The Best Five Games of Week 5

As Ric Flair used to say right before applying the figure four, now we go to school. Many participants bemoaned the five games last week as not being Marquis Luis enough to warrant pool action. That's what you get when most of the major players are either cupcaking the schedule or rebuilding after a disastrous coaching transition. But this week, it is on. Included for the first time is Arkansas in a game with a mystery line against Texas A&M. How do you determine what the line is? Call Peppas because Vegas isn't saying. The bonus points will be set when Vegas says so. Until then it is pin the tail on the Aggie.

LSU - Georgia
2:30 p.m., Saturday, CBS
Line: Georgia by 3

Oklahoma - Notre Dame 
2:30 p.m., Saturday, NBC
Line: Oklahoma by 3

Texas A&M - Arkansas
6 p.m., Saturday, ESPN2
Line: Off
* Wild card points in effect

Wisconsin - Ohio State
7 p.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Ohio State by 7
* Underdog worth three points

USC - Arizona State
9:30 p.m., Saturday, ESPN2
Line: Arizona State by 5
* Underdog worth three points

Good luck.
*****#*****

The Best Five Games of Week 4

What has happened to the great rivalries of the SEC? The Third Saturday in September, also known as the Tennessee-Florida game, used to be my favorite game of the year. But this weekend it is another mismatch on paper with Florida listed as a 17-point favorite. Same goes for the Tiger Bowl with Auburn vs. LSU where Malazahn's boys are booked as a 17-point underdog to the genius of Les Miles. So much for the SEC this week. Instead, it is more punishment for Texas fans in the pool. Sorry, Sal! Who is going all underdogs?

North Carolina - Georgia Tech
11 a.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Georgia Tech by 6
* Underdog worth three points

Utah State - USC
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC/ESPN2
Line: USC by 6
* Underdog worth three points

Michigan State - Notre Dame
2:30 p.m., Saturday, NBC
Line: Notre Dame by 6
* Underdog worth three points

Arizona State - Stanford
6 p.m., Saturday, Fox
Line: Stanford by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Kansas State - Texas
7 p.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Texas by 6
* Underdog worth three points

Good luck.
*****#*****

The Five Best Games of Week 3

TCU - Texas Tech
6:30 p.m., Thursday, ESPN
Line: TCU by 3

UCLA - Nebraska 
11 a.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Nebraska by 4

Alabama - Texas A&M
2:30 p.m., Saturday, CBS
Line: Alabama by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Ole Miss - Texas
7 p.m., Saturday, Longhorn Network
Line: Texas by 3

Wisconsin - Arizona State
9:30 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Arizona State by 5
* Underdog worth three points


Brazil!
***#***

The best five games of Week 2

For my money, your football program is not on the map unless it can make at least one pool appearance every decade. Congratulations, Arkansas State Red Wolves, your program has arrived. For the first time in pool history and to the delight of Mr. Steve Wells who campaigned for an appearance years ago, ASU makes the best five games of the week. Yes, it is probably due more to a dearth (Word Wealth) of good games this week than climbing up to earn a pool spot, but the intrigue of ASU traveling to Auburn to play against its old coach is too good to ignore. Upset alert, Aubie.


The Florida Cup
Florida - Miami
11 a.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Florida by 3

South Carolina - Georgia 
3:30 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Georgia by 3

Texas - BYU
6 p.m., Saturday, ESPN2
Line: Texas by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Arkansas State - Auburn
6:30 p.m., Saturday, Fox Sports Net
Line: Auburn by 12
* Underdog worth four points

Notre Dame - Michigan
7 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Michigan by 4


Good luck.
*****#*****

The best five games of Week 1

Ole Miss - Vanderbilt
8:15 p.m., Thursday, ESPN
Line: Ole Miss by 3

AdvoCare Texas Kickoff
Mississippi State - Oklahoma State
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC/ESPN2
Line: Oklahoma State by 12
* Underdog worth four points

Georgia - Clemson
7 p.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Georgia by 2

Cowboys Classic
LSU - TCU
8 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: LSU by 4

Boise State - Washington
9 p.m., Saturday, Fox Sports 1
Line: Washington by 3

Boobs talk about C Cups

That’s what the kids call an SEO friendly web head.

Yet, it is also a perfectly appropriate way to describe the NFL Draft.

Yes, the NFL draft — pro football’s version of the slave market on Game of Thrones, but here the Unsullied still have all their parts.

While the merits of keeping the draft around are better left to the likes of Patrick Hruby over at Sports on Earth, this is more about the non-stop coverage of the draft by ESPN and the NFL Network.

Much has been made recently about the non-stop coverage of breaking news on CNN, NBC and the other broadcast networks.

How much of that coverage, in the relentless push to fill air space, turns out to be wrong.

That is also true for the NFL draft coverage.

Most of the player evaluations, most of the speculation, most of the mock drafts all turn out to be wrong when viewed from three or four years in the future.

Remember when the NFL engaged in a serious debate on the strengths of Ryan Leaf and how he needed to be picked ahead of Peyton Manning?

That is but one example of how all the experts got it wrong but those same experts keep getting called back to say all the same things, and say all the same things that will be proven wrong.

It is the sports equivalent of rolling a rock up the mountain.

In some ways, the NFL Network can be excused. They are, after all, the house organ of the league and if the league wants NFL draft coverage, the NFL Network will provide draft coverage.

ESPN is a little bit more problematic.

The network is a broadcast partner of the NFL, so they have a vested interest in providing NFL coverage. But they are also supposed to provide journalism, and that gets us to C Cups, even when it doesn’t appear anything like journalism.

On the second day of the NFL draft, at the start of the fourth round, quarterbacks began to get picked by teams.

Quarterback is the league’s glamour position, and leading the fourth round was Matt Barkley, who played at Southern California, and before an injury-riddled senior year, was considered amongst the best players in the country.

Then more quarterbacks began getting picked. And that’s when the discussion went off the rails.

Trent Dilfer and Ron Jaworski, both former NFL quarterbacks got into a spirited discussion on the merits of C Cup and U Cup quarterbacks.

If those aren’t familiar terms, don’t be surprised; they almost seem invented on the fly. Or at quick production meeting before the second day’s coverage began.

In previous years, U Cup and C Cup would have been called “grip” as in how the quarterback grips the ball before he throws it.

The letters are how the quarterback grips the ball. Hold your hand out, form a “C.” That’s a C Cup. Now hold your hand out, bend at the wrist and form a “U.” That’s the U Cup.

Dilfer said a C Cup quarterback was more likely to be successful in the NFL because having your wrist flexible would be able to put touch on the throw. A U Cup quarterback was only able to throw at one velocity — fast, because they would be unable to turn the wrist meaning they would be unsuccessful in the league where precision was needed.

Jaworski countered with Tom Brady, a U Cup quarterback who has been amazingly successful in the NFL.

And at that point my eyes glazed over and I drifted off into a comfortable nap with my dog in my lap.

If they said more, I didn't hear it.

It is worth noting that Brady was one of the more remarkable missed by NFL scouts. A starter at a top-flight school in Michigan and who fell to the draft’s sixth round when he turned pro.

What’s the point of U Cup and C Cup conversations?

None. This is what you call filling airtime.

It also has the side benefit of making anyone watching just a little dumber about football.

Best Five Games of Week 14

Week 14

Here is your final group of five games for the season. Please try not to get emotional. Oh there are plenty of games left to pick, but this is the last time you will get the weekly five. (Next week it will be just two, and then you will get 35 bowls.) This week the Big East delivers her a rare pool appearance that will help to determine which team goes to a BCS bowl. So don't forget to turn your picks in by Thursday in order to be eligible for the first game (over/under on late picks: 15). Jersey represent.

Louisville - Rutgers
6:30 p.m., Thursday, ESPN
Line: Rutgers by 3

Marathon MAC Championship Game
Northern Illinois - Kent State
6 p.m., Friday, ESPN2
Line: Northern Illinois by 6
* Underdog worth three points

Oklahoma - TCU
11 a.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Oklahoma by 6
* Underdog worth three points

SEC Championship Game
Alabama - Georgia
3 p.m., Saturday, CBS
Line: Alabama by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Big Ten Championship Game
Nebraska - Wisconsin
7 p.m., Saturday, Fox
Line: Nebraska by 3


Good luck.
****#****

Best Five Games of Week 13

Rivalry weekend is typically one of the best Saturdays in college football, and this one is so great that it has been declared a Superweek in the pool. That's right, as a designated Superweek you get a bonus sixth game to make or break your season! In addition to the usual plots of great rivalries, all six games have dramatic subplots relevant to national championship and conference title aspirations. In the words of De La Soul, watch your step you might Trip!

Greatest Rivalry in Sports

Michigan - Ohio State
11 a.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Ohio State by 3

The Florida Cup

Florida - Florida State
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Florida State by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Bedlam

Oklahoma State - Oklahoma
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Oklahoma by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Stanford - UCLA

5:30 p.m., Saturday, Fox
Line: Stanford by 1

Battle of the Palmetto State

South Carolina - Clemson
6 p.m., Saturday, ESPN
Line: Clemson by 4

Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh

Notre Dame - USC
7 p.m., Saturday, ABC
Line: Notre Dame by 6
* Underdog worth three points

Gobble Gobble!

*******#*******

Best Five Games of Week 12

Come on, you really didn't think we would make it through the entire season without the Oman Effect, did you? The Oman Effect is named after Brendan Oman, a student at the University of Arkansas who refuses to submit a pick in any game involving the Razorbacks. I don't mean he won't pick against Arkansas -- I mean he won't pick the game, period. Theorists have surmised that this inaction is part of a larger overall phenomenon affecting the pool. Because of the large percentage of participants who are Razorback fans and always pick Arkansas in the pool as a result of obsessive fandom and/or the misleading Rovian Sway from a select few in the media (theory under peer review), many in the pool always pick against Arkansas regardless because of the extra bump in the standing they might get going against popular opinion. Pick Arkansas and lose, and you get nothing but shame. Pick Arkansas and win, and you get nothing much either. The solution for a confused Razorback fan? The Oman Effect -- don't pick the game. You're up, Hog fans.

Northwestern - Michigan State

11 a.m., Saturday, ESPN2

Line: Michigan State by 7

* Underdog worth three points

Arkansas - Mississippi State

11:20 a.m., Saturday, SEC Network

Line: Mississippi State by 7

* Underdog worth three points

Battle of Los Angeles

USC - UCLA

2 p.m., Saturday, Fox

Line: USC by 3

Ohio State - Wisconsin

2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC/ESPN2

Line: Wisconsin by 2

Texas Tech - Oklahoma State

2:30 p.m., Saturday, Fox Sports Net

Line: Oklahoma State by 10

* Underdog worth four points

Good luck.

****#****

Best Five Games of Week 11

We enter the final four weeks of the regular season with five easy games that will no doubt generate another 45 5-0s. Now is the time to start making your move to be in a decent spot prior to entering the bowl season.

Oregon State - Stanford
2 p.m., Saturday, Fox
Line: Stanford by 4

West Virginia - Oklahoma State
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC/ESPN2
Line: Oklahoma State by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Penn State - Nebraska
2:30 p.m., Saturday, ABC/ESPN2
Line: Nebraska by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Texas A&M - Alabama
2:30 p.m., Saturday, CBS
Line: Alabama by 13
* Underdog worth five points

Kansas State - TCU
6 p.m., Saturday, Fox
Line: Kansas State by 7
* Underdog worth three points

Good luck.
****#****