Month: January 2011

An Analytical Examination of The Effect of Sunlight on Plant Growth (Nah, Just Me Writing About College Basketball)

/ Jason / 1 Comment

I’ve been putting off writing a mid-season analysis of the 2010-11 college basketball season for quite some time (well, since the midway point) now and, really, I’m not exactly jonesing to get it done. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s not because I haven’t enjoyed this season. I have. In fact, I don’t remember the last college basketball season that I’ve followed more closely than this one. There’s a lot of star power out there, but for the first time in a while, it’s the teams that are stars and not the players. And I love that. There is no true freshman or sophomore sensation sweeping the nation this year. Some would argue that Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger is, but think back to John Wall, Blake Griffin, and Michael Beasley the previous three years. Those guys dominated the press coverage like Sullinger hasn’t. And for good reason. The team Sullinger is on is more complete than last year’s Kentucky team, 2009’s Oklahoma team, or Beasley’s 2008 Kansas State team. Sullinger has David Lighty, Jon Diebler, and William Buford all averaging double-digit points per game. Ohio State goes 8 deep really well (Dallas Lauderdale was playing 25 minutes per game last year. Now he’s the seventh man on this team). And they’re well-coached and well-disciplined. In short, they’re a complete team.

And that sort of comes to my point about my excitement, or lack thereof, for writing: I can only really see a handful of teams with a legitimate shot at a title. In years past, you could see more teams getting there because of stars leading a team. Like Rose did in Memphis in 2008. Look, that Memphis team had Chris Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey and went deep on the bench, but that was Rose’s team. And you knew that stopping Rose stopped the Tigers. With this season’s Ohio State team (and that’s just an example) you can try to stop Sullinger inside and get hurt by Diebler (49.5% from 3) and Lighty (45% from 3). As a team, Ohio State shoots 50% from the field (4th in the nation). Stopping one guy does not stop Ohio State.

Now, this scenario will be very sexy come the time for the Elite 8. That weekend of the tournament will be epic. Games where strategy, rather than stars, wins. We haven’t seen those recently. And so I’m excited for the end of March. As for the rest of the regular season? And the first two rounds of the tournament? I don’t know that we’re going to see a lot of surprises, upsets, and compelling story lines.

So why not invent some???? Here are my top three potential story lines that could make the time between now and March 26 (the start of the Elite 8) just a little more exciting:

3. Kyrie Irving and the Duke Blue Devils

Mike Krzyzewski has remained mostly mum on the status of injured freshman guard Kyrie Irving. In short, Irving was the most impressive freshman I’ve seen this century. Better than Wall. Better than Rose. He was complete in every sense. It says a lot that the Devils have only lost once since he went down against Butler in early December. If he comes back this season, I’ll push all of my chips to the center of the table for the Devils. Without him, Duke is great. But how great? And so we sit and wait. Maybe Krzyzewski is playing opossum and Irving will return in late February to get in shape for a March run. Or maybe he’s really done for the season. Just know that I think about this way more than I should.

2. Rock Chalk

Kansas can go undefeated. Before Irving’s injury, I said the same about Duke. Now, if someone can do it, it’s not San Diego State (more on that in a moment) or Ohio State (they’ll lose in Champaign on January 22). No, the team that can go undefeated is Kansas. And it has nothing to do with schedule. Kansas has a couple of roadblocks on the schedule (at Mizzou to close out the season, and at a struggling Kansas State team in mid-February that will need a win to stay alive for the tournament (and even that might not help the Wildcats)). But Kansas is much better than Missouri and Kansas State. I expected Kansas to struggle a bit last night with the size and length of Baylor. Instead, they won by 20. Kansas is better this year, more balanced this year, than when they won the National Title in 2008. The Morris twins give the Jayhawks interior toughness they haven’t had in a long time (apologies to Darrell Arthur, Nick Collison, and Cole Aldrich). Meanwhile, they can bury you from outside. No team in the country shoots better than the Jayhawks. And no team in the country is deeper than the Jayhawks (10 players averaging 14+ minutes per game). Do I think Kansas finishes the regular season undefeated? Yes, I do.

1. The Mountain West race

Look, I won’t blame you if you don’t care about a conference whose games show up on the CBS College Sports Network. But you’re missing some really good, physical basketball. The MWC is the Big East of the West and the fourth best conference in college hoops (after the Big East, Big 12, and Big 10). The current top 10 features 4 Big East teams, 2 Big 12 teams, 1 Big 10 team, 1 ACC team, and 2 Mountain West teams. And it’s not just luck. San Diego State (the nation’s 6th ranked team) is a legitimate Final Four team. No novelty needed. They’re relatively deep, offensively rebound as well as anyone, shoot well, and are tough as nails when they need to be. Rather than try to get teams to play their game, the Aztecs adapt to their opponents game and do it better than them. UNLV tried to outwork the Aztecs defensively. They lost. New Mexico tried to outrun the Aztecs. They lost. And UNLV and New Mexico are tournament teams. San Diego State is undefeated and on a collision course towards the potential regular season game of the year, not just in the American Southwest, but in all the country, on Wednesday January 26 in Provo, Utah against BYU.

BYU wants to out shoot you. And more often than not, they do. The Cougars are led by Jimmer Fredette. If you haven’t heard of Jimmer, don’t worry, I didn’t spell “Jimmy” incorrectly. He’s known as just “Jimmer” or “The Jimmer (my preference).” He is the sharpshooter’s sharpshooter. Fredette leads the nation in scoring at 26 PPG and leads the Cougars in assists. He’s the kind of player the media loves. He’s a white Mormon named Jimmer, whose brother is a Mormon rapper, who may be the best player in college basketball. I mean, c’mon, right?

But while Jimmer might seem like a novelty, he’s not. He’s the real deal. More so than Adam Morrison was. Jimmer is an NBA player, not just some four year national love affair. He’s played well as BYU’s PG this season and in the right environment, will be a real good NBA guard. His range is limitless and he has a swagger that a guy like Adam Morrison clearly lacked. Don’t expect The Jimmer to grow a porn-stache.

I’d be remiss if I made the MWC all about SDSU and BYU. New Mexico, UNLV, and to a lesser extent, Colorado State have all played well this season. UNLV intrigues me the most of this group because they’re a really good defensive club. UNLV is an outside shooter away from being where the Cougars and Aztecs are. They’ve beaten Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, and Kansas State already this season and outside of a fluke loss to UC-Santa Barbara, should be a Top 25-ranked team.

So who wins the MWC? San Diego State. I think the Aztecs win a classic in Provo next Wednesday night. Stay up (10 pm Eastern), find the CBS College Sports Network, sit back, and enjoy. I don’t think the Aztecs can do the undefeated season. They’ll slip up somewhere, against someone they probably shouldn’t. And frankly, it would be better for them. If I had to guess where they lose, I’d say UNLV gets them when they play in Vegas on February 12th.

So who wins it all? Here’s the list of teams that I think can win the title. It’s worth noting from the outset that no team from the Big East finds themselves here. If there’s anything I’ve learned from watching the war of attrition that is the Big East schedule, it’s that those teams are not conditioned to playing fast teams like Kansas and Duke. Heck, look at last year. Syracuse, a 1 seed, was eliminated in the Sweet 16 by a small, sharpshooting team in Butler. Georgetown, a 3 seed, lost in the First Round to an Ohio team that killed the Hoyas with quickness. Pittsburgh lost in Round 2 to a guard-dominated, perimeter Xavier team. And Marquette lost in Round 1 to the ultimate in quick, guard-dominated teams in Washington. Any one of this year’s Big East teams would be eliminated in a Sweet 16 matchup with a team like Missouri or Washington. And so knowing that they’ll each have to play a quick, guard laden team, I just can’t see any of them hoisting a trophy in early April.

The Favorites (ranked)
1. Kansas: See above.
Possible Fatal Flaw: Occasional laziness from the Morris twins.

2. Duke: There’s something to be said for a team that’s been there and done that. Duke has players who’ve gone through the March grind. In fact, they don’t just have players who’ve done it, they have leaders, in Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith.
Possible Fatal Flaw: Total lack of size. This Duke team would get killed by Kansas under most circumstances.

3. Ohio State: See above.
Possible Fatal Flaw: That we’re overrating them. I’ve yet to see Ohio State play 40 minutes this season (like, literally, as in I have only watched bits and pieces of them). They’ve frankly underwhelmed me thus far, from what I’ve seen. And I’m not a fan of the Big 10. Ohio State can play up to the speed of the elites, if they have to. But they haven’t had to, yet. The skill is there. It’s a matter of putting it together like they did in 2007.

They Can Do It (Maybe)
1. Any one of: Syracuse, Pittsburgh, UConn, or Villanova

2. San Diego State: They’re complete. They’re effective. They can play a number of styles. They have a great player in Kawhi Leonard and a very, very good coach in Steve Fisher. If their name was “North Carolina” everyone would be a believer. Because they’re a team from the oh-so inferior Mountain West (SARCASM!) they won’t be treated as they should be.
Fatal Flaw: As good as BYU and UNLV are, SDSU has not and will not see the athletes that Kansas can run out there. 10 deep at that.

3. Michigan State: Right now, they’re hanging around in the weeds, waiting until March. They’re a veteran team who played a rough non-conference schedule, coached by one of the greatest college coaches of all time. You can sell them short all you want. I’m at the Spartan party.
Fatal Flaw: Lack of athleticism as a team. Duke beat them by 5 at Cameron, with Kyrie Irving. The score doesn’t reflect it, but Duke beat them much worse than by 5 points. They outran the Spartans all night. If Michigan State can get their opponent to play their game, the athleticism thing isn’t a problem. But if, say, Kansas, forces the issue, Michigan State should get left in the dust.

4. BYU: Jimmer can get hot.
Fatal Flaw: Jimmer needs to get very hot for a month. That’s a lot to ask.

They Really Can’t Do It, But I Feel Like Talking About Them At Random
1. Kansas State: I don’t recall a more frustrating team to watch in the last five years. They’re incredibly talented. That’s about it. To say that the Wildcats have no team leadership would be like saying Young Jeezy has no street cred. I watch this team play and I spend most of the time shaking my head. Early, off-balanced shots. Lazy defense. And zero accountability. Frank Martin should not have a job after this season. Kansas State’s preseason top five ranking was deserved, on paper. They proved early on, with embarrassing performances against Duke, Florida, and UNLV that they didn’t deserve that, in real life. Can this team catch fire? Honestly, watching them, no. They can’t. I’m not sure they’ll even make the tournament. And that’s a shame for the fans in the Little Apple, who came in expecting a run at a title, as I did.

2. Baylor: Another thoroughly disappointing team. Baylor’s athleticism is off the charts. With Kyrie Irving’s injury, Baylor has the likely first overall pick in June’s NBA draft in Perry Jones III. They also have an excellent pure scorer in LaceDarius Dunn. Jones III and Dunn are complimented by a group of swingmen with infinite wingspans who can jump out of the gym. The question after a little more than half the season is if they can play basketball while jumping out of the gym. So far, the jury is still out. I watched them play zero interior defense last night against Kansas. I mean, Brady Morningstar could have been playing the 5 and he would have produced last night. This team, unlike Kansas State, can make a serious run at the Final Four. Whereas Kansas State has a personality issue, Baylor has an execution issue. You can fix that in two months. Kansas State needs a complete makeover.

3. Texas A&M: You know, it’s cute that they’re a top 10 team and all, but consider that their biggest win of the season was a two point, home, overtime victory over an inconsistent Missouri team on Saturday. Texas A&M’s only loss of the season was to Boston College. The same Boston College team that lost to Yale and Harvard. So, yeah, I’m not a big believer in Mark Turgeon and the Aggies.

4. Purdue: If Robbie Hummel had knees, they’d be in the group with Kansas, Duke, and Ohio State.

5. Saint Mary’s: They have two losses this season. They are to San Diego State and BYU. They’re 7th in the nation in scoring offense, 2nd in assists, and 2nd in FG %. “Watch out,” is all I’m saying. You were warned when everyone says, “How did that team end up in the Sweet 16?”

6. Gonzaga: This could be the end of the run for America’s Cinderella.

It is the end of the run for this post. Enjoy the remainder of the regular season. There might not be a lot of reasons to watch until March, but I’ll certainly be watching.

Putting a Bow on a Really Great Present

/ Jason / 1 Comment

This is my 200th post and I couldn’t use this milestone (?) (work with me here) on a better topic or at a better time than after a great college football game, at 12:30 AM.


First thing first: Nick Fairley has to be the top pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Fairley was more than unstoppable. Kirk Herbstreit referenced Ndamakung Suh. It’s an apt comparison. Perhaps it’s not fair to Fairley. He was conditioned, he was ferocious, and he was unstoppable coming off the line. Carolina would be crazy to draft Da’Quan Bowers or Patrick Peterson or AJ Green first overall. Fairley was fabulous.

A close second to Fairley’s fabulosity was the freshman Michael Dyer. I wrote in my preview that if I was Chip Kelly, Dyer would be the guy (other than Cameron Newton) I’d be most scared of. Dyer did not disappoint. Auburn fans saw flashes of Dyer’s possessed brilliance this season, but he was mostly held in check by SEC defenses. Tonight, against a Pac-10 defense (and a good one at that), Dyer had his national coming out party. A lot can happen in an offseason, but I’m very nervous if I’m an SEC D-Coordinator heading into the 2011 regular season. Dyer could be dangerous.

As for this game, just wow. It was equal parts suspenseful, weird, sloppy, clean, ugly, and pretty. If you’re a Shoney’s type of person, you loved this game, because no matter what you like to pile your plate with, you had it in the 2011 National Title game.

We were all wrong. Both defenses played very well. I was impressed with the speed of Oregon’s defense. They shut down Cameron Newton better than any team did during the regular season. They were quicker to the edge and only once did they give him the seam. The only thing missing for the Ducks defensively was a more consistent pass rush. That was not there in Glendale for U of O.

As good as Oregon’s defense was, Auburn’s was stunning. The pressure that their defensive line created on Darron Thomas was only outdone by the pressure they put on Kenjon Barner and LaMichael James when either took a read handoff from Thomas. I did not think, not in a million years, that Auburn’s line was going to crash the line of scrimmage and get so quickly, so easily to Oregon’s dynamic backs. Ted Roof earned his money tonight. The secondary looked, um, bad, but it didn’t become a relevant issue in this game. And that credit is due to Roof and Tiger coach Gene Chizik. Defense won the national championship game that the offense got them to. If that’s not a complete team, I’m not sure what is.

Finally, and even despite his quiet (by his standards) game, Cameron Newton deserves mention. Without him, the TCU Horned Frogs would be celebrating right now and the Tigers would have been your Gator Bowl Champions. Newton almost lost this game. From the short-armed pass on 4th and Goal in the second quarter (he was saved by a safety), to his miss of Darvin Adams in the 3rd quarter (his defense saved him) to the fumble late in the 4th (he was saved Michael Dyer and Wes Byrum), Newton was as average as a 6’6″, power running, strong armed QB can be. When needed, Newton made a play. But he didn’t make the plays that helped him win a Heisman. And so now, the questions will center around whether he’ll enter the NFL Draft. I think he has to. His stock will never be higher. In one year, Cam accomplished what no Auburn QB has accomplished in half a century. He will be forever cherished by Tiger fans. And he deserves every bit of that. He has a future in the NFL. He needs a lot of seasoning. Oregon’s defense showed that tonight. His mechanics aren’t clean and his decision making isn’t always great. That said, on potential alone, he’s a first round draft pick. If Vince Young could be the third overall pick, Cam can too. Say what you want about his character (it’s great, but whatever) but he’s a world more mature today than Vince Young is. If I’m a team that needs a QB in 2 years, for 10 years, I’m drafting Cameron Newton.

If Cam returns to The Plains, Auburn is the preseason favorite. Hands down. There’s a good recruiting class coming in and some good returning complimentary pieces. If Cam doesn’t return, well, playing in the SEC West, repeating is hard. Just ask LSU. Or Alabama.

But next year is just that. Tonight, or this morning, like always, I’ll be savoring the joy and excitement that college football brings me and a lot of other people. Tonight’s game might not have been the 2006 Rose Bowl game. It might not have been 2002’s Fiesta Bowl. But it was a fascinating game. If they played again next week, Oregon might win. The week after? Probably Auburn. And so on. These were two deserving teams, with a bunch of players who, while they might not become NFL stars, busted tail for 60 minutes. And it was a true joy to watch. War Eagle.

Tigers Eat Ducks. That’s How The World Works.

/ Jason / Leave a comment


Every so often, a game comes along that, on paper, seems to embody all that is wonderful about sport and competition. Tonight’s BCS National Championship fits that bill. And then some.

First, the teams. Before the season, seemingly every prognosticator had Alabama facing Ohio State in Glendale tonight. And it made sense. Alabama came into the season returning the bulk of their offense from last year’s National Championship team. And Ohio State was coming off of a 2 loss season that saw them dominate Oregon in the Rose Bowl and was returning the bulk of their offense and defense. So, in short (or long) I can’t criticize those predictions (for the record, I picked Alabama and Florida. Let’s move on).
Hiding in the weeds were the Oregon Ducks and the Auburn Tigers. Oregon began the season as the Pac-10 favorite and #11 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. I picked Oregon to finish behind Stanford in the Pac-10, writing that I thought the black cloud from last season (LaGarrette Blount’s punching incident and Jeremiah Masoli’s inability to stay out of trouble) would hamper the Ducks and lead them to a 9-3 season. Though I did write that they should be an 11-1 or 12-0 season. But the kind of 12-0 they were? I didn’t see that coming. I knew that Oregon’s offense wanted to go fast, but this year, with Darron Thomas at the helm, they went Mach 5 fast. And they made their opponents look bad in doing so. In their second game of the season, they went into Knoxville and found themselves tied 13-13 at the half. They won that game 48-13. Only one opponent stayed within single digits of the Ducks (Cal, in a game the Bears should have won, frankly.). Other than the Cal game, the fewest points Oregon scored in a game this season was 37. You know how good Stanford is? Oregon beat them by 21. The phrase “well-oiled machine” gets thrown around a lot. The Oregon Ducks are a Bentley. They’re a pre-Iceberg Titanic. They’re Eli Whitney’s cotton gin.
Way down at the bottom of the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll was the Auburn Tigers at #23. People knew the Oregon Ducks coming into 2010. Folks didn’t know the Tigers, really. There was some preseason hype. Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN picked them to win the SEC West. But most people thought they were a middle-of-the-pack SEC West team. Which isn’t bad frankly, with LSU, Alabama, and Arkansas up there. Auburn, however, was much better than a middle-of-the-pack team. They were the SEC’s best team, slaying their way through a murderer’s row conference schedule en route to a 12-0 regular season record. But it wasn’t always easy for Auburn. Unlike the Ducks, Auburn played a number of close games. That number is 6. 6 one-score games. Most of the credit for Auburn’s dream season, deservedly so, is given to their Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Cameron Newton. Newton was the most dynamic and dominant player in college since Reggie Bush, albeit playing a different position. No one stopped Newton this year. No one kept him in check for an entire game. He finished the season with 49 total TDs (including one receiving). He ran through, around, and then through, again, the best defenses in America, putting up staggering numbers. Like 217 rushing yards against LSU. Or 216 passing yards and 3 TDs against Alabama. No matter what he faced, Cam Newton had an answer. If you went in looking to stop the run, you got deep bombs to Darvin Adams and Terrell Zachery. If you dropped 7 into coverage, you got a 6’6” quarterback knocking your linebackers over. He was truly a man amongst boys and is owed a lot of the credit for Auburn being here.
Beyond the “nobody expected us to be here” card and their explosive offenses these two teams, at least historically. have nothing in common. Auburn sits historically near the precipice of being a top-tier program, like the Nebraskas, Oklahomas, and Alabamas. Part of what has kept Auburn from that is the fact that they’ve only won one National Championship (1957). They’ve been close. Like in 2004 when they were denied (folks in the “loveliest village” will tell you robbed…they’re right) an opportunity, at 12-0, to play for a title. They also finished 1993 undefeated, but were on probation. In 1983, they entered the bowl season number 4 in the country, won their bowl game, saw each team ahead of them lose, and still somehow only ended the season 3rd in the polls. Auburn has always played second fiddle, even in their state, where they take a back seat to the University of Alabama in terms of success and prestige. Nothing would make the so-called (by Bama fans) “Barners” happier than to shut up their cross-state rivals and finally win what has eluded them for 54 years.
Oregon on the other hand, has never been here before. That’s really their history. They’ve never played in a championship game. Their program, twenty years ago, didn’t matter. It wasn’t until Nike mogul Phil Knight put an estimated $300 million into the program that Oregon started having football success. Even still, the school truly lacks a signature victory. A win tonight would be a Hancock-like signature victory, and perhaps cement the Ducks as the most dominant team in recent memory (at least since Miami at the start of the 2000s.).
But it won’t happen. I cannot lie that all of the numbers, and all of the media coverage, point to a Ducks win. And I’m biased. I want a Tiger victory. I want to see Cameron Newton shut people up. I want to see Oregon’s coach, Chip Kelly, shut up. I don’t want to hear any more about how quickly the Ducks operate and how great LaMichael James is. I don’t want to listen to another Chip Kelly halftime interview. I don’t want to see him in the postgame interview. I don’t care about the winged, multi-colored uniforms, and pewter helmets. I understand that people don’t want to hear or see Cameron Newton. I understand that people think he’s a cheater and a liar and want to watch him lose. People are sick of seeing him smile after games. I get that. I, however, will be rooting for the college kid whose father solicited money from another university in return for his son’s potential enrollment. I will be rooting for the most exciting college player I’ve seen since _________________ (fill in the blank). I love watching Cameron Newton play football. Because Cameron Newton clearly loves playing football.
Auburn beats Oregon with a huge game from LB Josh Bynes. Bynes will have to stay focused for 60 minutes. He will have to read Darron Thomas’ every hand off. He will have to be as fit as he’s ever been. Auburn needs him on the field, maybe even more than DT Nick Fairley. Against a team like the Ducks, the linebackers are more important than the defensive line. If you go in thinking that you’re going to stop LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner in the backfield, you’re wrong. But if you can stop them just after the line of scrimmage and put the Ducks in 3rd and Mediums, you can stop them. Darron Thomas is not a refined passer. He has weapons in the pass game, especially in Jeffrey Maehl. But the Ducks’ strength is truly in their running game and what they can do on first and second down. California did a great job of getting them into third downs and that’s how they nearly beat them. Oregon was 8-21 on third down in that game. Against USC? 11 of 17. Against Stanford? 6 of 12. The more 3rd downs the Ducks see, the better your chance of beating them.
Offensively, for Auburn, I have no doubt that they’ll score. They might fall behind the Ducks 21-0 in the first quarter. I won’t be concerned. The Tigers can score just as well as the Ducks can. And Oregon’s defense, which I’ve watched a handful of times this year, is not unbeatable, as some pundits would have you believe. They allowed 29 points or more in 4 games. Auburn allowed 29 points or more in 4 games as well. Auburn’s defense is not as bad as some would have you believe. Oregon’s, in turn, is not as good. They’re much closer than the experts think.
For Oregon to beat Auburn, defensively, they need to let Cameron Newton throw, not run. When Auburn throws, they throw. Deep. That means short drives. That means less time for the Tigers defense to rest. That falls right into the Ducks’ wishes. Tire the Auburn defense. Cameron Newton is more likely to make a critical error in the passing game than running. If the Ducks think they can beat Auburn with Newton rushing for over 200 yards, they’re wrong.
My final prediction is for an Auburn victory and I don’t think it’ll be as close as people think. I’ll take the Tigers 45-28. And I know I’m going out on a huge limb and making a bold prediction that could very well be way wrong and in no way falls in line with how most see this game playing out. But I’ve watched the Tigers all year long and watched a lot of the Ducks. I know what I see. I see a better and more complete team down on the Plains. War Eagle.
Some One-Liners About Tonight’s Game and the 2010 Season:
If I’m Oregon, the Auburn Tiger who scares me most (that isn’t Cameron Newton) is: Michael Dyer. The freshman did not have a true breakout game this season. He has the potential to make tonight his coming out party.
If I’m Auburn, the Oregon Duck who scares me most (that isn’t LaMichael James) is: Kenjon Barner. Jeff Maehl scares me a little, but I’m not a Darron Thomas believer. Barner is a better back than LaMichael James. He’s quicker and shiftier. That’s scary if I’m Auburn D-Coordinator Ted Roof.
Preseason Predicition I’m Proudest Of: Stanford winning the Pac-10. I know they didn’t, but there wasn’t a lot of people calling Stanford a potential Pac-10 champ. I’m happy that I praised the Cardinal and Andrew Luck.
Preseason Prediction I’d Most Like to Hide Away Forever: Florida to play in the national title game. And Auburn to finish fourth in the SEC West. That was very stupid.


Enjoy the game tonight!