The Blue Workhorse

My selections last week were pretty good. I only missed two games. Of course, I did miss the big one. I thought Texas Tech would at least put on a better showing in Norman.

This week, however, I’ve got all the winners with a couple of unexpected upsets during Rivalry Week:

(all rankings from are from The Blue Workhorse College Football Top 25)
#3 Oklahoma at #12 Oklahoma State

There will be Bedlam in Stillwater this year. This year’s rivalry game may have the most riding on it in the history of the series. Oklahoma comes into the game with the apparent advantage and fast track in the Big XII South. With a win, the Sooners should be have the advantage in the BCS standings and, therefore, win the tiebreaker between themselves, Texas, and Texas Tech.

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Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, I have always been a fan of Vanderbilt athletics. I know that for many of you living outisde the middle Tennessee area, the idea of an actual Vandy sports fans is a myth. Believe it or not, I was actually a season ticket holder for three sports up until I left town to attend college.

Like myself, all Vanderbilt fans have certainly experienced many tough times over the past quarter century, especially on the football field. I, for one, am two years removed from graduating college, and have still yet to, in my life, witness the football team record a winning season (the last occurring in 1982).

However, 2008 looked like it was going to be the year.

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Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton made the decision to fire Phil Fulmer and must now find the right man to replace Fulmer. Hamilton’s task will not be an easy one.

Going against the names Urban Meyer, Mark Richt, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Bobby Petrino poses a challenge to the new coach in the ever-tough Southeastern Conference, but Hamilton needs to go with his gut feeling with the hire, much like he did when he hit a grand slam with head basketball coach Bruce Pearl.

Well, Tennessee football, I have the solution for you!

The scenario: 4th down and 7 from the 12-yard line. Lassiter (Marietta, Ga) High School first-year coach Chip Lindsey (former offensive coordinator of Hoover High in Hoover, Ala for MTV’s reality show “Two-A-Days”) decides to go for it rather than kick a field goal.

The result: One of the most cerebral and outstanding plays you’ll ever see a high school player (6-foot-4 tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen) make. Lutzkenkirchen is a top recruit having committed to Auburn, but that commitment has waned since the firing of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin.

Just watch…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K2OSOZnhqc[/youtube]

It has been a while since I’ve been free on a Saturday and able to make my weekly college football observations. Over the last three weeks, I’ve had a wedding to attend with the girlfriend, ALCS Games 1 & 2 to attend, and my college Homecoming and alumni baseball game to participate in, so my college football observations have been missing.

This week, I tried to make up for the lost time, however. I watched a lot of college football as I tried to flip back and forth between the several games that were televised throughout the day on Saturday.

There were some huge matchups for the top 10 teams that didn’t disappoint and a lot of blowouts of overmatched teams, but here are 78 observations about certain players and teams from 11 of Saturday’s games I was able to watch in between the World Series and UFC fighting:

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A lot of shakeup in the Top 10 after two huge battles in the Big XII saw the underdogs win with Texas rallying to take down former #1 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry and Oklahoma State upending previous #4 Missouri.

Another week means another re-evalution, and thus, we give you our new The Blue Workhorse College Football Top 25 after Week 6. Some things to note from this week’s rankings:

* Of the top 11 teams, only Alabama remains in the same spot as last week. The idle Crimson Tide were jumped by Texas but remained ahead of the rest in the #2 spot.

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Lots of great stuff this week from fantasy baseball awards to college football freshman to a sports blogger trying out for a professional team to a ridiculous hockey play:

* Need a Halloween costume? - Epic Carnival gives you the top ten sports related Halloween costumes of 2008. I still think the idea I came up with last year is the best (just check in the comments of the story).
* GameDay Classic Signage - Busted Coverage has the 20 all-time best ESPN College Gameday signs. The ones mentioned in the comments are classic as well.
* Best GameDay Sign. Ever. - From the Auburn/LSU game last month.

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Week 5 was a week of upsets with six of the AP’s Top 25 falling victim.

Week 6, however, was relatively tame. Only three teams fell, and none were major national contenders.

The major story of Week 6 came out of Nashville as Vanderbilt came back to defeat Auburn and get their first win as a ranked team in over half a century.

Another week means another re-evalution, and thus, we give you our new The Blue Workhorse College Football Top 25 after Week 6. Some things to note from this week’s rankings:

* Last week, every single position in the Top 25 saw a new name beside it. This week, the top 11 remain the same except for USC and Texas Tech switching spots.
* With a 4-1 record, Michigan State bounds into the Top 25 at #18. Also moving into the Top 25 for the first time is North Carolina after their 38-12 win over Connecticut. Both teams have an opportunity to prove their new rankings with games against tough opponents: MSU heads to 5-0 Northwestern while UNC hosts 4-1 Notre Dame.

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