There was so much college football goodness Saturday, and really, there's just never enough time or space to discuss it all.
Still, I tried. Here is my Sunday college football notebook, on the Iron Bowl, emerging Heisman candidates, what's wrong at Notre Dame and much more...
The Iron Bowl: I’ve got a totally un-Iron Bowl related thought here, but stick with me for a few paragraphs, and I think you’ll see how I wrap everything together into one neat bow. Just trust me here.
By now as you all know, I was unable to do this Sunday morning preview last weekend. Obviously life comes up, and last Saturday and Sunday was one of those circumstances. And of course the one day I decided not to do a recap, it just happened to turn into one of the most eventful days in recent college football history. As I’m guessing you’ve heard by now, Oklahoma, Clemson and Oregon all lost, which came on the heels an Oklahoma State loss the night before. Gotta love college football in November, huh?
Regardless, I wasn’t able to get all of my thoughts on paper about last Saturday then, but I think it correlates very well to yesterday’s Iron Bowl in a sense.
Here was my one thought on the shake-up at the top last weekend, how it correlates to the Iron Bowl, and more importantly, the race towards the National Championship Game in New Orleans.
That’s this:
To the fans of Oklahoma State, Clemson, Oregon and Oklahoma, I’d like to apologize: You poor souls never stood a chance. The fact that your teams lost last Saturday had much more to do with me, than anything they did on the field last weekend.
Let me explain. Last Saturday, I had dinner opportunity come up that I couldn't pass on, meaning that I wouldn’t be able to watch Saturday night’s games, and in turn wouldn’t be able to do my Sunday morning recap.
And once my Sunday recap was off the table, well, it only seemed a matter of time before all hell broke loose. That’s basically what happened on Friday night and Saturday, when four Top 10 teams all lost, giving us one of the most confusing and unappealing final weekends in recent college football memory (well, unless you’re a fan of the SEC West). Call it Murphy’s Law, or Aaron’s Law (if you please), but just know that once I agreed to do that dinner, there was a 100 percent chance that something crazy was about to happen.
Still, just because we’re down to basically three teams with a realistic shot to play for a National Championship (and in actuality, it’s only two, really), that doesn’t mean that this won’t be a fun weekend of football none the less. We’ve got still got a Thanksgiving plate full of traditional rivalry games (the Iron Bowl, Ohio State-Michigan), spruced in with some fun made-for-TV events (Stanford-Notre Dame) too.
With it, here are the Week 13 picks. As usual, home teams are in caps, and this week, the good folks at Wager Web provided the point spreads.
Oh, and by the way, happy Thanksgiving everyone!
no comments
Even if it’s not No. 1 vs. No. 3 (thanks for stealing the spotlight Arkansas-LSU!) there is still no bigger game on the schedule than this weekend’s Iron Bowl, Alabama at Auburn. For the Crimson Tide, a potential trip to the National Championship Game is on the line, for the Tigers it’s about playing spoiler, and for the folks in Alabama, it’s about not having to hear friends and family run their mouths for the next 364 days if their team wins.
To listen to the podcast on this website, click the green box below
To listen to the podcast on your iPhone or Android please click here
To download the podcast straight from iTunes, please click here
To subscribe to the Aaron Torres Sports Podcast, please click here
That’s what’s at stake when these two teams get together on Saturday, and the man who joined me on the podcast to discuss the game is the guy behind WarBlogle.com one of the most popular Auburn blogs/websites on the ‘net.
Amongst the topics that were discussed in lieu of this weekend’s game include:
- The history of the Iron Bowl, and why as cliché as it is to say, “it’s about more than football”
- The struggles of Auburn’s offense this year, how much of it falls on quarterback Clint Moseley, how much of it falls on his receivers and offensive line, and how much actually falls on Gene Chizik?
- Is there a way to slow down Trent Richardson, and if so, does that give Auburn a chance to win the game?
- Is Gus Malzahn Auburn’s offensive coordinator next year, or is he a head coach? Is Ted Roof Auburn’s defensive coordinator next year, or is he fired?
- Some fun with Phil Lutzenkirchen and questioning whether or not Trooper Taylor actually coaches, or is simply on the sideline to wave towels.
In the interest of full-disclosure, I’m just going to throw this out there: Up until about 10 days ago, I had absolutely no idea that the Kentucky Wildcats, the No. 2 ranked team in all of college basketball, were playing a weekend tournament at the Mohegan Sun Casino, which is about an hour from my house. Actually, in the interest of full-disclosure, I didn’t even know that there was a college basketball tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena at all, and even after I saw “Kentucky” as the headliner, had to verify that it wasn’t indeed a women’s tournament. Thankfully, it wasn’t.
Still, it’s not often that the No. 2 team in the country shows up in your neck of the woods, and since it might turn out to be the only chance I get to see Kentucky in person all season, I decided to make the drive down.
Here are Ten Takeaways I had after watching their 62-52 win over Old Dominion Sunday.
1. Kentucky’s Upside Is Terrifying: Alright, so let’s start with the obvious and say that Sunday’s game against Old Dominion wasn’t pretty. You know that. I know that. My three-year-old niece who thinks “Kentucky” is a character on Sesame Street knows that. At times it was ugly, at times it was sloppy, and at times it was more WWE than CBB. Oh, the beauty of November college basketball, huh?Except there are some other truths too.
The first is that after seeing them in person, I absolutely believe Old Dominion is one of the 25 best teams in college basketball right now. Will they be ranked there anytime soon? Of course not. They play in a small conference, aren’t a recognizable brand name (like Butler or Gonzaga), and have already lost two games, to two really good teams. So instead of ranking them, we’ll do what we always do instead, which is most likely plop some slow-footed Big Ten team into Old Dominion's place, then act surprised when the Monarchs beat them by 15 points in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Again, that's just how the system works.
And you know what? I don’t care. I’ve been watching hoops my whole life, and I know a Top 25 team when I see one. Old Dominion is one. They’re long, they’re athletic, they have playmakers, and most of all, had the swagger of a Top 25 team yesterday afternoon. Yes they were overwhelming underdogs, yes they were playing the No. 2 team in the country, and it didn’t faze them in the least. From warm-ups, through the opening tip all the way until the end, Old Dominion carried themselves like they thought they belonged on the court with Kentucky, which in it's own way is half the battle. As a matter fact, from what I’ve seen early, I’m comfortable saying that of everyone in the SEC besides Kentucky, only Florida, Vanderbilt and Alabama are as good as Old Dominion. That’s it. And, had the Wildcats beaten any of those teams by 10 points on a neutral court yesterday, nobody would’ve said a peep. But because it was Old Dominion, because they’re from the CAA, everyone is trying to look too much into it. Which they shouldn’t.
In a weird way, it seems appropriate that I’ve had so much trouble starting this column. I’d tried 100 different beginnings, and come to 100 different dead-ends. I’ve tried to be funny and serious, goofy and grim. And so far I’ve got nothing.
Then again, it’s hard to blame me. I am trying to write about Tim Tebow after all. And at this point, how can anyone possibly quantify this guy with words?
How do words fully explain the most unique, fascinating and polarizing athlete of my lifetime? How do they explain a quarterback that can look so bad for 56 minutes and so utterly untouchable for four? How do words capture a guy who’s so revered, loved and admired by his teammates, even as- at times- he does so little to help them win games?
You can’t. Which is the beauty of Tim Tebow. He’s a perfectly flawed, perfectly confusing, and at times, a perfectly…perfect quarterback.
He’s also perfectly unexplainable, which makes him so damn fascinating. It’s why I love the guy, and why so many others hate him.
Speaking of the haters, let’s start with this: Is there a single person on the planet that can actually give a logical explanation as to why the guy is such a lightning rod? I’ve thought about it from every angle, and I certainly can’t. He hasn’t broken the law. He hasn’t been arrested. He hasn’t gone to jail. He hasn’t done anything morally or ethically wrong like Tiger Woods. He hasn’t even inadvertently alienated a community or fan base like LeBron did to those in Cleveland. Seriously, what’s the worst thing Tebow has actually done? Tried to push his religious values on us? Well my goodness, lock him up and throw away the key. What a jerk, huh?
Of all my columns, the one which I enjoy writing the most is usually my Sunday morning college football recap. Sure I spend way too much time overthinking everything. Sure barely anyone reads it. And yes, it usually leads to a fight with my girlfriend, since I’m always pushing off seeing her on Sunday afternoons. Whatever, I enjoy writing it. It’s just a nice way to get a lot of my thoughts out of my head, and onto paper, after spending entirely too much time on the couch the previous day.
And today, I’ve decided to write a similar column after Tuesday’s 24-hour college hoops tip-off marathon. I’d be lying if I said I watched all 24 hours (I value my sleep way too much) or even most of them (a guy’s gotta pay the bills after all), but I did watch enough to get a good feel for some of the teams that we replaying, and where I think they stand in the college basketball hierarchy.
Here are some of my takeaways I have from Tuesday.
After looking at the serious side of college football on Tuesday morning with John Walters of The Daily, today it’s time to get back on the field and discuss one of the best, yet least talked about teams in the sport, the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks are riding high after a dominating win over Stanford, and could continue to make their case for a back-door shot at a BCS Championship game appearance if they win this Saturday against USC.
To listen to the podcast on this website, click the green box below
To listen to the podcast on your iPhone or Android please click here
To download the podcast straight from iTunes, please click here
To subscribe to the Aaron Torres Sports Podcast, please click here
One prominent Oregon fan was in Palo Alto last week and will be in Eugene this weekend to take in the sights and sounds, and he stopped by the podcast on Wednesday to discuss it all. That fan? Dan Rubenstein, the co-host of “The Solid Verbal,” podcast and college football columnist at Bleacher Report. Nobody knows the Ducks program quite like Dan does, and on Tuesday he stopped by the podcast to discuss the following:
- Was he surprised by the ease with which Oregon beat Stanford? Also, what do the results of Saturday’s games say about both the Ducks and Cardinal at this point in the season.
- Is it fair to say Andrew Luck had a “bad” game Saturday night? How much was influenced by players missed to injury, and just overall poor play from the guys on the field?
- Heading into this weekend, what should Oregon fans expect from USC? Do the Trojans actually pose a tougher matchup for the Ducks than Stanford did?
no comments
There has been no bigger story both in news and sport in 2011 than the evolving situation at Penn State. It seems like every single day, every single hour, new layers are peeled back, with the latest coming late Monday night when for the first time, Jerry Sandusky spoke made public comments to the media. It was just one new evolution in a rapidly evolving story.
Simply put, what is going on at Penn State is something we all have an opinion on. But one man was actually in State College, PA last week covering the events, and he joined the podcast Monday night to discuss it all. His name is John Walters, and he’s a seasoned sportswriter now at The Daily.
To listen to the podcast on this website, click the green box below
To listen to the podcast on your iPhone or Android please click here
To download the podcast straight from iTunes, please click here
To subscribe to the Aaron Torres Sports Podcast, please click here
John and I spoke just before Sandusky’s public comments, but we still were able to cover this from virtually every angle, including:
- As someone who has worked in sports journalism for most of his adult life, in this the biggest story John has ever covered?
- What was his initial reaction was upon arriving in State College on Tuesday, and why Joe Paterno’s cancelled press conference marked the final nail in the coffin of the coach.
- What the community of State College is like, and why the complexities of that community added another layer and chapter to this story.
- How perspectives on this story varied from inside State College as opposed to outside of it.
no comments
(Before we start, remember that my website is teamming up with a cool new service called FanLime, and that it's incredibly easy for you to enter and win a $50 Amazon.com Gift Card. Click here for details!)
If I’ve learned one thing covering the sport of college football over the last few years it’s this: Much my like my 95-year-old grandma, we as fans simply worry too damn much. We are so busy discussing what could potentially happen, that we forget to pay attention to what actually does happen. Every year, we substitute different players, teams and coaches, but debates remain oddly the same.
In some order they usually are:
“Should a one-loss SEC team play for a title over an undefeated team from another conference?”
“Should we allow two teams who played during the regular season to play again for a BCS title?”
“Should we give Boise a shot?” (Incredibly, it doesn’t matter the year, Boise is ALWAYS in the discussion. They’ve become the proverbial "fat kid on the playground waiting to get picked for a kickball game" of the college football world.)
And every year, like clockwork, all this crap sorts itself out.
This year has been no different. It sorted itself out with losses by Wisconsin and Oklahoma a few weeks ago. It happened when Clemson got tripped up a week later. And guess what, the herd was thinned again with losses by Stanford and Boise last night. We’re now left with two undefeated teams, and two clear paths to the BCS National Championship Game. If LSU and Oklahoma State win out, they play for the BCS title. If they don’t, well, all hell breaks loose. But again, these things have a funny way of working themselves out, so for now, let’s not get caught up in hypotheticals, ok?
no comments
Because of the Penn State column that was posted earlier today, I didn’t have much time to think or write about this weekend’s games. Quite frankly, given everything that’s happened the last week, I’m not too sure how important they are to begin with.
Regardless, here are some quick, Week 11 picks:
CINCINNATI (-4) over West Virginia: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ABC/ESPN2
Much like Dana Holgorsen’s hair-do, something just hasn’t been right with West Virginia all year. Every time they look good, every time they seem to be figuring it out, every time they look ready to turn a corner…they fall flat on their face. With their talent, there’s no excuse for losses to Syracuse or Louisville. None.
On the road, against a good team, I think things could get ugly for the Mountaineers.
(On a much less negative West Virginia note, I thought this column by John Canzano on Mountaineers Athletics Director Oliver Luck was outstanding)
Oklahoma State (-17 ½) over TEXAS TECH: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ABC/ESPN2
Truth be told, I feel like the Pokes got a break here. Lubbock is always a tough place to play, but an 11 a.m. kickoff seems much more manageable than an evening one.
Oklahoma State…big.
PENN STATE (+3) over Nebraska: Saturday, 12:00 p.m. ABC
So…who likes field goals?
After a tough week around Happy Valley, I expect a hard-fought, emotional, defensive struggle between these two teams. Think of it as the ugly step-brother of LSU-Alabama last Saturday, if you will.
Last week the Tigers won 9-6. This week I’ll take the Lions by the same score.
no comments
