Week Nine Winners

West Virginia - Rutgers
UNC - Wake Forest
Indiana - Wisconsin
Michigan St - Iowa
Colorado - Texas Tech
Miss St - Kentucky
USC - Oregon
South Florida - UConn
Florida - UGA
Nebraska - Texas
Clemson - Maryland
Virginia - NC State
Ole Miss - Auburn
Kansas - Texas A&M
Ohio St - Penn St
Cal - Arizona St

Tennessee beats South Carolina. Why? I don't know.

Tennessee 27 - South Carolina 19

Auburn's Defensive Coordinator

This guy impresses me.

LSU got Auburn at the end last night, but I was highly impressed with Muschamp's defense.

Week Eight Predictions

Penn St - Indiana
Cincinnati - Pitt
Iowa - Purdue
Oklahoma - Iowa St
Vandy - South Carolina
Texas A&M - Nebraska (who cares? Both of these programs will look much different next year)
Michigan St - Ohio St
Florida - Kentucky
Miss St - West Virginia
Cal - UCLA
USC - Notre Dame
Texas Tech - Missouri
Miami - FL St
Kansas - Colorado
Kansas St - OK St
Oregon - Washington **
Virginia - Maryland
Michigan - Illinois
Auburn - LSU
Tennessee - Alabama


The Volunteers should shellac The Tide. It's a momentum thing (admittedly, in a league where momentum don't count for much). Tennessee seems to be trending upward, while Alabama, well, who knows what Bama's doing right now? They've shown flashes of the Saban Promise, but also shown exactly the state of the talent level in Tuscaloosa right now. Tennessee should just have too much on offense for The Crimson Tide. Expect some points here, but Bama may not get as many as people tend to think.

37-24 Tennessee

Big Thursday Game

South Florida meets Rutgers tonight in a big-time Big East clash. It also marks South Florida's national coming out party. I'm picking them, and rooting for them. With wins against top ten West Virginia and better-then-we-thought Auburn, there's no reason to pick against The Bulls. Rutgers is no joke though. Look for a good game.

Tennesse - Bama Set

The Tennessee - Alabama game is set for 12:30 on Lincoln-Financial. Groan. A coup for Dave, Dave and Dave, for sure.

Madness

College Football is nuts this year. Just crazy. How about a South Florida - Hawaii National Championship Game? Why not? Might as well.

This would be the perfect year for a playoff. Seed six conference champions plus two at-large bids and let the chips fall where they may. How great would that be this year? Perhaps we'd see a two-loss team playing a South Florida or an Oklahoma for the title. Or perhaps one of the Mighty but Beatens puts it all together and makes a run through the bracket to prove they were great after all.

But that can't happen, now can it?

My Top Ten

1. South Florida
2. Ohio State
3. Boston College
4. West Virginia
5. Oregon
   
6. Kentucky
7. LSU
   
8. South Carolina
9. Cal
   
10. Oklahoma

Many things to digest

Yes, I skipped this week. Mostly because I drove to Cleveland to ROCK. See:



But there are lots of things to review. Cal LOST. LSU LOST. USC LOST. It's pandemonium in the land of college football. Somebody help me!

I will post more Sunday.

Well....

I might have been wrong....

...more on Sunday.

TN - UGA fast prediction

I didn't get a chance to properly make my prediction, so here's all I got. All things staying the same, UGA wins. Tennessee would have to improve to beat that UGA running game, and you just can't predict that will happen. SO I pick Georgia in a heartbreaking, very sad loss for the Volunteers.

(But we got a damn good chance....)

Week Six Winners

West Virginia - Syracuse
Wisconsin - Illinois
Georgia Tech - Maryland
Eastern Michigan - Michigan
Miami - UNC
Vandy - Auburn
Wake Forest - Duke
Houston - Bama
South Florida - Florida Atlantic
Oklahoma - Texas
NC State - FSU
Iowa - Penn St
Arizona St - Washington St
Virginia Tech - Clemson
Stanford - USC
Oklahoma State - Texas A&M
Ohio St - Purdue
Cincinnati - Rutgers
Florida - LSU
Nebraska - Missouri

So says Terry

Terry Bowden has an interesting take on some of the realities of winning and losing in college football.

Change.

The new AP and coaches polls have been published. I'd like to point out that the following teams are not in either poll:

• Tennessee
• Alabama
• Michigan
• Florida State
  
• Miami
• Notre Dame
  

What is causing this upheaval in college football? Is it the success of new schemes like the spread option? Is it Group Think-like resistance to change among the traditional powerhouses? Or is change just something that happens - the natural evolution of the game?

Ideas?

Week Five: My Top Ten

Go Bulls.

1. USC
2. LSU
   
3. Cal
   
4. South Florida
   
5. Wisconsin
   
6. Boston College
   
7. Kentucky
   
8. Ohio State
   
9. Florida
   
10. Oklahoma
    

Some Perspective

Drew Edwards has a nice article about how Phillip Fulmer deals with this season's criticisms. Edwards also offers UT fans some perspective that should make them feel better. Read it here.

First off, I think everyone needs to relax. We're only four games into the season, and calling for Fulmer's dismissal is premature. A 10-2 season is one to be proud of, and also one that will likely get Tennessee to Atlanta. I think everyone would call that a great season. It could happen.

The problem is that the Florida game was really painful. We got our asses handed to us like the majority of Tennessee fans have never seen. It made the whole program look bad. It's too easy to call for the head of the guy whole wears the crown at times like that. I emitted a few frustrated grumblings myself.

Please remember that Tennessee played two top ten teams in its first three weeks. That's as tough as anyone has it in the country. For all we know, we would have won those games had they come later in the season. But they didn't and we lost. Fine. But there's something to be said for the maturity that a team gains mid-season, and it could make the early season losses seem like a distant memory by November.

Even if it doesn't, Tennessee has to survey the season as a whole before any decisions are made.

Retrospective: Week 5

My picks: 14-6

It's funny, when I was researching for my my picks on Thursday and Friday I finally got done and thought, "I just really don't see any big upsets this week." I love college football.

• Illinois takes down Penn State. Not the biggest upset in the world, evidenced by the fact that I called it. Question: Does this say more about Illinois or Penn State?
  
• Dan Hawkins has his first statement win as the Buffaloes head coach. A lot of people have been very high on Oklahoma in the first part of the season. I was only slightly less enthused about the Sooners. I felt like they were a little overrated and it seems I was right. Take nothing away from Colorado though. This was a huge upset.
• Why can't Tennessee do that? Auburn's defense did a helluva job stopping Tim Tebow and Florida's spread offense. Tim Tebow is sore today, no doubt. Auburn punished him and the rest of the Florida offense in a big way. A great SEC game, a great win for the down Auburn Tigers, and great result all around.
  
• So the SEC East is downright deadlocked, while LSU is pretty much the only thing going in the SEC West.
• I didn't get a chance to watch the Florida State - Alabama game. It looks like Alabama was playing from behind the whole time. Congratulations to Bobby Bowden on a great "full circle" win in what should be his last season.
• Texas got a beat down. 41-21.
• Congratulations to Wisconsin on a very nice win. I wouldn't mind seeing The Badgers take The Big Ten this year.
• California takes down Oregon. Did you see that fumble at the goal line?! It's not up in YouTube yet. When it is I'll post it.
• Five of the top ten get beat. That's nutty. Every season seems to have one week that gets dubbed "Upset Saturday." I can't recall one quite like this.
• Tennessee fans: Chill. Don't start thinking all of this craziness opens the door for the Volunteers to vault into the BCS picture. We have to do it on the field first.
• I like Tyrone Willingham. I wish Washington could have finished off USC last night, but time just ran out. It was a great college football game though. I don't know if there is anything to a moral victory, but I do think The Huskies should feel a tinge of pride for what they did last night. As everyone knows, USC is stacked and Washington gave The Trojans all they wanted.

More later, as video becomes available.

Wike Five Winners

Lots of really nice match-ups this week, and some very tough picks.

Notre Dame - Purdue
Duke - Miami
Michigan - Northwestern
LSU - Tulane
UNC - Virginia Tech
Penn State - Illinois
Indiana - Iowa
Mississippi St - South Carolina
Florida Atlantic - Kentucky
Ole Miss - UGA
Oklahoma - Colorado
Louisville - NC State
Cal - Oregon
Michigan St - Wisconsin
Clemson - GA Tech
Maryland - Rutgers
UCLA - Oregon St
Auburn - Florida
USC - Washington
Florida St - Bama
Willie Nelson - Duke Crews

Mommy.....

The SEC huuuurts.....

Phillip Fulmer Question of the Week:

A new weekly feature here at Blitzes and Bourbon. Since it's all anyone can talk about around here, I might as well add to the chatter. Every week I'll feature a poll on the ever-mounting questions surrounding one Phillip Fulmer. So without further ado...

Which is more likely to happen first:
	Phillip Fulmer will retire.
	Phillip Fulmer will be dismissed.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Mike Patrick caught pondering Britney

I know it's an important question and all, but Georgia and Alabama were in OVERTIME.



My favorite part is after that awkward silence when a dumbfounded Todd Blackledge goes, "Is she here?!"

Pat Forde

This week's ESPN Forde Yard Dash is up. It includes some interesting and probably fair points about Mike Gundy's meltdown. The press seems to be taking this guy to task for being unprofessional. So far I've heard Forde, Jim Rome, John Adams and Jimmy Hyams all agree that Gundy may have a valid point but that he crossed a line in acting the way he did.

That's probably about right. But if this columnist did shoddy work, she should suffer the public scrutiny and humiliation. There's no way to know who is right.

Cheers.

The column in question.

4-0 Kentucky? Them?

The Kentucky Wildcats are the feel-good hit of the season. How long will it last? Well, The Wildcats have a doozy of an October with South Carolina, LSU and Florida one right after the other. If Kentucky can win one of those it'll be considered a success. If it wins two, well let's just say we will have officially entered The Twilight Zone.

In an ironic twist, Kentucky plays Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic Saturday. In Kentucky's best season since about 1950, it has to face off against its most successful football product. Dennis Dodd has more.

MORE: Woefully missing from Dodd's article is any reference to Randy Sanders's brilliance in turning Andre Woodson into a real-deal Heisman candidate. Will this earn him another crack at an OC job? That's hard to say, considering Tennessee's '05 season. Some guys are just good position coaches, and not so much beyond that. Does this apply to Sanders? The only way to tell is to give him a shot....

Whew!

I'm glad I only post a weekly Top Ten: Rivals 120.

My Top Ten

1. USC
2. Florida
3. LSU
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. Cal
7. Ohio State
8. Texas
9. Wisconsin
10. Kentucky
    

Week Four: Retrospective

My picks: 10-3

• I'm proud of my picks this week, especially the Michigan over Penn State call. People were quick to forget that Michigan is still a good team, it just has two really bad losses. Don't be surprised if the Wolverines win out.
  
• Kentucky is starting to look like a real threat. Not just a "they might take down one of the big boys" threat, but a real, honest-to-goodness contender in the SEC East. Wacky.
  
• The UGA - Bama clash was one of the finest football games we'll see this year - just a classic SEC night game. Games like that are why I love college football. Mark Richt's 23-3 road record is further proof of my claim that Mark Richt is the best coach in college football. I would take Mark Richt for my program over any other coach on the planet. Yeah, you heard me Pete. You too, Urban.
  
• Notre Dame is awful.
• Could Les Miles go to Michigan? Dan Wetzel thinks so. He has a good point. The road to the BCS is a lot easier in lesser conferences like the Big Ten.
  
• Finally, this was a great play:

Tennessee - Arkansas State

"A win is a win."

That seems to be the sentiment in Knoxville today. Fair enough. I think everyone saw Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and South Carolina play yesterday and is looking dreadfully wide-eyed at an oncoming barrage of top-notch SEC opponents. It's pretty scary.

Tennessee's defensive line has problems. It is in no way helping what could potentially be a pretty nice linebacking corp. Why, why, why can't Tennessee tackle? If we don't get better at tackling now, it's going to be a long October.

Good time for an off-week.

Erik Ainge still looks good, in spite of a hard-to-explain interception that was returned for a touchdown. It's obvious he can't do much down field with the ailing pinky finger. The Volunteer receivers are doing a great job with their routes, but still make the occasional drop that ends up being a drive killer.

Again, good time for an off-week as Phillip Fulmer is about to embark on the most crucial October of his career.

Neyland's New Look

Don't watch the game! Look at this here logo!

Before we discuss the game, I have a complaint.

Do you see that? Well, how can you not? Neyland Stadium's new scoreboards are a bright manic nuisance and distraction from the game. In general, these seizure-inducing advertisements have downgraded the Tennessee football experience. It seems the University has gone the way of NASCAR by sticking a big bold advertisement on every space available. If I wanted to see Dudes Turning Left, I'd go to Bristol.

Further, the new live game updates are presented against a bright blue background. Ugly. Why not a black background with off-white lettering, like before? Neyland Stadium looked entirely better with the simple scoreboards. And this isn't just an aesthetic problem. The University has effectively handed over the stadium's identity to corporate sponsors. I have no problem with big business sponsorship per se, but the overwhelming shoving of these logos in fans faces gives the place a foreign un-homeyness.

If this is the direction we're going, why not sell the name? There would be serious money involved (Mike Hamilton just looked up). Surely we could get a good $20 million to name it First Tennessee Bank Field, or Coca-Cola's Neyland Stadium.


I don't necessarily hate change, but there's something to be said for identity.