Misc. Post on the 3rd

Well not much going on sport in sports tonight. It's a slow night here at the s1c household also as I am just kicking back and listening to the radio (Dennis Miller will be on in 15 minutes). Right now a good part of the country has their eyes turned toward Iowa. I am sorry, but I could really, really, care less right now about Iowa.

There is one Bowl game tonight in that little town called Miami. Kansas is playing Virginia Tech. I think that Tech wins this one 35-31. That is all for now!!

Oh one other thing, ESPN.com is stating that Clemens told Wallace he took shots of B-12 and Lidocane. Yeah, right, I really believe you Rahger!

07/08 Celtics Game 30

Well at the time of this post West Virginia is just crushing Oklahoma. There goes that pick. Oh well, it is a good thing that no one is counting on my picks to make some pocket change. The regular season was screwy and now the bowl games are being screwy. You have to love college football.

Hmm, 20-point lead disappears and with 6:58 left in the game you are trailing your opponent (a visiting team) 84-81. What do you do? Well if you are the 27-3 Celtics you climb on the back of Kevin Garnett and let him carry you to the finish line.

A quick look at the final minutes shows that KG took six of the last twelve shots making five of those attempts. Add in his free throw and that is eleven of the last sixteen points scored by the Celtics in this game. There were two key things that stood out in this last dash for the win though:

1. Ray Allen continues to do the little things as he grabbed two offensive boards in the last two minutes of the game. Both led to KG baskets with Paul Pierce getting the assists.
2. Five of the last seven baskets had an assist associated with them, with four of those assists provided by PP.

That second item is something that I have noticed in this spectacular run so far this season. This team is comfortable with passing the ball to the open man in tight games. You have to have faith in your teammates if you expect to do well in the NBA and it is obvious that this team has faith in each other. Another good win for the Celtics.

Misc. Post on the 2nd!

Ok, so yesterday my football picks again stunk. What made me think that Hawaii could beat Georgia? How in the world did I pick a team with an interim coach, my beloved Hogs, and think they could beat Missouri? Those are the two biggest mistakes and of course since I was so stupid I went 2-4 as opposed to 4-2. Grrr.

The good news today, is that the soap opera of northwest Arkansas is finally over and hopefully the team can rebound from this fiasco and start to be a consistent winner again. Unfortunately, I think that the new coach will only be around just long enough to win a couple of SEC West titles and then will take his Larry Brown / Saban like ways to some other green grass program. Oh well, will have to see.

Meanwhile tonight we have the #9 West Virginia Mountaineers (10-2) vs the #4 Oklahoma Sooners (11-2) in the Fiesta bowl. Not for sure about this game but I am going to give the edge to Oklahoma, lets go with 24-23 for the Sooners.

Other than that bold predicition, not much else is happening (though the Celtics are playing well as we speak), so will say hasta la vista for now!

Oh yeah, I added a couple of new links, be sure and check them out!

2008 - Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year and may 2008 bring you everything you desire.

Well, looking at yesterday's bowls you can see why I do not bet on College Football. Sheesh, 2 and 4. Still, it is a new year and there is hope for new beginnings. So, let us look at today's bowl Games!

First up on the schedule is the Outback bowl which has #18 Wisconsin (9-3) playing #16 Tennessee (9-4). The Volunteers have speed and the Badgers are plodders. I go with speed here and say the Vols 31 to 17 over the Badgers.

Shades of old its Arkansas (8-4) in the Cotton Bowl! Who are they playing? Well it is #6 Missouri Tigers (11-2). Hmmm, I wonder who I picked (look to the right - ed). Missouri has speed, throws the ball and scores a ton of points each game, however, Oklahoma owned them this year. Arkansas has a defense, plays in the tough SEC and oh yeah, some junior running back that has place 2nd in the heisman trophy balloting the last two years. This game will be a barn burner. Arkansas 42 and Missouri 34.

Gator bowl has Texas Tech (8-4) vs #20 Virginia (9-3). Va blows this game open late and wins 28 to 17.

Capital One bowl is another Big 10 vs SEC match up. Florida (9-3) has this QB who did something special this year, 20/20 man will lead the Gators over the Michigan Wolverines (8-4) with a 35 - 21 outcome.

Rose Bowl has #13 Illinois (9-3) vs #7 USC (10-2) playing at 4:30. USC romps 35-17.

Our final Bowl game of the day is the Sugar Bowl. #10 Hawaii (12-0) is playing #5 Georgia (10-2). The only loss for the SEC today is this game in a tough nail biter Hawaii wins 31-28!!!

Happy New YEAR!!!!!!

2007 Winding Down

Well, 2007 is finally winding down and it is obvious that there are some serious bowl games to be played yet in this year. Well, not really, but there are a few left in this year. So far I have picked 8 winners and 7 losers, but today is another day. Before we get to the bowl picks for today though, it should be mentioned that the Celtics just keep on rolling along.

Last night they completed their four game west coast trip by beating the Lakers, well, actually they rolled over the the Lakers like a cement truck heading to the construction site. The closest the Lakers got in the second half was at 3:16 in the 3rd quarter when Kobe fed Derek Fisher for a three pointer that made the score 72-66. The Lakers didn't score again until the 4th quarter and by that time the Celtics had a 16 point lead that would never be threatened again.

As for the just completed road trip, the C's went to Sacramento on the 26th and won 89-69, a twenty point shellacking over a losing team. This was followed by a game on the 27th in Seattle that the Celtics won 104-96 over an even worse team than the Kings. Still it was Ray Allens first trip back to Seattle and it was their sixth set of back to back games this year (6-0 on the second game of these sets) so a close game was to be expected.

Following a day off the C's continued to impress by beating the Jazz on the 29th by a 104-98 score that included an embarrassed Paul Pierce who hit the winning basket with 28 seconds left in the game. In this game the Celtics trailed at half time as they just could not stop the Jazz from shooting over 60% in the first half. Once again though they out scored their opponent in the third quarter and only trailed by two going into the fourth. The Celtics were now 3-0 on the trip and rumbled into Los Angeles trying to do two things, prevent Phil Jackson from passing Red Auerbach on the win list and sweep the road trip.

Mission accomplished! Another double digit win and another milestone achieved!

Setting The Pace
The Celtics are now off to a better start than the Bulls team that won an NBA-record 72 games. Here are the best winning percentages before New Year's Day:
Team	Record	Pct.
1971-72 Lakers	36-3	.923*
1966-67 76ers	35-3	.921*
2007-08 Celtics	26-3	.897
1995-96 Bulls	25-3	.893*
* -- Won NBA title.

Some things are just meant to be and that is being accomplished by this Celtics team. As the box to the right says (lifted from ESPN.Com), the Celtics have joined a select few teams in the upper echelon of NBA history and the historic runs of the teams from Boston just keep on rolling (16-0 Patriots, 2007 World Series Champs) along in this last week of 2007.

Next on the docket for the Celtics will be a home game vs the Rockets on 1/2/2008 (got to get used to typing 2008) and another back to back as they face the Grizzlies on 1/4 at home and then travel to Detroit on 1/5. The Detroit game will be interesting since the Pistons beat the Celtics on 12/19 in Boston. I expect fireworks in that game!!

Enough about the Celtics though. Lets make our picks for today's Bowl Games!

The first game today at 12:30 is the Armed Forces Bowl! This game pits California (6-6) against Air Force (9-3). I think the Falcons will beat the Bears 31 - 27.

Next set of games has the Humanitarian bowl at 2:00 with Georgia Tech (7-5) playing Fresno State (8-4). Look for the rambling wreck to win this game 35-21. The other 2:00 game has #21 South Florida (9-3) playing Oregon (8-4). I just don't think that Oregon can hang with the Big East team and fully expect the Bulls to beat the Ducks 28-10.

Our 4:00 game features Kentucky (7-5) playing perennial bowl team Florida State (7-5) in the Music City bowl. Since Florida State has an academic scandal (gee another school in Florida with a thug reputation, who woulda thought that - ed) which will cause a good number of players to be left in Florida for this game, I expect the SEC to continue to roll as Kentucky blasts the Seminoles 35-10.

The 6:00 game features Indiana (7-5) vs Oklahoma State (6-6) in the insight.com bowl. I expect this game to be a shoot out and I even might watch a little bit of it on the NFL network. Indiana 31 - Oklahoma State 30.

The last game of the day will be at 7:30 on ESPN as the Clemson Tigers (9-3) take on the Auburn Tigers (8-4). This should be another good game but I fully expect the SEC team to beat the ACC team in a low scoring affair. Lets go with Auburn 18 over Clemson 17.

Well, time to do some menial errands on this last day in 2007. Catch you all later!

2007 Jan 1 Bowl Games

While we wait patiently for the game of the day (hint it stars a RB by the name of McFadden) , figured that I would give you my picks of today's bowls.

First in the Outback I have Tennessee whipping Penn State. SEC vs Big 10, I'll go with the stronger conference.

Cotton bowl we have Auburn vs Nebraska, and while Nebraska has improved over the last 2 years I think that Auburn is the much better team. The only worry is that Auburn tends to lose these types of games. Still, Auburn beats Nebraska.

Gator bowl has West Virginia vs Georgia Tech. Tech has improved but get real, the ACC has become an embarrassment when it comes to football. West Virginia continues to make the Big East look good by running over the rambling wreck.

Arkansas vs Wisconsin in the Capitol one bowl (didn't this use to be the tangerine bowl?) - toss up but my heart says go hogs and whips the badgers proving that the Big Ten is really a two team conference.

Rose bowl - USC goes out and whips Michigan.

Boise State crashed the BSC series this year by getting an invite to the Fiesta bowl and that is good for them, but OU wants to prove that if not for a ridiculous call at the end of the Oregon game they would be playing Ohio State. I hope it is close but I expect OU to win.

SEC football championship game

Arkansas vs Florida, and so far the razorbacks look like crap on offense. Two series with the ball and two 3 and outs. Last time I looked USC was leading UCLA. What difference does that make? Well, if USC loses to the Bruins, then the Gators need to beat my razorbacks badly to make their case for playing Ohio St. in the BCS game. So, go Trojans, Go Arkansas!!!!!

UPDATE: At the half, thanks to a blocked punt the gators lead 17 - 7. USC has lost to UCLA so my worst case scenario has came about. I now need to root for the gators to whip my team by 30 points so that they can play Ohio St. in the championship game. Freaking USC.

Of course if Arkansas had taken care of business last week against LSU then I could be rooting for the Razorbacks to win and make the jump over Michigan to play against the buckeyes.

UPDATE: You have to be kidding me, after taking the lead on an intercepted pass (option toss) and forcing the Gators to use their last Time Out on a 4th and 1 at midfield, the Razorbacks fumble the punt in the end zone. Gators 24 - Arkansas 17 now. Of course this means that Michigan gets its rematch. Argghhhhhhhhh.

UPDATE: A game of streaks, Gators race out to 17 quick points, Razorbacks score 21, Gators score 14. Argghhhhhhhhh.

FINAL UPDATE: Gators win 38 to 28. Will this be enough to put them ahead of Michigan only the BCS knows. Freaking Trojans!!!!!! Of course this loss puts the razorbacks on the outside looking in for the BCS bowls. Not for sure where they will end up, but the Cotton would be my guess.

BCS Poll out week 13

Well the latest BCS poll is out, no real surprises that I can see but here is the top ten places:

1. Ohio St.
2. USC
3. Michigan
4. Florida
5. LSU
6. Louisville
7. Boise St.
8. Notre Dame
9. Arkansas
10. Auburn

Of Course Louisville must be just kicking itself about losing that game to Rutgers. Without that loss it is concievable that they would be in 3rd place.

How deep is the Big 10 and the SEC? According to the computers SEC wins outright as 4 of the 12 teams in the SEC are in the top 10 and 5 teams in the top 15, compared to 2 of 11 being in the top 10 and 3 in the top 15 spots.

As for my personal top 10:

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. Florida
4. Michigan
5. LSU
6. Arkansas
7. Louisville
8. California
9. Tennessee
10. Auburn

No way is Notre Dame in the same class as the SEC teams. Remember if not for a Michigan State meltdown they would have 3 losses and 3 wins against the service acadamies really hurts their strength of schedule claims. Meanwhile, Arkansas beat Auburn who beat Florida, which beat LSU who beat Tennessee etc. If you look at those 5 teams all but two of their losses came against the other 4 teams.

Houston we have a problem

Four freaking years in a row, four years in a row the Razorbacks have lost to the Tigers (recap). Houston, I like you but you have got to start winning the big ones, instead of losing games like today's. It would be nice if someone explained to me why Dick is starting instead of Mustain. I know that Mustain is a freshman, but 3 for 17 and most of those incompletions weren't even close to being caught.

Next game for the Hogs will be the SEC championship game, which Arkansas will need to win in order to guarantee a BCS game.

College Picks Week 13

Well its coming down to crunch time in the college football season, presently my razorbacks are losing to LSU 17 - 12. Breaking news is that the Miami Hurricanes have fired Larry Corker which shouldn't surprise anybody after the brawl, the arrests, the death of a player and other extra distractions for the Canes this year. Of course going 6 and 6 had a lot to do with it also.

Still here are my college football picks this week:

College Football Week 13

Away	Conf	Home	Pick	Result
Florida	1	Florida St.	Florida	Fla 21 - FSU 14
Louisville	10	Pittsburgh	Louisville	Lou 48 - Pitt 24
Virginia	3	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech	Va 0 - VT 17
South Carolina	4	Clemson	Clemson	S.C. 31 - Clem 28
North Carolina	8	Duke	North Carolina	UNC 45 - Duke 44
Mississippi St.	6	Mississippi	Mississippi	Miss St. 17 - Miss. 20
Georgia Tech	7	Georgia	Georgia Tech	GT 12 - Ga15
Arizona St.	5	Arizona	Arizona	Az St. 28 - Az. 14
East Carolina	9	North Carolina St.	East Carolina	E. Car. 21 - N.C. St. 16
Notre Dame	2	USC	USC	ND 24 - USC 44

Have a good day my friends

College football week 12 recap

Was able to watch the entire Ohio State - Michigan game, some quick thoughts:

1. After Ohio State scored their first 3 touchdowns I thought they were never in trouble.
2. Michigan's defense failed to show up and play
3. Bo and Woody would have cringed each possession, I can not recall a match up between these two teams that featured the passing game
4. I agree with Flutie - Michigan had their chance and if USC wins out or Florida wins out then it should be one of those two teams to meet OSU in the championship.
   

The best teams in the nation (thank you Cincinnati Bearcats) are as follows:

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. Florida
4. Michigan
5. Arkansas
6. Texas
7. Louisville
8. Tennessee
9. LSU
10. California
    

Of course that is just my opinion, but you know what they say!

Michigan at Ohio State

UPDATE:
Game over OSU wins by 4, not the defensive struggle that I thought it would be. We will next see OSU in the BCS championship game. Troy Smith becomes only the second QB from Ohio State to beat Michigan 3 times in his career.

Michigan started the game by scoring a quick touchdown which was quickly followed by OSU taking it to the wolverines for 3 unanswered scores. I thought these were supposed to be two pretty good defensive teams. Not looking that way right now as it's 28 - 14 OSU at the half. Woody must be spinning in his grave watching the buckeyes throwing the ball around like its a hot potato.

Still a pretty good game going on you just have wonder if the Wolverines will be able to make any adjustments at the Half.

College Football picks week 12

Its saturday and that means college football, yea boy!!!! Big game today, you may have heard of it, seems there are two teams that are undefeated and ranked 1 and 2. The winner secures a place in the BCS championship and the loser, well the Rose bowl at worst but maybe a rematch. Could be an interesting couple of weeks.

Week 12 Picks

VISITORS	CONF.	HOME	PROJ. WINNER	Result
Michigan State	8	Penn State	Penn State	W
Indiana	7	Purdue	Purdue	W
Illinois	3	Northwestern	Illinois	L
Virginia Tech	4	Wake Forest	Wake Forest	L
Maryland	5	Boston College	Boston College	W
Auburn	9	Alabama	Auburn	W
Washington	6	Washington St.	Washington St.	L
Utah	2	Air Force	Utah	W
California	10	USC	USC	W
Michigan	1	Ohio State	Michigan	L

I really look for the Michigan - Ohio State game to be a nail biter, I think both teams are evenly matched. My prediction is Michigan 21 - OSU 20.

Look for Auburn to seal Shula's firing at the end of the Year. I just don't see the tigers losing 2 in a row. The rest are pretty much in line with the favorites.

Of course there is one other big game today, Arkansas has a chance to clinch their division in the SEC. Go hogs.

Razorbacks move into the top 5

I felt confident that with 4 of the top 10 losing this week that Arkansas would move into the top 8 and I was right. Todays poll have the razorbacks at their highest since 1988 as they jump six spots to number 5, right behind USC. Yeah boy!!!!

1 more win needed

Well, Arkansas held on to win 31 to 14. Only 1 more win needed to make the championship game. Game Stats below:

Stat	Tennessee	Arkansas
1st Downs	17	20
Total Yards	268	426
Passing	172	168
Rushing	96	258
Possession	28:05	31:55

Since Louisville, California and Auburn lost earlier, I definetly think this game will put the hogs in the top 8 in the next polls.

Arkansas - Tennessee at the Half

Tennessee 7
Arkansas 28

Razorbacks looking sharp but I remember the Tennessee - Georgia game earlier this year where Tennessee looked like a sure loser only to come roaring back after the half to win the game 51 to 33. The Volunteers have an explosive offense that can roll up the points. So, I am not breathing easy yet.

Half Time Stats:

Stat	Tennessee	Arkansas
1st Downs	9	11
Total Yards	121	266
Passing	64	86
Rushing	57	180
Penlties	4 - 20	1 - 15
Possession	14:59	15:01

Pretty much domination up and down the stats. Lets go Hogs.

Tennessee at Arkansas

Make no doubt about it, today's game just got a little bit more important for the Hogs. As we speak, Florida is losing to South Carolina and Auburn got destroyed by Georgia.

The Razorbacks need to win 2 of their next 3 games to advance to the SEC championship game against Florida. A win tonight though would probably mean that they would jump up in the polls with losses already this week by #3 Louisville and #5 Auburn (already defeated by Arkansas). If South Carolina was to hold on and beat #4 Florida, then the #11 Razorbacks could leap all the way to 7 in the country.

Update: Florida just moved in front 17 - 16

Update II: Florida holds on for a 17 - 16 win.

College Football picks week 11

Well week 11 of the college games is here. Last week was able to go 7 and 3, bringing my yearly total for this contest to 77 and 23.

Time for my picks:

Week 11 Picks

VISITORS	CONF.	HOME	PROJ. WINNER	Result
Wisconsin	5	Iowa	Wisconsin	Win
North Carolia State	6	Clemson	Clemson	Win
Minnesota	3	Michigan St.	Minnesota	Win
Georgia	4	Auburn	Auburn	Loss
South Carolina	2	Florida	Florida	Win
Pittsburgh	7	Connecticut	Pittsburgh	Loss (ot)
Nebraska	8	Texas A & M	Texas A & M	Loss
Alabama	9	LSU	LSU	Win
Oregon	10	USC	USC	Win
Tennesse	1	Arkansas	Tennesse	Loss

Should be some good games today, with a heavy impact on BCS matchups, ones to closely watch are the Wisconsin - Iowa, the Tennessee - Arkansas game is usually pretty good and the hogs need to win to continue to have control of their own destiny.

college wrap up week 10

Pretty good week on the College front as I went 7 and 3. Best of all though was the game.

LSU at Tennessee

What a great game between two of the top 25 teams in the country. LSU coming from 3 down to score a TD with 14 secs. left on a 3rd and goal. This came after being down 17 - 7 right after the half. Of, course I had Tennessee winning this game, but I had a low confidence level, so I am not really surprised by the outcome.

Meanwhile 20 minutes away from Razorbacks vs Gamecocks. Go HOGS!!!!!