Welcome Hoops to Sports Gal Pal

Time for hoops! (Photo credit: Tulane Publications)

The NBA season began today! College Hoops are coming! Hooray more sports to talk about- and basketball is a great sport to follow because unlike football it isn’t as complicated for a beginning but there is a ton of strategy for a seasoned follower.

Plus basketball is so much fun period. Here are some of the reasons why it has a special place in my sports life.

I grew up in ACC country

Growing up within the boundaries of the ACC you have to at least acknowledge basketball- and for good reason. Historically the ACC is the conference for both men and women’s basketball. And boy do they take bball seriously. The ACC is the only Division I college basketball conference that doesn’t recognize a regular season title- it only recognizes the winner of the ACC tournament as the league championship. This means that while a team may have been amazing all season if they lose one game in the tournament they won’t be champions.

That’s serious gals and pals.

Plus ACC has had 12 NCAA men’s basketball championships-= UNC has five; Duke has four; NC ST two; and Maryland has one. Eight of the 12 members have made it to the Final Four at least once.

In Women’s basketball the ACC has won two championships- UNC and Maryland. And this is the only conference to have three teams from the same conference advance to the Final Four which resulted in Maryland’s winning the championship.

As a Virginia grad and fan I love basketball- especially because we are better at it than our rival which is great after a very long and frustrating football season.

The pace is quicker

Another great reason to catch a basketball game is the pace is quick. It is almost none stop action which a ton of fans appreciate. While football is hard hitting- there are lulls because of penalties, injuries, and setting up for the play. And baseball can creep along- really creep. Basketball keeps going- and even with lining up for a foul it’s still quick.

The College Tournament is the best in the NCAA

March Madness is my favorite sporting event all year. The brackets, the polls, and the upsets. Unlike college football which has a computer telling us who belongs in the championship game, the NCAA men’s and women’s tourneys are a you win the game or go home situation. Every single game matters and sometimes the little guys win. It’s a rare chance to see a ODU play a Kansas and could win. It makes for incredible drama and some amazing story lines.

I am going to admit right now- I am way more comfortable talking about college hoops than the NBA- so I’m going to be learning along with all of you. That should be fun. So welcome basketball to the Gal Pal universe. I’m excited to see tip off.

Related articles

• Duke picked to win ACC women’s basketball title (journalnow.com)
• Duke, UNC athletes exceed national graduation rates (newsobserver.com)
• Transfers in college hoops hit U.Va. hard (timesdispatch.com)
• So the Fighting Irish Heading to ACC: What does it mean? (sportsgalpal.wordpress.com)

Thursday Night Football

For once there are two great games- NFL and College demanding attention tonight. Plus those pesky baseball playoffs are still going on. What’s a Gal Pal to do- prioritize of course.

I personally plan to watch college football because of the match up Oregon on the road at Arizona State. Oregon of course is undefeated- and Chip Kelly’s offense looks to add another W to the column. This is the Ducks second road game this year, and they are currently number 3 in the country.

But wait the Arizona Sun Devils are brushing off the ashes of the past few seasons with a new coach, Todd Graham, and a 5-1 start. Plus given that it’s a Thursday night home game could put the crowd really into the game if the Devils find a way to slow Oregon down. This season the Ducks have scored an average of 52 points every game. If Arizona can put pressure in the backfield it forces Oregon to question their own routes. The Arizona St defensive line doesn’t hurt either- they have produced a Pac-12 high of 25 sacks this year. This will be the first time this season that the Ducks could face problems with a defense that puts pressure on the speed of their offense.

Yet Oregon is really really really fast. This should be a great match up but I’m picking Oregon to win on the road- but not by much only 3. If Arizona St can slow Oregon down we’ll see an upset.

Wait you want to know about the NFL this evening…

Seattle is flying down to San Fran who suffered a humiliating lost last week to the New York Giants- I’m thinking that the 49er fans are suffering from PTSD because they can’t figure out how to beat those pesky Giants; New England has a similar support group.

In the beginning of the season if you had told me that the Seattle vs 49ers game would be important I would have laughed at you- hard. Earlier this season the 49ers seemed ready to fully dominate- but now in mid-October both team’s defenses have been amazing.

Offesnively the 49ers have the advantage averaging 387 yards per game and 25 points.

Defensively the two are basically identical- and given that San Fran QB Alex Smith isn’t known for his accuracy under pressure this game is a toss up.

Now there is one more sporting phenomenon that I must address- because I began this blog in August I decided to only focus on Football even though Baseball is having its best season in years. That being said can the Detroit Tigers finally put the New York Yankees out of their misery- I am saying this being a Yankee fan mind you but come on seven of the players are over 37. We have 100 million tied up with A-Rod, and I actually feel sorry for Baltimore fans because their team could have made a deep run.

So please for the sake of all humanity- and so I can stop staying up watching late baseball games please let the killing be quick and kind and let the Yankees start building a younger team?

College Football Weekend Recap

LSU Coach Les Miles may have said the most memorable and silly thing yes this season (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know I’m a few days past needing to do this- but the Gal Pal had to host ten superheroes Sunday and then help my house recover so this is my first chance to even thing about the crazy sports weekend.

Later on I’ll go over the NFL, the Ray Lewis injury, and y’all its time to start talking basketball! But let’s dive into college football.

What a great weekend of match ups. Let me get this out of the way, the Hoos lost and it wasn’t pretty. I only hope we can win A game soon because with Wake Forrest, NC State, Miami, UNC, and Va Tech I’m not sure I see that happening.

Okay on to games that were way more exciting.

The Red River Shootout Rivalry

Sing it with me “Ok-la-homa where the Sooners kick some Longhorn butt!” My goodness talk about a take them behind the wood shed kind of game. Landry Jones threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Damien Willaims had a 95-yard rushing touchdown that was the longest in the rivalry’s history. Blake Bell had four touchdowns and the Longhorns were left in the dust.

Final score 63-21

Notre Dame wins controversially

So the Fighting Irish had to fight to keep their undefeated season alive when they were down 10-3 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Throughout the season Notre Dame has been doing an interesting shuffle of the quarterback. Everett Golson started the game but for the finally fourth quarter drive that led to the tying field goal that allowed the Irish to then go on to win in overtime.

Golson fumbled three times and didn’t read the defense well which was costly early on. But my question is why not pull him sooner? If he was that bad why keep him in?

However can we say amazing things about Manti Te’O- oh yes we can. Leading the Irish linebackers they allowed no more than 13 running yards per play. These guys make it impossible for offensives to open up the field and it limits plays. If they can keep this crew up Notre Dame can have a shot at a serious bowl game.

The biggest moment of the game came on the last play when it looked like Stanford tailback Stepfan Taylor scored the tying touchdown with a 1-yard run in overtime. The officials- which were from the Pac-12 ruled that Taylor was stopped before getting into the endzone- the problem was there was no whistle called to end the play and Taylor’s second attempt during the same play got him into the endzone. The replay crew from the Big East agreed with the call and the Irish win the game.

My opinion is that officiating can stink- but this time you can’t say it was bias one way or the other. Stanford was winning this game- and could have if they had stuck to their game plan. They didn’t- it should have never been in overtime.

LSU “where dreams die” at least according to Les Miles

The key to victory against LSU is stopping the run- you stop the run and you win.

South Carolina didn’t stop the run. And LSU averaged almost 5 yards per carry. Consider that a first down requires ten yards and you do the math.

The best thing that came out of the game was the press conference afterwards when Les Miles said “This is Death Valley, a place where dreams come to die.” WTF! Dear Coach Miles you are suppose to be a grown ass man play grownup football- do not give bulletin board material! Naughty- a really stupid statement. You just lost to Florida and guest what Alabama comes knocking at your door next week.

Related articles

• Stanford vs. Notre Dame final score: Irish D holds in overtime, Tommy Rees’ magic still works (sbnation.com)
• Florida, K-State, Notre Dame move up in AP poll (miamiherald.com)

SEC reigns supreme in inaugural BCS rankings – Yahoo! Sports

SEC reigns supreme in inaugural BCS rankings – Yahoo! Sports.

I could write a good article about the BCS rankings- the first ones came out yesterday or I could let Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports do it for us.  I love his perspective.  Some highlights for those Gals and Pals too busy to check the article out themselves.

Alabama is number one- no surprise there.  What is surprising is that Florida is number two over Oregon.  When the BSC crazy computer system comes into play- and almost every single college football fan hates the BCS- it uses the polls and strength of schedule, amongst other things, to determine rankings.  These rankings are what determine who ultimately goes to the National Championship Game.

BTW did you know that Division 1 College Football is the ONLY NCAA sport to not have the NCAA run and manage its championship? That is bananas for the most profitable sports in the NCAA but there is a tiny playoff coming- though there should be a larger one in my opinion but I’ll take a tiny one over the BCS any day.

Rounding out the top five are Kansas State and Notre Dame.

College Football Week

The 2007 Texas Longhorn football team kicksoff to the University of Oklahoma Sooners at the Red River Shootout 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First I want to say a big Happy Birthday to my six year old- he’s spending the day with his Sessy and Dude-and while mommy and daddy go to C’ville to drink, be merry, and hopefully watch UVa beat Maryland.

But with the busyness of the birthday I didn’t want to leave my Gals and Pals hanging with so many good football match ups today.

Red River Shootout– oh no Rivalry

This one irks me just a bit. The Red River Shootout Rivalry is the annual rivalry game between Big 12 foes Oklahoma and Texas. This game goes all the way back to 1900 and its it one of the best rivalries in all of sports. The teams meet during the State Fair of Texas because it is halfway between both schools. And both teams travel well.

So why does it irk me? Not the actual rivalry itself, its fantastic. No it’s the re-naming of the Red River Shootout to the Red River Rivalry because of corporate sponsorship pressure not to promote gun violence. Really? Y’all do realize this game is in Texas and I’m pretty sure between Texas and the great state of Oklahoma there are happy, responsible gun owners. But whatever you call it, it is still one of the best atmospheres for college football and a prime example why I LOVE the sport so very much.

So what about the 2012 edition to the history books? Will the Longhorns prevail with their young offense after a loss to the Geno Smith show from WVU? Or will OK be okay in putting up numbers?

Both teams are 1-1 in the Big 12

The Longhorns rank sixth in the nation for scoring with 46.8 points per game.

The Sooners have Laundry Jones who comes to the Red River Shootout Rivalry after an impressive win over Texas Tech. And they’ve won this game the past two years.

In my opinion I like Texas but I think given Jones’ experience I think he can put some points on the board- and after last week’s game we all know Texas is not equally defense right now.

I’m taking the Sooners to win.

Notre Dame goes for 6-0

I want everyone to take a deep breath because my goodness the last time my house hold was this excited about Notre Dame football my tiny human was still inside me. Now with five impressive wins- fun fact this season the Fighting Irish have never trailed in a game.

Its all about the D for Notre Dame- they have only allowed three touchdowns this season- three touchdowns that’s incredible. But this week they face the attack from a qualified team in Stanford.

Stanford’s QB Josh Nunes is having a great season, and it is surprising given he is following in Andrew Luck shoes. Last week he threw for 360 yards and two touchdowns.

But he hasn’t faced a defense like Notre Dame. Just ask Miami who only scored a field goal last week against them.

I am not picking- though I think it’s pretty obvious who the Gal Pal is routing for.

Gamecocks want to prove they belong with the SEC elite

Wow South Carolina- y’all know how to put on a show. 6-0 for the season and 4-0 in the SEC after a dominating game last week at home to then No 5 Georgia. The final score 35-7.

Now they head to Death Valley with an LSU team still chopping at the bit to move past a disappoint loss to Florida last week. Plus this team has a 22 game winning streak at home.

I’m taking LSU- I think that Les Miles will have his team prepared and their defense ready.

Finally…

Dear Hokie and Wahoo Nations,

This has been a tough season thus far. The Big East and Triangles respectively have beaten us and damaged our spirits.

I want to remind the Wahoos that we have a young squad and things will get better- though I plan to be incredibly “marinated” for the start of our homecoming game. Plus its Maryland- please don’t let us lose to Maryland and their stupid, ugly helmets. (Though executives at Under Armor for the right price I am willing to put as much of your stuff on the blog). If nothing else basketball, lacrosse, and finally baseball are all moment away.

Hokies, I hate to say it I am finding a bit of joy in your troubles. Y’all are not a humble fan base and have been hiding your mediocrity from yourselves through 10 win seasons. Gang, you play in the ACC and your out of conference schedule is a joke. You have a 0-13 record against top ten teams. And I won’t mention your bowl game win percentage.

And yes when a Wahoo says these things you get to say “well what have y’all football team done?” Oh I don’t know, bridge the gap between recruiting, and we consistently produce high caliber NFL talent. Plus our fans are not crazy like you are. All you are is football- we are balanced, and according to Playboy have way more sex than you.

This season is a gift… because in order for y’all to fill that empty trophy case you need different coaching. And I am not alone thinking this- Hokie Nation is starting to question Beamer and his need to keep an old fashion safe offensive scheme. And what happened to Beamer Ball- special teams used to win games. (Side note if you’re on twitter follow me @SportsGalPal but you all should follow @EmptyTrophyCase who is hilarious as the day-to-day life of that poor case which has a sign saying Reserved for National Championship)

So rings your keys Hokies, cause your season is way more disappointing than your fellow Virginians in C’ville. Take advantage of the weakness and demand more from your coaching staff- if Wahoos can keep our president certainly you can pressure the athletic department to make changes.

Thursday Night Football: Didn’t the Steelers Just Play?

Gal Pal thinks that the Steelers will be victorious over the Titans- do you agree?

Sorry it’s been quiet in the Gal Pal universe- I have been dealing with a major cold. I think my local area experienced a huge weather change so I’ve been in bed eating spicy Thai curry and watching terrible day time television. I am feeling better thank you so much now onto tonight’s game.

Is it just me or didn’t the Steelers and Titans just play- oh wait they did just play. Because of the popularity of the NFL there will be games on NFL Network every Thursday. The bad news is first that is usually a good night to watch college football– grr NFL for making me choose between my two loves of Autumn, plus Vampire Diaries starts tonight. The second is that every team at some point is going to have to go straight from a Sunday game to preparing for a Thursday night head to head. This means that players are not recovered from Sunday’s beat down and this could potentially lead to injury. Of course the NFL has claimed that its truly cares about player safety but the decision to have all 16 teams suffer this kind of schedule at least once in the season leads me to a different conclusion.

And with the addition of Thursday night game it does mean a national audience at least once for every NFL team- that is good for people who live in areas where their team doesn’t get air time.

The Steelers actually ran the ball last week to pull out a win over the Eagles. But they are still one of the worse teams for rushing yards in the league. Good news Steelers fans, the Titans are worse.

Looking at the numbers, and yes numbers matter Gals and Pal especially when we are mid season like, the Titans are a mess. They only average 65 yards of rushing per game and only have a 36% third down conversion for the year. On defense the Titans allow opponents 144 yards of rushing and over 279 yards of passing for the year.

So this is a no brainer for the Gal Pal- and it should be to you as well. The Steelers should win easily over the Titans this evening.

Related articles

• Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennessee Titans: Preview and Predictions (bleacherreport.com)
• Steelers vs. Titans NFL Game Capsule (musiccitymiracles.com)
• Polamalu ruled out for Titans game (triblive.com)

Eagles Nest Review

What a great day of football we had yesterday. I watched the first half of NFL Sunday at the Eagles Nest– really because my favorite local sports radio talk show host Nick Cattles was there and the Eagles at Steelers game wasn’t on local television. I’m happy I went because Big Papi (the husband) and I had a great time. They put all the tables close to each other which make for some interesting conversations. One observation about men in sports bars– they remind me of my tiny humans on a playground, no matter if they don’t know anyone they will find someone to play with. You give a bunch of dudes who don’t know each other beer, wings, and sports on the tube and they are going to talk about it. Then they are going to crack jokes.

The only down side was I was the ONLY Eagles fan in a den full of Steelers- lucky for me Steelers fans are typically really nice- and they were. Especially since the Eagles played SO BADLY! I’m going to break down my favorite games in separate posts- and I want to say sorry about taking so long but its Monday and I unfortunately have a real job.

One reason we decided to go to the Eagles Nest is because they are connected to Cugini’s Pizza which is my husband’s favorite. And they do a great special- a large two topping pizza for $9 bucks. That is a great deal. They also had drink specials and the wings were good too. The servers were good- we never had an empty glass.

Nick Cattles was great. I have to be honest I had to work up the nerve to go to him because he was surrounded by a bunch of guys. But if you get a chance to meet him he is very personable and he actually recognized me once I introduced myself as the @SportsGalPal- he actually knew my first name! I realize how much of a nerd I sound like but the guy could have been a complete tool- especially because I am a girl. Instead he was awesome had some great observations about Wahoo football and tried to convince me that I should enter to win ODU football tickets. I turned him down because I already knew Big Papi and I were going to tailgate at Camp Wahoo and I wanted someone who loves ODU to get the tickets.

If you want to listen to the Nick Cattles Show it is on ESPN 94.1 from 4:00-7:00pm. What is great about the show is that he gives the listener a chance to get her perspective and opinion out. Even when he doesn’t agree with a listener he doesn’t make her feel silly.

Plus he has the best waterbug stories- apparently they don’t exist up north. He is from Rhode Island so he says a full you all instead of y’all but give him another six months and he’ll change that.

I would love to know do you like to go to a local waterhole to check out your favorite games? I know I do because it makes the community spirit come alive and sports are a community event. Plus I love chicken wings.

If you know of great places for the Gal Pal to go to catch the game send me a message- even if it is not in the 757 because I’m willing to travel for a great game.

NFL Week Five Preview

Will Mendhall’s return be the spark to light the Steeler’s season?

NFL games begin in a few hours and the Gal Pal household is excited to be going out to catch the action as the game they are most looking forward to is not playing on local tv thanks to the Redskins.

Here are the games I’m on the lookout for.

Eagles vs Steelers

This is the game Gals and Pals because I’m an Eagles fan and my lovely sister Shannon is a Pittsburgh fan (my other sister Rachael is a Cowboys fan FYI).

Despite my personal involvement with this game this is a great match up because every week we have to ask what sort of team will come out of Philly? While they are 3-1 at some point the turnovers and wasted opportunities are going to come back to haunt them.

The Steelers are coming off a bye week and are getting returning players Rashard Mendenhall and James Harrison could be the boost this team needs.

Key for victory for the Steelers- figure out a running game- right now they are averaging only 65 yards rushing per game- that is not enough for a solid offense and creates too much pressure on your receivers.

Since there are too many people I love involved in this game I’m not picking a winner but Fly Eagles Fly

Broncos vs Patriots aka Manning vs Brady

The Patriots are coming off a monster of a win against the Bills last week. Averaging 438 yards of offense per game they should be a favorite to win this home game.

But with the addition of Peyton Manning to the Broncos this season is the only reason people care.

This quarterback rivalry has been a favorite for years in the NFL. And given that Manning is still being questioned about his arm strength we have to wonder how many match ups between these two future hall of famers will we see?

I have a feeling that Brady is going to pull this out- the Pats have a great running game- averaging 144 yards per game. But like in recent years we have to question their defense- they allow over 367 yards per game this season. Give Manning those options and he’ll light up the red zone.

Get to either quarterback and you win the game- it really is that simple and yet so hard to do.

I’m taking the Patriots.

Falcons vs Redskins

The Falcons take their undefeated show on the road to DC.

Offensively these teams are well matched. Both average about 30 points per game, both average about 250 yards passing- though the Redskins are miles ahead of the running game.

The difference is the defense and the Falcons win that battle on paper at least.

So what about in the trenches?

Falcons normally play in a climate controlled dome. Today’s game is being played outdoors and the weather could be a factor. If Redskin QB RGIII were a little more season I might give the edge to the Skins.

But Matt Ryan and the Falcons are having a banner year- and I think experience is the one stat that really matters mid season.

I think the Falcons are going to remain undefeated.

Related articles

• Falcons vs. Redskins Preview (bloggingdirty.com)
• Fantasy Football Week 5: Last-Minute Top 15 Quarterback Rankings (bleacherreport.com)
• Steelers know limiting Vick will be tough task (triblive.com)
• Storylines: QB showdowns highlight Week 5 (nfl.si.com)

Water Cooler: College Football Edition

The Geno Smith show is good on the Road

After yesterday’s win there is no contest- WVU‘s quarterback Geno Smith is your Heisman candidate. This year he has 1,996 passing yards, 204 attempts and the best stat ever no interceptions.

The game was a close one, all really coming down on a 41-yard field goal that Texas kicker Anthony Fera missed late in the fourth quarter. This is the same kicker who transferred from Penn St– and whose absence was most notable in the Penn St loss to UVa.

Also I must mention the WVU receiving duo Stedman Bailey and Tavon Austin- wow. Bailey had three touchdowns and Austin another one plus 111 yards on kick returns.

What this game signifies is that WVU is the top dog in the Big12- nice for your first year.

Oklahoma bounces back

Keeping with the Big 12- OU came up with an impressive win against Texas Tech- 41-20. Landry Jones had 25 of 40 catches for 259 yards and two touch downs. Tech did have 271 passing yards but only 89 rushing yards.

Penn State comes from behind in the 4th to beat N’western

Trailing 11 going into the fourth quarter the Nittany Lions had to pull up their boot straps. They scores three times in the final 10 minutes of the game.

This happened after N’western has a 75 yard punt return for a touchdown late in the third quarter.

Stanford gets overtime victory

Andrew Luck who?

Stanford qb Josh Nunes had a career high 360 yards, threw two touchdowns and ran in for three more.

He was a scoring machine.

But Arizona looked good- they did get over 400 passing yards against Stanford something that hasn’t happened since 2007. But the defense couldn’t hang on.

Florida defends its Swamp for the Win

Oh my- now this was a football game. None of these basketball, let the quarterbacks throw until their arms give out. This was fought on the ground- and the Gators win.

Mike Gillislee ran for 146 yards and two touchdowns giving the Tigers their first regular season loss in 19 games.

South Carolina makes it an ugly day for UGA

Wow- 35-7 victory for the Gamecocks (try saying that name without a giggle- I bet you can’t). They not only got the win but stopped a Georgia team that had a league-leading 48.2 points and 536 yards a game offense.

Notre Dame easily withstands the Hurricanes

Back in the 1980s this was a great rivalry- and if you’re interested a wonderful book called “Perfect Rivals” by Jeff Carroll is an excellent read. This time the Irish has 587 yards total and 376 yards rushing.

This wasn’t even close- Miami only scored once a field goal in the first quarter and then the Irish led for three quarters without a single Miami score.

Did I mention the Irish are undefeated?

The Triangle is Evil and Should be Destroyed

Perhaps next week I won’t write about UVa and Va Tech and then maybe those team will win.

Of course actually playing defense would help as well.

UVa is a mess- but looking I should have expected this with the loss of Kris Bird and Chase Minnifield– it’s just hard to go from your first good season in so many years to a now four game losing streak. And to lose where you score no points in the second half. Grrrr

On the other hand we could be the Hokies who right now need to have a hotline set up to calm fans down. Seriously I was looking at the fan message boards and a scream of S.O.S messages make me wonder- what are y’all thinking? Calm down folks.

I guess when you’re used to winning consistently one bad season is a shock.

On the other hand let’s look at Duke and UNC- obviously Virginia and VT forgot it was football season and went straight to basketball season. I’m not going to look at the numbers- I don’t want to its too painful. Both teams were impressive- especially Duke’s defense. And UNC found many holes in VT coverage- I was shocked.

And no 4 FSU lost in the Triangle as well to NC State makes the Triangle and evil place for ACC football- evil.

So maybe there should never be all three teams having home football games because it caused a great disturbance in the force.

Related articles

• Week Six College Football Preview (sportsgalpal.wordpress.com)

Week Six College Football Preview

There is so much college football this weekend I just can’t handle it! If you are a college football fan get all your Saturday stuff done this morning then get your butt in front of the TV. If you are not a college football fan and you live with a college football nut then take one for the team and find something to do today. Here are the games the Gal Pal is most looking forward to!

Heisman front runner Geno Smith takes his show on the road to Texas

West Virginia vs Texas

This is one game I’ve been looking forward to since the Big 12 announced that WVU would be joining the conference. Both teams have offense for days- and Geno Smith is coming off a career performance against Baylor last week. The Longhorns just had a tough road victory.

Look for lots of scoring- think a basketball type score- it will be an entertaining game to watch.

I’m going to say Hook ’em horns– WVU traveling for the first time this season to a very hostile home crowd- the pressure will finally get to Geno Smith. Texas wins by 7.

Texas Tech vs Oklahoma

Yes there are other games playing in the Big 12- and Texas Tech has only allowed 3 yards a carry the 9^th ranked nationally and they are undefeated. Plus they are undefeated. Tech also leads the country in yards per attempt and passer rating. The Sooners have a weak offensive line and that doesn’t give the quarterback protection against the pass rush.

I think the Red Raiders take this one.

Northwestern vs Penn State

Northwestern is undefeated- and at the tops of the Big 10 ranks. I know it sounds like bizzaro football world but its true and they have a chance to keep their undefeated ranking- but they face the Nittany Lions at home. Northwestern ranks 2^nd in the Big 10 in rushing, but Penn State’s defense is improving so this will not be an easy road test. Plus did I mention that Northwestern has lost five straight to Penn State.

I hope Northwestern can pull out a W.

Arizona vs Stanford

The Cardinals need to have a good game to bounce back from losing to Washington last week. Arizona is trying to survive this stretch of really good opponents- the last two have been ranked and the next four are too.

I think Arizona is too new under the Rich Rod system- I’m going with Stanford.

LSU vs Florida

The Tigers are looking for a win in the Swamp- but Florida at home is no cupcake. The Gators are coming off of a week off and LSU’s offense allowed an FCS school to score 22 points. The key to the game running- whichever team can get a running game going will win.

I’ll take LSU by 3

Georgia vs South Carolina

A BIG SEC MATCH UP! Georgia is ranked number 5 and SC is ranked 6- yay for football fans. The Gamecocks are looking for a third straight victory against the Bulldogs. Both teams are undefeated and both want to go to the SEC championship game.

I think Georgia has the edge- a bit stronger defense and bit more to prove.

Miami vs Notre Dame

Welcome back undefeated Irish and taking on the Hurricanes of Miami who despite have major sanctions are 4-1. Notre Dame, please for the sake of my household please win this game because my husband loves you. The Irish defense should hold Miami back.

Also this is another rivalry game for the Irish- they have like a zillion of them. This time it’s played in Chicago at Soldier’s Field.

UVa and Va Tech head to the Triangle

And finally because I’m a glutton for punishment I’m going to mention that the Wahoos and Hokies are invading the Duke and UNC campuses for much needed road wins.

My Hoos are finally starting Phillip Sims (thank God!) but Duke is 3-1. Please come back with a win I don’t care how close but a win please.

The Hokie Nation is dealing with much as they are not sure what to do- could there finally be a season when they don’t win 10 games. If there is this is it because y’all face UNC, FSU, and Clemson- good luck with that schedule.

I will not pick winners in either game because deep down you know whom I’m rooting for.

Go Hoos!