Week 14 Top 25

1. West Virginia
2. Missouri
3. Georgia
4. Ohio State
5. LSU
6. Virginia Tech
7. USC
8. Oklahoma
9. Kansas
10. Florida
11. Illinois
12. Auburn
13. Hawaii
14. Boston College
15. Clemson
16. Wisconsin
17. Arizona State
18. Texas
19. Texas Tech
20. Cincinnati
21. Arkansas
22. BYU
23. Oregon
24. Boise State
25. Oregon State

• The craziness that is this season of college football continues with LSU and Kansas going down. I expected LSU to lose once the game went to OT considering the way this season has gone.
• So we've seen that Arizona State is a pretender that beat up on a weak early season schedule, same with Kansas.
• Good matchups in all the conference championship games this week I expect LSU and Virginia Tech to win, still on the fence with Oklahoma-Missouri, but OU is the early favorite according to the bookmakers.
  
• Hawaii has one last test with the Huskies coming to town. Washington is the only other team to beat Boise State this season and the Huskies will be treating this game like their bowl game so I could see them playing spoiler.
  

Week 13 Top 25

1. LSU
2. West Virginia
3. Georgia
4. Kansas
5. Ohio State
6. Missouri
7. Virginia Tech
8. Oklahoma
9. Oregon
10. USC
11. Arizona State
12. Texas
13. Virginia
14. Illinois
15. Florida
16. Boise State
17. Hawaii
18. Wisconsin
19. Auburn
20. Boston College
21. Texas Tech
22. Connecticut
23. Cincinnati
24. Oregon State
25. BYU

• Another week, another #2 goes down, although this one had more to do with injury than the others. I've maintained all along I believe West Virginia is the next team in line and I'm not changing that. Kansas and Missouri have their chance on Saturday night to prove me otherwise.
  
• Big game on Turkey day with USC traveling to Arizona State. Winner will have an inside track at the BCS and the Sun Devils control their own destiny now in the Pac 10.
• Boise State at Hawaii as well and after watching Hawaii struggle these past few weeks I think Boise gets the job done.
• UConn-West Virginia for the Big East title and Virginia-Virginia Tech for the right to play in the ACC Championship game.
  

It's Official

I was all set to discuss the horrific performance from our team on Saturday but considering Coach Carr's retirement earlier this morning I think it's better to discuss that for later. For all the problems I have had with Coach Carr concerning coaching and his retention of certain assistants, he ran our program the right way, the Michigan way. For all the problems we've had with him in recent years, Coach Carr will always be remembered for bringing Michigan the 1997 National Championship and also for running a clean program with class. For that I am extremely proud to have had him as the head coach of my team. Thank you Coach Carr.

Update: MGoBlog says it best "I'll miss him sometimes, but mostly on Monday, not Saturday."

Gametime

Just got into Ann Arbor and I can't even put into words all the thoughts that are running through my mind. It seems like it was yesterday we opened the 2004 season with a true freshman QB and then another true freshman took over the RB position as well. Now we sit here less than a day away from their last home games in a Michigan uniform. We have followed along through the highs and lows of these last four seasons and now we come to the end of this story. It may be unfair but it comes down to one game and hopefully we can look back on this story as a happy ending. Let's Go Blue!

Picks of the Week

Last week was 2-4 bringing the season total to 31-24.

Virginia Tech -16 vs. Miami - The Hurricanes were embarrassed at home last week in the last game at the Orange Bowl and it doesn't get any easier as they have to travel to Blacksburg this week. The Hokies should have no problem covering after watching Miami play last week.

Missouri -7 at Kansas State - Chase Daniel has Missouri in the hunt for the Big XII and National Championships and I don't believe the Tigers will trip up this week before they play the Jayhawks next week. Kansas State has struggled since they beat Texas and I don't think they can hang with Missouri.

Georgia -6.5 (buying a point) vs. Kentucky - The Bulldogs are on a roll after beating up on Auburn and I don't expect it to stop. Dawgs beat up the Cats.

West Virginia -6 @ Cincinnati - These of two of my favorite teams from this season as I rode both of them for the majority of the year and here they are matched up against each other. West Virginia is looking like the team that led many to believe they could be in the hunt for a National Championship and I don't think Cincinnati has the athletes yet to get it done.

BYU -10 (buying half a point) at Wyoming - Wyoming was throttled by Utah last week so badly that their head coach gave the Utah head coach the finger. I see no reason why BYU can't do the same as the Cougars should win easily.

Two more days

Less than 48 hours to go. Now that I think of it, there are many similarities between 2003 and this season. In addition to playing Ohio State the last game of the year for a Rose Bowl berth, that team had senior leaders at QB and RB that had a two game losing streak against Ohio State as well as losing to Oregon and beating Notre Dame 38-0 in the regular season. Here's to Henne, Hart and Long, closing their careers out the way Perry and Navarre did in 2003.

Big Ten Roundtable

From Around the Oval:

1. Call me crazy, but it seems like the refs have been even worse this year than usual. I've noticed what seems like an unusal amount of questionable calls/non-calls go against the Buckeyes this season, but then, I am just a little biased, and the only referee performances I notice are the crappy ones. What have you thought of the Big Ten refs this season? Do any especially bad calls stand out to you?

I haven't noticed anything especially bad this season but I haven't watched too many Big Ten games outside of Michigan. The one really bad call I did watch was the Purdue/Penn State game when I believe Selwyn Lymon went clearly out of bounds after a reception and the ref kept winding the clock forcing Purdue to call a timeout they needed later in the game.

2. How is recruiting going for your team? Any incoming players that opponents should be concerned about for 2008, or will the cupboards be left bare? (Note: If you don't follow recruiting, please post an entertaining picture of some sort at this point.)

Recruiting is going well considering the terrible start it's the usual Michigan recruiting class with a solid group of incoming recruits. There are some holes on the OL and S but there's still plenty of time in the recruiting season and a strong finish could help out. It would be great to land the safeties we're recruiting at Long Beach Poly to continue building that pipeline and because I love it when Michigan has plenty of California representation on the team. I'd say the players most likely to be known for next season as freshmen will be RB Sam McGuffie, CB Boubacar Cissoko and possibly WR Daryl Stonum because we always seem to play true freshmen receivers as blockers to get experience but he could end up playing a bigger role if Mario and Adrian leave for the NFL.

3. The OSU-Michigan game is taken pretty seriously 'round these parts. For at least this week, the rivalry is all-consuming for just about every OSU fan I know. But let's face it, there's plenty more to hate (or at least dislike) in college football than our rivals. So, other than your team's current rival(s), what team, person, rule, concept, intangible object, etc., would you like to declare a rival, the better to focus your hatred on them/it?

1. Ignorant, arrogant USC fans that just hopped on the bandwagon, hopefully going away soon
   
2. Rocky Top
3. USC band playing the same song after every play
4. Tennessee
5. Pete Carroll
6. Phil Fulmer
7. Jeremiah Johnson (pounding the hammer on the M)
8. Sweatervest
9. Florida
10. Nebraska
11. Tim Tebow
12. Teams that get overrated by playing a weak schedule
13. BCS
    
14. Charlie Weis
15. Karl Dorrell for ruining UCLA Football
16. USC
17. West Coast homers that don't appreciate football outside of the Pac-10
    

It's Time

Another year has passed and here we are again in a familiar situation. Last game of the regular season, Big Ten Championship on the line as well as a trip to the Rose Bowl. Coming into this season we had very high hopes. Thoughts of a trip to New Orleans crossed our minds at times. That was all dashed away in week 1 and then buried deep into the ground after week 2. But now we stand 10 weeks later playing for almost everything this senior class came back to play for. Beat Ohio State. Win the Bowl Game.

Jake, Chad and Mike could have left last season for the NFL but they didn't. These guys know, as well as you and I do, that this class' legacy rests on these last two games. No matter what records Henne and Hart break, if they do not get the job done on Saturday, there will always be that asterisk by them in the minds of many of the Michigan faithful because they never beat Ohio State. Not only for them, but for Coach Carr who will be retiring who has come under fire recently as well for his inability to beat Tressel and bowl games.

So here we are 3 days and 1 game away from cementing a legacy, a legacy for the Mike Hart, Chad Henne and Jake Long, a legacy for Coach Carr and another legend to add to the folklore of this program. Go Blue!

Week 12 Top 25

1. LSU
2. Oregon
3. West Virginia
4. Oklahoma
5. Georgia
6. Kansas
7. Ohio State
8. Missouri
9. Virginia Tech
10. USC
11. Arizona State
12. Texas
13. Clemson
14. Virginia
15. Hawaii
16. Boise State
17. Illinois
18. Florida
19. Cincinnati
20. Wisconsin
21. Michigan
22. Kentucky
23. Auburn
24. Boston College
25. Tennessee

• I said last week I almost moved LSU and Oregon ahead of Ohio State, Illinois took care of that.
• I was never impressed with Boston College and these past two weeks show why, they were an average team with a below average schedule making them look good.
• Obviously the big game this week is Michigan-Ohio State with the Big Ten Championship on the line, but there are a few other big conference showdowns as Cincinnati hosts West Virginia and Boston College heads to Clemson. Also Kentucky heads to Athens to take on Georgia.
• UCLA was close to taking down Arizona State but couldn't finish the job. My potential upsets picks this week are Vandy at Tennessee and Northwestern at Illinois, young team probably ripe for a letdown after the big win last week.
  

Picks of the Week

A perfect week last weekend going 3-0 to bring the season record to 29-20. We've only got a few weeks left so here's to closing it out strong.

Arkansas at Tennessee - This game is a pick em and I'm going with the Razorbacks. Darren McFadden is finally getting healthy and showing the form that made him the Heisman runner up last season. He'll keep making his push for the trophy this year with a big performance in Knoxville.

Purdue -4.5 vs. Michigan State - Purdue is coming off a tough loss to Penn State but they should be ready to handle a Spartan team that has lost 3 straight. The secondary of Michigan State will not be able to handle the WR's of Purdue and Curtis Painter should have a big game.

Utah -13.5 vs. Wyoming - The Utes are rolling coming off 3 straight victories and host the Cowboys of Wyoming who just had a tough loss to San Diego State. I expect Utah to keep the streak going with another big victory.

Oregon State -5 vs. Washington - The Huskies finally ended their losing streak by beating Stanford last week but it will at one as the Beavers look to rebound from their loss to USC and become bowl eligible with one more victory.

Utah State +24.5 vs. Boise State - Utah State is having a rough season but they have kept fighting as many of their losses are very close. Combine that with the trouble that Boise State has when playing away from the blue turf and Utah State should be able to keep it close enough to cover.

Hawaii -17 vs. Fresno State - Hawaii is like Boise State, great at home and bad on the road. Continuing with that trend since Hawaii is still unbeaten and at home I expect them to try to put on a show because they know they still need to rise a bit in the rankings to guarantee a BCS bowl bid.

My new theory on the Kobe situation, probably way off

Last week it was reported that Kobe had vetoed a trade that was in place to send him to Chicago. It confirmed reports that Kobe was not willing to go to Chicago if Luol Deng would be sent back to Los Angeles. As I read this part of me thought that maybe Kobe doesn't want to leave anymore and this was before the two big wins over Phoenix and Utah. Kobe is known as a stubborn person and I think that he does not want to admit that he doesn't want to leave anymore. So he vetoes this trade and any other future trade to stay in Los Angeles while not admitting that he messed up. It's probably way off base but it's the first thing that came to mind when I saw the article.

Another interesting point which was brought up by a buddy of mine as well as an ESPN article is how much mileage is left in Kobe? If he opts out will he truly have the demand that we think he will? Granted if Kobe is all about winning as he says, and I believe him, then I wouldn't be shocked to see him opt out and sign for the MLE somewhere.

Week 11 Top 25

1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Oregon
4. West Virginia
5. Oklahoma
6. Kansas
7. Georgia
8. Missouri
9. Michigan
10. Virginia Tech
11. USC
12. Boston College
13. Arizona State
14. Texas
15. Hawaii
16. Auburn
17. Florida
18. Connecticut
19. Boise State
20. Clemson
21. Kentucky
22. Virginia
23. Florida State
24. Alabama
25. Cincinnati

• I'm too far removed from Saturday to have any detailed thoughts on the games. I was tempted to move LSU and Oregon ahead of Ohio State but in a year where everyone is getting knocked off left and right, still being unbeaten counts for something.
  
• Nothing very big this weekend between ranked teams besides the Auburn-Georgia game but there are plenty of intruiging matchups across the slate with Michigan-Wisconsin, Cal-USC, Texas-Texas Tech, Texas A&M-Missouri, Kansas-Oklahoma St., Florida St.-Virginia Tech and South Carolina-Florida.
• Don't be surprised to see Arizona State fall again this week, UCLA is known for winning games they shouldn't even be close in.
  

Swamped

with exams which end tomorrow, will have more up as soon as I get the chance.

Picks of the Week

Another good enough week going 3-1 to bring the season total to 26-20. Here we go:

Oregon -6.5 (buying a point) vs. Arizona State - Oregon has been impressive all throughout this season and take on the surprising Sun Devils in Eugene. Just to be safe I'm buying the point to bring the line down to 6.5. Arizona State has not been tested this season and this will be their first true test heading to Autzen. I dont' believe they'll pass the test.

Missouri -4 @ Colorado - The Tigers continue to get the job done and I don't think that will change this week in Boulder. Chase Daniel has Missouri playing great ball and they will continue to try to stay on the fringe of the National Title chase.

Arizona -1 vs. UCLA - UCLA is about to go down the tubes and last week was just the start. When Kahlil Bell left the game last week the Bruins were unable to get anything done offensively. With Bell out for the season now it will continue to be tough for them, throw in the fact that Arizona is coming off of a big win over Washington with a late comeback I expect the Wildcats to keep rolling.