40 Acres Sports

Let’s hope we can keep him more than a year or 2.

Only three matchups between ranked teams this week, with the biggest one down in Austin between undefeated Texas Tech and undefeated and #2 Texas. It’s a chance for the Horns to secure the number 2 spot and could be a showcase for the defense to show the nation that this team isn’t just Vince Young. For the Red Raiders, they’ve got a chance to prove they’re for real in front of the entire nation. If they can pull the upset they’ll be in line for the Big XII South title and a chance for a BCS bowl game. If they get blown out by the Horns they’ll be hard pressed to get any national respect for the next several years.

The other two big games are both upset specials in the SEC. Undefeated Alabama takes on #17 Tennessee at home in an important game for not only them but the entire conference. As things stand now, the SEC needs two undefeated and top 5 teams to meet in the conference championship to have any hope to jump Texas in the BCS for the coveted second spot in Rose Bowl. #7 LSU hosts a hot Auburn team that has rebounded from their opening week loss to rise to number 16 in the poll.

Here’s this week’s picks:

Related Links

• Last week’s picks

Impressed with our front and back court talent, they predict a Final 4 finish.

He scares me a little (on & off the field), but I like having Mike Leach out there at Tech.

QB Xavier Lee was seriously looking at Texas before choosing Florida State.

The price went up $30 today and I imagine a win Saturday will send it up even higher.

You’d have known this at 2 a.m. this morning if you were a member of Orangebloods.

Our Thoughts

Brian – Texas cemented their spot at #1 this week when they walked over a very respectable Colorado team without their best running back. The Horns rolled to 5 touchdowns on their first 5 possessions, you can’t get any more perfect than that. Meanwhile, USC (and especially their defense) looked beatable in South Bend. It took a gutsy drive from Matt Leinart and some bonehead plays by Notre Dame in the last 2 minutes or else Texas would be everyone’s number one. The Trojans are good and probably deserve to be in Pasadena if they win out (they have a tough three game stretch to finish the season), but right now with the way the top teams are playing they’re just barely holding off Virginia Tech in my eyes.

Matt – Texas looked as dominant as ever, coasting through their victory against Colorado. But the big game of the weekend was, of course, USC at Notre Dame. I saw the game, but I am still pretty confused on everything that happened at the end of the game. Somehow I think Notre Dame got screwed by the Pac-10 refs. Figures. USC just buys everyone off.

I have decided to take my poll in a different route starting now. I am going to group the teams into their respective amount of losses, and then within that group I will rank who I think is better than the other. I know this can be a problem when dealing with smaller conferences, but to some respect, everyone should get a chance and the quality of programs in the smaller conferences has been getting better every year.

Related Links

• Last week’s rankings
• Harris Interactive Poll (PDF, 87 KB)
• Master Coaches Survey

The Longhorns became a consensus number one last week here at Bevo Sports (and Matt’s had them there since very early on), but now bandwagon is growing. The Master Coaches Survey, made up of sixteen former college football coaches like Hayden Fry and R.C. Slocum, has Texas number one overall this week. The Horns secured ten of the sixteen first place votes and passed reigning champs and last week’s number one team USC by five points.

Seems, like us, the coaches are unimpressed with the performance of the USC defense so far this season. As former University of Virginia coach George Welsh put it…

I’ve changed my mind about USC. I’m gonna vote for Texas this week because I think they have a better defense. In games like that, I don’t know if Southern Cal could score 35 points, which they might have to do.

Apparently the beatings the Horns gave Slocum’s Texas A&M Aggies and cost him his job didn’t get the message across, he still has the Trojans number one. Though I bet a lot of A&M fans are wishing he was still around now.

Our Thoughts

Brian – If it wasn’t for the Notre Dame defense forgetting USC’s Dwayne Jarrett was on the field Saturday night, Leinart’s Heisman hopes and and the Trojans’ national title dreams would both be over. Right now, when you compare Young and Leinart’s stats Vince matches up very favorably. Total yards, Leinart leads by about 150. TD’s Vince leads by 2. Interceptions they’re even. Vince has a higher completion percentage and QB rating. They’re close enough in almost every category except one, “who is more important to their team?” Vince wins that one easily.

Matt – It is amazing how one play at the end of the game can change the Heisman race. If Matt Leinart doesn’t get that touchdown, Brady Quinn is probably a Top 3 candidate. But with the USC win, I still don’t even have Quinn in my Top 5. I think Vince is still the best player in the game, with Bush being the best playmaker. If Bush touched the ball as much as Vince does, then maybe I would consider moving him to the top spot. With Bush’s performance so far this year, I really don’t see a way for Leinart to repeat has the Heisman trophy winner.

Related Links

• Last week’s Heisman poll
• ESPN Experts Poll