This WEek's BlogPoll Top 25 Ballot: LSU, Bama

The top 2 teams in the country are LSU and Alabama -- after watching Bama in person last night, I cannot fathom that any right-minded voter thinks that if they played head-to-head, Alabama wouldn't throttle Oklahoma or Wisconsin or anyone else outside of LSU, who Alabama will probably throttle anyway, en route to a national title.

The reality is that the national championship game for college football this season is Nov. 5, when LSU plays at Alabama. LSU gets their chance; everyone else is battling for the right to get crushed by Bama in the national title game. (Then again, we said the same thing this time last year, right up until Auburn derailed Bama. I just feel like Alabama is on a mission this year.)

DanShanoff.com Ballot - Week 6

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
3	Wisconsin Badgers	2
4	Oklahoma Sooners	-1
5	Boise St. Broncos	-1
6	Stanford Cardinal	--
7	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
8	Oregon Ducks	5
9	Clemson Tigers	7
10	Auburn Tigers	--
11	South Carolina Gamecocks	-3
12	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	5
13	Arkansas Razorbacks	5
14	Texas A&M Aggies	5
15	Houston Cougars	--
16	Texas Longhorns	6
17	West Virginia Mountaineers	4
18	Florida St. Seminoles	5
19	Florida Gators	-5
20	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-9
21	Michigan Wolverines	4
22	Kansas St. Wildcats	--
23	Baylor Bears	-13
24	Virginia Tech Hokies	-12
25	Arizona St. Sun Devils	-1
Dropouts: South Florida Bulls, TCU Horned Frogs

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

10/01 (Gainesville) Quickie

Gainesville, Fla. -- Not (necessarily) because I am actually in Gainesville and going to the game tonight at The Swamp, I have (nearly) convinced myself that the Gators can make this a game.

I'm not saying I think Florida will win -- the memory of last year's beat-down is still too fresh. But this year's team is very different from last year's.

But, and this is scary, I think if everything (everything) breaks right -- a few unlikely turnovers, a tiny crack in the line for Rainey and Demps to scamper through, John Brantley not peeing his pants under pressure -- the Gators can be in the game in the 4th quarter, with the chance to win.

I am far more confident about Wisconsin against fellow Top 10 team Nebraska in Madison, with the Huskers making their real Big Ten debut. I think the Badgers are going to roll -- by 3 TDs or more. Wisconsin -- my preseason pick to run the table and make the national-title game -- is much better than people know from the non-conference blow-out scores. And playing at home... at night... on a national-TV "GameDay" game? It's time for Russell Wilson to go national.

Wish I was that bullish on the Gators. But I'm bullish enough -- which is enough to give me anxious butterflies in my stomach throughout the day until the 8 p.m. kickoff... and enough to leave me on the wrong side of disappointed if the expected happens and the Tide rolls.

-- D.S.

09/30 (Weekend Preview) Quickie

Gainesville, Fla. -- Yesterday night was a welcome break after Wednesday's late-night mayhem.

But now we're back to the most loaded weekend of the sports year: The MLB ALDS and NLDS series start (all four series playing on Saturday) plus NFL Week 4 plus a college football weekend that includes Wisconsin vs. Nebraska and Alabama vs. Florida. Pretty amazing.

A few notes:

MLB Playoff Picks:
Rays over Rangers, Tigers over Yankees. Tigers over Rays.
Phillies over Cards, Brewers over D'backs. Phillies over Brewers.
World Series: Phillies over Tigers

*Terry Francona out in Boston? Theo is saying he isn't going to be fired, but that might just be choosing his words wisely -- Theo isn't lying if they simply don't pick up his contract extension.

*Rays using rookie pitcher Matt Moore for Game 1 on the road in Texas today: As if the Rays weren't likeable enough, this is a wild move. Totally must-see.

*NBA Lockout update: Critical moment today/this weekend to get a season started on time? Who says the owners care about the season starting on time?

*Is Kobe going to Italy? He's interested. The teams are interested. And, in the absence of NBA, you're kind of interested too, right?

*CFB Last Night: South Florida -- a Quickie favorite -- upset by Pitt in a rout. That'll be all for South Florida in my Top 25 ballot.

*CFB Weekend Picks: Wisconsin will throttle Nebraska... Alabama will throttle Florida (ugh, I'll be there)... Virginia Tech is going to beat Clemson in Blacksburg... Arkansas gives Texas A&M a rude intro to life in the SEC... RG3 and Baylor go on the road and crush unbeaten Kansas State... Upset Special: Northwestern wins at Illinois (IF Dan Persa plays 10+ snaps).

*Favorite NFL Week 4 Storylines:
*Bills and Lions going 4-0: Bills at Cincy, Lions at Dallas.
*Games of the Week: Steelers at Texans, Jets at Ravens
*Must-Win: 1-2 Eagles at home vs. 49ers
*Cam Newton Watch: at Chicago -- tough draw.
*Suck for Luck Bowl, Part 1: Vikings at Chiefs
*Set your fantasy lineups!

More later. So much going on at Quickish today that I'm going to encourage you to do more than pop by once a day (which is typically enough in and of itself). I'd come AM, Midday and PM, plus late-night for MLB playoff game reactions.

-- D.S.

"Game 162," Cont'd

Gainesville, Fla.

As thrilling as two "Game 163" playoffs would have been tonight, I am glad things ended the way they did last night -- it could not possibly have been more dramatic than what happened last night.

When the games ended, I was kept awake into the wee hours not by checking Twitter, but simply the power of the games' endings themselves.

After a full day to reflect on it -- particularly to read some of the amazing things that people were inspired to write -- I am convinced it was the most exciting night in the history of regular-season baseball.

-- D.S.

09/29 (Oh My Goodness) Quickie

That was the best -- and certainly the most exciting -- night of baseball I have ever experienced.

Fire Up the DVR: "Catching Hell"

Steve Bartman is one of the most compelling figures in the history of sports.

That's not hyperbole.

Driving the compellingness -- or maybe even compounding it -- is Bartman's disciplined silence since the night it happened.

Maybe it's principled. Or stubborn. I think it's an easy case to make that, more than anything in this era of cheap celebrity, it is admirable.

I wonder if Bartman will eventually need the money and come forward to get paid in the ways we know he would -- for an on-camera interview, for a book, for his life rights to be made into a movie, for marketing endorsements or reality-show appearances.

There are very few things that remain pure in sports -- Bartman's reticence is one of them. It should be celebrated.

The ESPN documentary on Bartman is on tonight. In the meantime, Wayne Drehs has a terrific ESPN.com story on the guy right next to Bartman. Well worth your time to read.

-- D.S.

09/27 (Wildest Card) Quickie

And, finally, that's the end of those "overwhelming odds" the Red Sox maintain their AL Wild Card lead -- it was better than 75% right up until yesterday.

Today? How could they be better than 50/50 -- or even less, given that Boston is choking to death, the Yankees seem content to tank and let the Rays bump out their rival and, even if they remain tied, the one-game playoff would be held in St. Pete?

Very few things in sports are as dramatic as the unprecedented evaporation of a seemingly impossible-to-lose lead in the standings. Partly, it's because it is the Red Sox that are choking (and doing it to the low-budget Rays); partly, it's because mathematically it IS so improbable; partly, it's the fact that it slowly unfolds over a month, with the choking team having a dozen chances to fix things -- even once, which would have been enough to hold off the Rays. (I love the rumor the Red Sox might try to trade for a starter for Game 162; even if that would never happen, I love that it is even just a rumor.)

The MLB playoffs have started already -- tonight and tomorrow (and Thursday), it's a must-follow.

More:

*Ozzie Guillen quits/gets fired, apparently headed to Miami: It was long past time for a break-up. Meanwhile, the Marlins get a face for the franchise for it's re-branding year.

*Cowboys, Romo survive nearly unwatchable game with the Redskins: The national primetime games so far had been mostly amazing. Last night was terrible, on both sides. Let's be real: Neither of these teams has any chance to do anything special this year.

*Braves fending off the Cardinals: Barely. Just barely. Would love to see ATL choke away their Wild Card lead, too.

Check out Quickish all day for Wild Card mania, the usual Tuesday sneak-preview of this week's SI magazine features and more.

-- D.S.

09/26 (Monday) Quickie

*Peyton Manning is out until 2012: There is no reason the Colts shouldn't simply tank the final 13 games of the season, secure Andrew Luck and ensure they have a succession plan in place.

*Bills bandwagon: Everyone is on it! The only bandwagon that might be bigger is the Lions bandwagon, and that's just because Detroit is just a few seasons removed from 0-16, making it one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NFL history.

*MNF tonight: I'm no Redskins fan, but I hate the Cowboys. That, and I'm partial to Rex Grossman even if everyone else mocks him. Redskins at 3-0? Wow.

*CFB: LSU is No. 1 in the AP poll. I cannot for the life of me figure out how anyone who follows college football would rank Oklahoma ahead of LSU, given the schedule LSU has played already. Looking ahead to next week, Wisconsin is going to establish itself as a bonafide national-title contender by throttling Nebraska, and Alabama is going to affirm its place as a national-title contender by waxing Florida in Gainesville.

*MLB Wild Card: The Red Sox avoided more collapse by winning last night, but don't discount what I've been saying for weeks -- the Yankees intentionally tanking against the Rays in these final three games. The big problem for New York and Tampa is that the Orioles are no bet to take all three (or even 2 of 3) from the Red Sox.

(Meanwhile, this John Lackey thing is insane -- he was a moron to tee off on baseball media for the pre-game text about him divorcing his wife, who is battling cancer, when it was TMZ that texted him. Meanwhile, why on earth would a starting pitcher getting ready to concentrate on his game put that concentration at risk by looking at his phone at all? Shouldn't they give that to the team media staff? Or just turn it off until after the game?)

*New Jersey Nets will become the Brooklyn... Nets: It's fine. A new name would goose interest, but I like the old name. (I'm still very partial to my idea for the Islanders coming to Brooklyn and renaming the Dynamo; that would have totally worked for the hoops team.)

More later. Check out Quickish -- great day of NFL analysis ahead!

-- D.S.

This Week's BlogPoll Top 25 Ballot: LSU, Bama

I don't see how any voter -- cough, coaches! -- could pick Oklahoma ahead of LSU, given the Tigers' jaw-dropping body of work, with wins (road wins!) over quality teams (teams, plural!) throughout September. And that doesn't even take into consideration the ludicrous idea that anyone who picks Oklahoma at No. 1 really thinks that the Sooners would win a head-to-head match-up with LSU (or Alabama).

The first month of the season made it clear that LSU and Alabama are elite -- if both get through October without losing, as expected, they play each other the first week of November.

It's a shame that the loser of their game will automatically be slotted behind Oklahoma or Wisconsin or any other still-unbeaten team, because either would throttle the other would-be contenders. Then again, none of those other contenders control their own destiny like LSU and 'Bama. That's the way it works in college football and the SEC.

Here's this week's ballot, where the top matters a lot more than the jumbled mess near the end:

DanShanoff.com Ballot - Week 5

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	2
3	Oklahoma Sooners	-1
4	Boise St. Broncos	-1
5	Wisconsin Badgers	--
6	Stanford Cardinal	--
7	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	10
8	South Carolina Gamecocks	2
9	South Florida Bulls	-2
10	Baylor Bears	2
11	Nebraska Cornhuskers	4
12	Virginia Tech Hokies	1
13	Oregon Ducks	-2
14	Florida Gators	4
15	Houston Cougars	-1
16	Clemson Tigers	4
17	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	2
18	Arkansas Razorbacks	-10
19	Texas A&M Aggies	-3
20	TCU Horned Frogs	4
21	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
22	Texas Longhorns	1
23	Florida St. Seminoles	-14
24	Arizona St. Sun Devils	--
25	Michigan Wolverines	--
Dropouts: Fla. International Golden Panthers, Vanderbilt Commodores

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

09/23 (Moneyball) Quickie

I was/am a big fan of "Moneyball" the book, if only because it made the notion of statistical analysis in baseball so accessible and its value so easy to understand.

There's a lot more to the book than that, of course, starting with the idea that it's not really about stats -- it's about identifying and exploiting inefficiencies in a market, which has been a principle that I've built my career around, with the Daily Quickie and Quickish.com being the best examples.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I love the curated coverage of the movie and the topic over at Quickish -- check out our "Moneyball" stream; there's some terrific stuff there.

I'm back in New York this weekend for the 4th "Blogs With Balls" conference -- I'm pushing for a name change, because it doesn't appropriately cover the breadth of the event -- and my panel is, on its face, about whether "Blogging is dead." But really, if I can pull it together as the moderator, it's about "Moneyball" -- where are the inefficiencies in sports media and how have they recently been exploited (and which are still there to exploit). Quickish will still be rolling all weekend.

Meanwhile...

*CFB Weekend: Some great games, led with a "Top 10 vs. Top 10" between Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, the winner of which will likely vault into my Top 5... LSU gets yet another chance to showcase itself against quality comp at West Virginia... Arkansas at Alabama is strong on paper, but Bama will showcase just how good it's D is in an easy win... Upset Watch: San Diego State over Michigan (but not Vandy over South Carolina).

*NFL Week 3:
(1) Will the concussion impact Vick? (Yes.)
(2) Can the Bills hang with the Pats? (No.)
(3) Will Cam Newton throw for 400+ yards? (No, but he'll win.)
(4) How bad will the Colts lose to the Steelers in Indy? (Very.)
5) Game of the Week: Falcons at Bucs.

*MLB Wild Card Watch: Nothing is more exciting than the idea that the Rays might come out of the weekend ahead of the Red Sox in the Wild Card standings. If that happens, I could see the Yankees tanking against the Rays to ensure their rival gets shut out of the playoffs.

(Tough break for Cardinals fans: The team did just enough to get hopes up -- with a 6-2 lead heading into the 9th yesterday, they could have entered the weekend just 1 GB the Braves -- only to screw it up and likely snuff out the improbable leapfrog. But you never know!)

*NBA Lockout: Does the decision to not start training camp and cancel some preseason games surprise anyone? BTW: I disagree with the notion that a shortened season would suck a la '99. Oh, the play on the court might be a little ragged, but I'd predict that TV ratings would be up over last season in a "sprint-season" scenario.

*College realignment: Big 12 axes Dan Beebe, and apparently all is right in the world? I'm still waiting for a good reason why "super-conferences" are such a terrible idea. Wouldn't 4 16-team leagues create a de facto playoff quarterfinal layer for the conference-title games, which could easily be followed by a seeded 4-team semifinal playoff, which would basically yield a "plus-one" title game? (I hate the "plus-one" idea, fwiw.)

Enjoy your weekend -- should be a fun one! Be sure to check out Quickish all day (and all weekend).

-- D.S.

09/21 (Midweek) Quickie

As a recent convert to Red Zone Channel obsession, it was great to see this New York Times profile of the service today.

Meanwhile:

*Pac-12 spurns expansion: It sends Oklahoma and Texas back to the Big 12. It was a stinging rebuke of Texas' TV network. It was yet another brilliant move by Pac-12 commish Larry Scott, who zagged toward restraint when everyone else was busy zigging toward panic.

*Red Sox Panic Watch: Needless to say, the Red Sox are damn lucky the Yankees haven't decided (yet) to tank against the Rays in the hopes of bumping their rival out of the playoffs. (Yes: Yet.)

*The Big East schools reaffirm their commitment: Well, not Syracuse and Pitt, obviously. But the rest of them -- the ones that don't really matter in football (although I really like what South Florida is doing). Love the idea of the Big East adding Navy.

*Will Mike Vick play in Week 3 against the Giants? That's the presumption, but with concussions, you never know. I think he plays, but it's a mistake -- he's one more hit from being out for way more than a week. And the Giants are so flimsy right now, even backup QB Mike Kafka could carve them up.

*Metta World Peace booted from "DWTS": Not surprising. It's on you, Hope Solo.

-- D.S.

09/20 (Tuesday) Quickie

"Moneyball" and Brad Pitt are on the cover of this week's SI. As usual, a year ago, this was talked about as a lark; now, it's THE movie release of the month.

NCAA under pressure: Jeff MacGregor has a provocative column on ESPN.com about imploding the NCAA. The easiest solution is to simply create a true minor-league for pro football that takes the best potential-pro players out of the college system and puts them in a paid training program, leaving everyone else comfortable with the deal they are getting.

NCAA realignment: I like Dan Wetzel's idea of Notre Dame joining the ACC, but it still feels like the Big Ten is more realistic.

Mariano Rivera sets the career saves record: I like the takes from Jayson Stark and Joe Posnanski for historical perspective.

Red Sox split with O's, still 2 games up from the Rays: It's not over yet, by any stretch. But every day they remain up 2 games makes it harder for the Rays to catch up. Meanwhile, could the Braves actually lose their seemingly insurmountable Wild Card lead to the Cardinals? Even less likely than the Rays catching the Red Sox, but the drama is welcome.

Giants beat Rams on MNF: Zzz.

College hoops recruiting: Huge win for UCLA to get Kyle Anderson, the No. 2 recruit in the country. Hope he enjoys slow-tempo offense and grinding defense. (Then again, Ben Howland has a nice track record prepping players for NBA success. Anderson is clearly a one-and-done.)

If you didn't check out Quickish yesterday, it was loaded with phenomenal NFL recommendations. Tuesdays are fun because we showcase the best pieces from this week's SI magazine way before SI puts them on SI.com. So come by -- and tell a friend or two!

-- D.S.

09/19 (Monday) Quickie

Fast, fast, fast....

*Big winner of NFL Week 2: Tony Romo. After last week's fiasco, he earns the "gritty" label from erstwhile haters for leading the Cowboys to a W with a broken rib.

(Other contenders: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Ryan, the holy s---t Lions, Josh Freeman, Cam Newton.)

*Big loser of NFL Week 2: Mike Vick. Between the concussion and pointing at the scoreboard and ultimately losing the game, it was a less-than-ideal ATL homecoming for Vick.

(Other contenders: The Chiefs, Tebow as a WR, the Ravens' dud vs. Tennessee, Luke McCown and any fantasy owner who had Jamaal Charles.)

*Colts "Suck for Luck" Watch: What will it take for the team to realize that the fans would be THRILLED to go 0-16 and secure Andrew Luck, rather than muddle through a lost season at 4-12 -- if they're lucky! Next week vs. Pittsburgh is going to be a massacre, but the upside could be that everyone realizes that tanking the season is entirely the way to go.

*Rays beat Red Sox, now 2 GB for Wild Card: I honestly think that the Yankees should tank a few games against Tampa to help the Rays vault Boston. NY needs to consider the competitive value -- short-term and long-term -- of a Boston collapse.

*Justin Verlander wins No. 24: His bid for a 25th win is one of the must-see events of the week in sports.

*Floyd Mayweather: Are you on the side of "He sucks; it was a sucker-punch" or the side of "Protect yourself at all times." I think I fall in the latter.

*Oklahoma is No. 1 with the pollsters: They were No. 1 going into the weekend and came away with a win at FSU. This isn't surprising. LSU still has a much stronger resume. (And let's just consider for a second: Does anyone think Oklahoma would beat LSU head-to-head?)

*Realignment: I have no problems with realignment, be it the ACC poaching Pitt and Syracuse (though it sounds like they were entirely willing) or the Pac-12 doing a deal with Texas and Oklahoma et al, consequently either killing the Big 12 or scattering its members wherever. I have more problems with the folks griping that this is somehow killing college football or college basketball.

It's not, and it's a stunning lack of faith in the power of each sport to push that line. College football will be fine; college hoops will be totally fine -- as long as there's a bracket in March, college hoops will be totally fine. I have yet to read or hear a compelling argument or evidence why realignment is inherently bad for the sport.

*Pop culture: Congrats to "Friday Night Lights" for getting Kyle Chandler a "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series" Emmy and another one for Best Writing in a Dramatic Series.

-- D.S.

This Week's BlogPoll Top 25 Ballot: LSU, Okla

Based almost entirely on the season so far, I think the top two teams in the country are obvious this week: LSU and Oklahoma.

LSU complemented its season-opening win over Oregon with a win at Mississippi State -- no easy feat. Oklahoma merely went into Tallahassee and out-slugged FSU.

There is room for more statements next week: Alabama plays Arkansas, Oklahoma State is at Texas A&M, Vandy at South Carolina, USC at Arizona State and yet another challenge for LSU, at West Virginia.

Here is the latest BlogPoll ballot. As always, a work in progress:

DanShanoff.com Ballot - Week 4

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Oklahoma Sooners	2
3	Boise St. Broncos	-1
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	-1
5	Wisconsin Badgers	--
6	Stanford Cardinal	1
7	South Florida Bulls	2
8	Arkansas Razorbacks	5
9	Florida St. Seminoles	-3
10	South Carolina Gamecocks	--
11	Oregon Ducks	8
12	Baylor Bears	-4
13	Virginia Tech Hokies	-2
14	Houston Cougars	-2
15	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-1
16	Texas A&M Aggies	-1
17	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-1
18	Florida Gators	--
19	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	--
20	Clemson Tigers	--
21	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
22	Fla. International Golden Panthers	3
23	Texas Longhorns	--
24	TCU Horned Frogs	-4
25	Vanderbilt Commodores	--
Dropouts: Auburn Tigers, Mississippi St. Bulldogs, Michigan St. Spartans, Arizona St. Sun Devils, USC Trojans

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

09/18 (Sunday) Quickie

*Protect yourself at all times: That's all you need to know about the ending to Mayweather-Ortiz.

*ACC gets Syracuse, Pitt: I simply can't get aggrieved about conference realignment.

*RIP Dave Gavitt: The most influential leader in college basketball history? He founded the Big East -- the boldest, most radical, most commercialized realignment idea in the history of college sports, before or since. All of these folks clucking about realignment today are seemingly fans of Gavitt -- as they should be -- but if they were around to be pundits at the time the Big East was founded, I'm sure they would be griping "TEARING AT THE FABRIC OF THE GAME!" Give me a break. If Gavitt has a legacy with what he created in the Big East, it is precisely what we're seeing now: Teams and leagues moving because of the power of TV money. There is nothing inherently wrong with it.

*CFB Saturday: Can't deny how strong that win was for Oklahoma at Florida State. Unsure the resume tops LSU, but it certainly will affirm OU's status at No. 1 for those who already had them there. Otherwise, the most notable results of the day were Miami throttling an obviously overrated Ohio State, Clemson giving Auburn the loss we all thought has been coming since late 2009 and South Carolina nearly losing at home to Navy.

*NFL Today: Can't wait to settle in with Red Zone Channel, my new favorite thing. Don't forget to set your fantasy lineups.

-- D.S.

09/17 (Gameday) Quickie

Kicked off a college football gameday with my first experience with the suburban soccer experience -- my 5-year-old joined a league. I wore my swaggiest mom jeans to the first day.

The big story is Pitt and Syracuse bolting the Big East for the ACC. You're hearing a lot of griping from college hoops pundits about the woeful disservice to the Big East's tradition.

I grew up on Big East hoops in the 1980s -- its glory days. But for as big as the NCAA Tournament is, college hoops is a trifle compared to college football.

The analogue is the power of the NBA versus the power of the NFL; in other words: It's not even close. Again: I'm not dismissing the sport or the power of March Madness.

I'm just saying that college football is king in college sports -- basketball is the fun diversion between the end of the college football season and the start of spring practice.

What I'm watching:
*Noon: Auburn-Clemson (sneaking peeks at WVU-Maryland)
*3:30: Florida-Tennessee (sneaking peeks at N'western-Army)
*8: Oklahoma-Florida State -- one of the games of the year.

Enjoy the day!

-- D.S.

09/16 (Weekend Picks) Quickie

This weekend's headlines: Mike Vick will lose in his Atlanta homecoming... Florida State takes a BCS pole position with a win over Oklahoma... The Rays catch the Red Sox...

Saturday: Oklahoma at Florida State is one of the Top 3 games of the season, in large part because it has national-title implications. Forget what other people are saying -- the loser of this game is out of BCS title-game contention (unless every other team takes a loss, which isn't happening).

I shouldn't be buying FSU, but I am: Home-field advantage is huge, the motivation of last year's beat-down is significant and I'm convinced that Oklahoma is, as usual, overrated. It will be a breakthrough win for "FSU 2.0" and the Jimbo Fisher Era.

That's a big enough pick that it doesn't bother me that I'm not seeing any other upsets in the Top 25 this week. (I'm intrigued by Toledo at home tonight against Boise State, but Boise plays great in challenge games like this. Tennessee will keep things tight at Florida, but it'll be a UF win. Ohio State will roll Miami. And I think Maryland has a shot at upending West Virginia.)

(Last night: Unsurprising that LSU beat Mississippi State in Starkville, but it's a huge win -- how many other national contenders can claim that big of a win on the road, not to mention LSU's season-opening win over Oregon. There's a temptation to install the OU-FSU winnner at No. 1, but no one can match the ranking resume of LSU right now.)

Sunday: Vick's ATL homecoming is the biggest story of the weekend (although if you strip away the off-field storyline, Pats-Chargers seems like an amazing game), but there are plenty of others: Can the Bills and Lions zip out to 2-0? Was the Colts' Week 1 an anomaly or the new standard? Donovan McNabb can't play worse, can he? Must-win for the Steelers? Anyone not on the Rex Grossman bandwagon? And, of course, how will Cam Newton do?

Picks: NO d. CHI, BUF d. OAK, DET d. KC, BAL d. @TEN, IND d. CLE, TB d. @MIN, NYJ d. JAX, PIT d. SEA, WSH d. ARI, GB d. @CAR, DAL d. @SF, DEN d. CIN, MIA d. HOU, NE d. SD, ATL d. PHI, NYG d. STL. (LW: 10-6, YTD: 10-6).

MLB: The Rays won at Fenway last night and they are 3 games behind the Red Sox with 3 still to play in Boston. There isn't much room for error for Tampa, although winning 2 of the next 3 rather than sweeping still leaves them in shouting distance. I'm struck by the idea that there's a compelling argument for the Yankees to tank their remaining games against the Rays in order to ensure the Red Sox miss the playoffs.

Quickish is rolling all day, all weekend, all the time. Pop by to catch up quickly on the best takes on the biggest stories.

-- D.S.

09/14 (Mid-Week) Quickie

Today's Name to Know: Glen Rice, apparently.

Mariano Rivera: 600 saves. You can dismiss saves as a statistic and closers as a category, but it's hard to ignore that Rivera is the greatest at his job in the history of baseball.

Tim Wakefield: 200 wins. I'm a little obsessed with the "200 is the new 300" idea -- that no pitcher will ever reach 300 wins... and it's possible no pitcher will ever reach 250.

Roy Halladay is at 186. He'd need 3-4 more seasons at 15-20 wins each. Doable. Ditto for CC Sabathia, who is at 176. If you think Justin Verlander can win 20 games a year for the next 8 years (or 15 a year for the next 10), he might.

In fact, when you look at the list, aside from that handful of pitchers above, no one reasonable is even close... to reaching 200. In 10 years, the 200-win milestone will be much more impressive.

Speaking of Verlander: That's 23 wins. If you enjoy a "We'll never see a [...] again" fetish, the "We'll never see a 25-game winner again" milestone might be going down in two weeks.

NBA Lockout: We're so far from critical deadlines that shrieking yesterday that we might lose the season is absurdly premature. Talk to me in late October.

Meanwhile, avid NBA fans and pundits don't want to acknowledge this, but if the season didn't start until January, TV ratings and fan interest would go... up. Way up. In fact, as long as the Heat are in the Finals, ratings for the championship series will go up, too, no matter when the season starts.

It's a much bigger problem for the NBA if it's Grizzlies-Magic in the NBA Finals than if the season tips in '12.

-- D.S.

09/13 (Brady) Quickie

Well, then: Tom Brady. What Brady displayed last night was a master class on how to be a quarterback.

Novak Djokovic is incredible, having one of the Top 5 seasons in men's tennis history. The match yesterday with Nadal was jaw-dropping, even in what turned out to be mostly a rout.

The Broncos are terrible: If it wasn't obvious before (and it should have been), John Fox is not a very good coach. His archaic "Run first! Stop the run!" system failed on both counts. Meanwhile, if Kyle Orton was going to be ineffective anyway, they might as well have played Tebow. (Don't let Orton's 300 passing yards fool you; his INT and horrible fumble defined his game.)

Sebastian Janikowski!

MLB: How can you not be rooting for the Rays to catch the Red Sox at this point?

CFB: So Texas is reduced to begging Oklahoma to stay in the Big 12? OU ain't staying, but it would be amusing if they would demand that Texas rename the Longhorn Network the "Red River Network" and relocate the headquarters from Austin to Norman.

Oh, cripes, Manny. He makes it so hard to be a fan.

NBA: Rick Adelman feels like a terrible fit for a young, potentially exciting team like the T'wolves. I guess you could make a comparison to the young exciting Kings of the early 2000s, but Adelman ain't spry anymore. (Yes, yes: He brings "professionalism"; he's also a coaching re-tread.)

Serena fined $2K: Deadspin's Emma Carmichael has a really smart take on all this that I haven't seen from anyone else.

Yesterday was an amazing day in sports -- NFL reactions all morning, the tennis match in the late-afternoon/early-evening and the NFL double-header last night. Today is a bit slower, so take a breath. Quickish has you covered with all the best must-reads. Pop by!

-- D.S.

An Entirely Fair Question

If you were a Colts fan, would you trade a 0-16 season in 2011 (a season you presumably already know is lost anyway, whether it's 0-16 or 4-12 or even 8-8) in exchange for locking in Andrew Luck as your franchise QB from, say, 2014-2025 and beyond?

It strikes me that the Colts are in a uniquely luxurious position to make chicken salad out of chicken s--t: If the fans (and almost certainly the players and absolutely positively the execs) know the season is down the drain anyway, you can think about the long-term in a way that other would-be Luck tankers can't.

Who cares if you go 0-16 in 2011 if you're going to win between 11 and 14 games a year for the next decade and a half, precisely because you were bold enough to recognize that a single season -- when you were going to suck anyway -- is worth sacrificing for 10 subsequent seasons of success.

UPDATE: Via a leading Colts blog, apparently there's a "#suckforluck" hashtag on Twitter. I fully support that there's a part of the fan base on board with the strategy.

09/12 (Early Edition) Quickie

With 9/11 commemoration in the backdrop everywhere, what was the on-field story of Sunday?

Go F--- Yourselves.

"Go F--- Yourselves," Part 1: For its combination of backstory and (if you ask the "experts") improbability, it had to be Cam Newton's record-setting debut, which doubled as one of the great "Go F--- Yourselves" performances in NFL history.

"Go F--- Yourselves," Part 2: Texans wax the Colts, who had been a perennial nemesis. It was cathartic, but unless Houston wins the division, it was superficial. We knew Indy would suck without Peyton Manning, but they got eviscerated. We're one step closer to the league eventually naming the MVP trophy for Peyton Manning. After today, I'm not sure anyone would argue.

"Go F--- Yourselves," Part 3: With every forced turnover, the Ravens gleefully rubbed the Steelers' nose in today's thrashing. It doesn't make up for Baltimore's loss to Pittsburgh in the playoffs last year -- only a 2011 playoff exorcism will make up for that -- but it had to have felt good to give that kind of a beat-down to the reigning conference champs (and division rival).

Checking in on the "Dream Team": 1-0. Should that be all that matters? (How about Michael Vick nearly claiming the "double-triple" -- triple-digits in passing and rushing yards (only a couple end-of-game kneels kept him from cracking 100 rushing).

News from other bandwagons: Wow, the Falcons looked terrible. That's gotta be one of the more vicious SI jinxes (they were the mag's preseason pick to win the Super Bowl) in a while.

Fantasy Studs:
QB Matt Stafford: Elite.
RB Ben Tate: Arian who?
WR Steve Smith: He's back!
TE Scott Chandler: Still available?(!)

Dud of the Day: Donovan McNabb. (Runner-up: Chris Johnson)

You have to wonder if...: Jim Harbaugh felt bittersweet about today's win, which may have eliminated the 49ers from contention for Andrew Luck.

Unlikely Hero of the Day: Rex Grossman, who would like a word with the haters.

All in all, more than enough interesting storylines to get things off to a fascinating start.

-- D.S.

This Week's BlogPoll Top 25 Ballot: Status Quo

Nothing happened this week to dislodge LSU at No. 1 -- if anything, Oregon's return to ass-kickery made LSU even stronger (as did Boise State's defense on Georgia, which had no trouble running up points on South Carolina's seemingly solid defense). Here is thereality: Because I like to put a lot of stock in the quality of opponents beaten, the Oklahoma-Florida State winner has a good shot of surging past LSU into the top spot (although a strong performance by LSU against Mississippi State this week will certainly help its cause).

A quick word about the insane finish to Michigan-Notre Dame: Haven't seen as fun or thrilling of an inconsequential game in a long time. The reality is that neither of these teams is relevant beyond their sheer brand names -- the game was only in prime time for the novelty of the first Michigan night game (which was, to be sure, cool as hell). The finish helps rationalize the amazingness, but in the end, these two teams aren't in the Top 30 -- even if they played the most exciting game of the season thus far and set the bar for the rest of the way. There's something to be said for that as a consolation prize. Now, the poll:

DanShanoff.com Ballot - Week 3

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	Boise St. Broncos	--
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
4	Oklahoma Sooners	--
5	Wisconsin Badgers	--
6	Florida St. Seminoles	--
7	Stanford Cardinal	--
8	Baylor Bears	--
9	South Florida Bulls	1
10	South Carolina Gamecocks	7
11	Virginia Tech Hokies	-2
12	Houston Cougars	-1
13	Arkansas Razorbacks	--
14	Nebraska Cornhuskers	-2
15	Texas A&M Aggies	-2
16	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	-1
17	Auburn Tigers	--
18	Florida Gators	-2
19	Oregon Ducks	-1
20	TCU Horned Frogs	5
21	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	-7
22	Michigan St. Spartans	--
23	Arizona St. Sun Devils	--
24	USC Trojans	--
25	Fla. International Golden Panthers	--
Dropouts: Ohio St. Buckeyes, West Virginia Mountaineers, BYU Cougars, Texas Longhorns, Northwestern Wildcats, Utah Utes

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

Oh My Goodness: Red Zone Channel

Yes, Red Zone Channel has been around for years. But living in New York City with Time Warner Cable, I have never had access to it. Now that I'm in DC and using Verizon FIOS, I have Red Zone Channel and so it's my first-ever experience with it today and...

Oh. My. Goodness.

-- D.S.

9/11 (9/11) Quickie

I was not in New York for 9/11. I was in Boston, in my dorm, watching on TV. At the time, my sister was living in my old apartment in Brooklyn and took the train under the World Trade Center every morning to get to work; my first priority was making sure she was OK. (Thankfully, she was.)

I had been dating Mrs. Quickish for a few months -- she worked up by the Empire State Building and was evacuated. She lived downtown and it was not a place you wanted to be; she joined me up in Boston for a few weeks. When I took her back to NYC -- my first visit back since 9/11 -- I was overpowered by the smell, which persisted for months, and the horrifying mosaic of homemade "Have you seen him/her?" signs by friends and loved ones of people who were missing.

My inconsequential contribution to the media cacaphony was an essay in the business school newspaper the following week. The takeaway is that everyone -- inside and outside of the school -- was impacted in their own way, but the way communities collectively came together (schools, cities, organizations, friends) should be a source of strength, even in the face of harrowing events.

Ten years later, I feel the most pain for those most directly impacted -- people who lost loved ones, first-responders who got sick (and their families who face the burden), the firefighters and police officers, the soldiers.

There is going to be a lot of tributes during NFL games today -- some are heartfelt (Mark Herzlich's tweet, which you can see on Quickish), some seem maudlin (the gaudy red-white-blue shoes worn by players, whose hearts I know are in the right place).

I hope the commemoration bring some measure of comfort to everyone impacted that, once again, the way we can support ourselves collectively is our greatest strength.

-- D.S.

9/10 (CFB Saturday) Quickie

Reiterating yesterday's post, I don't see any Top 25 upsets this week (I guess Arizona State over Missouri last night counts, but did Mizzou look like a Top 25 team to anyone?)

What I'm watching today:

Noon (ESPN): Oregon State at Wisconsin
(Just long enough to watch the rout begin.)
12:20 (ESPN3): Mississippi State at Auburn
3:30 (ABC): Alabama at Penn State (another rout)
(Eye on: Eastern Ill. at N'western on B10 Network)
4:30 (ESPN): South Carolina at Georgia
7:00 (ESPN3): UAB at Florida
(Eye on: BYU at Texas on ESPN2)
8:00 (ABC): Notre Dame at Michigan (4th quarter)

Enjoy the day! It finally stopped raining in DC -- just in time to shut myself in all day.

-- D.S.