Reprinting a lead story from Week 7-2005...
BCS DUMPS HARRIS POLL FOR CARDINALS
ROME, Italy (ITAR-Tass)...Less than a week before the Bowl Championship Series publishes its first 2005 season poll, BCS officials showed the Harris Poll the door in favor of the Conclave of Cardinals. An anonymous BCS spokesperson noted it was rumors indicating Harris pollsters gave votes to 1-4 Idaho that led to the change and acknowledged the cardinals would face little difficulty selecting teams in an environment permitting weekly voting changes after appointing the world leader of the Catholic religion for years to come in less than 24 hours. In addition, white smoke will emanate from the Sistine Chapel each time a new Number One team is chosen. Opponents’ only fear is that Notre Dame will receive a ranking every week regardless of its win-loss record.
Phew! We survived the utter chaos of the final few minutes of the Army-Navy tilt to go 1-0 (36-41-1, .467).
With a peripheral eye on hockey in between gridiron gatherings, we note “This first shotglass on goal is brought to you by...
THE WEBER KID’S 2025-26 BOWL PREDICTIONS PART I
(A lot to unpack!)
FRI. DEC.19
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (@ Tampa, FL)
Memphis vs. NC State (“over 58”): LOCK OF DA’ WEEK. Wolfpack is a bit better than its 7-5 record having knocked off conference championship maid-of-honor Virginia and Joja’ Tech team that was in the hunt for the ACC title all year. State enters with some momentum, winning 3 of last 4, while Memphis dropped three in a row to close the regular season (albeit two of those came vs. Tulane and Navy). ‘Pack has lost four straight bowls while Memphis has been victorious in its past four post-season tries. Both of which keep us from laying 6 with NCSU. QB CJ Bailey touts nice 23-9 ratio and has just 100 yards passing fewer than IU’s Fern Mendoza. By comparison, Tigers’ Brendon Lewis is just 15-9 and been sacked 30 times but is also the second-leading rusher and per the interim guy, is rallying the locker room amidst whole-sale coaching changes. Until allowing only 30 total points over its last two contests, State was spotting the opposition an average of 34 ppg. Likewise, Memphis gave up an average of 33.6 ppg and early bowls tend to be free-wheelin', bulb-bustin' events...NC State 37 Memphis 31
College Football Playoff First Round (@ Norman, OK)
#9 Alabama (-1) over #8 OKLAHOMA: We watched ‘Bama’s debacle in the SEC title match. The first 30 minutes had to be one of, if not THE most badly-executed halves played by the Tide all year. Pachyderms must clean up turnovers and special teams mistakes. Those same issues haunted them in the first iteration of this duel about a month ago. Tide had more than 400 yards total offense with OK getting just 212, but Okies parked 17 of their 23 points on the board following three turnovers and the OK D shutout Alabama in the 1st and 4th Quarters. Something has to give here as Sooners are 6-1 outright in Norman and Tide is 4-1 in true roadies this season. Eight of ‘Bama’s dozen contests went “under”. Likewise, Oklahoma leans 9-2 in that direction. Current total is 40 ½. Sooners dissed their opponent by gathering post-win on the ‘Bama insignia at midfield to take pics. Just learned that UA hasn’t lost to the same squad twice in the same season in over one-and-a-quarter centuries!..Tide 19 Boomer Scoopers 17
SAT. DEC. 20
College Football Playoff First Round (@ College Station, TX)
#10 Miami (+3 ½) over #7 TEXAS A&M: “Over 51 ½” might turn out to be the better guess here. Despite sharing a conference, ‘Canes QB Carson Beck did not face TAMU during his time at Georgia but at least brings some experience against that quality of opposition. If ya believe in “curses”, the folks at Aggies Wire have noted A&M has won just once in eleven College GameDay contests. That ESPN contingent will visit College Station this week. Aggies QB Marcus Reed will break 3000 yards passing prolly in the 1st Quarter, certainly by halftime. As exciting as that sounds, he’s still only 82nd nationally in air yards. He does have a set of wheels however. He’s not the most accurate of throwers at 61.8% completion. Oddly, three of A&M’s four one-score games came vs. Auburn (6), Arkansas (3) and South Carolina (1) who went a combined 11-25 and both coordinators have bolted. Miami closed out the regular season with a flurry...4-0, including a MOV of 30+ against NC State and Pitt. Turnovers might very well decide this one. Pelicans are +5, Aggies are (GASP!) -7...Gig ‘Em 30 Tropical Depressions 28
College Football Playoff First Round (@ Oxford, MS)
#11 Tulane (+17) over #6 OLE MISS: Sing it with us...“Ya picked a fine time to leave me, Lane-cille...With four hundred children and a bowl on the field.” Three words when it comes to bowls...motivation, motivation, motivation. How much effort will Ole Miss players bring with the former HC already history and a convoy of other coaches and coordinators already packed for Baton Rouge? Mississippi sports a 3rd-best average of 498 yards total offense per game and a like ranking for pass yards per game. Tulane, who unlike that other Group of Five contestant (see JMU below), earned its way into the playoffs, surviving a very tough American Conference is good at stopping the run and middlin’ against the pass. The turnover gods have been kind to the Green Wave...+10. Not so much to Ole Miss (-2). Interim HC and previous DC Pete Golding was ranked by a writer from USA Today as the worst of the dozen head coaches in the CFP having never before held the job...Rebels 34 Tulane 24
College Football Playoff First Round (@ Eugene, OR)
#12 James Madison @ #5 OREGON (“over 48 ½”): If it was “March Madness”, this would be the dreaded upset-prone 5-12 matchup. However, it’s closer to a not-impossible-but-unlikely 3-14 pairing. Love it or hate it, JMU is here. In any case, congrats to da’ Dukes for bein’ part of the delectable dozen a mere four seasons after joining the FBS. The Nun Belt champion, whose only blemish and only remotely comparable game to this one was 28-14 fall at Louisville in September, will try to make a case that the committee was right to include it. Style-points are meaningless at this stage for the Drakes, but a Gang Green romp would just provide more ammo for those who adamantly think the CFP system is badly flawed. The distinct possibility of a backdoor cover makes us too leery to lay the points (21 ½). The four TDs given to the Cardinals were the most conceded all year and ten of JMU’s foes scored 20 or fewer (with 7 in the teens or less). Dante Moore will do his thing for the NFL scouts but might get pulled early to save him for higher-quality matches...Ducks 38 Dukes 14
BETWEEN DA’ HASHMARKS
BTW, it's a known fact that the cardinals charged with choosing a new pope intentionally alter their handwriting to prevent others from knowing who cast the votes. Likewise, Vindy changes the way he fills in the circles on parlay cards so the bookies cannot determine who’s placing the wagers!
For real, announced in May 24 was...”The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop”??!! It’ll be halftime before a member of the broadcast crew even gets done spitting that out ahead of the coin-toss! Can’t wait to see what kinda’ SWAG the players get for that game!
Post-season proposals coming to a town near you...the QR Code Bowl and the Wisk “Ring Around Da’ Horse-Collar Tackle" Bowl.
“The clock shows no signs of stoppin’...and I got me some pads for poppin’...since we’ve no place to go...let ‘em bowl, let ‘em bowl, let ‘em bowl!”
Disgraced ex-University of Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore allegedly offered OnlyFans models Wolverines tix in exchange fer a foursome. Moore explained later he was just wanting to test out some new schemes for the D-line.
If a certain post-Apocalyptic Mel Gibson flick meets the Big Game in the Big Easy, is it...” Mad Max: Beyond Superdome...two teams enter, one team leaves???? (Oh wait...that’s the ACC’s new tie-breaker system going into next season!)
Last February, newly hired North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick tried to endear himself to at least a portion of the Chapel Hill faithful by sending pizzas to the frats and sororities the night of the watch-party of the college hoops game at Duke. The Tarheels were blown out 87-70 (and were down by 32 at one point!) in Durham. Hopin’ to avoid the guffaw by “the Hoodie”, women’s basketball coach Courtney Banghart simply sent a couple bags of Totino’s frozen pizza rolls and a two-liter bottle of Pepsi to each of the school’s Greek organizations ahead the contest vs. the Blue Devils!
Black Shirt: This week’s tremendous twilight teddy goes to the unidentified zebra that did not throw a flag for defensive pass interference in the end zone on Army’s final possession of the half, forcing a FG try rather than allowing a potential TD to help keep the game “under 38” as we predicted.
Vindy’s Bowl Predictions Part I Best Bets: Last Week: 0-0 (.000) Season: 26-34 (.433)
Kennesaw State vs. Western Michigan “under 50”, Toledo +8 ½ over Louisville, Western Kentucky vs. Southern Miss “over 55 ½”, Nevada-Las Vegas -4 over Ohio
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