Thursday, November 14th
Georgia Tech at Clemson, 7:30 (ESPN: Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, Sam Ponder) One of the biggest MAC games ever (Ball State vs Northern Illinois) play on Wednesday night against the NBA while this turd of a game gets Thursday night primetime on ESPN. Go figure. Maybe ESPN could get more people interested in their Thursday night games again if they scheduled more MAC games and dropped the Palmer/Pollack combo.
Saturday, November 16th
Ohio State at Illinois, Noon (ESPN: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, Tom Luginbill) I hate to say this but the new playoff format won't be any better next season than the BCS. If you look at the current standings, there are at least 8 teams that should compete for the national championship. And yet there are only 4 playoff spots next season. You know how this is going to play out next year, right? The new playoff format is going to turn into the NCAA tournament and instead of Boeheim or Seth Greenberg complaining about their teams not reaching the tournament, you're going to see Gary Pinkel and Dabo Sweeney complaining.
Indiana at Wisconsin, Noon (ESPN2: Bob Wischusen, Rod Gilmore, Quint Kessenich) I don't know why but I'm rooting for Wisconsin to reach a 4th straight Rose Bowl. Come on we need a Buffalo Bills of the Rose Bowl (coincidentally the Bills lost 1 of their Super Bowls in the Rose Bowl). The best part about Wisconsin going to another Rose Bowl would that a 3rd coach could lose another Rose Bowl for them.
Georgia at Auburn, 3:30 (CBS: Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, Tracy Wolfson) I want to see Auburn beat Alabama badly but doesn't it feel like they're due for a loss? And doesn't Georgia feel like the team that's going to ruin the party? Georgia feels like they're the Shawn Michaels of college football, "If they're going down, they're going down in a blaze of glory and taking everyone with them."
Michigan State at Nebraska, 3:30 (ABC/ESPN2: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Shannon Spake) I still can't believe Michigan State is offensively competent while also defensively scary. If they had figured out their offense before the Notre Dame game they would be in the national title picture. And then you have Nebraska and the bizarro season they're having. It wouldn't surprise me if Nebraska made this game either a shootout or slugfest and won.
Baylor vs Texas Tech, 7:00 (Fox: Gus Johnson, Charles Davis, Kristina Pink) Baylor thrashed Oklahoma last Thursday at home but their schedule is still brutal. They play a feisty Texas Tech team this week at JerryWorld, travel to both Oklahoma State and TCU, and then finish the year against a Texas team that is somehow undefeated in conference play. Baylor ain't out of the woods yet.
Florida at South Carolina, 7:00 (ESPN2: Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen, Maria Taylor) Speaking of Texas, remember the hype surrounding Will Muschamp while he was there defensive coordinator? How's that hype right now? I've always had a theory about psychotic coaches like Muschamp, they don't last long as head coaches. It's okay to be a lunatic and be a head coach, you have to be a lunatic to coach football, but there needs to be an on-and-off switch. Whether it's Jerry Glanville, Buddy Ryan, or Will Muschamp they burn out quickly and then are fired because they're just lunatics with no on-and-off switches. The way the season has gone for Muschamp and with an AD not afraid to fire coaches after only a couple of years that it shouldn't be a shock if Muschamp is shown the door after this season.
Stanford at USC, 8:00 (ABC: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Heather Cox) A few years ago I discovered "The Dead Coach Bounce Theory" by Basketbawful. Basically the theory is an offshoot of "The Dead Cat Bounce Theory" in the stock market that states: the burst of inspired play a team experiences after a mid-season coaching change. Basically a team plays well after a coaching change, but it's really an illusion.
I bring this up because USC is going on a "Dead Coach Bounce" since firing Lane Kiffin and naming Ed Orgeron as their coach. While I doubt USC will name Orgeron the full-time head coach people are talking about Orgeron getting another job somewhere else. I sit here and think to myself, really? Have they seen Orgeron's record at Ole Miss? He didn't win more than 4 games in a season while he was there. While it's true Orgeron recruited well (read The Blind Side and Bruce Feldman's book) but the guy can't coach. He's basically Ron Zook. He's experiencing a great "Dead Coach Bounce" at the moment. I'm sure though some sucker will take a flyer on Orgeron. Probably a non-BCS school and they'll regret it in 3 years. You want Orgeron recruiting for you, you don't want him as your head coach.
Recipe of the Week, Perfect Turkey: I'm fascinated about the different ways turkeys can be prepared and cooked for Thanksgiving. My mother has always put a turkey in one of those plastic bags, filled it up with juices, and baked the bird. You can also as this recipe of the week points out, marinate a bird in brine overnight before cooking. I'm not the biggest fan of brining because that flavor in my opinion overwhelms the taste of the meat but that's just my personal preference.
Alcoholic Beverage of the Week, La Fantasia: I'm not a big wine drinker. There's something about wine that makes me either want to pass out or gives me a headache. Fantasia out of a winery in Napa though is the exception to this rule. Fantasia really isn't even a traditional wine which is probably why I like it so much. It's more like a soda pop with alcohol and it's delicious.
Muschamp has what I like to think of as Norv Turner Syndrome. Great coordinators or great at certain aspects of the game, mediocre (or worse) as head coaches.
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely a part of it is well. It's also a reason why I've always believed certain defensive coordinators (Bud Foster, Brent Venables) in college never get head coaching positions.
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