L Yes: My Louisville Primer

A happy New Years Eve to all! It's been a great week. For starters, I unwrapped my MacBook Air which is freaking sweet. It's a joy to be back on the keyboard again! A lot of exciting things are happening as the new year begins. Yesterday I ran into a good friend while shopping with Rachel and am SERIOUSLY considering taking up him up on his offer of a new direction. My fiancee Rachel is leaving for Africa in two days which promises to be an awesome trip for her and a lot of worrying for me. All of that can wait though for today is a very special day. Today is Louisville game day!

All the build up to this game got me thinking. What does Louisville mean to me? We all know the rivalry and its key moments, but growing up in Eastern Kentucky it wasn't that big of a deal to most of us. Yeah we knew the Cardinals, we knew the city, so on and so forth. Truth of the matter is, I didn't REALLY care about this rivalry until I got to college at UK. Even then it took some time.

Growing up on the Ohio and West Virginia border meant that trips to Louisville were very rare. Why go? Cincinnati and Columbus were easier to get to and bigger. The only time we really went to Louisville was for KYA or Key Club events. The point- we had no reason to even care about them.

We all thought of Louisville as a separate entity that clashed with the very core of Kentucky. I am not saying that I don't enjoy big cities- I do! I've been to some of the worlds best. We just viewed Louisville as an outlier in our state. Because of our location so far east, I considered Louisville to be Western Kentucky. It was 3 plus hours away and culturally divided from us.

Once I got to UK I started to go to Louisville more. I enjoy the city of Louisville very much. Coming from a baseball family made me appreciate the Slugger Museum and its history in the sport that built my family. I appreciate the role the city played in Western Expansion. I LOVE the water front walking trails and the cleaned up downtown. It's a nice place to visit. It just doesn't feel "Kentucky".

So what of the school? I of course visited Louisville's campus when in high school along with all the other state schools. I had a very open mind. I knew that Louisville had a top tier Poli Sci program and offered many scholarships particularly to those from back home. I wanted to check it out. Upon arriving, I knew this place wasn't for me. The campus was atrocious. They were doing a lot of renovating and such, but the idea of an urban campus wasn't for me. It just didn't feel right.

The rest is history- I chose the school I was going to go to all along and had a great ride there. It was there that my hatred for the Cards began. Being at UK was awesome- minus the TERRIBLE basketball during my tenure. Every university has students that are fans of other schools. I would proudly rock Nebraska red during football season. Did I love the Cats football team? Of course, but family first! I would also notice a lot of other red walking around too. Ohio State scarlet was everywhere. That's ok though. When is the last time UK played OSU or Nebraska? Another shade of red caught my eye though...

CARDS

There was a significant population of Louisville fans at UK which always confused me. They would rock their gear even when we weren't playing. They were especially annoying when we did play them. Student tickets for solid blue fans were wasted on L fans. I always wanted to ask them why they just didn't go to Louisville. It would make sense right? If you are a fan of terrible Big East football and Cards basketball why come to UK? Seeing them and hearing them just infuriated me.

Over time you started to learn more about them and what they thought of the Kentucky fan base. They love to call us hillbillies, rednecks, inbred, degenerates, etc. I'm used to that. Anytime I say I'm from Ashland I get looked at as if I am those things. Comes with the turf. Louisville fans kick it into overdrive. I wish they could see their own fan base and the ridiculousness of it.

Let's use an analogy- Kentucky is Panem from The Hunger Games. Louisville is the "Capitol". They view the rest of the state as inferior to them. It's true though- when people think of Kentucky they think of Bourbon, KFC, and The Derby. Industries that are located in Louisville but forged throughout our state.

They love to point out that basketball is also synonymous with our state and take credit for that too. They must be thinking back to the old ABA days when the Kentucky Colonels played in Louisville. No offense to the sane Cardinal fans, but when people think about basketball in this state one team ALWAYS comes up and it's not the Cards.

It's nice to be passionate about your team. It's great to love your city. The way they do it is almost cult like though. The Big Blue Nation has its nuts too, but we don't claim to be better than what we are. Louisville is a nice city, but it's not New York. The way that they look down upon the rest of the state is why I can't stand them. We may be redneck and dumb but they parade around with a bird that has teeth and throw up the international symbol for being a loser. Let's embrace our faults and move on because we are all Kentuckians and we are all in this together.

Unless you want to leave the Commonwealth and join Indiana because we will totally help you move.

Prediction:

Kentucky 82 Louisville 68

A Funny Thing Happened in Virginia...

Well what a weekend.....

Over the weekend Rachel and I traveled to Williamsburg, VA for a small holiday vacation. Williamsburg has always been a special place for me and I have frequented it many times over the year. It also a place of shear beauty. The plan had been in the works for a couple of months. Secrecy was the name of the game. I was in love with the plan I had created and could not wait to implement it! Of course, the plan did not go as according to plan. A few hiccups caused a quick audible that actually worked out well. In the end, the play was a success and we got engaged. The following is a recap of the proposal day.

The day began at home in Ashland. We stayed in Ashland Friday night to cut down on the drive Saturday. I thought the jig was up Friday night as my parents passed on the ring behind closed doors. When we opened the door, Rachel was standing there. I quickly had to hide the ring in my back pocket. I played pretty good prevent defense to keep her from finding the ring which was quite noticeable in my pocket.

We met up with Ranjo and his fiance at their hotel on our way out of town. Rachel was the only person in the room who did not know what was coming which in itself was kind of fun! From there we began our MUCH easier drive to Williamsburg. Last year we were delayed by a massive snow storm. Our 7 hour drive ended up being a 13 hour nightmare. This year we were met by warm sunny skies. Everything was going as planned.

We arrived on time to our condo in the city. They tried to rope us into some real estate meeting to perhaps one day purchase a condo there. They quickly became disinterested in us when we laughed at them for asking us if our income was at least $50,000. Relieved though, we headed to our condo and changed for our evening.

The plan was simple: Busch Gardens Williamsburg is transformed at Christmas time into Christmastown. Christmastown takes FULL advantage of a park that is annually voted as the most beautiful theme park in North America. No rides were open as Busch Gardens becomes one big experience full of international foods, world class entertainment, and of course international shopping. It would be the perfect primer for our evening.

As Rachel was getting ready I went over the handling of the ring box. I knew I couldn't take it into the park- security would have asked me to empty my pockets or felt it and inquired about it. I knew I had to leave it in the car somewhere safe and out of view. I also had to be careful about the walk to the car. She can't feel the box. I decided to hide in my left jacket pocket which is easily accessible to me. As I opened the door I took the box out slowly, using my body to disguise my action and dropped it into the little compartment on the driver side door. Step one complete...

We began our drive to Busch Gardens by just talking. I don't remember about what- I was focused on the task at hand. We approached Busch Gardens and immediately something seemed wrong. I noticed that the area was quite dark. I was put at ease when I saw a massive light display. Whew. Ok, calm it down, right? Wrong. There was a huge road sign saying that the park is temporarily closed due to it being at capacity. We get up to the gate and the lady tells us that they are closed and that we need to turn around. I was furious because now we were off plan. I didn't know what to do. I could not have anticipated this. I have been coming to this park since I was 12 and NEVER once been turned away due to a crowd. It was bizarre. It was time to scramble.

I DID NOT want to go into Colonial Williamsburg this early. There would still be a lot of people there. I needed at least two more hours. My first thought was a movie? It was a risky play but it hit me that Williamsburg had a Movie Tavern and Sherlock Holmes had just opened. I threw that out to her and she said sure. Ok, audible in motion. In the end though it fit because Movie Tavern is where we went on our first date which also on the 17th of the month. All is well.

I told Rachel when the night was over that I remembered nothing about the movie. I couldn't really tell you what happened which is a shame because I wanted to see it! The movie ended around 9:45 which put us on schedule. We made the short drive to Colonial Williamsburg and parked the car. We parked on the far end of the Duke of Gloucester Street and began the walk. We walked down the cauldron fire lit streets and admired the crystal clear sky and scenery. It was a perfect night to say the least. Not to cold at all.

I was freaking the hell out as we walked closer to the objective. Ground zero was to be the apothecary shop. It seemed appropriate considering Rachel's field of study. There of course was a photographer taking professional pictures of the store fronts and he was at that end of the street taking pictures of the apothecary store! Audible number two was in the works. The closest unique building was the capitol. Luckily it was lit up by fire cauldrons so the scene looked really good. I decided that was going to be the new target.

We approached the west wing of the capitol which looks like the front of it due to its location on the long street. We held each other for a few moments and admired the stars. I was delaying it as long as I could. Not because I didn't want to, but because I was so nervous and timid. I bit down and told her that I loved her very much. She was looking up at the stars when I said that so I took that moment and fell to one knee. I told her I had a question to ask her. She turned to look at me and saw I was on one knee. She then said...

"Right now??"

I asked her to marry me and then she dropped this one...

"Are you sure??"

Needless to say I had achieved my goal of total surprise. She of course said yes. She reached out for the ring and then proceeded to drop my great grandmothers ring. Of course there was little light so we had to look for the ring. Typical though! We found the ring and we worked to place it on her finger. To achieve TOTAL surprise we had to forgo ring sizes. Luckily we got it on, but it needs to be sized.

We agreed upon a 2 day blackout period. We would go dark and not tell anyone about this until we left so that we could enjoy the trip. All in all, it was a heck of a night.

So there you go, the plan, the story, the outcome. It was a great weekend. I didn't know that the Colts won their first game, the Packers lost, Jones got hurt in our game, and that Kim Jong Il died. For me, that's saying something. It was the best vacation I have ever been on.

Sappy post complete. As the week goes on I will get back to the things that aren't as important as marriage- sports. The new MacBook is coming soon! For now, I am very happy to be engaged to an amazing woman!

Indiana. Yup. It Happened.

It was an interesting weekend in the world of college hoops. The top 2 teams fell, there was a brawl, and the NBA Commissioner became the evil emperor. With that little primer, let's dive into it...

Kentucky @ Indiana: Many people were worried about this game when the schedule was released. Were we worried that we WOULD lose? No. Were we worried that we COULD lose? Most definitely. Kentucky had to play its first true road game of the year in front of a raucous and blood thirsty crowd on Saturday and left with a hard loss. Gone was the undefeated season, the number one ranking, and reason. Many fans went into freakout mode after the loss. The fact is Indiana out played us. For one game, Indiana played better. Does that mean that they are the better overall team? No!

Give credit where credit is due though. Tom Crean has done a heck of a job in rebuilding the Indiana program. A few years ago they were playing with just one player who had any starting experience. Now they were able to keep a Zeller home and have landed a top recruiting class for next season. Indiana is certainly on its way back and this win helped to notify the world that Hoosier Hysteria coming.

For the Cats, it was a different story. Individually, certain players shined and redeemed themselves while others just added fuel to the fire of a rabid fan base.

Praise:

Marcus Teague: Teague was TERRIBLE in the first half. His Indiana homecoming was anything but memorable. Coach Cal lashed out at Teague in front of the cameras which meant that his playing time was going to be severely restricted in the second half. Instead, Teague came out firing in the second half and helped to keep us in this game. Teague showed a lot of maturity when faced with adversity.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: MKG again played like a crazy man and showed tremendous leadership on the court. When we needed a key layup or shot, MKG went out of his way to take over the game. He continues to shine as a special UK player.

Eloy Vargas: ELOY! Davis being in foul trouble and Jones being non-existent provided us the opportunity to sweat nervously as Eloy stumbled onto the court. The Eloy we saw was not the bumbling Centaur we are all so used to. Eloy put in great minutes and played stellar defense. This could be a special year for him as well.

Darius Miller: Senior leadership came through in the second half. He had a mistake on the last play that we can overlook, this time...

Jeers:

Terrance Jones: What was going on there? His lack of production on the court didn't bother me as much as his lack of enthusiasm on the bench. The camera caught him too often hunching over in his chair, looking apathetic, and lost in space. Everyone has bad days on the court, that is still no excuse to look like you don't care on the bench. Not every team will have UNC on their chests. Hopefully it was a fluke. Let's hope the Jones we all love shows up next time.

Kentucky fought back in a hostile environment when down by 10. They showed a lot of poise and determination. The free throws hurt as did the lack of a foul on the last play. However, this YOUNG team showed a lot of growth in Bloomington. This is a good loss. It's one that we can all dissect and then ask the question, "Ok, how do we not let that happen again?"

Polls

Polls are worthless in basketball. It doesn't matter what you are ranked. Kentucky fans are sometimes too caught up in the vanity of a high ranking. Being ranked number 1 is nice, but not important. The new polls came out today and the pollsters had us ranked number three behind Syracuse and Ohio State. Cuse is undefeated and OSU lost on Saturday. Wait... Don't complain. Ohio State went to Lawrence to play a tough Kansas team without Jared Sullinger. Understandable loss. With that said, don't be bitter about it. We beat Kansas, remember that. RPI is very important. Even with our loss, our RPI remains solid. One last thing- We are still ranked higher than Louisville. Boom.

The Brawl

Xavier and Cincinnati decided to beat the hell out of each other in a fight that called their annual crosstown rivalry short on Saturday afternoon. The suspensions came down for the UC players that threw sucker punches and the Xavier players who too were involved in the fight. Throwing sucker punches is inexcusable UC. However, going on national TV and telling the nation that you were going to "zip them up" is also moronic Xavier. Mick Cronin made it clear that the punishments would be severe. He also expressed sincere apologies to anyone who would listen. The punishments came out today... 6 games maximum. Geez. Charges need to be filed and Yancey needs to be booted from the team. This is one rivalry that needs to be put on ice for a while.

All in all, another great weekend of college hoops. Don't jump UK fans, it will all be ok come March. Maybe.

The Big East (South, North, West)

Some notes before I go off on a tirade. The old trusted HP computer has been out of commission for the last few weeks. A new computer is coming on Christmas Day. It's been hard being quiet during a fun and controversial regular season. I hope to be back to full speed before the BCS Bowls. I will be blogging more religiously during the college hoops season. With that said- there is ONE story that has gotten me to a keyboard. ONE story that makes my blood boil. ONE conference. The Big East.

The Big East is one of the lucky six to control an Automatic Qualifying (AQ) bid to a BCS bowl. The winner of this conference goes to a multi million dollar BCS bowl no matter what its record is. The Big East is the worst conference in football. Three teams are defecting from the Big East, 2 of which are considered to be the perennial powers. Every conference has dabbled in expansion during 2011. Every conference has then made moves to ensure survival. For a while it was the Big 12 that appeared to be on the verge of extinction. After all, the Big East poached TCU when they were hot. Then Oklahoma and Texas decided to stay, Pitt, Cuse, and WVU decided to go and just like that the Big East was on life support. The dilemma became too big to ignore. In the end, the Big East chose to expand- a lot. They added a lot of quantity, but did they add quality? The answer is no. The Big East also chose to throw its basketball tradition down the drain too. So what did they do? Observe...

Where?

Football and Basketball Big East States: Ohio, Kentucky, Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, D.C, New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Texas, Idaho, California.

Makes sense right?

Let's break it down...

Football

The sport that drives the madness. The Big East is losing WVU, Syracuse, and Pitt. They will be adding (In Football Only) Boise and San Diego State. They will also be adding in both sports Houston, UCF, and SMU. They could potentially be adding Air Force or Navy. So what does it all mean? Nothing.

Boise State: This is the ONLY good thing about this expansion. Boise gets into a (for now) BCS AQ conference. Boise does lift the profile of the league a little bit. Will they keep winning without Moore? Will they be able to compete against "better" competition week after week? I guess we will see.

Houston: Coach Sumlin has done a GREAT job over the last four years at Houston. However, he has done all that with his standout quarterback Case Keenum. Good things are happening at Houston under Sumlin. Except now Sumlin appears to be heading to the SEC with Texas AM. What happens to Houston now?

SMU: The Pony Express. Remember them? The school made headlines in the 80's for its NCAA violations and were levied with the death penalty. SMU has been irrelevant ever since. June Jones has done a hell of a job with the Mustangs taking them to consecutive bowl games after starting his first season 1-11. He has rebuilt the Stangs and has made them a force in the CUSA. This could be a competitive team in the Big East moving forward. HOWEVER, June Jones is rumored to be heading to the PAC12. So what happens to SMU now?

San Diego State: Brady Hoke is at Michigan now but Rocky Long has picked up the pieces and is actually doing quite well. The Aztecs are a competitive team in the Mountain West and actually could compete in the Big East. Maybe.

Central Florida: UCF has actually been on the uptick lately under head coach George O'Leary. The Knights have been to several CUSA title games and have appeared in bowls on a yearly basis. This year was the first losing season in some time. From a facilities standpoint, The Knights are on a BCS level. New football and basketball facilities have sprung up on campus and are considered to be some of the best in FBS and D1 athletics. The talent level has also gone up. The Knights tried to get into the Big East before but were overlooked for USF. The Knights now have the chance to compete in a BCS league and look to be ready. The only problem is that the NCAA is sniffing around campus and they might be onto something. Welcome to the big time boys...

Basketball

The Big East IS a basketball conference. The size of the league makes it so strong. The quality of the teams makes it stronger. Top to bottom the Big East is a basketball FIRST league. The new expansion does not help its basketball image. Instead, it deeply hurts the league. Losing Pitt, Syracuse and WVU hurts a lot. Adding SMU, Houston, and UCF doesn't replace the loss. Even if they get Navy or Air Force, you aren't adding ANYONE of the caliber of the teams that you are losing. San Diego State would have been a good addition but they are only coming in football. The only decent team you are adding is UCF, but again, they are under investigation by the NCAA. So instead of drudging through the terrible teams the Big East is adding in basketball, let's look at who they should have gone after in basketball only.

Memphis: Pitino kept them out when the league expanded a few years ago and now it has come back to haunt him. Memphis brings instant credibility to a league desperately looking to hold onto a little dignity. Josh Pastner is young and looks to be building his own program there. This would have been a slam dunk pickup.

Xavier: Would they have left the A10? Maybe, maybe not. Xavier is a good fit for the league- a BASKETBALL school in Cincinnati. It fits geographically and culturally. More so then Houston.

Temple: Oh Temple, the team you dumped already. Temple basketball (and football) is back on the rise. The thing is, would they want to come back? It would be nice to get the old Philly teams back together again.

Reality: They never would have accepted any of those teams. Memphis maybe, but Memphis football is terrible. Conference expansion is all about football. The league is going to take a backseat in basketball because of the economics of college football which is a shame.

But there is more...

The New Big East

The Big East is a joke. The new expansion is a joke. You want to give a BCS bowl bid to the winner of the league whose teams are Louisville, Rutgers, Connecticut, Cincy, Boise, SMU, Houston, San Diego State and forgive me if I forgot another mediocre team over a third more deserving team from the Big Ten or the SEC? It doesn't make sense. Especially to the BCS who seem to worship at the church of money. Connecticut could not sell out their allotment of tickets to the Fiesta Bowl last year. They had to eat the bill. Louisville v Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl... who remembers that? The ratings for games involving Big East teams are the lowest of the BCS bowls. Who is going to tune in to watch SMU play Oregon?

They better pray that when the BCS meets next year to determine their next evolutionary step that they vote to keep the Big East AQ bid. If they don't, they are going to be hurting for cash. BCS bowls bring in A LOT of money to a league. Those new Big East schools are going to need it. Why?

Boise to South Florida: 2,628 miles

San Diego State to Rutgers: 2,740 miles

Houston to Cincinatti: 1,056 miles

It REALLY hurts to be San Diego State...

to Boise: 954 miles

to Houston: 1,469 miles

to SMU: 1,361 miles

to Cincinnati: 2,170 miles

to Louisville, 2,074

to Orlando: 2,431

to Connecticut: 2,518 miles

The Big East was a joke in football before and will probably be more of one now. Losing Pitt, WVU, and Cuse hurts a lot because you lose a healthy football fan base. The rest of the schools are basketball schools (Hell Pitt, WVU, and Cuse are too). UConn, Cincy, and Louisville have all been to BCS bowls but are more known for their basketball programs. Ask the fans, they will agree. Basketball is the life blood in Storrs. I say it again, they better pray that they hold on to their AQ bid because if they don't, they are in trouble.

Poor Boise State. They can NEVER catch a break. Maybe they should get a deal like Notre Dame and get an AQ Bid if they finish ranked 14 or higher. Then again, we wouldn't be looking to hard at crazy expansions had Notre Dame just decided to bring their football team into the Big East with their other athletic programs.

007 SkyFall and Other Notes

Home from work sick is no fun, but what is fun is the news out of Pinewood Studios in London. Early this morning, Eon Productions announced that filming for the 23rd James Bond action adventure will start TODAY. The film will be called "SkyFall" and will star Daniel Craig as James Bond, Dame Judi Dench as M, Javier Bardem as the antagonist, Naomie Harris as Eve, Bernice Marlohe as Severin. Ralph Finnes, Albert Finney, and Ben Whishaw will also star. The official synopsis released today is as follows
From Eon Productions:
"Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost."

The film is the first since Die Another Day to be named after a non Fleming novel or short story. The only Fleming titles remaining are Risico, Property of a Lady and the Hildebrand Rarity.

It's about freaking time! It has been almost four years since we have been treated to a Bond film, and that is the longest gap without naming a new Bond actor in history. It will have NOTHING to do with the other two films. The Quantum agency appears to be dead... for now.

Personally I cannot wait for this movie to come out. I am a huge James Bond fan. The release year is also significant. 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise. 50 years, 23 films, 6 James Bonds... Nobody does it better.

Other Notes:

The game to end all games is this weekend. Yay. You have heard enough about it. I have heard enough about it. I don't care anymore. Let them play the game then we can talk.

Here are some LONG OVERDUE conference predictions.

ACC
Predicted Winner: Clemson- Even though they got beat by Georgia Tech this weekend, Clemson is in the driver seat to win it all in the ACC. They have two games against weak ACC opponents before their rivalry game with USC which now really doesn't mean anything.

Dark Horse: VaTech- BeamerBall is back at the right time. They are quietly 8-1 on the year. If they win out, they go to the title game where they will look to yet again represent the ACC in the Orange Bowl.

BigEast
Predicted Winner: Who knows
Dark Horse: Who knows
Explanation: This is the worst conference in major college football. That it even has a BCS bid is a joke. 4 Teams could win this thing, including Louisville. Either way, this conference is dying and should be stripped of its AQB.

Big12
Predicted Winner: Oklahoma State- The 'boys are undefeated as they march towards Bedlam. There isn't a team on their schedule that scares me before that point. If they beat Oklahoma they win the Big12 and WILL play for a national championship.

Dark Horse: Oklahoma- They stumbled HARD against Texas Tech but they still have Bedlam coming up. If they can survive AM and Baylor, Bedlam will be right up there with LSU/Bama in terms of big time attention.

BigTen
Predicted Winner: Nebraska- The Huskers are the frontrunner again after stumbling in Madison. They have two tough games remaining. Both are must wins for Big Red. One is against Michigan at Michigan and the other is....

Dark Horse: Penn State- NO ONE is talking about JoePa. They are the luckiest team in America and thanks to Wisconsin losing at OSU are the clear favorite in their division. The next three games for the Lions are HUGE. They face Nebraska, OSU, and Wisconsin. They must win two games, pref against OSU and Wisconsin. For now, JoePa is in control of his own destiny.

Pac12
Predicted Winner: Stanford- They have some tough games ahead, but I feel that the winner of the Oregon Stanford game will go on and win the first ever Pac12 Title game. Stanford has a non conference game against Notre Dame at the end of the season that be for a berth in the BCS title game if all goes according to plan.

Dark Horse: Oregon- Beat Stanford and you're in the driver seat.

SEC
Predicted Winner: Whoever wins Saturday. Let's be honest. The SEC West has all the power. Whoever wins Saturday beats whoever the East sends to Atlanta. Easily. The loser will get a BCS bowl bid as an at large. This game is for the SEC and a berth in the BCS title game.

It's going to be another good weekend.

A New Big 12 Thursday

It's been a while and A LOT has happened. We have a top four that has cemented themselves at the top of the polls, a BIG surprise team in the ACC, zero Boise talk, and the ongoing soap opera that is conference realignment. The college football season is in full stride now and every weekend provides some sort of drama. Be it the drubbing that Nebraska took in Wisconsin, the hopes of the new generation of Florida Gators going down a week before a pivotal game against LSU, and on a personal note the utter collapse of the Kentucky football team. It's good to sit back and watch...

The New Big 12
Conference realignment has been the off the field issue that has kept fans of college football entertained between weekends. Texas AM has joined the SEC with Mizzou soon to follow. Naturally all predicted the demise (again) of the Big 12 conference. Oklahoma and Texas decided to stay put and quelled the fires for now. The Big 12 is down to 9 members currently. If Mizzou officially bolts, they will be down to 8. Again, not panic mode just yet. Still it appeared that the Big 12 was the conference on life support. Until....

The Big Least
Syracuse and Pitt made surprise announcements that they will be bolting the Big East and heading to the ACC. In terms of basketball, it was a small blow to the conference. In terms of football, it was a direct hit. Cuse and Pitt are bolting. Not great but ok in football right? WVU was privately rejected by the SEC, Pitino wants the Ville to stay in the league, and no one else really said anything. All is well. Until today...

TCU's Run From the Alter
TCU announced today that they will NOT be joining the unstable Big East and will instead join the newly revitalized Big 12. This move makes total sense to anyone with a brain. Dallas to Stoors, CT is an expensive trip for the tennis team to have to make. Dallas to Austin is logical. If Mizzou leaves though, the Big 12 will have to get some new blood to be viable. Some think they already have a team in mind...

Louisville
Some seem to think that Louisville will join the Big 12 within the month. The Big East is dying, and all the teams in that league must make a move. Louisville is a Midwest city that could fit nicely in the league. I don't care how bad your football team is, people would much rather pay top dollar to see Oklahoma, Texas, OKState come play football then Rutgers and South Florida. Basketball wise, it's a no brainer also. Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, K-State, OKState, Baylor and Louisville make for a decent college basketball conference. Yearly home games with Kansas in Louisville. That is pretty exciting. Will Louisville go is the issue. We all know that the Big East is....

The League on Life Support
The Big East is left with UConn, Cincy, Louisville, WVU, Rutgers, and South Florida. Three of those schools are newcomers from the last conference expansion a few years ago. There is no logical argument for why this conference should get an automatic BCS bid. NONE. This league is terrible. They Big East wants to add the service academies to the mix. Nothing against our wonderful service academies, but they DO NOT make this conference any better. The best thing for teams like Louisville to do is to go where the opportunities are ripe. West Virginia would be wise to get into the ACC if they can. The rest, eh who cares.

The Top Four
Enough hypothetical talk, time to talk reality. Four teams have emerged as "the best" teams in college football. LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma and Wisconsin are by far the best teams in America. LSU and Bama have to play each other in a couple of weeks while Oklahoma faces Texas in the Red River Shootout on Saturday. Wisconsin appears to have the meat of their schedule behind them. Of those four teams, Bama and LSU play the toughest schedules thanks to the SEC. Oklahoma still has pivotal league games to come. Wisconsin doesn't really have much competition going forward. Oklahoma has the disadvantage of not having to play a championship game which would make an undefeated Wisconsin team more sexy to fill the number two spot. It's a lot of what ifs. What is clear is that these four teams are above and beyond the best in the nation. Which leads us to...

Boise State
This is the first year in quite some time that the talk of Boise or Boise wannabes has been virtually silent. No one is worried about Boise crashing the party this year. The top four teams are really, really good. Boise would need an utter collapse from both Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Boise is a good team, but they do not have to face the schedule that the SEC and the Big12/Ten have to face. Besides, Boise seems to be getting some pressure from an unlikely force...

Clemson. Really?
Yes, Clemson. The tigers have avoided the ACC meltdown that usually greets them early in the conference schedule. Clemson beat a decent Auburn team before beating and dismantling Florida State and Virginia Tech (the two teams I thought would win the league). Clemson is slowly inching into the BCS picture. Granted, October is young, and they have plenty of time to end up playing an SEC team in the Music City Bowl. Unfortunately, one old Music City Bowl foe won't make it to the dance...

Kentucky "Football"
My cats are terrible. One would like to laugh at Louisville for losing to FIU and Marshall. Eh, I am still laughing at them. Kentucky has looked abysmal all year. The offense ranks near the bottom of the FBS schools. Losing to Florida and LSU is not a surprise. The matter in which we lost is. We put up no fight in the Florida game. We looked "better" against LSU, but still. Ugly football. With basketball season tipping off next week, many fans have bolted. Kentucky's remaining games aren't as tough as the first batch, but the odds of making a bowl are slowly slipping away. Yeah it's been ugly in the bluegrass.

Another big week of college football is coming. And college basketball in the bluegrass is just a week away from kicking off. Best time of the year? Perhaps.

A 25 F**king Years Tuesday.

Another Florida v Kentucky game has come and gone. The outcome is again as certain as death and taxes. For the 25th straight year, Florida DOMINATED Kentucky in football. This wasn't shocking to anyone who follows the UK football program. Kentucky is going through its worse season since the 2005 campaign. On this Tuesday after the beating, I was thinking just about how impressive that streak really is. Think about this:
In the same time period, Kentucky has beaten every team in the SEC (except Tennessee) at least once. Kentucky has won road games in Oxford, Starkville, Fayetteville, Columbia, Athens, Auburn and Nashville to name a few. We have been to bowls, won bowls, been ranked, been ranked in the top ten of the BCS, hosted Gameday, and been through our fair share of coaches. What about the Gators?
The year the streak started (1987) Florida went 6-6. 12 out of the 25 years Florida won 9 or fewer games with most of those being 8 and below seasons. Florida has had four coaches during the streak: Spurrier, Zook, Meyer, and now Muschamp. Spurrier put Florida on the map, Meyer won two BCS titles, and Muschamp has stared out strong. What about Zook? Zook went 24-13 as the Florida head coach. 16-8 in the SEC!
Zook and UK played 3 times. They blew us out in his final year, but the first two games were won by Florida by a touchdown or less. I understand us not being able to beat the great Florida teams, or even the good Florida teams. What I don't understand is how we found ways to lose to REALLY bad Florida teams. That is why the streak is so infamous in the Bluegrass State.
OK....

SEC Standings Week Four
East

1. Florida (4-0, 2-0): Florida absolutely rocked Kentucky in a tuneup for the big showdown against the Crimson Tide. I am starting to loosen up on my "South Carolina is the team to beat in the East" stance.

2. South Carolina (4-0,2-0) South Carolina got a good division win over Vandy and will face Auburn next. Again, I think its USC and Florida in the East. Those two have separated themselves from the pact.

3. Vandy (3-1, 1-1): Even with the loss, Vandy is in position to fight for a bowl bid. They get a bad UK team in Nashville later in the year so anything is possible. I could see Vandy finishing in the middle of the East. No one saw that a month ago.

4. Georiga ( 2-2, 1-1) After two straight losses, Georgia has reeled off two straight wins. They beat a bad Ole Miss club on the road and prepare to play Mississippi State next. Mark Richt can cool his seat with a big win over the other dogs.

5. Tennessee (2-1, 0-1): Had an off week last weekend after losing to the Gators. Tennessee has a pretty easy game with Buffalo this weekend.

6. Kentucky (2-2, 0-1): 25 in a row to Florida. Ouch. Kentucky has looked putrid all season. They barely beat the worst team in FBS football (WKU), squeaked by a Central Michigan club that has been beaten handily in recent weeks, and lost to a lowly Louisville team. Kentucky travels to LSU this weekend. Goodnight.

West

1. Alabama (4-0, 1-0): Bama got there first SEC win of the year against western rival Arkansas. They sit on top of the standings due to the alphabet. They get a pretty good Florida team this weekend though.

2. LSU (4-0, 1-0) LSU students invaded WVU classrooms the day before the game and taunted them. I guess it worked. LSU whipped the 'Neers in Morgantown on Saturday. LSU looks to be on a mission after securing the number one ranking. Who do they get next? The Kentucky Wildcats. Fact: due to UK's poor performance, the game will be played at noon instead of the traditional night spot that LSU is known for. We are going to get stomped.

3. Auburn (3-1, 1-0) The Tigers bounced back from a good loss to Clemson by beating up FAU. Auburn gets another top 25 test next as they face the Gamecocks.

4. Arkansas (3-1, 0-1) The Hogs played a spirited game but in the end fell in Tuscaloosa to the Tide. Next up they play a rivalry game with Texas AM who officially joined the league yesterday.

5. Mississippi State (2-2, 0-2): It took overtime to beat LATech on Saturday. Suddenly Mississippi State doesn't look so intimidating. Georiga sure hopes so.

6. Ole Miss (1-3, 0-2):Ole Miss is terrible. They travel to the dog pound at Fresno State which hasn't been kind to Ole Miss. The game of the year for the Rebels will be against UK. Winner avoids being the worst team in the league.

Ugh. Go Cats.

The Weekend Ahead

I really enjoyed "The Social Network". If you haven't read the book, you must read it, especially if you are one of 300 plus million who are subscribers to Facebook. In both versions, they stress how Facebook should be kept clean and simple so the users don't get lost in the overload of content. Today, Facebook rolled out its long anticipated update. Congratulations, you have pulled a Netflix. Both business models were unique and simple. If it isn't broken Facebook, don't fix it. Of course Facebook is a business, and they must do what they can to make money. I get it. Just remember your roots. And please don't let the that happen to Twitter. Please.

OK. Football....

Week four is about to begin which means that conference games begin in full this week. There are a lot of big conference matchups over the next few days. From here on out, The Weekend Ahead will highlight two games per BCS conference. One game will be the "Best" the other will be the "Most Intriguing". As of this moment there are still six BCS conferences, so we better type fast.

ACC

Best Game: 11 Florida State @ 21 Clemson: Florida State lost a tough one at home to the Sooners last week while Clemson beat defending national champ Auburn. Clemson is 3-0 at home. I still think Florida State is the team to beat in the ACC, and Auburn isn't exactly what they were last year. Clemson gets humbled in the game formerly known as the Bowden Bowl.

Most Intriguing Game: Temple @ Maryland: Both teams are coming off single possession losses to their rivals. WVU beating Maryland by a touchdown isn't surprising, but Temple playing Penn State to the wire is. Kind of. Recall, Miami's current coach left Temple to head down to South Beach. Temple had a phenomenal season last year and return a lot of key players. Temple has an offense that can score, and score a lot. On the flip side, Coach Edsall is trying to build something in Maryland. There win over Miami on MNF was dramatic and entertaining. Coach Edsall is used to playing in these type of games. Afterall, his UConn Huskies were always overlooked. I like the Temple Owls in this one.

Big 12

Best Game: 7 OK State @ 8 Texas A&M: The Cowboys game on Saturday started at midnight and finished up at 3:30 in the morning. Let's hope that doesn't happen too often. State is the more tested team with a win over BCS Arizona (if you can call them a BCS team). However I have to cheer on future SEC member Texas AM. Besides, I feel bad for them. Three out of their next four games are against ranked teams. The 12th man wins in College Station.

Most Intriguing Game: Kansas State @ Miami, FL: Miami will easily win this game. I only mention it because Kansas State almost lost to Eastern Kentucky. They beat them by three....

Big East

Best Game: 2 LSU @ 16 WVU: Game of the week. LSU is the team to beat right now. Explosive offense and a crushing defense. WVU has that as well, it's just that they're trying to put it all together. LSU wins in Morgantown, but it will be close. And gritty.

Most Intriguing Game: Pitt @ Notre Dame: Old rivals square off yet again in a game that Notre Dame should win but will more than likely find a way to lose. I'm still taking the Irish.

Big Ten

Let's be honest, the Big Ten has no game that could be their best or most intriguing this week. Colorado at Ohio State is it. Snooze.

Pac12

Best Game: 23 USC @ Arizona State: ASU lost a tough road game at Illinois last weekend after upsetting Mizzou at home the week before. ASU is a spotty team, but at home they can be dangerous. I like ASU in this matchup. Mainly because I can't stand Lane Kiffin.

Most Intriguing: The fact that the Pac12 turned down Texas because Texas was being too greedy is the most intriguing thing coming out of the Pac12 this weekend. Texas has proven once again that they simply cannot be trusted.

SEC

Best Game: 14 Arkansas @ 3 Alabama: Both come in undefeated. Alabama comes in as the tested team. Alabama wins at home.

Most Intriguing: Vandy @ 12 South Carolina: Vandy is 3-0. Vandy is 1-0 in the SEC. Vandy is undefeated. Vandy slapped around Ole Miss like they were, well, Vandy. I really wish this game were in Nashville. Unfortunately, it's not. South Carolina is the better team. With that said, Vandy has beaten teams better than them before. They do what UK cannot do- beat the best teams in the SEC. Hell, UK hasn't beaten Florida and Tennessee in 25 plus years. In that same time period Vandy has beaten Tennessee and took a Tim Tebow Florida team to double over time before falling to the Gators. You never know with Vandy....

Hopefully our conferences will still be around on Monday...

Big East Obituary Monday

Week three of the college football season is in the books which means one thing- league play fully begins next week for the majority of teams out there. League play. That term used to be so boring. These days, "league" is an evolving term. The biggest news in the world of college football didn't happen on the field. News broke before the noon games kicked off on Saturday that Pitt and Syracuse will be joining the ACC sooner rather than later. Connecticut announced thereafter that they too will be seeking admission into the ACC. Combine that with the earlier news that A&M is going to the SEC and Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and OK State are all slated to make the move to the PAC12 something this week means we have entered the final stages of total realignment.

None of this is a shock. Nebraska and Colorado started all this when they pulled the trigger and bolted from the Big12. Everyone always assumed that the Big Ten, Pac12 and the SEC would be the three leagues to survive. The fourth "super league" would be made up of all the rest. It looks like the ACC will be that fourth. So what about the Big East teams that haven't declared? Where do they go? Here are my thoughts.

NOTE: I will only focus on Big East teams.

Leaving

Pittsburgh: A decent football team with some tradition. A staple in the lowly Big East though.

Syracuse: Again, a decent football tradition. Big alumni base and recognition. Good fit for the ACC.

Trying to Leave

Connecticut: The defending Big East champion. NOT a football power. They are seeking survival. Geographically, would easily fit into the ACC.

Undecided

South Florida: A team on the rise. The ACC would be a great fit for them. Growing school, good football team, etc. It would add a third ACC team to Florida.

West Virginia: WVU to the SEC seems the most likely course. Out of all the teams up for grabs, WVU is the best bet. Passionate fans and a good football program that could compete in the SEC. Mid level of course, but still a good team.

Rutgers: Rutgers is a team that has popped up on the Big Ten radar for a while. They would really like a team that is close to Penn State and expands the Big Ten eastward. Rutgers would be a good Big Ten fit- academics being the only question.

Cincinnati: A tough fit. Would the Big Ten take another Ohio team? Do they fit in the Big Ten? Do they fit in the ACC? More importantly, is there room? Cincy in the SEC? Too many questions. The argument could be made for the SEC. Expand the brand into Ohio, tv, etc. However, Northern Kentucky and Cincinatti share the same television market. They are already exposed to SEC games thanks to UK. This could be a team left without a chair.

Louisville: Another team that could be left without a chair. Like Cincinnati, they don't have anything that sets them apart in the bidding wars. Louisville would be a good fit for the Big 12, but it looks like that league is folding. Louisville has to get aggressive quick.

Coming

TCU: Poor TCU. They announced last year that they were coming to the Big East to avoid the very scenario they are now in. TCU will be left without a chair, and it's a shame.

That's the football picture. FACT: The Big East is a terrible league in football. What about basketball? We all know football pays the bills. However, Big East basketball is the SEC of NCAA hoops. Syracuse, Pitt, UConn in the ACC with Duke, Maryland, UNC etc.... geez.

What about schools like Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette, St. Johns? Basketball first schools. Where do they land? Likewise in the Big 12- Kansas and Kansas State? A lot of change is coming, and EVERY school will be impacted by it.

SEC Standings Week Three

East

Florida 3-0, 1-0: Good win over division rival Tennessee. Florida and USC look to the beasts of the East.

South Carolina 3-0, 1-0: Close win over Navy. Still the team to beat.

Vandy 3-0, 1-0: Surprise team so far. Demolished Ole Miss at home on Saturday. Not a pushover?

UK 2-1, 0-0: HUGE loss at home to Louisville. We are terrible. The UK/Ole Miss game could determine the worst team in the league.

Tennessee 2-1, 0-1: Showed signs of life in the loss to Florida. Coach Dooley is fighting the Lane Kiffin era and sanctions but is putting a competitive product on the field each week.

Georgia 1-2, 0-1: Big win over a cupcake. Still a dangerous team.

West

LSU 3-0, 1-0: Good win over MSU to kick off league play. Still on top.

Auburn 2-1, 1-0: Win streak finally snapped. Not last years Tigers. Still undefeated in league play....

Alabama 3-0, 0-0: Another big cupcake win. All comes down to LSU/Bama.

Arkansas 3-0, 0-0: I'm impressed with the Hogs. They lose a ton, but still keep putting up big numbers. The Petrino effect.

Ole Miss 1-2, 0-1: Will not call them the worst team in the league yet. Getting close though.

Mississippi State 1-2, 0-2: Two tough losses in league play early for the dogs. Still a mid level west team. Better than Ole Miss....

Skipping the conference picks this week. They haven't changed. One last thought on expansion though....

Notre Dame. If you want to be relevant (or survive) you MUST join one of these super conferences. Independents won't last. I know you have that fancy NBC contract and tradition and blah blah blah. Everyone has a fancy tv contract these days. Quit living in the Lou Holtz Buick station wagon era- modernize or die. Just saying.

The Weekend Ahead

First off. How great is it that the NFL is back? This past weekend saw my brain explode due to football overload. I am ashamed to admit that I did not make it through the second MNF game last night. Unfortunately the Colts lost a close one to the Houston Texans. We're terrible....

The third weekend of the college football season is about to kick off and again we are left with few "good games". Starting next week we will start seeing big name conference games, but for now we are stuck with just a few gem games.

Week Three

Best Game: 1 Oklahoma @ 5 Florida State 8:00 ABC: Both teams will be playing for a berth in the BCS title game in this game. Landry Jones and Oklahoma appear to be the better team, but Bob Stoops has a tendency to throw away big games. Jimbo Fishers team got demolished in Norman last year. Junior QB EJ Manuel is no Landry Jones. The one thing that might help FSU is that they are playing this game at Doak Campbell. I don't think it does. Oklahoma is just too strong.

Oklahoma 24 FSU 17

Intriguing Game: 17 Ohio State @ Miami 7:30 ESPN: Might as well call it the Probation Bowl. Ohio State got good news as several suspended players will be allowed to play starting Saturday. Probably could have used them in that Toledo game Saturday... Miami has been through a hellish off season under first year head coach Al Golden. Say what you want about the U and the things that went down, this team is hurting for a big win. Miami still holds some animosity from the 2002 BCS Title game against the Bucks. You also can't ignore that Miami looked halfway decent on Labor Day night at Maryland. They were beat in that game in front of a national audience. They have been beaten up for months due to scandal. Call me crazy but I am taking the U to beat Ohio State in south Florida. Ohio State isn't that great and those weaknesses were exposed last weekend. It's all about the U...

Ohio State 21 Miami 24

On Friday I'll look back at the UK game from Saturday and ahead to the rivalry game against Louisville. In the mean time, crucial fantasy football decisions must be made.

Throwback Monday

Another weekend of college football has come and gone. Some games certainly were a blast from the past. We must pause from football for a moment to reflect upon the significance of this past weekend. Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of September 11, 2001. Like many of you, I can vividly remember where I was, what I was doing, and who I was with. I remember the second tower collapsing and writing one word in my English class journal: War. That day changed the lives of my generation. I am so thankful we had football this weekend. I was able to successfully avoid watching any of the cable news networks. I can still remember 10 years ago watching the attacks unfold live when the camera zoomed on what they thought was debris falling. It wasn't debris. It was multiple people jumping to escape the hell of that building. I will honor the dead, the heroes, the families. I respect the magnitude of that day. I just pray I never have to see the images of people of jumping again. God save the Republic...

On to Football....

Game of the Weekend: There were several great games this weekend including a possible career ending game for Mark Richt, an SEC Big Ten beat down, Iowa State won a semi big game, almost big upsets, and Vandy is 2-0. Unfortunately only one can be chosen. Without question, the most interesting game was the one in which 114,000 people came to watch a 131 year old rivalry under the lights for the first time in the history of the Big House. Notre Dame and Michigan may not be the best teams in the land, but Saturday night they played an instant classic. All participants (including those fine officials in the photo) wore throwback attire. Notre Dame looked to right the ship after last weeks loss in South Bend to USF. They jumped out to an early strong lead. The fourth quarter though is where the magic happened. Three touchdowns were scored in the final 1:12 of play. Michigan nabbed two of them. In fact Michigan scored 28 points in the fourth quarter. The most thrilling came with two second left in the game when Michigan WR Roy Roundtree caught a 16 yard pass from Denard Robinson to secure the Wolverines victory. Everything about this game was cool. All the history, all the passion, the lights, the uniforms, everything. Will Michigan compete for a BCS title? Doubtful. One thing is clear though, Denard Robinson can play, and Brady Hoke might have been the right guy for the job after all.

SEC WEEK TWO STANDINGS

EAST

1. South Carolina (2-0, 1-0): The Ol Ball Coach won a tough battle with Georgia to secure the top spot in the SEC East in an early league showdown. It's apparent that the quarterback situation at USC is interesting to say the least. Carolina looks to be the team to beat in the East though.

2. Florida (2-0, 0-0): Florida took care of Cupcake U for the second week in a row. The first "real" test is next week when Tennessee comes to town.

3. Kentucky (2-0, 0-0): Kentucky looked good in the second half. Kentucky looked terrible in the first half. Thank goodness this was against Central Michigan. Starts like that will not win games in the SEC. Louisville is next.

4. Tennessee (2-0, 0-0): Despite his tattoo, Tyler Bray is a pretty good quarterback. I thought Cincinnati would be more competitive with Tennessee. SEC power is too much for the Big East. Kentucky better remember that next week. The Vols travel down south for a divisional showdown with the Gators next... Don't wear those pants coach please...

5. Vandy (2-0, 0-0): Vandy is 2-0. Vandy beat the defending Big East champion. Say what you want about Vandy, they can always find a way to win "big" games. They've beaten Tennessee and Florida multiple times over the nearly 30 UK win less drought.

6. Georgia (0-2, 0-1): Georgia is a talented team and had to play two great teams out the gate. How many schools do that. Georgia should be fine going forward. Mark Richt on the other hand may not be.

West

1. Auburn (2-0, 1-0): War Damn Eagle. Auburn has played two games that should not be watched by those with heart conditions. They are 2-0 without Newton and company and recorded a VERY impressive win over Mississippi State Saturday. Will the momentum last?

2. Alabama (2-0, 0-0): The second best team in the West went up to Happy Valley and smacked around JoePa. Bama proved yet again that the SEC owns the Big Ten. For now.

3. Arkansas (2-0, 0-0): The Razorbacks played in Little Rock Saturday with the Hog painted in a very nice red, white, and blue pattern. The stadium was color coordinated as well in a fitting tribute to 9/11. They get one more cupcake before Bama though.

4. LSU (2-0, 0-0): Romp against an instate school. Nothing can be learned here. No one punched a marine though.

5. Ole Miss (1-1, 0-0): Ole Miss won a game!!!!

6: Mississippi State (1-1, 0-1): Heartbreaking loss to the Tigers. Dan Mullens team will be competitive this year and will bounce back from this early, early, EARLY, loss. Losing early doesn't hurt too bad.

Week Two Predicted Conference Champions

ACC

Prediction: Florida State. The most explosive team in the league still.

Dark Horse: Virginia Tech: Close win against ECU, but really no other team stands out. Beamerball.

Big12

Prediction: Oklahoma: Still the team to beat in this weak league.

Dark Horse: A&M: Again, no one else stands out. OKSTATE might crack it soon though.

Big East

Prediction: WVU: Norfolk State hung, but Geno threw.

Dark Horse: South Florida: Weak league, still riding the band wagon from last week.

Big Ten

Prediction: Nebraska: biased.

Dark Horse: Wisconsin: As much as I want to put Michigan here, I know they can't do it every week.

Pac12

Prediction: Oregon: Chalk.

Dark Horse: Stanford. As long as Luck is healthy, good things. Although Arizona State was intriguing.

SEC

Prediction: I am taking Alabama again only because of their performance in a true road environment against Penn State. LSU/Bama will still decide the west though.

Dark Horse: I'm taking South Carolina. I know it's nuts because LSU and Alabama are the best teams in the league. There is something in the madness at South Carolina that makes me think they could shock the league. The ol ball coach...

Another weekend is in the books. The NFL is back too! Everyone wins! Except us Colts fans...

The Chippewas

I thought about putting an old picture of members of the Chippewa tribe up but then I realized I don't want to get sued. So instead we get a Central Michigan soccer player pushing over another player. Try to insert some Native American revenge joke now. Alas it is Friday, which means tomorrow is gameday. It's been a long 4 days since the last major college football game of the season- last nights Arizona blow out doesn't count. Granted, we were all given a gift from god with that EPIC NFL opener. Randall Cobb.... yes. That is in the past. It's time to look at Central Michigan University- UK's opponent tomorrow at noon on ESPNU.

Central Michigan is located in the beautiful city of Mount Pleasant, Michigan. If you are wondering where that is, remember Michigan is shaped like your hand. Mount Pleasant is your center knuckle. Thank goodness they aren't from Florida. That would've been strange to explain. Anyway, Central Michigan plays in the mighty MAC. Don't make too much fun. Ohio University beat Kentucky at home a few years ago. With that said, the MAC isn't powerful.

Central Michigan lost a lot of games last year, but 7 were by a touchdown or less. Central Michigan has a new coach after Butch Jones left the season before last to take over the helm at Cincinnati. Ironically enough Butch Jones took the helm at Central Michigan when Brian Kelly left to take over at Cincinnati. The past 4 years CMU has been pretty dominant in the MAC under Jones and Kelly. Now of course, the talent pool has decreased as those coaches moved on. Central Michigan doesn't pose too much of a threat. Quarterback Ryan Radcliff threw for over 3000 yards last year notching 17 touchdowns- with 17 interceptions. In last weeks blowout game Radcliff threw 2 TD's and 2 INT's against a horrible team. Kentucky's defense should have no problem with him. This team is said to be worse than WKU. With that said....

Kentucky looked TERRIBLE against WKU. Kentucky should blow this team out. There is no excuse for if they don't. It's a home game with great weather in the forecast. It's a home game. Not some stupid field trip to Nashville. The team looked bad last week. Morgan Newton didn't look terrible- sans that one time he fell backwards. His wide receivers let him down. This is the last chance to work out the kinks before the big teams start rolling in. Kentucky should try out as many different receivers as they can. I am not going to be shocked if this is a low scoring game at the half. I just hope to see CMU held to 10 points. I want to see our offense click. If after this game the same problems persist, I am going to be furious. Not because of the team, but because I just spent a ton of money to watch us play Florida and Louisville.

Prediction- CMU- 7 UK 27

The Weekend Ahead

Happy hump day! Unfortunately for Colts fan today has turned into a pretty depressing day. We all knew the likelihood of Peyton Manning starting on Sunday against the Texans was about as equal as Texas A&M joining the SEC today. Now that the news is official, we must all get behind Kerry Collins. It's gonna be a long few weeks. Alas though, we have a full slate of great college games this weekend. However there is a bit of news to get to before we dive into the weekend ahead.

Texas A&M Has Joined the SEC (Again)

Texas A&M has announced that it will be leaving the Big 12 and joining the SEC. The SEC has confirmed this as well. All was golden until Baylor decided to reverse its position and threaten legal action against A&M. So again we have unofficial word that the Aggies have joined the SEC. All expect this to be a road block and the Aggies will become the 13th member of the league by next summer. We need an even number to keep the conference aligned. Many names have been batted around. Here is a quick summation of those teams and my thoughts.

1. Florida State: Florida State would only strengthen our position as the best football conference in America. You also get a decent athletic program all around. However, the SEC already has a strong Florida presence. Do we really need to enter a market we already control?

2. Clemson: Same argument here. We already are in South Carolina.

3. Virginia/ Virginia Tech: These 2 schools make perfect sense to me. We need a team in the east to balance everything out without redrawing divisions. Both schools have good fan bases, and would stretch the SEC brand into the Washington, D.C. area.

4. Missouri: This would be another good get for the league. Geographically, you would have to redraw divisions more than likely. However, you add the St Louis and Kansas City markets.

5. West Virginia: This one is tough to wrap my head around. You don't really gain anything here. Maybe the Pittsburgh market? In terms of athletics though, you get a lot. WVU football is a semi name brand and can be competitive. WVU basketball has established itself as well, especially with Huggins.

Whatever happens will happen. However don't expect this to be the end of it. Conference expansion is here to stay, until we get super conferences. Enough talk about logistics. The following is the Weekend Ahead....

WEEK TWO

The first few weeks we will try and pick the "best" game of the week in terms of rankings followed by an intriguing match up. Once the conference seasons kick off we will delve into more match ups.

(3) Alabama @ (23) Penn State 3:30 ABC: Last year Alabama decimated Joe Pa in Tuscaloosa. It's another typical Big Ten/SEC showdown that involves the Big Ten limping away. Alabama is too damn good this year. I don't care how many pizzas Joe Pa delivers to the students camping out. Roll damn tide.

Notre Dame @ Michigan 8:00 ESPN: This game is basically blah. The only reason I bring it up is because this is the first time in HISTORY that a night game will be played at the Big House. I was shocked when I learned this. I guess I just assumed there were night games every now and then. I was wrong. As a college football fan, I am excited to see the third largest stadium in the world under the lights. In terms of the game, I think that Michigan has the edge playing at home. Besides, good luck doesn't seem to be on the side of Notre Dame as of late.

Come Friday we will break down the Kentucky match up on Saturday. Until then, throw one back for the Colts. Kerry Collins.....

Football is Back and So Are We!

Summer is officially over, and I could not be happier about that! It's been a long couple of months since competitive soccer ended and all we had to look forward to on a daily basis was baseball. Boring. Granted, we were teased with the women's world cup, three grand slam tennis tournaments, and some great golf. Sadly, these events came and went faster than- insert college basketball and Italian restaurant joke here-. We finally have something to sustain us until February! Or until these new uniforms burn our retinas.

Of course the football season has only half begun. The NFL kicks off Thursday night, unless the GOP force Obama to hold his speech during the game- not a way to win votes. However we do have college football, and week one was surprisingly good. What we will try to do is to have a Monday morning quarterback piece where we go through and break down how the SEC did the weekend before and give our weekly picks as to who will win the other BCS conferences and who has a good chance to be the darkhorse in each conference. Midweek we will preview the big games for the upcoming weekend. Friday we will try to do something on Kentucky's upcoming match up. Once the NFL gets going we will dabble a little bit into that, but primarily we will be focused on college. So with that said...

SEC Standings and Results Week One

EAST

1. Florida 1-0: The Will Muschamp (and Charlie Weis) era got off on the right foot as the Gators dismantled Howard Schnellenbergers undermanned FAU squad 41-3 in the swamp. Florida QB John Brantley looked pretty sharp under the tutelage of the former Notre Dame head man. Florida looks to be possibly a dark horse for the SEC East, but no more. This game marked the beginning of the end for legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger. The former Miami head man will be hanging it up at the end of the season. It's still all about the U.

2. Kentucky 1-0: Kentucky defeated WKU 14-3. Yeah. Everything about this game was terrible. 25,000 people filled and NFL stadium to watch this abomination. Kentucky will probably finish second to last in the East. Huge improvements are needed.

3South Carolina 1-0: Steve Spurrier announced that Garcia would not start under center for the Cocks. That resulted in an early whooping. Garcia came in and all was right in the world as USC cruised to a big 56-37 win over ECU. South Carolina still remains my pick in the East.

4.Tennessee 1-0: One of the many games impacted by bad weather this weekend. Didn't matter though. Tennessee out muscled an undermanned Montana squad.

5. Vandy 1-0: Vandy came out strong against Elon in a big win. Don't expect this every week. Or ever again this season.

6. Georgia 0-1: The dean of the SEC lost in Atlanta to Boise State on national TV. This has to be the last year for Mark Richt right? Who knows. Georgia had flashes of light, but again look to be middle of the pact-esque for the third straight year.

West

1. Alabama: 1-0: The AJ McCarron era started right where the McElroy era left off. Bama looked sharp on all sides of the ball as they beat Kent State 48-7. Bama is my pick to win the SEC.

2. Arkansas: 1-0 The de-facto Sugar Bowl champs are in a rebuilding mode. They beat Missouri State 51-7 as there new QB Tyler Wilson got eased into the starting job. The hogs special teams also shined in this beat down.

3. Auburn 1-0: The defending national champs needed a miracle to beat Utah State. It was clear in this game that Auburn will struggle this year as they look to replace multiple key positions. However like UK, a win is a win.

4. LSU 1-0: Starting QB suspended. Bad publicity for the school. Off the field distractions. Going up against one of the fastest defenses in the land means disaster for LSU against Oregon right? Wrong. Backup QB Jarrett Lee threw for one touchdown in a game that showed the strength of the overall LSU team which notched 20 points off turnovers. LSU looked scary good and efficient as the Mad Hatter dialed up the right amount of crazy to make a statement. LSU is my dark horse to win this league and possibly the BCS title.

5. Mississippi State 1-0: The bulldogs went to Memphis and dominated early against a horrible CUSA team. Hard to get anything out of this win- other than MSU is probably the 3rd or 4th best team in the west.

6. Ole Miss 0-1: The Right Reverend Houston Nutt should never play religiously affiliated schools again. Independent BYU came into the grove and walked out with an ugly win. Ole Miss continues to drop early games to inferior opponents. At least this opponent wasn't from the FCS (Div2)

WEEK ONE CONFERENCE CHAMPION PREDICTIONS

ACC

Prediction: Florida State: Big opening win, high expectations, great talent.

Dark horse: Virginia Tech: Beamerball

BIG12

Prediction: Oklahoma: The Sooners have the best talent from top to bottom. BCS contenders. Landry Jones has cemented himself as a stud QB after a trial by fire during the Sam Bradford injury era.

Dark horse: Texas AM: Do what Nebraska couldn't do- win the title on your way out.

BigEast

Prediction: WVU: The 'Neers fought the weather on Sunday to beat Marshall at home. New coach Dana Holgorsen brings his Oklahoma State explosive offense with him in his first year as the head man in Morgantown. They also have Gino Smith as QB which helps.

Dark Horse: South Florida: South Florida too had to battle weather, Catholics, and Brian Kelly in week one. They conquered all in a very impressive win against Notre Dame in South Bend.

BigTen

Prediction: Nebraska: The Huskers bring the power of the Big 12 into the lame of the Big Ten. Their newness helps them a lot. Not to mention they have the better team.

Dark Horse: Wisconsin: Hard to pick against Bret Bilema in Big10 play. I would love to see a Nebraska-Wisconsin Big Ten title game.

PAC12

Prediction: Oregon: Despite the loss, they have the talent and experience to win the new Pac12.

Dark Horse: Stanford: Andy Luck.

SEC

Prediction: Alabama: Tough pick. I think the winner of a certain game will go on to the SEC title game for a right to go to the BCS title game. That SEC West game will be Alabama v .....

Dark Horse: LSU: Mark it down. LSU Alabama will be a battle.

Happy Labor Day! Thank goodness football is back!

Golf and That Hot Chick From Gilmore Girls

DISCLAIMER: I know absolutely nothing about golf.

If someone had asked me who Rory McIlroy was at the start of 2011 I probably would have responded by saying that "she" was the really hot lead character of that WB show that my girlfriend likes to watch on Netflix. Of course we all know now that Rory is not that really hot chick from Gilmore Girls. Not even close. The Rory that the world has gotten to know over the course of 2011 is one of pain and triumph, pale and freckled skin, and of course the most Irish of features- his crazy red hair. Rory first appeared on my radar during the 2011 Masters in which he carried out one of the greatest collapses in golf history (or so I am told). I was impressed by the 21 year old Northern Irish kid for going to Augusta and playing with the stars of the game. Two months later Rory appeared at Congressional to compete in the US Open, the second of the four Majors. What transpired over the weekend was amazing.

Don't ask me how many birdies, eagles, and (seriously?) Albatrosses he had. Don't ask me how many strokes under or over par he was- what the hell is par? I have no idea. One thing is very clear- Rory has made me want to learn. I was too young to understand what Tiger Woods arrival on tour did for the sport. I have grown up in the Tiger era and can name very few other players on tour. Thanks to his age and his off the course problems, Tiger is no longer the player he once was. Golf is a sport that needs new blood to keep it going.

Rory represents my chance to get into the sport that has captivated the Polo wearing crowd for generations- not that I don't enjoy wearing a comfy polo from time to time. One championship can easily become 14 when given the proper amount of time. More importantly, if I am noticing Rory and the sport of golf, so too must other people right? Golf needs a star to thrive- look at the ratings for most of the Majors when Tiger wasn't playing... Rory can be that star, and more importantly he has the game to back it up (here's looking at you Anna Kournikova, Danica Patrick, and Elisha Justice). Again, I know nothing about golf, but I can spot an opportunity to jump on board a great bandwagon.

Besides, the next major is the British Open... I'm in.