40 Acres Sports

Not like this should really be any surprise. All of the coaches hate it.

If the stakes weren’t high enough already, the Ohio State at Texas matchup this Saturday is officially a #1 versus #2 battle. The Texas Longhorns were already #2 in the USA Today Coaches poll, but now they are also #2 in the AP poll as Notre Dame slides down to #4.

This will mark the first time in 10 years that the #1 and #2 teams in the AP poll have met during the regular season. That year #2 Florida State edged out #1 Florida 24-21.

The Longhorns are 4-0 in #1 versus #2 battles, the most recent one taking place when Texas beat USC in the Rose Bowl to win the BCS National Championship. The Ohio State Buckeyes are 2-0 in these games, their latest coming when they beat Miami in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl.

This really comes as a shock to me though. With all the love Notre Dame gets from the media who would have thought they would dare move Notre Dame down in the polls after a victory. I didn’t think they were that level-headed.

So get ready. Saturday is only 4 days away!

I sure hope so. Man that guy is a useless jerk.

College football season is officially upon us as Saturday morning ESPN’s College Gameday aired their preview special. I didn’t even know it would be on, luckily the TiVo caught it and I saw it on there this morning.

In the first ten minutes of the show, the Gameday crew talks about Vince Young leaving and the remarkable 2005 Longhorn season, the quarterback situation, the many returning studs, and who will step up to fill Vince’s leadership role. Probably the most interesting comment comes from Mark May, he essentially says a two-quarterback system can have some success but it won’t win anyone a national championship. Kirk Herbstreit also brings up the need for offensive consistency without the explosive ability of Vince Young. Texas is going to have to put together some longer scoring drives and not put themselves in 3rd and 27 situations. Both are valid points.

May definitely appears to still be on the Texas bandwagon again this year. It seems he was big on the Horns every year except last season until real late. Whoops.

Click here to watch the entire 4+ minute segment. (Note: Video playback requires Flash Player 8.)

Houston came in at #18 and DFW came in at #27.

The University of Texas has just annouced a new campaign to promote good sportsmanship among fans, suitably titled “Texas Fans Make Us Proud.”

Definitely an interesting choice of words, as depending on the enunciation they are either:
(a) telling us we make them proud, or (b) telling us to make them proud.

They have also included some hilarious supporting images to help us understand just what they mean:

Come early, be loud, stay late, wear orange.

Welcome visiting teams and their fans.

Respect the game officials.

If you drink alcohol, know your limit and stay well under it.

Watch your language. Remember the stands are filled with children.

Man, I feel better about knowing what to do, how about you?

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Apparently ESPN Magazine did not want to be left out of the mix with the college football regional covers (SI’s were a week earlier). For their August 28, 2006 issue, ESPN Magazine will be sporting 3 regional covers, including Texas, Notre Dame, and USC. I wonder why they used [tag]Frank Okam[/tag] and Lawrence Jackson for the cover?

Below are the cover images (click to enlarge photo), along with who is on each cover.

The new SI magazine for August 21, 2006 will be sporting regional Special Edition covers, with 6 teams who they think will be battling it out for #1. Below are the cover images (click to enlarge photo), along with who is on each cover.

I have put them in order of who I think are the Top 6. I almost put Ohio State #1, except apparently they have someone who thinks they can drink 30-40 beers per day. My theory is that it was probably O’Doul’s.

It looks like ESPN is doing something similar, but is only using 3 different covers.

The school printed 25,000 media guides at a total cost of $117,500.

“If you had a perfect season and were still considered second best wouldn’t you have a chip on your shoulder?”

Wasn’t USC supposed to have one of the best teams of all-time? Oops…I guess next time ESPN will do those kind of polls AFTER the National Championship game.

And man, they still keep referencing that USC had previously won back-to-back championships. Apparently they haven’t heard about USC’s One-Peat.