Game of the Week:

#8 Oklahoma at #17 Miami

Saturday 8:00 PM

A tough schedule to start the season caught up with the U last week as they dropped their first game of the season.

The Hurricanes will have to bounce back against another tough opponent in No. 8 Oklahoma who are without last year's Heisman winner quarterback Sam Bradford.

The key will be to see how the Sooners' defense matches up against the Miami offense. Last week Miami sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris didn't look like the Heisman contender he had been hyped to be going 9 for 25 for 150 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and a lost fumble. The Virginia Tech defense was consistently in the backfield and had Harris out of his comfort zone from the first series to the last. The Sooner defense will undoubtedly be coming after the 'Canes signal caller.

If the Sooners' defense is able to slow down the Miami attack then it will come down to Bradford's backup, freshman Landry Jones, stepping up and making a few big plays when they ask him to. He has done a nice job filling in for Bradford thus far completing 43 of 69 passes for 622 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions. However, six of those touchdown passes came in one game against Tulsa and the Sooners have not faced a defense the caliber of Miami's yet with Jones at quarterback.

Other Games to Watch:

#4 LSU at #18 Georgia
Doesn't get much better than two of the top SEC teams going to battle on a Saturday after noon.

#7 USC at #24 California
The Trojans bounced back after their loss, but it will be tough to put this weeks' events behind them as teammate Stafon Johnson crushed his neck and larynx when the weight bar he was bench pressing slipped and fell on him. Cal was embarassed last week at Oregon so they'll be looking to get back on track at home.

#25 Georgia Tech at Mississippi State
The Yellowjackets are still trying to prove that they  are legit. This will be another good test for them as Mississippi State nearly upset LSU last week.

Upset Pick of the Week: Mississippi State over Georgia tech

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We will be taking a look at the different college football conferences here on GetSportsInfo in a series from now until the kickoff of the season. This is the first of the series and we'll start where the season ended last year when the Florida Gators were crowned National Champs.

Favorite: Florida

Florida loses Percy Harvin but they bring back virtually everybody else on that team. Superman Tim Tebow will be back at helm for his final year as a Gator and there will still be plenty of offensive weapons for him to go with a line that will keep Superman's cape clean. Couple that with the Gators returning all 11 of their defensive starters from last season, and you are looking at another probably SEC championship and possibly another BCS championship.

Sleeper: LSU

The Tigers have one of the top coaches' in Les Miles who has shown consistency throughout his tenure at LSU. A lot of people are struggling on where to pick LSU finishing. I have seen them as high as third and as low as sixth. Expect Jordan Jefferson to be the solution to the Tigers' problem at quarterback despite being inexperienced. The freshman looked extremely mature and poised in the Tigers' 38-3 stomping of Georgia Tech at the Chick-fil-A-Bowl last year. Coach Miles also put together the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation coming in this year, so don't be surprised for the youthful Tigers to pull some big upsets.

Overrated:  Georgia

A lot of people still have Georgia finishing in the top five in the SEC this season. I'm not buying it. The Bulldogs lose their whole offense in Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno to the NFL draft. The Bulldogs have an easier conference schedule this season, but face Arizona State and Oklahoma State in their non-conference schedule. Expect those tougher games early to break the inexperienced Bulldogs confidence if they aren't able to win. If they didn't win the SEC with Stafford and Moreno last year... They sure as heck aren't going to this year.

Final Take:

The SEC year in and year out is one of the top conferences if not thee top conference in football. Expect no less from them this year. Florida has a great shot at repeating as the National BCS Champs and there might be another contender or two in this conference. 

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Rumors are starting to fly that Bobby Knight has been seen on the campus of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Knight has always said that he would be interested in returning to coaching if the right job presented itself.

If Knight does become the Bulldogs coach then I would say the firing of Dennis Felton was a good thing.

He would not comment directly about the Georgia coaching job on Monday, but he did little to dispel rumors about a possible return in an ESPN Radio appearance.

"When I turned the coaching reins over to Pat (Knight) at (Texas) Tech last year, I wasn't saying that I'd never coach again," Knight said. "If something developed that I thought was the right situation then I would always be interested.

"It has to be a situation that I think is right for me and one where I would be right for the university."

Knight left Texas Tech on Feb. 4, 2008. He is currently employed by ESPN as an analyst. Knight has 902 wins, most by any Division I coach in NCAA history. 

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Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News hit the nail on the head when he sounded off on Georgia's firing of Dennis Felton:

You could say it was overdue, because he'd have been fired last March were it not for the Bulldogs' miraculous run through the SEC tournament and into the NCAAs.

And still, "repulsive" fits best because it's obvious Georgia fired Felton Thursday out of fear he'd somehow put together another March miracle and they'd be compelled to keep him another year.

When the colleges tell you -- and the government that might want to tax them -- that they're not running professional sports organizations, how are we supposed to take them seriously when they're firing coaches in midseason?

Felton and erstwhile Alabama coach Mark Gottfried were not accused of anything more untoward than losing too many games, and yet their universities found it necessary to chase them off-campus immediately. 

COMPLETE ARTILCE

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The bowl games finally start this weekend. Fellow GetSportsInfo.com writer, Jeremy Fischer, and myself have put together our picks including how confident we are in them. In case you've never done a pick 'em game like this before, here's how it works. In addition to picking who you think will win the game, you assign a number to that pick as to how confident you think that pick is going to be right. There are 34 bowl games this year (way too many in most people's opinion, but that's beside the point), so the max number of confidence points you can give to one game is, yep, you guessed it, 34. The game you are least confident in you assign one point too, and fill in everything in between.

A lot of office pools are done like this and make it much more challenging than simply picking a winner for each game. As J-Fish states when it comes to doing a pick 'em game like this, "I have seen many strategies and I prefer the one that calls for using the higher confidence points on the bigger BCS games." He goes on to give his reasons as to why.

"Right or wrong, the larger conference teams get more coverage. The more information that is out there, the better informed pick you can make. The more informed you are, the more confident you'll be about a particular selection." Makes sense right? So picking the BCS bowl games really isn't as difficult as picking some of the more obscure games like the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl between Southern Mississippi and Troy that provide more difficulty in not only picking who will win, but deciding how confident you are in that pick.

J-Fish goes on to say, "Unless you fancy yourself as the next Jimmy the Greek, don't over analyze. The amount of games will definitely lead to paralysis-by-analysis." In my opinion, when it comes to picking some of the lower level bowl games, its almost more of a gut feeling when making that selection than anything else.

With all that said, let's get to the picks. What you'll find below is the bowl schedule starting with the first game on the docket all the way to the National Championship game on January 8th. With each pick you'll see both J-Fish's pick as well as my own with a little bit of analysis and how many confidence points (#) we have assigned to the pick we've made. Let's get to it with a look at the BCS games.

January 1st
ROSE - Penn State vs. USC
JFISH: USC (34) - Too much defense.
DICO: USC (32) - Too much USC! PSU hasn't seen anything like the Trojans this year. Ask OSU how things worked out for them. Plus this is a "home game" for the Trojans.

FEDEX ORANGE - Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
JFISH: Cincinnati (22) - 1st BCS bowl berth will drive the Bearcats.
DICO: Cincinnati (10) - Special teams could be the difference in this game. Mardy Gilyard for the Bearcats is one of the best in the country in the return game. A chance to finish the season in the Top 10 will push the Bearcats to a win.

January 2nd
ALLSTATE SUGAR - Utah vs. Alabama
JFISH: Alabama (32) - Utah hasn't faced a defense like this.
DICO: Alabama (33) - See JFISH's comments...the Utes will have a hard time stopping the 'Bama offense as well.

January 5th
TOSTITOS FIESTA - Ohio State vs. Texas
JFISH: Texas (33) - Too much speed on defense, and the Horns will be playing angry because of the whole BIG XII, BCS screw job.
DICO: Texas (31) - QB Colt McCoy will be too much even for a good Buckeyes' defense. Terrelle Pryor will see what team speed on defense is all about against the Longhorns.

January 8th
FEDEX BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - Florida vs. Oklahoma
JFISH: Florida (26) - Tebow/Harvin will find a way.
DICO: Oklahoma (22) - Bradford leads the most potent offense in the country. Even with the loss of DeMarco Murray at RB, the Sooners won't miss a beat. Expect a high scoring affair.

COMPLETE PICKS (ALL 34 GAMES) 

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JoePa can't walk without a cane.  He can't stand on the sideline; he has to coach from the press box.  He can't even walk down to the locker room at halftime, because halftime would be over by the time he got there, and then he would miss the first part of the second half getting back to his perch.  But what he can do is adapt to the changing landscape of college football.  He needs to retire before his body fails him; but he's got plenty left in the tank upstairs.  The Buckeyes were latest team to find that out last week.

POWER RANKINGS

1. Texas:  3 down, 1 to go.  Unfortunately, the last is always the toughest.  The 'Horns outlasted a tough Oklahoma State team last week, now they go on the road to Lubbock to take on the Red Raiders in primetime.  I believe if the 'Horns defense can get one or two stops, they win.  But that's easier said than done.

2. Penn State:  I said last week that Buckeye fans would go home crying.  Check.  Now let's see if the Nittany Lions run the table, which was my other prediction.

3. Alabama:  I know that the Crimson Tide fans are happy with being No. 2 in the BCS, and in most polls.  But until last week, they've been living by their elephant skins.  It won't be long before they fall, and everyone else in the country falls in line with my rankings.

4. Oklahoma: This is a team that is seriously lurking right now.  Their only loss was to the No. 1 team in the land.  They bounced right back by trouncing the entire state of Kansas (KU & KSU) the past two weeks.  And their offense hasn't missed a beat.  If the 'Horns stumble somewhere down the line, look out for the Sooners.

5. Florida: Anytime you hang a half a hundred two weeks in a row in the SEC, especially when one of the opponents are the defending National Champions, you deserve Top 5 status.  I don't care what the computers say.  If they do it again this week against Georgia, look out!

6. Oklahoma State:  I don't get this one with the other rankings.  The Cowboys pushed the No. 1 team in the land to the brink last week, in their house, and had the ball with a last chance to pull off the upset as time expired, and they fall to 9th in most polls?  No way.  They are better than that.

7. Georgia: World's largest cocktail party.  The whole team celebrated after their first TD like a bunch of high schoolers.  Their coach planned it that way.  Mr. Richt, allow me to introduce you "Mr. Payback-Is-A-Bitch".  You'll be getting very acquainted with him this weekend.

8. Texas Tech:  I have resisted putting these guys in my Top 10 because their schedule was so light.  I said last week I would consider it depending on what happened against a good, and ranked, Kansas team in Lawrence.  All the Red Raiders did was blast the Jayhawks and lay 63 on them.  I think they'll have a tougher time with a Texas defense that is the fastest, most athletic bunch, especially up front, that they have encountered all year long.  But it will be a dandy in primetime.

9. USC:  These guys continue to underwhelm me, especially on the offensive side of the ball.  They play in a very weak Pac-10 this season, and I can't believe they are as high as they are in the BCS (5th).  Apparently, computers take into account previous reputation.  These guys are in danger of falling out of my Top 10 if they don't show me something in a hurry.  And I'm not counting this week against a lowly, winless Washington team that just fired Ty Willingham.

10. Utah:  These guys were BCS Buster pick from the WAC all along, right?  Ahem, right ?

DORM NOTES

--Ty Willingham was unfairly fired from Notre Dame; he was not unfairly fired this time around in Washington

--I'm seeing more articles and hype about the Red Raiders this week, than I am about Texas.  If I'm a Red Raider fan, I would sure be wishing it were the other way around.

--What's the office pool on how much longer Phil Fulmer lasts at Tennessee?

--Count me in as a guy who really enjoyed seeing Ohio State lose last Saturday, so that we now don't have to worry about another BCS Championship debacle

--If Penn State fulfills my prophecy and reaches the BCS Championship game, they won't be another Ohio State.  Count on it.

--Unless they're playing Texas, I'm rooting for JoePa to win the crown this year, then retire on top. 

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As posted on YourTeamStinks.com

The Texas Longhorns are still the unanimous No. 1 team in the country, but its another Texas team that has caught the attention of the college football world. The Texas Tech Red Raiders faced what was thought to be one of their toughest tests to date in the season when they traveled to play Kansas. All they did was put up 63 points against the Jayhawks on their way to a dominating victory by a score of 63-21.

The man of the hour was the Red Raiders' QB, Graham Harrell. He threw for 386 yards and five TDs. He has now thrown at least one TD pass in 31 consecutive games. He has now thrown for 3147 yards and 28 TDs this season. While Texas Tech has put everyone in the country on notice that they're a team to be reckoned with, Harrell has also put the Heisman voters on notice that he's a legitimate candidate for the award.

The Red Raiders have a tough road ahead over their next three games, all three against current top 10 teams in the country. Their first challenge will be this coming weekend when they host the No. 1 team in the country in the Longhorns. Even if they come out of that game with a win they will then have to take on Oklahoma State at home and then travel to Norman to play Oklahoma. Not a tough stretch of games ahead, but if Harrell can continue to hook up with his primary target, Michael Crabtree, any team is going to have a tough task of defeating them.

In other top 25 news, Penn State was able to take down Ohio State 10-6 and solidify their spot as one of the top teams in the country. Georgia won a shoot-out with LSU, helping them move up a couple spots in the standings. TCU's dominating win over Wyoming has them just outside the top 10 now at No. 12. North Carolina, Michigan State and Oregon return to the top 25 this week and Maryland finally makes it in after being on the cusp for the last few weeks. With the entry of these four teams, four obviously had to drop out. Those teams would be Pittsburgh, Kansas, Georgia Tech and Boston College.

Here's a look at the complete Top 25 rankings:

1. Texas 8-0
2. Alabama 8-0
3. Penn State 9-0
4. Oklahoma 7-1
5. Florida 6-1
6. Texas Tech 8-0
7. USC 6-1
8. Georgia 7-1
9. Oklahoma State 7-1
10. Utah 8-0
11. Boise State 7-0
12. TCU 8-1
13. Ohio State 7-2
14. Missouri 6-2
15. LSU 5-2
16. Florida State 6-1
17. BYU 7-1
18. Ball State 8-0
19. Tulsa 7-0
20. Minnesota 7-1
21. North Carolina 6-2
22. Michigan State 7-2
23. Oregon 6-2
24. South Florida 6-2
25. Maryland 6-2

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Two important things occurred this week in the world of college football:  1) The first BCS rankings of the season were released and 2) There wasn't a major tsunami at the top of the rankings.  Speaking of rankings...

POWER RANKINGS

1.  Texas:  Even I, a proud Texas graduate (I'm sure you've heard that before), didn't think we would pound Missouri that badly.  2 down, 2 to go in the gantlet.

2.  Penn State:  I don't care what the BCS, or the other polls say, the Nittany Lions are better than Alabama.  They'll prove it against the Buckeyes this weekend.

3.  Alabama:  Last weekend was the second straight game they jumped out to an early lead, then almost let it get away from them.  Not good.

4.  Oklahoma:  This team still scares me come BCS Championship.  I could easily see a scenario where the Sooners don't make the Big XII Championship game, because of their loss to the 'Horns, but still have the second best BCS rankings.  I'm just saying.

5.  Oklahoma State:  Again, I'm departing from the other rankings.  I'm giving the Cowboys the nod over USC and Florida because of the undefeated record.  But we'll see how good the Cowboys are this weekend in Austin.

6.  Georgia:  The Bulldog pups have bounced back nicely from the drubbing they took at the hands of the Crimson Tide.  But the next two weeks will go a long way in proving if they're ready to take that next step.  LSU this week, and Florida the following week.

7.  USC:  I think their rankings in the other polls this week were largely inflated, due to the tremedously one-sided pounding they put on Wazzou (69-0).  I still have my questions about this team.  The biggest concern being how long can Mark Sanchez stay healthy.

8.  Florida:  Bye week this past Saturday.  Tebow will continue his "Mission To Redemption" against Kentucky this weekend.

9.  Ohio State:  The Buckeyes have looked good since Beanie has returned.  Pryor is slowing beginning to come into his own at QB.  And they have the Nittany Lions in the 'Shoe this weekend.  All that, and I still think that Buckeye fans will go home crying.

10.  Utah:  The way they beat-down the Cougars last Thursday was impressive.  Far more impressive than my call about BYU being the BCS Buster lock for 2008.

DORM NOTES

--Any way I can get 1/2 credit for my BCS Buster pick?  I got the conference right; it's just going to be Utah, not BYU.  That's all.

--I'm still looking forward to the Nov. 22 tilt of BYU vs. Utah, in case you were wondering.

--When a game is as lopsided as USC vs. Washington State, shouldn't it just be stopped at some point.  Like a boxing match where one boxer is beating the crap out of another, and the ref steps in and stops it for the health of the other boxer.  The health of the Washington State football program sure could've used a rule like that on Saturday.

--I'm still not putting Texas Tech into my Top 10 because of their weak schedule.  I will consider it after seeing how they perform this weekend against Kansas

Until next weekend...

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No shocker here, the Texas Longhorns are ranked No. 1 in the first BCS rankings that came out today. The Longhorns cemented their spot as No. 1 after coming off two strong wins over the then No. 1 team in the country, Oklahoma, and then waxing Missouri this weekend.

The top four teams in the BCS rankings mirror the top four teams in the AP poll. From there, the rest of the top 10 are the same teams as in the AP poll, just not in the same order. The most notable difference between the BCS and AP rankings are the Florida Gators who are No. 5 in the AP, but No. 10 in the BCS.

Here's a look at the top 10:

1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Oklahoma
5. USC
6. Oklahoma State
7. Georgia
8. Texas Tech
9. Ohio State
10. Florida

In addition to the BCS rankings being released, ESPN has released their bowl projections. The predicted BCS games would all make for very interesting matchups.

*For those of us that are Cincinnati Bearcats fans, notice that Mark Schlabach has them slated to meet up with Western Michigan in the International Bowl while Bruce Feldman has them playing in the St. Petersburg Bowl against Houston.

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I will be avoiding College Gameday this week like the plague.  I don't want to get caught in another (what I'm now calling) "Herbie Goes Bananas" situation.  In last week's Wrap, I noted that Herbstreit had said that "the only thing that can beat USC, is USC", and for the first time in four years I actually agreed with Herbie.

No more.  No sooner than I agree with Herbstreit does USC goes out and get beat by Oregon State.  Or by themselves, should I say.  That wasn't the only surprise last Saturday either, as we got the first major shakeup in the Power Rankings.

1. Oklahoma:  I have noted several times in this column that I am a proud Texas graduate.  Since Week 1, I have said how much it has pained me to say that the Sooners were the legitimate No. 2 team in the nation.  So you can imagine how placing them at No. 1 in the nation is especially painful.

2. Missouri:  DNP.  We're about to find out how good these guys are.  Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas all in a row, starting this weekend.

3. Alabama:  I said two weeks ago that the SEC needed to watch out for the Crimson Tide because Saban's boys were coming, and coming hard.  I should have said coming fast.  That beat-down of the 'Dawgs was very, very impressive.

4. LSU: The Tigers playing Florida and Georgia in two of the next three weeks looked a lot more impressive before last Saturday.  Now November the 8th needs to be circled on your calendars.  The Tigers and the Crimson Tide should be a barnburner.

5. Texas:  My beloved Longhorns are quietly lurking in the shadows.  If the 'Horns get by Colorado this Saturday, then you have a Top 5 Red River Rivalry with Boomer Sooner in two weeks.  Texas, Texas, Yeee-haw!

6. Penn State: Call me officially intrigued.  Another nice game against a ranked Illinois team.  Then take into account that the Nittany Lions rolled up 45pts. on an Oregon State team that just beat USC, and I'm starting to believe that Penn State might have enough to get the Big Ten crown this year.

7. BYU:  DNP.  Let's be honest here.  You need to start paying attention to the Cougars.  They will be your BCS Buster for 2008.  So  you may now start asking yourselves which major conference team will get the shaft.

8. USC:  The 'Men of Troy' looked more like the Trojan Women, especially when it came to stopping Oregon State RB Jacques Reeves.  But I still think that USC will be rearing it's mohawked helmet near the top of the rankings again by year's end.

9. Georgia:  Most have the 'Dawgs right at No. 10 or lower.  But I believe this butt-whupping was a huge wake-up call.  They just have too much talent to go into the tank now.

10. South Florida:  Talk about a team that went under the radar for the first month of the season.  An unblemished record, a quality win against Kansas and three of the first five on the road.  Nice work.

DORM NOTES

--You might notice that all major rankings have Texas Tech in the Top 10, yet the Wrap does not.  Sorry, but I can't take any Mike Leach coached team seriously when the first four games on the schedule are Eastern Washington, Nevada, SMU and UMass.  Seriously?  This is college football, not college basketball Mike.

--What a disappointing turn-of-events for ECU.  Another unexpected loss this past weekend, and now, after a promising start, they're out of the Top 25.

--Anybody seen the conference formerly known as the Pac 10?

--It's good to see that Bobby Petrino didn't let that brief stint in the NFL change him.  His teams still can't play any defense.  In their only two games against quality opponents (Alabama and Texas), they allowed 49pts and 52pts respectively.

--Lastly, a special salute to Oregon State RB Jacques Reeves for his performance against the Trojans.  For those who aren't in the know, Reeves is a supremely talented kid out of Houston, Texas (my hometown).  Although he put up mind-boggling stats in high school, he was never recruited by any of the big boys.  That was an especially hard pill to swallow when he  was told by all the in-state schools that his services weren't needed.  Why, you might ask, wasn't he recruited?  Hidden medical condition?  Off field shenanigans?  Nope.  He committed the incredibly horrendous offense of being short.  No one wanted him because Jacques Reeves is only 5'6" tall.  Or small, I should say.  I'm guessing that after his 189-yard, 2 TD performance against USC, some of those coaches are now kicking themselves (preferably in the groin). As NBA superstar, LeBron James, said when asked recently about Davidson guard Stephen Curry's stature, "if you can play, you can play."  Jacques Reeves can play.

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