Buckeye Blogger NetworkIn this week’s edition of news and notes, we take a look at the ever swirling world of college “playoffs”; helping you get to the bottom of the matter. You can probably guess where this is headed…
Never forget
Buckeye 411
(Gee) knows more about bow ties than he does about journalism.
Probably true, but since Gordo is a fifteenth level bow-tie ninja, what does that say about your point?
OT J.B. Shugarts (seventh or free agent): Good size, but had false start and some foot problems with the Buckeyes.
Thursday’s cup of Mulligatawny, carefully crafted for the best damn fans in the land… since you know how to ask. Fingers crossed for good weather on Saturday!
Mr. Romance, That's Me.
Buckeye 411
Bumped back a day to cover today’s press access- one more day means even more news, notes, and inanity.
Would look great in the man cave- and Father's Day is coming up...
Buckeye 411
There was no NCAA violation. If you could bold and underline that for me, please.
Done and done, coach.
Back with another preview the last of the big games before the big game. This one not being a BCS game but it has a BCS feel to it.
The New
The Basics: Friday, January 6th from Dallas Texas at 8:00 PM EST. The game will be televised on Fox. Kansas St. (10-2) and Arkansas (10-2).
History: The Cotton Bowl is one of the older bowls in existance. It has been being played since 1937. Much like the other older bowl games it is just oozing with History. It usually pits the winners of the 2nd place team in the Big x and the 3rd place team in the SEC. The Cotton Bowl was played in the cotton bowl until 2 years ago. It moved to Cowboy Stadium home of the Dallas Cowboys. There was talk about adding this bowl to the BCS but those talks were scraped when ESPN took the rights to the BCS. You will notice this game is televised by Fox.
Kansas St: Look for rushing attack out of Kansas St. But not a very traditional attack. You will hear Collin Klien’s name just as much rushing the ball as anyone else. BTW he is the QB for the wildcats. He was the leading rusher this year going for 1099 yds on the season. He only threw for 1,745 yds on the season. Kansas State defense struggles to stop the pass so look for them to struggle on defense in this game. Not much flash out of KSU, but 72 year old coach Bill Snyder has them back on the map, and hungry after getting left out of the BCS.
Arkansas: Watch out for Joe Adams. He will be the most exciting player on the field, and I am sure that everyone has seen the punt return he had earlier in the season against Tennessee, in which he made every Volunteer miss on his way to the endzone. Arkansas was at one point ranked #3 behind Alambama and LSU, all teams hailing from the SEC west. I think i heard some talk about the toughest conference in all of college football. Arkansas will look to sling the ball all over the field and they probably will behind Tyler Wilson who threw it for 3,422 yds and 22 TDs on the season. They may struggle on defense when trying to stop the KSU rushing attack.
Fun Fact: Did you know that the BCS held out a team like Arkansas because they are part of the same conference that holds the #1 and #2 teams. I know there are conference alignments, but Michigan over Arkansas seems like a non logical thing to do. Not only that but holding Kansas St. out of a BCS game was also illogical as well.
Who we got?
Eric going against the SEC…I think most expect a shootout in this game as the ability to stop the other team’s strengths are the weaknesses of the other.
Lots of holiday options for this week’s soundtrack, but I’m that guy that thinks Christmas music should be banned until at least December. So, given all of the rumors of this past week and the results from yesterday’s Ohio State game, the R&B genius of Sam And Dave make a return as we give thanks and look to the future.
Ah, Thanksgiving weekend. When thoughts turn to leftover turkey and pie and… football. While the NFL takes front stage on Thursday, and even with the “exciting news” that the NBA is “back, baby!!!”, this weekend was all about the college game. It’s the weekend that puts the best of both worlds together- family and friends gathering together to break bread and then scream at each other because someone had to go to that school just to be different.
And we got three days of amazing games, starting with the end of an era. Because of future schedule issues between the SEC bound aTm and the Big Integer anchor Texas Longhorns, the Turkey Day Tradition saw its last episode end in a classic fashion. This was supposed to be THE year for the Aggies, but failure after failure on their farewell tour led to a mentality where the UT game was a must win to maintain dignity before heading to the 4-8 seasons that SEC play was sure to bring.
Texas’ struggles are also well known (and well documented), and there was a contingent of Longhorn faithful who were as tired of their staff’s decisions regarding offensive and defensive play as some Ohio State faithful have been as of late. For this to end the way that it did highlights the beauty of the rivalry and the reason that college football is the heart of the lives of so many:
This has been a difficult week. “Gee, you think?” – People in Happy Valley
Even as someone who’s not affiliated directly with PSU football, the news and headlines coming out of this story has created a pall over all of the games this weekend. This story reminds us that there are things greater than the trivial games that we enjoy, and that these are (after all) just games. It makes us take a step back and wrestle with the support we give to programs and the expectations we have for people who are in charge of them. It is the icing on the cupcake of a season already filled with reminders that the purity of the sport is not what it should be (particularly if you buy your cupcakes at one of those overpriced “boutique” places).
Remembering What's Important
In addition to the national news, we hear that Urban Meyer lost his father this past week- thoughts and prayers to him and his family. With all that’s been going on, this has been a difficult look back at this past week’s contests- but the games can also be reminders of the better things that can happen on the fields and in the lives of the young adults who represent the Universities we follow. So, with that, this week’s soundtrack is some older U2- here we go.
If Disney were in charge of college footbal (and they aren’t. Yet.), Nebraska would be filled with evil villains and Penn State’s valiant, moxified seniors would figure out a way to beat the evil Huskers to honor their “fallen” coach. Alas- we’ve seen that movie, and while miracles happen in real life, the truth of the matter is that two good football teams played and the one with the better strategy managed to emerge victorious. Penn State’s defense is as advertised, as is their offense- it will be interesting to see if this week’s matchup against Ohio State will make the LSU/Alabama game look like a scoring juggernaut.
I’ll be honest… it’s been so great to relive the huge Buckeye win over Wisconsin, I’ve had to dig a bit to find motivation to even think about the other games from this week. However, my search for a soundtrack that would be appropriate for Halloween Weekend, I found this gem that helped me keep my focus…
Digging The Soundtrack
The story this week was big upsets, both with teams falling from the ranks of the undefeated and teams rising to the occasion against expectations. So let’s start in that vein, and with a little “howdy do” to our newest BFFs from the Iowa State contingency, who turned the tables on a Texas Tech team coming off a huge upset on their own. And it wasn’t just a “win” against the #20 Red Raiders, but a 41-7 demolition of Tommy Tuberville’s squadron… must have been a bit presumptuous to start the “Mike Leach Who?” talk, huh? No wonder the folks in Lubbock were chippy.
But the Cyclone satisfaction didn’t stop there, as cross state rivals Iowa also fell in a surprising factor, to a Minnesota team that’s been disappointing both for their coach and for their conference. But, in a week where the new guy got a huge “Vote Of Confidence“, his Gophers responded with a one point victory in Iowa City to the perennial B1G Coach Of The Year. They get Floyd back in Minneapolis, which is always a good thing. Yup, just another week of pride for the folks at ISU… enjoy your moment. Read More
Given their recent decision to disband, several people recommended REM tunes for this week’s soundtrack, from the obvious to the more fatalistic.
However, we like to keep it upbeat here at TWTW, so this week’s post was written with this R&B classic in mind.
In many ways, this was a weekend to forget, as eight members of the top twenty lost, several to unranked opponents. As disheartening as that might be, it’s crucial to remember the important truth of the matter, to keep things in perspective.
The Belichick Look
One team that no one should be overlooking at this point is the Clemson Tigers- In consecutive weeks, they’ve beaten a Florida State team who took Oklahoma to the wire and yesterday made an undefeated Virginia Tech look sloppy. While you can argue that the ACC as a conference is not the strongest in the country, something has gotten into Dabo Sweeny and his team is playing accordingly. Currently, they’re sitting at #8 in both polls, but with some head to head matchups between the teams above them and only a game against South Carolina during the rest of the season, don’t be surprised if the Tigers aren’t in the national title conversation.
