Illinois rally, Wisconsin upset lead Big Ten to first ever Big Ten-ACC Challenge win. Duke sucks. http://bit.ly/7KjSkK http://bit.ly/6HEKsd
RT @College_FB Source Claims Bob Stoops Has Signed Contract For Notre Dame Job http://bit.ly/7pUPoN | Grain of salt, people! Many grains!
“It seems like 50% of the Heisman is preseason hype. 25% is playing for an undefeated team. And 25% is what they actually do.” -@JimHarbaugh
Tomorrow night, Oregon hosts Oregon State in the annual “Civil War,” which is also the de facto Pac-10 championship game this year. The stakes could hardly be higher. The winner goes to the Rose Bowl to face Ohio State. The loser, if it’s Oregon, goes to the Holiday Bowl to face (probably) Nebraska, or, if it’s Oregon State, probably tumbles all the way to the Las Vegas Bowl (!), to face BYU or Utah.
Conventional wisdom holds that #6-ranked Boise State — whose unprecedented level of respect from pollsters, pundits and fans this season is due in large part to its season-opening signature win over #7 Oregon — should root for the Ducks to beat the Beavers. After all, that would further “validate” Boise’s undefeated season. Indeed, if it happens, and everything else goes as expected this weekend, Boise would be the only team in a BCS bowl to have beaten a BCS conference’s champion. That’s a nice feather in the Broncos’ cap.
I would argue, however, that the conventional wisdom is wrong, and Boise fans should root for Oregon State to upset the Ducks. Why? Because the Broncos have already received all the meaningful dividends they can possibly reap from that Oregon win back September. They won’t earn a BCS title shot, or get a better bowl invite, by virtue of Oregon becoming the Pac-10 champ. It’ll look good on their resumé, sure, but nobody is meaningfully looking at their resumé anymore, so it doesn’t matter. Boise’s bowl fate depends on Texas-Nebraska, not Oregon-Oregon State.
By contrast, if Oregon State is able to finally cross the threshold from being a Pac-10 team that always does pretty well, but doesn’t win championships and gets precious little national attention, to a conference champ and Rose Bowl participant, it could pay huge dividends for Boise State — next season. In fact, if everything else falls into place, a win by Oregon State tomorrow could help set up a serious Boise State run at the national championship next year.
Let me take a step back and explain what the Hell I’m talking about.
LOL RT @mattbramanti @Gamdel Fire spurs evacuation of crowded theater. Unknown how patrons were constitutionally alerted http://is.gd/59I3W
If Notre Dame plays Central Michigan in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the Irish would be underdogs to Dan LeFevour & co., right? -7 or so?
Maurice Clemmons, the “suspect” in Sundays execution of four Lakewood, WA police officers was shot and killed this morning by a Seattle policeman. Clemmons was found to be carrying a gun that had belonged to one of the slain officers. A number of people, including members of Clemmons family, are in police custody for allegedly aiding Clemmons in his attempts to hide from police and flee the state.
