-Alright folks, this is it for the regular season. Week 15 only has Army vs Navy in Washington, DC so I'm going to throw it in here. It's Championship Saturday, a few regular games thrown in, and then we are done.
-I'll do a post for the bowl games, no worries there.
Cheering for:
-FAU: The Owls manage to win last week. There are no winless teams this year!
-LSU: Getting through the regular season without a loss is quite impressive, especially given the schedule the Tigers had. Three teams in the top 5 when LSU played them, all three still in the top 10 at the end of the regular season! For the record I still don't like Les Miles, but it's hard to argue with the results he gets in Baton Rouge.
-Houston: I don't care if the strength of schedule sucks for Houston, going undefeated is still impressive even if 20 other teams claim they could do it against the same schedule.
Laughing at:
-USC: Congrats on finishing your season with a 10-2 record, a trashing of your cross-town rival, and a big win over Notre Dame thrown in. Why am I laughing? Because that's it. No championship game, no bowl game, NOTHING!
-Maryland: For throwing an exclaimation point onto a horrible season by blowing a 41-14 lead over NC State. The Terrapins gave up 42 straight points to close out the game, the last 7 on a pick-six with under a minute remaining. Protip to Randy Edsall, head coach of the Terrapins: Ralph Friedgen got fired after following up his 2-10 season in 2009 with a 9-4 record in 2010. Therefore you need to win ten to keep your job.
-Miami: 1) How the hell did you lose to that Maryland team? You should have been able to dress walk-ons and win, yet you lost with several suspensions. 2) Why did you just give your first year coach an extension? Usually this is done if the coach has done something big or you fear someone else will hire him away. A 6-6 record, 3-5 in conference isn't anything big (the last coach could do that) and nobody else is going to hire him right now.
-The Big East: who is your champion going to be? And will anybody care? West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Louisville all have two losses in conference play, and each team lost to one of the other two and beat the other.
-Illinois: first team ever to win the first six and lose the last six in the same season. Didn't think conference play was that tough in the Big Ten.
-Colorado: what a great hire Embree was. I know I've already documented it, but that's the reason you don't do a "knee-jerk, opposite of what you had before" hire without putting some serious work into it.
-Tennessee: Vandy is going to a bowl game, you aren't. Losing to Kentucky for the first time since the early 80s? Ouch. The SEC East is the weakest it has been in decades and you finished at the bottom of it.
Top 25:
1) LSU
2) Houston
3) Alabama
4) Stanford
5) Boise State
6) Arkansas
7) Virginia Tech
8) Oregon
9) Georgia
10) Kansas State
11) Oklahoma State
12) Tulsa
13) Arkansas State
14) Michigan
15) Michigan State
16) Penn State
17) Wisconsin
18) TCU
19) Oklahoma
20) Baylor
21) Nebraska
22) San Diego State
23) West Virginia
24) Clemson
25) BYU
The picks: Only nine games worth looking at this week plus the one for next week. It sorta makes up for the 21 from last week.
-West Virginia at South Florida: While I'm writing this, this game should be starting. I swear I'm not watching, though it won't matter. West Virginia is on a roll and South Florida doesn't have enough in the tank to win this and secure bowl eligibility. WVU by 14.
-Marathon MAC Championship: Ohio vs Northern Illinois in Detroit, MI: Looking at some of the numbers, Ohio has decent offense and defense, Northern Illinois has a good offense and poor defense. Defense wins championships, so Ohio wins this one. Ohio by 4.
-PAC 12 Championship: UCLA at Oregon: The spread on this game is 31.5 points in favor of Oregon. A UCLA win would be an all-time of an upset. It won't happen. Take Oregon and lay the points. Oregon by 35.
-Conference USA Championship: Southern Miss at Houston: Southern Miss only has two losses on the year, but they were horrible losses to Marshall and UAB (combined 15 losses between them). Houston is undefeated. Houston's offense is one of the best, and the defense of Houston is only slightly behind Southern Miss' defense. Houston wins this one easily.
-Texas at Baylor: Hard to believe that Baylor has the better ranking and record going into this game. Texas has a much better defense, Baylor is giving up massive points to everyone. Take out the 48-0 win over FCS Stephen F Austin and Baylor is giving up over 40 to everyone else. Texas wins by 7.
-SEC Championship: LSU vs Georgia in Atlanta, GA: I like to look at stats. I look at overall offense and defense numbers. I look at passing and rushing yards. The only thing UGA is ahead of LSU is in passing yards. Everything else is in LSU's favor. It explains the point spread (LSU -13.5). LSU by 14.
-Bedlam; Oklahoma at Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State will be playing for a possible spot in the BCS Championship game, the Big 12 Title, and state bragging rights. It won't matter. Oklahoma rules this series. Mike "I'm a man! I'm 40!" Gundy has not beaten the Sooners yet and this year won't be any different. OU by 10.
-Dr Pepper ACC Championship: Virginia Tech vs Clemson in Charlotte, NC: Clemson is in full-on late-season swoon mode. It showed badly last week in a loss to South Carolina. Virginia Tech is moving quite along. While the chance is long, VT could make the BCS Championship game and will play like it. VT by 21.
-Big Ten Championship: Wisconsin vs Michigan State in Indianapolis, IN: Sutbhub has over 3000 tickets for sale for this game. Ouch. Anyway, Michigan State beat Wisconsin earlier in the year on a Hail Mary play. To be fair, the game was tied going into the play, the fans on both sides will argue over the replay officials' decision to give the Spartans the touchdown. Still, it means this game should be quite entertaining! The numbers don't look good for Michigan State, the defenses are similarly ranked, but the offense rankings favor the Badgers by far. Wisconsin wins this by 10.
-Army-Navy Game;The Unites States Military Academy vs The United States Naval Academy in Washington DC: This is it for both teams this year. Just bragging rights on the line. Air Force won the Commander-In-Chief's trophy this year. Neither team is going to a bowl game. This might be a fun game to watch next weekend though! Both teams show off great option-based rushing attacks. Navy is stronger overall, and gets the nod from me. Navy by 7.
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