Bourbonstreet’s
Championship Series: (BstreetC.S.)
(note to reader: this is a BCS game forecast, not an Official Ranking top to
bottom)
Bourbonstreet’s Championship Series TOP-10:
1. Ohio State
2. So.Cal
3. Auburn
4. wvu
5. Florida
6. Michigan
7. Texas
8. Louisville
9. Oregon
10. Boise State
10a Georgia
(note: either of last year’s Rose Bowl MNC teams [USC or Texas] would beat
everyone in this year’s Top-10, so there is some chance for a really odd MNC
match-up when 2006 is all said and done)
#1 Ohio State:
Last week: major win vs. the Offensive juggernaut known as Iowa
This week: inState nonRival Bowling Green
Ohio State only has two teams left with winning-records not named Michigan!
IF you are a Buck-eye fan, I can follow why you are Expedia’ing jus’ where
the heck Glendale, Arizona is right now. But if all I told you was that a given
team was 49th in Rushing; and 42nd in stopping the Run, would you call that a
MNC winning team? Prolly not; at least in most years anyway. But that is exactly
where the Buckeye front-lines currently are. It is the speed/talent behind the
OH.State front-lines that is very tough to beat. If there were a most improved
award for the last calendar season (five games from 2006, seven games from
2005), OH.State pivot Troy Smith surely wins that going away. As this is one
dynamic Offensive unit that Woody Hayes-State goes old-school and hits you with.
Bowling Green was taken into 3 OTs by lowly B’lo. ‘nuff typed. OH.State wins
comfortably in what has been a low scoring series of late.
#2 Southern Cal:
Last week: My non gimmie Washington State game was jus’ that, i.e. 6 point
Trojan win
This week: The other PAC-10 Washington team, the University thereof
4-1 Washington rolls into Jim Morrison’s old drinking-ground, AKA the City
of Angles, this week, having only been beaten by Oklahoma on the road.
Washington has won games by 11, 10, 10, and 6 points. Not exactly dominating for
a lofty .800 winning percentage. Other than last week, Southern Cal has been
comfortably ahead, or blown teams out. This USC team has 11 different Unit
Rankings out of 17 that check in at a nifty 36th or better. Though I’m now
wondering if this So.Cal team can Score enough to run the table? Pun intended,
as they have not topped 28 points since week#1. I’m sensing that Pete Carroll
is intentionally bringing this Trojan Offense along slowly. As evidenced by
their lack of INTs and BIGplays. That means either USC will be very dangerous to
end the year, or I have overrated them. This weekend they will have enough to
beat a solid Washington football team in the Coliseum by 10 points, maybe a tad
more.
#3 Auburn:
Last week: Took 59:41, but finally held off Visor-Boy’s very Gamecocks
This week: Home for Arkansas
This is jus’ not an MNC kinda football team folks. But it is prolly the 2nd
or 3rd closest to Glendale out of those who will not make it, and your likely
SEC Champion. Auburn QB Brandon Cox is a few bricks shy of a load, and that will
eventually get the War-Eagles beaten somewhere in SEC play. Auburn RB Kenny
Irons is the man as SEC RBs go, but I’m already wondering if he is wearing
down a bit, checking in at only 5`10“ 200lbs? He has missed time with a stubbed
toe and a rolled ankle, and did not have the burst I expected vs. USC-East of
someone with so much elusive talent. The Hogs are better now that they have
stellar RB Darren McFadden back, and even though the War-Eagles have 9 days to
prep, Arkansas actually has 2 weeks as they were idle last weekend. But being
100th in Rushing Defense is just not a “BAMa” kinda recipe for beating
Auburn at Home (future hint intended). Bo Jackson’s War Eagles by a couple of
plays. (i.e. 10 to 14 points)
#4 wvu:
Last week: BYE
This week: @ once Egg-Bowl savvy, now cracked Mississippi State
This is not yesteryears Jackie Sherrill castrate a live bull in front of the
Miss. State football team. As Miss. State has not topped 3 wins since 2000 A.D.!
Hard to believe how far these poor Bulldogs have fallen. On the other hand, wvu
got some much needed R&R to try to heal-up so many minor to medium injuries.
Miss. State is without their Starting QB (Mike Henig), but does field the 35th
best Run Defense, though it just lost its #1 Run-Stuffing DT (Deljaun Robinson).
Would that they could, but Miss. State will not beat wvu, as the ‘errs hold a
staggering 280+ Yardage Margin per game advantage over the Bulldogs. That’s
nearly 21 points right there. wvu is getting better, as they have improved to
become the 34th ranked Total Defense, and currently sport eight outta 17
single-digit unit rankings. That’s not a bad football team folks, as being 2nd
in Rushing Offense, and 8th in Turnover Margin should buy wvu enough time to
develop into a football team capable of shuffling the Cards come November 2nd,
then run the perfect table. The only question is jus’ how many perfect teams
does 2006 see at years end???
#5 Florida:
Last week: took care of Alabama, by a cool 15
This week: their 3-week Death’fecta of Alabama, LSU then Auburn contiues
The QB playing-time sweeps stakes are officially underway for the Florida
Gators. As all-Solar-System Freshman QB Tim Tebow pitched well in 2nd Quarter
relief of incumbent Starter Chirs Leak last Saturday (I hope you saw that
T-Mobile). All this makes this scribe wonder jus’ how many chads Tim Tebow has
gotten with? Sorry. Had to work the political angle in at least one time this
year. But I also have to wonder why Florida A.D. Jeremy Foley hates Florida Head
Coach Urban Meyer so much? What’s up with Alabama, now LSU, then Auburn
back-2-back-2-back? Takes an NFL team to run that gauntlet, and Florida’s
perfect season ends this week, or next week for it. LSU has out-gained their
last six opponents by no less than 129 Yards, good for a Yardage Margin average
of +235 per game! LSU is still the most talented football team in the SEC. But
beating Florida in the Swamp is a tall order. Nearly Joakim Noah, the 6`11`
Power-Forward of the defending National Champion Gator hoops team tall. I was
gonna pick Florida to stay perfect, but four key Defensive players out for the
year, and a dinged up starting RB all equal an LSU upset.
#6 Michigan:
Last week: “Went out and killed all the Gophers!” I mean golfers in
Minnesota
This week: Hosting Magic Johnson State, Michigan State
State was clearly flat last week after giving the Irish an early Christmas
present, and got upset by lowly Illinois. Though never forget that Michigan
State was the 1st D-1 school to sportingly fully desegregate. God Bless that.
Michigan meanwhile is still #1 in Rushing Defense, only allowing a pittance of
36 per game on the Ground. The one way to possibly beat Michigan appears to be
thru the air. The Spartans are pretty good like that; but not quite good enough
to win in The Big House. Michigan QB Chad Henne looks to be slowly making
progress as a BIG-10 starting Pivot, and this Wolverine football team is
remarkably healthy for nearly half a season of football having been played. So
it looks to me like Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen’s favorite moon-boot
wearing Jr. High program gets to keep the Paul Bunyan Trophy a 5th straight
year. It’s enough to make me wanna spray-paint “Wolverines!”
#7 Texas:
Last week: destroyed, thumped, and made Sam Houston State ride you know
what…
This week: Oklahoma, in Big-D (Dallas Texas)
This Saturday The Red River Rivalry renews for the 101st time. Oklahoma had
won five straight until Vince Young convinced Dr. Jane Goodall to climb down off
of Mack Brown’s back last year. Oklahoma has had two weeks to prep for this
major BIG-12 showcase football game. Gotta give Sooner A.D. Joe Castiglione
props for that. The reConversion of Paul Thompson back into a QB continues in
Norman, Oklahoma, while the maturity of Colt McCoy as a QB continues in Austin
Texas. Texas has a 64 spot edge in Rushing Margin, and you just know a nasty
rivalry game like this will be decided upfront on the Line Of Scrimmage. That
typed, with two green-wood QBs in play, I can foresee one of them giving this
game away, and I look for Texas to win The Red River Rivalry for the 57th time
this Saturday.
#8 Louisville:
Last week: Idle
This week: a Friday nite mid-major smorgasbord down in Nashville eating up MTSU
Middle Tennessee State QBs combo for a -2 Passing Ratio. So this one is over,
done, thru, period, end of story, full stop. We all know about Louisville’s
hurts: Brohm (QB: Hand & rebuilt Knee); Bush (RB: snapped twig); but don’t
forget all-everything former VT recruit Rod Council is now out with a broken
Ankle. As good as these Cards really are (6 units ranked 8th or better) you can
make a real argument that they have three future NFLs now in civvies and they
are still this dag-gone good! The only real short-coming of former Metro
Conference NBA ballers Rodney and Scooter McCray’s former school is their
Return Game. But that’s it. All of this makes me think that Louisville would
beat wvu at full-strength. But they are not at full-strength, and for all his
accuracy, Gator-Bowl QB Hunter Cartwell jus’ does not have a HR hitting Arm
the way Brohm does. But you will not see any of this exposed vs. MTSU, vs. the
‘Nati, nor against Syracuse. So Louisville has 12 Quarters of football, and
four weeks to recover the services of Brohm, or wvu at least gets a B.C.S. bid.
#9 Oregon:
Last week: OPEN
This week: very difficult Roadie down to California
Berkeley, California has been the stage for some famous or infamous events in
American History (‘pends on your political spelling). This weeks Oregon’s
perfect record is jus’ that, history. It’s not very often that you see the
11th Ranked team a 6 point dog to the 17th ranked team, but that is exactly the
case here folks. CAL QB Nate Longshore’s one game vacation to start the season
appears to have ended. Oregon’s Defensive Line has suffered major Depth
depletion, thinned by the season ending injuries to the Ducks Top-3 back-ups.
Oregon also struggles with Turnovers, and that is something that Coach Tedford’s
California teams always excel in. As Coach T has always posted a +Turnover
Margin at CAL. Oregon has played four teams, three of which were good, and two
of those three they struggled to beat. That means that the Quack-Attack is about
to take a 1 in the old L column on the year.
#10 Boise State:
Last week: demolished a solid Utah football program on the Road
This week: Home on the blue, bluer, bluest Smurf-Turf to demolish La.Tech
Louisiana Tech has scored 14 points against 96 given up in their last two on
the Road. This Bulldog team is wearing down and is ripe for the Spud-State
Homecoming beat-down. Why am I placing the blaze Orange clad Bronc’s in at a
Bo Derek perfect 10 spot? Because Boise State has improved nearly 40 places in
Total Defense from 2005, and I can see only 1 team that can beat Boise State
left on their 2006 docket (FSU-West). This is a very good Boise State football
team folks; as only 1 Bronco game has been decided by less than 33 points on
2006. If the Bronc’s can stay healthy (as blue-chip depth is limited here), I
like their chances to run the table and maybe, just maybe, play wvu in the now
last-place B.C.S. picking Rose Bowl. And how funny would a 40% filled Rose Bowl
be???
#10a Georgia:
Last week: barely beat Ole` Miss
This week: Home trying not to Volunteer to become a 5-1 football team
Think Georgia misses starting signal-caller Joe Tereshinski III any? What
does winning by five points at lesser-ran Mississippi and barely coming back to
beat major underdog Colorado between the hedges tell yah? Now Tennessee comes a
SEC calling, fresh off of winning their last two football games by a combined
74-14 margin. Tennessee actually has a lot more Offense than Georgia does right
now folks. Eric Ainge has finally found himself as a legit Pocket-QB. Turnover
Margin might win this game for the Bulldogs, but the UGA Offense will not. This
is an official upset alert. Tennessee is a hot football team right now, and
could turn the underdog trick on the Offensively and vertically stunted UGA. If
Georgia does win, it will be their Defense and Special-Teams that takes care of
this SEC business. This is not a sure-fire upset, but I do like Tennessee by one
play or so in this one.
(nb)Community Chest:
Did this defensively more-than-challenged Fighting-Irish team actually win
last week? Hold on while I look that up. Ahhhh shucks. They did. So I had better
keep writing them up, as NBC will do all they can to get Notre Dame a B.C.S.
bid. ND has allowed 35 on average in their last three games. This might be the
worst football team to actually win 10 games in forever. Does a 100th ranked
Rushing Offense and a 92nd ranked Total Defense read like B.C.S. material to
you? Me neither! But at least this gives Jabba the Chin (aka Beano Cook)
something to talk about every 20 minutes, or another jelly-doughnut. Which ever
one is closest. ND will beat Stanford in their annual mid-West SAT bowl this
week; as Stanford has scored 10 or less in 80% of their game thus far. That
would be 4/5ths to you Beano. ; )
#25 Virginia Tech:
Last week: upset by 11 point underdog Georgia Tech in Lane
This week: OPEN, B.C. a week from today up on Chestnut Hill
When Gah.Tech opened with 2.8 points scored per minute of play, I knew we
were in trouble. When Nic Schmidt shanked that 1st Punt, I knew we were in
deeper trouble. When the human-Turnover-machine known as Reggie Ball hit the
always difficult 1st-school Roger Staubach Naval Academy Jump-Pass over Brenden
Hill, I knew the utensil that was sticking out of us was called a fork. But when
the Yellow-Jackets went Beamerball upside our head, I knew this was a rout.
That was all within 8:06 played. It was all downhill from there. But then a
strange thing happened along the way to the upset. Everyone’s favorite
Hokie-Jacket decided that those two wide open VT Defensive-Backs sure looked
lonesome without the ball. Then the Season changed. Two short-fields, not even
“ok” for a sub-mediocre six Total Hokie Points off of Reggie Ball INTs. Then
what I had feared occurred and the game was salted-away. As Hokie Fumbles, and
two great Georgia Tech Punts provided the Yellow-Jackets with short-fields, and
nothing but Short-Fields. “Repeat after me, Georgia Tech’s Field-Position…”
The Nati doubled us up in the first 30 and Georgia Tech won by more than that
scoreboard showed in the last 30. All because of our starting Field Position, as
Sean Glennon does not quite have the maturity to consistently drive 65+ Yards,
and partly because he was under so much pressure. Glennon was sacked four times,
hurried another five, and contacted seven other plays by my scorecard.
But don’t fret Hokie Nation. Jus’ as GT was a bad match-up for us, we are
a v-e-r-y bad match-up for Boston College. All we need is a dose of Leadership,
the return of Minor and Ellis, and we will be 5-1 after Thursday the 12th of
October expires. Not all was that bad last Saturday. Glennon was faaaaaar
sharper to start the game than I ever remotely imagined he could be vs. such a
Blitzy Defense. Nearly opened 8-for-8, if Boone was settled into his new
Position. Further, Sean Glennon did not make any bad misQs happen, while he
clearly scrapped to the bitter end. That’s what I call hidden improvement. The
kind you don’t see on the Scoreboard, nor in the Box Score, but you will see
it during Monday AM in film-study.
Others receiving bourbon:
LSU*, California, Rutgers, Missouri, Florida State, Wake Forest, but mixed
with a lot of H20, New Hampshire.
(* providing LSU can win to get back in the SEC/BCS race @ Florida)
Peace out yo’:
T.C.U.
# 69 ECU. #79 france. Guess who is ranked 20th in Total Defense? Poland?
Inner Mongolia? “Very small rocks?” you say??? How ‘bout france? Hard to
believe isn’t it. If alvin deGroh could jus’ manufacture some Offense, this
beret’ed football team would press for .500 and a Bowl bid quicker than you
might think. Dallas Cowboy Super Bowl winning and all-time ECU Linebacker Robert
Jones claims that Steve Logan could fix the parisian Offense with only 10 men in
the huddle (4 of which being high), and that all invites to Fondue-fest 2006
have been declined.
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