colorado (Denver): Colorado State is 12-5 ATS since 1986 and has covered three in a row versus rival Colorado.
Eastern Michigan at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh is 1-9 ATS as a home favorite of 20 or more points.
Kansas State at Auburn: Kansas State is 1-6 ATS as a non-conference underdog of more than four points.
Bowling Green at Minnesota: Bowling Green is 6-1 ATS as a non-conference road underdog of four or more points.
Tennessee at California: Tennessee is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 openers, including a 35-18 victory over California last year.
New Mexico AT UTEP: New Mexico has covered three of the last four in this series.
San Jose State at Arizona State: Arizona State is 10-2 as a non-conference home favorite.
Idaho at USC: USC is 6-1 as a non-conference favorite of 20 or more points.
Troy at Arkansas: Troy is 9-5 ATS as a road underdog the last three seasons.
Middle Tennessee at Florida Atlantic: Middle Tennessee is 7-1 ATS in its first lined game of the season.
MONDAY, SEPT. 3
Texas Tech at SMU: SMU is 1-4 ATS in season openers the last five seasons.
Florida State at Clemson: Clemson has covered three of the last four overall and six of the last seven at home in this series.
Are the above sportsbook busters guaranteed? Of course not. But historians point out that by studying the past we’re better equipped to predict the future. That may be true for sports betting, too.
ght © 2009 Ed Bagley
College football’s sixth week of competition was full of surprises for the four teams which lost their unbeaten status, and for the rest of the major college teams that learned why Florida started the season on top of the polls and remains on top after the sixth week of play.
Here are this week’s picks for Ed Bagley’s Top 25 Poll:
1) Florida – Traveled to No. 4 LSU and its mighty defense and lukewarm offense and won 13-3. Now you know why the Gators are No. 1 and LSU will be sliding in this poll.
2) Alabama – Traveled to No. 20 Mississippi to meet “the golden arm” Jevan Snead, who threw 4 interceptions as the Crimson Tide won 22-3. Here again, gone again. I am kicking Ole Miss out of my poll.
3) Virginia Tech – I thought Iowa was lame and now Texas is worse. The Hokies look more serious than Iowa and Texas put together.
4) Oregon – Lost its season opener and then got religion. Beat Utah, beat California 42-3, beat Washington State 52-6 and now ripped UCLA on-the-road 24-10.
5) Ohio State – Beat undefeated Wisconsin 31-13. Have limited their last 4 opponents to 27 points combined.
Things get really murky from here on in the poll. So many of the following teams have such weak victories over weak teams it is too difficult to see who else is a contender or a pretender.
6) Texas – Probably has more talent than Boise State, but could only beat a 1-5 Colorado team by 2 points while giving away 28 points. How can Texas be really good? Can’t rank the Longhorns higher than 6th, and that is a gift they should earn.
7) Boise State – Idle this week, travel to Tulsa next.
Southern California – Idle this week, travel to Notre Dame next.
9) Cincinnati – Idle this week, travel to South Florida next.
10) Iowa – Got by Michigan but not by much. Travel to Wisconsin next.
11) LSU – Have a week to recover before facing Auburn.
12) South Florida – Unbeaten and just as deserving as TCU or Kansas. Host Cincinnati next, a big deal for the Bulls and coach Jim Leavitt.
13) Nebraska – Starting to act like a better team than TCU or Kansas.
14) TCU – Another lame win, this time over Air Force by 3.
15) Kansas – Another insanely lame win over by 5 over Iowa State while giving up 36 points. How long can Kansas stay undefeated? My guess? Not long. They face a pathetic Colorado team next and then get Oklahoma.
16) Miami (FL) – Beat a 1-AA team. Schedule gets easier than pie.
17) Oklahoma State – Won by 5 over Texas A&M while giving up 31 points.
18) Brigham Young – Goes to 5-1 by crushing UNLV 59-21.
19) Georgia Tech – Goes to 5-1 by outlasting Florida State 49-44. Hosts Virginia Tech next, good luck and God speed.
20) Pittsburgh – Now 5-1 after beating Connecticut 24-21. Hardly a big deal but there are some pretty unimpressive teams in anybody’s Top 25 these days.
21) Notre Dame – Idle this week. Host Southern Cal next.
22) South Carolina – Goes to 5-1 by slipping past Kentucky 28-26. Travels to Alabama next. Yikes! Could easily arrive back home at 5-2.
23) Central Michigan – Now 5-1 after ripping the worse major team in the nation—Eastern Michigan—56-8. You tell me a better 5-1 team in the country. Nah, not Penn State; I am not sure they can beat Central Michigan. Penn State likes to play really pansy teams.
24) Idaho – Now 5-1 by playing the 62nd toughest schedule in the nation. The Vandals are no longer a doormat with coach Robb Akey. Idaho was 2-10 last year and has been traditionally one of the weakest teams in the nation. They don’t really play a decent team until Boise State down the road, but at least I reward genuine effort and progress.
25) Penn State – My disdain for the Nittany Lions knows no bounds. Jo Pa would have them playing their opponents’ grandmothers if they could get away with it. Paterno would play college JV teams at home just to pile up another “big” victory for Happy Valley.
Who have I left out? Whoever it is, let them do something so I can notice. It doesn’t take any talent to blow smoke, and it doesn’t take any talent to lose. Win and win big and I will put your team in my poll, until then, let the AP Poll and the Coaches’ Poll reward lame teams in a popularity contest, I just call some teams for what they are—lame in victory, filled with excuses in defeat.
I have been a fan of football as far back as I can remember, from before I started actually playing the game at the age of eight. It has always been enjoyable for me both to play and to watch, although now that I am over 40 I do mostly watching. Okay, I only watch!
If you are a fan of college football you had to enjoy last season no matter which team was your favorite, the season played out right for a change with the top teams and as it turns out, and the top players battling each other. I don’t think I will ever forget the final seconds of the National Championship game with Vince Young of the undefeated Texas Longhorns almost single-handedly beating USC. Vince Young is probably one of the greatest players to ever play the game as far as just pure raw talent goes. I can’t wait to see him this season as he plays for the Tennessee Titans.
Another young Quarterback I watched last year was actually I high school senior by the name of Tim Tebow, who was named 2005 quarterback of the year. I watched his state championship game where in one play he ran right up the middle of the field for 70 yards and carried a guy for the last ten on his back! He was recruited by the Florida Gators and in the spring game he actually through for more yards and had a higher passing completion percentage than the starter, Chris Leak. This will be an interesting situation to watch as well.
Will Big Ben be back at full ability after his near death experience motor cycle accident? I guess we will have to watch and see. One thing is for sure this season looks to be a promising one for excitement with one of the best drafts in years as far as talent is concerned. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. Will Reggie Bush be able to show us something from New Orleans? How will Matt Leinart do in Arizona? Will Vernon Davis help to turn the 49ers around?
There will be so many exciting players to watch it will be hard to choose which game I follow. One thing is for certain though when the Tennessee Titans and the Atlanta Falcons Play I want to see that. Those teams have advantages over every other team for practicing against Vince Young and Michael Vick in being able to practice with the real thing. It will be an interesting match up to say the least.
In the United States, both baseball and football have passionate fans who claim that they follow the true number one sport in America. But, how does one determine what is the actual “number one American sport”?
There are several categories that can be considered when determining America’s number one pastime. Analyzing attendance, ticket costs, revenue from television, salaries, venues, will help to present a case for which sport is number one in the United States. These six factors will help determine which sport is more beloved by Americans.
Attendance
One way to determine whether baseball or football is more popular in America is by looking at how many people go to the games. During the year 2000, the average crowd at a baseball game was 30,125, while the average crowd at a football game was 66,077. This figure is based on a total yearly attendance, divided by the total number of games that were played in the sport. Simply based upon this one factor, it would appear that twice as many people went to football games than to baseball games in that particular year.
Ticket Costs
An aspect which can contribute to the popularity of a sport is ticket cost. An important question is: how affordable is it for the average family in America to go to a live sporting event? Pertaining to this factor, baseball is more accessible and potentially more popular overall with average, to below-average income earning American families. Baseball games, in the year 2000, cost $20.02, while football games cost an average of $54.14. Clearly, live baseball is easier to afford than live football, and watching games live is an experience that can create a lot of fans and generate plenty of excitement for a particular sport.
Television Revenue
Another important factor to consider when analyzing the popularity of a given sport is how much money that sport accumulates from television revenues. In this case, football is the clear winner. The NFL brings in about 2.2 billion dollars a year in revenues from television. The MLB earns about 340 million. The significant difference pertaining to TV revenue is that football is on a few days per week, and baseball is on nearly every night. However, football still brings in much more money from ad revenues on television, which means that there are more people watching the football games than are watching the baseball games. When it comes to television revenue, football is the number one sport.
However, this does not settle the argument. The baseball season and the football season are opposites in many ways. Baseball season is long and drawn out, with a team playing almost every night. Football games are essentially once a week, even though the league and the networks have added Saturday and Thursday games to the already successful “Monday Night Football”. This creates more of a buzz for a football game, and the TV numbers and the revenue generation is a product of that buzz.
Salaries
Another measure of how popular a sport is would be how much its players are paid. In the Major League Baseball, the average salary is a little over 2 million dollars a year; while the average salary in the NFL is right around 1.18 million dollars a year. Therefore, baseball pays its players more money, but it is essentially unclear what effect this aspect has on the fans preference between the two sports.
Venues
The different venues in which the two sports are played is another aspect to take into consideration. When attempting to determine which sport is number one sport in America, this can be a factor. The number of seats in stadiums is important because it shows the number of fans that can be expected per game. The average baseball stadium holds 47,000 people. The average football stadium holds 70,000 people. Therefore, there are more seats to watch football games, meaning that more people typically go to football games. Again, this may be skewed due to the frequency of games played in both football and baseball. However, a regular season football game is more of a major event on a consistent basis than a regular baseball game.
The Role of a Sport’s Athletes
Another factor to consider when discussing what America’s favorite pastime may be is the impact the games players have on society, both positive and negative. For instance, if an Arena football player or an A-class baseball player gets in trouble, or does something very generous, it is not big news. If a NFL or MLB player does one of those things, it usually gets plenty of coverage. This may be a draw, mostly because both MLB and NFL players are consistently in the news for various run-in’s with the law or charitable actions.
Looking at these factors together, one realizes that football and baseball are both extremely popular and also very different. Due to this dynamic, it becomes difficult to compare the two fairly. Both sports have been around for many years, and both of them will continue to be popular for many years. Which one, however, is the more popular, is still undecided.
If you’re a college football fan, it’s a good time to be a student at USC. The University of Southern California has long been a distinguished educational institution that is the dream school for a huge number of high school students, many of whom dreamed about being Trojans probably long before that. While USC is a great school and an exciting place to be, one thing that almost any current USC student who has lived off campus can tell you: housing isn’t cheap, and it can be hard to find the perfect apartment to match your needs.
Apartments near USC tend to be rather expensive, especially for the new college student. This makes sense since you’re basically in Los Angeles, so if for some reason you’re unwilling or unable to live on campus, then there’s no way that your housing expenses aren’t going to hurt more than they otherwise would.
One example of an ad for an apartment near USC (and this is considered a steal compared to the normal prices in the surrounding areas):
“Studio apartment: one bath with laundry on the premises. Lower unit in a one unit building, “USC area” studio. Floors are carpeted, and there is an on site stove. Apartment is close to USC downtown public transportation, and there is easy access to the freeway. There is a full kitchen and laundry facilities on site gated building. Must cover all own utilities. $600 a month for this studio apartment.”
In the USC area it is far more common to see prices ranging from $800-$1,000 a month in the low range. This is true even for other studio apartments. There are many nice apartments available close to campus, and better deals seem to be available for people who live a little bit further out, but are still on the edge of being within walking distance of the USC tram. Some of these apartments are all student in an effort to get repeat business and to build a safe and familiar community for renters.
There are a whole bunch of apartments and rooms for rent in the block’s surrounding USC’s free tram on 23rd Street. This brings up a good point, which is that apartments aren’t the only options, but there are a lot of communal houses specifically built for student rentals. If you don’t mind sharing a very large house with nine guys (all with your own private bedrooms and several bathrooms) then this could be a very good alternative to an apartment, and there’s a chance you will find a better deal.
There are a lot of options for finding apartments near USC, but in the end the major concern is finding an apartment that not only keeps you near the campus, but is also affordable and falls into your price range.
esent moment, the Florida Gators are the sure shot winners of the SEC with not a single team in sight who can match up to them.There are of course the LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss. LSU and Alabama are the better teams of the lot but Ole Miss might have a breakout season this year. The chances aren’t that great though for Ole Miss. Georgia is another team to watch out for with Mark Richt guiding them forth. However, it is highly unlikely that any of these teams would be able to get away with the title by defeating the Gators.Hence, currently it is safe to predict that the Gators will win the trophy this time as well making it their second time in a row. What happens to the rest of rankings is actually what is interesting right now. Let’s take a look at the Gators and the other two teams that at the top 3 for SEC this season.Florida Gators ? There’s nothing much to say about this team except for how they completely dominated the conference. They completely routed Georgia, LSU and Alabama on their way to spectacularly defeating Oklahoma to win the national title. Those who think that this amazing performance cannot be repeated should think again. The entire 2009 team is the same as the 2008 time with Percy Harvin being the only exception. That means Tim Tebow is back at the quarterback position and all the starters, yes each and every one of them are returning this season. Only a sudden change can stop them now.LSU Tigers ? They are not going to be able to stand against the Gators but they are likely to win the West. Theirs is a team that has comparatively fewer weaknesses than the rest of the teams below them in the division. Their quarterback Jordan Jefferson has been a great last season and he could make 2009 a breakout season with the help of players like wideout Brandon LaFell and tailback Charles Scott he can really make things happen for the Tigers. The defensive portion of the team is quite good with Harry Coleman in the team still. Once they improve on their offense, they are very likely to go for the West title that is currently held by Alabama.Alabama Crimson Tide ? Everyone’s completely in awe of Nick Saban right now and many believe that the Crimson Tide is going to be a great team from now till kingdom come. They are forgetting a major fact here. John Parker Wilson (Quarterback), Andre Smith (Offensive tackle) and Glen Coffee (tailback) have all left this season. These were the top performers of last year and Saban is to replace all three. Even though the man has been great at recruiting in recent time, it is uncertain whether Alabama will regain all of the lost force. They may win the SEC West title but they have to play much harder now.
ght © 2009 Ed Bagley
It’s over for Southern California. Coach Pete Carroll will be dining with some lesser light Hollywood celebrities in the near future.
Gone are the USC streaks of 7 straight BCS bowls, 7 straight 11-win seasons, and 7 straight top-4 AP poll finishes. Gone also is USC’s 7-year stranglehold on the Pac-10 Conference title.
After 60 excruciating minutes of watching Stanford’s Toby Gerhart—The Cardinal Battering Ram—run all over USC’s home field for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns, Pete Carroll and his Trojans were handed their second major trouncing in two weeks. There was no stopping Gerhart as 25th-ranked Stanford (7-3) did a number on the 11th-ranked and soon dropping USC (7-3) Trojans, 55-21. Adding insult to injury, it was USC’s 2009 homecoming game.
Just two weeks ago, USC was upset at Oregon 47-20. Saturday’s loss to Stanford was the Trojans’ worst since a 51-0 drubbing at home against Notre Dame in 1966, 43 years ago.
Pete Carroll had to be bummed out. He lost in November for the first time after 28 straight victories in the toughest month for every college football coach during the season. And for the second time in three weekends, Carroll endured the worst loss of his 9 seasons at USC. The perennial flower that bloomed at USC for 7 consecutive years has now faded.
After leading 28-21 after 3 quarters, Stanford piled it on with 4 touchdowns in the last quarter, just rubbing it in a little bit for past indiscretions by the Trojans. Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh’s 2007 team also upset then 2nd-ranked USC 24-23 on the Trojans’ same home field.
Harbaugh has made it quite clear that he is sick and tired of USC’s past dominance in the Pac-10. Virtually everyone thought that the California Bears would be the team to bring the Trojans down a peg or two, but it was Harbaugh’s Cardinal team that has gotten the job done.
Stanford’s victory over USC was only 1 of 5 upsets among ranked teams this week. The other 4 were recorded by unranked teams:
North Carolina (7-3), unranked and smarting, won 33-24 at home over No. 12 Miami of Florida (also 7-3) as Coach Butch Davis notched his 3rd consecutive victory over his former program, and made North Carolina bowl eligible for the 2nd straight season.
Central Florida (6-4) handed No. 13 Houston (8-2) its second loss 37-32, closing the door on Cougar quarterback Case Keenum, who had a couple of last-minute rallies in Houston’s last 5 wins. The Central Florida Knights rallied at home from a two-touchdown deficit to build a 17-point lead before Keenum threw two late TD passes to make the final score appear closer.
California (7-3) stuck a fork in No. 18 Arizona’s (6-3) hopes for a better season as the Bears finally roared again at home, beating the Wildcats 24-16. Rutgers (7-2) was hardly impressed with No. 23 South Florida (6-3) as the Scarlet Knights took the South Florida Bulls to school by shutting them out 31-0. Rutgers forced 4 turnovers, blocked a punt and recorded 7 sacks, and freshman quarterback Tom Savage threw for two touchdowns.
Stanford’s upset of Southern Cal was 1 of the 3 great games of the day. The other two involved No. 4 TCU and No. 10 Ohio State.
No. 4 TCU (10-0) remained unbeaten by really making 16th-ranked Utah (8-2) look bad in a 55-28 win. TCU leads the mid-level Mountain West Conference with a 6-0 record. Utah had been running around all season acting like the Utes were something special, and then they arrived at TCU and found out why they are not so special. As if to erase any doubt, TCU led 38-14 at the half.
No. 10 Ohio State (9-2) brought No. 15 Iowa (9-2) into its view as the Buckeyes welcomed the Hawkeyes into their 101,568-seat Horseshoe Stadium before taking the game into overtime and earning a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 13 years. Ohio State last visited the Rose Bowl in 1996 when the Buckeyes were ranked 2nd in the nation after beating Arizona State 20-17.
But back to Saturday’s game, which will provide fodder for sports talk radio shows for months to come as neither Ohio State or Iowa would go for a last minute victory when they had the opportunity to do so. The game ended at 24-all after Marvin McNutt threw a 10-yard scoring pass to James Vandenberg.
The Buckeyes had blown a two-touchdown lead in the 4th quarter. The Hawkeyes had the ball at their 33 with 52 seconds and two timeouts left, but chose to run out the clock and send the game into overtime. Ohio State had the ball on its 18 with 2:37 left and multiple timeouts, and didn’t try to win it.
Both coaches—Kirk Ferentz of Iowa and Jim Tressel of Ohio State—wanted overtime to get it settled because they did not trust their kickers; Iowa had missed a 22-yard field goal attempt earlier in the game, and Ohio State’s kicker had missed from 47 yards out.
When push came to shove, Tressel basically took three runs up the middle for all of 2 yards before letting replacement kicker Devin Barclay come up with the winning 39-yard FG to put the Buckeyes on top, 27-24. The Hawkeyes were unbeaten this year until losing 17-10 at home to Northwestern last week.
Barclay, a 26-year-old former pro soccer player and first-year, walk-on kicker, was forced into duty as a replacement three weeks ago when starter Aaron Pettrey injured his knee.
And now for the expected happenings of week 11. Here are another 8 ranked teams that won home games:
No. 5 Cincinnati (10-0) remained unbeaten by using a field goal advantage to beat a 7-3 West Virginia team 24-21. No. 6 Boise State (10-0) remained unbeaten by easily handling a 7-4 Idaho team 63-25. No. 8 Pittsburgh (9-1) led Notre Dame (6-4) 20-3 after 3 quarters and almost let things get out-of-hand before putting away the Fighting Irish 27-22.
No. 9 LSU (8-2) notched an unspectacular win over Louisiana Tech 24-16. No. 14 Oregon (8-2) ripped Arizona State 44-21. No. 17 Oklahoma State (8-2) was behind 10-7 at the half but beat Texas Tech 24-17. No. 19 Penn State beat Indiana 31-20 despite having 4 first-half turnovers. No. 21 Wisconsin (8-2) took apart a struggling Michigan team 45-24.
Here are another 7 ranked teams that won away games, always tougher than home victories:
No. 1 Florida (10-0) remained unbeaten at the expense of South Carolina, 24-14, as the Gators completed their first perfect (8-0) SEC East title in 13 years. No. 2 Texas (10-0) remained unbeaten by easily kicking around Baylor, 47-14, as Colt McCoy tied the NCAA record for career victories by a starting quarterback with 42 (take just a moment and think about how special the accomplishment was by Colt McCoy).
No. 3 Alabama (10-0) remained unbeaten by dominating Mississippi State, 31-3, and continues to lead the SEC West with a 7-0 mark. No. 7 Georgia Tech (10-1) stomped Duke, 49-10, to clinch a spot in the ACC Conference championship game. No. 20 Virginia Tech (7-3) beat Maryland 36-9. No. 22 BYU (8-2) could only muster a 24-19 victory over a hapless, inept, winless 0-10 New Mexico team. No. 24 Clemson (7-3) whipped North Carolina State 43-23.
Three other games among unranked teams were noteworthy. Temple (8-2) won its 8th consecutive game 56-17 over Akron; Central Michigan (8-2) picked up its 8th win 56-28 over Toledo; Navy (8-3) earned its 8th win by downing Delaware 35-18; and Mississippi (7-3) found a way to penetrate Tennessee’s (5-5) defense by scoring 42 points to win 42-17.
Four unranked teams finally became bowl eligible this week, the most surprising of which was the Southern Methodist (6-4) Mustangs, who outlasted UTEP 35-31.
June Jones was 1-11 in this first year coaching last year and now has a bowl-eligible team. People no longer laugh when you use SMU and football in the same sentence. Jones built a juggernaut at mid-level Hawaii using Mouse Davis’ run-and-shoot offense, going 75-41 over 9 years, and winning 4 of 6 bowl games. The bottom line on the likeable June Jones—more dangerous than his name would indicate.
The three other teams joining SMU as bowl eligible were Oklahoma, Arkansas and Michigan State. Some people wondered if Oklahoma (6-4) was going to make it this year, but the Sooners finally got the job done by easily beating Texas A&M, 65-10. Arkansas (6-4) took care of a 7-3 Troy team, 56-20; and Michigan State (6-5) was 11 points down to Purdue but won 40-37 on Brett Swenson’s 4th field goal with 1:51 left.
University Founders
President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act in 1862. Stating the federal government of the United States would grant land to any state prepared use any proceeds from the sale of that land to be used for maintaining a teaching establishment for the ‘mechanic arts’ and agriculture. Three years later decided to take steps to create a teaching college in the state of Indiana. Today, this college, now Purdue University, is one of the biggest university systems throughout the US. Ranked high amongst all Americas top institutions. Founded using a hundred acres of donated land, fifty thousand dollars from the county of Tippecanoe, and a hundred and fifty dollars generously donate by a gentleman called John Purdue. Hence, Perdue University!
Campus
Today, the university has six campuses and offers majors in many diverse areas. More than two hundred undergraduate and graduate programs are available. Famous for it’s College of Engineering, which offers some of the best aviation and aerospace programs in the world. Boasting a world class flight school and are forerunners in aerospace development and research. Their aeronautics graduates are ranked as top new recruits within the defence industry. They were the first to offer a bachelors degree in aviation, and the first university to have it’s own airport.
Research and Discovery
Purdue Research Park and the Discovery Park encompass the university grounds. The site stretches out for miles, covering over seven hundred acres, just a few miles north of Purdue University’s west campus. Around a hundred and fifty biological, nanotech, medical companies, and laboratories make this the biggest technology park in the state of Indiana. More than fifty buildings make up the park today. Founded over forty years ago, it has become one of the biggest university affiliated technology parks, throughout the American states.
Moniker and Mascots
The official nickname for the Perdue University Athletes is the ‘Boilermakers’. Although the shortened version, ‘Boilers’, it’s often used when referring to any student of Perdue. First used in 1891 by a local reporter, in reference the university’s winning football team. It was fast adopted by the students, and has continued to be used when referring to just about all things related to Perdue. Since nineteen forty, their official mascot, come emblem, has been the ‘Boilermaker Special. A replica locomotive originally adopted to highlight Perdue’s success in the field of engineering. Especially with regards to railway technology. ‘Perdue Pete’ is an unofficial mascot, infamous both on and off the university campus. The latest addition to the Purdue University mascot family is Rowdy. A three metre high blow up boy!
Achievements
During the mid twentieth century, the university’s aviation program began to incorporate advanced spaceflight technology. Today, these programs have earned Purdue the nickname ‘Cradle of Astronauts’. More than twenty NASA astronauts have come from Perdue. Including Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moons surface, and Eugene Cernan, the last man. Usually, a third of any NASA crew, selected for a manned mission, will be a graduate of Purdue. Many famous people have been associated with the university. The faculty has even won the Noble Prize.
College Football Wrap-Up Week 6 – Florida Stays No. 1, Beats LSU, 4 More Teams Suffer Their 1st Loss
ght © 2009 Ed Bagley
Florida started the season as the No. 1 pick in the AP Top 25 Poll and will remain No. 1 for the 7th straight week after beating the No. 4 Louisiana State Tigers in Baton Rouge, 13-3, in this season’s biggest match-up featuring two Top 5 teams.
The Gators’ swarming defense silenced the Tiger crowd to win their 15th consecutive game, the longest current win streak among major schools, and LSU had its 32-game winning streak in Saturday night games snapped. LSU, ranked last in the SEC in total offense coming into the game, never got untracked and could muster only 162 yards.
Tim Tebow, the heart of Florida’s offense and former Heisman Trophy winner, returned after suffering a concussion two weeks ago. Tebow’s presence helped assure the Gators that they would remain on top with a top effort. LSU started the game with a perfect 5-0 mark and ended it with a 5-1 record. Florida remains unbeaten at an overall 5-0 and sits on top of the SEC’s East Division.
Three other Top 25 teams lost their first game this week—Auburn, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Unranked Arkansas hosted and upset 17th-ranked Auburn, 44-23, as Michael Smith rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown, and the Razorbacks raced to a 34-3 lead before sticking a fork in the Tigers. Now it can be confirmed that Auburn was a really suspect Top 25 choice since its first 5 victories came against teams with a combined 9-14 record.
Arkansas is now 3-2 and full of spit and vinegar; the Razorbacks other two wins have come against 149th-ranked, 1-AA Missouri State and 63rd-ranked Texas A&M. Big deal? I think not. Arkansas is not that good and neither is Auburn.
No. 21 Nebraska hit the road and took the measure of No. 24 Missouri, 27-12, handing the Tigers their first defeat. It was simply not a good week for Tiger teams as LSU, Auburn and Missouri all lost for the first time in College Football’s Week 6. Missouri, which had a 12-0 shutout after 3 quarters, quit too early and celebrated as Nebraska won the 4th quarter 27-0, and the game.
Should Missouri have been in the Top 25? As the Hertz rental ad says, not exactly. The Tigers built their 4-0 record on teams with a combined 6-12 record, and that includes 1-AA Furman, that raging powerhouse from South Carolina.
No. 9 Ohio State hosted Wisconsin and cost the Badgers their first loss, 31-13, before sending them back to Wisconsin. The Badgers were at least unranked, even with a 5-0 record coming into the always screaming, always sold-out 101,000-plus-seat horseshoe stadium in Columbus.
A much more significant victory came from No. 3 Alabama as the Crimson Tide took its record to 6-0 with an away victory over 20th-ranked Mississippi, 22-3. The Tide led 19-zip after 3 quarters. Can we now stop all of the preseason publicity about Mississippi this and Mississippi that? The Rebels’ hot shot quarterback—Jevan Snead—continued his mission to greatness by throwing 4 interceptions.
Ole Miss is now 3-2 and one croak away from sliding into a swamp. Should Mississippi even be in the Top 25? Nah, the Rebels have some real proving to do.
Other ranked teams with away victories this week included:
No. 10 TCU over Air Force 20-17. Without a 4th quarter field goal, TCU would have gone into overtime. No. 13 Oregon continued its momentum by beating UCLA 24-10. No. 15 Oklahoma State outlasted Texas A&M to win again with another lame performance, 36-31. If Oklahoma State keeps giving up 31 points a game, they are not going to keep winning for long.
No. 18 Brigham Young topped UNLV 59-21. No. 22 Georgia Tech just made it by Florida State 49-44 in a shootout. BYU is now 5-1 and Florida State 4-2; one could easily argue that Georgia Tech is better than BYU, and may well prove so before the season is over.
Ranked teams with home victories included:
No. 2 Texas over Colorado 30-28 after Colorado led 14-10 at the half. Colorado is now 1-5 with their only win over Wyoming. Texas has played no one so far this season. After Oklahoma next, the Longhorns play no one really significant through the end of the season. Texas should win a lot of games and there will be no evidence to show that they should play in the National Championship Game this year.
No. 5 Virginia Tech beat up Boston College 48-14. No. 11 Miami (FL) stomped 1-AA Florida State 48-16. Big whoop. No. 12 Iowa had an unimpressive 30-28 win over Michigan. Another big whoop; Iowa should have won by at least 2 touchdowns at home, nonetheless, Iowa’s 5-0 mark is the Hawkeyes best start since 1985. No. 14 Penn State kicked around 152nd-ranked, 1-AA Eastern Illinois; boy, those tough Nittany Lions really know how to charm some cream puffs.
No. 16 Kansas took all afternoon to finally beat Iowa State 41-36. Kansas gave up 36 points to a team that is 3-3. You have to ask yourself, even at 5-0, why should they be ranked so high? The Jayhawks compiled their unbeaten record against teams with a combined 8-12 record, including the 187th-ranked, 1-AA Northern Colorado powerhouse (1-4) from the Rockies. Kansas may be unbeaten, but they are hardly good.
No. 19 Oklahoma beat Baylor 33-7. No. 25 South Carolina just nudged by Kentucky 28-26, a team that Florida beat 41-7; that’s why Florida is No. 1 and South Carolina No. 25. At least the Gamecocks scored a touchdown in each quarter against Kentucky.
Three 5-1 teams that are still looking for recognition and respect won again. Central Michigan whipped Eastern Michigan 56-8; Central Michigan is the worst 1-A team in the nation, currently ranked 164th by Sagarin (there are only 120 teams in 1-A football). Idaho on-the-road (yes, Idaho, don’t laugh) beat San Jose State 29-25.
Pittsburgh, behind 21-13 after 3 quarters at home, won the 4th quarter 11-0 to beat Connecticut, 24-21.
There were at least 3 other notable wins. After 3 straight losses to Central Michigan, Notre Dame and Wisconsin by a combined 13 points, Michigan State evened its record at 3-3 by beating Illinois 24-14 on-the-road.
At 4-1, Stanford looked like the second best team in the Pac 10 behind USC, but Oregon State reminded them of why it is tough to beat the Beavers at home, upsetting The Cardinal 38-28. All bets in the Pac 10 race are now off as Oregon is 3-0, Stanford 3-1 and 3 teams are 2-1—Southern Cal, Oregon State and Washington (yes, the same Washington that was 0-12 last year).
Speaking of Huskies, Washington let Arizona into the red zone at least 8 times and was behind 33-21 at home with 4:22 left. Jake Locker engineered a drive with a 25-yard TD strike to Kavario Middleton with 2:55 left and then a miracle happened.
On the ensuing play after the kickoff, Arizona’s Nick Foles threw another bubble screen pass to Delashaun Dean that was short and behind the receiver. The ball bounced off of his foot and into the air, was promptly intercepted by Husky linebacker Mason Foster and he turned around and rambled 37 yards into the end zone to put Washington ahead, 34-33 with 2:37 remaining.
Jake Locker then completed a 2-point conversion to Jermaine Kearse to make it 36-33. The Husky defense, which had given up 461 yards to Arizona, then suddenly got ugly. Daniel Te’o-Nesheim sacked Nick Foles for a 6-yard loss, and true freshman cornerback Desmond Trufant intercepted Foles’ 4th down attempt to put the Wildcats away.
Washington, twice a dog at home against Southern Cal and Arizona, has shown it is all about playing hard for 60 minutes, finding a way to win, finishing off an opponent and having fun doing it.
Washington’s miracle play brought back great memories of “The Immaculate Reception” during a 1972 playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders. Late in the game a Pittsburgh receiver was hit hard as he tried to make a catch, the ball was deflected and just before it hit the ground, it was caught by Franco Harris, who picked it out of the air and then ran it in for the touchdown that won the game for the Steelers.
Pittsburgh had struggled for 4 decades to win a playoff game, and The Immaculate Reception—called by NFL films as the greatest play of all time—led to the Steelers eventually winning 4 Super Bowls before the end of the decade.
Could something special be happening at the Montlake Campus of the University of Washington Huskies? Count on it, miracles do not happen often, especially on football fields. Washington, you will recall, upset then No. 3-ranked Southern Cal 16-13 earlier in the season.
Six bottom feeders remained winless by losing this week—Ball State, Miami (OH), Eastern Michigan, Rice, New Mexico and Western Kentucky. Florida International got the money off of its back by beating Western Kentucky 37-20—go Golden Panthers (that’s the nickname of FIU, which few would know except those folks who live east of the Mississippi River).
Top 25 teams that were idle this week included No. 6 Boise State, No. 7 Southern Cal, No. 10 Cincinnati and No. 24 South Florida.
That’s it, that’s all, Smokey, put a wrap on it.
(Editor’s Note: The rankings in this article are from the AP Top 25 Poll of sportswriters and sportscasters, and any ratings are from Jeff Sagarin.)