Must List: Week 14

The United States losing out to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup bid has made my morning. The reactions from futbol soccer fans has made me giddy. That being said though, the US losing to Qatar still wasn't as funny as President Obama flying across the the World to make a presentation for Chicago for the 2016 Olympics and losing out to Brazil. It's a close second though.

Now on to a sport that isn't corrupt at all, college football. This is the last weekend for college football. It's been a strange ride up to this point. Scandals involving USC, UNC, and Cam Newton/Auburn have really taken the luster off the season. Also Oregon and Auburn aren't the most appealing teams. They might have explosive offenses, most people could probably only name a handful of players on each team. We still have a slim chance though that both Oregon and Auburn might not even make it to the title game. We've seen teams upset before on the final weekend, preventing them from playing the title game (See: USC, 2006). And it is quite possible for both Oregon and Auburn losing this weekend, creating full-blown chaos in the BCS. Can you imagine a TCU-Stanford championship game? Neither can I. That's why I'll be watching every minute of the important games this weekend.

Announcing schedule via The506.



December 2:
Arizona State @ 23 Arizona, 8:00, ESPN- Nothing like a lame duck rivalry game to finish off a lame duck Thursday night schedule. I can't believe none of the Thursday night games provided a single exciting game all season. Kind of indicative on the entire season, isn't it? I do love how rivalry games and a rivalry game called "The Duel in the Desert" has me hooked.

December 4:
C-USA Championship: Southern Methodist @ Central Florida, 12:00, ESPN- I find this game interesting because it's played between two teams with high powered offenses. Central Florida comes into the game with a better record, but SMU has already defeated UCF this season. Now that I expect this game to be a shootout, it will probably turn into snoozefest.

2 Oregon @ Oregon State, 3:30, ABC- Oregon ruined Oregon State's season two years in a row by defeating the Beavers twice in the Civil War and preventing them from playing in the Rose Bowl. I would like to believe Oregon State could win this game, but I can't. They were thrashed last week by Stanford, they're one dimensional on offense, and they've been inconsistent all season losing to teams like Washington State and UCLA. The Beavers aren't winning this game.

SEC Championship: 1 Auburn v. 19 South Carolina, 4:00, CBS- Auburn is the team that could lose on Saturday. If anybody remembers the Auburn-South Carolina game from earlier this season, South Carolina was leading until they committed four fourth-quarter turnovers that lead to an Auburn comeback victory. Obviously South Carolina will need to limit the turnovers in this game, but they also need a stronger performance from Marcus Lattimore to pull off the upset.

ACC Championship: 15 Virginia Tech v. 21 Florida State, 7:30, ESPN- Florida State had an awesome showing last week against Florida, but that won't be enough against Virginia Tech. I also noticed this game has finally been moved to Charlotte, a more ACC-centric city. There has been bad ideas over the years, and the ACC hosting their championship game in Tampa and Jacksonville is right up there. Sorry, but Tampa/Jacksonville is SEC country. Also how thankful do you think the ACC is that Virginia Tech and Florida State are playing in this game? A slew of Boston Colleges and Wake Forests will do that to you.

Big XII Championship: 13 Nebraska v. 9 Oklahoma, 8:00, ABC- Two staples from the old Big 8, possibly face off against each other one last time. In nine games this season, the Nebraska defense has held teams to under 20 or fewer points, meanwhile the Oklahoma has scored 20 or more points in all of their games except one. Add to the fact that the Nebraska offense can be equally explosive and this game is very tough to predict. 

Connecticut @ South Florida, 8:00, ESPN2- This game is only important because if a crappy UCONN team wins, they become the crappy automatic qualifier for the Big East. Terrific system.

Recipe of the Week, Molasses Sugar Cookies- Our last recipe of the year is a dessert. I've always loved sugar cookies, but I've never tried them with molasses. The great thing about these type of cookies is that they are easy to make with very few ingredients. My mouth is watering just from thinking about them.

Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, Red Stripe- The Hooray Beer finishes our alcoholic beverages list for the year. I tried my first Red Stripe on Thanksgiving and was very impressed. It's a smooth drinking lager that comes in a cool bottle promoted with a cool spokesperson. You have to try this beer at least once in your life.