40 Acres Sports

Finally we get some good match-ups this week. West Virginia and Louisville face off in what has been a pretty anticipated battle. The winner of this game will probably get to determine their own destiny when it comes to the BCS National Championship.

There are some solid Big 12 match-ups as well. Texas of course plays Okie Lite, on TBS, which could spell trouble if you remember the last 2 games against them. Aggy is going heads up with Oklahoma, their second biggest rival to Baylor. And finally Missouri and Nebraska square off in a battle for the Big 12 North.

Here’s our picks for the games this weekend:

Related Links

• Last week’s winners
• SI.com Top 25 Scoreboard
• SI.com Big 12 Scoreboard

Our Thoughts

Brian – When Texas started the season everyone thought the running game would carry them and the QB situation would be the team’s weak point. Redshirt freshman quarterback Colt McCoy went from question mark to seriously deserving Heisman consideration. He’s just a freshman won’t win it but you’re starting to hear his name pop up every now and then, he’s currently climbed up to ninth of SI’s Heisman Watch. It’ll be interesting to see if he can play well enough through Texas’ last three (or four) games to earn a trip to New York. Not bad for somebody who still looks like he’s about twelve.

Matt – Well, with Ray Rice not doing much against UConn, he is basically out of the running for the Heisman. Troy Smith continues to dominate, although that isn’t too hard when you are playing the worst of the Big 10. And I don’t really see why everyone has Mike Hart in the Heisman race. He doesn’t put up great numbers and he is playing on an offense that struggled to score 17 points against Northwestern. He has to be the most overrated player in the hunt.

Related Links

• Last week’s poll
• ESPN Experts Poll
• SI.com Heisman Watch

Our Thoughts

Brian – USC has flirted with disaster all year and it finally caught up to them. Their loss helps clear up the murky BCS picture (that abomination always seems to manage to clear up by the end of the year) and is one less obstacle in Texas’ path on the way to a chance to repeat as national champions. Of course Texas is going to have to play a lot better than they have the last two weeks against Nebraska and Texas Tech if they plan on their slow climb up the rankings.

Matt – Man, what an embarrassing loss for USC, who go into Oregon State and just get throttled. Yeah, they came back and made it close, but they were getting dominated through almost 3 quarters. I think this was a long time coming though, as they were eeking out wins before this loss. Texas narrowly escaped the same disaster, with Colt McCoy leading the Horns to a tremendous comeback. I am still in shock when I think about some of the plays he made. Hook ’em.

Related Links

• Last week’s rankings
• AP Top 25
• USA Today Coaches Top 25
• Master Coaches Survey

USC understandably caused some shifting in the top of the BCS, though there were a couple of changes that I really don’t understand. Why does an idle Louisville jump all the way from 8 to 5. Why does Florida jump ahead of Auburn with Auburn holding a win against Florida? Doesn’t make much sense if you ask me, but luckily we still have a few weeks ahead to narrow things down a bit more. Your thoughts?

Man, for the second straight week the Longhorns are on the verge of picking up a loss, but Colt McCoy just wouldn’t let it happen, in almost VY-esque style. Colt is starting to make the loss of Vince Young almost seem bearable. And can you imagine if Musburger was doing the game? He would have been all over Colt.

Tech did put up quite a fight, but when you can’t run the ball (-1 yards on the night), it just makes it that much harder to close out games. And honestly, if you can’t get an inch on 4th down, you just don’t deserve to win.

And there might really be something about this TBS curse. Just look at the last five games on TBS: Tech, down 21-0. Baylor, down 10-0. Okie Lite ’05, down 28-12 at half. Tech ’04, down 7-0. Okie Lite ’04, down 35-7 at one point. And how about this year’s Okie Lite game? Oh yeah, that is on TBS too. Let’s try to jump out to a lead for once.

Here are some other inital reactions after the game:

• Inches separate Texas Tech from upset
• Colt was absolutely Vince-esque
• Colt’s heart and poise
• Tech crying post #1
• Tech crying post #2
• Don’t forget about the Texas Tech Doll – Git Yer Guns Up

Vince Young talks about his life on and off the field, starting in the National Football League, the on-field adjustment from the college to the pro game and his thoughts on the new Reebok “When Did I Know?� campaign where he explains when he knew he was destined to make it to the next level. Here is the audio from the interview:

It’s pretty cool what Vince Young and Reebok are doing at his old high school, Madison High School in Houston, TX. Vince is teaming up with Reebok to award two students who reflect Reebok’s brand attributes with an “I Am What I Am” college scholarship in the amount of $2,500 each. It’s always good to see athletes’ who make a lot of money give back to their community.

Source

Our Thoughts

Brian – Louisville drops for me as they haven’t looked like a top 10 team since they took out Miami over a month ago. Hopefully each of the top four Big East teams (West Virginia, Louisville, Rutgers, and Pittsburgh) find some way to lose a game and knock themselves out of the national title hunt. The top of the BCS rankings are getting interesting and the Longhorns could become a factor again soon.

Matt – My Top 8 remains totally unchanged, with Ohio State holding down 1st place with ease. Not too many other changes either, just a few minor adjustments based on how teams played. Many teams escaped with some close calls this weekend, with Texas kicking the game winning field goal late, Notre Dame getting the impressive 3 play 80 yard drive, and Tennessee closing out a close one.

Related Links

• Last week’s rankings
• AP Top 25
• USA Today Coaches Top 25
• Master Coaches Survey

We wish him the best and a speedy recovery.

This is by far the funniest Real Men of Genius commercial I have ever heard, but maybe that is because it is more relevant. It’s hard to stop laughing after listening to this.

My favorite line: Sure, there are 49 other states in the union, but they’re smaller, wussier, and the people talk funny.

The only big matchup this weekend is in the Big 12, with Texas and Nebraska battling it out up in Lincoln. If Texas can win this matchup they will set themselves up well to run out the rest of their games. Want to get pumped up about the Nebraska game, check out this video of the 1996 Big 12 Championship game.

One other game I am interested in is Iowa and Michigan. Iowa really dropped the ball last week losing to Indiana, but maybe that will make the Wolverines look past them and allow them to keep the game close.

Here’s how this Saturday’s games will go down:

Related Links

• Last week’s winners
• SI.com Top 25 Scoreboard
• SI.com Big 12 Scoreboard