College Football Week 12 - Important Matchups

With the season winding down, there are really only two major games this weekend. Thats not to say there won't be upsets. With six teams still undeafeated, and five of them playing this weekend, you would think someone has to lose at some point. With Florida playing FIU and Alabama playing Chattanooga, the odds of both teams still being undefeated going into the SEC Championship are still pretty high, though.

10 Ohio State @ Michigan
Favorite: Ohio State, -12
This game mattered a lot more when it was basically the Big Ten Championship game. Now, Ohio State has already wrapped up the championship, and Michigan is playing for their bowl life. After starting the season 4-0, they've played like NY's NFL teams, going 1-6 and in danger of not making the postseason. After last season's 3-9 debacle, coach Rich Rodriguez could also be coaching for his career. Things don't look good for the home team, though. Outside of their loss to Purdue, Ohio State has looked like the team that would win the Big Ten, even when Iowa was undefeated. They've also beaten Michigan five straight times.
Pick: Ohio State 28 - Michigan 17

25 Cal @ 17 Stanford
Favorite: Stanford, -7
Jim Harbugh and Stanford are relevant again, after knocking off favorite USC, 55-21, last week! This week, they play the only ranked-vs-ranked game, at home against Cal. The Cardinal comes in as the nation's hottest team, and still have an outside shot at the Pac-10 title, with a little help from Oregon. Meanwhile, Cal wants to prove that a) they matter, too, and b) Jahvid Best is great, but they can win big games without him. This is the second straight week Cal will take on the 17th ranked team in the nation after beating Arizona last week. Unfortunately for them, Stanford has scored 106 points the last two weeks, against Oregon and USC. Cal has scored 38 against Oregon State and Arizona.
Pick: Stanford 51 - Cal 27

College Football Week 6 - Important Matchups

1 Florida @ 4 LSU
Favorite: Florida, -7.5
Over the last three seasons, the winner of this game has gone on to win the National Championship. The winner of this game has also bee the home team each of those years. After suffering a concussion against Kentucky two weeks ago, many are wondering if Tim Tebow will play this week. And if he does, will he be the same player? Even with Tebow having practiced this week, the week-and-a-half layoff may leave him a bit rusty. Florida may be the favorite, but I have to give this one to LSU at home.
Pick: LSU 34 - Florida 21

Michigan @ 12 Iowa
Favorite: Iowa, -8
Iowa is still undefeated since beating Penn State last season, and Michigan has something to prove. In what has become an up-and-down season for both teams, the winner of this game would be in early contention for the Big Ten title. Coming into this season, there were low expectations on a Michigan team that went 3-9 last season. Michigan needs this game more, but having already lost their only road game so far, I have give it to Iowa in a close one.
Pick: Iowa 24 - Michigan 21

13 Oregon @ UCLA
Favorite: Oregon, -3.5
After going undefeated in non-conference play, UCLA lost to Stanford in their first conference game of the season. For Oregon, their opening day loss to Boise State dropped them out of the Top 25. Back-to-back wins against then-18 Utah, winners of 16 straight games, and then-6 Cal, also undefeated at the time, have put them in the top 15. UCLA wants to prove thier 3-0 start wasn't a fluke and put themselve in the Pac-10 hunt, but after beating two straight ranked teams, Oregon looks like the runaway winner.
Pick: Oregon 35 - UCLA 17

22 Georgia Tech @ FSU
Favorite: FSU, -3
Georgia Tech hasn't looked great this year. Yes, they are 4-1, Miami made them look like a high school team, and thier wins against Clemson and Mississippi State were closer than they should have been for a ranked team. But if there is one team in the ACC that has looked worse compared to expectations, its FSU. They are off to their worst start since 1976, Bobby Bowden's first season as head coach. At times, Bowden has seemed clueless, even admitting in post-game press conferences that he didn't know how good his opponents were. FSU may be undefeated at home against Georgia Tech, but nothing lasts forver.
Pick: Georgia Tech 31 - FSU 17

Saturday Morning News

Boston Bruin Phil Kessel has finally been traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The trade proves that NHL talent evalution is absurd, as Boston got two first-round picks and a second-round pick in return. Had Kessel been signed as an unrestricted free agent, Boston would have gotten a first-, second-, and third-round pick instead. [HockeyJournal.com]

Ichiro Suzuki led the Seattle Mariners to victory over the Yankees with his second consecutive walk-off hits. Mariano Rivera gave up the two-run homer for only his second blown save of the season. [YESNetwork.com]

Floyd Mayweather came in two pounds overweight for tonight's fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. ESPN is reporting that Mayweather will lose and Marquez will gain $300,000 for each pound Mayweather is over. [ESPN]

Michigan's James Mouton has been suspended one game for throwing a punch during last weeks game against Notre Dame. He will miss today's game against Eastern Michigan. [Bleacher Report]

Why Notre Dame Lost to Michigan

Michigan just beat Notre Dame 38-34 on a touchdown with 11 seconds left on the clock. But even before that last play, three things told me Notre Dame would lose this game. They are:

Tate Forcier

I admit I may have been wrong about this kid. ND threw pressure at him all day long, and with few exceptions, he went past it, around it, or over it. Its hard to stop someone when they can make a deep pass, break a long run with one cut, and drop a pooch punt inside the 5 yard line all in the same game.

The Officiating

Forgetting the clock situation at the end of the game, which was probably correct, the officials were blowing calls all game long, mostly in Michigan's favor. I'm not saying they were playing favorites or anything, because ND got some questionable calls in their favor, too, but multiple times Michigan should have been flagged for pass interference and it wasn't called. Its hard to get a passing game going when the defender has his arm wrapped around the receivers like they're dating.

Charlie Weis's Play Calling

Nothing doomed ND's chances more than this. ND went for the sideline pass all day, and it didn't work. Then, late in the game and trailing by 5, they went for it twice on back to back plays. Both times it didn't work, the second time ending with Michael Floyd, the teams leading receiver in the game, getting hurt. They would take a 4 point lead on the drive, and would get the ball back. Then, after Armando Allen rushed for a first down, Robert Hughes was stuffed on 1st down with less than three minutes left to play. On 2nd and long, they went for the sideline pass. It didn't work. The next play would also be an incomplete pass. The resulting punt would give Michigan good field position, more than 2 minutes left in the game, and 2 time outs. After the game, Weis was asked about the play choice on that last position, and he claimed that pass had been working for them all day. I'm sorry, but I remember it not working a lot more than it worked. I also remember inside running plays working late in the game. After Hughes was stuffed, Weis said he saw a change in the defense, that they were stacking the box to take away the run. I don't doubt him. However, theres no excuse for not at least calling an outside run there. In my opinion, giving Michigan the ball with that much time and two time outs was what ultimately led to ND losing this game.

College Footbal Week 2 - Important Matchups

It is hard to call any game important this early in a season, but this week there are two games with some signifigance to them:

3 USC at 8 Ohio State
Favorite: USC, -7
Things in sports tend to be cyclical. Teams are usually great for a couple of years, then decent for a year, then bad for a couple years, then decent, and back to at least good. There are a couple of exceptions to this in recent years: the NY Yankees, the Indianapolis Colts, and, of course, USC football. The Trojans seems to always be in the top-5, and always in title talk, both before and after the season. This is in no small part thanks to Pete Carroll's scouting ability and pro-style schemes. One team that is not an exception is Ohio State. After having major success over the past decade(one undefeated season, a National Championship, and five Big 10 conference championships), the Buckeyes finally look like a team on the decline. Their weaknesses showed last week, barely beating Navy, 31-27. You can be sure Coach Carroll was paying attention.
Pick: USC 31 - Ohio State 13

18 Notre Dame at Michigan
Favorite: Notre Dame, -3
The annual Week 2 meeting of these teams this year takes on added importance, as both teams now look like teams on the rise. Opening week blowouts for both teams have fans hopeful for the rest of the season. For Michigan, head coach Rich Rodriguez has been surrounded by controversy in the off-season, and has been feeling the pressure after going 3-9 in his first season with the Wolverines. The announcement he would rotate QBs throughout the game didn't win him any more fans, especially when coupled with the fact true freshman Tate Forcier would be the starter. The decision payed off, however, as all three QBs looked good as the team won 31-7 over Western Michigan. Notre Dame, however, seems to be a step ahead of Michigan. Last years 6-6 regular season record led to a 41-29 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl win over Hawaii. In that game, then-sophmore Jimmy Clausen and the Irish offense broke 9 Notre Dame bowl game records, including Clausen's 401 passing yards and the teams 478 yards of total offense. Those are stats ND, who started the season ranked 23, is looking to build on.
Pick: ND 31 - Michigan 21

Sunday Morning News

US Open upsets: 5 seed Andy Roddick loses to John Isner, 1 seed Dinara Safina loses to Petra Kvitova, Melanie Oudin wins again over Maria Sharapova. [Bloomberg]

More upsets: 3 Oklahoma loses to 20 BYU, 14-13. Heisman Trophy winning OU QB Sam Bradford suffered a sprained shoulder in the loss. He is expected to miss a few weeks, probably ending his chances of winning a second Heisman. [Ball Hype]

Notre Dame and Michigan, two schools whose teams haven't lived up to expectations in recent years, each had run-away victories Saturday, over Nevada and Western Michigan, respectively. They will face each other next week at Michigan. [Rivals.com]

Preakness Stakes winner Rachel Alexandra is the first filly to win the Woodward Stakes. At 8-0, she is so far undefeated for the year. [NYDN]