What I Saw In College Football

It was a relatively tame week in the world of college football this past week, since there weren't too many games going on. The games played were impactful and straightened out the bowl picture.

Auburn and Oregon steamrolled their way into the BCS title game. I do like both teams and do think both the Tigers and Ducks have suspect defenses. I think Cam Newton and the Rally Cats might be a bit too much for the Quack Attack. That's what I'm saying now, because you never know what will happen in a championship game. Will it be a coronation for Newton or will the duck be doing more pushups?

In the Big 12 championship game Oklahoma denied Nebraska the chance to skip town with the conference trophy. The Sooners beat the Huskers 23-20. This is a game Nebraska should've won. The Cornhuskers jumped on Oklahoma early jumping to a 17-0 lead but couldn't put them away. The Sooners, mainly linebacker Travis Lewis, came up with some timely turnovers to stymie Nebraska. Oklahoma will be heading to the Fiesta Bowl to take on Big Least, er, Big East champion Connecticut. The Huskies earned their first trip to a BCS game by beating South Florida 16-13.

Virginia Tech will go to the Orange Bowl to play Stanford. The Hokies punched their BCS ticket by outscoring Florida State 44-33.

The wild WAC ended in a three way tie as Hawaii, Nevada, and Boise State all won to claim a share of the crown. Boise might feel a slight snub, but they'll have to deal with it. On the flip side Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore is a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. I feel Colin Kaepernick should  be there as well.

Pistons Need New Ownership...Now

The search for a buyer for the Detroit Pistons needs to come to an end. It's clearly hurting the team in the office and on the court. It's true that you want an owner that is going to be committed to keeping the team in the Detroit area and it doesn't help that the economy is in the crapper and more billionaires and multi millionaires are keeping a tight grip on their money. I'll explain why this needs to happen and happen fast if the Pistons plan on speeding up the rebuilding process.

First the team needs to find a buyer. Someone that will keep the team here in Detroit. Mike Illitch is still a possibility, I just think he would be spreading himself too thin, also owning the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers. It could work if he keeps Joe Dumars and let him work with Tom Wilson. He would also have to put the right basketball people in place for it to work. It would be a hit with the locals and maybe you wouldn't have all those empty seats dressed up as fans, since it seems that people support an Illitch owned sports entity.

 Tom Gores also is another possibility. He's a Flint native and Michigan State alum so that's a plus. He's talked about wanting to help in the state of Michigan, so the team possibly wouldn't be relocated under his ownership. Here's the problem, he's based in California, so he might want to move the team. Maybe Las Vegas would be his preferred destination. Who knows. Not too many know about the guy, except what I've mentioned above.

This week a there was a report about two separate groups from the Middle East being in negotiations to buy the Pistons. The two groups reportedly are from Qatar and Abu Dhabi, I believe. The two groups are a mystery to me since no one knows anything about them except they have tons of money. I don't think that would be a good fit, because the team would be more of a playtoy to them more than something they actually want to invest any time in. We already have a badly owned team in town and don't need another.

 On the other side of this, does Joe Dumars keep his job if there is new ownership. I would think so. I know he's had a bad run since 2004, but it wasn't like he was free to spend money when Bill Davidson was alive. He really can't do too much now since ownership is in limbo. I do think if there is no sale in the near future that he might opt to resign. This team needs new ownership so it can finally head in a different direction. The team isn't going anywhere right now and is not a threat to make the playoffs anytime soon. I think with the right coach and a few moves to get some younger talent in there the Pistons could actually be a product worth watching. As of now they're on par with some of those bad Lions teams I've grown accustomed to seeing every Sunday.      

Trump Stumps For Leach

Donald Trump is getting in the agent business. Kind of. He has been politicking for former Texas Tech head man Mike Leach to be hired for the vacant Miami job. Trump wanted school president Donna Shalala to hire Leach when they canned Larry Coker. Trump also sent this to Shalala.

When did Trump get involved in the coach hiring process. If all it takes to get some backing is to post his mug on the wall and quote him in a halftime speech or a speech of any kind maybe I ought to do the same. Maybe the Donald can get me hired at Eastern Michigan or a Division III school. 

Trump thinks Leach was wrongly fired at Texas Tech and says that Leach might not be the easiest guy to get along with but is a brilliant guy and a brilliant coach. Leach thinks it would be a great job and a great fit for him. He's already promising ACC championships and full stadiums.

My question is why Minnesota hasn't jumped on this guy yet. That is a team that can really use him. Maybe he doesn't cheat enough for them since it seems that's the only time they're good at anything.

Spartans Need A Good Showing vs.Duke

I know Tom Izzo doesn't really put a premium on early season games, such as the one against Duke tonight. Well Mr. Izzo, this team has to acquit itself well or win tonight. There's one reason and one reason only I feel this way. They gte blown out in these early season showdowns. Think about the North Carolina games the last two years.

There are people that will say "Izzo always wins in March so it doesn't matter". To me it does matter. I understand wanting to measure yourself against the best in the nation. There just has to be a point that you actually start winning some of these early season games. There are some that want to be there in March. I want to be there and win all year. I want to set a tone of dominance. I want my team to feel they can't be beat. Michigan State doesn't have that confidence to be a dominant team. They're good, but they're not as good as they can be. I don't want State to win just because I hate Duke. I want them to tell the rest of America that they are a force to be reckoned with. 

Shannon Was The Fall Guy For The Losses

My personal opinion. Randy Shannon was fired unjustly by Miami. I know there are lots of folks who will disagree, especially fans and supporters of The U. 

Shannon simply didn't win enough to satisfy the appetite of school president Donna Shalala and I would guess numerous boosters. This was after he got the dreaded vote of confidence that seems to doom every coach that gets it. Here's the problem with college athletics, especially football. The president wants to win big. He or she will have boosters and regents in their ear telling them how much the school needs to win. All the while they don't want too much off field controversy and want a decent graduation rate. Shannon fulfilled the last two ( 1 arrest and 3rd best graduation rate), but couldn't win when it mattered most. I'm no great game planner or x's and o's master, but the players were just as responsible for the losses as he was. I know the coach is ultimately the fall guy for what happens on the field. Think about it, the players have admitted they were at fault for Shannon being fired. It wasn't Shannon who threw the game away at Ohio State. I know there was an embarassing loss to Virginia, but if Jacory Harris doesn't get hurt they win that game. The only game I question is the Florida State game where it looked like they didn't show up.

Shannon will get another oppurtunity he will definitely get a look as a defensive coordinator. I think he deserved one more year at Miami. 

Wolverines Notch Good Road Win

After two tough early season losses, the Michigan Wolverines went on the road and beat a pretty good Clemson team 69-61. The game was reminiscent of the NCAA tournament game they played two years ago. Michigan jumped on them early and withstood a second half Clemson surge to get an eight point win in their first true road game of the season.

Freshman Evan Smotrycz and Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Wolverines with 18 and 15 points respectively. Smotrycz also chipped in with six rebounds. Jordan Morgan had eight points and six rebounds, but six of those points came when Clemson mounted a serious charge.

This was the first win for the Wolverines after four straight losses in the Big Ten/ACC challenge. This was a game I had expected them to lose and a game that last year they probably would've lost. Hopefully they can build some momentum off this win and put together a solid season. No one expects them to challenge the upper echelon of the Big Ten, but they also shouldn't be a bottom feeder.

What I Saw In College Football

Out of all the craziness in college football that happened over the weekend, I'll start with the obvious. Auburn. The Tigers staged the comeback of comebacks this season against Alabama. They took Bama's hardest shot, withstood it and pulled out a great win over the Tide. This game reminded me of Drago/Balboa, how Bama started out and rode the home crowd to a 21-0 lead. Then the Tigers came back and stunned all of Tuscaloosa by stealing the win. I don't care what the circumstances are, just give Cam Newton the Heisman already. I'm telling you, this is what Terrelle Pryor should've been. My only concern is that Auburn does show signs of a suspect defense, but somehow gets it together long enough to get some key stops and let the offense takeover.

It'll be strange to not see the Texas longhorns going to a bowl game. Texas A&M was more than happy to drive home that point on Thanksgiving. The Aggies were somehow were relegated to the Cotton Bowl even though they did thump Oklahoma.

Speaking of the Big 12, it'll seem like old times when Nebraska faces Oklahoma in the championship game. The Sooners topped Oklahoma State 47-41 to win the South, which ended in a three way tie. Nebraska drilled Colorado to claim the North. This rivalry has been on the back burner since the Big 12's inception and now we get to see both go into it highly ranked like those great games in the 80's.

Oregon once again overcame early defensive trouble to beat Arizona 48-29. All the Ducks have to do is win the Civil War game against Oregon State to roll into the national championship game undefeated.

UConn, yes UConn is in position to claim the Big East's BCS bid. Thsi is bad business. If they had a rule that a team with more than 3 losses can't participate in a BCS game or rotated the automatic bid to someone with the best record or highest ranking, we wouldn't have this bulljive like TCU going to kick around the Big East for the next five years. No disrespect to UConn, but they got beat by Michigan. Does this mean Michigan is BCS quality? Insert laughs.

Virginia Tech will face Florida State in the ACC title game. All will be right in this conference when Florida State and Miami start kicking everyone around. Viriginia Tech isn't bad, but if you lose to James Madison, you shouldn't be in a BCS game either.

The Big Ten ended in a three way tie only to see Michigan State, get pimped by the system. Under the old rules they'd be going to Pasadena. Under the current set up they get the Texas A&M treatment. Hello Florida. I can understand why Mark Dantonio is upset.     

Michigan get two more weeks of practice. They need all they can get. That game against Ohio State was an embarrasment. In the last three games under Rich Rod's watch they've been outscored 100-24. I believe Rodriguez could've turned this around,but he's too stubborn to realize his own mistakes. If Lloyd Carr left the cupboard bare, he's gonna leave the whole damn house empty.

Nevada picked off Boise State 34-31. I said this would be a difficult game for Boise and I was proven right. I just didn't think their defense would collapse or that kicker Kyle Brotzman would channel his inner Neil O'Donoghue and shank two field goals that would eventually cost the Broncos the game. I guess they'll get an extra home game on the smurf turf.

Notre Dame beat USC for it's first win in 8 tries after Trojans' receiver Ron Johnson dropped a sure touchdown that would've  won the game. Oh well.

A loss to South Florida earned Randy Shannon the axe in Miami. The Canes finished a disappointing 7-5 after starting the season with championship aspirations.