Weekend Picks

[picks in bold]

[i waited too long to pick the BYU @ TCU game...thank god..]

Louisiana Tech @ Clemson
i want to say that they'll cover, but the pain still lingers from what BC did to yall(and my parlay) that weekend.

Virginia @ Duke
this game's gonna be like playing Bond (N64) on slaps-only, Duke wins because i see them choosing Jungle Commando, or maybe Moonranker Elite

Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech
i got nothin..

Ohio State @ Iowa
should be a great game, but it's the year of the Buckeye.

Texas Tech @ Texas A&M
it will be a shootout, but the Ags will eat clock and shit TDs with their running game.

California @ Oregon State
the beavers get pounded (zing?)

Rutgers @ South Florida
i hate hate HATE that Rutgers is ranked and getting so much press, go USF...alas i pick the school from New Jersey, i thought all of the state's football fields were converted to lacrosse anyways..

Michigan @ Minnesota
should be a good matchup of a good running team vs. top ranked run defense.

Navy @ UConn
with these two ground oriented offenses, this game should be the shortest of the whole weekend.

Colorado @ Missouri
Colorado looked good at Georgia last week, but as i say every week..there is no stopping the Mizzou offense

Kansas State @ Baylor
Despite their continuing struggle to run the ball, Baylor is just plain due. They've played some close games against legitamate teams (unlike K-State). If Baylor loses this game, Coach Guy Morriss career and the Bears' bowl hopes could be over

Iowa State vs Northern Iowa
Coming off of two tough losses, Iowa State takes the opportunity to heal up and rebuild some confidence before going back into conference play.

Sam Houston State @ Texas
Texas couldn't get a BYE week like they usually do before the Red River Shootout, so they did the next best thing: they scheduled SHSU

Kansas @ Nebraska
The Kansas team (defense) that stifled Nebraska last year is a mere shadow of itself, add to that their terrible problems when on the road and you get a W for Nebraska. The only thing left to decide about this game is whether or not Kansas can beat the spread.

ScalpEm.com Top 25: 9/27

we have some new friends over at ScalpEm.com and have been invited to interject some Big XII perspective into their weekly Top 25 Poll.

My current Top 25:

1. Ohio State
2. Auburn
3. Louisville
4. USC
5. Nebraska
6. Michigan
7. Florida
8. Tennessee
9. Oklahoma
10. West Virginia
11. Oregon
12. LSU
13. Texas
14. Clemson
15. Mizzou
16. TCU
17. Cal
18. Notre Dame
19. Florida State
20. Iowa
21. Georgia
22. Virginia Tech
23. Texas Tech
24. Texas A&M
25. Penn State

Texas Tech @ Texas A&M: Preview

it's that time of year again. the weather is back down to lower 90s. and you can hear fish and their "spurs" coming from miles away.

The game is looking to be one of the best of the weekend, and quite honestly, the hardest to pick/bet on.

Advantages:

Texas A&M -

• Multiple Offense
  the Ags bring a multiple, well balanced offensive attack, making it very difficult for defenses to prepare. Ball control is a huge key to shutting down a no-huddle spread pass attack like Tech's, the Ags highly ranked rushing offense should prove invaluable.


• Kyle Field
  this weekend's game will be the first capacity game of the season. There is nothing like the directed (literally) energy and voice of the 12th Man, Harrell and the no-huddle offense will find it difficult to change plays at the line and linemen will certainly be making mistakes.


• Stephen McGee
  
  the guy is the second coming of Bucky Richardson Christ.

Texas Tech -

• the Pass
  the Red Raiders average 336 yds passing per game. attempting just under 200 passes, with only 2 INTs on the season. Although the A&M defense's stats against the pass are impressive, they have yet to face a passing blitzkrieg the likes of Texas Tech.

Draw:

• Mental Toughness
  Both teams have found themselves in dogfights going down to the wire (Texas A&M vs Army, Tech @ UTEP), but both teams knew how to pull together and get the win.


• Special Teams
  although A&M's punting has been very impressive at times, both A&M's and Tech's special teams have proven to be woefully inconsistent. The outcome of Saturday's game, like most games, will depend heavily on field position and turnover margin. Special teams are traditionaly responsible for both helping and hurting these two factors.

Prediction:
The game will be close, A&M will devour clock running the triple option 30 times in a row, Tech will survive most of the game on big plays given up by the Aggie secondary. We will see a replay of 2004's thrilling OT victory, Ags Win.



As much as i hate the prospect of this game being moved to Dallas like a lame step-child of the Red River Rivalry SHOOTOUT, I have no problem admitting that Texas Tech is a rival of A&M's. Big XII Rivalries are kind of like a really bad soap opera love triangle. Baylor & Tech want A&M to be their main rival, A&M wishes Texas would look at it like they used to, and Texas & OU are currently having a cross border affair.

With that said, here's some rivalries stuff i never get tired of laughing at.



gets better with age


i can laugh at this one for hours. gah, don't fuck with ol'army ags.


"gooo raaaaaaiiiders!"

LA. Tech: weathering the storm

Texas A&M - 45
LA Tech - 14

after sleeping past my 6:00 AM alarm, i left Coppell and got on the road to CS at about 8:45 am (was in Coppell to watch the bro's game..check the INT) As i got closer and closer, i could tell the weather was going to be a big bag of douche and ruin tailgating plans.

we had the "tailgate" at our house. to be honest, it wasn't too bad. I think i'll trade the campus atmosphere for being able to watch the day's other games on a HD Plasma anytime.

so yeah, we're in our seats when the sky is getting really really dark and the announcer comes on and says that the game is being delayed due to the threat of lightning. 20 mins later, the lightning hits and it's crazy. the announcer gets back on the PA and repeatedly pleas with fans (especially the student side) to please evacuate the stands, saying "For your own safety, we advise that you leave the METALLIC bleachers and seek shelter." As the lightning gets closer, the sky lets loose, and torrential downpour ensues. It's at this point that most of the holdouts still braving the lightning seek shelter underneath their respective decks (unless their seats were already under an overhang). Yet, a few hundred-1000 students remained in their seats scattered throughout the east side of Kyle (note: the band, corps, and yell leaders were all ordered to seek shelter and serve as an example for others to evacuate).
It started in section 233 (my section), the A&M swimming & diving team pulled tickets together, and they started doing yells, soon everyone left braving the rain and lightning on the student side was following the lead of 3 members of the swim team calling the passbacks and conducting the yells.

Soon after seeing a student belly slide across the aTm then get up and Whoop, quickly running away from the cops, the rag tag group of rain yell leaders moved down to the field.

We BTHO LA Tech approx 2007 times, we told an absent bus driver to "SIT DOWN!" prolly 9 times, my Freeb!rds frequent buyer card is just a pile of pulp now, and the 9 on my phone is fried (i just know i'm gonna need to dial 9-1-1 this week). All in all, it was prolly one of my greatest experiences at Kyle Field.

2 Hours Later:
oh yeah, there's still a football game to play.

After such a long delay, with the field lookin muddy, the situation was rife with opportunity for an upset. The 1st quarter did not help assuage my fears, our running game was non-existent, and our O-line was getting humiliated. Yet, never fear, Passing Game is here! Despite certain naysayer's claims, A&M has a ridiculously potent passing attack. I mean, come on..our freakin fullback had 2 TD receptions!

Although there were a few significant offensive and defensive players banged up before..and after (Earvin Taylor), rumor has it most of them will be healthy and ready to start against the other Tech. Texas Tech.




you can't stop this guy

Hump it or Dump it: 9/21

Hump it:

• Football Roadtrips
  despite my soiled pants at the end of the game, San Antonio was awesome. I'm looking forward to ALL of the other away games.


• Halfway to Bowl Eligible!
  As much as people have bitched about our cupcake non-conference schedule, it really does feel good to say "3-0". Oh, and let's not forget that despite the scare against Army, A&M is STILL the #1 Pass Defense (the milking of this misleading stat will continue for as long as possible)


• A&M and West Point cadets find common ground in space flight aspirations:
  

Dump It:

• Refs screwing OU, thus everyone else in Big XII:
  

...sorry crazy week, that's all i got. believe me, i got plenty to hate on, but it's test week and i'm lazy.

[censored]

wtf happened today!?

damn you Bobby Ross.

damn you Mike Hart.

damn you Oregon refs


i can't even begin to process it all right now, must sleep.

Roadtrip: San Antonio cont'd

Day 2:

Hangover? check.

But it's nothin some eggs & sausage can't cure, yummmm. Maybe it's an age factor, but the Riverwalk was a little bit overrated. You could tell it wasn't really a college area, lots of old people (granted they were wearing maroon), and mostly restaurants in the area. Despite all that, we found our way into a Dick's Last Resort (definitely a much younger atmosphere) and proceeded to get throwed. Later we trekked (staggered) half-way across the city to "Sunset Station" for Midnight Yell. "Brad, what the hell is Sunset Station?", turns out it's a dead end street that can hold a few thousand aggies packed into it. Yell was fun, with the exception of the gunt behind us who wouldn't stop screaming "Uncovaahhh!" before all of the yells (of course, she only knew about half of them). Eventually, i asked this little kid next to me if I could wear his hat, but he didn't want it to smell like beer.

So apparently sitting around and watching today's bountiful feast of college football doesn't count as "doing something", so roommate #1's mother and the chicks we brought are dragging us to some nice mall. Roommate #2 and i will sit down at the first sports bar we find and knock down a few more 32oz beers. out.