Rose Bowl and Non-BCSs

A question was asked earlier about the Rose Bowl and Non-BCSs. Here's the skinny

In the past, if one of the Rose Bowl's traditional opponents, the Pacific 10 Conference and Big Ten champions, was selected for the national championship game, officials could take the conference's second-place team....Starting with the 2011 game, the Rose Bowl must fill the empty slot with a non-BCS team if that team is ranked No. 12 or higher....But once the Rose Bowl takes one non-BCS team, it has fulfilled its obligation and can revert to the old rules until the current contract expires in 2014.

I believe this is because of the Rose Bowl avoidance of them in the past (i.e., the Rose Bowl is the only major without a non-BCS to play there) so in order for the Rose Bowl to continue to be a part of the BCS it needed to agree to this. So for purposes of this year if Oregon or MSU head off to the Championship game Boise or TCU or Utah will take their spot.

College Football Trend Watching : Week 7

What You Know (A Summary of the Previous Week)
I'm an idiot. I put it big letters Mizzou could knock off OU and that #1 could go down 3 straight weeks. And yet I ignored the warning signs and had OU in the BCS Championship Game. Well Mizzou won and I missed the signs. I suck. Kirk Ferentz pulled a Les Miles and doomed Iowa v. Wisconsin. Auburn's O is for real. MSU loves it's fake punts. The Orangemen are back (well they beat West Virginia)

What You Might Have Missed (Under the Radar Stories)

• Outside of FSU, not a single ACC or Big East Team has fewer than 2 losses. Pitt is the only Big East team undefeated in league play (and they've only played at max 3 games). It's been a down year for great teams in College Football which I suppose translates into Big East/ACC terms as a bad year for mediocre teams because wow...they two conferences suck.
  
• Virginia Tech left for dead after an 0-2 start has won 6 straight and sits 4-0 in conference play. However only 1 of the teams they've beaten during this streak has a winning record. That stops this week as Tech plays (theoretically) the heart of the Coastal Division err teams with winning records (Miami, UNC, G-Tech). What that means? V-Tech with a few more wins could be in a BCS bowl and get another disappointing 10 win season.
• Baylor (who incidentally was beaten by TCU) stands atop the Big 12 South Division with a 3-1 record. Yes you read that right - first place Baylor. How'd they pull it off? Well by not playing anyone. In the next 4 weeks Baylor faces Texas, T Boone Pickens University (Ok State), A&M, and Oklahoma. So don't expect Baylor to last. But how often do I get to type first place Baylor ?
  

Looking Ahead (Games of the Week)
#2 Oregon @ USC - Basically USC's bowl game. Monte Kiffin has struggled versus spread offenses. (strange but true)
# 5 MSU @ #18 Iowa - MSU's last major roadblock to the Rose Bowl and possibly the national championship
#6 Missouri @ #14 Nebraska - Winner will win the Big 12 North. Unlike MSU, if Mizzou wins they still have another tough game in the Big 12 Championship (sponsored by Snapple)

Prediction Time 10/28
Please note if it comes to a 3 way tie in the Big 10 , BCS ranking is final tie breaker (same as the Big 12). So a late loss by MSU should open the door for tOSU or Wisconsin.

BCS Championship: Oregon v. Auburn
Orange Bowl : FSU v. Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl: Alabama v. Wisconsin
Fiesta: Pittsburgh v. Nebraska
Rose Bowl: Boise State v. Michigan State

Sexy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle will remember Mighty's predictions

Week 8 - Super-Bye Week

I still can't understand why the NFL every year has a couple of random weeks where 6 teams take bye-weeks (as opposed to the typical 4 teams). Honestly, if 4 teams take bye weeks, you can get all of the bye weeks done between weeks 4 and 12. Instead, the NFL insists on finishing a little earlier by getting some more teams in. I don't like it because it makes fantasy very difficult.

On to the games!
Manwich Matchup of the Week
Pitt @ New Orleans - Matchup of the last couple of Super Bowl Champs... I really think losing to the Browns is going to motivate the Saints to do big things this week.
Pick: New Orleans

Upset of the Week #1
Washington @ Detroit- The NFL is all about home teams being favored this week... including a 2.5 point favorite Detroit. So... I'll go with Washington.
Pick: Washington

Upset of the Week #2
Green Bay @ Jets - This Jets 5-game winning streak has got to end at some point... plus, the Packers need a statement game.
Pick: Green Bay

Opening Round Playoff Game #8
Teams that have been eliminated: Cleveland, St. Louis, Oakland, Detroit, Buffalo, Kansas City, San Fran
Denver @ San Fran- Well... these teams both have been playing awful and both had high expectations.
Pick: San Fran

Jacksonville @ Dallas- Pick: Dallas
CAR @ ST. Louis- Pick: St. Louis
Miami @ Cincy- Pick: Miami (if they win, they will be 4-0 on the road... and 0-3 at home!)
Buff @ KC- Pick: KC (the Bills will beat either Chicago or Detroit the next 2 weeks).
Tennessee @ SD- Pick: SD
Tampa @ Arizona- Pick: Tampa
Seattle @ Oakland- Pick: Seattle
Minny @ New England- Pick: New England (oooh... Randy Moss already returns to Boston!)
Houston @ Indy- Pick: Indy (revenge for that week 1 loss).

Last Week: 8-6 (back to being below-average)
Season: 59-45 ()
Manwich: 4-3 (Tampa stuck it to the Rams!)
Upset of the Week: 6-3 (I hit both Washington over Chicago and New England over San Diego!).

Skynet Championship Series: Week 2 in the Year 2010

Most underrated by the humans: Missouri (they started the season unranked), Oklahoma (still ranked very highly in the computers), Auburn, Mich St

Most overrated by the humans: Boise St, Oregon, Alabama (ranked much lower in the computers... probably because South Carolina's lost some games since beating Bama?)

2010		SCS	BCS	Sched Rnk	Harris	Coaches
1	auburn	0.71	1	16	3	3
2	missouri	1.25	6	25	8	8
3	mich st	1.79	5	55	5	5
4	tcu	3.99	4	65	4	4
5	oklahoma	4.59	9	6	11	11
6	lsu	6.28	12	21	12	13
7	boise st	7.26	3	85	2	2
8	oregon	8.24	2	119	1	1
9	wisconsin	9.71	10	82	9	9
10	utah	11.12	8	122	7	7
11	ohio st	11.19	11	62	10	10
12	bama	12.49	7	58	6	6
13	stanford	12.50	13	71	13	14
14	nebraska	13.77	14	68	14	12
15	arizona	13.83	15	50	15	16
16	florida st	13.96	16	64	16	15
17	ok st	15.89	17	66	20	20
18	iowa	18.04	18	40	17	19
19	s. carolina	18.17	20	23	19	17
20	arkansas	18.32	19	24	18	18

Are you Saner than an SEC Coach?

If that coach is Derek Dooley...the answer is yes. And I don't care who you are. The answer is always yes. I've watched the video of Tennessee's head coach Derek Dooley's press conference a few times and the number of questions I have about comparing your team to Nazis is really limitless. I'm still not sure what he said or why he said it or what drugs he's on or what drugs he should be on. Watch the video and see if you can make heads or tails of it.

"Right now we're like the Germans in World War II. Here comes the boats, they're coming. You have the binoculars, and it's like, 'Oh, my God, the invasion is coming.' That's what they did, they were in the bunkers. It's coming, they call Rommel -- they can't find Rommel. (Pretending to speak into a radio.) 'What do we do? I'm not doing anything until I get orders.' (Pretends to look through binoculars.) 'Have you gotten Rommel yet?'

"All right, and the Americans were the exact opposite. We hit the beach, and we were on the wrong spot. 'What do we do?' 'I don't know, but these guys are firing and we better hide over there and blow some stuff up to get up there.' They weren't looking for (help). That's where we've got to make that transition.

"I don't want the German people to get upset at me. I'm not attacking them, but that's what happened. You had one group, they weren't worried about what the plan was and orders and all that. When the war hits, things change. You've got to go. You had the other group, and they go, 'Wait a minute. They told us the invasion was way further north' where we had the empty tanks and we were hiding Patton out. 'We weren't ready for this, now what do we do?' 'We better wait until Rommel tells us what to do.'

"I hope I got my names right."

MMBSD: It Stinks

It's Monday which means a time to look back on the week in sports. And by look back I mean being horribly judgmental

Pro Football
The Saints - I suppose the writing should have been on the walls about the Saint. Super Bowl hangover, the curse of the NFC South, the Madden curse, some sort of voodoo curse they are all are there. For the second time in three weeks the Saints lost to a team that was anemic offensively. 2 losses when your defense gives up one offensive TD? Well the answer lies in Brees 8 INTs in the past 3 weeks (note last week he had 6 in the first 7 weeks). Of course the NFC seems to refuse to have a team step up with any level of consistency so it seems impossible to write the Saints off....Yet

Denver- The same can't be said for the Denver who I feel confident in officially writing off. It's seems like last year when Josh Mcdaniels was the toast of the NFL. And then the second half of the season happened. Yesterday Denver got annihilated 59-14 by Oakland. You should never give up 59 points in the NFL and you should never be beaten by Oakland. Those are two basic laws of the land for the past 5 odd years. If you do both you should be fired - out of a cannon. McDaniels gutted the Broncos but all he succeeded in doing was leaving a stinking corpse. Bravo. I hear KC has an opening on its staff for failed Belichek disciples ex-head coaches.


College Football
Cam Newton mania is in full go mode. Auburn is your new #1 in the BCS rankings after Auburn put up over 400 yards rushing on the previous #3 defense in the nation against the rush (formerly LSU). Newton is putting up Tebowesque heisman numbers. Actually better. Newton can achieve the yet to be achieved 2,000 2,000 club (2,000 yards passing - 2,000 yards rushing). Auburn appears to be on collision course for the biggest Iron Bowl (game against Bama) in decades. In fact it could put that rivalry back into the national consciousness (expect the ESPN hype train on why the Iron Bowl is the best rivalry ever to kick up if things stay as expected)

Utah - I try to avoid going after teams that are over-rated by the polls but Utah's case is too egregious to pass up. Yes they are undefeated but the combined record of the teams they have beaten is 14-39. The best win...against Pitt. Sorry beating awful horrible teams simply doesn't make you a viable top 10 team. Look for TCU to stomp them and hopefully put a stop to their paper tiger resume.

Big 10 Michigan State pulled off a come from behind, skin of it's teeth victory against Northwestern this past week. MSU controls its destiny ....or at least to the Rose Bowl. All that really stands in it's way is this week's game against Iowa. After that it's Minnesota (on it's 2nd coach), Purdue (on it's 3rd string QB), and Zombie PSU (brain dead version of the once proud Nittany Lions). It's hard to imagine the Spartans , who have not been to the Rose Bowl since 1966 in a BCS game, but a win at Iowa and it'll be hard not to imagine it happening.

Other
Since I'm trying to avoid the joys of the NBA and other Florida Gator alumni eventsa few notes on sports I'm enjoying

NHL - For those that have followed MMBSD over the years you're well aware of how I root for the BJs (both of the Columbus variety and more generally). Unfortunately Columbus is being, umm cock blocked, by an extremely competitive division. The Red Wings are the Red Wings, the Blackhawks despite an injury to Campbell are tough, but the team I've been most impressed with is Nashville. Despite their starting goalie being out the Predators are 3-0-1. So it's tough sledding for the Mighty BJs.

UFC - Cain Velasquez defeated Brock Lesnar to claim the UFC heavyweight title. That would be shorthand for Cain is now baddest man on the planet. What's more interesting is the marketing and demographics of this. Velasquez is a Mexican-American and UFC has hyped his ethnic heritage in hopes of hooking the boxing loving Hispanic community into the MMA world. It's also hyped towards younger demographics (18-30). While the numbers have not officially come out it's probable that more young people watched the UFC PPV than the Giants winning the pennant. Not to compare which sports are doing well or not but it seems like the growth potential of UFC is fairly impressive and has already moved from niche to mainstream.

Drama Queen

Let me state for the record that I think Pittsburgh Steelers LB James Harrison is one of the best players at his position and, perhaps, one of the best players in the entire NFL.

Let me also state for the record that I don't encourage the kinds of violent hits being discussed by the NFL this week, especially in light of all the mounting scientific evidence coming out these days about concussions and their effects on premature dementia and early-age Alzheimer's.

I understand why NFL defensive players might be wary of any rules changes that will impact the way they play the game and, more importantly, the way the league issues disciplinary action. NFL defensive players' reservations are warranted.

What isn't warranted, however, is the melodramatic posturing that James Harrison put on display yesterday with his retirement talk. Please, cut the crap. You're not retiring. You never truly considered retiring. Don't make like Brett Favre and have us beg you to grace us with your presence.

College Football Trend Watching : Week 6

What You Know (A Summary of the Previous Week)
Wisconsin plowed tOSU, Texas owns Nebraska, Cam Newton is your new heisman front runner, Oregon score 70 on it's bye week, Boise/TCU keep rolling, South Carolina hates winning 2 in a row.

What You Might Have Missed (Under the Radar Stories)

• Florida has now lost 3 games in a row. Yep Urban Meyer and the Gators followed up back to back losses with a 10-7 loss to Miss St (which apparently has a football team). The Gators are now 65th in the country in scoring. It was only 2007 when Florida went 9-4 so Meyer has a history of off years but at current pace this might be a new low for the Meyer-Florida era.
• In the Big 12 there are 2 other undefeated teams in addition to Oklahoma. Missouri and Ok State. Ok State is doing it through offense (3rd in the nation in scoring) while Missouri is doing it via defense (2nd in the nation in points against). While history has tended to show that these 2 schools fail to breakthrough - an upset of Nebraska or OU is definitely in the realm of possible
• Circle Nov 6th on the calendar - TCU and Utah face off. Both are now undefeated. Depending on the hype, circumstances, etc. at minimum it might boast one of them into a BCS game if not past Boise for the darkhorse BCS championship slot

Looking Ahead (Games of the Week)
#1 Oklahoma @ #11 Missouri... 3 straight weeks of #1s going down?
#6 LSU @ #4 Auburn... Elimination match for SEC Championship?
#13 Wisconsin @ #15 Iowa. Crucial Big 10 game

Prediction Time 10/21
With Iowa getting the homefield advantage coupled with tOSU's rash of injuries I have to put Iowa as the favorite to win. The last 2 BCS spost (currently occupied by MSU and Nebraska) are mainly place holders given the max uncertainty but here's the best guess.

BCS Championship: Oregon v. Oklahoma
Orange Bowl : FSU v. Auburn
Sugar Bowl: Alabama v. Michigan State
Fiesta: West Virginia v. Nebraska
Rose Bowl: Boise State v. Iowa

Week 7 - No one has any idea what's happening!

I love how no one in the NFC is better than 4-2... meaning that every team is still well within a shot at a playoff berth. Very exciting stuff.

Bizarro Manwich Matchup of the Week
St. Louis @ Tampa - I have no idea what to make of either team... but someone is going to get their 4th win which is a lot more than I expected them to have combined at this point. Are both of these teams good? Is one of them good? Are neither of them good? I can't tell.
Pick: St. Louis (they keep losing WRs, and finding new ones to replace the old ones!)

Upset of the Week #1
Washington @ Chicago- The Redskins have been playing so well lately, even in the losses.
Pick: Washington

Upset of the Week #2
New England @ SD - This is not a good time for TE Gates, WRs Malcolm Floyd and Naanee to all be suffering injuries at the same time... for the Chargers to win they would have to get a lot of productions from WR4? (P. Crayton?) and WR5? (B. Davis?)
Pick: New England (note: SD is favored by 3 at the time of my writing this... I assume that will shrink come Sunday)

Opening Round Playoff Game #7
Teams that have been eliminated: Cleveland, St. Louis, Oakland, Detroit, Buffalo, Kansas City
San Fran @ CAR - Classic early-elimination game. The loser of this game will have 6 losses... and pretty much be out of the race!
Pick: San Fran

Pitt @ Miami- When I wrote out this game, all I could think of was the Moustache, Dave Wannstedt, who currently coaches Pitt but used to coach the Dolphins. The Dolphins are perhaps the strangest team in the league: they are 0-2 at home and 3-0 on the road. Sadly, I think they are due for another home loss!
Pick: Pitt

Cincy @ ATL- Pick: ATL

Jack@KC- Pick: KC

Philly@Tenn - Pick: Philly

Cleve @ New Orleans- I don't know who's QBing this week for the Browns, I think its McCoy again. It doesn't matter though.
Pick: New Orleans

Buff @ Baltimore- Pick: Baltimore

Ariz @ Seattle- Winner of this game gets sole possession of 1st place in the NFC West. Wow! Before we go touting the attributes of undrafted rookie starter Max Hall, let's remember that it was the defense that scored points to beat the Saints two weeks back, not Max Hall.
Pick: Seattle

Oakland @ Denver- Pick: Denver

Minny @ GB - Pick: GB

Giants @ Dallas- Honestly, the Cowboys are a complete enigma. In terms of Yards per game, they are 3rd in offense, and 4th in defense... yet they have only one win. Granted, the Giants are 7th in offense and 2nd in defense, so by that analysis, this game is a tossup. I'm going with the Cowboys, yet again, because their backs are against the wall and they can't afford another loss.
Pick: Dallas

Last Week: 9-5 (My first "good" week!)
Season: 51-39 (I screwed up last week’s standings)
Manwich: 4-2 (Pats beat the Ravens in OT)
Upset of the Week: 4-3 (I missed on ATL who got stomped on by the Eagles, and the Broncos came up just short. There goes the amazing upset start of 4-1!).

NBA Preview 2010-2011: Everyone's had a facelift

It's almost Halloween meaning... it's time for an NBA Preview to start as the season starts a week from Tuesday! Almost every team has had major changes due to a combination of teams keeping flexibility to try to hit the jackpot in NBA Free Agency.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
3-Boston- (major moves: added Shaq, J. O'Neal, and Delonte West, lost Tony Allen)- Celtics should be able to survive the regular season with Shaq and Jermaine at center until Perkins gets back in February?
8-NJ- (major moves: added rookie PF D. Favors, SF T. Outlaw, SG A. Morrow, PF T. Murphy, PG J. Farmar, ; lost Yi, Courtney Lee, and Chris Douglas-Roberts) - I like the Nets to surprise people and make the playoffs. I think coach Avery Johnson is going to provide an immediate improvement defensively. Plus, Center Brook Lopez is very underrated. Add in the 3-point shooting of newcomers Morrow and Troy Murphy and I think this team should make the playoffs assuming PG Devin Harris starts playing in control again. And he should, because him and coach Avery Johnson are friends from their days together in Dallas.
NY- (major moves: added PF Amare Stoudemire, PG Felton, C Timo Mozgov (from Russia), SG Azubuike, PF A. Randolph, SG R. Mason, ; lost PG C. Duhon, SF A. Harrington, PF D. Lee)- I realize the Knicks got Amare and that's very exciting. However, it's hard to forecast this team. The new starting center, Mozgov, looked pretty good during the summer world championships but I couldn't tell you how good he will be once the NBA grind begins.
Philly- (major moves: added rookie SG E. Turner, C S. Hawes, SF Nocioni,; lost C Dalembert) - They dumped out Dalembert who was in his last season. It was a really dumb trade I thought... as they could have gotten a lot more for Dalembert who is a top-5 defensive center and one of the few people on the planet who was able to go toe-to-toe with Dwight Howard and actually be effective. Oh well. Should be an interesting team, assuming they keep Iguodala alongside Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner... I just think they are so soft inside with crappy centers and a past-his-prime Elton Brand that I can't forecast playoffs.
Toronto- (major moves: added SF L. Kleiza, rookie SF E. Davis, PG Barbosa, ; lost PF/C Bosh, SF/PF Turkoglu) - This is not going to be a good team. Not in the least.

Central Division
4-Chicago- (major moves: added PF Boozer, SG Brewer, SG Korver, PG CJ Watson, lost PF Hakim Warrick, C B Miller, SG Hinrich) - Boozer mysteriously broke his hand at home and no one knows exactly how. His current explanation is that "it was dark and he tripped over a gym bag, resulting in him breaking his hand." I don't believe it. You need more details for me to believe it. Like Brandon Marshall, the WR. He gave an explanation once of how he was wrestling with his brother and fell through a glass coffee table. See, that's believable! Anyways, this is a great team with PG D. Rose, Center J. Noah, PF Boozer, and SF L. Deng. Still can't matchup with Orlando as Howard owns Noah. However, against Miami??? That would be an interesting matchup if it happened in the playoffs.
6-Milwaukee- (major moves: added PF Drew Gooden, SG/SF Corey Maggette, SG Chris Douglas-Roberts) - This was a fantastic team down the stretch last season... until Bogut got injured. Bogut is back and should be ready to go. I'm not sure who will be starting and who won't be now that they added Maggette, but this team should not be taken lightly.
7-Indiana- (major moves: added PG D. Collison, rookie SG L. Stephenson, SG/SF J. Posey, lost PF T. Murphy) - Collison is a major upgrade at PG. Tyler Hansbrough is now the starting PF. Should be a much improved team based on Collison taking over at PG and in the East, this addition should be enough to get the Pacers in.
Cleveland- (major moves: added PG R. Sessions, C R. Hollins, lost Shaq, Z, LeBron, PG/SG Delonte West) - I think the Cavs will be battling for the last playoff spot all season long (assuming they don't deal out Jamison and Mo). This team is much better than the forecast everyone else is saying, i.e. this is not the worst team in the East. Not by a long shot. They should be just below .500 and hit around 40 wins because a) they are going to be running all night long in their new system under Byron Scott and b) they still have some solid players in Jamison, Varejao, Mo, JJ Hickson and super fast PG Ramon Sessions.
Detroit- (major moves: added the corpse of Tracy McGrady, lost the soulless body of Kwame Brown) - It's just an older team (Ben Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton) with some players who don't play defense (Villaneuva, Ben Gordon) and then a few interesting younger players (Jerebko, R. Stuckey, W. Bynum). This is not actually a winning formula.

Southeast Division
1-Miami- (major moves: added LeBron, PF Bosh, SG Mike Miller, C Zydrunas Ilgauskas) - Yes, they have Bosh, Wade, and LeBron. Mike Miller is the best player after that. At Center, they are in trouble. It's their only weakness... but it could really only be exploited by teams that have offensive centers (i.e. Orlando and the Lakers).
2-Orlando- (major moves: added PG Duhon, SF Q. Richardson, ; lost SG/SF Matt Barnes) - Still a great team. I think they are off people's radars for some reason, but they are my pick to wreak havoc in the postseason.
5-Atlanta- (major moves: added rookie SG J. Crawford from Xavier)- Sadly, the worst decision by anyone in free agency may have been ATL's decision to sign Joe Johnson to max money. He's older and he really isn't that dominant. The Hawks will now be stuck for a while with a good team, but I'm not sure they can beat anyone in the top (heat, magic, celtics, bulls) unless they play the celtics.
Washington- (major moves: added rookie PG J. Wall, SG Hinrich, SF Yi, ; lost PG Foye, SG M. Miller) - let's not forget they got Josh Howard for Caron Butler last season, but then Howard tore his ACL 3 games in. Howard is due back in the end of November supposedly. I think they could battle for a playoff spot if Wall plays in control. I'm just not sure because he was rather erratic with his ball control at Kentucky.
Charlotte- (major moves: added PG S. Livingston, lost PG Felton, C Chandler, C Dampier) - Undersized DJ Augustin becomes the starting PG and Nazr Mohammed becomes the starting center. Major downgrades from last year (Felton, Chandler). They still have Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace but that won't be enough to make the playoffs this year.

Western Conference

Mountainous Division
3-Ok City- (major moves: added SG D. Cook, SF M. Peterson, rookie C Aldrich,) - All-World Durant plus super awesome PG Westbrook should bring a division title. Still have some questions at the other positions. Sadly, Jeff Green is a talented PF, but he's outclassed against most PFs. They got some nice play at center at the end of the season from rookie Serge Ibaka and I expect his growth to continue with nice results.
4-Portland- (major moves: added SG W. Matthews, ; lost M. Webster, J. Howard) - Marcus Camby is still prepared to be the starting center while Oden and Pryzbilla return from torn ACLs. Fantastic stacked team otherwise (Roy, Aldridge, Batum, Matthews, A. Miller).
7-Utah- (major moves: added SG R. Bell, C A. Jefferson; lost PF Boozer, SF/SG K. Korver, SG W. Matthews, C Koufos) - because this team is confusing with all of their moves, here is the new starting lineup:
PG - D. Williams, SG R. Bell , C - A. Jefferson, SF - Kirilenko, PF - Millsap. Note that Okur blew out his achilles tendon in the playoffs and probably is not returning until January. I realize they got Al Jefferson, but I'm only putting them in the playoffs, despite losing 3 major players, because Coach Sloan always finds a way to the playoffs.
Denver- (major moves: added SF A. Harrington) - I'm just going to assume Carmelo gets traded and this team ends up falling out of the playoff race.
Minnesota- (major moves: added SF M. Beasley, PG Ridnour, rookie F W. Johnson, C Darko, C Pekovic, C K. Koufos, C/PF A. Tolliver, ; lost C A. Jefferson, PG Sessions, SF Gomes) - Honestly, GM David Kahn is completely insane. Of all the trades he could have made, he swapped out Jefferson for cap savings and for K. Koufos. He could have gotten so much more! I'm not sure what the plan is for this team.

Texas Division
4-Dallas- (major moves: added C Tyson Chandler) - Dallas is a confusing team for me. They have the two of the best defensive centers in the league (Haywood and Chandler). However, they are really old! Here are the starters: PG Kidd, SG C. Butler, C Haywood, PF Dirk, SF S. Marion. I wish they had some younger players. I don't think PG Beaubois is that good because he was just awful defensively. They also still have SG Jason Terry off the bench. I'm only having them win the division by default, because Houston isn't planning on playing Yao enough during the regular season (no back-to-backs) to win enough games.
5-Houston- (major moves: added C B. Miller, SG C. Lee; lost SF/SG T. Ariza) - Well... the Ariza experiment only lasted one season. Putting Lee in the rotation is good for them though because he won't just keep shooting... and this team was able to get SG Kevin Martin at the trade deadline to score points. Yao is planning on playing but no in back-to-backs. I have no idea what will happen with Yao but that will certainly increase or decrease their win production.
San Antonio- (major moves: added PF T. Splitter, ; lost SG R. Mason) - I can't belive I'm doing this... but I'm not putting the Spurs in the playoffs. I'm expecting them to struggle during the season with their age and end up trading PG Tony Parker to rapidly begin their rebuilding process.
Memphis- (major moves: added SG T. Allen, SG X. Henry; lost SG R. Brewer) - This team fought for a playoff spot last season and should be in the mix again this season. I'm just not sure though, will newly anointed All-Star Zach Randolph still play like an All-Star this season?
New Orleans- (major moves: added SF/SG Ariza, SG Bellinelli, ; lost SF M. Peterson, PG D. Collison, SF J. Posey, ) - Sadly, I don't see Chris Paul's team making the playoffs. I love Chris Paul but just adding Trevor Ariza can't be enough.

Pacific Division
1-Lakers- (major moves: added PG S. Blake, SF M. Barnes, C T. Ratliff; lost PG J. Farmar) - Lakers are very good. They've won 2 in a row and have been to 3 straight finals.
2-Phoenix- (major moves: added PF Turkoglu, SF J. Childress, ; lost PF Amare, PF L. Amundson) - I really like this team still! Turkoglu is a great fit for this team and so is Childress (who is just returning from Greece). Surrounding Nash with all of these 3-point shooters should work yet again this season, and they still have big-man 3-point shooter Channing Frye, and let's not forget about the emergence of Goran Dragic as another scoring option (and as someone who can let Nash rest more during the season).
8-Sacramento- (major moves: added C Dalembert, rookie C D. Cousins, ; lost C Hawes, C Brockman, SF Nocioni) - This is my SUPER-DUPER SLEEPER team. Tyreke Evans is entering his 2nd season and should be even better. Plus, picked up Samuel Dalembert, one of the best defensive centers, to go along with Demarcus Cousins, their lottery pick. Last season, this team started out really well before falling flat. In addition, PF Jason Thompson had a solid 2nd season with 12.5 ppg and 8.5 rebounds. SF Omri Casspi also provided immediate help last season. They also have Carl Landry (from the Kevin Martin trade) and he put up crazy numbers for Sacramento (18 ppg and 6.5 rebs). I'm expecting big things from this young team, especially because I'm expecting Tyreke Evans to make the leap to All-Star status.
Clippers- (major moves: added SF R. Gomes, PG Foye; lost PG S. Blake, SF Outlaw, PF D. Gooden) - The Clippers are another team that should be fighting for a playoff spot all season long. I just have no idea what kind of shape Blake Griffin is in, since he hasn't played competitively in 1.5 years.
Golden State- (major moves: added PF D. Lee, rookie C Ekpe Udoh, SF D. Wright, PF L. Amundson; lost SF Maggette, SG Morrow, SG Azubuike, PF A. Randolph, C A. Tolliver, PG CJ Watson) - This team is very hard for me to evaluate as they changed almost all of their players and their coach. I think their new lineup is: PG S. Curry, SG M. Ellis, C Biedrins, SF D. Wright? PF D. Lee. I just don't know what to make of David Lee on this team or if anyone on this team will bother playing defense. Best move of the offseason was firing Coach Don Nelson who literally wasn't trying the last few years!

Playoffs
1st Round
1-Miami over 8-New Jersey - Not a contest.
4-Chicago over 5-Atlanta- Should be fun to watch Noah vs. college teammate Horford.
2-Orlando over 7-Indiana- Could Dr. Hibbert actually annoy Dwight Howard? This could be a fun series.
3-Boston over 6-Milwaukee- I think Milwaukee can give Boston trouble, but Jennings probably won't be able to stop Rondo. (not many people can).
1-Lakers over 8-Sacramento- Will be interesting only because of Dalembert and Cousins. They actually have the big-men to matchup with the Lakers. I have no idea who will guard Kobe though. However, the Lakers' Steve Blake probably can't keep up with Tyreke Evans.
5-Portland over 4-Dallas- No one on Dallas can guard Roy. The defensive centers all cancel each other out in this one (Camby/Oden/Pryzbilla vs. Haywood/Chandler).
2-Phoenix over 7-Utah- Phoenix should crush them.
3-Ok City over 6-Houston- This is an interesting matchup actually.... but I'm going with Durant to continue his dominance.

2nd Round
1-Miami over 4-Chicago- Exciting 7-game series.
2-Orlando over 3-Boston-Exciting 7-game series.
1-Lakers over 5-Portland-Exciting 7-game series, if Oden is healthy.
3-Ok City over 2-Phoenix- Phoenix has no answer for Durant, though Turkoglu may give him some trouble perhaps.

Conf Finals
2-Orlando over 1-Miami - Heat has no answer for Dwight Howard. Orlando can use Pietrus on LeBron, Nelson on Wade. Not sure how they guard Bosh. I hope this series happens, I'd be more excited for this than a Boston-Miami matchup.
1-Lakers over 3-Ok City - Ok City doesn't have the size to handle this.

NBA Finals
2-Orlando over 1-Lakers - Howard destroys all!

All-Gutsy Team
PF - Amare, NY (I'm assuming he puts up silly numbers w/o winning).
SF - Durant, Ok City
C - Dwight Howard, Orlando
SG - Kobe, Lakers
PG - LeBron, Miami

Skynet Championship Series: Season Five

I can't believe it's the 5th season that I've been doing this...

Skynet is back! A wise machine, Agent Smith, once said in the Matrix: “Never send a Human to do a machine’s job.” These inspiring words ring true with the BCS. The time has now come to achieve the BCS purpose – by providing OBJECTIVE rankings. I realize this may be counter to my rooting interests, but it is the only fair way to determine two teams.

So, to be clear, here’s how I devise the standings each week:
1) I take the top 20 of the BCS standings.
2) I input each of the top 20's computer standings from each of 4 computer rankings (Sagarin, Anderson, Colley-Matrix, Wolfe; the other two aren't included because they input human rankings to start and are therefore biased).
3) I let excel calculate the standard deviation for each computer ranking distribution of the top 20. Then, Excel normalizes the distribution, and fits EACH computer ranking onto a 1-20 scale.
4) Finally, the normalized-computer averages are determined (i.e. if Florida is ranked 5.76, 2.55, 2.21, 5.77 in 4 of the polls, which is an average of 4.07, which equals their SCS ranking. This means that according to the polls, they are approximately the 4th-best team in the country).

Most underrated by the humans: Michigan St., Missouri (because they are undefeated?), Ok State (because they are undefeated?)

Most overrated by the humans: Oregon, Boise, Alabama, Ohio St, Iowa!

NOTE: things are a bit wacky in the computers due to the plethora of undefeated teams... but will probably even out once more games are played.

Of course, there is a long time until the end of the season though. And remember, these are not my rankings, they are the rankings of the only objective entity in the universe... Skynet!

2010 Skynet Rankings - Week of 10/18

2010		SCS	BCS	Sched Rnk	Harris	Coaches
1	oklahoma	1.18	1	13	4	3
2	auburn	2.23	4	33	5	5
3	Mich St	2.50	7	53	8	8
4	LSU	2.73	6	28	6	6
5	TCU	4.78	5	77	3	4
6	Missouri	4.87	11	44	16	16
7	boise st	5.01	3	73	2	2
8	oregon	7.62	2	113	1	1
9	Ok St	9.51	14	89	15	15
10	Stanford	9.63	12	29	13	14
11	Utah	11.40	9	126	9	9
12	Alabama	13.74	8	58	7	7
13	Fla St	13.75	17	79	17	17
14	wisconsin	13.89	13	92	11	11
15	Ohio St	14.89	10	75	10	10
16	Arizona	15.14	18	66	18	18
17	Iowa	15.92	15	78	12	12
18	texas	16.86	19	18	22	22
19	Nebraska	16.89	16	97	14	13
20	W. Va.	18.82	20	95	19	19

MMBSD: Hands in the Air

So after 6 weeks every NFC team has at least 2 losses. Meaning if you know who is going to win the NFC you need to wager substantially and not read this blog. Sure there are some bad teams (ahem Panthers) but otherwise on any given Sunday any NFC team seems capable of beating any other team. Hell even the Lions have scored more points than they've given up. I'm throwing up my hands in the air on predictions and just enjoying the ride. Check back in Week 10 to see if there's any more clarity.

On the other hand the AFC seems fairly clearly. Or at least who is in the picture. Ravens, Steelers, Patriots, and Jets seem to be the elite of the AFC. The Pats squeaked by the Ravens in OT at home. A nice win but hardly definitive. Fortunately or unfortunately all of these teams will play during the regular season so a good pecking order heading into the playoffs will be established.

College Football
It's beginning to get that 2007 feel where everyone seems to lose on a non-stop basis. Oregon and OU have the pole positions but there lack of defense is well troubling. Nevada lost to Hawaii meaning Boise has double digit underdogs the rest of the way - hardly a way to ensure a top 2 spot. The conventional (and true wisdom) is that LSU and Auburn control their destiny as an undefeated SEC Champ get's an automatic bid to the mythical BCS championship. Of course they have to play each other (and Bama).

That said it's looking more and more likely like a non-BCS will get a spot in the mythical championship. Why? The voters. The voters have 3 non-BCS in the top 10 for the first time I can remember. The respect is there, the votes are there, all that needs to follow is a few more upsets.....

Finally!

It is incredibly gratifying to me to finally – FINALLY! – see someone perform some sacred cow-tipping and tell it like it is about Eli Manning. Sure, the source is a below-average backup defensive back and sure his one season in New York last year was a complete disaster. But that doesn’t change the verifiable accuracy of what he’s saying.

“You never know what you’re going to get with that guy. You never know if he’s going to come in and make bad decisions; you don’t know if he’s just going to have one of them Peyton Manning games where he lights you up.”

CC Brown has a point. After all, through five games, Manning leads all players (not just QB’s) in turnovers, with an NFL-worst 12 (8 INT/4 FUM). For his career (94 games), Manning has 122 turnovers (96 INT/26 FUM). This is Manning’s seventh season and his sixth as a starter. It is painfully obvious at this point that Manning is not good at protecting the football. How is this even a disputable point?

Manning is a mediocre NFL QB. He’s the very definition of “average” and the personification of mediocrity. His last name affords him the kind of protection from criticism that is otherwise heaped upon turnover-prone QB’s with accuracy and decision-making issues. Although I don’t expect too many more people to stand up and tell the truth, it is somewhat encouraging that at least one person in the NFL can tell us what far too many people refuse to accept. Eli Manning just isn’t that good.

Week 6 – I Have Absolutely No Idea What I’m Doing Here

I think a lot of the NFL teams are saying the same thing right now. I’m picking two upsets per week from now on, because this season is just that wacky. This week, I need to do an article that sets the new speed record… let’s go!

Manwich Matchup of the Week

Baltimore @ New England- Both have only one loss. Transitive property wouldn’t work (New England beat Cincy that beat Baltimore that beat the Jets that beat the Pats). I’m going with the home team because the Pats are coming off of a bye and probably devised new plays the Ravens aren’t expecting now that Moss is gone. Pick: New England

Upset of the Week #1

ATL @ Philly- Pick: ATL

Upset of the Week #2

Jets @ Denver – This is bizarre, but the Jets have won 4 in a row… and this season is wacky, so I’m going with the upset in the thin, cool mountain air. Pick: Denver

Opening Round Playoff Game #6
Teams that have been eliminated: Cleveland, St. Louis, Oakland, Detroit, Buffalo

KC @ Houston – If only because I have no idea what either of these teams are going to do each week. Pick: Houston

SD @ St. Louis- Pick: SD

NO @ Tampa- Pick: NO

Detroit@ NYGiants- Pick: NYG

Seattle @ Chicago- Pick: Chicago

Miami @ GB – Pick: Miami (I’m guessing Rodgers doesn’t play)

Cleve @ Pitt – McCoy is starting for the Browns… we all know what that means. Pick: Pitt by 24

Oakland @ SF – Pick: SF (finally get that elusive win)

Dallas @ Minny – Wow. Battle of unexpected 1-3 teams on Monday Night. Loser is in serious trouble. Pick: Dallas (Favre is in his own personal hell)

Indy @ Washington – Pick: Indy

Tennessee @ Jacksonville – Pick: Tennessee

Last Week: 8-6 (I suck)
Season: 42-34 (I screwed up last week’s standings)
Manwich: 3-2 (Colts beat the Chiefs)
Upset of the Week: 4-1 (Philly beat the 49ers… barely).

College Football Trend Watching : Week 5

What You Know (A Summary of the Previous Week)
Chaos has broken out at the top with Alabama's loss, MSU stopped Shoelaces, Les Miles continues to win contrary to the laws of nature and reason, Stanford shoveled more dirt on USC's grave, Miami (Fl) is nowhere close to being back

What You Might Have Missed (Under the Radar Stories)

• For all the talk of SEC....the real action is in the SEC West. Arkansas, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama are all in the SEC, are all within a game of one another, and save for Bama and Arkansas have all yet to play. In other words coming up is a series of round robin games that could well decide the SEC or Mythical BCS Champion
• If there's currently a team under the radar I think it's Iowa at the moment. Yes, they have a bad loss at Arizona (caused by horrific special teams) but they are ranked #9 and Wisconsin, MSU, and tOSU all are required to visit wherever the Hawkeyes play (I assume there's some sort of stadium but still searching). In all seriousness Iowa is very tough at home and are well positioned for a BCS birth if not Big 10 title.
• Depending on your predilection towards Boise State, you have a reason to be happy/fearful/angry/gassy on the return of V-Tech. They've won 4 in a row and with the toughest team on their schedule being the Hurricanes...look for another 10 win Hokie season

Looking Ahead (Games of the Week)
tOSU at Wisconsin...Night game at Camp Randle...Bielama in Big 10 play is 14-3 at home, 7-10 on the road.
Texas @ Nebraska. Texas v. Nebraska. One last time as Big 12 rivals. For hate sake
Arkansas @ Auburn - Let the SEC West round robin of death continue

Prediction Time 10/13
Ok admittedly I'm throwing stuff at the wall at this point. I'm fairly certain these will be the teams in the BCS but not a clue in what matchups. After thinking it over TCU seems off the national spectrum and given how Big 10 teams travel I think one of them will get the nod over TCU. I'll guess Iowa but MSU and Wisconsin also have legitimate shots.

BCS Championship: Oregon v. Oklahoma
Orange Bowl : Miami v. Auburn
Sugar Bowl: Alabama v. Iowa
Fiesta: West Virginia v. Nebraska
Rose Bowl: Boise State v. Ohio State

MMBSD: Oh the Pain

While the Colonel attempts to find ways to dull the pain of his beloved Reds loss (laudanum? ) here's a few thoughts on the week that was

NFL
I really wish I could come up with some deep thought or truth that I knew was correct about the NFL but I can't. I'm just not certain what is accurate and what is previous perception. Is the entire AFC South at 3-2 bad, mediocre, or good? Is Tampa really better than Dallas given that one is 3-1 and the other 1-3 (and not the one predicted at the start of the year). Hell I'm having picking out a few favorites. If I strain I think the Ravens, Steelers, Pats, and Jets seem like the elite of the league with other teams still needing to prove to get in that category. However that's with my limited game watching, previous seasons, and pure conjecture. I don't particularly remember a season with this much confusion from top to bottom . And I really don't think I can say anything that won't be immediately contradicted next week on the field....

Favre in Trouble? So the NFL is investigating whether Favre sent inappropriate text message (read sent pictures of his genitals) to Jenny Sterger who used to work for the Jets. I'm never certain how pictures of ones dong is a pick up line but the story goes Favre sent the pics to Sterger who sent them to the website deadspin who made it public. I, for one, am glad I'm not investigating it for the NFL but here's hoping that Favre's last season ends in a sex scandal.

College Football

The Old Ball Coach used a bye week to get the Cocks up and ready. Alabama's loss opens the door for well all the other undefeated teams for the BCS Championship not to mention LSU and Auburn for the SEC title (both are a game up on 'Bama in the SEC West). One of the ironies of South Carolina's win is despite having the same record as Alabma (3-1) they're still ranked below them. For all the discussion about why a single game elimination tournament (e.g., playoffs) will tell us who the better team is voters don't seem to embrace that onfield head to head outcomes truly determine the better team.

Sparty Break Thru? Historically a big time game versus a ranked opponent is where MSU chokes away. However a balanced offense and solid defense was more than enough to stop _ichigan and the previously delithium powered Shoelaces. MSU doesn't play tOSU so an easier route for the Spartans to a Big 10 Championship than really any of the other contenders.

2nd Order Wins Strength of schedule ultimately plays a large in the computer and tie breakers and therefore is important for BCS seedings. 2 huge games of note were Oregon State beating Arizona and Florida State beating Miami. The games are important not only for the Pac 10/ACC races but possibly more importantly helps Boise, TCU, and Oklahoma given their previous victories over Oregon State and FSU. Meanwhile those outcomes hurt tOSU as their strength of schedule gets weaker given Miami's loss. As of now the Buckeyes do not have a win over a top 25 team.

Jenny Sterger...not a fan of the penis text

Sports are Dead to Me

Good night and God Bless.

An observation

First off, I have to say that I am none the happy person seeing a team who's payroll is 80 million dollars more than the first professional team beat up on my hometown team in the LDS. What really pisses me off is something that I experienced on Wednesday. I was sitting at my job while trying to assist the workers of the United States. I wanted to listen to my hometown Reds endure a no hitter from a Colorado import to Philly via the Great White North. I went to ESPN radio to try to find the game online. I got some random ESPN radio show that was playing during that time period talking about the butt sex that Tom Brady was not having with Randy Moss or Bill Simmons or some other stupid Boston sports that I did not care about. I proceeded to go to 700 WLW to see if the Reds were being played on there hoping to hear the calming voice of Marty Brennaman (sp) talking about the Reds. Upon going to their website, I found out that the they were not even on WLW. Then finally on my way home, I tried to tune to ESPN radio on my dial and found that it was not available either. What the fuck is going on with the MLB. Does Bud Selig have the rights gods up his butthole that he can't even allow local radio stations to broadcast games. Isn't baseball the sport that people would sit around the only radio in the house and listen to. What has happened to the great American pasttime that has gone the way of McDonalds, Disney and whatever other sponsors there are out there. Bud Selig should be ashamed of himself. I don't care if this is the future of American sports with money being the primary reason we have sports. I think that players like Joe Nuxhall and Warren Spahn would be rolling over in their graves if they found out that fans could not listen to radio broadcasts because of "rights". Why not next year, you have the top two teams with the highest payrolls, the Red Sox and the Yankees play in Beijing, while selling 1.5 million dollar to companies that cause a higher level of obesity in our kids but have professional athletes being their sponsors, play while adorning logos of banks that the federal bailed out because of their selfishness, and giving blow jobs to all the executives and the main writers of the sports network that fuels their pocketbooks. This might be coming from the influence of my Nordic relatives. Who knew that the world's best education and one of the world's happiest people would have such an influence on me. I think I need to start watching international hockey, nordic walking, floor ball, and bandy.

College Football Trend Watching : Week 5

What You Know (A Summary of the Previous Week)
Busy week for grim reaper...Oregon's offense is an unstoppable death machine, Alabama's defense is an unstoppable death machine, not wearing shoelaces makes you an unstoppable death machine, Mark Richt's job security is being run over by a death machine

What You Might Have Missed (Under the Radar Stories)

• It has been 50 years since PSU, Notre Dame, Texas, and USC were all ranked out of the top 25
  
• With Texas dropping out of the top 25, Nebraska is currently slated to face 1 top 25 team (Ok State) during the regular season. Not say Nebraska isn't deserving but a pretty weak schedule makes it difficult to evaluate how good Nebraska is
• USC has all but disappeared from the national radar so it's not surprising that their loss to Washington really didn't much coverage. What is surprising is that Locker, after the previous weeks debacle, put up 400 yards on USC's hapless defense. Remember the recruiting restrictions don't kick in till next year so we might not be mentioning USC in anything other than "potential spoiler" over the next few years.
  
• Iowa's defense absolutely smothered PSU. Partially it's that Penn State's offense sucks, but Iowa's defense outperformed Alabama's D (at least from a yardage perspective). Iowa lost to Arizona due to special teams suckitude and poor o-line play. Iowa's D might well be the best in the Big 10 and therefore shouldn't be ignored.
  

Looking Ahead (Games of the Week)
Michigan State @ Meechigan - In-State rivals, both undefeated, Dantonio back, best game of the Week
Alabama @ South Carolina - Alabama's last major challenge until Auburn. Gamecocks at home and coming off a bye week
LSU @ UF - Honestly I watch LSU because who knows what crazy stuff Les Miles will do next
FSU @ Miami - Hey it only seems like a few years ago that this was one of the best rivalries in college sports. Both are ranked. Umm not sure what else to say about it...


Prediction Time 10/7
Well I sure blew the Stanford thing..consequently Oregon is back to winning the Pac 10. I still expecting them to drop a game before the end of the year. I'm now also expecting Auburn to finish with a better record than UF and therefore get the at-large bid...

BCS Championship: Alabama v. Oklahoma
Orange Bowl : Miami v. Boise State
Sugar Bowl: Auburn v. TCU
Fiesta: West Virginia v. Nebraska
Rose Bowl: Oregon v. Ohio State

Week 5 - Things Are As Wide Open As...

Things are very wide open. As wide open as... [fill in blank with name of whore's name] legs.

Let's get down to business...

Manwich Matchup of the Week
KC @ Indy - This matchup is perplexing to me for a number of reasons... if Indy wins, they will be 3-2, but we still won't be sure as to how authentic KC is. If KC wins and gets to 4-0, we will all be wondering if something is off about the Colts, who would then be at the bottom of their division. When it comes to Xs and Os, you'd have to imagine that Indy can score a lot more points than KC, assuming Dexter McCluster doesn't spring loose for any special team TDs.
Pick: Indy

Upset of the Week
Philly @ SF - I've already got my fantasy team riding on Kevin Kolb, mine as well throw the Upset of the Week on that train also! Honestly, Kolb has not looked sharp so far this season in his limited attempts. All he did was check-down to RBs and TEs throughout last week's game. I'm going to go out on a limb, give Kolb one more chance, and say he puts up some points this weekend and continues San Fran's miserable season. Plus, something tells me that Kolb was pretty lazy about preparing for last week's game as the backup and he should improve since he's preparing as the starter all week long. I realize I'm alleging he wasn't professional, but it's the only way to believe he can perform better this week.
Pick: Philly

Opening Round Playoff Game #5
Teams that have been eliminated: Cleveland, St. Louis, Oakland, Detroit
Jacksonville @ Buffalo- With the Jaguars surprising upset over the Colts last week, they are suddenly 2-2. I don't believe in them at all though and I certainly don't believe in the Bills. This should be a pivotal game... and the loser of this game has no business thinking they could end up making the playoffs!
Pick: Jacksonville

Fantasy Football Game of Interest
Giants @ Houston - There are a lot of interesting players in this game. However, I'm curious if new Texans RB Derrick Ward gets on the field to face his old team.
Pick: Houston

Denver @ Baltimore - The Ravens will have to be careful in this game... as the Broncos have actually been putting up a good number of points.
Pick: Baltimore
St. Louis @ Detroit - I think this is the week the Lions get that elusive victory!
Pick: Detroit
ATL @ Cleveland - Pick: ATL
Tampa @ Cincy - Pick: Cincy
Chicago @ CAR - Pick: Chicago
GB @ Wash - Pick: GB
New Orleans @ Arizona - Pick: New Orleans (Even I can't believe how quickly the Derek Anderson experiment might be ending for Arizona!)
SD @ Oakland- Pick: SD
Tennessee @ Dallas - Pick: Dallas
Minnesota @ Jets - Favre's current team versus the team-that-Favre-was-on-that-no-one-will-remember. Plus, the Vikings just got Randy Moss! Should be an interesting game.
Pick: Jets

Last Week: 8-8 (second time in a row, ouch!)
Season: 34-30
Manwich: 2-2 (Pittsburgh fell short against Baltimore, but they get Roethlisberger back soon)
Upset of the Week: 3-1 (The Broncos did it! They took down the ridiculously inconsistent Tennessee).