Friday, November 28, 2008

Friday 11/28 (Very) Quickie

Alas, those poor Lions -- can't even catch a break on Thanksgiving. (Did Chris Johnson just wrap up NFL Rookie of the Year with yesterday's performance?)

What a comeback week for Donovan McNabb on "short rest" -- it's like all will be forgotten about that whole "benching" stuff, right, Philly fans? 27/39 for 260 yards with 4 TDs and 0 INTs, a 121.7 QB Rating.

The Cowboys needed a game like that. (Although watch those injury reports about DeMarcus Ware and Marion Barber.)

Texas crushes Texas A&M: Despite the dominant "45-35" campaign theme in the stands, it won't help their BCS chances, particularly when Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State. (Computer formulas don't watch TV.) But I think that yesterday's 4-TD, 300-yard, command performance by Colt McCoy should put him back in front of the Heisman race. (Notice how in addition to all but KO'ing Texas Tech's BCS chances, the loss to Oklahama buried Graham Harrell on Heisman watch lists.)

Independent of my Florida biases, I remain torn about how to resolve a 3-way tie in the Big 12 South beyond insisting that coaches reveal their ballots. If you believe in a playoff system, you cannot pick Oklahoma ahead of Texas, no matter what each did against the common opponent, Texas Tech. You must believe in the integrity of head-to-head.

(Now, by that logic, you should put Texas Tech ahead of Texas and Oklahoma ahead of Texas Tech, but I'm going under the assumption that because Texas Tech lost so badly to Oklahoma, they are no longer in the discussion and it is simply between Oklahoma and Texas. OU fans need to keep Texas Tech top-of-mind for voters; Texas fans are hammering head-to-head. It's a fascinating political campaign that they all say they aren't willing to be engaged in, yet both sides are. Wild stuff. Someone's going home unhappy. Wouldn't it be wild if OK St beat Oklahoma and Texas lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with Texas Tech, making the Big 12 South a relatively clean finish? Texas is going all-in on the "head-to-head" thing. If OU loses to OK St, Texas is finished anyway; I guess that's why they are hammering their case in the event of a 3-way tie. They should be, by the way; it's good strategy -- and it works.)

Today in CFB: Boise State hosts rival Fresno and is trying to clinch that 12-0 record. This ain't Ball State. The Broncos are in the BCS Top 10 -- the fact that they will not be included in one of the 4 BCS at-large spots because there happens to be a higher-ranked non-BCS team (Utah) is a joke.

Meanwhile, even with virtually nothing on the line, think West Virginia wants a little payback at Pitt for the way the Panthers obliterated WVU's all-but-assured BCS title-game chances a year ago?

CBB: Maryland upsets Michigan State, and it's fun to be in D.C. to enjoy the vibe on this one. It reminds me of when I was a kid. Meanwhile, so much for that "big" UNC-MSU game. And maybe folks were sleeping on the Terps a little bit.

Fantastic triple-header this afternoon, if all you want to do is sit on the couch recovering from last night: Georgetown-Tennessee at 1:30... Oklahoma-Purdue at 3:30... Maryland-Gonzaga at 5:30 (replacing Michigan St-Gonzaga). Here's your chance to get a look at some great teams and some great players, including Blake Griffin against arguably the best team in the Big Ten. And I have Gonzaga in my Final Four (as long as they're not in the same region as Louisville); it would probably help for me to watch them live.

I love that Allen Iverson skipped practice on Thanksgiving -- like the Pistons didn't know THAT was inevitably going to happen.

I'm glad I didn't cut into my Thanksgiving dinner to go to the Verizon Center to watch the "new-look" Wizards get pasted by the Magic. That said: Dwight Howard is one of those player I would like to see play in person, and his 26-and-14 night leading Orlando backs that up.

-- D.S.

3 comments:

Johnny b said...

No Chris Johnson did not wrap up rookie of the year. That goes to Matt Ryan

Brett said...

Paging Matt Ryan love?

If there is talk of Matt Ryan as MVP then there must be some talk about him being ROY. Plus it's only week 13, and Ryan could lead his team to the playoffs and an NFC South win.

Unknown said...

"(Did Chris Johnson just wrap up NFL Rookie of the Year with yesterday's performance?)""

I still think that Matt Ryan has that one in the bag. Even if Chris Johnson is more deserving, we all know that the quarterback will always get the glory.