College Football: Fiesta Bowl – #4 Boise State versus #6 Texas Christian University

In my soon to be released article entitled “Surprises and Disappointments of the Bowl Season” I will expand upon my disgust for what the BCS selection committee did in choosing these two teams to play each other. For now I will limit myself to this; more and more people want a playoff system and this game where the BCS has isolated its “mid-major” threats to protect the BCS “major” conferences should make everyone want a playoff system more.

In terms of the game, although robbed of the national stage with which to show they are just as good as the best of the “major” conferences, this will still be an exciting matchup between two high scoring undefeated teams. WAC Champion Boise State will look for revenge after Mountain West Champion TCU just edged them out of an undefeated season last year, 17-16 in the Poinsettia Bowl. TCU’s defense is one of the best in the nation though, leading many to see TCU as the favorite by around 8 points.

This marks the first time that two undefeated teams played in a BCS Bowl other than the National Championship and will act as the “mid-major” National Championship. It is only too bad that the winner doesn’t get to face the winner of the “major” National Championship between Alabama and Texas. Though it should be a close and exciting game, expect fewer points than usual from each team as TCU for the second year in a row stops Boise State from perfection.

January 5^th

NBA: Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers

Usually the best team in the NBA versus the eleventh best (seventh best in the west) is not a reason to be included on What to Watch, but this matchup is different. After taking the Lakers to seven games in last year’s playoffs, the Rockets let Ron Artest leave and signed as his replacement the Lakers then starting Small Forward Trevor Ariza. In November of this season, the Rockets took the Lakers to overtime, eventually losing by one in Houston. Eleven days later, they pulled off the unthinkable, beating the Lakers by ten at the Staples Center. Additionally, Ariza, who is six years younger, has averaged more points, rebounds, steals, blocks, free throws, and minutes per game than Artest. Expect a close one but for the Lakers to yet again ruin Ariza’s return to LA. This game is also perfect to watch for those of us who will be bored by the Orange Bowl and craving a sport fix.

College Football: Orange Bowl – #10 Iowa versus #9 Georgia Tech

In what many see as the most boring of the BCS bowl games, the triple-option offense of ACC Champion Georgia Tech will take on the Slow Ten’s second best team, and BCS at-large bid receiving, Iowa. With starting quarterback Ricky Stanzi and running back Adam Robinson well rested and back from injury, Iowa may make a game of it. Possession will be a key to victory in this game. Iowa will need to stop the run and Georgia Tech will have to make sure the “cardiac kids” are not discounted at the end, even if the Yellow Jackets are up big. Expect the Rambling Wreck to run all over the Hawkeyes.

January 7^th

College Football: National Championship – #2 Texas versus #1 Alabama

Easily the most exciting and star-studded matchups of the BCS Bowl games, the National Championship pits two of the most recognizable high-profile programs in all of college football against each other. Big 12 Champion Texas has the winningest starting quarterback in the history of college football in Colt McCoy. SEC Champion Alabama has Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. Alabama’s defense has stopped every team it has faced this year including the high scoring all-american filled Florida Gators though, leading me to believe that if Texas does not come with a varied game plan on offense they could get embarrassed. That said, Texas had the best defense against the run (Alabama’s bread and butter) in the nation. What gives remains to be seen. Expect a game that lives up to the hype of two undefeated teams from the top two conferences in the nation playing in the National Championship. That said, only one team can win, and my prediction is that after an 18 year wait, Alabama is finally ready to be named National Champions.

January 9^th

UVA Men’s Basketball: at North Carolina State

UVA Men’s Basketball ended the year looking good and giving Cavalier fans hope for the future and faith in Tony Bennett. That said, with the usual set of cupcakes we play behind us, the generally unforgiving ACC regular season schedule begins at North Carolina State. Neither of these teams has really faced that much of a challenge, with UVA being just edged out by Stanford, Penn State, and Auburn while NC State was barely beaten by Florida, Arizona, and Wake Forest. Luckily for the Cavaliers, the Wolfpack do not have a real big man presence and also rely on a lot of threes, making this more of a guard and forward game where the team with the better shooting from beyond the arc will win. If Landesberg can step up again like he did against UAB expect the Cavaliers to start their conference schedule undefeated, if not, may the best 3-point shooting team win.

NFL: Playoffs; NFC Wild-card Round, Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys

Unless the Washington Deadskins were involved in this game somehow, I cannot think of a game where I want both teams to lose more. Being a Giants game, I still cannot get over how our season crumbled at the end, how both these teams and the Jets made the playoffs, yet we did not. What a last year at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands. A repeat of last Sunday’s matchup between the two teams (oddly a recurrent theme amongst three of the four wildcard games) in the same location. After 14 years without a playoff win, I think Tony Romo and the Cowboys will finally do it. Beating the Eagles twice in the regular season was no easy task, and beating the playoffs won’t be either, but all streaks have to come to an end eventually (except for maybe the Cubs not winning the World Series). Expect a closer game than last week but for the Cowgirls to prevail.

NFL: Playoffs; AFC Wild-card Round, New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals

The Jets are the biggest surprise team in the playoffs, but make no mistake the team with the rookie coach, rookie quarterback, the NFL’s best defense, and the NFL’s top rushing offense (led by UVA alum Thomas Jones) will not be backing down without a serious fight. Though not much should be taken of their 37-0 annihilation of the Bengals this past Sunday in the last game at Giants Stadium, it should serve as a confidence booster for the fearless Jets as they head to Cincinnati. Though I do not think the Jets will be this year’s Arizona Cardinals (who last year at 9-7 ended up winning three straight before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl), I am not counting them out in this game. Cincinnati’s achievements should not be passed over though. Going undefeated in the division with the reigning Super Bowl Champions and another Playoff team is no walk in the park. Doing it after a 4-11-1 season is equally if not more impressive. Keep in mind starting quarterback Carson Palmer has had previous injury problems that did not affect him this season and that the team played well below their potential last season. Regardless of the past, all that matters is how each team plays Saturday. The colder it is the more likely the Jets will win with their superior defense and run game. Expect a close one and maybe, just maybe, the Jets will survive to play another week.

January 10^th

NFL: Playoffs; NFC Wild-card Round, Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals

While this season has been all about Brett Favre, the Packers have quietly gotten things done and finished the season only one game behind the Vikings. Aaron Rodgers has put up similar numbers to Brett Favre (with a little more yards, three fewer touchdowns) while getting sacked about twice as much and without the best running back in the league to take the pressure off of him (or 6 more pro-bowl players surrounding him for that matter). It has earned Rodgers a pro-bowl invite to back-up starter Drew Brees and of course, Brett Favre. The Cardinals on the other hand, yet again won the worst division in the NFL, the NFC West. This time though, no one will be sleeping on them, especially not the Packers. Do not be surprised to see a repeat this Sunday of this past Sunday’s crushing of the Cardinals by the Packers in Arizona.

NFL: Playoffs; AFC Wild-card Round, Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots

This game is overshadowed by the fact that Wes Welker, the all-important receiver for the Patriots is out for the playoffs. He is star quarterback Tom Brady’s number one target and will be sorely missed. Given Randy Moss’ string of not-too-inspired performances, this could be just the kind of thing that leads to an upset by the Ravens. The curse of David Tyree continues to haunt Bill Belichick’s Patriots. First it was Tom Brady’s injury, now this. The once almost perfect Patriots are now two years older. The Ravens will look to avenge their week 4 loss in Foxborough and might just get it. Expect a tight game, but if Moss can get his act together, expect the home crowd and Brady to do the rest of the work and at least get one win this playoffs for the Patriots.

Quarterback Kellen Moore may be the superstar of the Boise State offense, but there are some very good running backs in there as well.  That three headed  monster had three different backs score two touchdowns each in their win over West Virginia tonight, 42-23.

“[Moore] did everything we asked him to do tonight,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said afterwards.  “He had a lot of great throws that got us down inside the ten or the five but our backs were so good tonight that we just gave them the ball and they got in.”

“When you have that much success in one aspect of the game, you keep going to it until it’s stopped.”

Junior running back Jeremy Avery was key to that success rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns to put the Broncos up early in the first half.

“It felt good…to play this well in a game like this was really special for me,” said Avery.  “I look forward to doing it again next weekend.”

Courtesy of www.boisestate.edu

So too do his classmate D.J Harper, who also rushed for two touchdowns and added 99 yards of his own, and sophomore Doug Martin, who chipped in another 40 yards and two touchdowns.

“I pity the teams that try to shut them down season after season,” West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said.  “They do so many things well and have so many playmakers that it really is tough for a defense to match up to it.”

“It took us a while to get into our flow and, by that point, it was too late.”

Avery’s two first quarter touchdowns made it 14-0 after one and then Harper and Martin each added another in the second to make it 28-0.  West Virginia did manage to score a field goal just before the half to break up the shutout, but the game was never really in doubt in the second half.

Boise State cruised to another Martin touchdown in the third to make it 35-9 before West Virginia scored their first end-zone trip midway through the fourth quarter.  Sadly for the Mountaineers, the remaining hope was firmly extinguished on the next play from scrimmage as Harper ripped off a 70-yard highlight reel run to firmly ice the game.

The undefeated Broncos will make the trip to Glendale to face the undefeated Horned Frogs of TCU.

“It’s a shame we have to meet so early in the competition,” Petersen lamented.  “We’re both underdogs really so to have one of us get knocked out is a bit of a bummer for Cinderella lovers.”

This will be the best defense Boise State has faced this season as the Horned Frogs entered the playoffs as the number two scoring defense in the nation and allowed zero points to their opponent (Iowa) earlier today.

“It’ll be a tough game, but we’re always ready for a challenge,” said Petersen.  “I have some pretty good memories about that field and the [Fiesta] Bowl from a few years ago and the team and I hope we can add to those next week.”

Results of Other Games:

#1 Alabama vs. #16 Troy

#8 Oregon vs. #9 Ohio State

#4 TCU vs. #13 Iowa

#5 Boise State vs. #12 West Virginia

————–

#2 Texas vs. #15 Central Michigan

#7 Georgia Tech vs. #10 LSU

#6 Florida vs. #11 Virginia Tech

#3 Cincinnati vs. #14 East Carolina

A team with 401 yards of rushing offense, 157 total yards allowed, six sacks, eight first downs allowed, and zero points allowed in a game sounds like a Big Ten team.  But they aren’t; they’re the game stats for TCU against a Big Ten opponent in the first round of the Division I-A Playoffs.

“I don’t think we’ve been beaten as soundly as we were today at all this season,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said.  “We were beaten at our own game, and in every aspect of it.”

For a conference built upon tough, physical football, tonight’s game was a total disaster for that reputation.  TCU dominated from the opening kickoff, pressuring Hawkeye quarterback Ricky Stanzi into bad situations and bad throws and denying the Iowa running attack any room to run.

Stanzi finished with only nine completions with no touchdowns and only 118 yards passing and the Horned-Frog run defense was even more impressive holding Iowa to a mere 39 yards on 38 carries.

It seemed that every time Iowa would begin to get some life, the TCU defense would jab it’s foot back on the throat and kill the drive quickly.

“We had that great run by Adam [Robinson] for 30 something yards and I thought we were going to get back in the game then,” said Stanzi.  “It was only a 14 point hole at that point and we were close to at least a field goal, but they just denied us.  I don’t think we really recovered from that.”

www.deseretnews.com

What they couldn’t recover from after that run by Robinson were three sacks in a row to push the Iowa offense back beyond midfield and into a punting situation.  On the first play after the punt, TCU running back Joesph Turner sprinted for 60 yards setting up player of the game Matthew Tucker’s second touchdown run to make it 21-0.

“Back-breaking.  Absolutely backbreaking,” Ferentz called that sequence.  “When you’re on the road against a team like this, you can’t have those types of drives because they will make you pay.  And we paid today.”

For Horned-Frog fans, this game was like all the others they had seen so far this season.  TCU led the nation in margin of victory (27.6), was second in points allowed per game (11.6), and was sixth in time of possession percentage (54.5%) this season, so frankly, this result should hardly be a surprise.

“We know we can play with these bigger teams and we know we can beat most of ‘em,” TCU defensive end Jerry Hughes said afterwards.  “There’s no issue of confidence amongst us players on this team…it’s getting all the rest of y’all to figure it out.”

After their first round performance tonight, TCU will face the winner of tonight’s Boise State/West Virginia game at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.

And this time, the nation won’t be surprised with an outcome like this.

Results of Other Games:

#1 Alabama vs. #16 Troy

#8 Oregon vs. #9 Ohio State

#4 TCU vs. #13 Iowa

#5 Boise State vs. #12 West Virginia

————–

#2 Texas vs. #15 Central Michigan

#7 Georgia Tech vs. #10 LSU

#6 Florida vs. #11 Virginia Tech

#3 Cincinnati vs. #14 East Carolina

• Opening round games will be held December 19th at the higher seed’s home stadium.
• Second round games will be held December 25th at the listed bowl sites
• Final Four games will be held at the Rose and Sugar Bowls on New Year’s Day.  Teams in each is TBD.
• The National Championship game will be held in Pasadena on January 8.

The first bracket is in, so start the bickering over who got in and who didn’t.

Initial Reaction:

No surprises here.  Coming off their 32-13 thumping of former No. 1 Florida, the Crimson Tide richly deserve the honor of being college football’s first-ever top seed.  The No. 16 Troy Trojans enjoy an automatic bid as the fruit of their undefeated record in the Sun Belt Conference, but their road to the Final Four likely ends in Tuscaloosa.

With No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 Ohio State—conference champions, both—each down a notch from their rankings in the writers’ and coaches’ polls, it’s likely they’ve been leap-frogged in the standings by ACC champion Georgia Tech.

The second half of this bracket:

Initial Reaction:

Soft-schedule powerhouses TCU and Boise State are, no doubt, too close for each other’s comfort as Nos. 4 and 5.  With Alabama’s official coronation as No. 1 complete and Texas all but certain to be No. 2, suspense still surrounds the committee’s choice for No. 3.  The Gators can’t have fallen below both non-BCS unbeatens after one loss…can they?

The tournament’s first two official at-large selections have emerged in this group: No. 12 West Virginia and No. 13 Iowa.  Both were likely helped by head-to-head wins against two teams still on the bubble, with the Mountaineers boasting a 19-16 victory over Big East rival Pittsburgh and the Hawkeyes buoyed by their early-season toppling of fellow Big Ten contender Penn State.

The other side of the bracket (first half):

Initial Reaction:

The Yellow Jackets land at No. 7 after putting Clemson down 39-34 in the ACC Championship, a week after their 30-24 loss to in-state rival Georgia left their top-10 status in jeopardy. They’ll host the LSU Tigers, who lay claim to one of the three remaining at-large berths after struggling through a brutal conference schedule that included both Alabama and Florida.

Texas (Big 12) and Central Michigan (MAC) were mere formalities at Nos. 2 and 15 as conference champions. Enjoying their first-ever appearance in the national FBS standings at No. 25 in the coaches’ poll, the Chippewas face a steep uphill climb to advance past Austin.

Counting the Gators as a mortal lock for a tournament bid, all but one of several strong at-large candidates will be left out in the cold after the last four teams are revealed.

The last four:

Initial Reaction:

As the last pieces of college football’s first postseason tournament fall into place, the selection committee’s priority has become clear: Win your games. All of them. (Or, at least, as many as possible.)

The undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats fit neatly into the No. 3 slot as the last perfect BCS-conference team, with Florida’s fall from grace ending at No. 6, behind all five unbeatens, as the highest-ranked at-large candidate. East Carolina’s upset win over Houston in the Conference USA Championship grants the Pirates an automatic bid and the tournament’s No. 14 seed, robbing Cougars quarterback—and darkhorse Heisman candidate—Case Keenum of a national showcase.

Signature wins over Miami (Fl.) and Nebraska, coupled with losses to respectable foes (and conference champions) Alabama and Georgia Tech, boosted No. 11 Virginia Tech ahead of their competition for the last at-large bid. The Hokies’ trip to Gainesville is the tournament’s only first round matchup of at-large teams, and it figures to be a close one.

Bubble Teams Not Invited:

BYU 10-2

Houston 10-3

Penn State 10-2

Pittsburgh 9-3

Miami 9-3

Oklahoma State 9-3

Final Thoughts:

First, two points of contention.

1. Clearly stating a preference for perfection, the selection committee slotted college football’s five remaining unbeatens ahead of former No. 1 Florida after the Gators’ 32-13 loss to top-seeded Alabama in the SEC Championship.

The Crimson Tide, along with No. 2 Texas (Big 12) and No. 3 Cincinnati (Big East), have certainly earned top billing as undefeated BCS conference champions. But Florida’s strength of schedule (eighth in the nation) should have kept the Gators ahead of less-tested juggernauts No. 4 TCU (75th) and No. 5 Boise State (92nd).

Now, instead of hosting No. 13 Iowa—losers in two of their last three games—Florida must prepare for a tougher matchup against No. 11 Virginia Tech and the Hokies’ high-powered rushing attack.

2. In awarding No. 10 LSU an at-large bid, the committee spurned several possible alternates, but none with a better case for inclusion than Miami.

Most other candidates popped their own bubbles. Brigham Young and Houston each boasted double-digit win totals, but their strength of schedule ratings—88th and 91st, respectively—sunk them beneath their BCS conference competition. Pittsburgh, Penn State, and Oklahoma State each lacked a signature win over a true top-25 opponent.

(So did LSU, really.)

The Hurricanes’ win over ACC champion Georgia Tech stands out, in contrast, as the mark of a potential postseason contender. They’ve been up-and-down since, of course, including a loss to upset-hungry North Carolina—who, let’s not forget, also beat at-large contenders Virginia Tech.

To stock the tournament’s at-large ranks with capable foils to the big dogs, the committee should have gone with a team who’s actually finished one off.

Still, thanks to the format, the teams that made the Dance will finally be able to settle such grievances on the field. At long last, here in what the powers-that-be would call a “bizarro world,” rhetoric is merely the prelude to the college football postseason—not the main event.

So, TCU and Boise State, is your “unbeaten” as good as Alabama’s or Cincinnati’s?  Florida, are you prepared to claw back to No. 1?  Conference champions, are you national champions?  At-large teams, can you pave an improbable road to the top?

Strap on the pads and prove it. Welcome to the first second season.

@MiamiFL: Can’t please everybody.  Better luck next year.

Monday August 31

Tennis: The US Open

It runs from August 31 until September 13. Although not all of us are big tennis fans, this is a must see as it is the last of the big four grand slam tournaments and the only one on American soil. It won’t be Roger Federer’s record breaking 15^th grand slam victory, but it might be a further record breaking 16^th. The tournament will also feature Rafael Nadal who will be looking to improve upon his semi-final finish at last year’s open as well as bounce back from a series of knee problems that have seen him only play seven matches in the past two and a half months. Nadal, who has gone from ranked number 1 in the world to number 3 because of his injuries, will have to hope that the rigorous part of the season that he has missed out on will keep his knees fresher this year as many speculate that the season wears down his knees so much that by the time the US Open rolls around he has nothing left in the tank. In the same side of the draw as Nadal is second ranked Andy Murray who continues to look for his first grand slam win. As last year’s finalist, Murray will have a lot to prove and should not be underestimated. Generally speaking, I am conservative in my tennis picks but I am sick of Federer winning so this is the year an Andy wins the US Open. Whether its Roddick or Murray, well I am hedging my bet and hoping to see them play in the finals.

Tuesday September 1

Baseball: Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays

With the playoff race heating up in the American League, this three game series between the wild card race leading Boston Red Sox and four and a half games back Tampa rays Rays is even more crucial. With the second placed Texas Rangers only two and a half games back and about to open a series with sub .500 Toronto Blue Jays, the Red Sox – Rays series could make the race even closer. This series could also see the Rays fall out of the playoff picture entirely having traded starting pitcher Scott Kazmir to the Los Angeles Angels and with their next twelve games seeing them play six games against Boston, three against the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers, and three against the best team in baseball (The New York Yankees). My sincerest hope is that the Rays sweep, but look for the Red Sox to sweep and to continue en route to clinching the Wild Card spot.

Thursday September 3

College Football: #16 Oregon at #14 Boise State

The College Football season is finally here and already we have a game with two ranked teams. Though this game won’t get anyone’s pulses racing based off of the teams involved, Boise State (arguably) unfairly missed out on a BCS bowl last year after an undefeated regular season and Oregon won the Holiday Bowl. Both return their starting Quarterbacks, though Boise State’s Sophmore QB Kellen Moore will be without four of his top five receivers from his spectacular freshmen season. After last year’s semi-shocking victory by Boise State over Oregon in Eugene, look for Oregon to return the away victory favor; beating the broncos in Boise.

Football: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Jets

Preseason football games don’t usually bring excitement to anyone but this game is different; Michael Vick is playing again. I know it isn’t his first game back but it will continue to be intriguing to see a player who spent two seasons during his prime in jail out there again throwing the football and trying to emulate the human highlight film Vick became known for at both Virginia Tech and for the Atlanta Falcons. New York is also a very brutal place to play when there’s dirt on you so I am interested to see how the Jets fans treat the convicted dog killer. Beyond the circus that will continue to follow Vick, it will also be interesting to see how recently named starting Quarterback Mark Sanchez plays. He has been inconsistent in my opinion, though most rookies are, and a lot will be expected of him as we get closer to the regular season. With preseason games where teams are putting together pieces of their seasons puzzle super inconsistent in their results (after all Detroit has won two games after losing 17), I have no idea who is going to win this game; what will be more important is how the quarterbacks play and I expect Vick to put up small numbers and Sanchez to put up big ones.

Friday September 4

UVA Women’s Volleyball: Versus North Carolina Central, VCU(both Friday) and Campbell (Saturday)

UVA women’s volleyball hosts the Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup with VCU, Campbell, and North Carolina Central also participating. The game versus NC Central is at 1pm, versus VCU at 7pm and versus Campbell at 3pm on Saturday. The game versus VCU is also an Orange Passport event, which in light of my faith in the basketball team and new head coach Tony Bennett, will be important to attend so as to get seating preference. After a not as good a result as they would have liked in the Texas A&M Invitational (losing to Northern Iowa and Texas A&M), the women’s volleyball team look to rebound at home and need our support. With a new coach in Lee Maes this year, it will be important for both confidence in Maes by the current players and for recruiting potential players for this season to yield better results. Go out and support the team and enjoy the games as they look to win three in a row and become Jefferson Cup champs.

Saturday September 5

UVA Football: William and Mary

The much anticipated UVA football season kicks off with a cupcake game against the weaker (academically and athletically) William and Mary Tribe. It should be a great exhibition of our revamped wildcat offense that will see quarterback turned cornerback Vic Hall return to his original QB position as well as the return of Jameel Sewell and last year’s starting QB Marc Verica. For the first time possibly ever in UVA’s football history we have three legitimate starting QB prospects which gives this season a possibly undeserved optimism. Though this is by no means a football preview, I do expect the team to hover around .500 this season and for our rotation of QBs to lead to inconsistency. With the kickoff that is finally not at noon (when it is unreasonably hot in Scott Stadium) expect a wild and crazy student section for the first half and, after the blowout begins, for a very thinned out one for the second half.

Soccer: World Cup Qualifier – El Salvador at USA

After a hard loss at the Azteca Stadium to Mexico, the US soccer team now holds a 1 point lead over Mexico for the third guaranteed World Cup Qualification in the CONCACAF group. The team that finishes in fourth place will have a play-off with the fifth placed CONMEBOL (South American) team, which with Ecuador currently in fifth and featuring £16 million Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia, is not something the US would like to do. Though El Salvador is fifth, they are only four points behind the US, making an away victory for El Salvador all the more important. The two teams met in San Salvador in March, ending in a 2-2 draw, but after a strong showing this summer at the Confederations and Gold Cups by the US, look for America to dominate at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City; dampening the hopes of World Cup glory for El Salvador.