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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Last week’s predictions were almost as good as the week before (my best week yet). I only missed three games, but each were within grasp in the final moments of the game: the Florida State/Georgia Tech back-and-forth battle that FSU should have won (Marcus Sims fumbled into the end zone with 45 seconds left and Tech recovered to save the 3 point win); the Northwestern/Minnesota Big 10 battle (won by NW when Brendan Smith returned an interception in the final 15 seconds); and Tulsa losing to Arkansas.

I did tell you Texas Tech would upset Texas thanks to huge numbers by Graham Harrell. I picked Florida (even against my own Bulldogs). I also predicted the “upsets” of South Florida and Oregon and said Michigan State would “edge” Wisconsin (the Spartans won on a last second field goal).

So what kind of predictions do I have this week? Probably not any good ones, but here they are:

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Last week’s predictions may have been my best effort thus far: I told you to pick Texas Tech in a game Vegas thought was even; I said Texas wouldn’t cover a 12 point spread; I told you Georgia and Penn State would escape Top 25 matchups; and I even gave you the spread for the FSU/VT game when I said Florida State would win by two scores. (They won 30-20.)

I even let you know USC would win unimpressively, Kentucky couldn’t win in the swamp, and that the heartland (Oklahoma, Tulsa, and TCU) would put up a bunch of points. Now I did miss some games at the back end of the Top 25, but there has been so much movement in the bottom half the past couple of weeks that I don’t know anyone who could have predicted that whole mess.

So what kind of predictions do I have this week? Probably not any good ones, but here they are:

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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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In last week’s predictions, I missed the big game (Texas/Missouri) incorrectly expecting Mizzou to respond to their upset loss the previous week. However, I was right with most of my remaining picks. I said Georgia and Oklahoma would both win in conference showdowns but not cover huge spreads (which they didn’t). I told you Ole Miss would give #2 Alabama a run. I told you Tulsa would put up huge numbers, and that Virginia was no longer the god-awful team they were a month ago.

I did miss the LSU/South Carolina game when LSU eked out a late win, overestimated Wake Forest, and expected more out of California and the new Clemson coaching staff. So what kind of predictions do I have this week?

(all rankings from are from The Blue Workhorse College Football Top 25)

#7 Texas Tech at #20 Kansas

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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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The SEC is the best conference in college football…or is it?

As most fans in the Southeast assume each fall, the Southeastern Conference is by far the best college football conference in the country, but as ESPN’s Lee Corso says, “Not so fast my friend.” This season may have something else to offer fans as the Big 12 is off to an impressive start, and as this writer believes…yes…that the Big 12 is stronger than the SEC in 2008.

Let’s examine the facts:

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